CHICAGO | General Discussions

[Jim in Chicago]

Originally Posted by jpIllInoIs

"Chicago has No history with Country Music" except when it did.

WLS National Barn Dance

One of the most popular and longest running programs on radio was WLS Radio's National
Barn Dance. The show blended music, comedy and down-home theatrical skits that lasted well over five decades. The Barn Dance's influence on country and western music was second only to the Grand Ole Opry, which got it's start on WSM in Nashville.
The National Barn Dance debuted on April 19, 1924, the first Saturday night after WLS signed on the air.

By 1931, the whole show was moved to the Eighth Street Theatre (located directly behind the Stevens Hotel, now the Hilton) on Wabash Avenue and 8th Street. While officials at WLS and the theatre initially had no idea how well attended the shows would be, as the weeks, months and years rolled by, listeners showed up by the thousands to fill the 1200 seat theatre twice every Saturday night (7:30pm and 10:00pm). In fact, according to WLS' own figures, nearly three million people attended the Barn Dance performances at the Eighth Street Theatre during its 26 year run there. Every year the crowds got bigger and the lines got longer. Shows were sold out up to eight weeks in advance and lines of people snaked down Wabash waiting to enter on Saturday evenings. Many showed up hours before showtime and carefully guarded their spots in line, despite having reserved seats inside.

In addition to airing locally on WLS' 50,000 watt signal, the National Barn Dance was picked up for regional airing on NBC's Blue Network in 1932. By the next year, over 30 stations coast to coast were carrying the evenings second show, which was sponsored by Miles Laboratories - makers of Alka Seltzer. In 1949, ABC-TV televised approximately 39 weekly episodes of the National Barn Dance, which by then, featured nearly 100 performers per show......

Literally "right behind" the Hilton. It was torn down to add more convention space. Interesting history here:

https://southloophistorical.wordpres...e-c-1900-1960/

[Zerton]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Country music is also popular in parts of Asia. My girlfriend's father loves country and made me turn to country music radio a few times when they were in the US and we were driving between Vegas and the Grand Canyon. One of his favorite artists ever is John Denver too.

Some John Denver music (like Country Roads and Rocky Mountain High) sound very Japanese Shinto if you really listen to the lyrics. It's like animalism/nature spiritualism.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Kumdogmillionaire

Great, but none of our history as being a frontier town is relevant to country theme. The vast majority of Chicago's history goes from fur trading to boom town, to industry, to commerce. Nothing about Chicago ever screamed country roads. When have you ever seen Chicago displayed as you describe it in popular culture or historical documentation? It was always more of an east coast town trapped in the middle of nowhere. You are reaching so damn hard

What are you even talking about? "Nothing about Chicago ever screamed country roads"??? What about country music screamed "country roads?" I think you are taking a much too literal interpretation of what country music is. It's not an art form based on rural infrastructure or the word "country", it is an indegenous style of music that's popular with people all over this region. I have friends that own a yacht who live in Lincoln Park and they constantly go to country music festivals, I think you are reaching when you think you can just draw a line between some municipal boundaries and say "this is the country". You can't claim Chicago doesn't have country roots just because today it lacks gravel roads and dually pickup trucks. It's not about bitumous surfaces, it's about the day to day lives of the people of this region of which Chicago is the epicenter for 1000+ miles in all directions. More than a handful of those people have passed through, lived in, or visited this commercial center of the heartland over the years. I don't know how anyone thinks they can separate Chicago from the great plains and Midwest and Mississippi and great lakes basins and call it an "East coast Town trapped in the Midwest".

[Kumdogmillionaire]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

What are you even talking about? "Nothing about Chicago ever screamed country roads"??? What about country music screamed "country roads?" I think you are taking a much too literal interpretation of what country music is. It's not an art form based on rural infrastructure or the word "country", it is an indegenous style of music that's popular with people all over this region. I have friends that own a yacht who live in Lincoln Park and they constantly go to country music festivals, I think you are reaching when you think you can just draw a line between some municipal boundaries and say "this is the country". You can't claim Chicago doesn't have country roots just because today it lacks gravel roads and dually pickup trucks. It's not about bitumous surfaces, it's about the day to day lives of the people of this region of which Chicago is the epicenter for 1000+ miles in all directions. More than a handful of those people have passed through, lived in, or visited this commercial center of the heartland over the years. I don't know how anyone thinks they can separate Chicago from the great plains and Midwest and Mississippi and great lakes basins and call it an "East coast Town trapped in the Midwest".

"what about country music screamed country roads"

Really dude? Alright, this conversation is over because you are clearly living on some other planet where country means whatever you want it to mean and not what the fucking name represents.

https://www.greatamericancountry.com...-20-road-songs

Hmmmm, what songs indeed. Fuck outta here bum

edit: it's sad my run of good behavior was ruined by such a dumb argument

[SIGSEGV]

I mean... the Stockyards were kind of country right? Presumably they had cowboys of some sort or other.

[Mikemak27]

Tex Mex food, along with country music may even appeal to some Mexican immigrants who came from rural areas. My girlfriend’s family, all of which are from Central Mexico, are self described “rancheros” that love country music. If you have a discriminatory music taste, simply do not come.

[Vlajos]

Someone way earlier made a good point that country music of old is good. Real countryusic. The shit they put out now is atrocious.

But texmex is putrid. Literally.

[Busy Bee]

That was me. Most of what they call mainstream country music these days on the radio is like the worst of butt rock with growly southern accents and camouflage baseball caps. It bears little relation to classic country from the 40's-60's acts, or the Glen Campbell's/John Denver's singer songwriters, to the more primitive bluegrass and Americana roots music that came before all of them. It reminds me of that movie Ghost World where the girl takes the guy who is a delta blues aficionado to some tool bar where a band called Blues Hammer was playing

[Natoma]

Speaking of music in the West Loop, has anyone been to the restaurant across from Duck Duck Goat, Kuma's Corner?

It blasts heavy metal 8 hours a day. Even walking past feels like an assault on the ears. I can't imagine trying to digest food in there. I would much rather have a country place there - and I say that as a sometime fan of metal.

[Via Chicago]

the original kumas in avondale has been around since the early 00s and had a mostly metal/punk clientele. the chefs and bartenders working there liked to play loud music and named all the burgers after bands, so thats the way it was. there was also sort of a "if you dont like it go eat somewhere else" kind of vibe. i guess it kept the lames away (as did explicit S&M pornography on the walls). it was a super tiny kitchen with good line cooks so the quality control was solid and it was usually worth waiting for. then it got on the travel shows and the "best burger in the city" lists and the suburbanites flooded in and they expanded to other locations. now its mostly a dumb watered down gimmick (along with the crazy toppings, which frequently are overbearing and not harmonious with the burger itself). their quality has also taken a nosedive IMO, which tends to be the case when formerly tiny operations expand suddenly chasing profits. far better burgers in the city these days. at the time it was one of the first places trying to do "fancy" burgers before the whole fad caught on. im sure some will disagree with me but i dont think its worth bothering with anymore, esp at $15-20 plus tip

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

That was me. Most of what they call mainstream country music these days on the radio is like the worst of butt rock with growly southern accents and camouflage baseball caps. It bears little relation to classic country from the 40's-60's acts, or the Glen Campbell's/John Denver's singer songwriters, to the more primitive bluegrass and Americana roots music that came before all of them. It reminds me of that movie Ghost World where the girl takes the guy who is a delta blues aficionado to some tool bar where a band called Blues Hammer was playing

Arguably the growth of country music fans (especially young ones) in cities and suburbs has fueled the growth of bro country. They all lead pretty cushy lives and don't wanna hear songs about heartbreak, hard times or hard work, so all the new stuff is just girls, beer, whiskey, tailgates/dirt roads, and good times. Plus it functions as "wholesome" party music when you want to forget that black people exist.

Barn Dance may have been taped here and had huge success, but somehow I doubt the Chicagoans of the time were tuning into the broadcasts or buying all those tickets. Not so with today's country. There is indeed a large number of country music fans in Chicago, which is why we are able to support two large country music festivals in city limits alone (Smokeout and Lakeshake) plus numerous venues like two locations each of Bub City and Joe's Bar.

[Mikemak27]

“Plus it functions as "wholesome" party music when you want to forget that black people exist.”

So when a song by Darius Rucker or Cowboy Troy comes on does the party host race to their phone to change the song becuase they’re black?

[Busy Bee]

Sad songs and waltzes aren't selling this year...

(Fiddling while Rome burns if you will)

[the urban politician]

I would argue that the disdain for country music has little to do with the music itself and more to do with the demographic that listens to it. It’s essentially the Trump voter. Obviously this is a generalization, but it’s not a horrible approximation of that demographic.

I have a friend who loves country music but hates Trump, for example. So exceptions are going to be aplenty

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I would argue that the disdain for country music has little to do with the music itself and more to do with the demographic that listens to it. It’s essentially the Trump voter. Obviously this is a generalization, but it’s not a horrible approximation of that demographic.

I have a friend who loves country music but hates Trump, for example. So exceptions are going to be aplenty

Are we so lazy that every potential difference is defined by political/cultural reasons? Not everything is politics.

[Via Chicago]

no, i hate "it" because its generic, mindless, factory generated pop music, disguised as "Country" because the lyrics feature the words "truck" and has an electric fiddle and banjo

• Video Link

there are obviously talented and creative county artists who exist outside the corporate machine apparatus, but thats not what i imagine most people are talking about here

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

I mean... the Stockyards were kind of country right? Presumably they had cowboys of some sort or other.

Yeah as I said before, the earliest stockyards in Chicago literally had farmers driving their herds in to market where they could be processed and shipped East on the railroads. Of course this quickly was replaced by a centralized facility (Union Stockyards) that was fed by railroads coming from rural areas in all directions. However, the notion of farmers and cowboys coming to Chicago to market their herds didn't change with the advent of rail shipping to bring the stock to Chicago. The rail was an obvious improvement to farmers who no longer needed to drive their herds very far thus avoiding the loss of marketable weight as the animals were forced to travel long distances.

The irony of this is that sometime in the 1950's my great grandfather who owned a family farm just West of Green Bay, WI became one of the first farmers in WI to switch from Dairy cattle to beef cattle. All his cattle were taken to Chicago to be sold. He used rail shipping exactly one time because the cattle were left for days on a siding in the city where they collectively lost hundreds of pounds of weight that he could have cashed in on. From that point on he paid truckers to drive the cattle down from Wisconsin and accompanied them in person the whole way. So all of you who claim Chicago has no country roots can just deal with the fact that my own great grandfather was one of many farmers who would come into Chicago multiple times a year to ensure they were getting the best price for their produce. Chicago is the agricultural marketplace of the world, just because that's grown into financial behemoths like CME Group doesn't make the roots of Chicago as the agricultural capital of humanity any less.

Fun fact I learned from my Grandma when she was telling me the beef cattle story: Apparently everyone thought they were crazy when her parents switched to beef cattle, but it was wildly profitable and the next year they were able to buy a Harvestore steel silo which is apparently a status symbol among farmers. So whenever you see a farm with a row of big blue HARVESTORE TM silos you know they are the baller farmers.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I would argue that the disdain for country music has little to do with the music itself and more to do with the demographic that listens to it.

no, it's because contemporary "country" music sucks.

i'll grant the genre it's very important and illustrious past.

but what it's morphed into over the decades, becoming utter corporate musical garbage, is a travesty.

[Mikemak27]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

no, it's because contemporary "country" music sucks.

i'll grant the genre it's very important and illustrious past.

but what it's morphed into over the decades, becoming utter corporate musical garbage, is a travesty.

The same thing can be said about rap, rock, pop, and any other music genre.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I would argue that the disdain for country music has little to do with the music itself and more to do with the demographic that listens to it. It’s essentially the Trump voter. Obviously this is a generalization, but it’s not a horrible approximation of that demographic.

Not so fast.

While I have become deeply political now in my 30s and yes admittedly I do make a loose connection between country listeners and conservative worldview, I have to reign myself in by acknowledging this is a weak link stereotype. Probably a majority do lean (or lay) right because of country's rural identity, but that doesn't make the statement that country fans = ignorant resentment Trump voter true. Correlation is not causation.

I can honestly tell you that from the youngest years of my life when I became interested in music, it was the sound itself of [contemporary] country music that I found repulsive - the over the top drawl, the absurd masculinity, the party-on hillbilly lyrics - the culture attached to it I didn't fully grasp until later. I have since grown to greatly enjoy and appreciate older country music and roots music from bluegrass to Patsy to Willie and so forth (mostly the sad bastard stuff), but still have to absorb it in smaller doses as it is far from my favorite genre. Another country music "reinforcer" is our armed forces. Because the military draws a high % of recruits from the rural parts (and Red) parts of our country, there seems to be a strong proud hick/country element and that transfers to many country music fans. As a personal note that I still am a bit sore about, I had a good high school friend who joined the army after Sept 11. He went in loving underground alt rock/punk and 1960's soul/R&B and came out a country fan. I don't fully understand how such a thing happens but I suspect peer influence had a hell of a lot to do with it. Due to what I presume are stress and boredom, military people seem to like to listen to shallow good times music and much of modern country fits that bill.