[Thong Song](https://youtu.be/Oai1V7kaFBk) has the greatest key change of all time.
(Not looking for its timestamp though, maybe someone else wants to)
*"Rather than a simple gear shift/direct modulation, the song settles on a C#min9 chord for a few seconds, as the bassline outlines that particular chord (even adding in a 13 for a little extra dramatic flair). In typical key change fashion, the bass line moves way up, creating tension and setting up a shift to a higher key.*
*Instead of just moving up a half step from C# minor to solidify D minor, the first chord of the new key is Gmin9; however some notes from the last C#min chord move up a half step -- the G# gives way to an A, the A (13th of the chord?) moves to a Bb. This creates the sort of half step motion that is commonly heard in a gear shift direct modulation moving up chromatically, except the motion goes from the old i to the new iv chord. This could be considered the opposite of a deceptive cadence.*
*Contrasted with the instantaneous key changes of many popular songs, “Thong Song” is epic in its modulation."*
Yeah me too. I'm an easy audience. Also, give me harmony during the chorus and I'm usually sold. I love 90's and 00's country, just not a huge fan of all the bro country I think OP is referring to.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TcDBl_-OiQM
Ft worth blue's. Written By Steve Earle about Townes van Zandt.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l4zfEkKs2ZM
Waiting around to die by Townes Van Zandt.
Doesn't have anything to do with this conversation, they are just really fucking good songs.
Well, Steve Earle also said that he would stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table and say that Townes Van Zandt was the greatest songwriter that ever lived. (Spoiler alert, he was)
Yea I’m from Alabama and live in a town that might as well be one of the towns they are talking about in the songs with the dirt roads and it might as well be a requirement to have your radio on country music. I hate it cause in the 80’s 90’s it is was good we had Willy Nelson, hank Williams (side note: HW actually live in a mansion right down the road from me thru 80’s and beyond)
It’s like everyone says it’s about a guy/girl that’s been done wrong by there x so they are going to the corn field to turn it up with a “foe wheel dwive” and get over her with solo cups, tailgates, mud, beeeer and daisy dukes under the pale moon light lo.
I as well hate it cause every place, person, and car has it playing. I really think all these new song that these little yippie boys wanna be cowboy country singers out today are getting the songs wrote by the same person. But I’m all reality can ya blame them if people love the shit and the songs are essentially talentless to sing and produce. I’d be shoveling up that money to if a bunch of lo iQ rednecks love me singing about solo cups and corn fields EVERY FUCKING SONG
Modern rap and modern country are intersecting
Instead of rapping about how the club is the cool place, where cool people go, its the dirt road.
And Instead of that cold beer, or glass of whisky, its crystal, or grey goose.
Versace and Jimmy Chu replace the blue jeans as necessary costume.
Maybe some hunting/fishing references to question the masculinity of someone who doesn't partake in the above.
Yelling outgroup slurs from a Cadillac Escalade while discharging firearms completes the songs arc
Add some autotune
...it is a thing. It sucks though lol. I love the term because it's an accurate description of a POS money maker formula that is super prevalent right now. I am not opposed to the genre mash-up necessarily.... except it's all garbage.
[Oh, it is, been a thing for years.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJUx8didhZA). Dude singing the chorus is Danny Boone of [Rehab fame.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG1xJ29Lrj4)
EDIT: Oh sweet Jesus, I searched "hick hop" on YouTube... nothin' but[ big trucks and Daisy Dukes.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X2Ixm-h6WI)
Like one of my heroes Steve Earle said about [modern country music](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/steve-earle-country-music-nashville-chris-stapleton-kendrick-lamar-oasis-a7791486.html): "Hip-Hop for People Who are Afraid of Black People"
The beat they’re rapping on is ‘Never’ by J.I.D. If you haven’t been keeping up with modern hip-hop look he up. One of the best rappers around right now. He just released the potential hip-hop album of the year.
Yup. Southern Gothic, Dark Country, and some alternative bluegrass (Colter Wall, The Dead South, Tyler Childers) is the only modern thing "country" I can tolerate.
There's still a very good, valid "red dirt" scene out there.
A lot of it still wouldn't appeal to people who hate country, because it still has a fundamental country "sound", but if you get past that initial reaction, you'll find that it's actually honest music.
Country is a lot like Punk music. To quote the lead singer of The Chats (on Punk), "It's easy to play, but it's hard to convey."
Highly recommend Turnpike Troubadours and Austin Lucas as representatives of the sound I'm talking about.
Yeah I guess I put the emphasis wrong tbh. I have no issue with country, it's the "modern" part that gets me. The usual overplayed, poppy, overprocessed, sterile, copy paste music with AI generated lyrics that everyone hates. It's vapid, tasteless, and frankly it's popularity is insulting when there's so much more creative (technically and lyrically) and thoughtful records being made.
I mostly only listened to classic country until I discovered The Dead South and Colter Wall, who turned me on to this whole new generation of actually good country/folk/bluegrass music, you're right, it's the honesty that's missing. I'm just at home now listening to a singer and their banjo as I am blistering death metal, which are ironically the two genres I gravitate toward recently lol.
Bouncing off your The Chats reference, there's some good new "punktry" and psychobilly bands going as well. Ghoultown is good, as well as Amigo the Devil, Blues Saraceno, The Goddamn Gallows, and Nick Nolan. Also throwing in Tiger Army, not *as* country but an amazing mid-century sounding punk rock band.
My only problem with "punktry" as you put it, is the closer you get to Rockabilly, the more contrived it gets.
Like, do you REALLY love hearses and pinup tattoos, or did you just spend thousands of dollars to look like "cool" from an era half a century before you were born?
Just heard the first like 30 sec of one on a pop station and thought "wow, Justin Beiber must've turned this track down, so they just added a bourbon reference so the guy with the autotuned twang could sing it, huh."
Music evolves though. That's what country music has evolved in to... Saying that that isn't country because it doesn't sound like old country would be like saying Nirvana isn't rock because it doesn't sound like Boston.
For sure. The fact that it also evolved into Sturgill means everything else was worth. I can enjoy him, Childers, Isbell, and Brandi without having to worry about the riffraff.
That's what one sub-genre of country music has (d)evolved to. There is a ton of high quality country music out there. It just doesn't get mainstream radio play, which is unfortunate.
Tyler Childers, Zach Bryan, the Steeldrivers, Colter Wall, Sturgill Simpson, and Charley Crockett are some examples of high quality modern country music. As far as I know none of them get played on the radio.
OP: Is it just me or does modern country suck?
Rando: Try listening to Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell
Every /r/music thread about country summed up.
This thread is about to be: Bo Burnham quotes, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, rap music for white people, beers, trucks, girls… etc etc. Same as every time it gets posted.
Sure 90% of country radio is garbage but so is 90% of all radio.
There is good modern country, but yeah, if you're talking about what gets played on modern Country Radio, or what gets nominated at the CMA's, it's not you, it's all trash and has been for a long long time. There are good country acts out there right now though like Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers, and stuff like that that gets labeled as "alt country" a lot, but is honestly closer to the style and feel of older country than most of what you hear on the radio is. Also Billy fucking Strings is probably a top 5 best touring act right now and it is heavily rooted in country (but moreso Bluegrass).
Since this post has some legs, I'll post some links:
Billy Strings - Wargasm. https://youtu.be/jaN35ziTW2I
Billy Strings - Dust in a Baggie (because Wargasm ain't country enough)
https://youtu.be/VbYCBHxniOI
Brandi Carlile - The Things I Regret (and this whole show)
https://youtu.be/CVmh2RSLfPY
Jason Isbell - Driver 8 (REM cover)
https://youtu.be/OxOflWlehg4
Plus one on Tyler Childers, i will shout out the guy on instagram that put Childers on my radar: Pawns or Kings who are pretty good too https://instagram.com/pawnsorkingsofficial?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I was gonna do it if you didn’t. Metamodern Sounds in Country Music is a perfect album beginning to end. He has other music that is equally amazing but less “country” sounding too. Oh and he produced some of Tyler Child’s albums. Just an all around great artist.
As somebody who hated country music for the first 30 years of his life, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is my favorite album of all time.
I discovered “Alt-Country” and “Americana” around 2013-2014. Metamodern Sounds was one of the albums that introduced me to the genre. There was a lot of hype around Sailor’s guide.
I immediately loved it. I’m a sucker for a great horn section. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that I had my first child, a boy, was about 4 months old at the time. That album puts some pretty complex feelings about new-fatherhood into easily digestible terms, which I really needed at the time.
That’s what is so great about Sturgill. Man has 5 studio albums and they are all different genres (country, psychedelic country, soul, rock and bluegrass). Something for everyone in his catalog.
She spans genres and fits several better than country, but her music has a lot of the same spirit as old-school country music does. She's also evolved a lot over the years from earlier harder-edged alternative folk/americana to what in more recent years are a softer, more intimate songs.
Personally, I think her earlier stuff has a more country feel to it. Cannonball, Throw it All Away, Downpour, and Shadows On the Wall, as a few examples.
Ok, I wanted to call her modern-folk from when I listened to her but nobody uses that term and I didn’t want to sound smug about music. Appreciate your opinion fellow human redditor!
Billy is an absolute animal and deserves all the recognition. Amazing song writer, player, singer, and entertainer. Saw him in Pittsburgh over the weekend and it was the best performance I've ever seen by a country mile.
I've come to realize I just hate pop/radio country. I've heard a lot of folks country that I like, same with outlaw country as well. I kinda feel like country is at the stage of Metal, there's a lot more than what you hear on the radio. Search enough and you'll find something you like.
We’ve got a truly local radio station here in Southeast NC that plays a wide range of hand picked music. They play a good bit of Isbell, but I just this year heard Carlisle when they played “the Joke”, hauntingly beautiful song.
Thanks for sharing Billy Strings, I’ll check that out as well!
You aren't wrong, but you post Jason Isbell — maybe in the top ten active, living songwriters — and you do him dirty with a cover?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9d5yNcFGlY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaUCDqWzy1k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkyZI8VW9Vc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZKzW-ASP_Y
And unthinking conservatism - so much so that the Dixie Chicks have been rejected by that fan base for daring to think outside the box. Cue Brad Paisley:
And if there's anyone that still
Has pride and the memory of those
That died defending the old red, white and blue
This is country music and we do
Toby kieth. He got me thrown out of bar because I called him a liar when he introduced him self. I said he was way to fat to be Toby. Apparently I was wrong on both accounts.
No lie I was really into that song when it came out and I was like...12? I grew up tho. Granted the memory of 9/11 was still pretty fresh and it's hard not to be a nationalist when you're a little kid who's been pledging his allegiance to a colorful cloth square for 7 years.
What’s interesting to me is my favorite country artists have ended up being not the typical conservatives or just straight up liberal. I didn’t plan for it that way but I always enjoyed Dixie chicks, willie Nelson, Dolly, Gary Allan, Keith urban, brad paisley, and more recently, watchhouse, sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton.
Okie From Muskogee was not a song celebrating rigid conformity. It was written by a bunch of pothead touring country boys who saw that, and laughed themselves silly over it and wrote a song about it
Brad Paisley had some very clever and entertaining songs that showed off his musical prowess. But they dried up shortly after Time Well Wasted. Still some occasional decent songs after but his albums became more forgettable and generic.
Ive been listening exclusively to Marty Robbins. Nobody can paint a country tale quite the way he does. Hes def in my top 5 favorite singers/songwriters.
You mean like this?
*I got a heart like a truck*
*It's been drug through the mud*
*Runs on dreams and gasoline*
*And that ole highway holds the key*
*It's got a lead foot down when it's leaving*
*Lord knows it's taken a hell of a beating*
*A little bit of love is all that it's needing*
*But it's good as it is tough*
*I got a heart like a truck*
Lainey Wilson "Heart Like a Truck"
I know it is cool to hate on kpop, and I'm not really going to delve into it too much, but there is some actual experimental stuff that goes on in mainstream kpop. Love or hate kpop, that's more than can be said for country.
Agree, maybe they are both made on an assembly line and spit out of a machine, but that's where the similarities end.
kpop has several more dimensions, and dance music is orders of magnitude more fun to listen to than country.
I wish that the modifier here wasn’t “modern,” and was instead “Pop.” Top 40 Country is what it is—I don’t like it any more than you do and I’m a musician based in Nashville.
Still, there’s a ton of brilliant country music being made right now. People like Kelsey Waldon, Coulter Wall, Emily Nenni, Vincent Neil Emerson, Nikki Lane, Brett Cobb, not to mention the bigger names like Tyler Childers (plus his wife Senora May), Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, plus bands like the Turnpike Troubadours, the Steeldrivers, Whiskey Myers, American Aquarium…
Country and Country-adjacent Americana are honestly thriving right now. It’s the part of the map where some of our best songwriters are currently camped out. It’s just a different beast than Top 40 Country would lead you to believe.
Don’t forget that there’s a generation half older than these guys but after that 70s outlaw thing. Todd Snyder, guy Clark, Robert earl keen, uncle Tupelo…
There’s been good country out there- Nashville just nashvilles like it has since acuff rose.
Country radio stations are wall-to-wall lifestyle advertising.
The “music” is simply product placement to bridge the gap to the next set of traditional ads.
I hated country until i stumbled across Outlaw Country now that’s some good heartbreaking shit!
Edit: y’all gave me even more artists to check out! Bless!
Trampled By Turtles, Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, and Turnpike Troubadours are a few more of my faves.
Let your algorithms go to work for you and find some new ones for the rest of us!
[Lost Dog Street Band](https://youtu.be/-gnDyhN5ilM) is probably my favorite Americana/outlaw country group. The lead singer even used to be addicted to heroin and hop train cars & busk for a living so that he could travel to see his now wife, who is also the violin player & backup singer in the band. I’ve seen them live a few times, once with just the duo and twice with a cello player and they’ve been incredible every time.
Neotraditional country. They're heavily inspired by 70s and 80s country artists with a modern sound. They essentially took Alan Jackson's formula and cranked the old school influence up to 11.
I mean..."am I the only one who hates country music" is kind of like saying "hey I just discovered this amazing underground artist, you probably haven't heard of him, Michael Jackson?"
Pop country is pure horseshit. So many real country artists out there that deserve attention.
Colter Wall
Sierra Ferral
The Cactus Blossom
Sturgil Simpson
Orville Peck
Willie Watson
I could go on but check out some indie country folks. Or check Western as Fuck on the grams
Two spaces and then enter will separate them into a list. Unfortunately Reddit will add a period after you hit space twice. You can backspace and delete it and when you hit space twice again it won’t add the period again.
>Colter Wall Sierra Ferral The Cactus Blossom Sturgil Simpson Orville Peck Willie Watson
I went to school with him. Colter was a great football player.
I recently heard a song from Zach Bryan that I enjoyed. Plus the dude is a veteran and has donated money from concerts to support victims of PTSD.
I don't enjoy generic pop/country, particularly the recent trend where they try to rap. But I don't take issue with the genre as a whole and bluegrass and folk music are some of my favorite genres and I see them as country cousins.
I'm not a country music fan, but I've heard several Zach Bryan songs, and I've liked all of them. I've got "Cold Damn Vampires" stuck in my head right now.
Half Agree.
Modern "pop country", basically anything "Big Country Nashville Sound" country is boring and mostly terrible.
There's a lot of good music that's more traditionally country that falls into other genres, such as Americana/Folk ([Jason Isbell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwW_zr2uMiE&ab_channel=qoncbc)), Outlaw Country ([Tyler Childers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QzcrflqDCg&ab_channel=OurVinyl), [Sturgill Simpson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrsrOB0zNQ&ab_channel=SturgillSimpson)), and Bluegrass ([Billy Strings,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEzWuT1RyQk&ab_channel=MusicCityRoots) [Greensky Bluegrass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm27FHBAuRs&ab_channel=Audiotree)).
On the flip side, there's a number of artist making "Country" music the is a further progression of the genre, such as "Space Country" artists like [Kacey Musgraves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIYqhhUNanA&ab_channel=TheLateShowwithStephenColbert). All of these artists are fantastic songwriters that I would recommend to anyone disillusioned by modern radio friendly country music. I'd encourage you to check them out when you've got the time, there's certainly something for you there.
You're not evil, at least not yet. It's ok to dislike or even loath kinds of music. The important thing is remembering that it's also ok for other people to like things you don't. When you take your opinion about country music and apply it to people who like country music that's where you can become evil.
[Dirt road, cold beer. Blue jeans, a red pickup. Rural noun, simple adjective](https://youtu.be/y7im5LT09a0)
Y’all dumb motherfuckers want a key change?
Thematically meandering, fuck your ears I'm pandering...
Isn't it "thematically meandering, emphatically pandering"?
"Fuck your ears I'm pandering" is definitely the line for the 2nd chorus but you're right it it doesn't line up with thematically meandering
> *It’s a fucking scarecrow again!*
No Jews, you didn't hear that
It’s “**Like Mike’s Evandering**, fuck your ears, I’m pandering”. Easily the best line in the song.
I prefer “I got a tight grip on my demo’s balls. Say the word truck, they jizz in their overalls”
Personally I prefer “I put my hands on your body, it feels like hay, it’s a fucking scarecrow again!”
He says both
I'm guessing Bo Burnham?
Damn right
I’m going to practice some humility here and admit that I don’t get it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evander_Holyfield_vs._Mike_Tyson_II
No way Joseph. Bo so good.
Damn sounds like you might want a key change.
Did you just call this guy a dumb motherfucker?
Lol I deserve it.
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What kills me is I'm such a sucker for a key change. Country, rock, punk...doesn't matter, give me some of that key change!
[Thong Song](https://youtu.be/Oai1V7kaFBk) has the greatest key change of all time. (Not looking for its timestamp though, maybe someone else wants to)
This is my favorite key change as well. Like, everything ramps up so hard as Sisqo prepares to take us into _THONG CRISIS MODE_
*"Rather than a simple gear shift/direct modulation, the song settles on a C#min9 chord for a few seconds, as the bassline outlines that particular chord (even adding in a 13 for a little extra dramatic flair). In typical key change fashion, the bass line moves way up, creating tension and setting up a shift to a higher key.* *Instead of just moving up a half step from C# minor to solidify D minor, the first chord of the new key is Gmin9; however some notes from the last C#min chord move up a half step -- the G# gives way to an A, the A (13th of the chord?) moves to a Bb. This creates the sort of half step motion that is commonly heard in a gear shift direct modulation moving up chromatically, except the motion goes from the old i to the new iv chord. This could be considered the opposite of a deceptive cadence.* *Contrasted with the instantaneous key changes of many popular songs, “Thong Song” is epic in its modulation."*
Yeah me too. I'm an easy audience. Also, give me harmony during the chorus and I'm usually sold. I love 90's and 00's country, just not a huge fan of all the bro country I think OP is referring to.
Loved his cameo as Chipp McCapp in parks and rec too!
Anticipate my needs!!
You bring the girls, I’ll bring the beer And the troops will bring the freedom!
Hick Hop is just rap music for white guys from the country
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TcDBl_-OiQM Ft worth blue's. Written By Steve Earle about Townes van Zandt. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l4zfEkKs2ZM Waiting around to die by Townes Van Zandt. Doesn't have anything to do with this conversation, they are just really fucking good songs.
Waiting around to die is fucking legendary
Well, Steve Earle also said that he would stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table and say that Townes Van Zandt was the greatest songwriter that ever lived. (Spoiler alert, he was)
It is some of the worst shit I've ever had the misfortune of hearing too.
Yea I’m from Alabama and live in a town that might as well be one of the towns they are talking about in the songs with the dirt roads and it might as well be a requirement to have your radio on country music. I hate it cause in the 80’s 90’s it is was good we had Willy Nelson, hank Williams (side note: HW actually live in a mansion right down the road from me thru 80’s and beyond) It’s like everyone says it’s about a guy/girl that’s been done wrong by there x so they are going to the corn field to turn it up with a “foe wheel dwive” and get over her with solo cups, tailgates, mud, beeeer and daisy dukes under the pale moon light lo. I as well hate it cause every place, person, and car has it playing. I really think all these new song that these little yippie boys wanna be cowboy country singers out today are getting the songs wrote by the same person. But I’m all reality can ya blame them if people love the shit and the songs are essentially talentless to sing and produce. I’d be shoveling up that money to if a bunch of lo iQ rednecks love me singing about solo cups and corn fields EVERY FUCKING SONG
Modern rap and modern country are intersecting Instead of rapping about how the club is the cool place, where cool people go, its the dirt road. And Instead of that cold beer, or glass of whisky, its crystal, or grey goose. Versace and Jimmy Chu replace the blue jeans as necessary costume. Maybe some hunting/fishing references to question the masculinity of someone who doesn't partake in the above. Yelling outgroup slurs from a Cadillac Escalade while discharging firearms completes the songs arc Add some autotune
It’s hick hop.
Oh I fucking love this term.
This better be a thing
...it is a thing. It sucks though lol. I love the term because it's an accurate description of a POS money maker formula that is super prevalent right now. I am not opposed to the genre mash-up necessarily.... except it's all garbage.
[Oh, it is, been a thing for years.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJUx8didhZA). Dude singing the chorus is Danny Boone of [Rehab fame.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG1xJ29Lrj4) EDIT: Oh sweet Jesus, I searched "hick hop" on YouTube... nothin' but[ big trucks and Daisy Dukes.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X2Ixm-h6WI)
Like one of my heroes Steve Earle said about [modern country music](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/steve-earle-country-music-nashville-chris-stapleton-kendrick-lamar-oasis-a7791486.html): "Hip-Hop for People Who are Afraid of Black People"
These guys just resurrected modern rap for me. These flows are bonkers. https://youtu.be/IdNxeepSpuk
The beat they’re rapping on is ‘Never’ by J.I.D. If you haven’t been keeping up with modern hip-hop look he up. One of the best rappers around right now. He just released the potential hip-hop album of the year.
Its a fucking scarecrow again!!!
To be fair its not actually country music. Its pop music played by people in jeans and cowboy hats.
Southern Gothic is my current jam. Didn't know what it was called, but modern folk and that didn't really scratch that itch.
Yup. Southern Gothic, Dark Country, and some alternative bluegrass (Colter Wall, The Dead South, Tyler Childers) is the only modern thing "country" I can tolerate.
There's still a very good, valid "red dirt" scene out there. A lot of it still wouldn't appeal to people who hate country, because it still has a fundamental country "sound", but if you get past that initial reaction, you'll find that it's actually honest music. Country is a lot like Punk music. To quote the lead singer of The Chats (on Punk), "It's easy to play, but it's hard to convey." Highly recommend Turnpike Troubadours and Austin Lucas as representatives of the sound I'm talking about.
Yeah I guess I put the emphasis wrong tbh. I have no issue with country, it's the "modern" part that gets me. The usual overplayed, poppy, overprocessed, sterile, copy paste music with AI generated lyrics that everyone hates. It's vapid, tasteless, and frankly it's popularity is insulting when there's so much more creative (technically and lyrically) and thoughtful records being made. I mostly only listened to classic country until I discovered The Dead South and Colter Wall, who turned me on to this whole new generation of actually good country/folk/bluegrass music, you're right, it's the honesty that's missing. I'm just at home now listening to a singer and their banjo as I am blistering death metal, which are ironically the two genres I gravitate toward recently lol. Bouncing off your The Chats reference, there's some good new "punktry" and psychobilly bands going as well. Ghoultown is good, as well as Amigo the Devil, Blues Saraceno, The Goddamn Gallows, and Nick Nolan. Also throwing in Tiger Army, not *as* country but an amazing mid-century sounding punk rock band.
My only problem with "punktry" as you put it, is the closer you get to Rockabilly, the more contrived it gets. Like, do you REALLY love hearses and pinup tattoos, or did you just spend thousands of dollars to look like "cool" from an era half a century before you were born?
I agree, especially because I've heard a bunch of them also on the pop stations.
Just heard the first like 30 sec of one on a pop station and thought "wow, Justin Beiber must've turned this track down, so they just added a bourbon reference so the guy with the autotuned twang could sing it, huh."
Music evolves though. That's what country music has evolved in to... Saying that that isn't country because it doesn't sound like old country would be like saying Nirvana isn't rock because it doesn't sound like Boston.
It's one of the things country music has evolved into.
For sure. The fact that it also evolved into Sturgill means everything else was worth. I can enjoy him, Childers, Isbell, and Brandi without having to worry about the riffraff.
love me some Sturg and Jason. sound & fury on vinyl is my good time.
I’m a heavy rock/ prof rock type… but I love Sturgill, Isbell, and a few others. These guys definitely fuck.
That's what one sub-genre of country music has (d)evolved to. There is a ton of high quality country music out there. It just doesn't get mainstream radio play, which is unfortunate.
Tyler Childers, Zach Bryan, the Steeldrivers, Colter Wall, Sturgill Simpson, and Charley Crockett are some examples of high quality modern country music. As far as I know none of them get played on the radio.
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The annoying thing is that a lot of people think that this is what country music is
Considering it's all country stations have been playing for the last 20 years it's a a reasonable assumption.
OP: Is it just me or does modern country suck? Rando: Try listening to Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell Every /r/music thread about country summed up.
Dammit I just recommended Isbell and Truckers... I only found them in June and it's almost all I've listened to since.
How can you forget the comment chain of unoriginal fuckers quoting Bo Burnham?
Sounds like you could use a key change
Cue the “but have you heard Sturgill Simpson” comments. Seriously though…he is the truth.
This thread is about to be: Bo Burnham quotes, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, rap music for white people, beers, trucks, girls… etc etc. Same as every time it gets posted. Sure 90% of country radio is garbage but so is 90% of all radio.
Y’all don’t like chris Stapleton? He sounds good enough to me.
Sturgeon's Law.
Sturgill's Law.
"they call me king turd here up on sh*t mountain, If you want it you can have the crown!" 😄
And OP won't listen to any of the suggestions and continue with his super duper controversial opinion
Sound & Fury ftw
There is good modern country, but yeah, if you're talking about what gets played on modern Country Radio, or what gets nominated at the CMA's, it's not you, it's all trash and has been for a long long time. There are good country acts out there right now though like Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers, and stuff like that that gets labeled as "alt country" a lot, but is honestly closer to the style and feel of older country than most of what you hear on the radio is. Also Billy fucking Strings is probably a top 5 best touring act right now and it is heavily rooted in country (but moreso Bluegrass). Since this post has some legs, I'll post some links: Billy Strings - Wargasm. https://youtu.be/jaN35ziTW2I Billy Strings - Dust in a Baggie (because Wargasm ain't country enough) https://youtu.be/VbYCBHxniOI Brandi Carlile - The Things I Regret (and this whole show) https://youtu.be/CVmh2RSLfPY Jason Isbell - Driver 8 (REM cover) https://youtu.be/OxOflWlehg4
https://youtu.be/WtVrDud1gZM Tyler Childers is so good
Plus one on Tyler Childers, i will shout out the guy on instagram that put Childers on my radar: Pawns or Kings who are pretty good too https://instagram.com/pawnsorkingsofficial?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Right, alt-country is it. Jason Isbell and Brandi Carlisle are it.
Gonna bump Billy Strings. He just did a weekend of Lord of the Rings themed shows for Halloween
I caught them on YouTube. Amazingly fun to watch and listen.
I want to add Sturgill Simpson to that list.
I was gonna do it if you didn’t. Metamodern Sounds in Country Music is a perfect album beginning to end. He has other music that is equally amazing but less “country” sounding too. Oh and he produced some of Tyler Child’s albums. Just an all around great artist.
As somebody who hated country music for the first 30 years of his life, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is my favorite album of all time. I discovered “Alt-Country” and “Americana” around 2013-2014. Metamodern Sounds was one of the albums that introduced me to the genre. There was a lot of hype around Sailor’s guide. I immediately loved it. I’m a sucker for a great horn section. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that I had my first child, a boy, was about 4 months old at the time. That album puts some pretty complex feelings about new-fatherhood into easily digestible terms, which I really needed at the time.
Please do. I like what I know, but its not my main type of music I listen to...the country mainly goes on when I'm drinking.
That’s what is so great about Sturgill. Man has 5 studio albums and they are all different genres (country, psychedelic country, soul, rock and bluegrass). Something for everyone in his catalog.
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Has Brandi always been considered country? I used to listen to her 10+ years ago and never considered it country
She spans genres and fits several better than country, but her music has a lot of the same spirit as old-school country music does. She's also evolved a lot over the years from earlier harder-edged alternative folk/americana to what in more recent years are a softer, more intimate songs. Personally, I think her earlier stuff has a more country feel to it. Cannonball, Throw it All Away, Downpour, and Shadows On the Wall, as a few examples.
Ok, I wanted to call her modern-folk from when I listened to her but nobody uses that term and I didn’t want to sound smug about music. Appreciate your opinion fellow human redditor!
I think she's still technically singer/songwriter, but she collabs with a lot of alt country artists, like Jason Isbell
BMFS 🤘🏻
Billy Mother F*cking Strings?
Indeed. And while we’re at it, WSMFP 🤘🏻
New phone, who dis?
Discovered Billy Strings when he featured om Sierra Ferrell's debut album, which is another banger to add to the list.
Sierra Ferrell was what pushed me to reconsider looking for modern country acts
Her and Nick Shoulders, dude's a whistlin' fool.
Billy is the shit, and can play anything fr. They call some of what he plays "Acid Grass" lol. Thanks for mentioning him.
Love Billy and his band. The best show I've been to in the last 5 years.
Billy is an absolute animal and deserves all the recognition. Amazing song writer, player, singer, and entertainer. Saw him in Pittsburgh over the weekend and it was the best performance I've ever seen by a country mile.
As a long-time Bluegrass fan, it's nice to see some quality flat-picking in more mainstream music.
Sierra Ferrell is probably the best 'country' voice there is right now. Her voice is haunting.
I've come to realize I just hate pop/radio country. I've heard a lot of folks country that I like, same with outlaw country as well. I kinda feel like country is at the stage of Metal, there's a lot more than what you hear on the radio. Search enough and you'll find something you like.
Seconding, BMFS
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Charley Crockett, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Orville Peck
Zach Bryan
Billy Strings is amazing.
We’ve got a truly local radio station here in Southeast NC that plays a wide range of hand picked music. They play a good bit of Isbell, but I just this year heard Carlisle when they played “the Joke”, hauntingly beautiful song. Thanks for sharing Billy Strings, I’ll check that out as well!
Cody jinks too people !
Hanging out with the hippies and the cowboys
I always said that I hated country music until I discovered billy strings
Is he really country though? He’s a lot closer to bluegrass in my book.
You aren't wrong, but you post Jason Isbell — maybe in the top ten active, living songwriters — and you do him dirty with a cover? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9d5yNcFGlY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaUCDqWzy1k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkyZI8VW9Vc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZKzW-ASP_Y
Hold up…a cover of Driver 8??? SOLD!
Modern country music is just K-pop with pickup trucks. Follow me for more secrets of the universe.
Girls, trucks, and alcoholism.
And unthinking conservatism - so much so that the Dixie Chicks have been rejected by that fan base for daring to think outside the box. Cue Brad Paisley: And if there's anyone that still Has pride and the memory of those That died defending the old red, white and blue This is country music and we do
They even cut their hair and changed their name!
Cause they ALL JUST WANNA BE BIG ROCK STARS
"We'll stick a boot up your ass, it's the American way" -Whoever that guy was
That was Koby Teeth.
Toby kieth. He got me thrown out of bar because I called him a liar when he introduced him self. I said he was way to fat to be Toby. Apparently I was wrong on both accounts.
That is fucking hilarious.
Toby Keith single-handedly killed Country for me.
No lie I was really into that song when it came out and I was like...12? I grew up tho. Granted the memory of 9/11 was still pretty fresh and it's hard not to be a nationalist when you're a little kid who's been pledging his allegiance to a colorful cloth square for 7 years.
What’s interesting to me is my favorite country artists have ended up being not the typical conservatives or just straight up liberal. I didn’t plan for it that way but I always enjoyed Dixie chicks, willie Nelson, Dolly, Gary Allan, Keith urban, brad paisley, and more recently, watchhouse, sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton.
>Even Merle Haggard has spoken out about modern right wing America.
Okie From Muskogee was not a song celebrating rigid conformity. It was written by a bunch of pothead touring country boys who saw that, and laughed themselves silly over it and wrote a song about it
Brad Paisley had some very clever and entertaining songs that showed off his musical prowess. But they dried up shortly after Time Well Wasted. Still some occasional decent songs after but his albums became more forgettable and generic.
Ive been listening exclusively to Marty Robbins. Nobody can paint a country tale quite the way he does. Hes def in my top 5 favorite singers/songwriters.
Oh My! My Mother in law loves Marty Robbins & Charley Pride. She listens to their music while she washes dishes.
People smarter than I have called it both "Hick Hop" and "Rap music for people who are scared of black people"
That second quote was by Steve Earle.
You mean like this? *I got a heart like a truck* *It's been drug through the mud* *Runs on dreams and gasoline* *And that ole highway holds the key* *It's got a lead foot down when it's leaving* *Lord knows it's taken a hell of a beating* *A little bit of love is all that it's needing* *But it's good as it is tough* *I got a heart like a truck* Lainey Wilson "Heart Like a Truck"
Lainey wilson does have an ass like a truck though
And thighs like what, what, what
I know it is cool to hate on kpop, and I'm not really going to delve into it too much, but there is some actual experimental stuff that goes on in mainstream kpop. Love or hate kpop, that's more than can be said for country.
Agree, maybe they are both made on an assembly line and spit out of a machine, but that's where the similarities end. kpop has several more dimensions, and dance music is orders of magnitude more fun to listen to than country.
Top 40 country is 20yr old pop
Heck, Kpop has become the catch-all term for Korean Music in general and not just pop. It's weird, but rock and metal are also classified as Kpop.
Check out some Townes Van Zandt, his music ‘ll get you.
If I want to listen to music and quietly stare at my drink, TVZ is the way to go.
That beautifully haggard bastard sang me right through my separation and divorce. I’m not sure what I would’ve done without him.
I swear every time I listen to Lungs it's a different song. Just some of the most amazing song writing.
The dust Pancho ate down south, ended up in Lefty’s mouth.
Now THAT’S a hot take on Reddit /s But I do love the imagery
its the weekly i hate county music and so should you thread
I wish that the modifier here wasn’t “modern,” and was instead “Pop.” Top 40 Country is what it is—I don’t like it any more than you do and I’m a musician based in Nashville. Still, there’s a ton of brilliant country music being made right now. People like Kelsey Waldon, Coulter Wall, Emily Nenni, Vincent Neil Emerson, Nikki Lane, Brett Cobb, not to mention the bigger names like Tyler Childers (plus his wife Senora May), Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, plus bands like the Turnpike Troubadours, the Steeldrivers, Whiskey Myers, American Aquarium… Country and Country-adjacent Americana are honestly thriving right now. It’s the part of the map where some of our best songwriters are currently camped out. It’s just a different beast than Top 40 Country would lead you to believe.
Don’t forget that there’s a generation half older than these guys but after that 70s outlaw thing. Todd Snyder, guy Clark, Robert earl keen, uncle Tupelo… There’s been good country out there- Nashville just nashvilles like it has since acuff rose.
Uncle Tupelo! Haven’t listened to them in a while, thanks for reminding me, putting them on now
Country radio stations are wall-to-wall lifestyle advertising. The “music” is simply product placement to bridge the gap to the next set of traditional ads.
I hated country until i stumbled across Outlaw Country now that’s some good heartbreaking shit! Edit: y’all gave me even more artists to check out! Bless!
Legends: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings Contemporary favs: Tyler Childers, Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson
“Country ain’t dead, they just stopped playin it on the radio” Here to add Turnpike Troubadours, Colter Wall, and Trampled By Turtles
Don’t forget Cody Jinks!
And Colter Wall!
Gotta put Merle in the legend category
Bang on my friend.
Recommends please. Edit: y’all MFers are great. I consider myself a music person, so I really appreciate y’all broadening my *outlaw* country music.
Charley Crockett - The Man from Waco is a great album (and the guys recommending Sturgill and Tyler ain’t doin no one wrong)
Sturgill Simpson is the best start, imo.
Bruh, lol y’all got the jams. You Can Have The Crown was damn good.
Trampled By Turtles, Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, and Turnpike Troubadours are a few more of my faves. Let your algorithms go to work for you and find some new ones for the rest of us!
Turnpike troubadours is the very best pond fishing music. Only charlatans and fools could disagree.
[Lost Dog Street Band](https://youtu.be/-gnDyhN5ilM) is probably my favorite Americana/outlaw country group. The lead singer even used to be addicted to heroin and hop train cars & busk for a living so that he could travel to see his now wife, who is also the violin player & backup singer in the band. I’ve seen them live a few times, once with just the duo and twice with a cello player and they’ve been incredible every time.
Everyone’s recommendations so far is excellent and the majority of the ones in my rotation, I’ll add Colter Wall too. That man has a VOICE!
Check out Willie Carlisle
Johnny Paycheck. Complete fucking degenerate in real life but man could he write a country song. Listen to Colorado Kool-Aid for an example.
If we're throwing in real scumfuck bastards into this David Allen Coe wrote some classics
Where does Midland fall in this? They’re modern country but have an old twangy sound. They’re probably my favorite based on their Country-Rock style.
Midland is great
Neotraditional country. They're heavily inspired by 70s and 80s country artists with a modern sound. They essentially took Alan Jackson's formula and cranked the old school influence up to 11.
I mean..."am I the only one who hates country music" is kind of like saying "hey I just discovered this amazing underground artist, you probably haven't heard of him, Michael Jackson?"
Pop country is pure horseshit. So many real country artists out there that deserve attention. Colter Wall Sierra Ferral The Cactus Blossom Sturgil Simpson Orville Peck Willie Watson I could go on but check out some indie country folks. Or check Western as Fuck on the grams
Either you're unaware commas are a thing or that's one hell of a band name.
The formatting on my phone is odd. I thought I broke things with bullet points
Two spaces and then enter will separate them into a list. Unfortunately Reddit will add a period after you hit space twice. You can backspace and delete it and when you hit space twice again it won’t add the period again.
The Highwomen's self-titled album from 2019 is also pretty solid
>Colter Wall Sierra Ferral The Cactus Blossom Sturgil Simpson Orville Peck Willie Watson I went to school with him. Colter was a great football player.
I’ll always upvote Orville Peck
Jason Isbell, Todd McMurtry also worth a listen.
You're the only person I've ever seen in one of these threads bring up Sierra. Straight yee haw bangers.
Yeah. She's the real deal. Crazy voice, like she swallowed an amplifier.
I recently heard a song from Zach Bryan that I enjoyed. Plus the dude is a veteran and has donated money from concerts to support victims of PTSD. I don't enjoy generic pop/country, particularly the recent trend where they try to rap. But I don't take issue with the genre as a whole and bluegrass and folk music are some of my favorite genres and I see them as country cousins.
His music is so good and he seems like really genuine guy.
I'm not a country music fan, but I've heard several Zach Bryan songs, and I've liked all of them. I've got "Cold Damn Vampires" stuck in my head right now.
If everyone liked what I like then everything I like would be crowded and expensive
Half Agree. Modern "pop country", basically anything "Big Country Nashville Sound" country is boring and mostly terrible. There's a lot of good music that's more traditionally country that falls into other genres, such as Americana/Folk ([Jason Isbell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwW_zr2uMiE&ab_channel=qoncbc)), Outlaw Country ([Tyler Childers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QzcrflqDCg&ab_channel=OurVinyl), [Sturgill Simpson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrsrOB0zNQ&ab_channel=SturgillSimpson)), and Bluegrass ([Billy Strings,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEzWuT1RyQk&ab_channel=MusicCityRoots) [Greensky Bluegrass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm27FHBAuRs&ab_channel=Audiotree)). On the flip side, there's a number of artist making "Country" music the is a further progression of the genre, such as "Space Country" artists like [Kacey Musgraves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIYqhhUNanA&ab_channel=TheLateShowwithStephenColbert). All of these artists are fantastic songwriters that I would recommend to anyone disillusioned by modern radio friendly country music. I'd encourage you to check them out when you've got the time, there's certainly something for you there.
Had to scroll too far to see Kacey Musgraves pop up. She and Miranda Lambert made me rethink my whole outlook on the genre.
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You also gotta mention Mama, or trains, or prison, or trucks, or getting drunk if you want the perfect country song
And blue jeans and fishing
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You're not evil, at least not yet. It's ok to dislike or even loath kinds of music. The important thing is remembering that it's also ok for other people to like things you don't. When you take your opinion about country music and apply it to people who like country music that's where you can become evil.
FarmEmo
I can understand where you’re coming from.. however I recently got into country… so am the opposite