The newer rock music that doesn't have very big followings will be on public radio, the Internet, etc. IMO, some of it is good, a lot more of it isn't. I know that tastes in music will vary, but with growing up in the 90's, that era is definitely my favorite. I like a lot of older rock prior to that time. Give or take a few years past 2000, my liking of "newer" bands has decreased gradually from that point annually to this point.

During the 80's I was mostly into mainstream rock and big arena shows.

 

When the 90's arrived I started working 3rd shift, and my coworkers and I spent night after night listening to a program from Midnight to 5:00 called "Nightwaves" on the Xavier University Radio Station WVXU, that basically kept us on the pulse of a number of independent and underground non-mainstream bands, some who would eventually break into mainstream, but mostly not, but many were still pretty cool bands.

 

While listening they typically gave away 2 free tickets to "caller whatever" to upcoming club shows, and where because we had numerous work phones so very often, and too often to count, we ended up winning these tickets to be awarded a club show to catch an indie band coming through town for free.

 

(A while back they ended airing that program and started airing the British BBC News from Midnight to 5:00 instead).:cry:

 

Through this we also became more aware of all the underground venues of the day (Sudsy Malones, Top Cats etc...) where you could catch independent bands for a minimal price, and actually hang out with the band, versus a pricey arena show where you'd get nowhere near the artist. Spent a lot of time at the old Southgate House in Newport as well, and briefly the Mad Hatter in Covington.

 

Hell, I've even had some bands crash at my pad for the night that saved them from having to sleep in their van, or pay the price of a hotel. It worked out for them, and of course it was always cool for me to be able to spend my night off work chatting up musicians about everything music related.

 

Whereas mainstream audiences are more inclined to want to hear familiar sounds and are not so keen to change or originality, sometimes they would almost prefer their favorite bands to continue to keep rewriting the same album over and over. Fans of AC/DC definitely luck out in that respect.

 

Typically over multiple listens they do ultimately discover that they're happy that their favs had taken a somewhat newer approach, but at first can feel disappointed in any change in style.

 

That same mainstream audience too typically would have no interest in listening to unknown bands because for them it would only be enjoyable if they could share a band with their friends and have a better chance of being with the "in crowd" when there are far more choices of folks from the "in crowd" to choose from when it comes to mainstream bands, rather than being the 1 in a Million who's ever heard of a certain unknown band.

 

I've experienced raised eyeballs numerous times in the past if I ever tried to expose someone to an unknown band who was a mainstream inclined person.

 

They typically thought that I must be nuts and weird, and why on earth would I waste my time on bands that might not ever become a household name.

 

For me it's because over the years there's been a wealth of interesting original music made by the likes of the unknowns, and I've observed much brilliance that has come and gone from bands that died with nary any impact within the mainstream ranks.

 

With me, if it good it's good, or if I like it, I like it. I don't rely the commercial world to keep me informed, but I don't completely turn it away either. To some that turns out sounding a bit pretentious, but for me I just know that I would have missed out on a lot of cool stuff if I had not dug deeper than the surface.

 

There's no doubt that some stuff can be a challenging listen if it's not run-of-the-mill, but after multiple listens, sometimes the reward of giving it enough time to settle inside your system, can be great when you start becoming more aware of the brilliance of some artists that may not appear so brilliant on the surface.

 

I've had a theory for quite awhile that many folks who get to the point where they start saying that "There's no good bands anymore" is because while they're aging they might be less and less in an environment where they're sharing new music with friends, and before they know it they hardly recognize band names anymore, and instead of taking the energy to play catch up, it's much easier to paint the whole music scene with one broad stroke that "There's no good bands anymore"

 

When they listen to music from their high school and college days, it''ll bring back fun memories reinforcing to them that that was the greatest music ever, but if they're not creating any present day memories along with the new music, then for them it's just uninteresting and sterile.

 

I've tried my best to avoid becoming that way keeping that theory in mind. I'm thrilled that there's a thread out here on BGP where like minded music lovers can still enjoy sharing bands with each other no matter what the dynamics of our social lives become. I'm 50 now and have less and less acquaintances who have any interest in keeping up.

 

Whereas up until I was about 43, I was forever purchasing CD's and constantly listening to releases in their entirety, my habits have dramatically changed with me being a bit impatient, hopping around on the internet, rarely ever giving bands the time to experience their entire release.

 

It has definitely had an effect on me "keeping up" the way I used to. I'm not real happy that my habits have changed, but have discovered that my new habits are very hard to break, and I've lost the patience I once had to be a better critical listener of many current bands' newer material.

 

I wonder if others have had similar changes within their listening habits since the web became a new angle at which to keep informed. Taking nothing away from the web, because on the flip side of what has chanced with my habits, it's still very cool to be able to look up just about any band in the world, and that years ago was just not going to happen unless you took the chance on buying their release to find out whether or not you liked it.

 

All in all, I would say that rock is NOT dead, and have faith that there are still very many good artists producing music just like always, but obviously there's always going to be a shift in style with the changing times, just as there has always been in the past.

 

There are still a couple of clubs within the Cincy area that promote traveling independent bands (MOTR, Southgate House), and there are still very many original artists doing there thing.

 

I do believe however that there have been multiple changes over the last 10 years with the dawn of stuff like "American Idol" and the internet creating in people more fickleness and impatience. People are backing away a little from being band oriented, and you have more and more singer centric stuff happening, with people only downloading one song at a time and not bothering with an artist's entire release.

 

There might seriously be a lack of decent bands in the commercial world at present, but I do believe that the independent scene is still very much alive.

I guess you need to define what you mean by rock music before I can answer. What I consider rock music today you would find under the modern rock category on most internet radio aps. Of if you have XM/Sirus it would be the Octane channel. Rock is definitely not dead and still some really good bands putting good music. I think the biggest issue, as some have already mentioned, it just isn't mainstream anymore. I mean take Louisville for example, a city that size and they don't have a decent rock station. 93.1 is probably as close as it gets and it still sucks. Come to think about Louisville radio stinks as a a whole.

Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders was on Marc Maron's podcast last week and this question was brought up. Her opinion was that DJs in the "rock era" of the 60s and 70s had a lot more autonomy in choosing songs, artists, and playlists. She said her home station in Cleveland was more or less her music educator. Today DJs are handed playlists from someone in a suit sitting in an office which ends up being that every radio station plays the same stuff the major record labels push. It's all circular.

I guess you need to define what you mean by rock music before I can answer. What I consider rock music today you would find under the modern rock category on most internet radio aps. Of if you have XM/Sirus it would be the Octane channel. Rock is definitely not dead and still some really good bands putting good music. I think the biggest issue, as some have already mentioned, it just isn't mainstream anymore. I mean take Louisville for example, a city that size and they don't have a decent rock station. 93.1 is probably as close as it gets and it still sucks. Come to think about Louisville radio stinks as a a whole.

 

Although I pretty much loathe most of the commercial radio stations around Louisville, you need to tune into 91.9 WFPK. It's probably the best radio station I've ever heard - literally.

Although I pretty much loathe most of the commercial radio stations around Louisville, you need to tune into 91.9 WFPK. It's probably the best radio station I've ever heard - literally.

 

I will have to check it out next time I'm up there, tomorrow actually.

I will have to check it out next time I'm up there, tomorrow actually.

 

They stream online at wfpk.org and have a good app as well. Excellent radio station. I could do without the jazz on Sunday afternoons, but the Sunday evening roots rock and Bluegrass/traditional programs are quite good, especially for driving music.

I agree it is dead, but not sure if I would say it died in the 70s or 80s. Aerosmith had a string of hits (and I would contest good rock songs) in the late 80s and early 90s to include Janie's Got a Gun, Don't Want to Miss a Thing, and Dude Looks Like a Lady. I am sure there are other artists and songs if I thought about it a while.

 

But I would say that I have completely converted to country to find NEW music I like.

I agree it is dead, but not sure if I would say it died in the 70s or 80s. Aerosmith had a string of hits (and I would contest good rock songs) in the late 80s and early 90s to include Janie's Got a Gun, Don't Want to Miss a Thing, and Dude Looks Like a Lady. I am sure there are other artists and songs if I thought about it a while.

 

But I would say that I have completely converted to country to find NEW music I like.

 

Prefer songs about beer, partying on a Friday night, a truck, and ripped jeans?

Prefer songs about beer, partying on a Friday night, a truck, and ripped jeans?

 

Yes. Doesn't everyone?

Look up Pink Velvet Crush , my buddy still rocks!!!!