Not Forgotten

I was sitting here, trying to come up with a better title for this week's blog post but...I couldn't it. I don't know why it is but, whenever it comes time to think of a title - be it for a poem, novella, short story or blog post that I'm writing - I somehow convince myself that it had to be unique, and snappy. It can't just be something bland like "Not Forgotten." Also, I think that stems from what my professor for my Creative Writing class said: "don't' underestimate the power and influence of a title." Sometimes we just overlook them, but often enough, they are what draws us to a book in the first place. I'm a visual person, so titles - along with covers - are a huge draw for me. So I guess that's why I'm still bothered by the title for today's blog post but, who knows? Maybe by the end of it I'll think of something more creative!

Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about. Today's title refers to the many artists - invariably country because that's what I primarily listen to - that have fallen by the wayside over of the years and eventually been completely forgotten. You know when you're driving or just sitting at home and all of a sudden a song comes on the radio that you haven't heard in years? It gives you a jolt of excitement doesn't it? You think: oh yeah! I remember this song! and find yourself taken back to when you first heard it, or perhaps a memory entwined with it. Then, a string of new songs is played and you forget all about it. Thus the cycle occurs over and over again, with new songs dominating air time.

Take Brooks & Dunn for example. Just last year I believe they announced that they were disbanding and pursuing solo careers. Of course I was disappointed. I love a lot of their songs, but at the same time I can understand their move. I don't recall where I heard either of them say it, but Brooks & Dunn explained that "country music is changing, and we can't match that sound anymore." I admit, it wasn't exactly like that but, do you see a common theme here? The sound of country is changing so rapidly and blatantly that Brooks & Dunn know they can't compete with the younger artists taking the music industry by storm. How they think they'll be able to accomplish this with solo careers I'm not sure. But I do hope to hear more from them in the future.

Like many artists that have fallen out of popularity, I keep their image and sound alive on my iPod. I'm sure it's no secret that I've discovered a lot of 90's country artists thanks in part to Pandora, an Internet radio site. And like I've said before, there's no way I would have discovered all of the music I love know without Pandora because radio station's today are biased and only play the new stuff. I never even knew all of this great, older music was just lying undiscovered underneath the thick layer of dust time had placed there. Imagine how many other people are being robbed of this music, just because they're being fed songs that don't hold a candle to original country.

And yes, I'm biased too, because 90's country is my favorite era in the genre but, anyone - whether you're a country fan or not - knows that the music industry in general is taking a turn for a worst. Which is why so many honorable and talented artists are being pushed aside to make room for the red carpet to roll out. To give you a few examples I'll mention my favorite country artist, Patty Loveless. Having discovered her roughly last year sometime I already own three of her albums and consider her one of the best country singers of the 90's...and even today. Still putting out albums, Loveless doesn't enjoy the fame and airplay like she did in the 90's. Why? Because in the 90's country music was still true, even if artists like Shania Twain and Faith Hill were already paving a yellow-brick road for country pop. Radio's seemed to know what real music was, and real country music at that. Loveless even performed on the ACM's and picked up awards. I was shocked at this! Patty Loveless on the ACM's? It makes me wish I had heard about her back then so I could have seen her perform, rather than watch what the ACM's puts on display nowadays.

Loveless's last album, Mountain Soul II, was a follow up to 2001's Mountain Soul. the latter was a tribute to her coal mining father and her hometown in Eastern, Kentucky. I'll admit, I was skeptical when I heard that Loveless had modeled the album after mountain music, hence the name. But after borrowing it from my local library and giving it a listen I was hooked. A few days later I found the second Mountain Soul at Wal-Mart and bought it. Now I have both of them! Unfortunately I had to buy the first Mountain Soul off of the Internet because no store around her carried it, or any of her albums for that matter. Which is another thing isn't it? Not only are some artists no longer played on the radio but they're albums are also no longer occupying the shelves at popular stores like Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Now, I know I can't shift all the blame on the new artists raiding the radios and charts, it also has something to do with that artist perhaps no longer able to put good material. Which is a shame isn't it? Take Belinda Carlisle for example. She was with the GoGo's originally and then went off on her own, only she didn't do so good so rejoined the GoGo's again, who had banded back together. They fell apart again, she tried a solo career, went back to the GoGo's...and you get the picture right? It's sad when an artist puts out a few good songs here and there then a decade or more later - maybe less - tries to come back with a new song only...no one likes it. That's the case of Jamie O'Neal, a one-time popular country singer from the 90's. I have one song on my iPod from her called Somebody's Hero. It's a great song about the trials - and invariable rewards - of a single mother raising her daughter. O'Neal also had other great hits like the catchy Trying To Find Atlantis in which O'Neal talked about how at times it seems nearly impossible to find a good, decent man. A third popular, stand-out hit she had was entitled When I Think About Heaven in which O'Neal states that everything she thinks about reminds her of her boyfriend/husband. All of these songs are great, and I regret that I only have the first on my iPod but my point is, at one time - by which I mean the 90's - Jamie O'Neal was a great artist and although, yes, she was more pop than country, I still consider it better than what passes for country-pop today. Why did she fade away like old ink of a piece of paper? Why couldn't she keep on writing that story, instead of placing it on a dusty shelf and forgetting about it? Like Brooks & Dunn, perhaps her sound just wasn't selling anymore or, perhaps she couldn't put forth marketable material.

Another artist which has suffered this same fate is Suzy Bogguss. Now, like with Patty Loveless, if it wasn't for Pandora I would have stumbled across her, and again, I blame mainly radio. But even without the radio to provide me with a medium of sorts to all of this discarded music, they have to be other ways of discovering it can't there? I'm trying to be more open minded when it comes to music but I'll admit...it's hard! Once I find an artist I like I tend to explore songs by them, rather than someone different. And even when I do step outside of my musical interests, its usually to listen to artists that are similar to ones I already listen to. Perhaps these discarded artists, so to speak, simply need people to remember them. To keep listening to their songs, because many of these forgotten artists - both one's I've mentioned and others I haven't - have some of the best songs out there, songs that reflect a time when people didn't compromise quality for quantity when it comes to music. A time when record companies didn't just pluck anyone off of the street who showed a decent amount of talent, but rather choose people who had true talent and could produce unique music, not the mass marketed stuff of today.

I had originally intended to post a poem I had written yesterday, but this idea sprung in my head like the first reaching's of plants in the spring time and...I had to pour water on it! The poem will come next week, unless some other idea intercepts it first! For now, I ask that you think about artists that you listen to which have been discarded by the music industry and even sometimes fans. And if you can, turn off your radio and go exploring. Find those artists whom you know are out there, but know you'll never discover through radio. Like that abandoned farmhouse in the woods, music which has been buried by time and changing interests, still clings to an inimitable charm and timeless beauty.