What was it? Cobra Starship. (Good Girls Go Bad.) Definitely NOT Country. But then, either is most of what is being called country music. That’s what’s wrong with Shania and her ilk. Their songs are more Pop-Dance crap that they churn out to sell records (er… CDs, or iTunes songs. Noone uses records anymore) than anything like country music.

They real stuff is still out there. Most of the artists aren’t as well-known, or rich, and they have to call their music something else to keep from being called a sellout. They’ve come up with the Alt-country, Roots and Americana genres to accomodate this niche.

Rosanne Cash recently came out with an album of songs written by her late father. Mostly lesser-known songs, but interesting enough to be worth a download. But who did she turn to when she wanted help on them? Her mother? Willie, Waylon or Kris? No, she brought in Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen and Rufus Wainwright. Not a “Country” name in there at all. While I won’t argue their credentials as musicians, songwriters or talents, that’s pretty far from the country nest.

Elvis Costello, incidentally, has become quite a chronicler of the music scene with his CTV show “Spectacle” where he does a music/interview show with various music celebrities. It’s a shame you probably don’t get it. We can see it direct out of Toronto here. It’s something that HBO or PBS ought to pick up.

And Rufus Wainwright. I should write a whole post about the Wainwright Family. They’re a fascinating story, from the McGarrigle sisters on down.