Here is my rebuttal comment at FPM on my article "A Return to Country."
I tried hard to [write] a definitive definition of country music, but thought it was unnecessary. People have asked that question since country music started. There has always been disagreement. But, whatever you may say, you can always tell a piece of country music - however poppy or jazzy or bluesy - when played next to other types.
An interesting sub-theme in the movie Crazy Heart is that old-time legends like Bad consider newer country songs and musicians to be inauthentic. But Bad accepts that his much younger rival - Tommy Sweet - is the real deal. Still, Bad writes the songs, and Tommy performs them. Looks like they all need each other - young and old.
If you don't call the guitar riffs that Zac Brown performed country, they I don't know what it is.
I did say that Taylor Swift is a country/pop star. But she sings from the heart, about mundane daily things that mean a lot to her. Maybe that's what country is all about.
I agree that the music in the movie is great.
