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Subjects: Music

Essay

Rednecks, White Socks, and Piña Coladas?

Country Music Ain’t What It Used to Be . . . And It Really Never Was

by James C. Cobb

Just the other day, I read a lengthy piece suggesting that the Grand Ole Opry is about to fade away. Fans of “contemporary” country apparently don’t find Little Jimmy Dickens or Porter Waggoner terribly relevant, and the current chartbusters among the younger generation of artists are loathe to forgo the big bucks from lucrative road gigs for the paltry $500 or so that the Opry pays. Such news is certain to set off a new season of wailing and hand-wringing from those who fear the imminent demise of so-called “traditional” country music. »

Leonardo “Flaco” Jiménez: The Best of Flaco Jiménez (Music Review)

by Gavin James Campbell

Arhoolie, 1999 The Grammy Award-winning Norteña accordionist Flaco Jiménez has produced such a prodigious amount of material that a compilation surveying some of his better-known works from the last ten years is a welcome sight. Although The Best of is a somewhat misleading title for this CD since it does not include work he has »