Yes. Do you know Marty Stuart? When him and his bad do a show it’s just fantastic. Marty takes like 20 minutes just going round his band and giving them a platform. Seen Marty and the Superlatives a few times at festivals. Wouldn’t buy a ticket just to see them, but my god is it a great show! King Kenny on guitar is my favourite.
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If only.
I like country. But most of the music called country these days just is not. It’s pop, sanitized and buffed and polished for mass consumption. Country and Western is a specific thing. Not just some dickhead wearing a cowboy hat and singing with a twang.
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Depends what you’re listening to. The likes of Kelsea Ballerini. Yeah country pop. I like Zac Brown Band, which is more indie country. And I like a bit of Eric Church. Defo not pop.
I guess you could say that for most of the music produced these days. Very few artists around who stay true to their music.
That’s why I said most. There is still C&W music out there, and some folks are doing it very well.
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That’s my experience too, however, one sub-section within the “not really famous” group are the blessed sons and daughters of the really famous. I used to do stage management, mostly local festivals and one daughter of a rock guitarist expected Hyde Park facilities at a village green event and refused to play because her dressing room (a tent) wasn’t warm enough.
I was often shocked at how utterly f**ked artists can be before going on stage yet seem to click into life the moment they hit the lights. Well, most, one drummer was so wasted me and two other crew had to hold him up from behind the curtain, he kept time, just had no sense of balance.
I miss those days.
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This is very, very true. I got in an argument about Blink182 the other day. Most certainly not punk, not even close. But people insist. Hip hop has been pushed to the brink of irrelevance by the whole “bitches, money, and fame” crowd, that shit isn’t hip hop.
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You gonna name names? 
The parent was in Mott The Hoople.
I wish I could remember the name of the band the drummer was in. The Jim James Revue blew my monitors once, nice guys though. Chris Evans once called me an “obnoxious jobsworth c**t”. I’m rather proud of that.
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I hate it being called country and western. It’s just country.
And country music is all in the songwriting. 3 chords and the truth as they say. I like it because it is poetry. Good words and a guitar is what I want. Like one thing I always feel strongly about is the death penalty. If one person has been wrongfully killed then why is that not enough to just ditch it?!
Thomas Rhett went and took his guitar and played for people who were about to die. And he and his mate wrote this
The line “I learned a lot about livin’ from them boys down on death row” is just the kinda thing I look for in music. Yet ignorant people just think country is all hillbilly rock. A lot of people have never even bothered to listen and find out what country music actually is.
I don’t mind Country but have always preferred what’s known as alt-country like The Beachwood Sparks.
Have you heard of them?
I’ve heard the name but don’t know much about him.
My country music knowledge is pretty much just The Eagles, Glenn Campbell, Dolly Parton and a few random songs. 
I’ve played in bands who have supported people like Steve Marriot, Wilko Johnson, New Model Army and other fairly well known bands and was amazed at how well they performed when they were clear the worse for wear.
But I suppose when you’ve been playing the same set list for so long, it’s something you get used to.
Alt country is still country. I’m going to see a band called Blackberry Smoke in a few months who you might like. They have the alt ness to them.
I’m listening to By Your Side right now. I like the sound. Is that a good song to pick or would you suggest a better one?
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As a Texan I’m vetoing this, it shall remain Country and Western.
The western part is why people laugh at it though.
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I love the whole album to be honest, the title track is probably my favourite, I love the rocky, weird ending. Two of the band left to form All Night Radio who made one album, my favourite ever - Spirit Stereo Frequency, they played a dozen or so gigs then split. They sounded like Strawberry Fields meets Laurel Canyon.
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Fan of them… an interesting blend of rock, country, and blues. Good stuff.
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One of the best rock bands to come out of the American music scene in a while. Got that old rock and roll feel, but still got their own unique sound
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