George Jones

At 78 years old, Country Music Hall of Fame Inductee George Jones clearly has no plans of stepping down to the younger superstars of the genre. In a move that some industry folks have considered as divisive, while leading others to laud his guts for speaking out, Jones has recently said a mouthful against the younger set of artists dominating the genre these days.

“They’ve stolen our identity,” this is what Jones said in a recent interview with the Associated Press when prompted to give a comment about younger artists such as Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. In the same interview, Jones added, “They had to use something that was established already, and that’s traditional country music. So what they need to do really, I think, is find their own title, because they’re definitely not traditional country music.” In his defense, Jones did admit that some of the newer songs are good; however, he thought these no longer reflected pure country music of old.

At the same time, though, he did praise fellow artists whom he thought have kept the spirit alive. “It’s good to know that we still do traditional country music. Alan Jackson still does it, so does George Strait.” Quite optimistic about the genre’s future direction, he says, “We still have it, and there’s quite a few of us that are going to hope that it comes back one of these days.”

Jones has been known to be a very vocal critic of anything that could destroy the purity of traditional country music, which he has helped endear to fans across the US. As a matter of fact, Jones also had a few choice words for artists whom he thought were guilty of such acts. When fellow Country Music Hall of Fame Inductee Johnny Cash covered the Nine Inch nails song, “Hurt,” members of the media were sure to get a sound bite from Jones and that’s just what they had.

When the senior country artist was asked if he too would branch out in other musical genres such as heavy metal or rap, he retorted, “Rap? That’s tacky … how can you call that music? Now, I love music, too. I love all kinds. I really do. I’ve got Brook Benton. I like his singing.” He says, “Ray Charles. I’ve got an open mind. But now, you can’t call rap, talking stuff like that, music. No, no, no, you’ve got to have another name for that.”

Speaking about his own career and music, he says, “Only thing I would like to keep accomplishing is music for my fans and achieving some goals to keep them happy with what I record in the future.” When asked if he had plans of putting out more records in the future, he replied, “I’ve done just about everything else. The good Lord’s been good to me … I’m going to enjoy the rest of my life.”

Jones’ most recent effort is a CD called “A Collection of My Best Recollection,” which includes his all time most requested songs throughout a career that has spanned for almost six decades. This CD, exclusively available at Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, includes two unreleased songs as well as classic hits such as “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair” and “White Lightning.”

Regardless of whether she was donning a tacky Kate Gosselin wig, wearing braces while shrieking in a public-service commercial satire about texting while driving, or simply playing her guitar and singing the “Monologue Song (La, La, La),” whose lyrics included references to tabloid regulars Kanye West (of course), Taylor Lautner, and Joe Jonas, Swift gamely traded punchlines with the SNL cast. She wasn’t self-conscious at all and appeared to be having the time of her life in the long-running comedy show.

In her opening monologue, Swift performed a song which tackled everything she didn’t want to talk about, including the infamous Kanye scene-stealing moment during the last VMAs. In a show where everyone is fair game, the decision not to make any parody to West-Swift incident, can perhaps be attributed to Swift’s decision to let sleeping dogs lie. After all, West has issued his sincerest apologies in every platform available.

“You might be expecting me to say something bad about Kanye, and how he ran up on the stage and ruined my V.M.A. monologue, but there’s nothing more to say ’cause everything’s O.K. I’ve got security lining the stage,” Swift sang sweetly. It was at his moment that cast members Jason Sudeikis and Bill Hader, dressed as G-men, surrounded her and, holding up a police sketch of West, sang with her.

Swift is renowned for her delicate appeal and her feminine style—characteristics which have helped solidify her status as a fashion icon and country music superstar. In SNL however, we see a very different aspect of her personality. In one of her sketch roles, she imitated veteran comedienne Kristen Wiig’s jumpy character Penelope, while in a “Scared Straight sketch” she presented a tough demeanor alongside Kenan Thompson.

These were some of the best 90 minutes that SNL has presented this season. Their satire of The View, in which Wiig’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck compliments Swift’s Kate Gosselin’s spiky hairstyle was memorable. “Kate, I just want to say, you have beautiful hair,” Wiig deadpanned. “I’ve heard many people make fun of your hairstyle, and I think it’s beautiful. It’s like a gorgeous waterfall of human hair in the front, and in the back, a patriotic fireworks display.” To which Swift, later in the sketch, would explain the origin of, “My hairdresser was halfway though giving me the ‘Rachel,’ when his blow-dryer exploded on the back of my head.”

Truly, Taylor Swift has just shown that that there is more to her than meets the eye. What comes next? We will all just have to wait and see from this country singer who has kept her feet firmly on the ground in spite of her meteoric rise to superstardom. What better way to prove this than going on a show which forces you to laugh at yourself?