Best Decade Tournament - 90s - Numbers wins!

[ABNorman]

Oh, and "Red Solo Cup" by Toby Keith.

[Lament]

"Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert is an awesome song. I hope someone takes it in the 00s tournament.

[PryTo]

"I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)" by Alabama is better than any Garth Brooks song there is.

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I wouldn't go that far, but it's a good 'un for sure.

[PryTo]

I was debating between going all country, all rap, or 50/50. In the end, I felt like rap needed my help 'round here more than country.

[Lament]

Oh man, I would. I love that song.

Granted, the extent of my country music knowledge comes 90% from working at Lone Star/Longhorn/Outback for like six years and hearing nothing but that played at work every day, but I definitely got exposed to a lot of tunes I'd otherwise never have heard.

In those six years, no song that ever came on ever grabbed me the way "I'm in a Hurry" did.

("Kerosene" would be second though...)

[Jorge]

if there's one sub-sub-genre of music that revs my engine, it's dark, narrative, semi-mythical country death songs

[Lament]

PryTo, what do you think of the song "I Go Back" by Kenny Chesney?

[bada]

Josh Turner is one of the few modern country singers I'll listen too.

[LetMeSleep]

Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Fred Eaglesmith had some great 90s stuff

[LetMeSleep]

Heathen is Europeathen.

[PryTo]

PryTo, what do you think of the song "I Go Back" by Kenny Chesney?

I'd never heard it before. Just listened to it. Okay, not awful, not something that blows me away. But that's generally where I stand with Kenny Chesney. He's got a few songs that I think are pretty good, but I wouldn't rank him that highly on a list of country greats. I find his music palatable and inoffensive, but hardly earthshattering. Good background music for a summer day by the pool. I think it's somewhat debatable how "country" he is but I'm not sure how important that argument is in this era of electronica and rap country songs. What was it about that song that made you ask?

[Lament]

What was it about that song that made you ask?

I have a weird fascination with him because I believe his popularity is based solely on being an amalgamation of experience generic country music fans feel like they should have had, but have never actually had, if that makes sense. He's like the greatest prefabricated star of this century, and I find it weirdly amazing. That song more than any other captures his "schtick" to me. But I also am not super versed in pop-country, so I could be completely off in my assessment.

And for what it's worth, I think it's a mediocre song too. But when I watch the video, it's like the entire genre all of the sudden makes sense to me.

[PryTo]

What was it about that song that made you ask?

I have a weird fascination with him because I believe his popularity is based solely on being an amalgamation of experience generic country music fans feel like they should have had, but have never actually had, if that makes sense. He's like the greatest prefabricated star of this century, and I find it weirdly amazing. That song more than any other captures his "schtick" to me. But I also am not super versed in pop-country, so I could be completely off in my assessment.

And for what it's worth, I think it's a mediocre song too. But when I watch the video, it's like the entire genre all of the sudden makes sense to me.

I think a lot of popular country music is pretty fabricated and packaged these days. Chesney always struck me as a guy who was trying to tap that Jimmy Buffet crowd, which is why his music is "country," but not really country. If you like the Eagles and Jimmy Buffet, Chesney should work just fine.

To one of your other points, I think a lot of country music is based on the fantasy of some imagined rural utopia that doesn't actually exist. Trucks, cut-off shorts, beer, rope swings, lakes, boats, etc. In that regard, it's quite similar to rap music, which envisions some romantic ghetto otherworld. Why certain people feel the need for such mythmaking in their music is a larger question, one that I'm not (fully) prepared to answer. (As if that ever stopped me.)

[Jorge]

Teddy Thompson is the only country-pop singer I like. I don't understand why he isn't more famous.

[Lament]

I've noticed that in the past 7-8 years there has been a mass transition of failed southern metal and punk musicians into country music, at least down here in Florida. It's weird how they all think if they can't cut it in their chosen genre that they're somehow going to be God's gift to country.

And yeah, pop-country is probably the most fabricated genre out there right now. My brother-in-law grew up with Dierks Bentley, and the story of his ascent is about as groan-worthy a "success" story as you'll come across.

[PryTo]

This is a wonderful piece, especially given the source, complete with video examples. I find the blend of rap and country really odd, especially given that's it's totally one sided (country adopting rap, but not the other way around.) There's a really interesting story about race, social class, and rural/urban divisions in all of this. Highly recommended.

"How country music went crazy: A comprehensive timeline of the genre's identity crisis"
http://music-mix.ew.com/2013/10/01/coun ... ty-crisis/

[Lament]

That was a good read. And now I can start using the term "Bro Country," cause holy shit is Bro Country big down here.

[PryTo]

Yes, being close(ish) to the Florida-Georgia line, you're deep in the heart of bro country, bro. There's even a (media fabricated) bro country backlash! You can't have a trend without a backlash, now can you?

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainmen ... ow/373982/

[Lament]

Orlando is a weird little city that has an identity crisis among the natives. It's a unique area that really isn't like anywhere else in the world, but there's a bit of a war/showdown between those who insist it's a true "Southern" city and those who insist it's a hip city that just happens to be buried in the south (Real talk: It's neither, it's a Goliath tourist destination populated by people who either throw themselves completely into the tourist-dreamworld or try pathetically to just pretend that the tourist-dreamworld doesn't even exist...it's seriously captivating to watch).

Anyways, this makes it a huge breeding ground for Bro Country. You get a lot of people who aren't "Southern" at all deciding that they are, and the cartoonishness of it all just blows up. It's a recent thing too. When I moved here in 2006, there wasn't a single country bar downtown. When I moved back earlier this year, there were several. Ridiculous ones too. The one across the street from us is called "Saddle Up!" and has a giant mechanical bull in the front window and Confederate flags all over the place. It's like...Redneck Chic or something. The people I know down here who are legitimately from rural places in Central Florida and grew up on farms listening to country music and driving pick up trucks would never be caught dead in these places, but man do the young professionals who grew up in Windermere and went to all the super fancy prep schools down here love them.

[PryTo]

What's the appeal for you, Lament? (It's a serious question.) Lots of DJ gigs? Good weather? Space Mountain? Saddle Up? All of the above?