First of all, let's clear this up - it's not an accent, it's a dialect. If you have a "country" dialect, which really is technically called "Southern American English" - an accent, simply, is if you are speaking a language that is not your 1st spoken language. So if a person from China starts speaking American English, he will have an accent. A dialect is the deviation of the spoken Standardized language in the country that you are from.
Secondly... Big3, country music was born to the south. While it draws influence from Celtic ( as well as Gospel, Blues, and traditional folk) it still, as a genre was born in Tennesse ( look up Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter family, who are widely considered to be the founders of country music)
Also, it is very presumptuous of you to call someone elses idea of music damaged - you are growing the horns of an elitist a-hole when you do that... while in some cases it might be true, you cannot call his idea of music damaged from him saying he likes old school country without coming off like the aforementioned a-hole.
All that being said, I think modern country is a joke that has been stained by the pop influence. I liked the 1960's Nashville sound, as well as the 1950's bluegrass blow up. Can't forget the Man in Black either. When I heard they were making Walk the Line I nearly exploded. Johnny Cash? That's good country-pop.
__________________
|