A few weeks ago, I was watching a country music program on TV, where the artists performing on the show were interviewed between sets. One artist in particular, was asked to describe his music. As he stumbled around for words to describe the music he plays, it dawned on me that this is not the first time I’ve witnessed or read where artists stumbled around for words to describe their music. It was occurring with greater and greater frequency, and I realized there is something very disturbing going on. More and more artists that perform country music- the real stuff- not the candy coated pop fluff that Music Row’s been churning out for the past several years- have begun to develop a phobia about calling the music they make COUNTRY music.

As the interviewer and the artist went on to discuss this further, they had my undivided attention. The artist said he was leery of calling his music "country," because he said that to be honest, Music Row has done a heck of a job over what’s now closing in on the last decade, of convincing people that, what in reality is adult contemporary POP music, is actually COUNTRY music, and that an awful lot of people bought into it hook, line and sinker, and unfortunately now truly believe this farce to be true. Whereas, once the names Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, George Jones and Merle Haggard were synonymous with the term "country music," today the names Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, are what’s conjured up when the term "country music" is said. He went on to say that the latter group has very little to do with country music, and he said most artists that have carried on the torch, and that have stayed true to the core and roots of the music, are loathe to call what they perform as being "country music," for fear that they will be perceived as playing the same type of popped up fluff that’s coming out of Music Row’s major labels. By no means do they want to be lumped in with that- because that’s not the type of music they perform, and are looking for a way to differentiate what they do, from whatever it’s called that mainstream Nashville’s been upchucking these days.

So now it seems there’s an entirely new "stigma" that’s attached to country music. In Nashville’s attempt at making country music "upscale," and redefining and restructuring it to appeal to the masses, by trying to eradicate any and all of the actual roots of the music- or in other words, it’s rural blue collar beginnings, they’ve created a whole new (and far worse) problem. In reality, people seem to be far less concerned about any of the stereotypical words Music Row has become so paranoid over: hicks and haybales, rednecks and drinking, cheating, lying, and prison time, than they are over what Music Row has done to the music. Obviously, their attempt at a "make-over" of the genre has backfired, when so many artists, that are truly country artists, are embarrassed at calling themselves country artists, and fans are uncomfortable saying they are country music fans, for fear someone will associate it with that true embarrassment- the current Nashville fare: cheesy schlock.

What to do? Over the course of the last decade, new terms have cropped up: Alt-country, Americana, Roots, No Depression, Texas Music. Although many artists struggle with these new labels, many have aligned themselves there, rather than with the term "country." However, these new labels that are being put on certain music, are broad and not clearly defined, and what started out being a genre created for artists that had no clearly definable sound, the ones that fell through the cracks as not being clearly country, folk, rock or blues, but those that transcended genres and couldn’t be placed into a particular radio format for their music to be heard, has now become a catch basin for every type of music not in the "mainstream."

So how did artists who were indeed the mainstream of country music, artists from The Carters and Jimmie Rodgers to Johnny Cash and Buck Owens to Willie and Waylon to Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis, and everyone else that came in between, suddenly wind up being labeled everything but country artists? Bluegrass, honky tonk, Texas swing, Bakersfield, countrypolitan, hillbilly, singer/songwriter, outlaw- even the country-pop of artists like Crystal Gayle, Eddie Rabbitt and Kenny Rogers- now all reassigned to a different genre!! Yet the country music industry had no problems with any of these artists every time they had hit records and were (and should STILL be) staples on the radio, and they don’t seem to have a problem continuing to make money off these now shunned artists’ country music back catalogs, even though they now refuse to acknowledge they even (or ever did) exist.

This is not by any means a slam to the Americana and Roots organizations- they have been wonderful in stepping up to the plate, and have been overwhelmingly supportive in getting this music and it’s artists that have been arbitrarily cut out of a genre, promoted and played. On the other hand, an incredible injustice is being done- real, bone fide country music, as well as it’s legends and all the artists that make up it’s legacy, it’s history and it’s future, are being tossed out of it’s very own genre. Sadly, so many of our truly country artists, both those long established as stars, and those that are lesser known or newer and keep the flame alive, have all but abandoned the American country music market, and spend much of their time in Europe and other destinations abroad, where they are being far more appreciated, and have gained far more popularity than in their own country- the country where this uniquely American music was born. Others have managed to make a fairly good living and garner a decent following within a limited region. Which leaves an awful lot of great music that the majority of country music fans never get the opportunity to hear about, let alone hear.

We can’t let this continue to happen. What is now coming out of mainstream Nashville is what is really "alt-country"...the alternative TO country music, because it’s anything but country music. It won’t be an easy thing to undo, but what corporate America has done to country music can be undone in time and with effort. I’ve heard people speak of attending concerts of such artists as Merle Haggard and George Jones, and the surprise at the demographic make up of the crowd. One gentleman stated he went to a festival in his hometown to see George, and while he was expecting to find a heavily over-50 crowd, while he said they were indeed there, to his astonishment there was an equally large number of under-20s there- that knew the words and were singing along to his songs. Ralph Stanley recently stated how wonderful it made him feel that 5 and 6 year olds now come up to him and sing him the words to his songs, and he looks at it as hope for the future of country music.

Contrary to what the publicity machines of the major labels and corporate radio say, the reality is, they only represent the minority- the people they managed to fool with their deluded vision of country music. The audience is there, the fans ready and willing to embrace it- they just need to know it’s there and where to find it. We need now, more than ever, for our artists to stand up and not fumble for words to describe their music, and to say loud and proud - "I sing and play country music...it's Music Row's tedious HNC "flavor-of-the-month," cookie cutter singers that are the ones that don’t."