The fine people over at Willamette Week have decided to do a series of articles on local radio, with a focus on stations that play new and local music. I took the opportunity to post a message to the writer of the series about the fact that local print media rarely even acknowledges country radio, which, along with adult contemporary, is the most popular format in the Portland market. Why? Because humans, no matter where they live, will never tire of hearing music about love, pain, and farm equipment.

Someone responded to my post by saying that when you ask most people what kind of music they like, they say "anything but country." Really? Who are you asking? I don't want to get into a culture war here, but my guess is that the writer of that comment (who says he likes country, but only the "traditional" stuff) is under 30 and lives in the city, as do most of the "people he asks." And don't talk to me about your appreciation for Cash and Waylon and Hank; hipsters have adopted those gritty traditionalists as some sort of badge of authenticity. It's a development that would have made Jennings laugh and Johnny spit some Beech Nut in their general di-rection.

At the risk of not being funny, I gotta tell ya, the bias against country music - and its listeners - really kinda ticks me off. Some time ago, when I was working at a country station in Seattle, one of the sales people made the comment that we couldn't do a web-based promotion because "country listeners are too stupid to work the internet."

She was serious. And I was furious.

I explained to her that while it was true that country listeners have not been early and widespread adapters to the online world, that it has nothing to do with relative intelligence. Country listeners are, by and large, the worker bees of the world. Getting a computer takes a back seat to getting the job done. They're the families who put their time and money where their mouth is by contributing beyond their fair share to their communities, churches, schools, and charities. More than that, they own their emotions--being cool isn't nearly as important as being real.

Are there rednecks, Jesus-loving snake handlers and trailer trash? You bet. But you'll find that in any group of rock geeks, hip-hop fans, and pop groupies--not just country listeners. The difference is that country listeners claim it and don't give a good goddamn what you think about it.

Oh, and that salesperson in Seattle? She still has a job, and I don't.
Go figure.

Posted: Friday, Mar 05 2010 at 10:54 AM

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