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'Cashville' - Dilution of Original Country Music Identity through Increasing Commercialization

:	Stephanie Schäfer
:	'Cashville' - Dilution of Original Country Music Identity through Increasing Commercialization
:	Diplomica Verlag GmbH
:	9783842828452
:	1
:	CHF 31,30
:

:	Englische Sprachwissenschaft / Literaturwissenschaft
:	English

:	120
:	kein Kopierschutz/DRM
:	PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
:	PDF

Where I come from, it's cornbread and chicken... This line from Alan Jackson's country hit defines the genre as the music of the American South. All its ambiguity set aside, the South stands proudly for its hospitality, politeness, sense of place and community. Family and religion are traditionally more important down there than in the rest of the country. As Southern culture becomes more and more americanized and the music of the small town Southern man (another Jackson song) is adapted for a mainstream audience, the original rustic identity that defines the true American genre loses its charm. Modern country music has become slick and professionalized and sounds more and more like common pop music to make it more profitable. This study focuses on the authentic country music identity and how it is threatened by increasing commercialization. It defines said identity and the working class culture from which it springs. It traces the history of country music and its different genres from the 19th and early 20th century cowboy music over Western Swing and Honky-Tonk of the 1930s and 1940s, the progressive movements of the 1960s and 1970s up to today's mainstream Country Pop, and shows how its target audience has changed over time and how the opposition tries to preserve traditional sounds. Authentic Texas Country is set in contrast to the commercial Nashville recording industry and both are compared in their respective developments over the years. In the face of terrorism, which poses a threat to the American National identity, country music with its representative American values has become increasingly popular and enforces a strong collective identity on a national level. However, in doing so, it also dilutes the original identity that was once restricted to life in a small town community rather than the country as a whole. What sets country music as a genre apart is its narrative structure. Every song has a story to tell: Be it about 'The Cold Hard Facts of Life', a prayer finally answered, or the first kiss on a Saturday night.

Stephanie Schäfer was born in Braunschweig in 1984. After her graduation in 2004 and two years of law school, she received a BA degree in International Communication and Translation from the University of Hildesheim specializing in Business Translations of English and Spanish. Ever since her High School Year in 2001, the author has formed a special bond with the culture and history of the United States, and the state of Texas in particular. In accordance with that special interest she chose to write her BA-thesis about the impact of Mexican culture on U.S. border states. In the course of her MA degree program North American Studies at the Philipps University of Marburg, Stephanie Schäfer focused mainly on the academic field of cultural studies. At the end of her studies, she returned to Texas to do some in-field research for her work on the authentic Texas country music identity.

	“Cashville“: Dilution of Original Country Music Identity through Increasing Commercialization	1
	Table of Contents	3
	I. Introduction: Country Music as Manifestation of Identity and Cultural Expression	5
	II. Stereotypes and Recognition of American Country Music	7
	III. Perspectives of Identity and Music: Social Identity Theory	11
	1. Country Music Identity	12
	2. Where I Come From: Southern Working Class Identity and Country Music	15
	2.1 Peculiarities of Southern Culture: Sense of Place	16
	2.2 Working-Class Culture	19
	IV. Generic Themes of Country Music	23
	V. History of Country Music: Blending of Cultures vs. Preservation of Identity	30
	1. Cowboy Music	30
	2. 1930s: Western Swing: Bob Wills	33
	3. The 1940s and 1950s	34
	3.1 Hillbilly/Honky-Tonk	34
	3.2 The Bar: An Alternative Home	35
	4. Reaching a Broader Audience: The Emergence of Radio Broadcasting	37
	5. Early 1970s: Cosmic Cowboy/ Outlaw Movement	38
	6. 1970s: Mainstream Country/Country-Pop	43
	7. Late 1970s/1980s: Urban Cowboy	44
	8. 1980s: New Traditionalists	45
	9. 1990s - Today: Young Country	47
	VI. Musical Hybrids	49
	1. Alternative Country	49
	2. Country-Rock/Southern Rock/Americana	50
	3. Blending of Cultures: Conjunto and Tejano Music	51
	VII. “Don't Get Above Your Raisin'”: Authentic Regional Identity vs.Commercialization	52
	1. Class Identity	52
	2. Authenticity and Commodification	54
	3. Back to the Roots: Country Identity and Regional Pride	62
	3.1 Texas Country	62
	3.2 Texas Regional Pride	63
	3.3 Austin and Lubbock – Lone Star Country Music Arenas	67
	3.4 Anti-Nashville Sentiments	68
	4. Nashville Country	69
	4.1 The (Countrypolitan) Nashville Sound	69
	4.2 Commercialization and Performance	71
	4.3 Grand Ol' Opry	76
	4.4 Cowboy Lifestyle	79
	4.5 Back to the Roots: The Story of Willie Nelson	80
	4.6 “Gone Country”: The Changing Face of Nashville	85
	VIII. Preliminary Conclusion	89
	IX. Red, White, and Blue: National Expansion of Country Music	91
	1. Country Music Goes to War	91
	1.1 World War II	91
	1.2 United Forces against Communism	93
	2. Walls came tumbling down: Country Music after 9/11	97
	2.1 Unity in Crisis: National Identity	98
	2.1.1 Toby Keith: “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)”	98
	2.1.2 Alan Jackson: “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”	100
	2.2 Country Songs in the Patriotic Tradition	101
	2.2.1 Darryl Worley: “Have you Forgotten“	101
	2.2.2 Brooks	101
	102	101
	3. Political Campaigns and Country Music	103
	4. Country Musicians in Political Battle: Dixie Chicks vs. Toby Keith	105
	X. Conclusion	109
	XI. Bibliography	111
	Author’s Profile	119