If I hear another local country act sing in an American accent about their pick up truck or driving said pick up truck ‘Miles’ over the ’state line’ I think I’ll vomit.
We don’t have pick ups in Australia fellas, we have utes, it’s kilometres not ‘miles’ and the last time I drove through Coolangatta I wasn’t crossing the ‘state line’ I was going to Surfers for a weekend with my mates.
So will someone please explain to me why it’s important to Americanise local country music. I mean if you want to be ‘big’ in America, piss off over there and give it a shot, and best of luck to you, but for Christ’s sake, if you plan to spend time touring, recording and entertaining local audiences, leave the pick ups, cowboys and state lines at home.
I’m not saying this shit isn’t popular either. It obviously is. Some of the biggest names in the local music industry play this stuff on a regular basis to packed rooms of fans. But my question still stands; What has Shazza from Mount Hutton got in common with rib eyes, pick ups and state lines?. Nothing, that’s what. She’s never even driven over the Swansea bridge for fuck sake… Let alone a state line. Besides the fact she bought a Garth Brooks CD from Sound World in the 90s, Sharon from Mount Hutton has got nothing in common with the lyrics in these songs. But she knows all the words, and the songs remind her of home (which is a duplex in Burton Road by the way).
Please don’t think I’m picking on one or two acts here. Many are guilty of it. A flick through the catalog of any local country act will reveal their abandonment of Australian vernacular and culture in preference for some homogenised and cliched Americana crap.
Here’s a good example. There’s no doubt that Morgan Evans is a truly talented muso and performer. But his song Freedom Like This contains some of the best examples of my gripe;
“Run away with me, in the middle of the night
Miles of highway ahead
We’ll sleep when we’re tired, in the back of my Mustang
By morning we’ll be cross the state line”
I’m not the first to speak up about this. In 2013 when he parted ways with the governing body of the Golden Guitar Awards, icon of Australian country music, John Williamson said;
“It seems the industry is hell-bent on producing more Keith Urbans…If we are not respected as a legitimate organisation to promote original Australian country music, I cannot be associated with it any longer”.
It’s not that I don’t think these guys are super talented, because they obviously are, but why does it have to be served up with an American twang.
So here’s your chance to educate me. Please tell me why this is happening. Please tell me why this crap is popular. Please teach me your Americanised ways and maybe I’ll be shouting YEEEHAAAA down the front at the Cambo for the next ‘country music night’.
This is an opinion piece submitted to Newcastle Live. It does not represent the opinion of Newcastle Live. If you would like to contribute an article or an opinion piece please email rockon@newcastle live.com.au
