This Fourth of July I was very pleased that many of the main music TV networks were doing a 12 hour musical independence day from 6AM-6PM. MTV, VH1, and CMT all gave independent label musicians a chance to share their music with the world, although it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. I thought it would be all indie artists but that wasn't the case. There were about 5 mainstream videos for every 1 indie video. In a way it was cool to see both kinds of artists side by side, but for calling it "Musical Independence Day" it definitely lacked Independent music. I wasn't even aware of it until the night before. I think with better promotion from all of the networks they can make this a real full blown annual deal. I think it is a great way to showcase artists who originally wouldn't receive any airplay at all. Little steps like an annual Independent music day on major networks are little rays of hope for the future of all music in general. Big major networks like those rarely play music anymore let alone Indie music. In a world where "Music Television" plays shows about teenage pregnancy and "Country Music Television" plays shows about vacationing rednecks "Musical Independence Day" shows they actually care a little about quality of their music instead of the size of their wallets. CMT also has another website called CMT Edge for Americana, Bluegrass, and other real country music. Maybe some day the music they talk about on there can make it's way into the mainstream network. I do watch videos on CMT and GAC time to time and sometimes they do throw in some of the good stuff. If they can continue to do things like that a little more maybe soon the public can catch on and start enjoying some great music by amazing artists who deserve a chance like everybody else.
The main reason I knew the Indie day existed was because one of my new favorite singers Sturgill Simpson announced that his video for his song "Railroad of Sin" would air around 6:30 AM. I was flipping out because I thought CMT was actually picking it up. Turned out it was just for Indie day but it was cool nonetheless. Even though I already saw the video online, I'll admit to the fact that I camped out in my living room and stayed up all night until the 2 minute piece of pure country heaven graced my television screen. (I'm a total fangirl for that kind of stuff okay) I rewound it probably about 10 times as I sat in awe. I was witnessing Country Music Television playing real and I mean
real country music, it was crazy! There are literally no words to describe the amazing, genuine hard country twang in his music. A modern day Waylon is about as good of a description as I could give you. Watch for yourself.
Another great song I came across was called "Stripes" by Brandy Clark. I already heard her music but I didn't know it at the time. She co-wrote "Better Dig Two" for The Band Perry and "Mama's Broken Heart" for Miranda Lambert. She also co-wrote some of my favorite songs off of Kacey Musgraves's album
Same Trailer Different Park including "Follow Your Arrow" and "It Is What It Is." Her song "Stripes" is a woman getting revenge song, well almost. It is similar to Miranda Lambert's song "Kerosene" but it has a very different ending. Songs like this prove that you can have a fun, upbeat, catchy song that does have a meaning, is still country, isn't stupid, and doesn't make me want to jab my eardrums out with a fork.
Another good song I discovered was "Not the One" by the young country duo Striking Matches. They aren't super country, but I'd prefer them to most things on country radio these days. This song shows off their nice vocals with only two acoustic guitars to back them up. They tell a pretty believable story with this simple "love done gone" song.
I'm sure you've heard the song in the Chevy Silverado commercial sometime this year. "Strong" was sung and written by Will Hoge. After the nationwide publicity of that song he is finally getting the recognition he deserves. His most recent album Never Give In was released this month. He is nine studio albums in and just got his first number one hit ("Even If It Breaks Your Heart" recorded by The Eli Young Band) after 15 years in the business. It just goes to show that if you're determined and you stick with it, you never know what can happen. What happened here is great music that is starting to turn some heads around.
After writing for credible country artists today like Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert, Brandy Clark just released her first album 12 Stories last week. If you like Kacey you will love Brandy Clark. Stylistically, their songwriting is quite similar. The topics tend to lean on the darker side, middle class life, small town lies, addiction, and a whole lot of truth. We need powerful women like her to teach a thing or two to these guys who rule the country charts. 
genre lines and does so greatly. This album Stay Reckless is not your typical americana album, even though he is often put into there. It's sad when you need it to be, happy when you want it to be, it's heartbreaking and uplifting, it's country and rock and roll. It's a lot of things and that's why I like it.
