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Cargando... Rednecks and Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Musicpor Chris Willman
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Now in paperback, the nationally acclaimed Rednecks and Bluenecks is veteran Entertainment Weekly journalist Chris Willman's lively account of "how music makes strange political bedfellows and how artists' perceived politics change over time" (Booklist). How did the erstwhile music of the rural working class come to be the music of choice of the GOP? Rednecks and Bluenecks looks at the way country's increasing popularity and conservative drift parallel the transformation of the Democratic South into the heart of the Republican mainstream. Written in a "breezy, irreverent style" (Publishers Weekly), Rednecks and Bluenecks "explore[s] the left- or right-wing leanings of his subjects, from heavyweights like the Dixie Chicks, Toby Keith, Steve Earle, Brooks & Dunn, and Clint Black to newer, minor artists like the Drive-By Truckers." Interviewing "nearly everyone who's anyone in country music, from Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn to current superstars like Ronnie Dunn" (In These Times), Willman makes clear that country is a place where a passionate American political debate is taking place. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)781.642The arts Music General principles and musical forms Traditions of music Western popular music {equally instrumental and vocal} Country and BluegrassClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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The remarkably swift turnaround in the fortunes of the two parties makes much of "Rednecks and Bluenecks" outdated, but the book retains value as an interesting snapshot of the politics of country music at a volatile time in America's political history. Country music in the early 2000s was well into a musical decline (a decline that has yet to bottom out) that saw it overwhelmed by singers and producers willing to kill its traditions if that would sell more music to the soccer moms chosen as its target audience. Country music went pop and producers created, and discarded, dozens of young singers in an attempt to move product. Tradition, musically or otherwise, did not seem to be much of a concern in Nashville, Tennessee.
However, Chris Willman found in 2005 that conservative politics still dominated the country music industry, despite all the new blood in the city, and that liberal country music stars and executives felt vastly outnumbered by their conservative counterparts. Some of the more liberal recording artists and producers, in fact, told Willman that they feared being too open and outspoken about their politics in an industry within which they were such a small political minority - the same reaction, of course, experienced by conservative entertainers based on either coast of America.
Willman interviewed major country music artists and executives from both sides of the political spectrum, paying a bit too much attention, in the process, to the Dixie Chicks blowup that ended with the Chicks abandoning country music for good. That incident is a good example of the disconnect between country music fans and some country artists but it ended as a media circus milked for profit by those on both sides of the argument - and is not necessarily what it appears to have been on its surface.
Willman points out that the political split between country music artists was influential in creating the alt-country genre, a genre greatly influenced by liberal singers who were at one time part of the hardcore country music family. These days, singers like Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson, Roseanne Cash, and others like them are no longer part of country music's mainstream and have been joined in the alt-country movement by younger artists who share the same politics. Mainstream country, watered down though it may be, is still known for its core values and the conservative singers who best represent those values: Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Toby Keith, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, etc. Though as rockers like Keith Urban, rappers like Cowboy Troy, and teens like Taylor Swift continue to invade country music, it will be interesting to see whether conservative artists will be overwhelmed by this influx of non-country invaders who are likely to be less conservative than those they replace.
Country music is in the midst of an identity crisis, nothing new about that. Haggard and Cash have themselves straddled both sides of the liberal/conservative line for decades, proving that it can be done successfully. "Rednecks and Bluenecks," however, focuses largely on a generation of country music artists that is not being replaced by likeminded singers and pickers. Country music is no longer country and one has to wonder how long it will be before the conservative voice of country music becomes the genre's new minority. "Rednecks and Bluenecks" may have snapped a picture of country music's last hurrah. ( )