Make this a big deal and get some major (too big to punish) artists on board (how the f**k is this even possible in 2023!). Lots of radio ad buys are done in national packages. Find the top 3 advertisers on country music nationally and [very] publicly ‘ask’ them for their support in changing this policy. If you got artists to support this it would be seismic. The unspoken threat of what would happen if the advertisers didn’t support you in getting this policy changed should be all it takes. Need one big female and one big male star to lead the charge.
A lot of women artists have spoken out about it! Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, probably the biggest women country artists out right now, have both talked about it — but the system also serves them, unfortunately. They don't really have enough power to rock the boat even if they truly wanted to. The men, on the other hand...
For what it’s worth-- I’m a country music fanatic, and I play and write my version of it, but I’m snobbish and perhaps even reactionary about it.
Willie and Waylon are more or less my cutoff point for “modern” stuff. With some outliers like Randy Travis.
That said: I read your stuff because it’s excellent, and I like feeling connected to modern country music even if I mostly avoid listening to it. (I do like Sturgill, and a few other people sound ok when my son -- also a snob, but a younger snob-- plays them around the house.)
I’m in the camp of “yeah, most of my favorite country artists are men, but the women I do like I like VERY much. And they influence my writing too. Dolly, Loretta, Tammy, Bonnie Owens, etc. Then there’s Maybelle Carter, one of my biggest influences on guitar. And tons of current women instrumentalists killing it esp on fiddle.”
This radio policy (which of course I wasn’t aware of) is some bullshit. Thanks for writing about it.
thank you so much for reading! hopefully the newsletter can introduce you to a few more contemporary artists you might like :) (although there's nothing wrong *at all* with sticking to the classics!)
Make this a big deal and get some major (too big to punish) artists on board (how the f**k is this even possible in 2023!). Lots of radio ad buys are done in national packages. Find the top 3 advertisers on country music nationally and [very] publicly ‘ask’ them for their support in changing this policy. If you got artists to support this it would be seismic. The unspoken threat of what would happen if the advertisers didn’t support you in getting this policy changed should be all it takes. Need one big female and one big male star to lead the charge.
A lot of women artists have spoken out about it! Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, probably the biggest women country artists out right now, have both talked about it — but the system also serves them, unfortunately. They don't really have enough power to rock the boat even if they truly wanted to. The men, on the other hand...
I wonder if Dolly Parton would be interested in fighting this fight.
For what it’s worth-- I’m a country music fanatic, and I play and write my version of it, but I’m snobbish and perhaps even reactionary about it.
Willie and Waylon are more or less my cutoff point for “modern” stuff. With some outliers like Randy Travis.
That said: I read your stuff because it’s excellent, and I like feeling connected to modern country music even if I mostly avoid listening to it. (I do like Sturgill, and a few other people sound ok when my son -- also a snob, but a younger snob-- plays them around the house.)
I’m in the camp of “yeah, most of my favorite country artists are men, but the women I do like I like VERY much. And they influence my writing too. Dolly, Loretta, Tammy, Bonnie Owens, etc. Then there’s Maybelle Carter, one of my biggest influences on guitar. And tons of current women instrumentalists killing it esp on fiddle.”
This radio policy (which of course I wasn’t aware of) is some bullshit. Thanks for writing about it.
thank you so much for reading! hopefully the newsletter can introduce you to a few more contemporary artists you might like :) (although there's nothing wrong *at all* with sticking to the classics!)
I’m trying to be open to it for sure, and between my son and your writing, maybe the ice will melt a little bit.