Why has southern rock had so few notable artists lately?

Question

Southern rock (Skynard, Allman Brothers, Molly Hatchet, etc.) was huge in the 70's, but has not been as popular since then. I love the genre, but I seem to be in a distinct minority. Why is southern rock so unpopular now?

Answer 1

The answer is simple. The mindless drones which are today's music listeners all want to hear all that gold tooth, grill showing, bling bling, acronym saying, thug wannagee ebonicly limited music 'artists'. I am with you man. Hopefully the southern rock thing will return with a bang, but current uprising of ebonics is unfortonately still on the upswing.

Answer 2

One is that both rock and country, especially country, has absorbed southern rock into themselves. MUCH of country music these days has a rock and roll feel to it. And there are a lot of southerners who are rocking but they grew up on southern rock.

You might wonder how accurate it was as a label anyway. I saw a commercial for a collection of southern rock hits that included Tom Petty and George Thorogood. Presumably this is because they are from the American South but they are a rocker and a bluesman, through and through. There wasn't really an element of country to their music in my opinion.

Some of those artists that qualify in my mind recently are Keith Urban (even though he is Australian), Garth Brooks, Montgomery Gentry, I'm sure there are more but I don't follow modern music much. If they had come out in the 70's they might have started out warming up for any of the big southern acts.

I think in a lot of ways, the genres across the board are blurring and marketing is getting more diversified. The typical fan has a little of everything in their collection, so marketing has to be a little less limited of a scope. You can't really market it as southern rock anymore without isolating from someone who would really love your material.

Think about how many ballads recently have been picked up by two different artists and on the charts very close together...one is a country artist, one a soul artist or rock artist.

Collaborations are so common, Nashville and Austin are so diverse, and shows like Crossroads on CMT are around now, and Austin City Limits may still be kicking as well. It is no surprise that artists from different genres are friends and guests on each other's records and stages.

These are just random thoughts, possible ideas. The artists are out there, the genre is not such a big deal anymore, no matter what kind of music you are talking about.

Answer 3

There's Drive-by Truckers and My Morning Jacket, but beyond them there isn't much good contemporary southern rock that I am aware of.

Subgenres like southern rock tend to exist in a very specific period of time. Eventually public interest wears out and moves on to the next flavor of the month, while a few die-hards remain with the genre. There are probably some great bands that no one knows about, but no one will sign them or promote them because there is little money to be made in the genre. Every so often there is a revival in interest in some subgenre like there was a few years ago for post-punk and new wave, so there is always a possibility that it will come back into fashion.

Answer 4

You're right, there are fewer southern rock bands now, but those rockers really never shared their glory a whole lot on country stations. Country has changed since those days and alot of country artists have quite a bit of a rock sound to them.
Montgomery Gentry is a damn fine example of that. If you haven't heard them, check them out. They're pretty hard for country, but it smells of country from the music on down to the heart of their lyrics.
Them and others are tight with the Vanzandt brothers and some of the old gangs. Check listings on CMT for times when you can see them all jam together.
The Vanzandt bros., also known as "Vanzandt", have a few hits on the country chart.
I say bring back Molly Hatchet and the likes though. A total reunion tour for all them good ol' boys back then.

Answer 5

I think every thing goes in cycles....I love the southern rock and if its unpopular it just makes it easier to get good seats right LOL I'm a big Allman Brothers fan Just saw Gregg in concert and it was great. You should check out his son, Devon. He has a group called Honeytribe. They are awesome.

Answer 6

The South is losing its distinctiveness and novelty. So many people that are not originally from the South are living here now that it is a different kind of place now.

Everyone loves to throw the hillbilly image into the mix but 1,200 SF condos are going for $300,000 in Nashville. Larger ones are going for over $1,000,000.

The Blues is the soul of the Souther Rock style, it is alive and well. Go to Memphis, TN

Answer 7

Because unfortunately, southern rock is dead. The glory years of skynard, and the allmans are over.

Answer 8

Sadly, Southern rock is a dying art. Nowadays, you can find that influence in country music. Give that genre a try, it's awesome.

Answer 9

just like people in the 1960s probably asked.......what happened to the 'big bands' of the big band era which was like from the mid 30s to the late 40s.......everything changes.....nothing stays the same cause people's tastes change and so does popular culture.

Answer 10

because the originals are no longer around!!! They can't be imitated..when you heard these guys, you knew it was down, raw and hardcore...anything else is imitation butter...