I kinda like these guys ...

[uwe]

Please quote Groucho M. correctly: "... young as the woman you feel".

Inaccuracies, don't you just hate them.

[Aussie Mark]

Well, I just went and bought both Vintage Trouble CDs (the second one was released just last week).  Thanks for turning me onto these guys!

[uwe]

This forum has been a treasure island of inspiration for my CD collection here too!

The new VT is bound to do well, better songwriting and more soul ballads, it will make commercial inroads.

[fur85]

Don't forget these guys....

[nofi]

too late.

[Highlander]

Who...?

[uwe]

Don't forget these guys....

I have a lot of stuff of Hootie and of Herr Rucker, but Dave recently said that Rucker ain't country at all, but a real phony and that spoiled it for me. 

[Dave W]

I have a lot of stuff of Hootie and of Herr Rucker, but Dave recently said that Rucker ain't country at all, but a real phony and that spoiled it for me. 

He's not a phony, it's that his music isn't country at all. Not even pop-country. 

[uwe]

That's it, I'm selling all those CDs. I was deceived. You, Sir, are not country! You South Carolina upstart and darn speed metal merchant you are!

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Darius Rucker is a white soul singer trapped in a black pop star's body, like an inverse Micheal McDonald. Most of Darius' "country" influences are barely country themselves. As an aside, when Jewel intro'ed the video that you posted Uwe, I was reminded of the time I worked with her at my old tv station (probably the same year as the video.) She was obscenely beautiful in person and super nice, unbelievably humble and professional to boot. I'm not generally one to gush over starlets but that woman in person looks much, much prettier than she does on camera, and well, you can see what she looks like on camera.

[uwe]

My definition of C&W is simplistic and ahistorical: Prominent acoustic guitars, more major than minor chords, lyrics that deal with real, clichéed or perceived life of the "simple folks back home", songs that regularly clock in at three or four minutes  = Country (enough) to me. You don't have to share DNA strains with Hank Williams or Loretta Lynn.

Rucker isn't any less Country to me than Keith Urban, Zac Brown (his band has even a lot more rock elements than Rucker's current music has) or Garth Brooks and more so than country-pop tinged bands of the past such as Loggins & Messina or Firefall. But it's probably a question of perception, from our side of the pond bands like The Eagles, Poco and America were always referred to as Country Rock and the borderline to real Country back in the 70ies was basically whether you had long hair as a man or not and/or did the little yodles and yelps in your singing or not. If Garth Brooks hadn't had short hair and if he hadn't yodled, then "New Country" would still be Country Rock IMHO.

If Rucker moved to Jamaica and recorded a reggae album that was any good I wouldn't hesitate to call him a reggae artist. I don't work myself in a state how true someone stays to the origins of a form of music (or whether he/she originally played it) as long as he/she does it well. Rucker played indie-pop-rock (with an audible country tinge) with Hootie & the Blowfish, he now plays (New) Country (pop) that retains some connections to his musical past. His voice is more white soul/rock soul than country, I grant you that (Edith thinks he sounds like Eddie Vedder), but otherwise he sticks pretty much to the Country script. And not every male country singer has to yodle!!! And Frau Crow once surmised very aptly when questioned why she had "suddenly turned Country": "Well, if you really listened to my music, it was always there."

But before the C&W Thoughtcrime Police gets me, I'm happy to discern from now on between "Country-Country" ("Köuntry?") and just Country! 

[nofi]

 i think crow is a musical opportunist.she will adapt to whatever seems to be the 'next big thing'.

[uwe]

She was even crazy about bicycle riding for quite some time, whoever got the ball rolling for that. And the healthy nutrition necessary for it, of course, if you are an ambitious athlete. 

I thought it funny that she complained about female pop stars being obsessed about their looks and their overt sexuality when she played happily along to be the folky rock chick pin up for decades and had her PR people carefully assure she always looked best on pictures. Miley and Rhianna are at least honest about their package.

[nofi]

you can blame lance armstrong for many things.

[Basvarken]

You can complain and whine all you want about Sheryl Crow, but she's got a helluva band with Peter Stroud, Audley Freed and Robert Kearns in the fold.