Saddest Country Sellouts Of 2013

Selling Out:  "The compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money. In terms of music or art, selling out is associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream or commercial audience; for example, a musician who alters his material to encompass a wider audience, and in turn generate greater revenue." 

Chris Young


Maybe Chris Young's musical passion lies in the seams of his cowboy hat, because when he stopped wearing it it seemed as though he lost everything that made him a great artist. His first two albums, although they weren't stop you in your tracks incredible, they were a nice variety of simple pleasing country songs. Even his 2011 album Neon, proved he wasn't the same as those other pop country singers. The title track was especially great. He has such a deep southern voice that sounds so genuine. It is a shame that he wastes it on songs like his most recent single "Aw Naw." His entire album is filled with songs that are so different than what he normally does and so similar to what the mainstream is doing. With a voice like his he can do so much, I don't know why he settles for less than what he is capable of.




David Nail

I always really liked David Nail. He was never super country but his music was so refreshing because it was always so different than what the mainstream was offering. He was sort of like a modern day version of the Countrypolitian era of country music. Because of that, he never hit it big, up until recently. He has only had two albums, but they were two great albums. I remember listening to them while I was on my way back from a trip to New York City. A song of his titled "Mississippi" really stood out for me. The song is about someone who left their life behind to make it big in New York. They thought they'd love it but it turned out it just wasn't the life they were supposed to live. Ironic since I hated the city so much when I really hoped I'd love it. Then there was a song called "The Sound Of A Million Dreams" that was about pouring your heart into your music, and all the pain and struggles you face will be worth it in the end if your one song can evoke a memory or feeling from someone out there somewhere. There was also this line that went "When I hear "Mama Tried" I still break down and cry and pull to the side of the road." It made my heart smile. Those songs just hit me, the way music is supposed to. I saw him last year at this super tiny theatre. There couldn't have been more than 50 people in the room. He became very aware that there were few people in the room that knew who he was before the show, but it didn't stop him. He sang his songs and a couple of covers, some classic Waylon and a few others. It was a good time, but like many others, he deserved more and he wanted more. Fast forward to today and his single "Whatever She Got" is the most cliche pop country song you could imagine. I was so sad, I didn't want to believe it was him singing it, but guess what? It got his name swirling around the mainstream now of course. He has yet to release a new album, but I know what to expect. He does deserve the fame he's getting, but not like this.

Joe Nichols

Interviewer at theboot.com: Do you see anyone else carrying on the outlaw country tradition? 

Merle Haggard: There are a couple young guys who want to. They’re really trying. Joe Nichols, he is sure trying to. 

There was Merle Haggard, yes Merle Haggard talking about how modern day mainstream country singers can't carry on the outlaw legacy, but Joe Nichols is one of the few that may be able to. Calling him an outlaw is pushing it but again like the others, he was always really different. Now he has been around for over a decade and country music in the late 90's early 2000's was actually recognizable as country music, which is very different from today's country. With songs resembling those of Alan Jackson and George Strait, Joe Nichols did prove he can make some real good country music. A new record deal in 2013 came alongside a "new sound" for Joe. This new sound was obviously a combination of beer bottles clanking, hotties trying to get off their skin tight jeans, and money jingling in the pockets of those who thought sending Joe Nichols to cliche pop countryville was a good idea. His single "Sunny & 75" is just everything I thought he defied, it is everything he never was. He did his own thing, he was different, Merle Haggard called him an outlaw for crying out loud, why on earth did he change.


Blake Shelton

The thing about Blake is that he knows better. He isn't some innocent little singer whose label is controlling him, he is choosing to neglect the music he claims to love and the career that built him to judge some dumb TV show. He preaches how much he loves classic country but he doesn't mind ruining it's legacy. I do believe he has knowledge about and genuinely loves country music, which is more than you can say for some, but he has an awful hard time showing it. He straight up said that the old fart's music is out and it's not cool so we have to roll in the new hip country music to keep the kids into it. That's what everyone thinks now I guess. Anything somewhat rootsy or traditional is shunned by country radio. Blake used to be great, yeah he had some dumb songs but it never got as ridiculous as songs like "Boys Round Here." His 2007 album Pure BS I feel is his best. It was right after his divorce, the songs fit his situation and he had a hand at writing some of it and you can tell he actually meant what he was singing. His latest album Based On A True Story is a joke. How ironic it is that it's called based on a true story when all it is is the same beer and truck anthem repeated about 13 times, is that supposed to be an accurate representation of his life? Now he is super famous, fake stories headlining the tabloid magazines famous, and it is all his choice. It's his fault he doesn't have time to write songs or put out a good record. He probably just shows up to a recording studio in between the takes of The Voice and records a bunch of random songs other people wrote. He used to be a good musical artist, but now he's just a TV star. He chose to abandon his music.


Is it worth it? Is all the money and fame worth the fact that you are helping to destroy a genre of music. No, actually it's more than just a genre, country music is real life, a legacy, a family, a beautiful story that some folks have spent decades to create. Who cares about that anymore, they just knock it down because no one cares about anyone but themselves. To be fair the finger should be pointed at the big labels, corporate radio stations, etc. They are pulling the strings for the puppets on Music Row. It isn't just a coincidence that every single mainstream country singer got the idea to change their "artistic development" into another direction. As much as they try to tell you that country music is "evolving" into a new direction, that direction isn't forward. This need to modify your music to fit in with everyone else's is just stupid. An imitation will never create a legend. Everyone has the right to stand up and say no. But you change your sound just once to create one radio friendly song and you get a taste of the money and fame and that's it, you're beat, some can get out but most can't. Well let's say growing up you had this vision of playing in front of thousands of people, being famous and making a ton of money. If that's your dream and you get to live it, why would you go back? You have to keep in mind it's because you fell in love with the music that you can do all those things. You owe it to the music to put out a good song. Something deep inside you told you that you were meant to be a musician. That passion is in there, don't let other people tell you what to play or how you should play it, just do it. Keep in mind there are musicians out there that are barely getting by because they choose to stay true to who they are. It's not worth it. Play your music the way you want to play it, because even if you don't sell out arenas and you don't have your picture in the magazines it will be so much better. You could play imitation music to rile up a drunk crowd of a few thousand or you could play genuine heartfelt music at a little theatre or club and touch the lives of a few hundred. Knowing you could have possibly changed someone's life through music you created is a feeling I can't even find the words to describe. To me that has a lot higher price than any sports car or mansion ever could.

2013 CMA Awards Recap

It was that time of year again. The time when mainstream country fans get all excited to see their favorite stars on tv, and the time independent country fans make the gut wrenching decision on whether or not they want to watch and see just how far gone the music they love has gotten. This year, contrary to my expectation before the show, was actually not quite as bad as one might expect. It had its moments, but overall it seemed to be a step in the right direction. Let's do a run through shall we?


The Bad:

The first song.
 -The night kicked off with Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line singing a mash-up of "That's My Kinda Night" and "Cruise." Filled with plenty of trucks, hot girls, and rapping, both songs probably earned a spot in the 'top 5 worst country songs that ever existed' list, what a great way to start "Country Music's Biggest Night." The sound quality for the performance was awful, it was almost as bad as the amount of skinny jean wearers and pelvic thrusts that happened on that stage. Within two minutes of the show's beginning, the traditionalists watching would be screaming into a pillow waiting for it to end while jabbing forks into their eardrums and eyeball sockets. The good news is that was the worse part of the night.

Bro-hug 
-Hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood's monologue was actually quite funny this year. They started with a song about all the recent feuds going on in country music. Of course they mentioned the recent fight between Zac Brown and Luke Bryan. Zac called Luke's new song "The worse song he ever heard" many people agreed with Zac and his opinions on the state of country music, but, both he and Luke bro-hugged it out to show they are still buds. Rays of sunshine darted through the dark storm clouds and the country music land remains feel good, happy and perfect.

Florida Georgia Line win "Single Of The Year" and "Duo Of The Year"
- Fueled by frat boys and Walmart moonshine, it seems like these ultra douchenuggets can not be stopped. However, since "Cruise" is the "most successful country song ever," this was not a surprise.

Kacey Musgraves' "Follow Your Arrow" gets bleeped
-Luke Bryan can say he has "real good feel good stuff" in the back of his truck. Blake Shelton can say "Make-up sex" in "Mine Would Be You," but Kacey can't say "joint?" Puuuuhlease!

Eric Church sings his new song "The Outsiders"
-I don't care how "country" a song is as long as it's good. Rock and country are usually a great combination if it's done well. This song is just a mess. I usually like Eric, and I still do think he is one of the most unique, most promising males in mainstream country music, but this song just doesn't do it for me. It seems like he is trying way too hard to be be a rebel.

Taylor Swift wins Pinnacle Award
-This somewhat new award is given to a singer who has had more success than anyone else in country music and who is currently at the top of the mountain and can not get any more popular. The only other person who won this was Garth Brooks in 2005. Many will say that Garth is the reason country music turned into something other than the music. His stage antics and mainstream appeal led him to receive the amount of popularity he had. Unlike Taylor Swift, his music was still country for his time though. Taylor is a pop singer, no questions asked. Does she really deserve such a huge honor in country music? It's very unlikely any real deserving artist will ever win this award.

P. Diddy was a presenter
-I don't know what was worse, him being there, or me not being slightly surprised.

Kelly Clarkson was nominated for "Best Female Vocalist"
- That just goes to show how few women there are in mainstream country. There are a lot of women out there that actually make country music that deserve it. Why couldn't that nomination have gone to someone like Ashley Monroe or Kellie Pickler?

Blake Shelton wins "Album Of The Year"
-Blake's "people" sent every radio station voter a vinyl copy of his latest album Based On A True Story. The record had a smartphone scan code so you can scan it and a virtual arm would pretend to play the record so you can listen to a vinyl record from your phone. They knew the voters would be intrigued by the new product so they would have to listen to the album. When it came voting time they would remember that Blake sent them a cool vinyl and vote for him. It's been done a lot before, but how sad is it that you need gimmicks to win an award. If you were looking at album substance, concept, originality, or just good music it would be near impossible to say Blake should have won. Based On A True Story definitely is not based on a true story. He didn't write any songs and almost every single song is super pop with cliche country buzzwords. It is his worst album in my opinion. Kacey Musgraves' Same Trailer Different Park should have brought this one home.

Some singers got to sing multiple songs
-There definitely is not a shortage of good country music out there. Why did Carrie Underwood get to sing a long medley? Why did Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line each get to sing twice when Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Hank Jr. and Loretta Lynn are all here. Maybe next time bring one of them in to country up the place a little bit. Or you can use the opportunity to promote some good lesser known artists who are making good music. Really though.

The Good:

Kacey Musgraves
- Just in general, other than the bleeping out, her performance of "Follow Your Arrow" was great, we need more songs like that. The big shocker was when she beat out Florida Georgia Line for "best new artist." It was great to see her nominated 6 times, that was as many times as Taylor Swift. Even though she got snubbed in the other categories it was great to see her win one, I'll keep singing her praises because she deserves it!

Chris Stapleton sings with Luke Bryan
"Drink A Beer" shows that Luke Bryan is in fact capable of making good music. The song was written by Chris Stapleton who was also there to play guitar and sing with him in his performance. Chris has been writing songs for a long time. He was in bluegrass band The SteelDrivers for a couple years but is now signed to a major record label and has a great first single "What Are You Listening To" that is being virtually ignored by mainstream radio. This was great exposure for him.

Vince Gill & Alison Krauss sing "Red" with Taylor Swift
-I'm sure the motive behind this was to prove that Taylor still has some country credibility now that she went total pop. That fact and her horrible vocals aside, this performance was pretty cool. Vince and Alison got to sing a verse alongside mandolin god Sam Bush and other bluegrass players. If there was no Taylor this would've been even more great.

Dave Grohl and Zac Brown collaborate

-Drummer for Nirvana and the founder of The Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl proved my hatred for cross genre collaborations on the CMAs wrong. This wasn't a Ludacris and Jason Aldean type thing. Zac Brown Band debuted a new song while playing with the rock legend. Southern rock at its best. 

Kenny Rogers gets the "Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award"
-Kenny Rogers sat on stage while others sang him his songs. Jennifer Nettles, Rascal Flatts, and Darius Rucker all sang his monumental hits until he joined in for "Islands In The Stream," as did the rest of the audience. The tribute really did a great job showing songs that were milestones in his life.

Country music hall of fame inductees get honored
-Kenny Rogers, Cowboy Jack Clement, and Bobby Bare all recently got inducted into the country music hall of fame. Bobby Bare made a surprising appearance at the CMA's. He probably regretted coming a few minutes in, but hey it was cool. He was a quieter, lesser known outlaw and he deserves to be in the hall of fame. Cowboy Jack Clement passed away in August but he still got recognition. It made me happy to see that.

George Strait wins "Entertainer Of The Year"
-A 60 year old guy beating a bunch of the skinny jean boys was unlikely but George Strait took this one home. This was unquestionably the biggest shock of the night. George is about to start the next leg of his farewell tour. Since it's his last year to be nominated everyone must have agreed to send the country king off right by giving him one of country music's biggest honors. Seeing him up there was one of the greatest moments of the night.

George Strait & Alan Jackson perform a tribute to George Jones
-The best moment of the whole show was during this moving tribute to pay respect to George Jones. I was expecting a medley but a solid cover of "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by the last two pioneers in mainstream country was good enough for me. George Jones was always outspoken about the state of country music up until the day he died. He always said how it lacks heart and it just isn't country music anymore. Seeing George and Alan singing the song that defined who he was with his wife standing in the audience and the crowd singing along, it just seemed right. I think somewhere there is hope. Seeing people react so greatly made me believe that. Just two guys up on stage singing a good country song, nothing fancy just guitars and soul. Why can't it just be like that. George would have wanted it that way. I think we owe it to him.

CMA Fest: The Good And The Bad

Tonight was the annual "Country's Night To Rock" on ABC which is just footage from the CMA Fest in June. It always lives by its name too. When they say "Night To Rock" they literally mean let's try to find all the washed up rock stars we can in order to make this as "uncountry" as possible. Besides a few exceptions that was exactly what it was. Instead of giving country music a night to make country music on national television they have to make it a rock star extravaganza, to appeal to the masses probably.  In case you missed it or more likely chose not to watch here's the rundown. Oh and if any mainstream rock singers want a night to "country" let me know because I would totally be interested in watching that.


The Bad:

- Carrie Underwood opened with A Guns N Roses song
Yes, that really happened.




- "Cruise" 
was performed

- The reigning "Entertainer Of The Year" sang a rap song
It saddens me what Blake Shelton has turned into. He claims he's a huge "Traditional Country fan" yet he has no problem with ruining the genre he says he loves.

- "1994" 
was still relevant when this was shot.

- Taylor Swift sang 3 songs
Everyone claims she's "not country anymore" but "Red" sounds as "uncountry" as everything else out there.
She sang her first hit "Tim Mcgraw" to try to prove the fact that she used to be country back in the day. I mean of course she "used to be country" she name dropped Tim Mcgraw, a huge classic country singer.
Then she sang "Highway Don't Care" with you guessed it, Tim Mcgraw. Hashtag snoozefest.
Oh yeah why does she get 3 songs again?

- Lenny Kravitz 
 was there.
(They didn't show the part at the end of this clip where he flipped off the audience for not knowing his songs though. Darn)




- Kid Rock
was also there.

- Lady Antebellum
sang "Downtown." I'm guessing it was bad. I missed most of the performance because I had to explain to my Dad that this was shot 2 months ago and Hillary Scott was not "repregnant."

- Kelly Clarkson sang her new song
Apparently she thinks she's a country singer now.  

- Sheryl Crow
also thinks she's a country singer now.
She sang "Soak Up The Sun" her old pop/rock song and "Easy" her new "country" song. There was no difference in the sound, and that's a problem. Don't give me the country music is evolving crap because it isn't. It's 90's pop.

- Luke Bryan
sang twice

- Jake Owen continues to sing barefoot
He is just waiting for Kenny Chesney to retire so he can be the new king of "beach country music."

- "Pontoon" came back
That was so last year people. *Shakes head in disgust*


The Good:

-Miranda Lambert 
Was her good usual badass self.

-Kacey Musgraves
delivers the best performance of the night with "Blowin Smoke." I like that song a lot but if she releases "Silver Lining" "It Is What It Is" or "Follow Your Arrow" especially, I think she would finally get the recognition she deserves.



- Eric Church stays true to who he is
Even if who he is is an asshole.

- Little Big Town's "Your Side Of The Bed"
was good but was later ruined by the singing of "Pontoon."

- I saw a couple banjos
that's always good

- There were no actual rappers there
which was also very good, and a little surprising.

- Since this was shot before the release date, Luke Bryan didn't sing his new single "That's My Kinda Night" 
I think that was the best part of all.

Why Is Cassadee Pope In Country Music?

Reality singing competitions almost always lead to trouble.The winners of shows like The Voice and American Idol rarely are successful afterwards. That's why once they are signed to a record label it's the label's job to rush out a single for the winner while they are still relevant. If they wait too long they will be upstaged by next season's big winner and nobody will care about them anymore. With two seasons per year The Voice is realizing this now.


Cassadee Pope was the winner of  the third season of The Voice which ended in December. Her single "Wasting All These Tears" was released last month. Danielle Bradbery won the fourth season which ended in March and her single "The Heart Of Dixie" was released a few weeks ago. It seems already that the general public is paying more attention to Danielle now since Cassadee is old news. Both of them are members of some sort of branch of Big Machine Records. It's funny how quickly they released Danielle's new song and waited over 6 months to release Cassadee's. This wouldn't be as big of a deal if the two were in different genres.

Danielle was a 16 year old girl dressed in pretty little cowgirl boots and a sundress who auditioned with her idol Taylor Swift's smash "country" song "Mean." You knew right off the bat you were getting a bubblegum pop-country singer. She of course went to Team Blake. He made her sing some Carrie Underwood, and a little Sara Evans. Where they thought she really shined was when she sang what they actually referred to as "Classic Country." (AKA 90's Pam Tillis songs.) Whatever though, I get it. She's a typical teenage girl singing poppy country to appeal to other teenage girls who think they like country music. It makes me sick that that is what people my age buy into, but whatever I get why they put her in the country genre. What I don't understand is why Cassadee Pope is in there too.

Cassadee was the lead singer of pop-rock band Hey Monday. They were somewhat successful and are currently on hiatus so Cassadee could do her solo "country" thing. While on the show she sang songs by her idol Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Gavin DeGraw, and some grunge rock band. Her coach Blake Shelton suggested that she sing some country songs, she did, and it worked. The first thing that drew attention was when she sang Miranda Lambert's "Over You." It sold over 340,000 digital copies on ITunes, which is almost double what her current single has sold so far. She also covered songs by Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill and Keith Urban. It was reported that one of the lead destroyers of country music Scott Borchetta, who is the president of Big Machine records, was interested in Cassadee and they wanted her to permanently "go country." He was thrilled to find out Cassadee was on the same page because after singing all those "country" songs she felt like she really wanted to get back to her roots, the music she always loved, country music. How convenient it is today that once all these pop and rock singers careers turn to shit that's when they realize that they want to "return to their roots."

Her single "Wasting All These Tears" is mediocre at best. She has a really good voice but it isn't country at all. It sounds like a typical pop-rock song with a faint banjo in the background. Take that little banjo part out and add some other instrument it would be more than fine for pop. I think since mainstream rock is near dead she went country because it's easier than pop. That's what the country industry is today folks, a big melting pot. It's like one of those crappy dinners you have for the next few nights after Thanksgiving. Real country music is Thanksgiving, the pop stuff is the leftovers. It's similar to Thanksgiving but it just will never be as good of a meal. You have so much crap lined up in your freezer, why waste the time and money to go out and buy something new. You kind of just take all the leftovers and mash them all together hoping everyone else will deal with it. These singers singing different genres claiming it to be country are the three day old pieces of turkey. No one really wants it, but you just kinda deal with it because it's there. Everyone knows the big juicy steak at the supermarket would be a way better dinner, but no one is going to do anything about it. Some important person somewhere has to stand up. They have to tell the washed up pop stars to accept the fact that their careers are over because country isn't going to open it's doors anymore. Country is way too accepting of everything today. You can rap about trucks, whine about a high school crush, or sing about your rock-star days, because these days literally everything is considered "country" as long as you hide a faint little banjo run in your pop song. I'm telling you now there are so many good replacements out there that you don't have to settle for the leftovers anymore. Go to the store and buy that steak, you deserve it! Rant over! I'm kinda hungry...

What Happened To Country Music?

Well, I made this blog for many reasons. My main goal is to help promote real country music made by genuine country artists. Nashville got so off the beaten path that Country music's future doesn't look too bright. Right now I'm listening to the "Today's Country" station on Pandora radio to help fuel my anger with modern country music. (I told myself I would change it when I finish writing this and Florida Georgia Line just came on, so I'm gonna hurry.) Well I will begin with the fact that Blake Shelton stirred up controversy earlier this year by saying "Nobody wants to listen to their grandpa’s music. And I don’t care how many of these old farts around Nashville going, “My God, that ain’t country!” Well that’s because you don’t buy records anymore, jackass. The kids do, and they don’t want to buy the music you were buying." What he said was true for the stereotypes:  older people like older music, kids like modern music, but they aren't always true. I know of some older people who like mainstream radio. Then there are kids and teenagers who like "their grandpa's music." I'm one of them.

 It used to be cool to meet people at school who listened to country music no matter what kind because it was so rare. These days it seems like most people love country music. No wait I mean most people love "country" music. Most "country" fans these days don't know the difference. If I went up to any of these country fans at my school and asked them what their favorite Roy Acuff song was, well let's face it, they'd look at me funny. I was in my school's bathroom stall on the verge of tears when I found out on Twitter that George Jones died. I walked out to a world where girls have conversations about what they are wearing to the Luke Bryan concert in a couple of weeks. They  talk about how cute their new high heeled cowgirl boots they bought from Target will look with their tied up plaid and short shorts. (They have to look extra country because they were seeing a huge country superstar who sings super awesome country songs!) Then their boyfriends are gonna pick them up ( in their pickup trucks of course) and bring them to the concert. People like them had no idea. They had no clue that the music they claim to love just lost one of the greatest voices it had ever seen. I mean why would they care, it's just some old guy, right? Are those the "kids" you want to sell your music to Blake, really? I'm glad everyone worries about kids like them instead of kids like me.

 I guess I always just thought Country was different. I thought you had to respect those that came before you because they paved the way for today's generation. Today who cares about that, it's all about money and fame. They just ripped the roots right out of the ground. No one is lonesome, no one has regrets, no one has heartbreaks, because sad country music? That's crazy! It's all partying and drinking and having a good time out in the field behind your Grandpa's house with a couple of your buds and some hot girls in cutoff jeans sitting on the tailgate of your truck drinking some store bought moonshine in the moonlight, duh. I guess I'm an old fart for saying this but "that ain't country!" There are many people out there who are trying to preserve the greatness that country used to be. Even though it has to evolve with the times, I guess, I think this "evolution" has gone way to far. I guess right now country music is just a dying plant that got ripped out of the ground. It's so shriveled up it's hard to tell what kind of plant it is anymore, but you know what? I think there is still hope somewhere for country music. Its future relies on Underground Country, Texas/Red Dirt, Americana, Bluegrass, and all these little sub-genres of country music. Today the artists in those sub-genres make real Country music. Country music that is way "too country" for mainstream Pop-Country music. I don't think it's fair that any teenage kid making Pop music could add a faint banjo sound in the background and boom it's good country music. I also don't think it's fair that any old Rock or Pop star who wants to be relevant again can just "go country." If they are infusing Rap, R&B beats, and Pop and Rock elements, they should give real country a chance too. I mean Texas has it's own music and it's a lot more country, and people still like it! I think if they gave the lesser known artists a chance the public could start to actually enjoy real country again. I just think everyone deserves a fair shot. Of course that couldn't happen until a change is made. People are gonna get bored of the cliche "countryism" songs eventually. If enough attention is given to the roots artists then who's to say they can't be the next big "thing" in country music. I'm a teenager and I love their music. If other young people get on board it would make us "old farts" proud to call ourselves country fans again. I think these roots artists can take the seeds from the old plant and replant them and start again. They could make it grow again, and grow into something amazing. Who knows maybe some sort of modern day outlaw-esque movement could happen today like it did in the 70's. If there are enough people out there who put the music above everything else, it could be possible. In the meantime I'm gonna do my best to help promote real country music, because I do believe there is hope left and that's why I made this blog.