Cma

[Mark van Allen]

Actually, bringing Bela Fleck into this thread might actually be quite germaine- he came up through the ranks of "classic" Scruggs banjoists to amaze, impress, and inspire a whole generation of players and listeners, and show whole other worlds of players that the banjo has a place in nearly every form of popular music. Groundbreaking, forward-thinking, technically virtuosic.
I have heard quite a few traditionalists carping about his fame and accolades, with an obvious sour grapes reference to "overlooked" traditional players.
(Who of course are just following in the footsteps of mold-breakers of an earlier generation)

Same tune, different number of strings.

[George Kovolenko]

I don't remember who said it so I won't take the credit, but someone recently described county music today as Pop music with a fiddle.....

How true

[Michael Breid]

It always ceases to amaze me that today's award winning country(?) music has to have distortion in the guitars, steels, fiddles, etc. exploding stages, fancy lights, the songs choreographed, and Tru-Tunes mics plugged into the soundboard computer to make sure the singer doesn't sound worse than their albums. Jackson, Strait, Jones, Haggard, just stand up there and sing. If they sing a little flat or sharp it's real. No hype, no glitz, no phony gizmos to make them sound perfect. Just straight from the heart performances. THAT my friends is what country music is all about. It's time they put a different name on the stuff they are trying to pass off to the general public as country. I don't think real country music fans would mind none some at all if they called it something else. I know I would welcome it.

[Charles Davidson]

Michel,That's what I always gripe about[and get a lot of flack] for it. I have nothing against these kids today that are making kazillions of dollars playing this warmed over 70's rock. Just DON'T promote it or call it COUNTRY. In the 70's when Southern rock was born which was a mixture of rock,country,jazz,bluegrass,and blues,it was something NEW,had to label it something. so the label Southern rock. Maybe if they would label this stuff coming out of NV today as [NEW AGE CLOD HOPPERS,COSMOPOLITAN BILLYS,] Any thing but COUNTRY. YOU BETCHA, DYK?BC.

[Ron Sodos]

Taylor Swift is now entertainer of the year!! Apparently the youngest ever at 19 years of age. She is one of my favorites.

TB Henry
If she is one of your favorites, You have a dead ear.
Sorry bud you better practice more and listen to something else to train your ear. She is out of tune.

[Al Collinsworth]

Actually, I don't think Taylor is a bad singer. She's just a lot younger than the rest of us.... and she won...

[Brian Henry]

Thank you Ron for diagnosing my "dead ear" I can't understand why I am getting so many studio gigs. Now I know why. Thanks pal!!

[Ron Sodos]

Accept my apology. I was in a real bad mood when i said that. So Forgive me....

I wish you all the success you can have in music. Personally i just feel Taylor Swift is the worst thing to come along in many years. To me she is a mockery of country music. But that is my opinion.