As you all know, my Tender Lumplings, it is well documented my dislike of country music. Unfortunately, due to my employment, I have to be exposed to a fair amount of the stuff. Usually I can just grit my teeth and get through it. But every now and then I see something I have to comment on and recently I've notice a disturbing trend. It is, quite simply, the six string banjo.
Now, I'm not really opposed to the instrument itself. In fact, when it was introduced a few years back (I think the first one I saw was made by Dean) I thought it was a cool idea. A banjo with six strings and tuned like a guitar. Now the average guitar player could play some banjo riffs without a learning curve. Pretty neat idea. Traditional five string banjos are a lot different from a guitar. The tuning and the way that top string is little and doesn't go all the way to the end of the neck. It's weird.
So why am I now having a problem with this seemingly harmless hybrid instrument. Well, here is the thing. I've keep seeing these country singers, or members of their band, playing these six string banjos. Even that Keith Urban asshole plays one in a video. I hear you asking, what's the problem. The problem is that it is country music. It's Nashville. If you can't find an honest-to-Earl traditional banjo picker in Nashville, well, you shouldn't be in the business. I mean really people. Every street corner in that town has a musician on it. You can't spit in that town without hitting a banjo player. It's true, I've tried (my apologies to the guy outside Gruhn Guitars).
It just provides me with another reason to dislike that music. As if the simplistic music, asinine lyrics, formulaic songwriting, ridiculous and pretend "working class" attitude and overall uselessness wasn't enough.
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