Country Music Then and Now
December 4, 2011 1:28 PM 
While working out this morning I was listening to one of my cassette tapes (OK, I can hear the snickering) and heard “Waterloo” by Stonewall Jackson. I started thinking about how different country music was 25, 30 or more years ago. Today’s country artists are influenced more by pop or southern rock artists like the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd than Merle, Patsy, Loretta and “Old Hank”. Then, the music was aimed primarily at an older blue collar and rural audience while today it crosses over countless demographics. Just look at the list of number one country songs from 1986, a mere 25 years ago.
Note that aside from Reba, George Strait and Randy Travis none of these artists has appeared on a country top 40 chart for years. Times change and so do musical tastes. Country music–like a shark–has to keep moving to stay alive and it has, becoming more popular than ever.
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