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| The States of Country Taylor | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 20 2009, 06:55 AM (183 Views) | |
| mouser | Jun 20 2009, 06:55 AM Post #1 |
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As an adjunct to Taylor's response on Headquarters................ If you haven't read it , get over there. ....................... here is a list of places where he should , perhaps, HANG HIS HAT or Stetson, as the case may be . The Top 10 States for Country Music Mike Sudhalter | June 20, 2009 Forget Elvis....Bob Wills is the King The 10 you've been waiting for. The 10 states where country music has a firm place in the past and in the future. 10.Pennsylvania Of all the Northeastern States, Pennsylvania definitely has the largest country music appeal. There are lots of live shows and concerts throughout the state. Country radio's biggest star, Taylor Swift, hails from the Reading area, and other acts like The Kinleys, The PovertyNeck Hillbillies and Dusty Drake call the Keystone State home. Aside from the Metro Philadelphia area, Pennsylvania largely has a midwestern feel to it. 9.Mississippi While it may be better known as home of the blues and birthplace of Elvis Presley, Mississippi has produced countless country music stars, most notably Charley Pride and Faith Hill. Both have sang proudly of their home state, and the state is mentioned in songs quite a bit - "I Kissed Miss Mississippi" by Hilljack and "One Mississippi" by Jill King. Watch out for rising star Randy Houser from Mississippi. 8.Arkansas How could any state that produced Johnny Cash not be on this list? Arkansas is a hotbed for country music. More contemporary artists from the state include Joe Nichols and Tracy Lawrence. And it's not difficult to find country music concerts or bluegrass/fiddle festivals within the borders of the Natural State. 7.Missouri Missouri - home of Sara Evans and Trent Tomlinson - would probably be a Top 20 Country Music state, if it weren't for the presence of Branson with so many country music-themed shows and attractions. People travel from all around the United States (and the world) to visit one of country music's most important small towns. 6.West Virginia "Take Me Home Country Roads" may have been performed by a pop country artist (John Denver), but check out Daryle Singletary's new cover version. And there's no doubt that this could have been a pure country song. Regardless, West Virginia is a pure country state. From WWVA in Wheeling - one of the largest country stations in the nation to artists like Brad Paisley, Little Jimmy Dickens and Kathy Mattea. 5.Georgia I attended the CMA Music Festival last Friday in Nashville, and they should have called that show, the Georgia Performance at LP Field. It featured the Zac Brown Band, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan - all native Georgians. And you can't forget superstars like Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt or Trisha Yearwood. Georgia is much more than just peaches and Metro Atlanta. It's fiddles and steel guitars, too. 4.Kentucky For a state that's known for a subgenre of country music (bluegrass), Kentucky has made lots of contributions to country music. The likes of Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe, Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam, The Judds, Montgomery Gentry and many others hail from one state north of Tennessee. Nashville may be the destination for stardom, but Kentucky has always been the inspiration for the songs and the place where they first made a name for themselves. The eastern mountains of Kentucky alone would have landed the state in the Top 10. 3.Oklahoma There was a time, about 10-15 years ago, when Oklahoma could have made the case for the best state in country music. That was when Garth Brooks, Vince Gill and Reba McEntire were topping the charts. Large country music festivals, small town Oprys and an ever-growing Red Dirt alternative-country scene keep Oklahoma high upon this list. 2.Tennessee Nashville is the center of commercial country music, and also the place where the Country Music Hall of Fame, Lower Broadway with all of its famous honky-tonks, the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium are located. The eastern half of the state - home to Dolly Parton - has Dollywood and Pigeon Forge. The Volunteer State makes an extremely strong case for the No. 1 overall state, BUT 1.Texas While country music may be a business in Tennessee, it's a way of life in Texas. There are no other places with as many country music concerts, nightclubs, small town Opry shows and legends (George Strait, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Bob Wills). And it's also the only state to have an independent country scene apart from Nashville. Texas Country, in some circles, is more popular than the mainstream country. It has cultivated its own history and heroes (Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker). http://www.countrystandardtime.com/blog/countrymike/entry.asp?xid=382 WHERE'S ALABAMA MAN ???!!! |
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| Oldiebutgoodie | Jun 20 2009, 06:44 PM Post #2 |
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WHERE's ALABAMA MAN? Good question-- |
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| mouser | Jul 11 2009, 05:27 PM Post #3 |
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Here's Alabama for ya: Country Music States 11-20 Mike Sudhalter | June 19, 2009 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/blog/countrymike/entry.asp?xid=381 Can Sarah Buxton release a complete album and move Kansas higher on the list?20.Nevada For all of the Old West flavor behind the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas and Reno, one would expect more country music. Sure, there's the National Finals Rodeo, and a couple of weeks during which country stars visit Las Vegas, left and right. The stars also perform in Las Vegas, and occasionally, Reno. The rest of the state is simply too sparsely populated to have many concerts. No artists of note have emerged from Nevada, either. 19.Kansas The Jayhawk State has produced artists like Martina McBride and Chely Wright. Then, there's newcomer Sarah Buxton. You have the Country Stampede festival annually in Manhattan, Kan. And little Opry houses are all over the state. Kansas is in a position to move up the list with the breakthrough of a few more stars. 18. Arizona Arizona was the home state of country music legend Marty Robbins. It's also the home state of budding superstar Dierks Bentley. But aside from that (and its breathtaking scenery), Arizona seems to have lots of honky-tonks and country nightclubs. It's the real West and unlike other Western States, it hasn't forgotten its history. 17. Florida The Sunshine State has produced lots of country music artists, especially from the northern portion of the state. But it will always be associated with resorts and beaches rather than honky-tonks and steel guitars. As Florida has grown, much of its country roots have disappeared. 16. Virginia While Tennessee gets much of the credit, country music was born along the Tennessee/Virginia border. And lots of artists have hailed from the Commonwealth. 15. South Carolina With artists like Aaron Tippin and Josh Turner calling South Carolina their home state, it's hard to discount the Palmetto State's contributions to country music. Alabama wasn't from there, but it's the place where they built a fan base. There's also the Carolina Opry in Myrtle Beach -which is a nice showcase for the genre. 14. North Carolina Two words - Randy Travis. While North Carolina is definitely becoming more modern and upscale in places like the Research Triangle and Charlotte, it still retains its country roots. I'm not sure about the country nightlife there. But the state is still producing country artists - check out Eric Church, Bucky Covington and Jason Michael Carroll. 13.California If this was 20-25 years ago, California would be a shoo-in for the Top 10. Bakersfield - the Western Capital of Country Music - is no longer what it used to be. The late Buck Owens' Crystal Palace is still open, and Merle Haggard calls Redding, in extreme northern California, home. But there's no more Bakersfield Sound, and the state hasn't produced an artist of any significance since Gary Allan. With the entertainment capital being Los Angeles, that still has a huge effect on the genre. Artists go there to promote their albums or to try their hand in the movie industry. But California and Country Music no longer go hand-in-hand as they once did. 12.Louisiana This state has its own sub-genre of country music (Cajun/Zydeco) and lots of artists like Eddy Raven and Jo-El Sonnier have represented those sounds in the mainstream, and lively nightclubs are plenty in southern Louisiana. Sammy Kershaw has incorportated it into his music. But the northern half of Louisiana can't be forgotten - thanks to Trace Adkins, one of the biggest stars of the past decade. 11.Alabama Historically, you have the late Hank Williams, and all of the stories and legends that go along with one of country's most important performers. Then, in modern times, there's the band, Alabama. Jamey Johnson could continue to raise Alabama's profile on the country music map. |
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2:34 AM Jul 11