KENT: Musicians Jumping On The Country Bandwagon

Paul Kent / Stafford County Sun
Published: February 6, 2008

I turn on CMT and Jon Bon Jovi is making wistful faces at Leann Rimes. Everywhere I go, everywhere I look, it's as if Alan Jackson's prophecy came true and the whole world has, in fact, gone country.

How did we get here- Is it like pro wrestling where the mainstream decides to hitch its wagon onto the Good Ol' Boy Express every few decades and spend a few years dabbling before it goes back to its mockery of bumpkins-

Are we finally seeing country radio's dominance beginning to creep into music- Rock radio has died a grisly death from bland new music and the kids turning to R&B and rap, as it speaks to our generation - make money as easily as possible and dance the night away!

In the midst of it all, the fans of the rock of old start creeping song by song into the country arena, realizing that the big arena shows of the old days are being put on by the Kenny Chesneys and Gretchen Wilsons of the world. Did Jon Bon Jovi and Jewel see this and think to themselves "I'm doing this all wrong"-

It's always been a joke in politics that if you're not a liberal in your youth, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by 40, however, you have no brain. Perhaps we're just looking at the natural process of artists like the Eagles and Huey Lewis realizing that their ideals are the ideals shared by the Boondock Nation, and perhaps speaking to them, singing to them, is the smart money and the fast track to regaining relevance. Jewel certainly could stand for relevance - I mean, did you hear that one super-pop album she did-

Artists aren't companies, after all. They're not machines. Well, maybe the boy bands. But even they chafe under the constraints of record companies insisting upon a sound. They learn to play their own instruments and start writing their own songs, just as the Monkees did and just as Justin Timberlake had to break out and become Overlord of Pop.

In this day and age, where all of us simply want to go back to the simple life, before all our friends got shipped off to Iraq and people stopped watching their own children, perhaps it's country music that's the last truly authentic connection to our own souls.

Maybe this is the Great Awakening. If Nickelback starts talking about country values, however, I'm moving to Tierra del Fuego. It worked for Pancho and Lefty, after all.

Paul Kent hosts Thunder After Dark weeknights on Thunder 104.5

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