Every great cause begins as a movement, degenerates into a business and winds up a racket.~ Eric Hoffe From the pure to the pedestrian to the profane 51; that's how the river flows, and the only way to prevent being washed downstream is to tie your boat to an external ideal. In the case of RCM and Ram Radio, we are anchored to traditional country music. We ain't interested in being emptied into the Sea of Oblivion that awaits those who have tied one end of their boat to the other in the ego-centric belief that they somehow acquired the power to re-define something bigger than themselves.
Right now, Big and Rich are flotsam that the musical current has pushed up against our boat. In the interest of running a tight ship, we do not allow such detritus to accumulate.
The charges that we at RCM are "closed-minded" are without merit. Pigs aren't welcome at horse shows, not because they are pigs so much as because they aren't horses. Big and Rich may think they are a "horse of a different color," but in reality they are just painted pigs. There's no need for a detailed examination to ascertain this fact, as even their rock guitar riffs don't cover their "oinks." I don't believe anyone on RCM is interested in holding discussions on redefining "horses" to include "pigs," even if we had the power to enact our definition. There is already a definition that includes both "horses" and "pigs." It's called "livestock." Those making closed-minded charges need to get a dictionary.
Big and Rich fans are not being censored on the RCM site; they are being kept on topic. "REAL." "COUNTRY." "MUSIC". If the artist doesn't meet all three of these criteria, then they aren't worthy of positive discussion in view of our mission statement to promote real country music. That's not "real country music" as defined by labels or marketing departments; that's "REAL COUNTRY MUSIC" as it was when it was pure, before the CMA and labels degenerated into putting business ahead of the music, and long before Big and Rich devolved.
Signed, Pam, Sam and Roy