anyone who thinks that garth brooks is country probably also thinks that blink 182 is punk or that evanescance is goth. pop-country doesn't even deserve to be lumped in with real country - it's closer to blink 182 and evanescance.
There's a great story in Issue 66 of Punk Planet called "Any Kind of Music But Country" about alt-country. As Robbie Fulks says, "It's the same thing that makes Beyonce music bad or Tom Petty music bad... I think coutnry music in particular is too market-driven and too dependent on that narrow window of program directors on commercial radio - that's what totally drives country music."
Joy Sondgrass of alt-coutnry band Drag Rthe River says, "Hank Williams Sr. was as punk as anybody. A lot of that stuff was just so bare-bones and raw and full of life, you know? It's go a lot of the same things that made me enjoy punk rock."
And there are many similarities between real country and punk rock. Harlan Howard famously called country, "three chords and the truth." does that sound familiar? Does it bring to mind bands like The Ramones, Minor Threat, Husker Du, et al? Country and punk are similar in many ways. They are both blue collar music, they both are very political; in some ways the only difference is the chord selection and delivery.
Langford also said, "Country is punk music for old people." Country is what young punks mature into.
Singer Neko Case says, "I don't think it's coutnry's fault, but bad music apparently sells a lot of ads." I agree. Look at the taste of many of the people on these forums. Godsmack is derivitive drivel for mall-rockers and those too lazy to look deeper. 50 Cent is a half-talent who's best career move was being shot.
Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr, The Carter Family, WIllie Nelson, etc. all redefined country in their times (hell, the Carter Family invented country). Johnny Cash sings of prison reform and hard luck as any hip hop MC would wish; where they rap of ghetto life and it's trials, Cash speaks of the old west and Folsom Prison. What is the difference besides scenery and skin color? Willie Nelson sings political better than many this side of The Clash.
Dismissing country as a whole is the path that 1) mall-music buyers 2) lazy people 3) stupid people take.
Every genre has good bands and crap bands, to say that you hate an entire genre of music means to imply that you've listen to an entire genre of music which means in this case you're well over a hundred years old (to have listened to all the country music available) or just full of shit.
I'd guess that you're full of shit.
Country has it's poptarts and crap bands, it's the new pop.
But it also has bands like The Mike Plume Band and artists such a Cash and Williams.
Not to mention one of my favourite singer songwriters, Steve Earle. Country can include rock, blues, bluegrass, folk and other stylings. So if you hate all that, what do you listen to?