This Blog for me, like many of us is the first I have ever participated in; I have learned a great deal form this blogging activity, I never understood why people would even want to blog, now I do; it can be quiet satisfying, especially when you know your reaching the outside world. We have had some high profile comments outside our blog group, which I am still finding difficult to comprehend, I think that at the very least this indicates our blog has been a success; for example one of my blog post on the Kernaghans was commented on by Steve JW Roberts who is Lee Kernaghans Personal Assistant.

It amazes me how easily our blog reaches out to the world, the internet truly is a wonderful medium; while I have learned a great deal about country music, I have also learned some new internet presentation skills such as adding pictures and videos to posts, which I think adds an attraction factor to blog posts. This project is by far the most satisfying assignment I have ever been apart of! I has changed my perception on the Country Music Industry, and I hope what we have done will help to alter other peoples perception as well.

My Perception of Country Music Has Changed!

Previously I have been rather critical of the country genre, in one of my previous blogs ‘A different way to think about country’ I suggested that “I don’t really enjoy the sound; in fact, I would pass up listening to country music for most other forms of music”, this blog has helped to expose me to the country music scene, I have found that now I don’t mind country music so much, I am not going to run out and buy a Cd or anything, but I am far less likely to change the radio station or put in a Cd when a country music song comes on. With continued exposure to the country music genre, who knows I might even become a country music lover, but at this point I’m content that I have come to find I really quite enjoy folk country styles of music (Lisa Mitchell Inspired), I may even add some to my collection.

This blog has facilitated much learning capacity for the country music beginner,  we have brought to light so many different country related topics. My knowledge of the country industry is now much greater than the Australian country music awards and the Tamworth music festival, both which previously I avoided watching or reading about. I have even began to notice the country songs in my favourite genre, bands like Yellowcard and Panic at the Disco, have country sounding tracks incorporated on some of their albums and these to the dismay of most people that ride in my car are now some of my favourite songs.

The posts I have most enjoyed doing were the ones based on feminism in country music, music reviews and the modern cultural constructions of country music. I have been able to take a lot of information away from this blog, although our posts were not always academic, just the analysis of country music from sources such as myspace, youtube, news articles and websites has helped shape my perception of the country music genre. The combination of sources has allowed for wider audience participation, this construction of our blog has therefore supported the Country Music Industry in a postive way. I hope that now everyone has developed a far more authentic view of country music; I know that I have been able to develop many new ideas of what country should be, such as a form of expression, comedic and serious incorporated with life’s various issues, family, love, political, feminist etc… There is one thing I know for sure I’d rather be a Hillbilly or bluegrass country lover than a Lapdancer! How about you?

The great thing about this activity has been the fact that the blog will continually be exposed to the outside world but….

Just Like the final song an artist plays at a gig the blog is coming to a close… will there be an encore, only time will tell…

So for now I bid you all a fond farwell…

“Goodbye Y’all”

I sure have enjoyed being apart of this blog!

Post by: Ryan Witt

On an end note, saw an interesting thing on the news tonight in regards to blogging, apparently you can earn a six digit figure through sitting at home blogging and letting your oppinions, which is what we’ve been doing these past few weeks! I just though id end on that cuz although this is the end of our blogging on this topic, there is a whole world out there, and through my first experience blogging it has lead me to a new world of not only deeper into the country music world but into blogging!

signing off…. Sophie adams

We are constantly bombarded with the top 40, the pop/rock, the popular music, but we believe this type of music is not the most interesting aspect of contemporary music out there. So by creating this blog we hoped to address the issue that country music is not publicised in the ‘popular’ music community. It’s a huge industry, so why isn’t it generally covered in the top 40, Video Hits, or on popular music stations such as NXFM? Why is it only well known within its own industry and community?

Country music is full of passion, humour and a good story. It is made by good old fashioned hard working, and generally middle classed people. It’s not this computer generated repetitive style of music that is normally on the countdowns. Its made by real people, who can actually sing. How do we know that? Well because country music is played in pubs and in parks, by someone with and old acoustic guitar and a dream. It isn’t a socialite or an actress who wakes up one day and decides to make a recorded because they are bored. Its real. The emotions are real and the stories are real. So why do we keep falling for the world of the manufactured music? Well quite simply, we are told to. Its hot, its new and its plastered everywhere. We don’t have a choice in the matter. But for reasons just like this, I argue that country music can pull us out of our consumer driven rut and back into the world of the real. Country music is a world where you can sing about beer and driving a truck and its OK to do so. Its fun. There is nothing to prove. Just as long as you have a catchy song that people can enjoy you have achieved your ultimate goal.

Sure, there are those lucky few country music artists who do make it into the top 40 countdowns, but they are rare and far between, and that’s not good enough. A genre that has so much passion and such a huge following should be provided to everyone. Yes it has its very own television stations etc. but not all of us have pay TV, and I would say that country music is for the average Joe, and what average Joe can even afford pay TV?

One thing I have learnt about country music though, is it seems to be stuck in a catch 22. In order to be publicised and actually earn money the song needs to be poppy enough to fit into the top 40 and mainstream countdowns however, within the country genre, when a song is poppy and moves away from the distinct deep country twangy sound, the artists are ridiculed and considered sell outs, or worse, glorified ‘lap dancers’ (as discussed in Ryan’s article “Lap Dancer or Hillbilly Deluxe? The Cultural Constructions of Modern Country”). So there lies the problem. Either the country music artists stay true to their country roots and end up poor and relatively unknown, or they become famous and well off ‘sell outs’. There is a thin line that the country music genre is straddling. No wonder its difficult for the country genre to break into the mainstream.

Although our arguments is that country music is under publicised and that more people should be given the opportunity to hear it, I do realise that music is in the tastes of the individual. As discussed in one of our class readings, “Fast or slow, country or pop, jazz or blues – Louis Armstrong (or Duke Ellington) expressed the universal truth. There are only two kinds of music: good and bad. Roger Rollin has added his own corollary to that judgment. In matters of aesthetic decision, only the ear of the beholder is relevant.” (Cooper, B. Lee,1997, “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me: Reflections on the Evolution of Popular Music and Rock Scholarship”, Popular Music and Society, Spring http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_/ai_20633221 ). So although we believe country deserves a wider audience, we cannot force it upon others, but instead we educate those about what else is out there.

Throughout writing this blog I have learned a lot. I have learned not only how under appreciated country music is in the mainstream, but I also learnt how huge it is on its own, which makes my first observation even more baffling. If it is such a huge genre, why aren’t we given more opportunity to it? Personally, I think this blogging form is a great way to reach people and spread the country word. We have had comments from random other bloggers and people seam to be either engaging in our ideas or at least reading them, so I think we have somewhat achieved our goal. Now if we could only get the word out to the wider community.

Country music is a great genre, and the more I have researched it the more I have been pulled in and the more I love it. Not just for the music but for the atmosphere and the general mood the genre brings. It has a real country quality. You feel like the people singing are not some super huge megastar but your next door neighbour. Someone you can go and visit on a Sunday afternoon for a beer around a camp fire. Its laid back, relaxed and care free, like there are more important things to life than high powered stress. To me, country music shows an ideal world, a community where you are not lost in the hustle bustle of life but where you have time to stop and appreciate the finer things.

I really hope that through this blog, we have shed some light on this relatively hidden genre. It’s a genre that everyone should experience and I hope that we have helped to do that, or at least give some more information on the genre so you may understand just what you are missing by not giving it a go. It’s a genre that can really change your perspective on things, and isn’t that what everyone needs now an again?

So spread the word, and join the country music world. Until you do, you wont know what you have been missing!

Jacki Tipton, signing off.

Thanks for reading!

At the beginning of this project I wasn’t sure how much I would like doing a blog, but I ended up really enjoying it. I would have to say that this was probably my favorite project. I really liked being able to see what other people in my group found and decided to write about and furthermore, I liked being about to add comments to other blogs. Particularly within our blog, I really enjoyed learning about all the different sub-categories of country music and it makes me want to find out what sub-categories are in other music genres. As well, it was very interesting for me to be able to compare and contrast country music in Australia and the States. I even learned about a show that airs back home called Nashville Star from a post by one of my group members. I had never heard of that show before even though it is on its sixth year. It was really interesting to look at country music and all the different aspects of it that I never knew existed – I am a fan of country music and I learned so much from this project. I now like different types of country music that I had never known about and I like country music even more!

However, I do have to say that one thing did really frustrate me with this blog. I found some very good pictures and a flyer that could have enhanced some of my blogs, but I could not get them to post on my blogs. I tried so many different ways and nothing worked! Besides that though, I really liked digging deep into country music and bringing it out of its shadows!

Great Job Everyone!! I feel we did a very good job at shining a new light on country music!!

-Natalie Boyce

For the past few weeks we have been using this blog site in an attempt to bring country music out of the shadows of mainstream music. We have been researching the genre and trying to cover the missing areas that are not shown in the media, including artists, events, interpretations of country music and the history of country music. I’m not sure how well we have educated others on this genre but I’m hoping they now can appreciate the genre for what it is. You don’t have to like it, just appreciated the talent that is involved. I know how much I have learnt from my own research and from reading the blogs from the other group members. I have always liked some country music songs but after researching and discovering other artists I have widened my musical taste.

  Radio and media has a strong power and is very influential. Before this blog page started my country music knowledge was limited to famous names including Slim Dusty, Keith Urban, Lee Kernaghan and the Tamworth Country Music Festival. I now know that there are many more country music festivals in Australia, I know about Aboriginal Country Music, Hick Hop, Rock influenced country music and a range of new artists including Lisa Mitchell. The media doesn’t seem to cover the broader range of the genre and it’s a shame because as Negus (1999) stated when it comes to media ‘the tail has started wagging the dog’. The media and radio is so powerful that it has a direct impact on who is being signed to recording contracts and in many ways influences the ways in which artists are recorded.

    Ever since I wrote the blog about the cyclical changes of country music I have been thinking about the stage it is now. It was at its height in 1994 and has since been lowered on the media radar. Hopefully new technologies such as Myspace can enable new artists to start their career in the Country Music Genre and help to bring Country Music back to its height. Now that music is cheaper and easier to obtain people might be more willing to down load a country music song as it is less commitment than buying a physical album and they can give the genre a go. It is good to hear that mainstream artists are taking on a bit of a country feel in their songs, maybe this will boost Country Music’s image.

   This is my last blog as part of this assignment and I wanted to finish with a final thought: after researching the genre I don’t think it deserves to slip into ‘mainstream’ as it is fantastic on it’s own it deserves much more! Hopefully our blog site here at Country Kids has given Country Music at least some of the recognition it deserves and coverage of the areas that may have been forgotten.

Rachelle Fenning

Negus, K. (1999), ‘Music Genres and Corporate Cultures’. Routledge, London.

Even though it is called ‘CMC Rocks the Snowys’. It is interesting to see that the headlining act is not actually known as Country Music. The website does however say that it is a country and roots music festival. To me it looks like it would be a very good festival and one that I wouldn’t mind going to in the future. Even if it does have other types of music mixed him I’m gald that it is recognized as a Country Music type festival and is helping to get the genre back out there to the wider community.  During May and June the Country Music Channel will be ‘reliving’ the event so if your interested turn on the TV and have a look. Its a shame the CMC is only available on pay TV though as this limits peoples access and shadows Country Music.

Anyway I’d be very keen to attend the festival next year. Its in a great location and has a fantastic range of artists.

 Check out what the festival that was held this year contained!

By Rachelle Fenning

It was interesting to read the connections of art and society. Music I feel is an art form, one in which country may not be understood by all, but it should be appriciated by all, for what it is and what it does.

Sophie Adams

Searching through cmt.com I came across “The Top earners in Country Music”

Taken directly from the cmt.com site, when looking at the small article, I had only heard of three of the artists on the list, Keith Urban, Faith HIll and Tim McGraw, who although they are still doing quite well for them selves, arent the top of the lists. I think here is where the cracks in country music appear to an extent. Although they are the industry’s top earners, from some ones point of view for sees more top 40 charts and what is main stream and pop culture, these people arent recognised to their full extent! I understand that alot of the top earners are producers and what not. But I still feel they need more recognition in regards to their contributions not only to the country music industry, but to the entertainment and music industry alone!!!

By Sophie Adams

his image was always what stood out the most. He played up on the white trash image with in a white raprock emerging industry being heavily influenced by such artists like the beastie boys, yet Rock’s lyrics were seen to be more obscene and in turn there was a $20 000 radio fine for one of his songs titled “Yodeling in the vally” which had close references to oral sex. Yet this image and Rock producing most of the work him self is what pushed him through the boundaries of the industry. HIs album “Devil with out a cause” released in August 1998, ten years after he initially attempted to break into the music industry, is what shot him to success, his song “Cowboy” and “Bawitdaba” of the album shot him to a superstar with a Top Five, seven-times-platinum album and a gig at Woodstock ’99. His success was due to his alternative genre which was infused with raw rock of country with rap.

Now although I initially didnt really consider Kid Rock, although I thought he was a red neck hilbilly and I never really liked his music, its interesting to see he all over cmt.com through links to radio, video clips and bios and pics. He was/ kinda still is I guess a success with a country style rap rock. Although he’s still up there with red necks like limp biscit with the rap rock style, the fact that kid rock, although from detroit and has a primarily rap background, draws heavily from country not only for his hilbilly image but for his music i thought was quite cool.

However, I also find it funny how most of his image, and alot of what I knew about him before I researched further was his marriage/divorce relationship with Bay Watch star Pam Anderson!

Sophie Adams

Born on Jan. 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tenn., into a poor family that would eventually include 12 children, Dolly Parton learned early to escape the hardships of life through her vivid and far-ranging imagination. Before she learned to read and write she was making up her own songs. Hows that for the positive country spirit, she provided laughter, entertainment, fun and a positive spin on what could be seen as a not so great situation. She then got her first guitar age ten and started singing on a radio station age 11!

Shes had her fair share of country music awards as well as grammys and oscers for numerous songs she has written and performed. Opened her own themepark named Dollywood in Tennessee and has also written many childrens books! Not bad for a woman who is 62 and who’s first single was called “Dumb Blonde”.

Despite the jokes of Dolly Parton inregards to the barbieish figure she seems to have maintained for quite sometime, she defenetly has made a mark in the entertainment world, but never really strayed from her country roots.

Although she isnt quite mainstream, country music and the coverage with in the media wouldnt quite be the same with out her and the contributions she has made both in the spot light and behind the scenes. One thing I found most interesting is the fact she co-wrote and produced “I will always love you” from the soundtrack to the movie “Body Guard” which was performed by Whitney Housten. There is a country music star contributing to a hit song with in the mainstream (of the time) industry.

Guess Blondes have more fun!

By Sophie Adams