For the love of Branson: The Branson genre

     I was driving through downtown Branson one day on my way to a city council meeting with my radio dial tuned to 106.3 KRZK. If you grew up in this town like me, that station was probably number 1 on the presets in your car for as long as you can remember. It played classic country but it also played what I like to refer to as “the Branson genre”! Legends 106.3 is still their tagline and throughout the day if you tune in, you’ll hear commercial breaks highlighted by a “legends moment” such as a callback to the days of the Foggy River Boys or the Bob-O-Links show founded by Bob Mabe in the theatre now owned by Clay Cooper. But the other preset especially for young people was probably Power 96.5, the pop music station out of Springfield.

This dichotomy helped me come to an interesting realization. Essentially, that in the modern era of music, we have eliminated the vast majority of genres. What I mean by that is we used to live in a country where you might find a rock & roll station, a hip-hop station or even a jazz station on the dials. However, it seems that now you either have country or pop music options in most markets. Because even the rock & roll stations that exist play “classic rock” and almost never delve into rock music made past the year 2000 or even 1990 for that matter. Nashville still thrives as the home of recorded country music, but in the past you had other meccas of musical influence such as in California with the “Bakersfield Sound” or even outside of country with blues in Memphis and R&B in Detroit City.

Essentially what I am pointing out is that if modern musical genres exist, they are based in cities as opposed to being differentiated by their musical stylings. And the Branson genre is unique in and of itself. At first glance, one might think “the Branson genre” is only country music. However, this was debunked long ago when popular artists such as Andy Williams, Bobby Vinton and Tony Orlando entered the market. See, what truly defined the Branson genre were the music stars that made their home here as well as the Mountain Music foundations the original family shows were built upon.

We have done our best at the Song of Hope Historical Society to give an accurate assessment of the stars that made the biggest impact on the Branson Sound. This, of course, starts with the trio they called “The Big 3, in no particular order Shoji Tabuchi and his Japanese fiddle stylings, Mel Tillis and his baritone classic country delivery and Andy Williams, the crooner known as Mr. Christmas. Even within this group you have a wide variety of musical tastes but if a jukebox were to play Coca-Cola Cowboy followed by Andy Williams version of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” you’d know you were hearing the Branson genre at its finest.

Artists that have to join that Branson pantheon include Roy Clark, Mickey Gilley, Tony Orlando and Glen Campbell. Now most of these were country stars but an entire Branson season surrounding Veterans Week is often defined by Tony Orlando’s Tie a Yellow Ribbon. You see, the Branson genre is a song list or hymn book of sorts that includes the hits made famous by its stars. But it also is about performance. Branson is the “Live Music Show Capital of the World” after all. So therefore, the Branson genre is also defined by live performances. Roy Clark for example was an iconic instrumentalist, and Branson legend Buck Trent was also known for being a banjo virtuoso and even inventing the electric banjo.

I guess the best way to define the “Branson genre” is the way we define everything around here…Faith, Family and Flag! The Branson sound certainly includes Gospel music. In fact, some of the most legendary figures in the history of that musical style have roots or a legacy in Branson including Dino Kartsonakis, the Gaither Vocal Band and the Blackwoods. Family is almost self-evident in the history of the Branson sound with iconic groups such as the Presleys and Baldknobbers being joined by the children and grandchildren of our stars. I’ll take a selfish moment and include my rendition of Alan Jackson’s “Little Bitty” in the traditional Branson songbook given that I performed it on stage when I was about 10 years old. And finally, the flag is always represented and even unfurled on a Branson stage when the patriotic number rounds out what it means to put on a Branson show.

In truth, there is a place for most styles of music on a Branson stage. But there has always been an assimilation of sorts into the genre that we all share. I have this dream that some of our new Branson artists would perform renditions of the musical staples of the Branson genre. Imagine the Haygoods performing “Southern Rains” by Mel Tillis, Ashley Dawn of Branson’s famous Baldknobbers with her very own rendition of “Maybe It Was Memphis” or Revibe (the children of the Hughes Brothers) with their very own version of “Knock Three Times,” the Tony Orlando classic. One can dream, and we might even make this happen one day! But in the meantime, I encourage you to go listen to The Petersens’ rendition of “Southern Nights” by Glen Campbell. They truly knocked it out of the park!