Opinion: Modern country is the worst musical genre of all time

@thebingster: As you have evoked the name of Merle Haggard, allow me to offer a couple of stories about the great man.

By the early-90’s I had already discovered Lucinda Williams (her album on Rough Trade), seeing her and her 4-pc. band play in small joints around Los Angeles (once in a pizza parlour to an audience of about a half dozen), Lou Ann Barton (her great debut album on Asylum Records, produced by Jerry Wexler and Glenn Frey. Lou Ann was the lead singer in the original version of Double Trouble, double referring to her on vocals and Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar, he doing no singing. Lou Ann now works a lot with Jimmie Vaughan. She’s a fantastic singer!), and all the "New Traditionalists", the term some marketing man came up with for the emerging crop of young Country artists whose influences were Hank Williams and all the other "real" Country artists of yore. That crop included Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Clint Black, Patty Loveless, Carlene Carter, Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell, Marty Stuart, Jim Lauderdale, etc.

I read an interview with Haggard, in which he heaped massive praise on a new female artist: Iris DeMent. So I of course got her new 1992 debut album (Infamous Angel) and immediately fell madly in love. She instantly became my new favorite female singer (displacing Tammy Wynette), and remains so to this day. Rock critic Robert Christgau gave her follow up album (My Life) a grade of A+ (!) in his Creem magazine review. My Life contains the single most devastating song I have ever heard: "No Time To Cry", which Merle himself recorded. His version is good, hers brilliant.

Second Merle story: In the early 1970’s Merle played the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, a half hour south of San Francisco. Doing sound at the theater that night was a soundman who had done sound at a lot of shows my bandmates and I had played around the Bay Area. My bassist partner was a huge Merle fan, and attended the show. Standing at the theater’s monitoring board and chatting, the sound man asked my bassist if he would like to go on Merle’s bus and meet him. Well duh ;-) . When they got up the stairs and into the buses "living room", Merle and his band were sitting around a table, playing poker. In the middle of the table was the biggest pile of blow my pal had ever seen. They might not smoke marijuana in Muskogee, but they apparently snort coke ;-) .

Right on @winoguy17  @llg98ljk   @tomcarr 

Hip hop is the poorest, closely followed by rap.  Especially the stuff that incites easily impressionable people to violence rape and murder and glorifies such criminal activity.

There is good rap, eg Subterranean Homesick Blues, I'm Waiting for my Man - his man was presumably a rapper, located at Lex and 125.  And quite a bit of 1970s UK punk.

But my superficial interest in country doesn't stretch beyond Johnny Cash,  Which rather excludes modern country.

Y’all took the trolls bait. 

I grew up with country music, from 60s on. My OPINION is its is nothing like the original. All you have to do is look at Dolly Parton and you can see the problem. She is so disingenuous, and obscenely rich, and there aint no soul inside. Just loves the money. I do believe she was talented. But now?? UGGG. I wish she would ride off into the retirement sunset! Some country music is good. And some of the artists are genuine. Chris Stapelton,, Etc. But, most is just a act. She just  makes my skin crawl. At least she states she is what she is and if you dont like it!??? Well Dolly honey, I dont care for your fake act.

Rap, and Hip-hop is just horrible. I would rather her nothing. I hope the country music changes. We were in trouble when they changed it from Country AND Western.

@behagal,

You must have missed the Superbowl halftime show the last couple of years. 

That said, there is NO "modern music" genre that is any good.