Merle Haggard and today’s “Country” music
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Got to hand it to Merle. If anyone “knows” country music it’s him and when he speaks…Well, Nashville should listen.
Here’s a quote from The Legend himself…I couldn’t agree with him more.
Haggard furthers that modern country music lacks “substance,” something he’s valued since he got started. “I know these guys, occasionally play shows with them and they’re all good people. But I wonder if that record they’re making is something they can actually do,” the legend says. “Too much boogie boogie wham-bam and not enough substance.”
“It’s all the same musicians, too, probably eight to 10 musicians play on every record you hear,” Haggard adds. “For a musician hearing things that way, you can tell when a certain guitarist is playing. I know more about the musicians than the artists, actually.”
Here’s the link for the rest over at Fox 411
Categories: General Tags: country music, fox 411, legend, merle haggard, musicians, nashville, stars
Ok fellow musicians, when is enough, enough?
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You have played your entire life but have grown weary of the never ending starting and stopping of bands and band attempts…The in between bands and everything thing else associated with this business…Maybe you are like me and was in a road band too for some time …we did it for almost five years..That was 8 years ago when that stopped…I haven’t been able to find anyone or enough people to try it again…Why? I guess the older we all get the harder it is to commit to something like that. My kids are grown so it’s easier for me to. I don’t know how you feel about it but I was never one to be satisfied just playing local bars and clubs. Have I done it? Oh yea, a bunch, I am not arrogant to think I am better than playing those types of places I just wanted more… I have played in dives and nice places and had good times but I always wanted more… It was never enough….an evil drug I always say…
I will play anywhere anytime but I always wanted more….huge stages, not fame and fortune or rock star status…That’s all fleeting…I just wanted to play and make a decent living out of it…
So here I am…46. Still have the “look” I guess? I go to blabbermouth.com and see all the older bands on that site. They all have the tired hair and big gut look. Not my idea of a “rock star” but they are older and some probably way older than me… They too were probably “metal heads” in the 80’s. Hanging on, mid level bands at best but doing what they love to do so is it fulfilling? I dunno…I am at a loss here… Music, it’s all I have ever cared about other than my family…I was never content with what I have done or accomplished which in the music business is not much. But here I stand at the cliff edge. Do I jump or do I throw my guitars over the edge and say fuck it…not a bad run but not what I tried so hard to achieve…
I am not looking for sympathy here. Just honest questions. What do you do when all you know to do is what you want to do but not doing do it? I don’t want to be the tired looking old fat guy that stayed too long at the dance but damn I don’t want to quit either…
chuck
