chicks row looms large for country music liberals (nbc)
- From: "anon" <comaa@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:15:15 +1000
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/en_nm/leisure_country_politics_dc
Chicks row looms large for country music liberals
By Pat HarrisWed Aug 30, 4:34 PM ET
Ever since the Dixie Chicks were boycotted by radio stations for insulting
President George W. Bush in 2003, country music liberals have felt under
siege but that doesn't mean there aren't any in Nashville.
With 75 million country albums sold a year, and 2,000 radio stations devoted
to it, country music is more than hillbillies in cowboy hats line dancing
and singing "Stand by Your Man" -- it's big business, and it encompasses a
broad range of fans and musicians, across the political spectrum.
The difference is some shout louder than others, and those who might agree
with the Dixie Chicks often keep quiet.
"I had one artist manager tell me, 'We might have artists who feel that way,
but they're not going to put a record out and see it get 'Dixie Chicked,"'
said Wade Jessen, director of the country charts for Billboard magazine.
The Dixie Chicks controversy stems from lead singer Natalie Maines' March
2003 comments in London that the band was "ashamed" of fellow Texan Bush.
Many country radio stations dropped them from their playlists.
Tammy Genovese, chief operating officer of the Country Music Association,
plays down the furor over the Dixie Chicks, saying "I just don't see that
it's been a big issue."
"I don't know what causes the decision to play them or not (on the radio),
whether it's (pressure from) the station or the fans," Genovese said. Asked
how many stations were involved, she said it was "significant" but could not
give specifics.
Jessen said patriotic, support-the-troops songs had been a mainstay of the
genre since World War Two, partly because the armed forces recruit heavily
in poor, rural areas.
But country also includes anti-establishment figures like Willie Nelson, who
recorded a song this year about gay cowboys. A group of writers, producers
and other professionals started a group called Music Row Democrats in 2003
that has posted political songs on a Web site to raise campaign funds.
Jessen said after 9/11 country-music radio took on a much more political
bent, nearly always conservative. Now, even though the Iraq war is
increasingly unpopular and Bush's personal ratings are low, critical
statements are still rare in country music, he said.
CMA SNUBS CHICKS
Though their album "Taking the Long Way Round" has been one of the biggest
country hits this year, the Dixie Chicks were noticeably absent from the
Country Music Association's annual awards nominations announced on
Wednesday.
"Apparently there's been a complete divorce from the country community,"
said Peter Cooper, senior music writer for The Tennessean. "The CMA awards
tend to go to people who are successful on country radio and the Dixie
Chicks right now are not. They've not gotten play for this album."
The band was not immediately reachable for comment.
Robert Oermann, a prominent author of country music books, said the Dixie
Chicks controversy had an impact on others, particularly emerging acts who
depend on radio to make their name.
"I've had friends in the country music business tell me honestly that
they're afraid to speak out politically because their records won't be
played by corporate radio," Oermann said. "Corporate radio did a number on
the Dixie Chicks."
Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters' Guild in Nashville, said there
was "an inherent conservatism" in country music. However, Davidson County,
Tennessee, which includes the home of country music, Nashville, voted for
Democrat John Kerry over Republican Bush 55 percent to 45 percent in the
2004 election.
Country superstar Toby Keith is known for a post 9/11 song with the lyrics
"We'll put a boot in your ass/It's the American way," but his representative
said he was a lifelong Democrat.
Loudilla Johnson of the "Johnson Sisters" said politics was nothing new to
Nashville. But, she said, "labels like conservative and liberal are
rankling," and it was wrong to say most fans were "conservative and mainly
Republican."
(Additional reporting by Claudia Parsons in New York and Andy Sullivan in
Washington)
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