Bro-Country

BAck in the stone age when I was on the air on a country station, we were not allowed to play two female artists back to back...im surprised about more male artists as there are plenty of great female artists out there, guess some things don't change. Of course, I wonder if they separate out "Classic Country" from "Hot Country" and "Outlaw Country" and so forth. For example, Alison Krauss would NEVER get played on our station - Hot country - except for a duet she did with Shenandoah.

Ha!I had to pause for a moment - French country? (but then I see you are in Edmonton!!) What are CanCon quotas?
Yup, Nashville has changed a LOT over the years, not sure when the big change happened but probably right around when Shania Twain was get)ting popular. No one listening to her "music" who listened to Classic Country would consider her "country" but then you get Big and Rich and others that are certainly hard to recognize as "country." I remember when I was changing shifts with a guy and I noted that I couldn't stand Shania. He gives me a blank look and says, "She sings? Who CARES if she sings??" I feel the same about Taylor Swift! Country???

And it's very confusing. At our Hot Country station - never hear Lyle Lovett, Kevin Welsh (I don't think we played any Emmy Lou or Dolly Parton either - those were Classic Country.) We played one or two songs by the Judds and that was it, and one or two from Tanya Tucker. So plenty of very talented artists are never going to be heard on commercial radio (satellite is different, which is where there is Outlaw country - hosted by...Skeeter Jennings? Waylon's kid who's also a great musician himself) You'll hear (or used to) folks like Robert Earl Keen, Jr, maybe even James Keelegan - a Canadian! - Zachary Richard - Katy Moffat, Rosie Flores and so on, maybe even early Dixie Chicks - before Natalie Maines when they were kind of a bluegrass band!

Anyway, - I m sure I would barely recognize "the industry" these days - how "albums" (is this even a "thing" anymore?) are marketed and so on.

But still, surprised at the short shrift women are getting in this genre. Interesting but frustrating!

I feel like a lot of female country artists have crossover success, maybe less than the male country artists? (I could be wrong on this, it's just an impression). But if it's true, maybe the women are seen as having sold out?

I think there may also be a connection to the conservatism of some country listeners? I mean, the Dixie Chicks were on top of the world until they had the nerve to express an opinion that didn't fit with the country standards. Maybe most women who are ambitious enough to get to the tops of the charts also have opinions that may not fit with the dominant country conservatism?

All of this is pure speculation, of course. I like my country music like I like my men - quiet, and far away.

Kind of surprising. Country radio has always supported the ladies. Some of the biggest chart toppers are female.Maybe it was just a down year with not many female acts having new stuff. I can say as a rock/rap fan, country has always seemed to be more even in that regard.