Country Suggestions

[EndfinityJon]

Hi. I'm new here but have been prowling silently for some time now. I just wanted to throw some ideas at the folks of Harmonix concerning their latest DLC announcements focused on Country Music.

I think the 5 initial choices are all around pretty good, maybe not the best choices by some of the artists but it's a start.

I really think an appropriate artist for Rock Band's Country genre is none other than Kieth Urban. The man is an INCREDIBLE guitarist! Anyone that doubts country guitarists should take a close look at Keith. I really think "Where the Blacktop Ends" or "Who Wouldn't Want to Be Me" would be great choices because of their guitar parts and they're overall great songs. Please consider some Keith Urban.

If you're looking for other random country songs, I think you should also think about Jason Aldean's "Hick Town". The song has a very heavy sounding verse riff (in Drop-D) and should really get people off the country hating band wagon.

As far as Brooks n' Dunn are considered, I can't believe you overlooked "Play Something Country". The song is an anthem and features an awesome guitar part complete with solo. That honestly shocked me when it wasn't your selection.

I only have the best interest of players in mind. I'm an avid country fan but also love rock and metal and know that your hardcore players and fans would appreciate challenging songs even if they are country. So if you're going to deliver some country, they don't want your typical "cowboy" chords and 1 star difficulty ratings, you need to push out more challenging content. Give my songs a listen and others by these artists.

Oh, but Brad Paisley is great and props on getting his stuff in the game. I can't remember now, but he's got some killer guitar solo's and riffs in a lot of his stuff, so research him further.

Thanks for your consideration,

~Jon

[RockBandRocker]

I want The Dixie Chicks' "Goodbye Earl".

[EndfinityJon]

I mean, seriously...Here's Keith Urban Live:

Check it out, it's fantastic. This guy is one HELL of a guitarist!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFPMXXUYVjI&feature=related

And here's a "video" of some of Brad Paisley's guitar work (it's just a picture with music in the background)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIlZPm-g6Hw

[EndfinityJon]

Two more and I swear I'm done.

Here's "Hick Town"...Not too difficult, but has that fun riff throughout:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IufJ19mL8c

And here's the Brooks song, like I said, very catchy riff and has a cool sounding solo. This thing is a country anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5mXGf4SnIc

If you listen to any of my suggestions, please make it Keith...

[RockBandRocker]

The one and only - Dolly Parton

Jolene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGEubdH8m0s

[cherokeesam]

Would like to see some Keith Urban, too...along with McGraw, Chesney, Faith Hill, Strait, Garth, Cash, Marty Robbins, Waylon & Willie (and the boys), Merle....the whole shootin' match.

And I'm sure there's more to come.

But I luh-huv the 5 picks for country's debut, and "Hillbilly Deluxe" is *definitely* a country anthem, too. Most of B&D's songs turn into anthems.

[Dino1626]

I want The Dixie Chicks' "Goodbye Earl".


That would be awesome. It would be a great party night song. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[RockBandRocker]

Most of B&D's songs turn into anthems.

That's the truth right there (^).



Just for the fun of it, how about "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus for DLC?

[SilentRage]

The only country I'd like to see in Rock Band is the one where you eat a lot of peaches! (wink wink);)

[HauntingYourKids]

Just for the fun on it, how about "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus for DLC?

It's always possible. But you gotta admit, it's a terrible song. "You can do all this bad stuff to me, just don't tell me that you did it." WHAT?!

For me, I think a great choice is this little number by Dolly Parton called "Tennessee Homesick Blues."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bVji6D_6xQ

[Hadrian]

I'd like to suggest None. :)

[EndfinityJon]

Okay, you know how I was talking about how Keith Urban is the man on guitar only rivaled by Brad Paisley? Well THIS SONG NEEDS to be in the game. Why? Because it's a country guitar duet with Keith and Brad! Hell the video hints at Rock Band/Guitar Hero and how we should start a band.

So without further waiting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ7iaYKUrBM

I mean really solid riffs and a couple minute outro solo. If you want to do country guitar that's fun at parties but is difficult for the hardcore players, THIS IS THE SONG!

I hope someone's listening...

[cherokeesam]

Yeah, I pretty much figured "Start A Band" *would* be the obvious choice for next week's DLC....

Maybe next time. But personally, I'd rather see Urban get his own track(s).

[RockBandRocker]

I can't believe the people that don't want Country music.

There are a lot of Country songs that rock HARDER than some of the Rock music out there today.

[Kilyle]

Maybe they avoided that one for the first pack because it was so obvious. Don't worry, it'll be here eventually :D

I... honestly didn't expect a Christmas present like we country fans just got :D Not this soon. And honestly, I'd have chosen different tunes for the first pack, but... Gunpowder and Lead would probably have been among them, and it'll go a long way toward helping me convince my friends to download some country.

(I kinda wish they'd stealth-countried this game... taken some country tunes and put them in with no advertisement that they were country. Choose ones that could easily masquerade as rock, make sure the previews show off the guitar, let a bunch of people buy them... because people who are allergic to country wouldn't realize until it was too late and they had actually enjoyed the songs.)

I would have chosen What Was I Thinking? for Dierks Bentley. I think it's probably a better choice, more fun, stronger beat, more challenging to sing.

Whatever the case... those of you who aren't aware of it: We have a Country Band (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51387) thread here with a lot of Country suggestions already posted, and a poll on The Fate of Country Music (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55911) (pretty much already decided, really, but the votes do indicate how many pro-country (and anti-country) people frequent these forums.

Please do read through the second post on the Country Band thread - it has a list of YouTube vids that show off the range we could get if we had our own game. Or, of course, what we'll have once we get enough country on Rock Band proper.

And do hunt through this list on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_performers_by_era) to bring to mind performers you enjoy but haven't thought of in years.

It'd be nice to consolidate country suggestions into a single thread... but with all these country threads around, I'm at a loss to know which one we should be flocking to. My two are two of the biggest country threads (since we figured out how to use Troll Repellent), but that might be a bad thing, since a bigger thread is difficult to read through or search through. Hmm.

ETA: You think the content of Achy-Breaky Heart is bad? How d'ya think I feel about I Think I'm Paranoid?? Great song musically, a blast to sing... but c'mon. "Go ahead and abuse me"?

This is why diversity is good. We can choose to ignore those songs that irritate, annoy, or offend us. And we'll still have songs that we can wholeheartedly enjoy :D