Rascal Flatts.
Never heard of them?
Ditto.
So I checked them out; they are a Country music act with 2.6 million albums sold in America so far this year.
Who has them in the UK?
Are we really so different in tastes?
They sound pretty good to me.

Do many Country artists sell well in the UK right now? Shania obviously had her moment, can't think of any since though.

This points to the fact that the country acts can still phsyicals.
And no, I havent heard of the either.

back to the old debate of why country, in all its manifestations, does not do well in the UK. Dave Matthews Band the ultimate classic example.

The strange one for me though is my old band was new(ish) country in style. We sold out big venues in the UK hand over fist, but when it came to the record...? Beats me.

I gather the Rascal Flatts, like the best selling album in the US, are via Disney...


Is there a lesson here?

are via Disney... Is there a lesson here?

Act a bit Goofy?
Take the Mickey?

Big End wrote:
Dave Matthews Band the ultimate classic example.

Yes, but the DMB are also quite dreadful

Rascal Flatts aren't really country... more pop country from what I remember. There's a debate going back before Garth Brooks about who's country and who isn't. Personally I'd rule out a lot of the "hat acts" like Tim McGraw, as well as Shania, Faith, etc. Country is America's folk... imagine if we had a cross between Blue and a Morris troop hamming up our heritage... ugh!

Country sells reasonably well - but not really through mainstream outlets (mainly because they don't sell enough "range" so no one ever goes there - a specialist is better).

In fact - this is why retail in its current form is dying. Say you wanted something by Ella Fitzgerald. Do you think your local HMV or Virgin would have much selection?

They may be good at mass market sellers - but as even they don't sell enough these days - their business model is likely to fail soon.

and these mainstream retailers are just getting a taste of their own poison really, it was these big record chains that closed down all the independent stores in the '70s and '80s.

Last weekend I watch the film Barry Lyndon - so this morning I tried to track down the soundtrack (by The Chieftans).

Both HMV and Vigin had a "best of Chieftans" - but neither had this release.

I went to a specialist shop (which has been in business well over a hundred years - initially selling pianos etc) and found they had EIGHT Chieftans albums in stock - including the one I was looking for !

It's rather like the local greengrocer turning all his shelf-space over to potatoes because he sells a lot of them but not so much fennel.

After a few years he wonders where all his customers have gone.

The reason Country artists don't sell as well in the UK as pop and rock acts is not least due to the fact they don't get as much promotion, airplay and TV exposure. Yet, is a lot of country fans in the UK and stores that specailise in this genre of music (a lot of which is sold by mail order). I went down to a record store in Ballam in 1999 and actually went into their warehouse and they had hundreds and hundreds of copies of Garth Brooks' albums in stock and as they had been in business for over 25 years they wouldn't be the sort of shop to stock large numbers of things they couldn't sell to the punters!

well I posted this 3 times now,so one last time.
this band got huge because they are the band featured in the hugely successful kiddy movie "cars" .their No 1 single from the movie "life is a highway" is not their song its a cover of a Tom Cochrane song that was a 1992 No1 for him.Rascall Flats are marketed as a boy band over here and not as a country act.

I've always said there is an enormous amount of real talent in Nashville. Possibly more per sqaure inch than anywhere else (in general terms). People may be surprised how many non country records are made down there. Fantastic engineering talent. Another thing about country is that all the acts can perform live. I have great respect for much of what goes on in Music City.



I haven't been by much lately I've been so busy. Good to see things around here are going strong, JK.