Over the years, there have been many country greats such as Johnny Cash, Willie and Waylon and George Strait.  While they have a great legacy in the country music world, none of them changed country music or how it sounds.  Over the years, country music has become much different.  Country music has become more contemporary and “poppy” over the past numerous years.  One of the artists that is accredited for this movement is Shania Twain.

Shania has been chosen because she is often the singer many people associate pop country with.  Shania Twain is known as the queen of pop country and received that title because she is one of the main artists that revolutionized country music to what it is today (Fazio, 2018).  Shania Twain has been performing since 1993 when her debut album came out, but it was not until later in the early 2000’s that she started changing country music.  Shania Twain brought in another feel of country m

usic that was different from the traditional “twang” that was associated with country music for many years.

As time went on, Shania’s country music continued to be more and more contemporary and deviated from the traditional country style.  However, the changes she made in her music were very minor and it was because of her slow music changes that she remained country.  In comparison to Taylor Swift, where she was considered country her entire career until her album “Red” was released.  It was a big jump and deviation from her original music and change from her regular contemporary country style and is no longer considered to be a country artist.

Shania Twain’s debut album in 1993 sounds like the very traditional country style, being that is was very twangy.  Here she was very talented and was able to establish herself as an elite female country singer.  Below is a link of one of her debut album songs “What Made You Say That”.

As one listens, it has that traditional country twang that everyone knew and loved.  This song was primarily vocals, and guitars, in comparison to rock or pop which focuses more on bass beat and drums.

In her second album “The Woman in Me” that was released in 1995, it was still primarily country, although her song “Any Man of Mine” (See link below) was very controversial to many country fans as it had elements of pop and rock in her country song (Buchard, 2017), but nonetheless it was still popular.

Here was the first time that Shania deviated from the traditional country music and started to make it more upbeat.  This was a big risk as it was different from the traditional country feel, but it still managed to make it to the top music charts across the world.

From 1997 until 2002 Shania went a little quiet.  While she was still performing, she had not released any albums during this time.  Finally, in November of 2002, she released her 4^th album “Up”.

This album was the most diverse of any album she has ever released.  Her music ranged from the song “Up” (Link Below) which was still very much country, but then also featured songs such as “Ka-Ching” (Link Below) which is the furthest thing from country.

From 2002 until 2017, Shania has returned to the stage and is now considered a pop singer.  However, her music from 2002 was the first movement of country music being more contemporary and pop.  Looking at today’s country music, much of it has a hint if not a lot of pop feel to it.  For example, Sam Hunt who is supposed to be a country singer, his son “Body Like a Back Road” is more pop style than country.  Another example is Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away”.  Again, while she has been famously known as a country artist, she also has added a more pop style to her music.  This is just a couple examples of a long list.  This is not saying that these singers are not good, but rather just using their music as examples of how country has changed.

There is much controversy over which genre Shania belongs to.  Some believe that she is and forever will be considered country, while others believe that she is now pop.  One thing that one cannot put to question is her success.  She has been has had numerous number one albums in her career and has done multiple tours in her career.  Shania Twain has left her mark on country and it has had long lasting effects as most of the new country music that comes out has more of a pop feel to it.  Country music has been changed and could even put into two separate categories now, one being contemporary country, and the other being folk country.  Overall, Shania Twain may have not been performing too much during the country revolution, but she is one of the artists that started it.

Works Cited

Buchard, Jeremy. Wide Open Country. July 2017. http://www.wideopencountry.com/shania-twain-broke-barriers/ (accessed August 5, 2018).

Fazio, Marie. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. July 18, 2018. http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2018/07/18/Shania-Twain-defends-her-crown-as-queen-of-country-pop/stories/201807180109 (accessed August 5, 2018).

 

 

 

What Made You Say That – Shania Twain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shv9DfbigMc

 

Any Man of Mine – Shania Twain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2k-gv6xNE

 

Up – Shania Twain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FMhUNSIxks

 

Ka-Ching – Shania Twain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEe3hBXZEyI

Background

I went to the Saskatchewan Roughrider game on June 30^th.  At this game, they commemorated all the victims of the Humboldt bus crash.  To commemorate this event, the Roughrider Saskatchewan and grew up in this province.

 

The Hunter Brothers are made up of five brothers; Luke, J.J., Ty, Brock, and Dusty.  They were born in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.  The Hunter Brothers grew up on a farm and loved music.  In their early years in between seeding and harvest on the farm, they mainly performed in U.S. and Canada performing gospel music (Hunter Brothers).  During the winter, they loved to play hockey, which again is why they were the performing group at the Roughrider game.  Four of the five brothers played junior hockey, and one of the brothers (J.J.) even played for the Edmonton Oiler farm team (Hunter Brothers).  It is evident that their love for hockey runs deep.

 

The band primarily performed gospel music until they released their first original song in 2016 called “El Dorado”.  Later, in March of 2017, they had their debut album “Getaway” where five of their songs were in Canada’s top 40 radio hits (Billboard).  Their hit songs were; El Dorado, Getaway, Long way to Love You, Those Were the Nights, and Born and Raised which even made it to the top 10.  Today, they continue to create music and perform them across Canada at various festivals and special events.

 

Sound

The Hunter Brothers’ sound was very good.  One of their best songs is “Born and Raised” which they performed at the venue.  From personal experience, some groups who perform live, sound nothing like their recordings, however the Hunter Brothers sounded very similar to their recordings, which is very important to many fans.  Another aspect of the Hunter Brother’s is that they are actually brothers, and brothers can normally harmonize so well together.  They grew up singing together and their harmony was very impressive, not only in this one song, but throughout the concert.

 

The instruments in the band vary from song to song.  The group mainly plays with one lead guitarist and another guitar to place the harmony (chords).  Another brother plays bass guitar, and the other plays the drums.  The last brother is the main vocalist, but all the brothers do sing along to the songs and harmonize.  In some songs, depending on what they play, one of the guitarists will switch and play the mandolin as well.  For the most part, their songs all have a faster rhythm, and with a faster rhythm, means more upbeat and happier music.  Their music is very uplifting and fun to dance along to.

 

Venue and Reflection

As briefly mentioned above, the venue was at the Roughrider stadium in Regina. Looking across the stadium, many people were nodding their head or tapping the foot to the beat of the music, while the die hard country fans were singing along to every word (me).  Saskatchewan is made up of a diverse group of people and while not everyone at the venue was there for the concert, people in Saskatchewan generally can appreciate the odd country tune here and there. However, this was not just a concert just because, it was a concert to commemorate the Humboldt bus crash victims.  Keeping in mind that it was a football game, they tried to keep things very upbeat and positive, but the crash victims were in minds of many throughout the game.  The Hunter Brothers’ love and appreciation if hockey and their involvement with junior hockey themselves growing up, it hit home for many people.

 

The concert was very well performed, but the one comment I would say negatively towards the group was that while the music was good, watching them was a little boring.  I am not sure that it was due to the small stage or the fact that they are still a little inexperienced, but the group does not really move around much on stage.  While that is not a requirement and they do not have to go crazy, it is rather dry and mundane to watch.  I remember watching Alan Jackson at concert many years ago, while he is one of country music’s icons and his music is arguably some of country’s best, he sat on a stool in the middle of the stage and stayed there for the entire concert.  This made for a very boring concert as there was no entertainment that came along with the music.

 

Overall, I felt the concert was very good, even though it was fairly brief.  The band sounded very similar to their recordings, which to me is very important as I appreciate music without it being auto-tuned.  The brothers can all harmonize very well with each other that it is enviable by many.  This Saskatchewan group’s future looks very bright.

 

 

 

Austin, P. L. (2017, September 29). LifeHacker. Retrieved July 4, 2018, from How The Negro Traveler’s Green Book Helped Black People Get Around in the 1950s: https://lifehacker.com/how-the-negro-traveler-s-green-book-helped-black-people-1818994434

Billboard. (n.d.). Billboard Biz. Retrieved July 7, 2018, from https://www.billboard.com/biz/search/charts?f[0]=ts_chart_artistname%3AHunter%20Brothers&f[1]=itm_field_chart_id%3A-&f[2]=ss_bb_type%3Achart_item&type=2&artist=Hunter%20Brothers

English Club. (n.d.). English Club. Retrieved July 3, 2018, from History of Country Music: https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/music-country.htm

Ganzel, B. (2007). Wessels. Retrieved July 4, 2018, from Farming in the 1950’s & 60’s (Music): https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/life_19.html

Hunter Brothers. (n.d.). Hunter Brothers Those Were The Nights. Retrieved July 7, 2018, from Biography: http://www.hunterbrothers.com/

Ivey, W. (1976). Record Anthology of American Music. Retrieved July 5, 2018, from Country Music in the Modern Era: 1940s-1970s : http://www.newworldrecords.org/liner_notes/80207.pdf

Kakutani, M. (2013, August 27). New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2018, from The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/us/the-lasting-power-of-dr-kings-dream-speech.html

Kendi, I. X. (2017, Feb 22). New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2018, from A History of Race and Racism in America, in 24 Chapters: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/books/review/a-history-of-race-and-racism-in-america-in-24-chapters.html

Martinez, D. (2012, November). Music During the Great Depression. Retrieved July 5, 2018, from Country Music During the Great Depression: http://musicduringthegreatdepression.blogspot.com/p/country-music-during-great-depression.html

I did not get the greatest pictures, so here is one of the screen.

Country music, like others have experienced many different kinds of dichotomy over the years.   One of the most common form of dichotomy in country music history was the difference between white country music, and black (African American) country style of music.  While they both are respectably unique in their own way, they also share some similarities as well.  The separation between these two groups was a result of the racism in the United States in the early years of country up until the mid 1960’s.

 

The origins of country music can be traced in the United States all the way back to the 1920’s where it originated from folk music after World War 1 (English Club).  Throughout the decades it gained popularity across the country.  During this time, racism was still very much alive in the United States against the African American population (Kendi, 2017).  As a result, the African American people were often not welcome to “white” clubs (Austin, 2017).  The two races were at odd’s and often could not come together as equals.  Thus the African Americans had to have their own locations in which they can get together and enjoy their own country music (Austin, 2017).  It was not until the mid 1960’s after Martin Luther King made his famous speech that African Americans started gaining more rights and were able to come together with white people and enjoy country music together (Kakutani, 2013).

 

Before the two groups of people came together, white and black country sounded very different.  White country was typically more enthusiastic and upbeat, whereas black country followed more of the blues style where it was more mellow and filled with pain and sorrow (Ganzel, 2007).  A good example of this would be Leroy Van Dyke’s famous song “Auctioneer” (See link below) which was a very popular song in 1956.  The song was an upbeat and enthusiastic piece and arguably his greatest song ever.  The song features various different types of guitars as well as drums to keep the music upbeat.  The social and cultural element of this song was that United States along with many other countries recently became victorious in World War 2 which gave a very positive feel to the country as they were thriving economically (Ivey, 1976).

 

In contrast, “Sweet Home Chicago” by Robert Johnson (See link below) written in 1937 has a much more blues feel.  It only features a single guitar with a classic blues beat, with a slight country twist.  While these two songs are 19 years apart, they are still a very good example of the contrast between white and black country music throughout the decades.  This song was released in the 1930’s which was also considered the “dirty thirties”.  This was prior to the break out of World War 2, and the United States was in horrible financial state with many people jobless and out of money (Martinez, 2012).  This made for a very gloomy or blues feel socially, which is reflected in the beat of the song.  Also, black country often had a blues feel because they were discriminated against, and the singers would express this through song.  While the two different kinds of country had their differences, there were still some similarities between them.

 

While the two groups (white and black) were often at odds, their music sometimes reflected similar traits.  These similarities can range from tempo, instruments, and even similar lyrics/stories.  However, these similarities only became more and more evident after the 1960’s when racism was coming to an end and the two groups of people were able to set aside their difference and come together.

 

As racism diminished over time, country music no longer had the dichotomy of black and white country, as it was no longer segregated by the race of the artist.  As both sides came together, it created the large category of country music.  Country music has a large range of diversity.  This means it can range from a fast tempo enthusiastic feel, to sad and sorrow.  Country music has not forgotten its grass roots originating from both sides as it still embraces the blues from the “black” country, as well as the more upbeat folk polka style of the “white” country.

 

In my opinion, this dichotomy no longer exists.  With racism being a thing of the past (mostly), the newer African American country artist’s music sound very similar to the white country music.  Black country music used to be mostly about oppression, but now African Americans have just as much opportunity as the next race.  As a result, their music has become less gloomy.  This does not mean that they cannot have blues style music, it is however much less common to see.  From the white county music perspective, it continues to be the upbeat country style that they were, but have been able to embrace the black country style and have numerous ballads as well.  Overall, country music has not lost its grass roots as both sides continue to be embraced by country artists.  What has changed is that race no longer dictates or limits the style of music one sings.

 

 

 

 

Leroy Van Dyke “Auctioneer”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVTxiPBJgM

 

Robert Johnson “Sweet Home Chicago”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8hqGu-leFc

 

 

 

Works Cited

Austin, P. L. (2017, September 29). LifeHacker. Retrieved July 4, 2018, from How The Negro Traveler’s Green Book Helped Black People Get Around in the 1950s: https://lifehacker.com/how-the-negro-traveler-s-green-book-helped-black-people-1818994434

English Club. (n.d.). English Club. Retrieved July 3, 2018, from History of Country Music: https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/music-country.htm

Ganzel, B. (2007). Wessels. Retrieved July 4, 2018, from Farming in the 1950’s & 60’s (Music): https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/life_19.html

Ivey, W. (1976). Record Anthology of American Music. Retrieved July 5, 2018, from Country Music in the Modern Era: 1940s-1970s : http://www.newworldrecords.org/liner_notes/80207.pdf

Kakutani, M. (2013, August 27). New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2018, from The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/us/the-lasting-power-of-dr-kings-dream-speech.html

Kendi, I. X. (2017, Feb 22). New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2018, from A History of Race and Racism in America, in 24 Chapters: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/books/review/a-history-of-race-and-racism-in-america-in-24-chapters.html

Martinez, D. (2012, November). Music During the Great Depression. Retrieved July 5, 2018, from Country Music During the Great Depression: http://musicduringthegreatdepression.blogspot.com/p/country-music-during-great-depression.html

 

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