Darius Rucker's Country Crossover - Like Italian Pro Basketball

After selling millions of records of anthemic "Hootie and the Blowfish" tunes, front man Darius Rucker saves himself from the nostalgia/county fair touring circuit by crossing over to country pop.

In 2008 he signed with Capitol Records Nashville and recorded a hit "Don't think I don't know about it." Now he's touring with the likes of Sugarland and playing the Grand Ole Opry.

Here's the theory in the form of an analogue. This kind of pop to country crossover is like NBA to Italian league basketball, definitely a step down, a money-inspired post-victory lap.

Italian and other European pro basketball leagues are typically comprised of has-been and never-will-be players from the US of A, plus a smattering of lanky local lads who weren't skillful enough for a career in soccer or strong enough for rugby! Standards are a million miles from the thrilling moves played out every week on NBA courts.

Meanwhile, in the arena of music pop and rock dominate. But woe betide any band that attempts to cross over from pop/rock to the fringes of the country genre! Such attempts (sometimes classed as Country Pop) are likely to be regarded with the same horror that would greet the arrival of the spork -- half spoon and half fork. This is a mutation, a horrible mututation.

Let's look then at how pop to country crossovers can be compared to Italian pro basketball:

* Accept no substitute. For true fans, whether it's basketball or music, there's nothing worse than a watered down or inferior version of their beloved passion. For the most part, country music is definitely second class to American pop.

* Lack of interest. European basketball fans are more likely to sit on a couch watching NBA games than to go to a European League match. Similarly, both country and pop fans may have little desire to see that pop/country crossover freak. Look at what happened when Skid Row released its hard-edged country offering, 'You lie'.

* Comparative Obscurity. Can you name an Italian basketball player? Or a band that are classed as belonging to the Country Pop genre? (This question is not valid for anyone living in Eastern Oregon, most of the middle west and all of the South).

* Different Dollar-Scene. Capitol Nashville spends considerably less than, say, creating and marketing one of their records. a pop/country record. No one in Europe pulls in a salary even close to a Kobe Bryant. Ditto for country compared to a rock and roll chart topper.

Of course, what we've discussed is influenced by current fashions and trends. One hundred years from now we may only eat with sporks, Italy may have eclipsed the US as the basketball superpower, and country/pop crossover singers may attract the same status as Michael Jackson, Elvis, or John Lennon. Perhaps Rucker is on the crest of a new wave?

Get More...

Country Pop wikipedia page

History of Country Pop

Miley Cyrus' country pop ambitions

European basketball