It Takes Balls to be a Woman: Feminism in Country Music May 27, 2008

In one of my earlier blog posts entitled ‘Take Your Pick! Are you a hillbilly, a lap dancer or bluegrass picker?‘ I reviewed an article by George Lewis. It is proposed in the article that one of the themes 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.

Elizabeth Cook continues this Country Music feminist tradition, it is through her recent 2007 single ‘sometimes it takes balls to be a woman’ from her album ‘balls’ that she keeps the tradition alive…

(This is an excellent song, It is both well written/performed and most importantly her voice is exceptional!)

Elizabeth Cook believes ‘having balls is just the beginning’

You can find out more about Elizabeth Cook on her official webpage and MySpace for a free listen to more awesome tracks!

Post by: Ryan Wit

The Country Genre – Taking the World By Storm May 26, 2008

So, we have been arguing that country music is far too under-publicised in the area of popular music, however in the last few years there has been a jump to becoming more well known. it’s a small jump, but an important one. The appeal of country music is starting to spread. And not just to the audience, but to other artists. Mainstream artists are dropping their styles and are trading their signature sounds in for a country style.

So after reading Sophie’s article about Kelly Clarkson, and Natalie’s about Beyonce, and reading the magazine article about “Selling Country To The Nation”, I thought I would investigate more into who, in mainstream pop/rock music, is influenced by country and how its beginning to branch into the mainstream, or mix into the mainstream, as one of Natalie‘s article discusses.

An example of this is with Jessica Simpson. She is recently trying to break into the country music business. Her recent CD “A Public Affair” has some of the usual poppy songs that expect from an artist such as this, however upon listening to it I was surprised at the country inspired content. Songs such as “Push Your Tush” are extremely country, this particular one even beginning with a cow bell. and since this CD there has been news that Jessica wants to permanently join sides with the country music genre. Even teaming up with Willie Nelson to do her re-make of “These Boots Are Made For Walking”, even if it was a bit of a flop.

And Jessica Simpson isn’t the only one trading their leather jackets in for a set of spurs. The 80’s rock band Bon Jovi has also joined on the trail ride. Since Bon Jovi teamed up with Sugarland, they have worked with a number of country artists such as “Big and Rich” (who they performed “We Got It Going On” with) and “LeAnn Rimes” (who they performed “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” with), and their latest CD “Lost Highway” is a lot more country inspired then their previous works. I have been a hard core Bon Jovi fan for quite a few years now, and I was definitely surprised at their new country spin. I would have never expected Bon Jovi to be a part of this lesser known genre. But I think this is proof at just how fun and appealing country music is. Everyone seems to want a part of it at the moment. I think country is a sort of escape from the moodier ‘Emo’ style of music that has recently been appearing. Country allows you to escape and get back to the more pure musical forms.

But its not just some of the more ‘game’ musicians that are deciding to tackle this genre, but some of the newer ‘pop’ artists too. An example is with Carrie Underwood. Generally when people emerge out of the American Idol competitions, they have been trained and moulded into going straight into the popular music industry, however Carrie Underwood went straight into the country industry. She currently had two country music albums “Carnival Ride“ and “Some Hearts”. I have to say, even though they are country music records, I actually expected them to be rather poppy because of her idol background, but surprisingly they are not. They are very true to the country genre. Songs like “Wasted”, “All American Girl”, and the slightly more mainstream and poppy “Some Hearts” (also featured on the ‘”So Country“ CD I talked about earlier) all air that distinct country sound. She has a great voice for country.

So even though the country genre has been sort of forgotten in the past, I think it is ready to become more mainstream. I think, the last few years the world has had a pretty tough time with terrorism etc, and we are all looking for an escape, something more real and down to earth and something fun. To me, that spells country, and I don’t think that I’m the only person that is feeling this way. So bring out those spurs and dust off those boots and hats, because I think your about to see come real country coverage, finally.

By Jacki Tipton

What’s in “Country Update” May 25, 2008

The last few posts I have done have all been on articles from the “Country Update” Magazine, so I thought I would just do a quick post to tell you what else you can find in the magazine.

It’s a great source of information on all things country. This particular artist had feature articles on Adam Brand, Garry Allen, Tamara Stewart, The Flood, Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson. There are also other, smaller articles on things such as the Grammy’s, the Dusty Reunion, a Farewell to Smoky Dawson, the 36^th CMAA Country Music Awards the winners of the 2008 Telstra Road to Tamworth and the 2008 Toyota Star Maker and also many, many articles on artists such as the Davidsons Bluegrass Brothers, Corb Lund and The Yeehaa Boys. There are also many pages on Reviews and upcoming Festivals.

The entire magazine is one of the best sources for country music that I have ever found. It has countless articles and information on everything country and not just the really specialised country genres but all country, so its suitable for everyone who wants to know about the country genre. At only $6.95 a magazine, it is definitely worth the money for the amount of useful information you get. Definitely worth it when you are looking to broaden your knowledge on country music.

This particular magazine is found at most newsagents, but I definitely think that country music is still under publicised in magazines and media. I went into several newsagents etc and there were generally only two country music magazines available, including this one, and they only get a small number of magazines per month. Perhaps if more magazines and sources like this were available for country music information, more people would be interested in the country music genre.

“Country Update” Magazine, Issue 48 on shelves now. (Edited by Bob Anthony Jnr, Produced By Country Update Pty Ltd, February 2008 )

By Jacki Tipton

Waltzing Matilda May 16, 2008

Waltzing Matilda, an Australian country song, is often regarded as Australia’s unofficial National anthem. The lyrics were written as a poem in 1895 by Banjo Paterson and then turned into a song in 1903 by Christina Macpherson. The music for this song was influenced by Celtic fold ballads, instead of the American Country and Western music style. In 1977, this song was one of four (Waltzing Matilda, Advance Australia Fair, God Save the Queen, and Song of Australia) considered for the national song of Australia and it received 28% of the votes. Even though it did not officially become the national anthem, it is still used widely today. For example, it was used at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976 and it is played at many sporting events, including the National Rugby Union Team Games as well as the AFL Grand Final where it is played along with Advance Australia Fair. The 1^st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment also uses it and it is the official song of the U.S. 1^st Marine Division.

It has been widely accepted that “Waltzing Matilda” is potentially based on the following story:

“In Queensland in 1891 the Great Shearers’ Strike brought the colony close to civil war and was broken only after the Premier Samuel Griffith called in the military.

In September 1894, on a station called Dagworth (north of Winton), some shearers were again on stike. It turned violent with the strikers firing their rifles and pistols in the air and setting fire to the woolshed at the Dagworth Homestead, killing dozens of sheep.

The owner of Dagworth Homestead and three policemen gave chase to a man named Samuel Hoffmeister – also called Samuel “French(y)” Hoffmeister. Rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the Combo Waterhole.”

I found an article that analyzed the story and it said:

“He (Hoffmeister) then chooses to die at his own hand for this trifling crime – as though the sheep’s life were more valuable than his own.  Remember that Australia was colonised by convicts sentenced to transportation” from England, often for trivial property offences; Australians are still suspicious of authority, and cynical about the pomposity and hypocrisy of the judicial and police systems”

There are several different versions of the lyrics, but here’s one of them:

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?”

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,
Up got the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

Down came the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Up came the troopers, one, two, three,
“Who’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?”
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
“Who’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?”,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

Up got the swagman and jumped into the billabong,
“You’ll never catch me alive”, said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?”

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?

Listen to it on Youtube: Waltzing Matilda

The clip is actually interesting! It talks about the song at first and then plays it and has pictures that go along with what the song is saying.

The information in my blog came from Roger Clarke’s Waltzing Matilda Home-Page and Wikipedia.

-Natalie Boyce