Ray,

Hmmmm, you've got it half right. Micheal is giving 'Critism." There is nothing "constructive" about it.Simply giving an opinion based upon observations from your own point of view, and complaining about things not being the way "you like them' is not constructive. Giving out that opinion, THEN pointing out some things to do about it, like offering up some different music one might like, showing how to find out some different places to get music, and giving specific EXAMPLES of where and how and who to do that with, IS constructive. There's nothing about complaining, giving the same tired cliche's about something and just saying the same thing over and over expecting everyone to agree with you is NOT CONSTRUCTIVE.

And dragging out some old magazines might be a great idea, because there have ALWAYS been the same complaints. "Elvis Presley was shaking his hips and bringing that 'devil' music and destroying kids, the "Beatles claiming they were bigger than Jesus', Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jimmy Dean, Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves putting STRINGS on country music and making it 'countrypolitan", Buck Owens bringing "drums" onto the Grand Ole Opry, Johnny Cash putting trumpets on "Ring of fire" and making it sound like a damn Mexican song..."

Yeah, there has been a LOT of complaining (Whining) when it comes to one generation complaining about another generation. they even used to have a name for it, THE GENERATION GAP. See, it is a good idea to get a historical perspective on anything. So maybe some of those old magazines will show you something.

That it is not that different today than it was then. One generation being replaced by another one. In a way it is simply a natural evolution of life.

Aaron is absolutely right. The current generation has NO CONNECTIONS to those songs, those memories or those styles of music. I, even listen back to a lot of Hank and Merle and go, "Man, I can't believe people liked that. A lot of it was pretty boring.

But the point is, YOU STILL HAVE IT. In the words of John Lennon when the Beatles broke up, "People still have the records if they want to reminisce."

And I'll tell you what ol buddy, that music is STILL OUT THERE. Merle still plays casinos and clubs. Most of those older iconic artists who are still alive, are out there playing all the time. They even release new music. they have web sites. They have children and grand children that protect their legacies. They have "tribute' shows that people impersonate them. One of he biggest industries in the entertainment business are tribute bands. They even have their own festival.

And there are a LOT of people influenced by those artists and are out there now doing new music that sounds just like you like. You just have to do a little work and go find it. But it is out there, trust me because they come into this town daily, play on writer's shows, go to workshops, etc. We have terms for that too.
"Retro, or "Dated."

So it is out there. If you want to be constructive, go find it. Or you can write your own. If you only want to complain. That is "Whining."

MAB

Last edited by Marc Barnette; 05/18/15 10:52 AM.