CMT Music Awards

Nashville Skyline: Country Music Trends: Is the Sky Falling or Not?

By admin ⋅ April 30, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Increasingly, one of my favorite columns about the state of the union of country music, is Chet Flippo’s Nashville Skyline at CMT online.
Flippo addresses these ongoing shifts in the country music genres and the larger culture with astute precision. This week’s installment

So, are my Chicken Little friends, who say the sky is falling in terms of country music’s quality, correct? Do they have a valid argument? I think we should look at the record over several years and compare things before coming to a decision.

Let’s look back at, say, the last 20 years and compare emerging crops of young country artists.

With the winners’ names bolded, let’s do a year-by-year run-through of the nominees:

• 1988: Highway 101, Patty Loveless, K.T. Oslin, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Ricky Van Shelton

• 1989: Clint Black, Desert Rose Band, Loveless, Shenandoah, Keith Whitley

• 1990: Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Kentucky HeadHunters, Lorrie Morgan, Travis Tritt

• 1991: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mark Chesnutt, Doug Stone, Pam Tillis, Travis Tritt

• 1992: Suzy Bogguss, Brooks & Dunn, Billy Dean, Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood

• 1993: Mark Chesnutt, Sammy Kershaw, Tracy Lawrence, John Michael Montgomery, Trisha Yearwood

• 1994: Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, John Michael Montgomery, Lee Roy Parnell

• 1995: David Ball, John Berry, Faith Hill, Alison Krauss, Shania Twain

• 1996: Terri Clark, Wade Hayes, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain, Bryan White

• 1997: Trace Adkins, Deana Carter, Terri Clark, LeAnn Rimes, Lee Ann Womack

• 1998: Trace Adkins, Dixie Chicks, Jo Dee Messina, Michael Peterson, Womack

• 1999: Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans, Jo Dee Messina, the Wilkinsons, Chely Wright

• 2000: Sara Evans, Montgomery Gentry, Brad Paisley, SHeDAISY, Chely Wright

• 2001: Jessica Andrews, Nickel Creek, Jamie O’Neal, Keith Urban, Phil Vassar

• 2002: Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Nickel Creek, Rascal Flatts, Phil Vassar, Darryl Worley

• 2003: Gary Allan, Buddy Jewell, Joe Nichols, Blake Shelton, Darryl Worley

• 2004: Dierks Bentley, Big & Rich, Julie Roberts, Josh Turner, Gretchen Wilson

• 2005: Dierks Bentley, Big & Rich, Miranda Lambert, Julie Roberts, Sugarland

• 2006: Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Sugarland, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood

• 2007: Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Little Big Town, Kellie Pickler, Taylor Swift

While country music has temporarily given up some of its more traditional roots, Flippo suggests that the Chicken Littles of country music may be too overly pessimistic, because, “You must remember that there have been eras in country music’s history when a lot of the music was easy listening pabulum. ” Without a doubt a shift is definitely occurring. Somewhere between the Keith Urban and Taylor Swift award wins, a change in the face and sinew of country music changed to a more rock music focused.