Boston country

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@erols.com>]

... I still find many people refer to Country Music (in Boston) as   
> painful.  Why?  Is this personal musical taste or commentary on a   
> station's bad approach to a legitimate format? <snip> 
> Roger Kirk a.k.a. The Wizard Of Music 

Good question.  A native NE with inlaws entrenched in the Midwest, I've
spent ALOT of time out there and have visited lotto stations out there,
country & others.  The perspective from there on Boston is we are either
"too uppity" or "too far from the roots" from which today's 'Country' comes
from.  When country singers' accents more closely approximate yours, when
people on porches with guitars are not considered an oddity, the modern
hybrid called Country is NOT a leap.  At a county fair last summer,
mega-throngs of teens showed up amidst sheep and pig aromas and other
byproducts to witness outdoor concerts by a number of name country acts and
never stopped screaming at the stage (and it was not considered an un-cool
thing)  Boom boxes only seem to blast Country.  Leave your (w)Rap with the
umbrellas...  During the show you could  see 2-4  generations of families
listening to the same acts without making a big deal out of it.  Bottom
line is the whole family thing here in NE is just.. different.  We reject
the often soft image country music exploits.  Way it goes.

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