TTTMS #11: Country Music Gossip Sites
Things That Threaten My Sanity: Country Music Gossip Sites
Roger Miller once sang that “it takes all kinds to make a world.” Since Roger Miller is sort of my spiritual guru, I try to keep those words in mind as I encounter things and people I don’t understand.
But sometimes it’s too much. Even though I generally avoid visiting country gossip sites, their very existence bugs me. Who are these people demanding the latest pictures of Taylor Swift shopping and Kenny Chesney being bald as soon as they’re available? Why have they chosen to associate themselves with this genre? Are any of them over the age of 14? Is this a sign of the apocalypse?
Gossip sites have a right to exist, and they absolutely have an audience. In fact, if I were mostly interested in having a heavily-trafficked blog, I would probably be well-advised to start up another online gossip rag instead of continuing to plug away at this thing I’m doing now. I just don’t have it in me.
Beyond my longstanding distaste for gossip in general (as a precocious lad, I would advise chattering adults to “cut the small talk,” which I’m sure they must have found adorable), there’s something about country music in particular that makes it a terrible fit for the gossipy format. Isn’t this supposed to be a music of substance? A music of adult complexities and hard truths? The antithesis of the superficial youth- and image-centered world of Hollywood? Right, so remind me again: why do I need to know what Chuck Wicks ate for breakfast this morning? I’m more interested in whether he can sing a good country song.
One explanation for the popularity of these sites is the personal connection many fans in this particular genre feel to their artists of choice. They see them as friends. That’s the whole idea behind the CMA Musical Fan Fest Fair FunTown or whatever they’re calling it these days. Up close and personal with your favorite singers. Fan appreciation. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Sure, I’m living in a nice house and being flown around the country because you’re buying my albums, but we’re also buddies. And the relationship obviously isn’t one-sided because I’m taking these two days out of my year to thank you for the 365 days per year you spend worshipping me. That’s fair, right? Good, now wait in a seven-mile-long line just to shake my hand.
Sorry, got a little carried away there. The point is that even if fans do see their favorite singers as friends, that doesn’t explain needing to know every solitary thing about them. If my friends were that demanding, I’d disown them. Luckily, they don’t usually chase me around with cameras or call for constant updates.
It’s no coincidence that one of the major gossip songs in country music is actually an anti-gossip song. “Harper Valley PTA” was a huge hit for Jeannie C. Riley in 1968. Penned by legendary songsmith Tom T. Hall, it’s all about Mrs. Johnson “socking it to” a judgmental (and, as she points out, quite hypocritical) group of her peers who apparently have nothing better to do than involve themselves with all her alleged problems. The message is simple, clear and (in terms of the country music canon) familiar: butt out. Country gossip sites are often more like the meddlesome Bobby Taylor or the nosy Shirley Thompson than the admirable Mrs. Johnson.
That’s all for now. I’ll play you out with some Hank Williams:
Oh, the woman on our party line’s the nosiest thing
She picks up her receiver when she knows it’s my ring
Why don’t you mind your own business, mind your own business
Well, if you mind your business, then you won’t be mindin’ mine.
Prefer email? Nothing wrong with that!
Uhmm, ouch. I run a country music site that I outright tell people is country music news AND gossip and I’m not at all ashamed of that. And I’m very much over 14. I AM sort of curious of one thing, though, I’m curious as to why it is that you think that gossip is any worse than the little made up scenarios that you write on a very regular basis? That somehow making fun of the country star in made up little stories is better than chatting about what they have going on in their lives.
I can tell you why it is that gossip and knowing what someone went out and did that morning or what they had for breakfast or who they’re dating or what their babies look like is so popular (since you seem to think it’s beneath you to try and understand), people like to feel closer to those they look up to. It’s nice to know that the George Straits, Clint Blacks, Tim and Faiths, and Garth Brooks of the world are just like us – that they go out and have fun, that they play with their kids, that they get drunk and act stupid, that they date and fall in love and even sometimes fall out of love. People like to see that these people who we see as almost gods wear stupid outfits, sometimes fall on stage and flub the words to their songs, and that occasionally they get goofy and act like, dare I say it, normal people.
Part of the problem in country music today that I see is the fact that there are still people who are so dang stuffy. Really, loosen up, it’s fun and nontoxic. Country music stars aren’t these high and mighty people who are somehow intellectually better and above the rest of the world, they really are just like us, only more talented in their special way. See, you and I aren’t really that much different, even if I’m just some low-life gossip blogger who needs to get a life. You with your country music quotes and humorous stories and I with my gossip – we both just hope to entertain people. That really is the bottom line. I’m not in this for the high traffic, which is something you elluded to, I’m in it for the fun and to bring a little entertainment to my readers, and I’m in this because it’s what I really, really love – country music and country music stars.
Shannon:
First, thank you. Since the whole concept of this series is that I riff on something that bugs me, it’s obviously going to be a bit one-sided. I think you did an excellent job of filling in the other side and bringing some balance to the conversation. Honestly, I appreciate it.
Since you (understandably) appear to have taken some of my points personally, I’d like to point out that this post was not my way of secretly taking shots at NashvilleGab. It was a comment on a larger trend that includes your blog and lots of others. Obviously, it’s a trend that I don’t love. After reading your response, I think part of the reason I don’t love it might be that I don’t view stars as “gods” to begin with, so am not pleasantly surprised to discover that they also eat Cheerios or go to the gym. I see them as regular people. And why should I concern myself with what some other people are eating for breakfast or doing with their time? Those seem like pretty mundane details.
I don’t want to beat this thing to death. You said your piece very well. I hope I said mine well, though I don’t usually know until I look at it again a few weeks after the fact. I’ll limit myself to responding to the one point on which you specifically requested a response:
I AM sort of curious of one thing, though, I’m curious as to why it is that you think that gossip is any worse than the little made up scenarios that you write on a very regular basis? That somehow making fun of the country star in made up little stories is better than chatting about what they have going on in their lives.
I don’t think it’s worse. I think it’s qualitatively different. Fake News began from the realization that a lot of the country music news I was being asked to care about on a regular basis just wasn’t that interesting to me. I decided that it could be a lot more interesting if it didn’t also have to be true.
You’re right that we’re both in entertainment, but I think it might be entertainment to two different ends. You’re bringing folks all the latest on their favorite stars – and, for the record, doing it better than just about anyone else in your niche. I’m poking fun as a way of undermining this big cultural idea that we need to know every last thing about our favorite stars. Those are pretty different objectives, so it’s not surprising that we might disagree on a few things. That’s fine. It’s certainly not personal, and I apologize if anything in my original post gave you that impression.
Awww, you didn’t really offend me, I just really enjoy a good argument – just ask my hubby! LOL.
“Part of the problem in country music today that I see is the fact that there are still people who are so dang stuffy.”
Really? I mean, really? That’s what you think the problem with country music is? It’s too stuffy? It’s filled with too much solemnity and reverence and the stars are shown too much deference and so you’re doing your part to show that they aren’t artistic gods come to earth, rather just good old folks like me and you?
We’re talking about the same pandering clowns who show us again and again and again that they have no shame right? We’re talking about 40 year old men wearing pookah shells singing about being a pirate, about honkytonkbadonkadonks, about namechecking non-tributes to Johnny Cash, about America being Springsteen and Lemonade Stands, about high maintenance women not wanting a maintenance man, about digitizing yourself into Elvis’ 68 comeback special, about your smile being a Red Umbrella, about Bobing that Head? Those are the ones that need to be softened up and humanized a little bit?
Shannon, you and C.M. aren’t alike. C.M. is a satirist and serious critic. You collect tithes at the alter of celebrity.
Corporate Nashville Country Music treats Alison Bonaguro as a serious journalist, Chris Lindsey as a serious music producer, and Aimee Mayo as a serious songwriter. It treats Tim McGraw and Montgomery Gentry as serious artists and Brad Paisley as a legitimate humorist. By feeding into the cult of celebrity worship, the parade of fame for fame’s sake that country music has become, you are all the time further trivializing a genre of music that was once an American artform widely admired by musicians and artists not for it’s sales numbers or its potential as a back up career, but for it’s honesty, depth and uncompromising spirit.
If you truly do love Country Music, you express that love by collecting and distributing only the most trivial information/conversation about it. I’d say that you don’t love it well.
“Shannon, you and C.M. aren’t alike. C.M. is a satirist and serious critic. You collect tithes at the alter of celebrity.”
Oh Hollerin, I have the strong suspicion that you don’t find me very entertaining and that makes me very unexpectedly sad. I think I’ll go drown my sorrows in a little Kenny Chesney Rum and cover up my sobs with a little Jessica Simpson on the radio.
I think I like you, you talk purdy and it makes me have the sudden urge to make you happy. If only I wasn’t so busy kissing the hind quarters of those pandering clowns the rest of us call celebrities I might actually have the time to figure out exactly where I’ve strayed. You should email me and we’ll do lunch sometime and you can coach me in how to be a proper country fan.
Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s breaking LeAnn news. ;0)
Is it wrong that I am both a true country fan and a reader of some of these gossip sites (Gab and Narc being my faves)? I’ll admit that most of my reading is for inspiration on my album covers and satirical pieces, but I checked up on the latest Leeann Rimes info a lot more than I should admit to today. There’s a place for everything, and at least most of the country sites are respectful of the artists, despite their peering.
You know, if you look at country music magazines from back in the 50s and 60s and on – or even the songbooks that country musicians used to sell before they could actually sell records – there’s a lot of what’s basically the same stuff: family photos, personal tidbits, pets, favorite recipes, etc. More innocent stuff, maybe, but more innocent times in general, too. And, of course, it’s not present times that are the heyday of running tourist buses around all the country stars’ Nashville homes or selling maps of where they can be found; that was back in the goodle days. I think that fan interest in the stars is actually coming from about the same place now as it was back then – that sense of personal connection – so the real difference is pretty much in the medium, not the message.
As someone who’s new to counrty music blogging and websites – I wanted to weigh in with some of my observations. I have loved country music all of my life and I am a trivia buff. I know the first sites I visited online were “gossipy” ones – however, after reading some of the stuff I felt like I was leaving a donut shop at 4 in the afternoon, looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching…I do like Nasville Gab though, I’ll admit it’s on my reader. However, I knew I found what I was looking for when I read a post about Linda Ronstadt. The post was so well written, and the comments were so smart and interesting…Yes, I was home! {props to the author of that post-hopefully someone will mention your name below-if I was a professional I would have done my research}. From there, I started following some great sites. I do want to say that some of the gossipy sites appear to be, simply put, a “marketing tool” used by the celebrities themselves as self-promotion. Did anyone notice that during “American Idol” last night there was a commercial for LeeAnn’s new movie – showing scenes of her and the reported “other man”? Coincidence that story broke yesterday? I don’t care what they had for breakfast, but, I’m always interested in who played where last night, what’s new on the radio, or, what should be on the radio, etc. The latest news on Taylor, Carrie, ect. doesn’t interest me at all, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the demographic they’re tying to appeal to anyway. I prefer to dig a little deeper into country music when I go online. That’s my preference. But, once in a while a donut isn’t gonna kill me or anyone else.
“Why do I need to know what Chuck Wicks ate for breakfast this morning? I’m more interested in whether he can sing a good country song.”
Brilliant – this is definitely Sanity with a capital S! One of the problems with Country right now (and there’s more than one), is that people have forgotten about the music. I don’t know a heck of a lot about my favourite artists: I think Brooks and Dunn live in Nashville (about a street apart), and I’m fairly sure George Strait lives in Texas, but that’s about it. I’m more interested in if the music is good or not, and – if they wrote it – the inspiration behind those songs. And out of curiosity, I just visited Nashville Narc (I’d never been on it before), and I was rather bored by it all, to be honest. LeAnn this, and Keith Urban that – all the usual suspects. It’s probably harmless enough, but it doesn’t interest me in the least.
Admittedly, Annie pretty much said what I would say on the subject. I like more substantive sites, but I have been known to indulge in celebrity gossip sites once in awhile. I definitely don’t care where the eat or what they eat though.:) I want a little more selaciousness (sp?) than that.
Thanks to the ascendancy of Carrie Underwood via American Idol, Taylor Swift via pop radio remixes, and Julianne Hough via Dancing With The Stars, mainstream country radio/music these days has become part of pop culture whether we like it or not. The new Miley Cyrus single was the fifth most added new song at Top 40 country radio stations last week, which doesn’t surprise me at all.
Since mainstream country has become part of the pop culture realm, the gossip sites were sure to follow. I personally don’t care about such matters and just read the stuff that is mentioned on The 9513 or CMT.com as a mild diversion. I have no interest in visiting blogs where gossip takes precedence over the artist’s music.
The fact that country radio has targeted a demographic audience which are likely the prime consumers of “US” and “People” magazines (and similar gossip rags) also has a lot to do with it. The more mainstream country listeners become focused on the artist’s personal lives, the less they seem to care about the quality of the music itself. I’ll stick with the talented artists that stay off the Top 40 / Pop Culture radar and keep the music first.
There’s a separate issue inherent in all of this – not only do I not care what Keith Urban is having for breakfast or what gym he goes to or who Leann Rimes is sleeping with, I HAVE NO RIGHT to know any of these things. I might be interested in what the man who came to fix my broken window the other week has for breakfast or what gym he goes to or who he’s sleeping with, but if I started following him around with cameras, posting mundane details of his personal life on the internet and filming him in a restaurant having dinner with someone, I’d be arrested and a restraining order would be out against me. People would think I was mentally disturbed, a borderline stalker. Why do we have different standards for people just because they’re musicians who a lot of folks have heard of? The man who fixed my window, I talked to while he was doing so, I asked how he got into that job, how busy he was, if he enjoyed his work. I didn’t feel those were unreasonable questions to ask him. If I buy a Keith Urban album, I’m interested in why he chose those songs to record, what guitars he played on the tracks, if he enjoys playing them live and what prompted him to become a musician. Not what Cracker Barrel he has breakfast at. I mean, seriously, what insight into the creative process do people think they’re getting from looking at lousy snapshots of Carrie Underwood working out? Is it purely voyeurism?
Keith Urban played a free concert today in Cool Springs Tennessee that was awesome!