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.

Is Today's Country Music Supporting Bad Behavior?

Back in the day, when a country song referenced getting drunk, a lot of the time it was viewed as an obstacle the singer was facing. Drinking away a past love or drinking your troubles away songs looked at alcohol as a demon and was mostly listened to by adults. These days alcohol is widely celebrated throughout country music. It is viewed as a fun good time. Since the most popular age group in country music today is teenagers some may find that especially alarming.

I'm sure other music genres have their fair share of underage drinkers too, but country music is the "hip new thing" now. And I'm sure country shows from a few decades ago had their share of drinkers, but it was never this bad. Even in my own experiences with mainstream country shows I can say the audience has gotten progressively more rowdy and disgusting. With songs like Lee Brice's "Parking Lot Party" you can see that the country singers are catering to the fact that the drinking starts way before the gates even open. I went to a Justin Moore show at my county fair this year (by force) and it was unquestionably the worst concert experience I've ever had. The parking lot was full of pseudo-rednecks in their cowboy hats and boots who probably got pre-drunk then were drinking and playing party games on the tailgate of a truck. There were many fights going on with the wannabe "tough guys" who were arguing about whose "more countrier" than who probably. Then those same people went inside and either bought alcohol or sneaked in alcohol and continued their booze fest. There were people screaming, drinking, spitting tobacco, splashing beer, taking off parts of their clothes and waving them around. There were girls crowd surfing with guys spanking their ass as they came across. One guy even threw up his beer two inches away from my feet. Not to mention the fact that there were also really little kids present at the time. Oh yeah and it was at like 2 in the afternoon, not even at night. Then those people are going to attempt to drive home. It was the first time I ever left a concert early. I've been to some crazy shows, but it was never that bad. What happen to going to a concert to well I don't know, listen to music! 

I have seen a countless amount of people being arrested for drunk driving after concerts, many of them are underage. Just last week a man was killed after a Jason Aldean concert and that's not the first time I've seen it happen either. People are actually dying after concerts because of stupid people's decisions to drink and drive. Now on top of the fact that the music is bad, it's dangerous too! I know teenagers will find their way into drinking, smoking, etc. on their own or with their friends. It doesn't need to be glorified across country radio. Since country is a trend now, everyone wants to fit into the fake redneck culture they talk about in the pop country songs. Songs about drinking an ice cold beer in your truck with your girl by your side, getting into fights with some dude in the parking lot, yeah all the stuff you see at a show is in those songs. Going to a concert is the best way to show off what they learned. How about some songs about being yourself and doing your own thing, you won't see any of that on the radio. Mostly because the singers follow the latest trends just the same way the teenagers do. Don't say what they are singing about doesn't matter, because I guarantee you won't find that behavior at a Reba or Merle Haggard show today. They go to the shows of the guys like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Brantley Gilbert, etc. because they think oh that's country, we get to go dress up and party like rednecks for a night, how fun. As a teenager myself I can say I know for a fact that that is what the "country fans" at my school do. If you go to a concert for any non-musical reason, then just don't go. No one wants to deal with your drunk annoying ass the whole night, it ruins it for the people who actually came to see the show. Music should be loved by people who love music, not by idiots who want to party. The demand for party songs is high right now, so they make party songs. If mature, more genuine country songs hit the airwaves I bet the whole I want to be a drunk hillbilly culture will stop. All in all country music will have to decline in popularity for any change to take place. Once country concerts stop acting as a dumbass breeding ground I bet the singers would be able to have more creative control and the disgusting rowdy crowds will move on. What it comes down to is the fact that there are a lot of ways the younger generation can get into trouble, music in general, has to stop promoting it.

Album Review: "Crash My Party" by Luke Bryan

Well I will start by saying this wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It wasn't good by any means but if you survive the first two songs then you're set because that's as bad as it gets. After hearing his new single "That's My Kinda Night" I was expecting this to be painful to listen to, it really wasn't. I guess what I'm getting at here is the fact that this album sounds exactly like every other mainstream pop country album out there. I hated listening to it because every single song sounds the same. The instrumentation is barely country and the lyrics are just childish. That's the problem, it's just blah, pointless, meaningless music that's just wasting space. It's a shame that this album already sold half a million copies, there's no soul, no depth, it's not even fun to listen to. I hope people will start to get sick of stuff like this soon.

"That's My Kinda Night" is one of those cliche party in the pasture songs, but it is one of the most over the top ridiculous things I have ever heard. It starts off with him saying little fake rapper sounds like "Uh uh" over a hip hop beat. With lines like "Catch us up a little Catfish dinner, gonna sound like a winner winner" and "Put in my country, rock, hip-hop mixtape. Little Conway, a little T-Pain, might just make it rain" it really makes you wonder what these songwriters are on when they are writing this trash. How could anyone be okay with destroying a genre purely because they're a greedy asshole? I would be embarrassed and ashamed to have my name on something like this, I just don't get how people are okay with it. This very well could be the worst "country" song that has ever existed. 

When you look past that vile piece of garbage the rest is like I said, blah. Ultimately out of 17 tracks there are two different topics the song could be about. The first theme is the good time "country kinda crazy" (Yes a quote from one of the songs, *rolls eyes*) loving out in a field in the mud with a girl and a truck and some beers, yeah I'm sure you heard the story. "That's My Kinda Night" "Play It Again" "Out Like That" "Shut It Down" and others are all about getting frisky with some chick in a field. The other cliche theme is I was so happy with this girl during the summer. We were drunk and crazy and in love, then she left now I'm sad. "Roller Coaster" "Goodbye Girl" "Sunburnt Lips" "Better Than My Heart" "I See You" "Your Mama Should Have Named You Whiskey" are all about driving or sitting on a tractor being like aw shit I miss this girl. That is honestly what all the songs are about except two.

"Drink A Beer" is unquestionably the best song on the album. Don't let the name fool you because it isn't a dumb getting drunk in a truck song, it's actually a song about someone who died too young. It's a little cliche the whole good ole boy didn't deserve to go so soon but God's got a plan for us both deal. I've heard it a bunch of times but that's okay. It's acoustic with get this, a steel guitar! (Holy shit I know) It really isn't that bad, I wouldn't mind listening to it. It just shows he is capable of putting out decent music. On the flip side of that the other different song is called "Blood Brothers." Of course it's a song about a group of guy friends who would do anything for each other. They do typical "bad boy" stuff like smoke, drink, and drive big trucks. It's a song that's not even worth mentioning until the line "It was one for all and all for one, a bunch of outlaws without a gun." The fake outlaw shit has to stop, it has to die a long painful death because I'm sick of it. I know all the mainstream singers think they are changing what outlaw means. They try to tell you they aren't talking about the "Waylon kind of outlaw" they mean the "bad boy outlaw." I'm sorry but there's no way around it, in country music "outlaw" means one thing, and one thing only. It doesn't mean rowdy asshole, it means someone who works their ass off to make the music they believe in, well knowing that they may never get anywhere with it because it doesn't follow "the rules" or the latest "musical trends." What it comes down to is it's just downright disrespectful to the actual outlaws who paved the way for country music today. All these singers like Justin Moore, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, and such try to "rebrand" what outlaw means but even if they are talking about the "bad boy outlaw" these pretty boys in skinny jeans sure ain't no outlaws, and all their dumb fans are like "we like beer and trucks and boobs yay were outlaws!" No, you're not. You're not outlaws, just douchebags. 

Now we have to look a little deeper at the songwriting on this album. I mean a drunk 5 year old could have written more mature sounding songs, seriously! Some of these lines are just atrocious. "I wanna feel your heart go tick tock, while the rain from your hair goes drip drop." "If you want to know the real me, just turn the page in my dirt road diary." Or my personal favorite from a song titled "Beer In The Headlights" I thought the line was "You got the beautiful, I got the coolifull." I couldn't believe anyone could have written something so dumb so I listened to it again and the line is "cooler full" not "cooliful" which is a little better but still ridiculous. Besides the fact that all the songs are about the same thing, they all sound the same too. The melodies and instrumentation are all very similar. Some have hip hop/R&B beats, some actually do have prominent steel guitar and banjo parts so that shows some country effort. Overall they all sound like bad non creative pop songs about beer and girls. I'll admit some of his songs aren't as bad as others but they aren't anything special. If he wasn't a hot guy with a nice ass no one would care about him. That goes for a lot of the pretty boys in country music. That's all it is, a big modeling show. You can make completely unoriginal music that people will forget in a couple months, but as long as you're hot, you're in! Meanwhile the people making timeless music from their heart don't receive any attention because they aren't pretty enough and they don't sing about trucks. That's the way the world works folks!

Cliche Countryisms Count:

Truck: 8

Beer: 19

Tractor: 3

Tanline: 4

Tailgate: 3

Dirt Road: 7

Semi-decent Songs:  "Drink A Beer" "Crash My Party"

Rating: F+

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.

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.