If you live in North West Central Wisconsin you know all about Country Fest and Country Jam. Even if you don’t live in North West Central Wisconsin odds are you’ve heard some crazy story about some crazy shit that went down either at Jam or Fest. They both are large music festivals that get national acts to appear at.
Now my idea of Country Music is Nashville Skyline, Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe, and Hank(the first one). The major bullet point that you should take away from this paragraph, is that Contemporary Country Music is making a large effort to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible.
You often find Ipods with one song by an artist. This greatly annoys me. Why just one song? Track the progression of that band. Then again, not everyone is like me. A good song is a good song. I’m sure these “one song people” would scoff at my vinyl collection.
Kid Rock. If you followed the progression of Kid Rock took you’d be greatly confused. Who is this guy? Rapper Guy, Rocker Guy, or Country Guy? That’s really smart. He can go anywhere, play any venue, and people will pay good money to be entertained by this guy. VH1’s Behind the Music does a wonderful job explaining this.
National Acts get paid around a million dollars to show up. That’s why they are National Acts. People what to see them perform. How far will you travel to see a band you like? Some people measure how much they like a band by how many times they’ve seem ‘em. Fine by me, each concert is different.
For the most part if a National Act plays Fest one year they will play Jam the next. Usually they even have to agree not to play in a certain radius around the area to make sure that if you want to see them you have to go to that festival. Basically, the acts are the same at these two music festivals, if you ask me.
Brand Identity takes time to build. The reputation of Country Fest is that it is a huge party. The reputation of Country Jam is that it is a professional operation. If your 18 you think Jam is lame. You really shouldn’t take children to Fest.
They are both professional operations that are huge parties. They coexist just fine. The reputations are the result of the layout. Campgrounds at Fest are right there. Campgrounds at Jam are separated. It is by far easier to get into the campgrounds are Fest than Jam.
Conflicts happen. Comparing one thing to another thing is bound to happen. Beer is no different. How does this beer/brewery compare with this beer/brewery. Here are some examples that wisconsinbeerun will instigate:
Leinenkugel vs Point (old, large, regional breweries)
Surly vs New Glarus (the Packer/Vikings of Beer)
Capital vs Sprecher (old school craft brewers)
South Shore vs Shipwrecked (Lake Superior vs Door County)
5 Star vs Dave’s Brewfarm (whose gonna make the crazier beer?)
Sand Creek vs Dells Brewing Company (best pit stop on way to Madison)
Central Waters vs Tyranena (Battle of the Bourbon Barrels)
InBev vs SAB (don’t say Bud vs Miller, then it sounds like you’re talking about American Companies)
Spotted Cow vs Fat Tire vs Boston Lager (best Usual Suspect)
Lucette vs Rush River (Menomonie vs River Falls)
I’m a huge fan of Professional Wrestling. It’s not fake. It’s Scripted. There are good guys and bad guys. They have conflicts and there is an obvious winner. These Beer Conflicts will never have an obvious winner. They are a matter of personal preference.
I’m never going to assign some letter grade of point value to a beer. I will never improve on what ratebeer and beeradvocate are doing. Beer History and Beer Styles is what wisconsinbeerun will focus on. We’ll mention timely issues relative to Sports or Politics that people in Wisconsin might find interesting, but the focus will be on Beer History and Beer Styles.
If it is a Conflict Show the signature will be “happy hour at The Firehouse, closing down The Joynt” as opposed to “beers are song, breweries are bands; enjoy the music.” This is to imply that a Beer Conflict will be evaluated from 5pm to 2am. Not just “this beer is better, that beer sucks.”
Cover songs are a lot of fun. Country Fest and Country Jam always have great cover songs. It is a sign of respect to recognize what came before you. Will you improve on it?
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