Take Your Pick! Are you a hillbilly, a lap dancer or bluegrass picker? May 15, 2008

Take Your Pick!

I recently read an article entitled ‘Lap Dancer or Hillbilly Deluxe? The Cultural Constructions of Modern Country…’ by George H. Lewis, I decided for my first Blog entry I would review the article and draw out and talk about the important facts.

Country Today

It would seem that in America today country music is far more popular than in the Australian country music scene, as the article suggests that ‘by the mid-1990s, had annual commercial sales of close to 2 billion dollars, and leading music radio format in the united states’. I think that this would suggest that in America country music is somewhat main-stream for the aging population; therefore the majority of listeners are likely to be older in age, as the younger crowds tend to be influenced by the Pop charts.

History & Culture

Lewis suggests that country singers such as Jimmie Rogers and Maybelle Carter, ‘obtained a good deal of their formative musical knowledge and style form African American street performers’, this is interesting as he goes on to suggest that the white Americans find this difficult to accept, due to their strong ideas of the genres white heritage. Two interesting historical facts that are noted by Lewis, these are that Cowboy hats were introduced into the country genre through the singing cowboy movies that Hollywood made in the 1930s, and funnily enough acoustic/steel guitars were not a part of the genre until after the First World War; Lewis takes note of Malone whom suggests that ‘these instruments began nudging the barndance fiddle aside’.

Themes of Country Music

Within the article Lewis also suggests some of the themes country music singers write about, for instance the traditional and central theme of loneliness. A theme that has appropriated in the past 50 years for many female country singers is their expression of feminism in their music, to address the need for the change of standards and ethics for women within society. One interesting song ‘To Daddy’ by Emmylou Harris 1978 is noted in the article as the song depicts a time, when men had the tendency to treat women badly; the song is about a women that is ‘Ignored over the years by her husband, endures quietly until the children have finished school – then leaving behind a short note, slips out into the night, never to return’ (Lewis 1997, p.168). Another common theme has been ‘concerns for community, home and family values’ and more recently country has been the facilitator on environmental views one such example in the article is ‘pass it on down’ by Alabama.

Change/authenticity

Cultural change and authenticity of country music is discussed quiet thoroughly in the article, Lewis suggests that ‘country music – as in other cultural endeavours – taste is a socially constructed matter that, indeed, shifts and changes with the time and the cultural audience’. The article goes on to talk about how country’s authentic culture may be far too bold for new listeners, as the ‘hillbilly, white trash image and attitude’ culturally ghettoizes them, thus Lewis suggests that ‘to enjoy country music, then, is to be letting a little too much “hillbilly show”’. This may suggest why country is not easily picked up by younger listeners; the article goes on to propose the ‘bumpkinesque images and themes of country are embarrassing and/or obnoxious’ therefore these new listeners are far more likely to support artists that steer away from the crude stereotypes of the country genre; however as stated in the article Barbara Ching suggests that for the traditional audiences, the comedic functions of country ‘has never been mistaken as authentic ’.

The article also puts forward two forms of country music that have been questioned as inauthentic by listeners, these being ‘bumpkin’ and ’the new Woman-In-Me/Achy Breaky brand; Lewis suggests the these listeners are moving to either “new traditionalist” or “folk/bluegrass revival” while new/younger listeners are reconstructing their own ideas of country.

The inauthentic elements of country music caused by the emergence of new age, mainstream and the over comedic forms are highlighted in the article through a statement made by Country singer Steve Earle whom particularly attacks the mainstream creation of country music. Earle expresses the following: “I don’t even wear cowboy boots anymore, let alone hats, because I don’t want to be identified with the ‘country’ scene… You’ve got Shania Twain… I saw her on the CMA Awards and it dawned on me – she’s the highest paid lap dancer in America.” This would imply that mainstream music has helped only to stereotype country and perhaps ruin the elements of its culture as Earle feels ashamed to be a part of the scene.

We can develop a picture in our minds of the change in country music over time, from its folk roots to hillbilly/comedic, to the development of bluegrass, to the mainstream spin on country (the lap dancer)…

Which form of country do you see as authentic?

The ‘Lap dancer, bluegrass picker, or hillbilly deluxe?’ (Lewis 1997)

Reference:

Lewis, G H 1997, ‘Lap Dancer or Hillbilly Deluxe? The Cultural Constructions of Modern Country…’, Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 31, no.3, pp.163-173.

Post by: Ryan Witt