Awakenings: Into the 90s...Country Time

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Into the 90s...Country Time

"I'm grateful when anybody can start to have his or her limited perception of the genre open up a little bit,... There's a lot of great music in the country genre that doesn't get heard because people say, 'Well, I don't like country.'" -Keith Urban

"Country music is the people's music. It just speaks about real life and about truth and it tells things how they really are." -Faith Hill

First impression, or perhaps the only impression of country music by some people, is the music referred to as "hillbilly redneck twang" or simply "redneck twang." This connotation resolved from forms and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments, such as banjos, electric and acoustic guitars, fiddles and harmonicas. The 'twang' resulted from musicians who could make their voices go high pitched all of a sudden, for a quick moment, then go back to regular sounding. That technique is actually a wonderful talent, practiced by a lot of old western music singers, those who lay the foundation for good ol' country.

Here is one definition from Twang Factor (FT): Rate Your Music:

Twang (my definition): ¹Easily detected, sometimes nasal, Southern U.S., hillbilly, or rural accent; also can be, ²brief almost yodel-like 'catch' or vocal 'hitch' present in some country music.

Some musicians recognized with the 'twang ability' include, but are by no means limited to...

Wayne "The Train" Hancock is a proud retro rockabilly Super-Twanger.

Marty Brown hits the twang o-meter as honky-tonkin' twang run amok.

Deight Yoakam is probably the best twanger around.

Dolly Parton is most like the foremost female twanger.

George Jones is a real twangin' icon.

[For more of the twangers and their twang ability rate, learn more HERE!]

It has been said that one either loves country music or simply hates it, hardly ever any in between. Of course, that is solely a matter of opinion and many probably will admit to falling in the middle.

Regardless of whether the music is actually liked or not, one should NOT stop here without an understanding of country music. It goes much broader and deeper than the twang. Country music is a form of popular music having its roots in the rural southern United States. It is traditionally a mixture of ballads with each being a poem or song but always narrating a story in short verses. Such stories have been passed on orally from one generation to the next as part of the folk culture. The foundation of these songs is extremely emotional.

A new audience emerged for country music in the 80s and especially the 90s. A plethora of musicians set the stage on fire leaving the flames to rise higher and higher through the decades that followed well into the 21st century. This is but a few: Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Alan Jackson, John Michael Montgomery, Clint Black, the Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Brooks & Dunn, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Lonestar.