What is considered Rock?

With so many genres and such blurred definitions it seems so hard to define a musical style as rock.

I know there are music analysts out there that are going to give me some type of technical definition for Rock 'n' Roll or tell me what the history of it is, but i am not looking for a musical lesson.  I am talking about looking at general music listeners with general knowledge of music.

Look at all of the sub-genres of rock (for ex, punk, emo, metal, post-hardcore, southern rock, alternative, math rock, etc).  The list can go on forever.

Lets think about Lady GaGa for a moment. (I think I spelled her name right) Can she be considered a rock artist? it turns my stomach upside down to say this, but yeah, you can say she fits in the genre of rock. What about Toby Keith? Yeah, you can also argue that he is a rockstar.

Its funny that these two artists that are primarily known for their influence in Pop and Country music can be considered rock artists as well.  If I am confusing you then i have done my job.  Music in the last century has evolved so much that it seems impossible to group music into categories.  It is becoming easier for artists to crossover into a new genre.  There are no more boundary lines. Just a melting pot of musical artists so to speak.

I know this is terrible to think that rock, pop, country,blues, etc are very similar, but isn't that what makes music great! I can say that I am a fan of rock music and listen to both Led Zeppelin and Dierks Bentley without having to claim myself as a country fan as well.

Although, I seem to be on a tangent, this leads me to my main point. In this blog I can pretty much cover all "genres" of music and still consider it a rock 'n' roll blog. No, that doesn't mean that i will ever talk about Dolly Parton or Hank Williams (who played a major role in Rock 'n' Roll by the way) but don't be surprised if i talk about an artist who you don't consider a rock artist.

I hope you enjoy the blog. Thank you!