Blame it on the record industry and thus the young listeners around the world. Record producers slowly transitioned country and western music to fit their image of what the younger audiences wanted to hear...a merger of rock and roll and country. The label marketing people kept harping on "demographics" and pushed (and payola) the DJ's until the audiences complied and began to buy the "new sounds".

That's why Willie, Waylon, etc. left Nashville and the 16th Ave. studios to perform their own music "their way!". As Don said above, there are still artists out there performing the "real deal". You just have to go to the beer joints out in Americana. The reason they are out in those joints is that no label is picking them up...

Same with Blues and Folk in the U. S. No one is buying, so no one is performing.

It's terrible and personally I love the old stuff but that's the way the world is today...strictly driven by financial motivation.