Music Performance Experience Paper On April 27th 2012 I went to the Stagecoach festival and saw the band Alabama to which I am going to be comparing to what I have learned in class as well as the experience I had during the concert. Alabama is an older country band that is from Fort Payne, Alabama and was founded in 1969. Alabama is known for bringing the country music “band” to the mainstream music scene. In addition Alabama crossed old time traditional country music with southern rock and created a new sound in the early 70s. Alabama uses 2 lead guitars, a rhythm guitar, the fiddle and drums to create their own unique country sound. Alabama sticks to the older country sounds as well as bringing a newer style of music that melds almost seamlessly together, in their song “Mountain Music” they sing about the old country music from the mountains of the east where country music was started and the Carter family pioneered. “Play me some mountain music like grandma and grandpa used to play, then ill float down on the river to a Cajun hideaway,” this opening line from “mountain music” speaks of the old times of country music where Alabama got their sound from. This song sings about the music the artists were brought up listening to with their parents and also gives a little foresight into the Cajun type of country music that came later on after country began spreading from the mountains of the Virginias. “Play some back-home come-on music that comes from the heart, play something with lots of feelin ‘cause that’s where music has to start,” this line speaks of the beginnings of country music like the rest of the song does but actually talks about the times where music was born of feelings and came from people’s hearts. True country music is mostly ballads which are songs that tell a story and come from a deeper place in a person because they are songs that are closer to a person’s heart. Another song sang at the concert was “If you’re gonna play in Texas,” which opens with “If you’re gonna play in texas you gotta have a fiddle in the band, that lead guitar is hot but not for a Louisiana man. So rosin up that bow for “faded love” and let’s all dance, if you’re gonna play in Texas you gotta have a fiddle in the band.” This first line of this song speaks of the evolution of country music in Texas where country went from being ballads of life and music that came from the heart and was meant for smaller groups of people to the Honky Tonk style of music where electric guitars began being used in the bars of Texas. Also in addition to the electric guitar being added the fiddle became larger in the country music scene during the time frame being sung about because of the changing sounds and the spreading of country music around the southern parts of the United States. “If you’re gonna play in Texas” is a song with changing timbre from slow to fast depending on parts of the song. This song is Homophonic and in the beginning has an almost A Cappella sound except for the light rhythm of the drum in the background keeping in the melody. The last song that had major ties to the older routes of country music was “Song of the South” this song is a ballad that is heavy in fiddle play where the lead singer sing spurely about life as it was when he was a kid. The times where his family was poor and didn’t realize the great depression because of how deep into the country and how his family was self-sufficient. This entire song is a amazing ballad that paints a picture of life of how it was back when country music was at its simplest form, a homophonic song with medium to fast timbre which allows people to get taken back a simpler time and a completely different way of life which is what I believe country music is meant to do. This concert was amazing with so many different artists where all denominations of country are showcased, is truly where country has evolved to from its humble roots as story telling songs in the mountains of the Virginias to one of the largest music genres today.