They call it country??

[Ron Bednar]

Stuck in traffic on the way home tonight, I was flipping through AM stations looking for something to listen to. I caught an announcer saying; "Here's your next six pack for the road from 105.1 New Country!" I listened to four songs.

I admit my appreciation for "country" music is pretty conservative and not well educated. But artristy, no matter in what form, doesn't take much knowledge to discern, enjoy and celebrate. I first heard Hank William's as Luke The Drifter and his Stories From The Other Side Of Life, when I was thirteen and that album has stayed with me my whole life.

What I heard on that station was 90's production rock, heavy power drums funk beat, intertwining wall of sound pop. For vocals you could plugin any Boy Band/Britney Spears clone and the change wouldn't be noticed; save for the fact that the over all sound was a tab less "hip" than it's pop equivalent.

I tried to figure out what made it "country" and for the life of me, I couldn't. About the same way I can't figure out what makes the pop pablum they serve up "rock".

On the other hand, commercial music, in whatever form has always been about the lowest common denominator. The Pat Boone legacy: Make it saleable to the buyers you are catering to.

But what I heard wasn't country.