Tag Archives: Random Thoughts

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Random Thoughts of the Week: How Country Music Made me a Nicki Minaj Fan

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Now, before anyone loses respect for me due to the above statement or decides my opinions about country music are no longer valid, please understand that title for what it was. Also, understand that we all are music lovers first, before genre lines ever come into play. I say this because I have seen comments on other sites saying people who profess love and/or knowledge of other genres do not care as much about country music as those who love country exclusively. So, as ridiculous an opinion as this might be, I felt I should address it before making my main point.

Yesterday, (August 24th),
Saving Country Music
published an article containing some of the preliminary results of a study conducted by McMaster University. The university is studying the open-mindedness of music fans of specific genres to other genres. In other words, if someone listens to mostly country music, are they more or less likely to also listen to other genres? According to the study, country fans rank fourth in open-mindedness among the ten genres studied. The most interesting early finding was that rap, dance, and pop fans are the three most cloes-minded groups. In other words, people who listen to these three genres are not likely to be open to other music. Also, the study highlighted some “asymmetrical pairings” between certain genres. One such pairing was country and pop; country fans are more likely to listen to pop, but pop fans won’t share that love for country. So, those fans who become “country” fans because of Sam Hunt won’t suddenly start listening to Kacey Musgraves, but a country fan who likes Taylor Swift might then develop a taste for Katy Perry.

This explains why, in its effort to please the close-minded pop fans flooding “country” music, country has all but forsaken its roots. Heaven forbid a fifteen-year-old be subjected to the lyricism of Cam’s “Burning House” when she could learn about partying and sex from Luke Bryan’s douche masterpiece “Kick The Dust Up.” Country singers even go so far as to call actual country music boring and paint the fans as close-minded old people, all for the sake of keeping their fickle pop fan base happy.

So if we’re not making Kacey Musgraves fans out of Sam Hunt groupies, what is this wave of bad pop music actually doing? Well, this is what happened in my case. I grew up with country in the 90’s and 00’s. I liked most country and even the pop country of early Taylor Swift. By 2010, country radio was becoming one tailgating song after another. The country that I loved, which used to feature steel guitars, fiddles, and storytelling, now came with hip-hop beats, rap, and lyrics about clubbing. I didn’t know about all the country I could be listening to; all I knew was country radio. In my mind, country had died. I tried to like the bro country and pop country, but I grew more and more frustrated with it until last year, when I decided that if country was dead, I should find something else to listen to. I had listened to so much bad pop music that I welcomed good pop music. Even their club songs are better than country’s club songs. If I have to listen to that anyway, I’d certainly rather hear Nicki Minaj’s “The Night is Still Young” than Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night.” I’ll always love country more, but when your choices are pop and worse pop with a twang, you take pop any day. During that time, I came to appreciate a considerable amount of pop music. I am extremely grateful for sites like SCM and Country Perspective that helped me find good country music again. Country music is still alive and well, and for that, I can be thankfull. Country music is still my favorite genre because it carries lyrics of substance, but as a music lover first, I am glad in a way that I was open to pop. (I guess that’s what comes from being an open-minded country fan.) I am certainly glad that is not all I have the choice of listening to though. These days, I would say I listen to about 80% country and 20% pop. I have always liked a little music from other genres as well, including rock, Christian, and r&b, but country and pop are the two I listen to on a regular basis. Having said that, I still hate most of the crap on country radio because it is bad pop and worse country.

The alarming thing is that my case seems to be more common than it should be. People argue that Sam Hunt or Taylor Swift can bring someone into country, and then this person might suddenly start liking Ashley Monroe and Alan Jackson. This sounds ridiculous on the surface, and now a study has backed it up. Also, pop fans are by definition listening to what is popular; in other words, someone who is introduced to “country” because of Sam Hunt is generally not going to go seeking Ashley Monroe and Alan Jackson. And seeking is what they’d have to do, because God forbid country radio play anything with substance. It seems far more likely, then, that someone who likes Ashley Monroe and Alan Jackson but who doesn’t hear anything except bad pop music on the local country station, would switch the station in exasperation and develop an appreciation for whatever is playing. I imagine there are a lot more people who have Ashley Monroe and Nicki Minaj in their iTunes library than those who have Ashley Monroe and Sam Hunt. Even more than that, there are those who have Sam Hunt and Nicki Minaj, because out of the three, these two are the most similar, which says a lot, (and nothing good) about the state of country music. Country fans are not being created by all this pop influence. All that is happening is that more pop fans are being created in response to the bad excuse for pop music that country continues to produce. By catering to the close-minded pop fans, country music continues to lose its identity in favor of being an inferior version of the music these close-minded fans love.

Tomatoes of the Week: Maddie & Tae

Their debut album comes out Friday, so they will be our featured females.

Random Country Suggestion: Miranda Lambert–“Roots and Wings”

Sadly, this wasn’t chosen as a single and we are stuck with “Smokin’ and Drinkin'” instead.

Non-Country Suggestion: Nicki Minaj: “All Things Go”

One of the results of me being an open-minded country fan.

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Random Thoughts of the Week: My Opinion on Zac Brown Band Releasing “Beautiful Drug”

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Zac Brown is widely known for having called out Luke Bryan’s 2013 bro country anthem “That’s My Kind of Night” as
the worst song he’d ever heard.
So this week, when the news broke that the Zac Brown Band would
release the EDM single “Beautiful Drug” to country radio,
many fans were disheartened and felt betrayed. This subject has been discussed over and over on other blogs, and I debated whether or not to bring it up. But it needs to be addressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOOcd62KpA4

Zac Brown Band is one of my favorites in any genre, so the moment their new album, Jekyll + Hyde, became available, I purchased it. I didn’t preview any tracks ahead of time; it was ZBB, they always deliver. It should be noted here that while they have never done EDM or pop country, the group is known for experimenting with their sound. In fact, one of my favorite songs from them is “Overnight” from 2012’s Uncaged, which is an r&b bedroom song featuring Trombone Shorty. They also do many songs tinged with reggae, and having seen them live, I’ve seen them play Southern rock as well. So as a ZBB fan, it really did not come as much of a shock to me when “Beautiful Drug” came on. Even when the EDM beats kicked in at the chorus, I was not terribly shocked. A lot of people criticized Zac Brown then, saying he should never have started an album with this song and that this was a betrayal to his core fans. As a core fan, I can say that although it was a surprise, I did not consider this a betrayal. “Beautiful Drug” is indeed a club song, but it is a love song; a betrayal would have been a song about tailgating in the moonlight. I actually like “Beautiful Drug,” although it is not country. Jekyll + Hyde was all over the place in terms of sound and can be criticized for not being country, or not really sticking to any genre. Having said that, I liked “Beautiful Drug” as an EDM song, I liked “Home Grown” as a country song, and I liked “Junkyard” and “Heavy as the Head” as rock songs.

The real betrayal of Zac Brown was when he announced that “Beautiful Drug,” an EDM club song, will be released to radio as a crossover hit. I should mention that “Heavy is the Head” was released to rock radio and gave the band a No. 1. Why then does “Beautiful Drug” need to be on country radio? They should have sent it to pop radio where it belongs. This is a betrayal. This is not the Zac Brown that called out Luke Bryan. When I turn on the radio, I can usually count on hearing good singles from Zac Brown Band mixed in with all the crap being marketed as country. They stand out as hope for country music, even if they experiment with other genres. The statement they could have and should have made would have been to release “Beautiful Drug” to pop radio, as well as another single to country radio. This marks a difference in genre and sets up boundary lines, which is something Zac Brown seems to have stood for in 2013. Most people who have called out this song hate “Beautiful Drug” and/or think ZBB should have never recorded it in the first place. As someone who was not offended by its appearance on a Zac Brown Band album, I am here to say it does not belong on country radio. Zac Brown Band has been the biggest bright spot for country music in the last five years, managing to break the airplay barrier with fiddles and lyrics of substance. The news of this release to country radio means that the Zac Brown who would once fight for country music has now surrendered to a trend. This is disheartening to say the least and a slap in the face to Zac Brown Band fans who count on them as the last hope for country music.

Tomato of the Week: Gwen Sebastian

She flies under the radar a lot, but I think she could have real potential as a good pop country artist. Her full article will be featured on Female Friday.

Random Country Suggestion: Tyler Farr: “Suffer in Peace”

The excellent title track from his new album that will never be a single because it has too much heart.

Non-Country Suggestion: Zac Brown Band featuring Chris Cornell–“Heavy is the Head”

The previously mentioned No. 1 on rock radio that stayed where it belonged.

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Random Thoughts of the Week: In Memory of Lynn Anderson

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Lynn Anderson, best known for the hit (“I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” passed away Thursday night (July 30th) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after a heart attack. She was sixty-seven years old. The singer, known as the “Great Lady of Country Music” had twelve No. 1’s in her career and has been one of the most successful females in country music history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4wcNVbYOQ

Lynn Rene Anderson, (born September 26, 1947, in Grand Forks, North Dakota), was interested in country music at a very early age. Her parents were both songwriters; her mother, Liz Anderson, wrote Merle Haggard’s “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive.” Lynn released her debut album Ride, Ride, Ride in 1966 at age nineteen. She is best known for (“I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” a country hit that was also an adult contemporary and pop crossover success. She won the ACM Top Female Vocalist award in 1967 and 1970, as well as the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year award in 1971. Lynn won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Best Vocal Performance for “Rose Garden” and became the first woman to win an American Music Award. She was named one of Billboard’s Artists of the Decade in 1980.

Perhaps more important than her own success is the
path she paved for female artists. Lynn became the first country female to sell out Madison Square Garden in 1974. She had over fifty Top 40 hits in her career, making her one of the most successful women in country music to date. She has been considered many times for, but not yet inducted into, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and it’s unfortunate that they didn’t induct her before she passed away.

Lynn was known early in her career as the “California Horse Show Queen.” She raised horses and obtained several distinctions, including sixteen national championships and eight world championships. Later in life, she worked with the “Special Riders of Animalland,” a therapeutic horseback riding program for children. She never stopped showing horses or recording. In fact, she had just released a gospel album entitled Bridges on June 9th. The “Great Lady of Country Music” will be missed. Lynn has left her mark on the genre, as well as on music in general. At a time like this, it is especially important to remember the difference female voices can make in country music.

Tomato of the Week: Lindi Ortega

Her album comes out Friday, so it’s time to feature Lindi Ortega on Female Friday! By the way, don’t buy Luke Bryan or Michael Ray’s albums this Friday, buy Lindi Ortega’s…this will do more for country music than Jason Isbell did by beating Alan Jackson.

Random Country Suggestion: Jason Eady–Daylight and Dark

This was probably my favorite album of 2014. Plus, there’s been a lot of talk about Texas country on here lately, so seems appropriate.

Listen to Daylight and Dark

No non-country suggestion, just go listen to “Rose Garden.”

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Random Thoughts of the Week: Jason Isbell and Alan Jackson Prove Quality is Worth More Than Airplay

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Congratulations to Jason Isbell and Alan Jackson, who have claimed the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Both released excellent albums–I reviewed them both here on Country Exclusive–on July 17th, the first Friday release date for albums in North America. Jackson’s Angels and Alcohol was a traditional album by a country veteran, released on a major label. Isbell’s Something More Than Free was an Americana/Southern rock/folk/country blend marked by excellent songwriting, released independently. Musically, these albums were polar opposites–well, as opposite as two albums can be within the same genre. While they both had great songwriting, the content on their albums was quite different, and their ways of storytelling and crafting lyrics aren’t similar either.

So what did these two albums have in common? Musically, although different, each had a distinct country sound. As I have mentioned, each contained quality music marked with great songwriting. I gave each album a 9 when I reviewed them. Each contained many songs written solely by the artist. This is especially surprising in Jackson’s case, considering that most mainstream songs are written by at least three people these days. (It takes at least three to write crap about a dirt road, but one can write good music?) Jackson wrote seven of the ten tracks on his album. Isbell’s songwriting is something he has been praised for and something I discussed at length in his review; for him to write the material on his album, however, is not as unusual because he is an independent artist.

But, wait…there’s something else glaringly obvious these two albums have in common. Neither has had five minutes of radio support. Jackson has had a little and may have more with a future single, but he has not had airplay comparative to what he should have with the No. 2 album in the country. Isbell isn’t getting airplay at all and yet has managed to beat Jackson by less than 500 units after a fight that came down to the wire. Both albums sold over 46,000 copies.

And here I thought if you weren’t on country radio, you didn’t exist. If you were living under a rock in February, that is what Gary Overton, CEO of Sony Music Nashville, who was later fired, infamously told The Tennessean–“If you’re not on country radio, you don’t exist.” Overton’s comments were the cause of an uproar from Texas artists such as Aaron Watson who, after claiming the No. 1 album that very week, noted, “My name is Aaron Watson. I’m not played on country radio. And I have the #1 record in country music this week. I do exist.” Aaron Watson went to settle the matter with Bobby Bones and, in a strange turn of events, was told that he was being “disrespectful to women” for calling a producer “sweetheart.” This led to an epic online rant from Texas artist Charlie Robison–too long to post here–which in turn led to Florida Georgia Line’s tweet that they had “lost a lot of respect” for Robison. His reply was, “How do you lose respect for someone who doesn’t exist?”

Overton’s comments were overshadowed by the idiocy of Keith Hill in May, but they shouldn’t be overlooked. Alan Jackson and Jason Isbell certainly exist–and there is a silent majority out there buying their albums saying they’d rather search the Internet and streaming services to find good music than listen to what is offered on radio. Kacey Musgraves has been all but blacklisted on country radio, and she has held her position on the chart, debuting at No. 1 quietly. We may also see this next week with Ashley Monroe–fingers crossed–whom I have never heard on the radio. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard don’t get played anymore, and their album Django and Jimmie has had no problem staying in the top ten, while radio-supported Billy Currington, Canaan Smith, Kelsea Ballerini, and Easton Corbin struggle to keep their places on the charts. What would happen if they lost radio support? How long will country radio ignore the numbers? Maybe they can ignore a bunch of traditionalists griping on blogs, but It’s not just people griping on blogs anymore, it’s on the charts now.

Tomato of the Week: Angaleena Presley

As I featured her fellow Pistol Annie Ashley Monroe last week, I thought it fitting that she should be this week. Check out her article on Female Friday!

Random Country Suggestion: Zac Brown Band–“Bittersweet”

Great song off their new album, Jekyll + Hyde. It should be a future single.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPvyfLtlI-A

Non-Country Suggestion: Chris Tomlin–Love Ran Red

I often post pop music here, but as I’ve mentioned before, I like a little of everything, and I like some Christian music too. If you don’t like Christian music, don’t listen. If you do, you are probably familiar with Chris Tomlin, and his work speaks for itself. He is the Strait or Jackson in the Christian world that just keeps releasing good music, and his latest album is no different.

Listen to Love Ran Red

That’s all for this week’s Random Thoughts!

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Random Thoughts of the Week: Luke Bryan Apologizes, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert Announce Divorce

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This column has previously been on Sundays, but this weekend I was moving so it comes late. However, since music is now being released on Friday, changing the times for album reviews, this column will move to Tuesdays starting next week.

Last week, I used the Random Thoughts column to rip apart Luke Bryan for his disparaging comments about outlaw country, as well as his mischaracterization of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard. Since then, Luke has called the families of Waylon and Merle to personally apologize for his actions. Both Shooter Jennings and Ben Haggard have come forward publicly about this to say basically that this is water under the bridge, and that Luke did an honorable thing by apologizing privately. I happen to agree. Whether he meant to disparage them or not, he proved by apologizing personally that he truly cared about how it affected them. he had already tried to repair his public image on Twitter–and that is all most artists would have done. Regardless of my opinion of Luke or his music, this was a very classy thing. Last week, my post was entitled “What Happened to the Class in Country?” and this was Luke showing he still has some.

Earlier today, (July 20th), Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert released a statement announcing their divorce. They said this was not the future they had “envisioned” and added that “it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately.” The statement continued, “We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends, and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter.” In respect to them, we should not, and I will not, seek to decipher what led to the divorce. However, I do wonder how it will affect their careers. Will Blake Shelton lose some relevancy? He gained much more radio relevancy when he married Miranda, although this was also around the time he started on “The Voice,” which certainly played a role. If this had happened a few years ago, he might have been in trouble, but now, with the male-dominated radio waves and his job on “The Voice,” I think he will not be affected, but who knows? Miranda could continue to lose airplay as well–she is a female and that is an automatic strike against her, and now she won’t be married to Blake, so radio will probably give her less of a chance. Their dominance at the ACM and CMA Awards will certainly end, and Carrie Underwood will have a well-deserved shot at Top Female Vocalist. Personally, I hope neither of their careers is seriously hurt, but I prefer Miranda over Blake, and I would hate to see one less female on the radio because she lost her “ticket.” As I mentioned, I will not speculate on what led to the divorce, but we all know if cheating was indeed involved–as many gossip sites would have us believe–Miranda will put it in her next album. However, their privacy should be respected. Just because we hear their music and see Blake on TV does not mean their lives should be put under a microscope.

Tomato of the Week: Ashley Monroe

Her new album comes out Friday–I have been waiting for this since her last album–so what better day to feature her? Here’s the lead single from the new album, The Blade

Random Country Suggestion: Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, “Better in the Long Run”

A song from happier times–incidentally, co-written by our featured female Ashley Monroe.

Non-Country Suggestion: Taylor Swift, 1989

I’m late to the party on this, as I could not stand Taylor’s previous album Red attempting to be both pop and country and thus failing at both. However, I recently bought 1989 and now that she is not pretending and is embracing a pop sound, Taylor is better than she ever was in country. If you like pop, give it a listen.

Listen to 1989

That’s all for this week’s Random Thoughts!