Two For Tuesday 12/3/13 Fighting

Since "bro country" songs are on the rise, along with trucks, beer, and girls, fighting is a big topic that is often sung by the "baddest and toughest" guys in country music to preserve their tough boy image. This Brantley Gilbert song is the epitome of his fan base, a riled up trailer park hillbilly getting ready to fight with a "city yuppie" about who's the "most countriest." Songs like these that promote useless violence are glorified in the mainstream, but a little swear word and they'll send you packing. Oh and this is not a country song, it's a rock song, sort of.



I feel like this Chris Knight song would be sung to a guy like Brantley Gilbert with his wallet chains and earrings as he tries to come across as a stone cold country boy. Now both men may be prepared to fight but instead of fighting meaninglessly they just come to terms with the fact that they hate each other and they'll end it on that, as long as the good guy gets his girl back. It's a country boy fighting song that has purpose and it's country. Look at that mainstream radio it wasn't that hard to find.

Two For Tuesday: Guns 10/1/13

Take a look at all the mainstream country songs that talk about guns. That's because they know typical conservative country fans will fight for gun rights, especially in the times we live in today. Most of the time the gun songs are all flag waving 100 percent pure American redneck songs. They really don't say much other than give people a reason to stand up and shout "Merica" real loud then shoot off a few rounds and drink a beer. On the flip side of that there are gun songs that justify their use because of the troubled society we live in.

Justin Moore- "Guns"

It's not the fact that I disagree with his views in this song, because I don't. I just think songs like this show the true ignorance of mainstream country singers and fans. He talks about how crazy it is that people want to take away guns when you can buy them at Wal-Mart. Do you really think people want to take away the cheap shotguns from Wal-Mart? Of course not, that's not the problem. There's no purpose, no solution, no answer or justification for the problem he arose. The thing with this song and others like it, is that it's only purpose is to rile up Justin's super redneck fanbase. The concert crowd will belt along to this song because guns and America, hell yeah!

Jackson Taylor & The Sinners- "Old Henry Rifle"

Instead of just blurting out cliche patriotic lines, this song actually has a point. It talks about American pride from a viewpoint of a person who is fed up with the government, society, and everything in general. It's about holding your ground and standing up for your rights and trying to keep America from heading to a complete downfall.

Two For Tuesday: Random 9/24/13

One of the hot new guys in country music is Cole Swindell, and I'm not sure why. He wrote a couple of songs for other country pop stars like Luke Bryan and Craig Campbell. His own song "Chillin It" is still climbing the charts. It is the definition of dumb cliche country pop song. We need less songwriters like Cole Swindell in country music.


This song needs no description or explanation. We need more songwriters like Chris Knight.

Two For Tuesday: Chris Young 9/17/13

It is always sad to see a great singer get trapped in the bottomless pit of death which is music row. In a way you kind of feel bad because it's probably not all the singer's fault. On the other hand if they know it's not right for them they shouldn't go through with it, many artists still do. With so many singers speaking out against what is country music today, you have to wonder how much they really enjoy the so called "new sound" they have on their new albums. Chris Young was one that always used to seem fairly Neo-Traditional. He never really had any songs that would make you feel ashamed to be a country fan, unlike some other people today. For the most part he always kept his music sounding like country music. Now his new album A.M. is a complete opposite of everything he used to be.

Now I usually hate whenever modern singers cover old songs. It's usually so clean, polished, and poppy that it just ruins the feel of what the song used to be. Chris Young did a great rendition of Waylon Jennings' "Rose In Paradise." Trying to cover a song by a legend and do it justice is a very hard thing to do. Attempting to fill Waylon's shoes is something that seems quite ridiculous. But with the help of Willie Nelson, Chris delivered a great version of this song.


That was off of his album in 2009. Fast forward to today, and that kind of country would never fly on an album from an artist of his caliber. It saddens me now to see someone who can sing great country music sing such low level pop. "Aw Naw" was released early this year, and from then on you kind of knew you lost him. Most of the songs on his new album are cliche worded, cookie cutter country pop like everyone else is doing. It really sucks to see someone with great talent be wasted just to be a puppet for Music Row.

Two For Tuesday: Just Released 9/10/13

Keith Urban's new album Fuse was released today, and it unsurprisingly lived up to that name. It "fused" together so many different musical styles there is no way of knowing that it's country. With his new success as an American Idol judge it doesn't surprise me that he released an album that would appeal to the masses. I don't care as much about what he does but he dragged in Miranda Lambert and Eric Church to do duets. The ultra pop song "We Were Us" with Miranda especially irritated me. She made great country music with the Pistol Annies as well as a lot of good stuff on her own. It really saddens me to hear her sing such low level songs like this one as well as Blake Shelton's "Boys Round Here." Miranda is currently working on her next album and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried that she'll go down a bad road and turn super pop like the rest of them. Time will tell, you can only hope for the best.



Amazing Grace a George Jones Gospel album was also released today. George was a lover of Gospel music, it brought him peace during his troubled past. Most of the album was recorded in 2002 but it finally got a release date. It might not have created as big of a buzz in the country music world as the others did today, but to those loyal George Jones fans, a new record of him singing Gospel tunes is the best thing you could have asked for unless you went up to heaven to catch him perform a live show. The thing is that good music never dies, it never expires or goes bad. Even after they pass away, the music of a true legend will always be remembered in the hearts of the fans for years to come.

Two For Tuesday: If It Ain't Broke... 9/3/13

I know mainstream singers are adding new outside influences into their music to keep it "hip" and appeal to a big audience. I don't get it though. Why are they trying to appeal to people who don't like country music by making them believe their rap or pop song is actually country? Then the new listener just goes around thinking they like country music when actually they never really heard it. This new song "Keep It Redneck" by "country" rap group The Lacs was released a few weeks ago. It isn't rap and it sure the hell isn't country. It's neither, it's insulting to both genres. 

If you actually watched that I am so sorry, I sincerely apologize, really. It's just why is that promoted on ITunes? Why is that acceptable as country music? I don't have an answer for it and it just sucks you know because there is real country music out there. Take this Honky Tonk band from Michigan, Whitey Morgan and the 78's, good, real, country music. Of course since the main fan base for modern country music is non country fans they can't get recognition. This song is not acceptable in country music today, but pseudo-redneck rap is. Like they say in this song country music isn't broke, people like them prove that it is alive and well. So stop trying to add in your hip hop beats and autotune to make it popular. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Two For Tuesday: Memory Of A Past Love 8/27/13

If you're looking for a simple sad song about getting over a memory of someone, you won't find it easily in today's country. When sad songs do come around today a lot of the time they spend so much time trying to make it catchy and radio friendly that they forget the purpose of it in the first place; to ease the pain for someone else, and the writer. Sad love songs written in big Nashville office buildings just aren't the same.


"Outta My Head" - Craig Campbell
This song tries to sound serious, yet to the casual listener who isn't paying much attention it sounds no different than the happy love songs. The chorus has so many "Yeahs" and "Girls" you probably wouldn't know the difference. This song sounds like sing-along pop, which is probably why it's big right now. I just don't get it. If you're gonna write a sad song the very least you could do is make it sound like you wrote with actual feeling. If the only reason you have a depressing song out is because you did too many happy songs in a row, just go ahead and keep making happy stuff because a sad song with no feeling is just pointless.



"Sweet Savannah" - Shooter Jennings
This song tells a story. If I was a guy who couldn't get over a long hard relationship, I would want to listen to this. You could tell that the listener would pay attention because real thought and feelings were put into here and it seems real. The first song just used a gimmicky hook to make people listen. I don't get why songs like this can't be on the radio. I can't believe a song needs to have a certain amount of happiness to be accepted as a sad song these days.

Two For Tuesday: Name Dropping Legends 8/20/13

Name dropping classic country singers in mainstream country songs is always something I hate. It's never saying what an impact the singer had on their life, it's almost always just a way to make a rhyme work, and of course to sound cool and make your music "countrier." Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of songs out there that do talk about a country legend in a way that shows the importance of them in that singer's life, usually not in mainstream though. They usually just use it to make George Strait rhyme with tailgate, or (in the case of Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem") George Jones rhyme with dirt road! Okay so if you are going to use a legend's name in a fun way how should it be done? Funny you should ask.


"Johnny Cash"- Jason Aldean
It should not be done like this. This song is about a guy who loses his job so he picks up his girl (in a sundress of course) and they go rocking down the highway listening to Johnny Cash. Okay, but why though? Is it really necessary to name drop Johnny Cash? The reason is because by saying "Johnny Cash" or any other country legend's name in a pop country song it fools the listener into thinking they are badass. No really, I think people like to hear a legends name in a song because it paints some illusion that the song has something to do with them. So they think they are cool for listening to a song about a legend. In reality it's just a way to get a good rhyme and cover up the suckiness of a stupid cliche pop country song.


"Hank William's Records"- Hellbound Glory
This song is one of the first songs that turned me onto this band. Besides the fact that this does in fact sound like a real country song, the name drop is very well done. It's about a drinking away a past love in an apartment whilst blasting some old Hank, with some very choice words to the landlord who doesn't like it. This song is fun, upbeat, and hilarious. It's what we need more of these days, just a good ole country song.

Two For Tuesday: The Devolution of Brad Paisley 8/13/13

In 2001 Brad Paisley released this song called "Too Country" with Buck Owens, George Jones, and Bill Anderson. It pretty much makes fun of the people who claim old country music is "too country."  "Is the message too real, too close to the bone? Do the fiddle and steel remind you too much of home? Is honest and true just not in demand? Too country? I don't understand."



 Mainstream country in the early 2000's was starting to get more pop influences mixed in since it was coming off of the 90's when artists like Garth Brooks and Shania Twain ruled the charts. That was the first time country music really took off. Its mainstream appeal got bigger and bigger, and country became less and less country. I wouldn't deny Brad's true love for country music. He learned guitar from his Grandpa and he grew up playing and singing old country songs. He has done a lot over the past years to prove that he is a vital contender in country music. This really sucks because up until the past few years he used to be one of the good guys. It saddens me to see him sing such low level meaningless songs like his single "Beat This Summer" for a hit. Brad, like many others are capable of doing great things with their musical talents, I don't know why they are content with wasting it. "Times are different" I suppose, this sure is a crappy "evolution."

 

Two For Tuesday: Father/Son Songs 8/6/13

A new tradition I will start will be "Two for Tuesday." One song will be good, the other one, not so much. They may be songs that have relative themes, ideas, etc. like the one this week. They may be the evolution of an artist or just random good or bad songs I want to share. A straight up comparison of two songs is one of the best ways to show how good or bad a song really is. I think it's necessary sometimes to share music that I don't feel is very good. Putting it up against a song that is good can begin to make people who don't like the direction of mainstream music aware of the fact that there are better replacements out there.



"Watching You"- Rodney Atkins
This song is about a boy eating McDonalds in the backseat of a car and learning how to say the word "shit" from his dad. Okay well it does talk about cussing, camo pants, and yes, McNuggets, but it's about a boy copying everything his dad does, good or bad because he wants to be like him. It is literally written by the viewpoint of a little kid. Some might think it's cute but I think it's tacky and cliche. What dad really wants to train their kid to be exactly like them?





"Outfit"- Drive-By Truckers
More often than not a father wants to be a good role model for his son, but his own life isn't always the best example. This song written by Jason Isbell is one of the best father/son songs you can find. It's good for guys because it's not all mushy or cutesy like the other ones, and the meaning is solid. It tells the story of a son who is probably about to leave home and start his own life and his father leaves him with a few lessons before he goes. From not doing typical girly behavior (like calling what your wearing an outfit) to telling him not to make the same mistakes he made. Most importantly he tells his son to not give up on his dreams like he did even if they seem too hard to achieve. He wants his son to live the life he never got the chance to have.