Comments on: TTTMS #11: Country Music Gossip Sites

By: bill

bill — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:52:40 +0000

Keith Urban played a free concert today in Cool Springs Tennessee that was awesome!

By: Steve Harvey

Steve Harvey — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:54:11 +0000

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?

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:51:02 +0000

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.

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:39:58 +0000

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.

By: David Jones

David Jones — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:01:37 +0000

“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.

By: Annie

Annie — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:14:15 +0000

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.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:57:43 +0000

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.

By: Trailer

Trailer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:35:29 +0000

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.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:36:07 +0000

“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)

By: Shannon

Shannon — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:47:44 +0000

Awww, you didn’t really offend me, I just really enjoy a good argument – just ask my hubby! LOL.