Just maybe, I'm a bit older than it appears. But I would be interested in (especially watching) nor hearing anything new from one as Jerry Lee Lewis. Paleez! Saw him on tv recently, and how can I put this, "not at all what he was". It was sad to see. Used to be he jammed! Looked as though, they got him out of the home, where he drooled, food dropped out of his mouth, put depends on him, propped him up at a piano, and for sure, after one song, was ready for a nap. Point is, not marketable, and basically, and sadly, the answer to anything in today's world is, "follow the money trail". Think about anything in life, it leads back to money.

I think that some of the best songs will never be played on the radio. That's why I don't just buy one song, I buy the whole album. My favorites are almost always the cuts that are never released. Music execs put out what they think is marketable and that's usually something geared for a 12 year old. The music is empty..give me a song with heart and soul and meaning.

Kam? I call him Deacon Blue

I know I hear a ton of classic rock and country stuff. As far as new releases from the older artists I do know that in the country genre the "Nashville Money Machine" which I despise as they take a style AND look of a artist /singer that creates a hit and clones them...one after the other. Way before Taylor Swift there was Deanna Carter, then Carolyn Dawn Johnson....both writers, and talented. I take nothing away from the "new crop"...it's just that as it is in all forms of entertainment if something makes money, suddenly there's a ton of them. As far as the people mentioned, after them the blonds with a UNCANNY similar voice were pouring out! Same for Trace Adkins...the guy is flat out great, I was lucky enough to meet and speak with him a bit when we warmed up for him and Jo Dee Messina a few years back. But...he has a couple chart busters and suddenly the radio is bombarded with the low, bass voiced singers, doing the very same "type" or style of music. I tip my hat several times to those that told Nashville to kiss their ass and got OFF the treadmill, moved away and were still huge...a few examples, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Waylon...they were like "Okay I'm not a vitalis, wear a suit kind of guy"...and left. Sadly though as the new ones come in, the older artists, some that owned the charts years ago, making the record label millions are kicked to the curb. As with everything.....the dollar overrides compassion. More than a few artists were suddenly dropped from the label they made millions for, and shunned. Again it happens in most all genres, I am using country music as an example.

It's been about money going back generations..again I refer to the Nashville shit...prime examples and I SO respect the few that told Nashville to fuck off. I admire songwriters big time, Merle Haggard has recorded well over 50 albums/ cds, does some cover tunes but wrote the vast majority. I've seen clips when he was young, as well as Willy, Waylon...all Vitalis and suits! Merle Haggard in a suit....now there's something you'd rarely see...and it WAS rare because he went to go on the opery stage and they told him what songs he was to do and in what order...he told them to take the place and ram it up their ass...threw the suit away and went back to California, where he proceeded to go on to be one of the greatest song writers of all time. A genius of a writer he is. Willy followed and found a home in Texas, he knew Waylon was on the money treadmill and in a suit...called him up one night and said "Hoss, git yer ass out here".....because Willy was kicking ass in rock clubs, as well as country bars. Waylon asked how he kept from getting killed playing in rock and roll joints and he said "Hell I don't know, but get your ass out here!"...So Waylon told told Nashville to bite him and left. This was wayyyy before the Urban Cowboy craze...Nashville refused to bend, and it began happening with other artists. Years later...and I love this along come the Dixie Chicks...They were SO far from what Nashville accepted in looks...manners, to the total package, BUT for one thing...their music. They were selling CD's, having number one hit after another...so NOW Nashville, because of money and what they'd lost before accepted the Dixie Chicks...while biting their lips and cringing...the machine didn't stop, oh no, it's as bad or worse now, but they brought it to a screeching halt, and I laaughed.....did the happy dance. Whether I liked their music or not doesn't matter....I do, but it's that they got over the wall of shitheads and got noticed. Rock allowed through the years for much more diversity, I love all genres..country and folk are where my roots came from, but LOVE old rock..and Jazz and Blues...it's all the same...the language of tone spoken in different ways. I listen to the radio, but little, as one artist will have a hit, and the next thing you know you hear a clone...not just in country music either. The electronic age has been great, but many that use the new wonderment of technology have stripped music of it's language, it's heart. Older rock songs, have kick ass, you best know what you're doing bass lines, rare is it now...starting in the 80's...that started to change. You rarely hear an Allman Brothers style, Zeppelin style, Grand Funk, YES...bass anymore. Even if it is a human, those days are gone...

I want to apologize for getting on such a long winded roll or tangent on this topic. It's just that I've seen so many great, great talents get overlooked, or shunned because they didn't "play the part" of commercialism. Because they didn't or don't jump on the wagon, adhere to the money thing they get overlooked. This whole area, topic has been a biggy to me for many years. Still...I know I get like buttah, on a roll....