Reply #8: I have been a long-time fan of country and bluegrass (the good stuff, not the

[TwilightGardener]

focus-grouped market-ready pop crap), and it's a shame to see what the industry has become--the Dixie Chicks were only a symptom of the larger problem. Country USED to be a genre BY the little people FOR the little people, a way for ordinary/poor folks to express raw joys and sorrows, or a way to rebel against "the man"--think of the greats, like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn. The Chicks, who were not just marketable and successful but also VERY talented and creative, rebelled against "the man", just as they were supposed to, but country music had since been officially been adopted by the Republican party as a marketing and propaganda outlet. The Chicks were fine as long as they "shut up and sang", but when they used their power and success as a platform to make people think, it was suddenly threatening, and thus they had to go. Since the 90's, if it wasn't Mom and Apple Pie and Feel-Good Rah-Rah Patriotic crap, then it didn't serve the purpose of manipulating the target Southern/rural audiences into a particular mindset that benefitted the marketers, the GOP and Clear Channel. Believe it or not, even Toby Keith was pretty good when he was just starting out--had some gritty, thought-provoking songs--before he became a GOP propaganda tool himself. There is still good country music, but it's called "alternative" now, and you really have to seek it out. Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox.