Observations From The Road

I've been on a driving tear the last few years. Air travel within 1,000 miles of Nashville is a hassle so I just drive. Radio is still the great co-pilot. The iHeartRadio app really is good. They got on digital early and it works! Yes, I still listen to AM, too.

There is a sound of FM Country music today that is very monolithic. It is a complaint heard many times over the years. There is a sonic feeling, a wall of sound that is a combination recording studio magic and radio station processing.

Listen to pick-your-song of the, let's say, the '80s or even the '90s: The vocals are generally clear and you hear the individual instruments. Today it's a Phil Spector-like wall of sound behind way too many songs. The drum machine, clapping, mush. It's a sound and a feeling. You are awash in the audio for better or worse.

It's a mostly male-stacked vocals and very processed. Distorted guitar and don't forget clapping.

As Ken Burns' PBS Country music event approaches, the contrast will be so huge. It's not unlike comparing the big band '40s to the psychedelic era of the late '60s ... 180-degree difference.

I liked both sounds, by the way ... I get what the radio bosses are going for ... and the artists are just making what has a chance of getting on the air. It's the way it is. Can't wait until the Eagles sound gets a modern treatment. The "beer/every song about drinking" is getting to be a bore. If Country is today's mainstream Top 40 of old, then play some more variety. This narrow box that the main format is in is painful, but I have no idea how you break the fever.

Party music is great and playing an oldie "Remember When" in morning drive is bad programming. People are programming who don't know anything but today's Country.

One trend that keeps going ... rock jocks in Country. I guess you can't be a true Country lifestyle jock and work in this current mix. The format is fast and it's like a big wave at the beach. Might be a perfect time for someone to try to bridge Americana creativity and modern pace and delivery ... no six-minute stopsets and have current information like news items and weather. Not something done days ago in a distant city by just a voice doing liners.

The streaming services will win if things don't change. Free radio needs to be something different that you can't get on commercial-free.

Luke Combs is a great new star with a great sound. He's more than just a beer songwriter, but he knows what the bosses want. This is fun to watch. Maybe others will follow his lead.

Watch the artists who can do Pop and Country. Also watch the ones who don't wait on the traditional album release cycle or pattern and just put music out. Maren Morris won a lot of new fans on Howard Stern this week.

The rules for everything seem to be headed to the trash can .Try to keep up ... standing still will get you run over by a bicycle or an Uber.