Rosanne Cash's List Doesn't Include Country Radio
First George Jones. Now Rosanne Cash. Why are country's traditionalists ganging up on the progress country music has made? In an interview with the Wall Street Journal about her new album of essential country tunes, The List, Cash talked a bit about the state of country music today. When the interviewer asked, "How is the singer-songwriter tradition working today? You see Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood at the top of the charts. Is it flourishing?" And Cash says, "You mentioned two songwriters that I don't know any of their songs, I'm sorry to say. I saw (Taylor) on a TV show and thought she was adorable. But I don't listen to country radio. And I'm not an authority on what's going on in country music." I guess for some artists, looking back is a better way to make music than looking ahead.
©2008 Country Music Television, Inc., a Viacom company. A division of
Lisa says:
Taylor and Carrie are the 2 best singer-songwriters the interviewer could think of? wow.
hotelmotel says:
There’s a big difference between Cash’s comments and Jones’ comments. Cash just comes across as someone who isnt interested in top 40 country, Jones comes across (to me at least) as someone who wants to be on top 40 country but isn’t popular there anymore, so he is going to bash it. Jones comes across as resentful and not really sincere (and Jones seems unintelligent, too), Cash comes across as sincere to me.
S says:
Taylor’s name was mentioned in the article. What a surprise! I haven’t heard her name mentioned in at least the last five minutes. Or last five articles.
Ron Forbus says:
I personally feel that music executives are controlling the perceived megastars that are more commericalized and appeals to thier target of audience of teens and young adults, who for the most part are spending their parents money vs hard earned salaries. Taylor is overated for her leve of talent in comparsions to some of the more seasoned and talendted women of country musics or is it only pop country these days to appeal to the descretionary dollars of the parents. I beleive you can oversell an artist like Taylor Swift.
Always Right says:
Ron,
It took you this long to figure that out? Where have you been?
Always Right says:
Oh and Alison, I wouldn’t call this “progress.”
Go back to hauling your kids to soccer practice.
Michael says:
while i definitely love the music of cash and jones and the likes, i also find these new modern country with a pop touch as a progression of sort. it all began in the 60s when producers started adding some strings to country tunes to sound pop and in the 80s which leans more towards pop than country.
my criteria for liking a song is totally based on the songs and is not influenced by what Paste or Pitchfork or my friends or some bloggers are saying.
Whether it’s Blake Shelton or Jeff Tweedy, i don’t see the difference. Whether it’s Rosanne Cash or Taylor Swift, Love and Theft or Hank Williams, all the same to me. All facet of country music.
Arlene says:
I think it all depends on how you define “country radio.” FYI, Rosanne Cash is a member of, and will be playing a holiday/benefit concert on December 8th for, WFUV, a radio station in her current hometown, NYC. WFUV regularly plays artists such as Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Allison Moorer, Patty Griffin, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, The Avett Brothers, Neko Case, etc. IMHO, we need to broaden the catagory or get rid of the label–in my mind, these musicians play some of the best “country music” being recorded today.
merlefan49 says:
Arlene.
Great list (no pun intended)
merlefan49 says:
So Micheal you don’t see the difference. Hank Sr. and Taylor Swift?
hotelmotel says:
I can tell the difference between Hank Sr and Swift and I do prefer Swift, although I don’t like either. Hank Sr doesn’t appeal to me. Swift - I like a few of her songs.
Redmaz says:
Actually today’s Country Music genres couldn’t be more defined and crystal clear. From my experience(especially on this blogsite) the only people who don’t know about basic music fundamentals and genre description are mainly the Pop Country fans. Their musical knowledge(or lack of) is bordering on moronic. The day’s of just “Country Music” are over. Today’s Country Music scene really boils down to either “Pop” or “Roots” music. If “fans” can’t tell the difference between the two, or has no idea what they are, then I feel they are disrespecting music. Something I don’t appreciate at all.
flower says:
cu is soooooooooooo overrated!!! taylor is the hottest and best artist to come along since faith hill!!!!!!!
rodney says:
i will say that swift is a pretty good songwriter but her voice isn’t that good underwear is a good singer but i dont recall seeing her writing anything? as far as today’s country there aren’t really to many real country artists on the radio and i am only 20 and i absoulute dig the walyon jennings,george strait and george jones, merle haggard, conway twitty, johnny cash and those kinda guys i mean that is reall country music and the only ones that are out there now are king george strait, jackson,johnson,chruch, and even though he has kinda gone a little poppy lately brad paisley and to me thats it the rest are all too paoppy for me to listen too.
rodney says:
sorry for my spelling lol.
Andrew says:
Alison is missing one important thing: Jones and Cash are right.
MEE says:
Country music radio is always VERY controlled. They only allow a few artists at a time to be played. Alot of stations (not all) are very regimented. You use to be able to call and request what you wanted to hear. There are way better singers available than the top artists now. But they are never played anymore.
Redmaz says:
As suspected it didn’t take long for “rodney” and “Andrew” to prove my point, and to MEE so your complaint is radio? For me radio has nothing to do with today’s music scene, I find it obsolete. By the way, you’re wrong too, unless you are talking about Pop Country radio, where by definition it is supposed to be controlled by record labels and radio executives. You didn’t specify what Country Music radio. Are you talking about Pop Country radio or Roots Country radio? My question to you would be how do you feel ALL of today’s Country MUSIC(not radio)? Including Pop Country, Roots Country, Alt.Country Red Dirt, etc?
Robin J Rothschild says:
Country music has been a cyclical thing as I have been told over the past 35 yrs I have been listening, studying and collecting the music. Alot good variety of comments here but here is mine. George Jones may be showing his age by knocking the current state of Country music but there is some validity to it. Nowhere in the history of recorded county music has there been a disrespect of the history –some it due to the climate we live in with computers and internet etc–the disposable society we live in. We will always have artists wishing to reclaim the glory days –see what Garth is doing with the Vegas shows but he is doing what Elvis did after his stint with the movies. Country music of today is a rainbow stew of styles, some I like better than others but all should be represented in Country radio and not segregated or separated. Today’s new country fans have no real sense of the rich history and rely on some business industry’s opinion of what country is. Though I applaud gainning more fanbase for Country music, I feel that the fans of today are being shortchanged if they only rely on the latest craze in Country music and not explore the now hidden depths of the music. These cds like the List and My Turn by Tanya Tucker, Under the Influence by Alan Jackson and Timeless by Martina McBride serve the new fans a gateway to the past treasures of Country like Merle Haggard’s tribute to Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Wills did for me when as a kid I started listening to country music.
Keep it Good and Country!
Robin J Rothschild
Country Music Historian
Redmaz says:
You raise a few good points, and when I have more time I’d like to discuss some of them with you because I disagree with a few. Since you didn’t mention anything about today’s Americana/Roots Music I would like to ask a “Country Music Historian” what your opinion is of today’s Americana/Roots music, and what role does it play in today’s overall Country Music scene.
MEE says:
More like over control! Which I know is not new.
Well I have moved on from from country radio long ago. (pop as you say) I listen now and then but dont buy it. I buy what I like so I choose what I listen to. I hardly buy what they play so its doing a disservice (overkill) I did say not all! I like a mix of pop and traditional country. Probably considered the old pop country. I listen to all types of music. My collection includes music from 50’s up till today. Wont say who you wont find in my collection to avoid arguments.
MEE says:
So on a pleasant note name some new people I should try…
I like talking about music and hearing new! Have a great day.
barb b says:
flower this is not ts blog why
are you bashing carrie i see how
jealous you are of carrie you can
take fh and ts and you know what
you can do with them all the female
singers are jealous of carrie you know
it and i know it and who cares what she
wins at the CMA
NOT QUITE says:
I doubt all the ladies lay up at night and wish they were Carrie or Taylor for that fact. Why bash artists when posters say stupid things? Fans worry more than the artists!
JohnReid says:
I agree that Rosanne’s and George Jones’ comments were incongruent. George does come off as bitter; Rosanne’s statement wasn’t any dis at Taylor or Carrie; or country radio for that matter. It is well to remember that Rosanne’s first hit was a synthesizer-laden pop crossover that sounded less country that anything Taylor’s released. I like Rosanne’s music and even the non-mainstream stuff sounded fine on the broad palette that is/was is country radio. Either people are too young, or memory has not served the older folks well, but every single era of country music has had one foot in the door of pop music. Really, go back to Eddy Arnold in the 40s, through the Nashville Sound (invented to survive the onslaught of rock n pop), to Barbara Mandrell (listened to the Doobie-Brother rif of “Crackers” recently?) etc etc.
As someone posted earlier, country splits between “roots” and “pop”. The only thing that hasn’t been addressed is that it has been happening since music became an industry. None of this is new. I wonder if George Jones remembers which artist got less airplay on country radio when his own hits became more popular. And which artist didn’t get pitched the huge hits that were, instead, pitched to George because he was the hot artist? That’s the bitterness that is sad to hear from him. As for Americana music, there has always been a place for great roots music, it just has never been on radio. For every one that has slopped through the cracks and had a hit, there were dozens of artists throughout the decades that were great but didn’t have “radio” friendly songs. People forget that radio is not an art form of musical expression, it never has been. Most songs played on commercial radio (since it started) was
put on to attract to the most listeners to listen longer. Mass appeal radio and music as an art form (with the rare, beautiful exceptions)have never been one in the same. Ever.
Baron Lane says:
What you call “progress” I call a drive toward the mediocre to maximize profits. It’s an old, ongoing argument, but if sales= good then McDonald’s is the best meal that you can have.
Robin says:
I get so tired of the lame “If sales matter than McDonald’s is the best meal that you can have” arguement about music.
McDonald’s meal = $5 (cheap and easy to purchase (fast food line)
Bohanan’s Prime Steaks & Seafood Restaurant meal = $$$ very expensive (expensive and hard to get to (unless you live in San Antonio)
Carrie Underwood CD = $10 (i-tunes, Best Buy, Wal-mart)
Rosanne Cash CD = $10 (i-tunes, Best Buy, Wal-Mart)
Same price, same ease of purchase on music. If you can’t find a CD on one website you can find it on another. If you can’t find a song on one radio station, then you can find it on satelite radio or another. While I give “some” credence to the argument about music sales and quality, it relatds to the demographics of the buyers more than than the fact that a particular artist or album is or is not popular.
Music that is purchased by over 80% by kids under the age of 18, I don’t think they’ve had the musical experience to “know” good music, mixed demographics and adult demographics are a good sign. But, popular vs. not popular is bogus.
Always Right says:
Baron Lane,
And just like McDonalds food, “Southern Suburban Pop” music is bad for your health.
flower says:
taylor’s first cd still in the top 200 billboard for what oh ya 160 weeks!!!! that’s all!!!!
Ryk Myk says:
Good Bye “Country” music. This new “Pop” Country is the worst and last night CMA’s was the bottom of the barrel….
I’m now looking towards “Western” music as it has it roots deeper into the tradition and not the “Fad”. The ‘Kids’ today producing music have no idea how to make anything that isn’t cookie cutter, they live in a mono-chromatic world of blandness and sameness…. so sad. No imagination, just make it look and feel liek the last hit or person….. Good Bye “Country” music. R.I.P.
Stephanie says:
Alison you always defend Taylor and Carrie your bias! and it shows. you don’t know country most of your blogs are about Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, is pop all you know?. What makes them special? Swift can’t sing majority of responders to YOUR OWN blogs even say it count them yourself. Underwood songs are seriously your cute next girl type of songs. Name me at least one song Jones and Cash can relate to? I laugh at the thought of George Jones singing a duo with swift and sing: “But she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts
She’s Cheer Captain and I’m on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time” Cheesy pop song written all over it! Sorry but if you expect George Jones and Rosanne Cash to relate to this pop being passed as country that’s an insult!!!. Deep down you know it. It’s pop bloggers like you that add to the Taylor Swift pop mania.
Greg Roberts says:
Frankly, I’m tired of Country Music awards shows apologizing for being country by booking all these rock acts as if they are petrified that the audience will hear too much “country” for a network television show to hold the ratings. It’s all about sales anyway, follow the money and you’ll get all your answers. Diehard country fans are left out in the cold because they don’t buy enough records to make a difference. Most tv networks now are controlled by twenty somethings that don’t have a clue.
Shadow says:
That’s fuuny. They don’t have a clue. Kind of like yourself. Don’t lump all Country music together, based on what you see on TV.
I’m a diehard Country fan, haven’t been out in the cold in a long time, and I have no problem at all finding good true Country music. Course, I don’t look for it on commercial radio or Pop Country awards shows. They only promote a small portion of the total Country music scene. I look for it where it’s actually being played and honored. When you’re ready to stop complaining and move on to the real Country music, let me know, I can help you find it.