Miley Cyrus: "Country Music is Not What it Used to Be"

Miley Cyrus recently made a statement to them media regarding today's country music, which she acknowledges as being quite different from the country music of yesteryear. OMG Yahoo! reports the story and gives details as to why the young country singers today have no substance, according to Miley. To Miley, country music that is only about lost love is what sells, not traditional country music like Jimmie Rodgers who sang about the homestead, traditional values, and trains. Famous for his yodeling, one of my favorites is "Waiting for a Train" which was later covered by Boz Scaggs in 1969. Given the fact that Boz's roots are in rhythm and blues and not country, even he did an exceptional job with the song, maintaining the yodeling aspect made famous by Rodgers. Miley would no doubt enjoy both versions of the song, and as such the song does not require the wearing of cowboy boots and a hat, the typical gear of many a modern day country singer.

Yet Miley points out another reason today's country music concerns her: the political side of it. Unless one wants to play the game of modern country music, one is not going to get very far in this genre of the music business. With the subject of lost love aside, religion still plays a substantial role as many a country song subject. Of course this should not bother anyone per se, since pop music has long been the more liberal branch of the business, allowing singers to explore other ideologies from religion to politics. The latter politics is not in the sense that Miley mentions, but it is worth distinguishing from as it can be confusing to those not familiar with how the music business works. With that aside, what type of country music does appeal to Miley Cyrus, daughter of the famous modern country singer Billy Ray Cyrus?

I can easily picture Miley listening to George Jones, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Hank Locklin, and Jim Reeves. Reeves crossed over into soft pop at one point in his career, and his rich velvet voice permitted him to do so quite successfully. Kenny is another favorite of mine, with his country-pop sound which made him a duet favorite with Dolly Parton (who is also Miley's godmother), Dottie West, Kim Carnes, and Lionel Ritchie. Chances are the actress who portrays Hannah Montana has a collection of compact discs on any of these country artists. Maybe she even has a much-coveted disc of Jimmie Rodgers' music she likes to listen to every now and then. All in all, it is great music compared to the new country music. Being the daughter of a country singer, Miley can't be too wrong in her statement about today's country music.

http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/crush/miley-i-m-not-a-girls-girl/296?nc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Rodgers_%28country_singer%29