In fairness, there's a bunch of EU players that don't get the American fixation with country music, too! I guess there's something pretty ridiculous to be found inside ANY country or region's music tastes!
It's hard for Yanks to get a grip on this kind of stuff, because the social setting that it gets played in doesn't really have an equivalent over here. But communal music making, singalongs, and a reverence for the music of older generations (because they are out in the same beerhalls and working men's clubs as the younger generation) is much stronger than many areas over here.
I played my fair share of those clubs, holiday camps and Mecca ballrooms as a young'un, chas. While it ain't jazz, it's often a helluva good time!
We might think we are a hair more sophisticated over here, but trust me, the sense of community and family and friends is pretty lacking, here. I'd give my right arm for a good spontaneous pub singalong every now and again, rather than the mute staring at a few professional musicians you get most of the time here. We have turned into a country that watches, rather than participates in music, chas...
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!