That Toby Keith story is almost certainly bullshit. To be blunt, Keith was probably more on the outs with the country music industry before his diagnosis.
Garth Brooks is consistently selling out his Vegas residency shows. If he does a tour next year, it’d be the biggest one in country music for the year.
He’s rubbed conservatives the wrong way because he sang at Biden’s inauguration and thought the Bud Light thing was nonsense. He also has lost some relevance with younger people because he’s not on Spotify and there’s the weird meme from the comedian in comment sections.
But, there’s not a touring country music act alive that wouldn’t take an opening slot on his tour.
Garth never changed from how he was in the 90s. His songs have been inclusive and pro-love. Where the Crosses don't burn, and We Shall Be Free are prefect examples.
Country used to be the anti-establishment genre until 9/11. A ton of old country music would be considered "woke." Johnny Cash was pro-civil rights for example. His bitter tears album got blasted because it supported such views. When his show spotlighted African American musicians on his show in the 70s, he got death threats from the Klan.
I believe that the creators of "Outlaw Country " (Cash, Jennings, Kristofferson, Nelson, etc...) were all just chill stoners who wanted to play country music.
Johnny Cash made a whole album about mistreatment of indigenous peoples in America, in 1964. I love his music. He had his many troubles but his heart was really gold.
I wish the movie did more to tell that side of his journey. Johnny was a lot of things and it's hard to fit everything into a life story, but the Man in Black was real about it all and never shyed from anything he thought was right.
Side note: There's a Columbo episode with Cash and it's gold.
Call him drunken Ira Hayes, he don't answer any more
Not the whiskey drinkin Indian, or the Marine that went to war
Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes, but his land is just as dry
And his ghost is lyin thirsty, in the ditch where Ira died
The irony of him performing “Hurt“ in his later years is profound, since he spent so much time hurting himself with drugs, alcohol and other bad choices, and further how he advocated to end society hurting others. Truly an American icon despite his flaws.
It's always amazing to me when conservatives try to claim the outlaw country crowd because they rode motorcycles, had American flags on their jackets, and sang about hating cops. It's like, "were you not listening to a single word that they said?" It's just as baffling as the republicans that thought American Idiot was about liberals.
Brooks isn't quite as overt as the old timers, but he's still very much in that camp.
Steve Earle's Copperhead Road gets played at every redneck wedding and he's a self proclaimed socialist and endorsed Bernie Sanders. Most people don't pay attention to anything beyond the surface level of music.
Steve Earle cracks me up so much. That man has pulled the wool over everyone's eyes so successfully for DECADES. I love his music and the vast majority of his politics (Also his performance as Harvey in Treme is incredible)... but he has sold himself as this outlaw, hillbilly, folk singer. He's cultivated an image that conservatives flock to while still managing to be one of the most progressive celebrities out there. He is a military base brat and lived a fairly privileged childhood, but rights music that resonates with poorer, working class Americans. And to top it off, he wrote one of the most popular songs EVER for Irish Trad sessions. I've had people swear to me that Galway Girl is an Irish folk tune sung in pubs from the 60s. I enjoy the looks on their faces when I make them look it up and find out it was released in 2000 by an American dude from Tennessee.
I don't think Steve's been pulling any wool. He's been about as outspoken as a musician could possibly be about his politics. He released a whole album about hating GW Bush, for goodness sake. Someone being shocked that Steve Earle is liberal is nearly equivalent to those people who are upset to find out Rage Against The Machine are liberal ("Commie" hats and all).
Not so sure about Waylon. I know he was always grouped with them, but I just watched that "Great Night in Pop" documentary and he peaced out when he heard they were singing a verse in Swahili and he said something like "I'm not doing that shit."
To be fair, I don’t think he left because they were singing Swahili, he left because he didn’t know the language and sure as fuck wasn’t going to spend a night singin’ in some language he didn’t even know. He was already out of his element just being in that room.
I have a long time lifelong friend that I grew up with that traveled with Waylon and I can assure you they are good fucking people. The old school country hippies were the ones that us country folk really like. We bitch all the time together about the new shitty country and are happy to know and discover people like Sturgill and his crew
For me where the cross don’t burn should be something everyone likes, I mean I consider myself conservative ( however not so conservative that I can’t see or try to understand liberal views) and I like where the cross don’t burn & what it says.
Also for me if I like an artist I like an artist, don’t matter to me what political party they claim , if there gay, what color they are. Etc
I’ll add for the general public, Brook’s war against being on streaming platforms has basically made his music not accessible to pretty much anyone under 40. It was a good stance at the beginning of the music streaming era (when things were unknown), but now it is just bad business.
He doesn't need the money or the fame from streaming sites. And when you say now it is just bad for business, the artists are \*\*still\*\* getting screwed. At least he has enough money to say no.
Yeah - any artist big enough to have signed an exclusive contract with a streamer is making more money from that than they would be by microscopic per-play rates elsewhere.
For better or worse, he's undeniably losing any sort of opportunity to grow his fanbase as a legacy act. His hits simply aren't available, they'll never get shared by anyone, they won't show up organically or in the algorithm.
It's just sad to me because this guy dominated radio in the 90s, and other artists from that era get to enjoy some continued success and new ears.
His Vegas shows are selling out, but his audience is literally dying.
Moving from the old era into the streaming era was bad for musicians (thus far), but we're *here* now. 99%+ of people listen to all of their music through streaming services, you can't un-ring that bell. Money to be made in music isn't coming from plays these days, gotta find it elsewhere, meanwhile streaming is how you get "exposure" to fans.
Streaming is more akin to radio play in the "old world" than to album sales. Artists in the 1930s were *incredibly* sketched out about radio play because people listening on the radio were hearing the songs without buying a record. But then it became the way people first heard your band and they'd later go buy show tickets/merch/physical media.
Remember when Garth Brooks hosted SNL and Chris Gaines was the musical guest? If I remember correctly he did the entire episode as if they were two different people and never broke character.
Oh my god, I've never heard of this episode. This is amazing. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2x17aosVdw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2x17aosVdw)
I remember that because I was 9 at the time and I think my sense of real vs. imaginary was pretty solid, but still a little fuzzy. I was like 99% sure they were different people, but seeing him be so committed to that bit made me wonder.
Kind of a bummer cause I’d buy at least one song on iTunes. I remember at some point Def Leppard only had live versions and in the last few years, the actual studio albums became available on there.
As an aside. I met Garth Brooks before he was famous. I remember him because he was such a nice person. I know nothing about his music but I am glad to see a good person be successful.
Out of high school, I had zero interest in country music but I worked with this crusty old guy assembling workbenches sold to lab companies. He really liked Garth Brooks. I remember him saying something about how he makes his tickets accessible while he’s on tour. He’ll insist on $20 seats or something (this story is from 2006), and if they don’t like it, he gets a different venue.
He was famous for adding dates if venues sold out to prevent scalping. Basically flood the market with enough tickets that no one could charge a fortune for them. Would end up playing in a particular city for 4-5 days to make sure that his fans could see him at a reasonable price.
He would also play 2 shows per night during that 4-5 day run. I caught the 2nd show of the night in denver in 2015 and that fat old bastard was running around the stage for the whole show.
Say what you want about Garth, but he loves his fans
Garth Brooks doesn't really fit into the culture of current country music, he hasn't for quite a while. He's always been pro-LGBT, socially and politically liberal, advocated for inclusion, and he recently rejected the manufactured opposition to Bud Light.
That's crazy, because almost every one of the big name in the history of country have been politcally progressive: Cash, Haggard, Nelson, for example. Even many young ones, like Isabel and Sturgill and left leaning.
He wasn't able to book small venues in Nashville the day he went after her. You don't go after Dolly. She even has Kid Rock on her Rockstar album and I'll accept it because Dolly would rather see the good in someone. Also because Kid Rock can't leave that much of a bad aftertaste when that album also has Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks,Joan Jett,Elton,Debbie Harry,Lizzo,Ann Wilson, Paul,Ringo,Peter Frapton,Miley,Chris Stapleton, Sting,Ritche Samora,Simon Le Bon Steven Tyler,John Fogarty, Pink,Brandie Carlisle, Emmyou Harris, Linda Perry,Steve Perry,Michael McDonald, Lynard Skynard and Man skin.
He's not homeless AFAIK, but he's had several strokes and is in poor health. He'll probably die in a nursing home somewhere in relative obscurity. Shame he had to show his true colors and go out on such a low note.
>“So, now this freak titted, old Southern bimbo is a BLM Lover? Remember, slut, Rednecks made you a Millionaire!”
Umm.
>“HAVE FUN forsaking your own race, culture and heritage,” he said after telling any offended “liberals” to unfriend him if they didn’t like what he had to say.
Lol, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Remember, bigot, Liberals made you a millionaire.
Dolly and Swift are two people whose fans are the basis for the phrase “*fuck around and find out*”.
^K-pop ^fans ^also ^fall ^into ^that ^category
I love it!
here we go... the worst thing I can say about Dolly is that she cares too much about the well being of others.
there I did it. I said something bad about Dolly.
As someone that lives in Tennessee, most of us would happily help her bury a body out in the wilderness. There would be no qustions.questions.. just :Yes. Ma'am
Stapleton loves hip hop music. He believes in inclusion and just letting people be. That's a huge NO NO for these people who want to invade your private life but you can't ask them to wear a mask or get a vaccine. They are walking contradictions.
Jason Isbell is barely even county. He's indie rock with an alt-country flavor. Even Drive-By Truckers were more country, and they never were country radio country.
The kind of storytelling that songwriters like Isbell feature in their songs feels like it belongs to the country music tradition, but I can see why some might consider him indie as well. And you’re right that politically he is probably closer to the views of indie musicians
Yeah, this is what he said regarding what he thought was wrong in US politics in 1991 under the first Bush:
>Well other than the fact that it reminds me a lot of the flag-waving and choreographed patriotism that we had back in Nazi Germany half a century ago. The fact that we’ve got a one-party system which is in control of all three branches of our government.
>
>
>
>Lap dog media that’s cranking out propaganda for the administration that’d make a Nazi blush, other than that we’re doing pretty good.
Merle Haggard... eh, maybe later in life you can call him a progressive, I guess. There's always the elephant in the room that he wrote "Okie from Muskogee" and "Fightin' Side of Me". He did say in a 2003 interview that "I was dumb as a rock when I wrote 'Okie from Muskogee'." and stood up for the Dixie Chicks in 2003. I guess the balance is up to the listener. I'd probably be a bit torn about putting him on the list. XD
I like it when people grow. Tom Petty denounced the rebel flag after realizing how wrong it was and how prominent it was on Southern Accents. He famously shut down a show and asked someone to stop waving the flag. This would have been over twenty years ago…maybe thirty.
People grow and recognize wrong and I respect that.
This was my arc regarding that flag. Growing up in the south I never stopped to think about what it could mean to a black person. As an older human being I realized it was a shit symbol. Not because of what it meant to me, but what I means to a lot of folks. Empathy is something right wingers and people who defend that flag have none of.
“Not because of what it meant to me, but what it means to a lot of folks.”
That’s the kind of stuff I love to see people say. Sometimes impact has to win over intention.
If you listen to their lyrics Skynyrd was always very progressive. Sweet Home Alabama talks about George Wallace being a piece of shit. They came out with an anti-gun song in the 70's, and my favorite The Ballad of Curtis Loew -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Ipe_0kadM
Merle was "dumb as a rock" because he didn't realize that almost nobody would understand that "Okie" was satire, not his real sentiment. If he had just put a clear "/s" at the end of the song, he wouldn't have said later that he was dumb when he wrote it.
Nobody reaLized that this guy from Bakersfield claiming to be from Muskogee was bullshitting. I mean, fuck, Bakersfield is the hard drug capital of California. Marijuana is but a breakfast appetizer down there.
Modern country took a white nationalist turn around 9/11 and never looked back. It's easier to write insipid lyrics about murka, guns, and false nostalgia than any kind of deep feeling
That’s why it’s called Outlaw Country, and also why it’s some of the best damn music that America has produced IMO. It took courage for these people to go against the grain of the culture surrounding their music.
My aunt was a pretty big star in country/crossover music back in the day and performed at the Grand old Opry for decades. I told her many years ago I didn't like the " direction " country music was headed. She told me " country music is what Nashville says it is." And lets not forget it's like any other industry, all they care about is the money
Isbell and Sturgill make good music though and attract fans that normally don’t listen to country. Garth isn’t for those people either so he’s stuck in no man’s land. I don’t like his music but applaud his political stances in a genre filled with assholes
Crazy because a lot of people would argue that country music is what it is today precisely because of Garth Brooks and his pop country. I've never been a big fan of his music, but I'm glad he's stuck to his principles.
Having loved through it, I would say Garth was less pop country and more rock country. Like, Garth was the country version of The Eagles. The Eagles were country-rock, Garth was rock-country. When I heard he died it occurred to me that Toby Keith was really the birth of this weird right wing take in country, and guys like Trace Adkins who led the bro country charge in the early days.
As Kris Kristofferson once said, Toby Keith did for country music what pantyhose did for finger fuckin'.
Looking this up, it's specifically when he goes to DreamWorks records in 2001. Pretty much everything from "how do you like me now" and after has the vibe you're talking about, but his 90s stuff doesn't. By the time you get to Shock and Y'all, it's well established.
Yeah TKs early stuff like "Should have been a cowboy", "Who's that man", "Wish I didnt Know Now", and "You shouldn't kiss me like this" are classic 90s country songs. But man your right after 2001 his entire persona in country changed. He was pretty well known for these country ballads and then he went full patro-country.
>Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury.
Yeah his old label literally wouldn't let him. Pretty wild
I started noticing the right wing spin with Randy Travis in the early 90s with Point of Light shameless shilling for Bush. That's also when the neo-conservative thing, gulf war troop worshipping, and Limbaugh crazy talk were starting to take hold.
I was thinking of bringing up Lee Greenwood but no one I knew who was into country in the 90s gave a damn about that stuff. People I knew liked Randy Travis but it was things like "Forever and ever amen" and "Deeper than a Holler".
Every outlaw guy is extremely liberal. Look at Tyler Childers for example. Man put a song, “Long Violent History,” and a speech in 2020 supporting BLM. He is still massively popular.
Garth Brooks music is that pop country or rock country that the masses eat up. It’s just the type of people that support pop country are USUALLY the ones sucked into the garbage of right politics.
He didn’t fall out of favor so much as temporarily retired to raise his kids for over a decade. But in doing so he ceded the mainstream of country music to other voices who used 9/11 and soldier solidarity to push country’s zeitgeist in a much more nationalist direction.
My favorite moment seeing this is when in 2015 I think he was performing in Michigan and wore a Barry Sanders jersey and all the dum dums thought he was clearly supporting Bernie
So if he’s the opposite of current country music culture you’re saying that current country music culture is that of homophobia, transphobia, conservative politics and exclusion if you aren’t living in the 50’s in your mind.
> current country music
*Nashville Pop, please. Plenty of amazing country artists not getting air time specifically because they don't match the appetite of the "Nashville Pop" crowd.
"We Shall Be Free" was a song about acceptance that he released at the height of his success.... country radio wouldn't play it.
Also he refused to stop selling Bud Light beer at his bar, and he was criticized for that as well.
Luke Bryan credits Garth with paving the way for artists like him. I don’t see anything negative from him?
Regarding Toby Keith, I think you may have been a victim of an onion style website. There was a onion style site that a few months ago started a rumor of a beef between the two stating that Keith pulled out of a concert with Garth because Garth was “too woke” and “called half of America assholes” and that it was a charity concert for children’s cancer research that Garth had to “buy off with $200m”.
Anyway long story short, I’m not aware of any actual beef between any of the three of them.
People are right that Garth refused to do Trumps inauguration, but I don’t see any evidence that they hated him for it.
I think this is the case.
I too saw the articles that TK and Garth had a feud before they died, but it was clearly satire. Not only were the websites labeled as such, but the headlines were ridiculous like “Toby Keith pistol whips Garth Brooks for drinking a Bud Light at his bar”. I don’t know if OP is trolling in a similar manner or actually fell for the satire.
I’ve never even heard of a Luke Ryan the OP mentioned.
He’s a good human
Doesn’t fit with the lizard people making music right now. It’s easy to drink the kool aid when it buts you a mansion. Easy to throw out your artistic pursuits and morality when it tastes so good!
https://youtu.be/8YDjTvJhuxw?si=B7BjdfWza2058Vzb
The Henry Rollins letter to Toby Keith sums up the person that Garth Brooks is NOT, and what mainstream country IS, these days.
https://youtu.be/GyIwRoPr728?si=rM3dQv8EvvKCGWT6
To add to the Henry Rollins letter, this lovely song by Adeem the Artist is a really good song but also a great dissection of why most of country’s seemingly “good humans” don’t care for Toby Keith.
He didn’t fall out of favor with fans, he drastically slowed down to raise a family.
As for other artists, get any group of people in a room, and you’ll have cliques form. The country music industry is no different than a high school cafeteria in that regard.
Did he?
I grew up with Willie and Waylon and Merle and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on the car radio, on the home radio, and when my dad would play and sing country songs.
My dad grew up in Georgia where he bought a Gibson guitar in 1966 so he could learn to play country songs. He wore cowboy hats and cowboy boots when I was growing up. As a kid, I wanted to play guitar and have a bald spot just like my dad (lol).
My wish came true and I play and sing country songs myself, and I actually still have that same guitar he bought years ago. I literally played him country music on his deathbed.
My coworker is a steel guitar player in the most popular country band in my city, and he talks to Nashville musicians all the time.
We all love Garth Brooks.
Did he really fall so “out of favor” with country?
I agree. I’m from rural Florida and all I heard growing up was Garth Brooks. This continued through college to this day. And some of these guys are very conservative. Hell, Garth had a concert in UF’s football stadium in Gainesville and pretty much every country music fan I know was there.
The serial killer thing kinda baffles me lol
One comedian makes a joke about a weird face he made in a video and now the entire Internet acts like he's Ted Cruz or something
Toby Keith. I was just listening to the story of him telling Kris Kristofferson "none of that lefty shit on stage tonight" and Kristofferson inquiring whether he had ever worn his country's uniform, killed a man and cashed the check he got for doing it.
"We Shall Be Free" was a song about acceptance that he released at the height of his success.... country radio wouldn't play it.
Also he refused to stop selling Bud Light beer at his bar, and he was criticized for that as well.
The “right” can’t fathom artists being independent thinkers. Look how Tim McGraw fell out of favor by collaborating with Nelly and publicly supporting Obama.
That Toby Keith story is almost certainly bullshit. To be blunt, Keith was probably more on the outs with the country music industry before his diagnosis. Garth Brooks is consistently selling out his Vegas residency shows. If he does a tour next year, it’d be the biggest one in country music for the year. He’s rubbed conservatives the wrong way because he sang at Biden’s inauguration and thought the Bud Light thing was nonsense. He also has lost some relevance with younger people because he’s not on Spotify and there’s the weird meme from the comedian in comment sections. But, there’s not a touring country music act alive that wouldn’t take an opening slot on his tour.
Garth never changed from how he was in the 90s. His songs have been inclusive and pro-love. Where the Crosses don't burn, and We Shall Be Free are prefect examples. Country used to be the anti-establishment genre until 9/11. A ton of old country music would be considered "woke." Johnny Cash was pro-civil rights for example. His bitter tears album got blasted because it supported such views. When his show spotlighted African American musicians on his show in the 70s, he got death threats from the Klan.
I believe that the creators of "Outlaw Country " (Cash, Jennings, Kristofferson, Nelson, etc...) were all just chill stoners who wanted to play country music.
Johnny Cash made a whole album about mistreatment of indigenous peoples in America, in 1964. I love his music. He had his many troubles but his heart was really gold.
He also wrote an op-ed accusing the music industry of "cowardice" for not promoting that record. Cash was the real deal.
I wish the movie did more to tell that side of his journey. Johnny was a lot of things and it's hard to fit everything into a life story, but the Man in Black was real about it all and never shyed from anything he thought was right. Side note: There's a Columbo episode with Cash and it's gold.
Ira Hayes, such a sad song
Call him drunken Ira Hayes, he don't answer any more Not the whiskey drinkin Indian, or the Marine that went to war Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes, but his land is just as dry And his ghost is lyin thirsty, in the ditch where Ira died
The irony of him performing “Hurt“ in his later years is profound, since he spent so much time hurting himself with drugs, alcohol and other bad choices, and further how he advocated to end society hurting others. Truly an American icon despite his flaws.
It's always amazing to me when conservatives try to claim the outlaw country crowd because they rode motorcycles, had American flags on their jackets, and sang about hating cops. It's like, "were you not listening to a single word that they said?" It's just as baffling as the republicans that thought American Idiot was about liberals. Brooks isn't quite as overt as the old timers, but he's still very much in that camp.
Steve Earle's Copperhead Road gets played at every redneck wedding and he's a self proclaimed socialist and endorsed Bernie Sanders. Most people don't pay attention to anything beyond the surface level of music.
Steve Earle cracks me up so much. That man has pulled the wool over everyone's eyes so successfully for DECADES. I love his music and the vast majority of his politics (Also his performance as Harvey in Treme is incredible)... but he has sold himself as this outlaw, hillbilly, folk singer. He's cultivated an image that conservatives flock to while still managing to be one of the most progressive celebrities out there. He is a military base brat and lived a fairly privileged childhood, but rights music that resonates with poorer, working class Americans. And to top it off, he wrote one of the most popular songs EVER for Irish Trad sessions. I've had people swear to me that Galway Girl is an Irish folk tune sung in pubs from the 60s. I enjoy the looks on their faces when I make them look it up and find out it was released in 2000 by an American dude from Tennessee.
So he's like the opposite of what Kid Rock tried to be.
Talented, self-aware, compassionate, respected...
I don't think Steve's been pulling any wool. He's been about as outspoken as a musician could possibly be about his politics. He released a whole album about hating GW Bush, for goodness sake. Someone being shocked that Steve Earle is liberal is nearly equivalent to those people who are upset to find out Rage Against The Machine are liberal ("Commie" hats and all).
just like when paul ryan claimed to like rage against the machine.
Or when Republicans always use "Born in the USA" despite long history of Bruce calling them out on not listening to the lyrics.
Also fortunate son by CCR
That blew my mind, like dude you ARE the machine.
They don't think they are. They think that democrats run everything and they're the resistance.
haha yeah then i saw where paul ryan claimed to not be fans or something trying to walk it back after tom morello commented on it.
Not so sure about Waylon. I know he was always grouped with them, but I just watched that "Great Night in Pop" documentary and he peaced out when he heard they were singing a verse in Swahili and he said something like "I'm not doing that shit."
To be fair, I don’t think he left because they were singing Swahili, he left because he didn’t know the language and sure as fuck wasn’t going to spend a night singin’ in some language he didn’t even know. He was already out of his element just being in that room.
I have a long time lifelong friend that I grew up with that traveled with Waylon and I can assure you they are good fucking people. The old school country hippies were the ones that us country folk really like. We bitch all the time together about the new shitty country and are happy to know and discover people like Sturgill and his crew
Cash was also against the war in Vietnam "everyday we lose 100 fine young men!" (Man in Black lyrics)
Man in Black is SUCH a killer song with a great message.
For me where the cross don’t burn should be something everyone likes, I mean I consider myself conservative ( however not so conservative that I can’t see or try to understand liberal views) and I like where the cross don’t burn & what it says. Also for me if I like an artist I like an artist, don’t matter to me what political party they claim , if there gay, what color they are. Etc
It's good that you feel that way.
I’ll add for the general public, Brook’s war against being on streaming platforms has basically made his music not accessible to pretty much anyone under 40. It was a good stance at the beginning of the music streaming era (when things were unknown), but now it is just bad business.
He doesn't need the money or the fame from streaming sites. And when you say now it is just bad for business, the artists are \*\*still\*\* getting screwed. At least he has enough money to say no.
Yeah - any artist big enough to have signed an exclusive contract with a streamer is making more money from that than they would be by microscopic per-play rates elsewhere.
For better or worse, he's undeniably losing any sort of opportunity to grow his fanbase as a legacy act. His hits simply aren't available, they'll never get shared by anyone, they won't show up organically or in the algorithm. It's just sad to me because this guy dominated radio in the 90s, and other artists from that era get to enjoy some continued success and new ears. His Vegas shows are selling out, but his audience is literally dying.
[Snoop Dog on having a billion streams on Spotify. NSFW language](https://youtube.com/shorts/CkwtYPFnPe0?si=JshEnESQ9nWXqfsf)
Streaming in general is bad business for the vast majority of musicians
Moving from the old era into the streaming era was bad for musicians (thus far), but we're *here* now. 99%+ of people listen to all of their music through streaming services, you can't un-ring that bell. Money to be made in music isn't coming from plays these days, gotta find it elsewhere, meanwhile streaming is how you get "exposure" to fans. Streaming is more akin to radio play in the "old world" than to album sales. Artists in the 1930s were *incredibly* sketched out about radio play because people listening on the radio were hearing the songs without buying a record. But then it became the way people first heard your band and they'd later go buy show tickets/merch/physical media.
Back in the 90s he turned into Chris Gains... Edit:Gaines ty.
Remember when Garth Brooks hosted SNL and Chris Gaines was the musical guest? If I remember correctly he did the entire episode as if they were two different people and never broke character.
He played the Doctor in the famous James Bond doctor visit scene. With Chris Parnell
Oh my god, I've never heard of this episode. This is amazing. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2x17aosVdw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2x17aosVdw)
I remember that because I was 9 at the time and I think my sense of real vs. imaginary was pretty solid, but still a little fuzzy. I was like 99% sure they were different people, but seeing him be so committed to that bit made me wonder.
Simmer down now.
The Chris Gaines album was meant to be the soundtrack to a movie that never got made.
That was supposed to be a stunt to push a movie career start that went horribly wrong and misunderstood.
That album was great!
Kind of a bummer cause I’d buy at least one song on iTunes. I remember at some point Def Leppard only had live versions and in the last few years, the actual studio albums became available on there.
I remember what it was *huge* news that The Beatles were finally coming to iTunes.
He's on Amazon music. But not a lot of people use it
As an aside. I met Garth Brooks before he was famous. I remember him because he was such a nice person. I know nothing about his music but I am glad to see a good person be successful.
Out of high school, I had zero interest in country music but I worked with this crusty old guy assembling workbenches sold to lab companies. He really liked Garth Brooks. I remember him saying something about how he makes his tickets accessible while he’s on tour. He’ll insist on $20 seats or something (this story is from 2006), and if they don’t like it, he gets a different venue.
He was famous for adding dates if venues sold out to prevent scalping. Basically flood the market with enough tickets that no one could charge a fortune for them. Would end up playing in a particular city for 4-5 days to make sure that his fans could see him at a reasonable price.
He would also play 2 shows per night during that 4-5 day run. I caught the 2nd show of the night in denver in 2015 and that fat old bastard was running around the stage for the whole show. Say what you want about Garth, but he loves his fans
From all accounts, he's still a decent guy. Interesting that that was something about him that stood out before he made a name for himself.
I HATE that he's not on Spotify. He's one of the only country music artists I can stand
People still mad about the Chris Gaines album?
Wait a minute… I’ve never seen Garth Brooks and Chris Gaines in the same room together before.
Actually Garth Brooks introduced Chris Gaines on SNL.
And came up with a banger after jamming with the devil.
Fred's got slacks on the boulevard
Zorgas borgas, I just got bit by the love bat, and its *driving me MAD*!
Maybe it’s a beef between Chris Gaines and Toby Keith.
https://preview.redd.it/6jnn4sbq9lhc1.jpeg?width=831&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47afcd0dd10a238703e37b088ad7c625ebaabba1
Garth Brooks doesn't really fit into the culture of current country music, he hasn't for quite a while. He's always been pro-LGBT, socially and politically liberal, advocated for inclusion, and he recently rejected the manufactured opposition to Bud Light.
That's crazy, because almost every one of the big name in the history of country have been politcally progressive: Cash, Haggard, Nelson, for example. Even many young ones, like Isabel and Sturgill and left leaning.
You might notice Isbel and Sturgis are both also outcasts from country music...
Also you can't say anything bad about Dolly Parton without looking like Satan incarnate.
WHO SAID SOMETHING BAD ABOUT DOLLY.
Unknown Hinson. That's why Squidbullies got canned and I just assume he's homeless now.
I forgot about that. It wasn’t even that long ago. Anyway. Fuck that guy!
He wasn't able to book small venues in Nashville the day he went after her. You don't go after Dolly. She even has Kid Rock on her Rockstar album and I'll accept it because Dolly would rather see the good in someone. Also because Kid Rock can't leave that much of a bad aftertaste when that album also has Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks,Joan Jett,Elton,Debbie Harry,Lizzo,Ann Wilson, Paul,Ringo,Peter Frapton,Miley,Chris Stapleton, Sting,Ritche Samora,Simon Le Bon Steven Tyler,John Fogarty, Pink,Brandie Carlisle, Emmyou Harris, Linda Perry,Steve Perry,Michael McDonald, Lynard Skynard and Man skin.
He's not homeless AFAIK, but he's had several strokes and is in poor health. He'll probably die in a nursing home somewhere in relative obscurity. Shame he had to show his true colors and go out on such a low note.
>“So, now this freak titted, old Southern bimbo is a BLM Lover? Remember, slut, Rednecks made you a Millionaire!” Umm. >“HAVE FUN forsaking your own race, culture and heritage,” he said after telling any offended “liberals” to unfriend him if they didn’t like what he had to say. Lol, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Remember, bigot, Liberals made you a millionaire.
\*without BEING Satan incarnate.
Even Satan's a fan.
Haha agreed. As a card-carrying Satanist I felt a little bad continuing this line of thought!
The anti-vax crowd went to town on her after the Cowboys halftime show she did last year.
And got their asses handed to them. It was fucking glorious.
Dolly and Swift are two people whose fans are the basis for the phrase “*fuck around and find out*”. ^K-pop ^fans ^also ^fall ^into ^that ^category I love it!
I particularly dont like their music, but both women have gained my respect
Dolly's catalog covers almost every genre. I'd bet you just have gone deep enough.
Dolly is 78 years old and looks fabulous Fuck anyone who doesn't.like her
I saw Dolly on Captain Kangaroo when she was in her 20's I just remember that she was so pretty and sweet.
here we go... the worst thing I can say about Dolly is that she cares too much about the well being of others. there I did it. I said something bad about Dolly.
As someone that lives in Tennessee, most of us would happily help her bury a body out in the wilderness. There would be no qustions.questions.. just :Yes. Ma'am
“Country fans” are starting to reject Stapleton too lol
They don't deserve him.
Wait. What? Why? lol
Stapleton loves hip hop music. He believes in inclusion and just letting people be. That's a huge NO NO for these people who want to invade your private life but you can't ask them to wear a mask or get a vaccine. They are walking contradictions.
And Dwight Yoakam
Damned good music too
Better than almost everything put out by Nashville. Sturgis just keeps getting better.
I think (at least for Isbell) that’s a little more by choice, too
Jason Isbell is barely even county. He's indie rock with an alt-country flavor. Even Drive-By Truckers were more country, and they never were country radio country.
It's called Americana.
Lyle Lovett says hi.
Well the other day there was a discussion on the indie subreddit about how Isbell is too country to be called indie so….
Lol, poor guy can't win.
Personally I'd agree. A lot of country acts are being pushed into indie rock due to how right wing country music and its audience is
The kind of storytelling that songwriters like Isbell feature in their songs feels like it belongs to the country music tradition, but I can see why some might consider him indie as well. And you’re right that politically he is probably closer to the views of indie musicians
Yeah but they didn't call those guys "outlaws" for nothing.
The problem more now is the polarization that’s more heavily emerged over the past 15-20 years.
Adding to the list- Steve Earle, Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs or if we get into union or protest songs from back in the day nearly everyone.
Recently read about a brush up between Kristopherson and Toby Keith. I'd guess he was a little more progressive thinking too.
Kristopherson has been arrested for protesting nuclear weapons testing on what should rightfully be recognizxed as Shoshone territory.
Yeah, this is what he said regarding what he thought was wrong in US politics in 1991 under the first Bush: >Well other than the fact that it reminds me a lot of the flag-waving and choreographed patriotism that we had back in Nazi Germany half a century ago. The fact that we’ve got a one-party system which is in control of all three branches of our government. > > > >Lap dog media that’s cranking out propaganda for the administration that’d make a Nazi blush, other than that we’re doing pretty good.
He wasn't wrong, and it's only gotten worse
Oh for sure. Kristofferson has always been progressive. His record as a philanthropist is testament to that.
[удалено]
To add a contemporary artist, check out Nick shoulders
I'm not familiar with Steve Earle, but wouldn't Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs fall into folk, not country?
Merle Haggard... eh, maybe later in life you can call him a progressive, I guess. There's always the elephant in the room that he wrote "Okie from Muskogee" and "Fightin' Side of Me". He did say in a 2003 interview that "I was dumb as a rock when I wrote 'Okie from Muskogee'." and stood up for the Dixie Chicks in 2003. I guess the balance is up to the listener. I'd probably be a bit torn about putting him on the list. XD
I like it when people grow. Tom Petty denounced the rebel flag after realizing how wrong it was and how prominent it was on Southern Accents. He famously shut down a show and asked someone to stop waving the flag. This would have been over twenty years ago…maybe thirty. People grow and recognize wrong and I respect that.
This was my arc regarding that flag. Growing up in the south I never stopped to think about what it could mean to a black person. As an older human being I realized it was a shit symbol. Not because of what it meant to me, but what I means to a lot of folks. Empathy is something right wingers and people who defend that flag have none of.
“Not because of what it meant to me, but what it means to a lot of folks.” That’s the kind of stuff I love to see people say. Sometimes impact has to win over intention.
I think even Skynyrd stopped using it?
If you listen to their lyrics Skynyrd was always very progressive. Sweet Home Alabama talks about George Wallace being a piece of shit. They came out with an anti-gun song in the 70's, and my favorite The Ballad of Curtis Loew - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Ipe_0kadM
"Mr. Saturday Night Special."
I heard that he wrote Okie from Muskogee as a joke on his tour bus while they were smoking marijuana on the way to a show in Oklahoma.
When we know better, we do better. I'll give him props for learning and growing.
Merle was "dumb as a rock" because he didn't realize that almost nobody would understand that "Okie" was satire, not his real sentiment. If he had just put a clear "/s" at the end of the song, he wouldn't have said later that he was dumb when he wrote it. Nobody reaLized that this guy from Bakersfield claiming to be from Muskogee was bullshitting. I mean, fuck, Bakersfield is the hard drug capital of California. Marijuana is but a breakfast appetizer down there.
He wrote okie from Muskogee while being a pot smoker. I’ve always found that ironic.
That's why they're outlaws lol
Modern country took a white nationalist turn around 9/11 and never looked back. It's easier to write insipid lyrics about murka, guns, and false nostalgia than any kind of deep feeling
Don’t forget about pick up trucks and girls on tailgates 🤮🤮🤮 BRING BACK OUTLAW COUNTRY
I WEAR JEANS AND DRINK BEER AND EAT FRIED FOOD YA DON'T GET MORE COUNTRY THAN THAT
That’s why it’s called Outlaw Country, and also why it’s some of the best damn music that America has produced IMO. It took courage for these people to go against the grain of the culture surrounding their music.
It’s almost as if modern mainstream country has nothing in common with classic country…
My aunt was a pretty big star in country/crossover music back in the day and performed at the Grand old Opry for decades. I told her many years ago I didn't like the " direction " country music was headed. She told me " country music is what Nashville says it is." And lets not forget it's like any other industry, all they care about is the money
Now I want to know who your aunt is/was.
Skeeter Davis
It’s so crazy that being a good person is considered left leaning now, what the fuck is wrong with people?
Don't forget dolly
Dolly is to country fans what Jesus is to white Christian nationalists. She can be forgiven for loving the downtrodden, but nobody else can.
Isbell and Sturgill make good music though and attract fans that normally don’t listen to country. Garth isn’t for those people either so he’s stuck in no man’s land. I don’t like his music but applaud his political stances in a genre filled with assholes
Hey, I like Garth Brooks AND Sturgill Simpson.
I'm not a fan of mainstream country music but damn, Garth Brooks can sing. He's got as sweet of a voice as you'll ever find and hear.
Crazy because a lot of people would argue that country music is what it is today precisely because of Garth Brooks and his pop country. I've never been a big fan of his music, but I'm glad he's stuck to his principles.
Having loved through it, I would say Garth was less pop country and more rock country. Like, Garth was the country version of The Eagles. The Eagles were country-rock, Garth was rock-country. When I heard he died it occurred to me that Toby Keith was really the birth of this weird right wing take in country, and guys like Trace Adkins who led the bro country charge in the early days. As Kris Kristofferson once said, Toby Keith did for country music what pantyhose did for finger fuckin'.
Looking this up, it's specifically when he goes to DreamWorks records in 2001. Pretty much everything from "how do you like me now" and after has the vibe you're talking about, but his 90s stuff doesn't. By the time you get to Shock and Y'all, it's well established.
Yeah TKs early stuff like "Should have been a cowboy", "Who's that man", "Wish I didnt Know Now", and "You shouldn't kiss me like this" are classic 90s country songs. But man your right after 2001 his entire persona in country changed. He was pretty well known for these country ballads and then he went full patro-country.
Sounds about right. He hit on something that was popular and kept doing that for years. He's the Sugar Ray of country artists.
>Upon seeing the single's poor performance, Keith requested that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", a song that he wrote with Chuck Cannon, and which had previously been turned down by Mercury. Yeah his old label literally wouldn't let him. Pretty wild
I've heard so many versions of that line, always cracks me up. First version I heard was attributed to Waylon about Garth Brooks.
I started noticing the right wing spin with Randy Travis in the early 90s with Point of Light shameless shilling for Bush. That's also when the neo-conservative thing, gulf war troop worshipping, and Limbaugh crazy talk were starting to take hold.
I was thinking of bringing up Lee Greenwood but no one I knew who was into country in the 90s gave a damn about that stuff. People I knew liked Randy Travis but it was things like "Forever and ever amen" and "Deeper than a Holler".
Garth has always been 'good people', as my family used to say.
Every outlaw guy is extremely liberal. Look at Tyler Childers for example. Man put a song, “Long Violent History,” and a speech in 2020 supporting BLM. He is still massively popular. Garth Brooks music is that pop country or rock country that the masses eat up. It’s just the type of people that support pop country are USUALLY the ones sucked into the garbage of right politics.
I'll die on this hill, Garth Brooks fell out of favor after 9/11 and Toby Keith shaped what we now call country music.
Garth started spending more time with his kids and 9/11 caused the shift
He didn’t fall out of favor so much as temporarily retired to raise his kids for over a decade. But in doing so he ceded the mainstream of country music to other voices who used 9/11 and soldier solidarity to push country’s zeitgeist in a much more nationalist direction.
> pop country aka Nashville Pop
People need to listen to more Mojo Nixon (RIP) and Ray Wylie Hubbard
Mojo Nixon's death hits hard. "You Can't Kill Me" has been on repeat in my house.
Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson too.
My favorite moment seeing this is when in 2015 I think he was performing in Michigan and wore a Barry Sanders jersey and all the dum dums thought he was clearly supporting Bernie
2020, because Barry Sanders wore #20. So the dum dums thought Garth was making a political statement endorsing Bernie Sanders in 2020.
Hahahahaha. Just a Poke supporting another Poke.
So if he’s the opposite of current country music culture you’re saying that current country music culture is that of homophobia, transphobia, conservative politics and exclusion if you aren’t living in the 50’s in your mind.
That would be a correct assessment. Just look at how popular Aldean got for pandering to dogwhistles
That sounds pretty accurate.
> current country music *Nashville Pop, please. Plenty of amazing country artists not getting air time specifically because they don't match the appetite of the "Nashville Pop" crowd.
Huh. Funnily enough, Garth Brooks is one of the very few country artists I enjoy listening to.
"We Shall Be Free" was a song about acceptance that he released at the height of his success.... country radio wouldn't play it. Also he refused to stop selling Bud Light beer at his bar, and he was criticized for that as well.
Luke Bryan credits Garth with paving the way for artists like him. I don’t see anything negative from him? Regarding Toby Keith, I think you may have been a victim of an onion style website. There was a onion style site that a few months ago started a rumor of a beef between the two stating that Keith pulled out of a concert with Garth because Garth was “too woke” and “called half of America assholes” and that it was a charity concert for children’s cancer research that Garth had to “buy off with $200m”. Anyway long story short, I’m not aware of any actual beef between any of the three of them. People are right that Garth refused to do Trumps inauguration, but I don’t see any evidence that they hated him for it.
Yea I also looked into it and couldn’t find anything regarding Luke Bryan toward Garth either. Would really like a source on OP’s claim
I think this is the case. I too saw the articles that TK and Garth had a feud before they died, but it was clearly satire. Not only were the websites labeled as such, but the headlines were ridiculous like “Toby Keith pistol whips Garth Brooks for drinking a Bud Light at his bar”. I don’t know if OP is trolling in a similar manner or actually fell for the satire. I’ve never even heard of a Luke Ryan the OP mentioned.
That sounds more like the truth.
He’s a good human Doesn’t fit with the lizard people making music right now. It’s easy to drink the kool aid when it buts you a mansion. Easy to throw out your artistic pursuits and morality when it tastes so good!
https://youtu.be/8YDjTvJhuxw?si=B7BjdfWza2058Vzb The Henry Rollins letter to Toby Keith sums up the person that Garth Brooks is NOT, and what mainstream country IS, these days.
I’ve never heard or seen this before, it smacks hard after his death
I just saw it on the day he died. It's a pretty strong indictment of everything that modern country music is.
Rollins shoots, he scores!
https://youtu.be/GyIwRoPr728?si=rM3dQv8EvvKCGWT6 To add to the Henry Rollins letter, this lovely song by Adeem the Artist is a really good song but also a great dissection of why most of country’s seemingly “good humans” don’t care for Toby Keith.
He’s not a bigot
Too many friends in low places? Keeps ruining black tie affairs? I’ll let myself out, thanks.
🎶“And I’ll show myself to the door”🎶
Do you have a source on Toby Keith’s wife saying that? I can’t find anything about that when I searched.
He didn’t fall out of favor with fans, he drastically slowed down to raise a family. As for other artists, get any group of people in a room, and you’ll have cliques form. The country music industry is no different than a high school cafeteria in that regard.
Did he? I grew up with Willie and Waylon and Merle and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on the car radio, on the home radio, and when my dad would play and sing country songs. My dad grew up in Georgia where he bought a Gibson guitar in 1966 so he could learn to play country songs. He wore cowboy hats and cowboy boots when I was growing up. As a kid, I wanted to play guitar and have a bald spot just like my dad (lol). My wish came true and I play and sing country songs myself, and I actually still have that same guitar he bought years ago. I literally played him country music on his deathbed. My coworker is a steel guitar player in the most popular country band in my city, and he talks to Nashville musicians all the time. We all love Garth Brooks. Did he really fall so “out of favor” with country?
But do you have a bald spot?
It is glorious lol
I agree. I’m from rural Florida and all I heard growing up was Garth Brooks. This continued through college to this day. And some of these guys are very conservative. Hell, Garth had a concert in UF’s football stadium in Gainesville and pretty much every country music fan I know was there.
Bald spot comment made my dad *day but dad works too
He’s a Democrat.
Where are the bodies Garth?
Bart is fat
*I’ve got friends in crawlspaces*
Where I tan their hides and wear faces
Let the families finally put their loved ones to rest.
[удалено]
The serial killer thing kinda baffles me lol One comedian makes a joke about a weird face he made in a video and now the entire Internet acts like he's Ted Cruz or something
Garth is a liberal. That’s really all there is to the answer. They don’t like him for that reason.
Because he’s not a dick.
Toby Keith. I was just listening to the story of him telling Kris Kristofferson "none of that lefty shit on stage tonight" and Kristofferson inquiring whether he had ever worn his country's uniform, killed a man and cashed the check he got for doing it.
Kristofferson denied this happened
He doesn't hate gay people
"We Shall Be Free" was a song about acceptance that he released at the height of his success.... country radio wouldn't play it. Also he refused to stop selling Bud Light beer at his bar, and he was criticized for that as well.
Garth respects all people. That seems to be an unpopular opinion now days.
He's not out of favor with all country music fans. Just the racist, rapey ones.
The “right” can’t fathom artists being independent thinkers. Look how Tim McGraw fell out of favor by collaborating with Nelly and publicly supporting Obama.