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Eric & Country Music


Zuke

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Eric,

You are the Master at the Crafted Pop Song.

Knowing what a machine Nashville is and the formula they use to craft a Country song, I was wonderin;... as a writer...

Ain't it time to put your Song Crafting abilities to use and blow away the Country Scene a little?

Hee Haw, Man! Come on!!

The Gauntlet has been thrown.

( I had to look this up; "It medieval times, the "glove" thrown down was the metal hand armor worn by knights, or as the hand armor was called, the gauntlet. Today gauntlets are still the signifier of a challenge issued. Throwing down the mitten just doesn't quite do. So the gauntlet is thrown and the duel is on.)

Put on your Cowboy Hat and start writing.

Like Dick Van Dyke or Jonathan Winters could get into character.

Sounds like a fun project to me.

Zucco

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Now you're getting it. ( a little less reverb, though ) Throw in a fiddle and a steel geetar and the skunk got squashed and there you are.

I just saw Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban. If Country is the new Pop Rock then Ride The Wave.

Call Wally, tell him you need an opening riff for a Country Song.

Whoa!!

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Gotta go with MJ on this one. I've never been a country fan, but occasionally I'll hear a country song I can stand.

I do agree that today's country is closer to pop than the country I grew up listening to courtesy of my grandparents--Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Porter Wagoner, Jim Reeves, Charlie Pride, etc...

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Seattle Steve said, "Country has changed, and much has evolved to the closest thing we used to know as pop, witness Keith Urban or even some of Underwoods stuff."

I agree, Steve. Being a Southern girl, you can't help being enmeshed somewhat in the Country music scene. For some like us who grew up in the 70's,listening to Pop, some of the new Country artists are able to fill the void for the great ballads (like EC's), that "hopeless romantics" like me long for. I think through the masterful, romantic way that EC crafts his lyrics, Country music could be a wide open venue to enable EC's immeasurable talent to continue to speak to the heart. I enjoyed listening to HCOLY.

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elle4ec said:

For some like us who grew up in the 70's,listening to Pop, some of the new Country artists are able to fill the void for the great ballads (like EC's), that "hopeless romantics" like me long for. I think through the masterful, romantic way that EC crafts his lyrics, Country music could be a wide open venue to enable EC's immeasurable talent to continue to speak to the heart. I enjoyed listening to HCOLY.

I agree 100% elle.

Great song. Thanks Bernie and Eric for sharing it with us.

BTW I hope you all realise Keith Urban is a fellow countryman of ours!

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bahoodore said:

other than the cheesy drums...good song...simple yet effective...

Keep in mind that the reason many of you have never heard this song is because it is not a recording that Eric ever intended on releasing. This is a demo, plain and simple—drum machine notwithstanding.

:)

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Eric,

My point EXACTLY!! "ROCKERS" "GREAT SONG WRITERS" and "THE BEST MARKET GOING" WHAT'S STOPPIN' YA?

elle4ec knows too. "Go for It."

Not to change over just to ride the wave for one album. Aw, Hell! YOU DID DISCO fer cryin' out loud. This would be voluntary and would actually use your talents.

You've got the writing chops for this, plus the know how to stylize. It's all YOU, MAN! Show 'em how it's done.

One formula is; sing the title/hook at the beginning of the chorus and end the chorus with the title/hook. Sometimes it makes you come at your central thought from two different angles.

It's time to go all the way down yonder.

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Eric Carmen said:

Country is where all the rockers and great songwriters and studio musicians have gone. It's the best market going, these days.

It may well be Eric - but I don't have to like it lol.......

P.S. The audio song was ok - the chorus was a little "squeeky" though ;)

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It took "country" to get Jimmy Buffett his first #1 with Alan Jackson, Five O'Clock Somewhere. Without Alan Jacksons deep country voice, Jimmy singing that song in concert live (been there) doesn't sound any more country than Margaritaville.

Same with Bon Jovi, "Who Says You Can't Go Home" Jennifer Nettles is incredible on the duet, and she adds the twang, but BJ in concert, without her, live, it's simply a very good song, essentially a pop song, nothing country about it.

IMHO, much of the hit "country" songs today are simply very good compositions, very good pop songs, and the "country" just comes from the styling of the vocals and adding a fiddle.

I agree w/EC, (outside of a few dinasaurs) country is the last island in the musical wasteland.

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I thought that was a great song, thanks for the treat Bernie.

I was always a closet country fan...

...and what is it with Jimmy Buffett anyway? I've always liked his music but what am I missing that he now fills stadiums on a regular basis? He was at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday night playing to full house (about 50,000) and the crowd was absolutely wild. (buying my $8.00 beers without blinking an eye)....and I got great tips too). That's the market you want, Eric...deep pockets!!!!!

Maybe the Raspberries should be working on a country album!!!!

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Couple examples.. Carrie Underwood sang "Before He Cheats" live at the CMA's, outside of the sound of an occassional fiddle in the background, this a flat out rock song, great performance, along the same lines of anything Joan Jett ever did. There is nothing Chet Atkins about it.

 

Similar with Taylor Swift, a teenage kid that writes her own stuff. Garth Brooks and Shania Twain changed "country" forever. It's pop with a cowboy hat. I like it. There's a reason Garth covers Billy Joel in concert.

Some of the best country today is the rock wolf wearing country sheep clothes anymore.

Original material that tells a story, verse, chorus, bridge what a concept...

Sure beats a synthisized loop with third grade rhymes, that have such a complete lack of melody that even the kids can't recognizably hum the song afterwards.

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Country is sort of a "default" for people who like what was out pre-1995, pop and rock....These people are the ones who want something that doesn't put them to sleep....but don't necessarily

want Metallica. And definitely don't want rap. But want contemporary material.

The new type of people that listen to country are actually defectors from the rock crowd, since rock has gotten stale, and country has become more diverse.

The main thing is, if you are doing the style that is not your normal thing, don't force it...

do the style "on your own terms".

Oh yes, why aren't the country stations playing tracks off Dave's "Internal Monolougue"? It would certainly fit in.

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As a pre-teen violin student, I would cringe when my aunt and uncle listened to "old time" country music.

After a couple of trips to Nashville much later in life, I developed an appreciation for the Hank Williamses of the world, but it wasn't my favorite kind of music by a long shot.

Over the years, lines have blurred and the "New Country" sparked my interest. Music is music (as Yo-You Ma says, now that he's made quite a foray into "fiddling" and other kinds of music with his Silk Road project), and a song is still a song. A song with a beautiful melody, with great harmonies and a fantastic bridge, not to mention meaningful lyrics, is terrific whether it's country or not. Country is the new pop-rock, and it's ever-evolving. Artists like Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert have given country a harder, more contemporary edge and the lines are being blurred even more.

Country is exactly where all the great songwriters have gone, and it's a booming market for sure.

:) --Darlene

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I'll challenge anyone here to explain why todays country music is anything other than generic watered down country pop.Lines being blurred..blurred from what? Booming? Maybe...but so is Hip Hop, Rap and prepackaged American Idol type music. New country is so watered down there is no "edge"to it.Yeah...it's where the money is...and that's too bad.Give me the Explorers Club,FOW, Richard Hawley,Sharon Jones,The Peaces,Jesse Bryson,Of Montreal,Apples In Stereo and their ilk.Just my worthless opinion of course.

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