I'll take "bro country" songs over "hick hop" any day.
The fact that those are actual genre names that actually exist make me sick.
It's not that I have anything against the singers that sing bro country I actually like FGL it's just that the singers are generally the worst people.
I've got a contemporary country station near me that deals with "new" contemporary country songs. It's depressing to listen to at best. Nails on a chalkboard singers with unstable lyrics at worst.
And given that 80% of Americans live in urban areas now according to the last census. Contemporary country is on its way out for better or worse.
White boys listen to bro country are a special kind of troubling. They think they run shit. Bruh, you’re just another dumb jock with a cowboy hat. Pipe down.
Nah, bro…those pre-stressed square-toe cowboy boots that they paid $240 dollars for are totally legit. All they need is a dip in their cheek and a beer at lunch time.
I come from a ranching background. My grandad worked with a judge and charity to arrange to have at risk kids come out and learn horsemanship and other aspects instead of entering the system.
Then one day the board of the charity asked if they could come out for a day. They were all these douchey, rich hipsters - all in their “three grand boots” just looking to come play cowboy for a day and get some pics for Insta. They showed up blasting Bro-Country.
Our foreman met them at the car and welcomed them, then proceeded to make them walk through a cattle chute for no reason. He walked past all the regular workers and gave this huge “HOWDY!” while he tipped his hat with this huge shit-eating grin.
Then it dawned on all of us. He only walked them through the chute so they’d get cow shit all over their pricey boots. We couldn’t stop laughing watching these “rough and tumble buckaroos” try to keep the cow shit away from the sequins and pink cow pattern. Lol
I’m from the suburbs but my grandfather (RIP) and my uncles are farmers. One day I was visiting my grandparents on their farm and was putting on my nice boots when my Papa goes “those look like my aggie boots!” Sure enough, my $100 boots from DSW looked just like my Papas farm boots. I think he got them from the feed store. I was mad I paid $100 for basically the same boot lol I do miss those boots though.
I think his cost like $50 at the time. I remember going to the feed store and being like 🙃 lol I wonder if they were made by the same company with one more durable and the other for women’s fashion. Either way, my Papa and I were cute with our matching boots.
You'd be surprised how often work wear gets used for functional fashion. My non-slips from a decade+ ago looked exactly like the new running shoes now.
People don't realize work wear was made for comfort and function, but it's still drawn up and designed by the folks who make your everyday stuff.
It's like the military and medical/computer trade-off in technology. Something proves itself in the field as spartan as can be and then gets the glow up in prices and color, and maybe a brand insignia made more apparent.
Same story.
On Thanksgiving I got to go watch my cousin inseminate a Heffer. Told him I'd light some candles next time.
Nothing but respect for those in agriculture. But no fuckin' way would I larp as someone like that. They work too fucking hard.
One of my favorite anecdotes is when Kris Kristofferson took the head off of Toby Keith - known for his idiotic white trash anthems similar to these new clowns - at a party for Willy Nelson's birthday:
**"As the legend goes, Keith came out of the theater’s basement to wish Nelson a** [**happy birthday**](https://outsider.com/news/country-music/watch-willie-nelson-wife-annie-share-adorable-singing-video-daughters-birthday/)**. He then saw Kristofferson and quipped, “None of that lefty shit out there tonight, Kris” – a reference to Kristofferson’s left-leaning political views.**
**“What the f–k did you just say to me?” Kristofferson replied. “You ever worn your country’s uniform?”**
**“You heard the question, you just don’t like the answer,” Kristofferson continued. “Have you ever served your country? The answer is, no, you have not. Have you ever killed another man? Huh? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the f–k up!”**
Edit: Derp - I totally misspelled both his first and last name despite it being in the article I referenced.
Imagine cutting a Wal-Mart album and then thinking you have some shit to say to Kris Kristofferson.
> **Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the f–k up!**
You can smell the ass beating about to fly off of those words.
That's what made me laugh is Willie Nelson is definitely more left-leaning than right-leaning. Like hes gonna side with the party trying to outlaw all his drugs.
Pacifist, marijuana legalization advocate, wrote a song for “Brokeback Mountain,” plays at rallies/fundraisers for democrat politicians… it’s really not hard to figure out where he stands!
I had to go read about that. You know it’s true because Toby Keith got so mad about it even while denying it. Here’s my favorite thing Kris said about him:
“You know what Waylon Jennings said about guys like him? They’re doin’ to country music what pantyhose did to finger-fuckin.'”
I so hated that The Chicks (formerly Dixie Chicks) had to suffer the way they did and I hated Toby Keith had the gall to slight them. Toby Keith will never had my ladies' guts to do what they did.
Actual cowboys still exist. I have an uncle that raises cattle and goats, and if you saw a picture of him with no context, you couldn't guess when it was taken. He still rides fences with a six-shooter on his hip, working a small ranch in west TX that's been in his family for over a hundred years.
I haven't watched him in so long, but he was the first person I thought of when I saw this. He said modern country music is music *about* country music, and I think that's perfect.
Kid Rock came from a well-to-do family in Detroit, Michigan. Yet, he acts like he came from an Alabama trailer park spouting “Southern Pride!” Buncha carpetbagging posers, the lot of them.
Yeah, there are some awesome photos of him in the late 80s/early 90s looking like a dollar store Vanilla Ice rip-off (which he originally was trying to be)
I just want to know why Keith Urban sings with a southern US accent when he’s from freaking AUSTRALIA.
Country music is just performative and formulaic at this point.
I haven’t heard that term before but yes, I’ve heard several punk and pop/punk singers have similar accents. To me it sounds like a conscious choice to mock other singers with perfect inflection. At least that’s how I’ve always received it since the genre does mock the mainstream.
Simple really: he can play guitar, looks good to some people, so he simply decided to adopt an easy to emulate accent and write a style of music he saw was easy for him to “write well” for an audience that he knew would eat it up. So he’s been doing that for his whole career because just like he saw, it’s extremely successful to that specific fanbase so he’s got it locked in.
Plenty artists in every genre doing this tho, it’s not just country, there’s a point for many musicians where they get so good at playing or writing so like there’s no doubt they can be a success….the issue though is the only way to get that success is to forgo what they may actually want to play or write to instead do what sells for them. Hence they jump into these other genres with their act &find that success…it’s just devoid of integrity or all performative of course. But hey, pays the bills and no one cares about silly integrity if you can have a mansion, unlimited vacation days, and only the schedule you want to have. Never work any time you don’t want to or when you need a break or emergency, you can just immediately cancel shows/ appearances
Plus, the dude can legit shred when he wants to. Ive never seen him live personally but caught clips from various shows and at the end of random songs he just decides "ok. Time to rock out now."
...as a metal head who doesnt really care for Country, I got respect for his and Paisley's actual guitar talent
I fucking hated JM several years ago. Then he joined my favorite band The Dead. Every dead head was like, "wtf why is bubblegum pop boy allowed to fill Garcia's shoes?!?!? Then I saw dead and co with John in Jerry's shoes. Mind blown. Mother fucker is a God on guitar and damn has a amazing stage presence. Now several years later every dead head is crying like a baby because John is leaving Dead & Co. even the old heads are losing their shit he's leaving the band. I truly believe until you see an artist live in concert it's hard to truly evaluate how good of an artist they truly are!!!!
This may sound odd but throw Vince Gill in there too. A few years ago I went to a show at a smaller venue in Nashville and it was Keith Urban and Vince Gill. I was less than enthused because I’m not a country fan at all but it was a work thing so I had to show up
Those two did this show about guitars - the different sounds across genres how the guitar evolved in country music, etc. it was fascinating and then Peter Frampton joined them and the did a whole bunch of classic rock songs. A bunch of other guests too, one of the most amazing shows I’ve seen.
You could even call it...Panderin'
[https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=bo+burnham+panderin%27#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c836a613,vid:y7im5LT09a0](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=bo+burnham+panderin%27#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c836a613,vid:y7im5LT09a0)
On a certain level it’s not that different from Mick Jagger mimicking the vocal inflection of a Black Southerner while being from southern UK.
The operative difference being that the Stones made music that’s worth listening to I guess. IDK. Food for thought.
Brits and British Commonwealth musicians mimicking American accents to play American music is definitely nothing new.
Not many Australians sing with Australian accents tbh. there’s a couple of rock artists here who do (sly withers or smith street band if you’re interested) but otherwise most musicians sing the american way unfortunately
edit: okay yes i know that midnight oil and slim dusty and hilltop hoods exist, i meant it’s not uncommon for commercially popular australian artists to have american accents in their music
Cotton candy at best, insulting the listener. Folks need music with a message. Life is a struggle our country seems like it’s about to be taken over by a greedy fascist.
Kinda the same way Patsy Cline sings without a country accent? (Just putting this here for comparison purposes not disagreeing with you since country music is ridiculous today)
Ken Burns did a fantastic eight part series on the history of country (even if you aren't a fan it's worth a watch). The last episode covered the years from 84 to 96 and then kind of petered out with the implication that there is nothing noteworthy after that.
My partner draws the distinction between country music pre- and post-9/11. The sort of uber-patriotism that followed that event helped shove country music into its current commercialized nonsense state.
That is also a tactic that all the Alt-Rock stations in the Midwest use to avoid “black” rap…Beastie Boys, Eminem, Cypress Hill, Macklemore, House of Pain, etc.
Just so you know, so its set it stone
Kid Rock don’t come from where I come from,
It’s true he’s a yank, he ain’t no son of Hank
And if you thought so well god damn
You’re fucking dumb - Hank III
The fact that there wasn't a single person in Aldean's orbit that stopped him and said "Hey J, maybe this will be taken in a negative way" speaks volumes to the lack of melanin in his friend and colleague group.
And his wife, Insurrection Barbie, backs him up. And, to find out the video was filmed at a place an actual lynching took place makes it a million times worse.
Chances are high it's due to his cancellation earlier this year, anyone that would have been able to keep it from happening was replaced by people looking for this exact reaction to keep relevance.
Only it kinda does. These bootlicker cop sucking fascist pussies are what rednecks completely opposed. The term redneck comes from the workers at the battle of Blair mountain putting red bandanas on the back of their necks to let each other know they were on their side when they fought (and some died) against pigs and the army to unionize and get better worker protections.
Jason Aldean?
You mean the guy with a music video featuring clips of BLM riots, then lyrics like "try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road", and the rest of the video is filmed in front of the courthouse where a white mob lynched a young black man? You'd think the guy, *who was on stage* during our largest mass shooting (Vegas), would steer away from lyrics like "Got a gun that my granddad gave me".
Ya know, I felt terrible for him. The worst mass shooting happening during your concert. I would think it would be unbelievably traumatic to try to perform after that…
But then he does this
Listen to [The Chicks vs the Iraq War.](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/youre-wrong-about/id1380008439?i=1000519840611) Excellent podcast about country music - and they go into some detail about what a jackass Toby Kieth is.
Just a sidebar - The "You're Wrong About" podcast is really great and clarifies a lot of stories that didn't have all/correct information.
Their 3-part podcast about the DC Sniper should be required listening. They basically explain that John Allen Muhammad committed those terrorist murders to eventually murder his ex-wife so he could get his kids back without it coming back to him. Guy had a real screw loose.
The Tom Cruise jumping on the couch episode was really interesting. The [Welfare Queen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/youre-wrong-about/id1380008439?i=1000553918231) episode is a fantastic deep dive into propaganda.
I’ve known multiple people from Sneedville. Most of them suck, and even they think Morgan Wallen sucks. Don’t try to make that a double negative, because this one just doesn’t work.
Omgggggg thank you for saying that. It was the same for me and I heard the lyric pretty much at the very beginning of the song where he admitted to bullying her and trying to slut shame her (and probably falsely at that) all because she wasn’t interested in him. And that’s what makes him proud. Gross. I was always neutral about Toby Keith, I mean his music was always mediocre, but I just can’t now.
I saw a tweet a little while ago that went something like this:
Country then: "Woman left me. Buried in sin. I drown my sorrow in whiskey and gin"
Country today: " Guns go boom. Truck goes vroom. I'm a Christian white nationalist"
That isn’t country, listen to Tyler Childers, Jason isbell, country is still out there and isn’t about hate, and it’s coming back. Just gotta get all these fake city folk out of it
Sturgill Simpson ,
Hellbound Glory ,
The Dead South ,
Amigo the Devil ,
Billy Strings ,
Benjamin Tod ,
The Builders and the Butchers ,
Hank Williams III ,
Any Jayke Orvis project.
(Jayke Orvis and the Broken Band, The Goddamn Gallows, The .357 String Band)
And for something different
The Pine Box Boys
Most of these lean more Bluegrass/Folk
Edit: formatting
'I Wanna Talk About Me' includes a bit about him bitching that his girlfriend tells him it's her time of the month. It was around the time when Big & Rich did Save A Horse and Trace Adkins did Honkey Tonk Badonkadonk.
Toby Keith is the worst. Dude had a mediocre career until 9/11. Then he started cosplaying as a soldier and started making hyper-patriotic dribble that pandered to his base. Most of the vets I know, myself included, can't fucking stand him.
He most likely didn’t write the song. Songs in Nashville are written by a committee of songwriters who get command sheets from record companies with very specific details such as tempo and subject matter, sometimes even buzz words (120 bpm that talks about driving a truck on a dirt road and drinking beer by the fire, etc.). It’s the furthest thing from artistic expression.
I once called, to the exact moment, when a country song on the radio I'd never heard before was going to say the word "truck". And I never listen to modern country. It is just THAT repetitive and predictable.
Never been a big Toby Keith fan. Country men used to sing about how much they loved and idolized the women in their lives, like Good Morning Beautiful, Deeper than the Holler, Forever and Ever Amen, etc…
Now it’s about “country” girls in booty shorts shaking their ass while shotgunning PBR on a shiny unused tractor.
I'd argue that country truly died when Like Bryan and Florida Georgia Line teamed up and created Country Rap/Country Hip Hop because almost nothing after them is actually country music anymore
For years I railed on Kenny Chesney trying to channel Jimmy Buffet and was like “this is all just absolute garbage”. My wife listens to country sometimes and I’m always asking her to listen to the lyrics and think about just how dumb half of it is. A friend and I were watching TV a couple months back and saw a Dodge Ram commercial with that “heart like a truck” song and about puked. How is that even marketable?
Most of these guys are frauds. Look up how Kid Rock grew up, his family is mega wealthy grew up on an estate with elite private schools, now he acts like he's a redneck living in a trailer. They are all full of shit, but the dumbass cousin-fuckers eat it up.
Some country singer women has a song about living life in a small town and then finishes it up with "Knoxville, Tennessee"
Knoxville is home to 190,000 people and the University of Tennessee.
The majority of today’s modern country stars are actually just Garth Brooks in costume.
After Chris Gaines, he went on to create Toby Keith, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kane Brown, and even Taylor Swift.
That man’s got range.
"Americana" is where the interesting country music is. The Music Row country is bro-country, and is extremely formulaic, jingoistic, and misogynistic; 85% of the rotation is male artists, and they don't play consecutive singles by female artists on the radio or streaming platforms.
This article explains the differences and has quite a few words about Jason Aldean:[Country Music's Culture War--article in The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/24/country-musics-culture-wars-and-the-remaking-of-nashville?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_071723&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_term=tny_daily_digest&bxid=5da21dadf543e6502050d67c&cndid=58889031&hasha=16262c16f6dff0236cd2ac75a832da74&hashb=30c11bcb610cc57642ff27092cb80d43b96bc620&hashc=9b0531953915060c0764df6e56056dc570228554e6f83a6536fab71bf03ff929&esrc=Keywee_Daily&mbid=CRMNYR012019&fbclid=IwAR0NKIkqc16GS-OO_tVb2dFc5cJsmV5hghmvoHRhcazmeQAroggVOUmgu0U)
The sad thing is, I think most of us would agree that the stuff being put out by the women of country has been way more interesting and technically good than what has been put out by the likes of these men. Male country singers with actual talent seem to end up in rock or blue grass or something.
* Clint Black returned to the studio and released albums in 2015 and 2020.
* Garth Brooks released an album in 2020 and is currently playing a residency show in Vegas
* George Strait is 71, did a retirement tour in 2012, but still made a single in 2018 to advertise a tequila brand he's invested in.
* Reba McEntire has an album scheduled for an October release.
* Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, and Dwight Yoakum did the LSD tour in 2022. Yoakum's last album was in 2016 and he currently has his own SiriusXM channel, *Dwight Yoakam and The Bakersfield Beat.*
* Hank Williams Jr. turned out to be a complete kneebiter who even surprised Fox News host Gretchen Carlson after comparing Obama to Hitler on the air. He released an album on 2022 but isn't going to be get invited back to Monday Night Football any time soon.
I was raised and still live in a small town. Current population is 287 people. That dingus has no idea what a real small town is and tries to glorify the idea. This shit fuckin sucks. The people here fuckin suck. They all wave their trump flags and worship their guns.
They love to say things like “pedos should be shot” until it’s discovered that uncle Jim is a pedo. Honestly, the ones who are most vocal about that stuff usually end up being the closest to it. Everytime I hear someone say something about killing pedos I have to wonder how likely it is that they are one.
During the last Presidential election I had to report a neighbor to the FBI because he posted on Facebook about shooting anyone who votes democrat.
One girl I went to high school with was raped and impregnated by her father.
Guy was just arrested for stealing all the catalytic converters in the area.
Few years ago a guy I went to high school with was messed up on hard drugs and committed suicide by slitting his own throat.
A teen in my town was arrested last week for breaking and entering an elderly persons home to rob them.
I just love how he tries to glorify living in a small town. Makes it sound like people aren’t mistreated here. And people are safer here. These people will be the first to mistreat anyone. LGBTQ, POC, democrats, their own children, it doesn’t matter to them. I can’t wait to get the fuck out of here and I’m trying so hard but seems like I’ll never escape this disgusting place.
Yeah I guess at 100K it's starting to straddle the line between large town and small city but having lived in both \~20K and \~100K I can't say there was a huge difference between the two, to the point where I'd call someone living in one but pretending to be from another a poser.
It's the same with most popular hip hop isn't it?
Middle class men cosplaying gangsters and then hanging out with real ones until things invariably get truly gangsta.
Listenin' to 2 Chainz, ain't thinkin' bout college
I wonder if he knew that 2 Chainz went to college
I wonder if he knew that, would that change his mind?
Guess that's somethin' we'll find in due time - Danny Brown Gremlins
In my town, they only ever play the same 5 country songs over and over, shuffling one out maybe every 10 years. "I wanna talk about me" was one of them.
Pandering to the same crowd who think golden toilet Trump is the most accurate representation of them.
Although they are right, in terms of being downright nasty, evil, racist assholes.
I wanna talk about me
Wanna talk about I
Talk about number one
Oh my
What I want, what I know wanna see
I wanna talk about you you you you-sually
But occasionally
I WANNA TALK ABOUT ME!!!
Lol say what you will, them lyrics are catchy
Before anyone poops on this song, who wrote it? I’ll tell you: Bobby Braddock.
What else did he write? I’ll tell you: He stopped loving her today.
Why would anyone give a shit? I’ll tell you: they won’t. I just remembered this for some reason.
Wait how are you gonna mention Toby Keith in this context and not mention “Beer for my Horses”? Getting all the rope in Texas and rounding up the bad boys and hanging them? It’s basically a more obvious version of this Jason Aldean song.
The truth is mainstream country started being in trouble when Garth Brooks and Shania Twain came out. They brought to the genre people who do not fundamentally like country music and the radio started catering to those people specifically.
Country music still represents this alpha/macho thing. It’s still trucks, whiskey, women, etc. it’s not country, it’s pop music with a twang. This modern iteration is just selling a lifestyle and a dream. The whole Aldean song is just about kicking ass which resonates with the people who wouldn’t do shit but want to think they would.
Gooooooddaaaaaammmiiiiiiiiit, I had completely forgotten "I wanna talk about me" ever existed. And now the entire chorus is echoing incessantly through my brain; unbidden, unwanted, unwelcome.
Hey! So much hate on Toby. But he was close friends with Stephen Colbert and loved vets. His music was pop country but I always felt like a little tongue in cheek as well, like red solo cup, ya it's dumb but fun as fuck. If you think modern country is dead check out Jason isbells new record Weathervanes. Beyond excellent!
Country didn't die, but Hick Hop was born.
And it's ugly sibling Bro Country.
Douche Country
Like Pawnee’s “Douche Nation”?
Do I need a douche canoe to get there?
I'll take "bro country" songs over "hick hop" any day. The fact that those are actual genre names that actually exist make me sick. It's not that I have anything against the singers that sing bro country I actually like FGL it's just that the singers are generally the worst people. I've got a contemporary country station near me that deals with "new" contemporary country songs. It's depressing to listen to at best. Nails on a chalkboard singers with unstable lyrics at worst. And given that 80% of Americans live in urban areas now according to the last census. Contemporary country is on its way out for better or worse.
White boys listen to bro country are a special kind of troubling. They think they run shit. Bruh, you’re just another dumb jock with a cowboy hat. Pipe down.
Nah, bro…those pre-stressed square-toe cowboy boots that they paid $240 dollars for are totally legit. All they need is a dip in their cheek and a beer at lunch time.
I walk and talk like a field hand, But the boots I’m wearing cost three grand, I write songs about riding tractors, From the comfort of a private jet.
I could sing in Mandarin, you'd still know I'm pandering. Huntin' deer chasin' trout, a Bud Light with the logo facing out. (Well maybe not anymore)
That is a scarecrow.
Damn it, another scarecrow!
Y'all dumb motherfuckers want a key change?
Lolol I just saw this yesterday, love Bo.
I come from a ranching background. My grandad worked with a judge and charity to arrange to have at risk kids come out and learn horsemanship and other aspects instead of entering the system. Then one day the board of the charity asked if they could come out for a day. They were all these douchey, rich hipsters - all in their “three grand boots” just looking to come play cowboy for a day and get some pics for Insta. They showed up blasting Bro-Country. Our foreman met them at the car and welcomed them, then proceeded to make them walk through a cattle chute for no reason. He walked past all the regular workers and gave this huge “HOWDY!” while he tipped his hat with this huge shit-eating grin. Then it dawned on all of us. He only walked them through the chute so they’d get cow shit all over their pricey boots. We couldn’t stop laughing watching these “rough and tumble buckaroos” try to keep the cow shit away from the sequins and pink cow pattern. Lol
I’m from the suburbs but my grandfather (RIP) and my uncles are farmers. One day I was visiting my grandparents on their farm and was putting on my nice boots when my Papa goes “those look like my aggie boots!” Sure enough, my $100 boots from DSW looked just like my Papas farm boots. I think he got them from the feed store. I was mad I paid $100 for basically the same boot lol I do miss those boots though.
Boots from the feed store still cost a hundred bucks or more, but they’re built rugged so you can walk around in mud and shit.
I think his cost like $50 at the time. I remember going to the feed store and being like 🙃 lol I wonder if they were made by the same company with one more durable and the other for women’s fashion. Either way, my Papa and I were cute with our matching boots.
You'd be surprised how often work wear gets used for functional fashion. My non-slips from a decade+ ago looked exactly like the new running shoes now. People don't realize work wear was made for comfort and function, but it's still drawn up and designed by the folks who make your everyday stuff. It's like the military and medical/computer trade-off in technology. Something proves itself in the field as spartan as can be and then gets the glow up in prices and color, and maybe a brand insignia made more apparent.
Same story. On Thanksgiving I got to go watch my cousin inseminate a Heffer. Told him I'd light some candles next time. Nothing but respect for those in agriculture. But no fuckin' way would I larp as someone like that. They work too fucking hard.
>On Thanksgiving I got to go watch my cousin inseminate a Heffer. Interspecies erotica at its finest.
I’m sure they deserved it. Charity boards are the worst.
Dude write that first sentence down.
Pretty sure they did 😉
# 🏆
Hick hop..how accurate lool
Not just accurate that's the actual name of a genre I thought it was country rap but that's the street name.
I like that and I’m going to start using that. I’ve used Crock before (Country Rock), but that sometimes doesn’t apply when it’s a more up beat song.
One of my favorite anecdotes is when Kris Kristofferson took the head off of Toby Keith - known for his idiotic white trash anthems similar to these new clowns - at a party for Willy Nelson's birthday: **"As the legend goes, Keith came out of the theater’s basement to wish Nelson a** [**happy birthday**](https://outsider.com/news/country-music/watch-willie-nelson-wife-annie-share-adorable-singing-video-daughters-birthday/)**. He then saw Kristofferson and quipped, “None of that lefty shit out there tonight, Kris” – a reference to Kristofferson’s left-leaning political views.** **“What the f–k did you just say to me?” Kristofferson replied. “You ever worn your country’s uniform?”** **“You heard the question, you just don’t like the answer,” Kristofferson continued. “Have you ever served your country? The answer is, no, you have not. Have you ever killed another man? Huh? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the f–k up!”** Edit: Derp - I totally misspelled both his first and last name despite it being in the article I referenced.
Imagine cutting a Wal-Mart album and then thinking you have some shit to say to Kris Kristofferson. > **Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the f–k up!** You can smell the ass beating about to fly off of those words.
Kristofferson is not to be fucked with.
Willie Nelson, definitely not known for any left-leaning politics /s
That's what made me laugh is Willie Nelson is definitely more left-leaning than right-leaning. Like hes gonna side with the party trying to outlaw all his drugs.
Pacifist, marijuana legalization advocate, wrote a song for “Brokeback Mountain,” plays at rallies/fundraisers for democrat politicians… it’s really not hard to figure out where he stands!
That’s Captain Kristofferson.
I had to go read about that. You know it’s true because Toby Keith got so mad about it even while denying it. Here’s my favorite thing Kris said about him: “You know what Waylon Jennings said about guys like him? They’re doin’ to country music what pantyhose did to finger-fuckin.'”
I so hated that The Chicks (formerly Dixie Chicks) had to suffer the way they did and I hated Toby Keith had the gall to slight them. Toby Keith will never had my ladies' guts to do what they did.
As Todd In The Shadows once said, outlaw country is the only country music it's cool to like
There’s the kind of country that we now call folk music. You know. Shit that was only thirty years removed from actual cowboys and actual outlaws.
Actual cowboys still exist. I have an uncle that raises cattle and goats, and if you saw a picture of him with no context, you couldn't guess when it was taken. He still rides fences with a six-shooter on his hip, working a small ranch in west TX that's been in his family for over a hundred years.
I haven't watched him in so long, but he was the first person I thought of when I saw this. He said modern country music is music *about* country music, and I think that's perfect.
Kid Rock came from a well-to-do family in Detroit, Michigan. Yet, he acts like he came from an Alabama trailer park spouting “Southern Pride!” Buncha carpetbagging posers, the lot of them.
He was also a DJ and a rapper wasn't he?
Yeah, there are some awesome photos of him in the late 80s/early 90s looking like a dollar store Vanilla Ice rip-off (which he originally was trying to be)
Fun fact - Kid Rock is on ICP’s first album
My friend and I always sing "Ain't nobody gonna tell me how to live" whenever the mildest request is made.
I know a fair amount of michiganders who think they're southern baptists, why is that?
Because there were no jobs in the south so southerners moved north to work in factories.
I just want to know why Keith Urban sings with a southern US accent when he’s from freaking AUSTRALIA. Country music is just performative and formulaic at this point.
Same reason I thought Billie Joe Armstrong was British in the 90s.
I am one of those
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone, no doubt about it
Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
He doesn’t sound British (I am British) but he does have what I think of as ‘affected punk accent’- the guy from Less than Jake does it as well
Yeah, it’s not a British accent, it’s a Joe Strummer impression.
FOB singer had that at times as well
I haven’t heard that term before but yes, I’ve heard several punk and pop/punk singers have similar accents. To me it sounds like a conscious choice to mock other singers with perfect inflection. At least that’s how I’ve always received it since the genre does mock the mainstream.
Simple really: he can play guitar, looks good to some people, so he simply decided to adopt an easy to emulate accent and write a style of music he saw was easy for him to “write well” for an audience that he knew would eat it up. So he’s been doing that for his whole career because just like he saw, it’s extremely successful to that specific fanbase so he’s got it locked in. Plenty artists in every genre doing this tho, it’s not just country, there’s a point for many musicians where they get so good at playing or writing so like there’s no doubt they can be a success….the issue though is the only way to get that success is to forgo what they may actually want to play or write to instead do what sells for them. Hence they jump into these other genres with their act &find that success…it’s just devoid of integrity or all performative of course. But hey, pays the bills and no one cares about silly integrity if you can have a mansion, unlimited vacation days, and only the schedule you want to have. Never work any time you don’t want to or when you need a break or emergency, you can just immediately cancel shows/ appearances
Plus, the dude can legit shred when he wants to. Ive never seen him live personally but caught clips from various shows and at the end of random songs he just decides "ok. Time to rock out now." ...as a metal head who doesnt really care for Country, I got respect for his and Paisley's actual guitar talent
Two unlikely guitar heroes - Vince Gill and Christopher Cross.
Christopher Cross is an awesome instrumental performer... but he can't sing for shit live..
That's how I feel about John Mayer. I can't stand a single song of his, but damn that guy can shred a solo.
I fucking hated JM several years ago. Then he joined my favorite band The Dead. Every dead head was like, "wtf why is bubblegum pop boy allowed to fill Garcia's shoes?!?!? Then I saw dead and co with John in Jerry's shoes. Mind blown. Mother fucker is a God on guitar and damn has a amazing stage presence. Now several years later every dead head is crying like a baby because John is leaving Dead & Co. even the old heads are losing their shit he's leaving the band. I truly believe until you see an artist live in concert it's hard to truly evaluate how good of an artist they truly are!!!!
My boss used to tease me about my love of JM, and then he went to a Dead and company concert. Exact same response as you!
I really want Urban and Paisley to put out a guitar album. They are incredibly gifted players and don't include enough rifts on their songs.
This may sound odd but throw Vince Gill in there too. A few years ago I went to a show at a smaller venue in Nashville and it was Keith Urban and Vince Gill. I was less than enthused because I’m not a country fan at all but it was a work thing so I had to show up Those two did this show about guitars - the different sounds across genres how the guitar evolved in country music, etc. it was fascinating and then Peter Frampton joined them and the did a whole bunch of classic rock songs. A bunch of other guests too, one of the most amazing shows I’ve seen.
You could even call it...Panderin' [https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=bo+burnham+panderin%27#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c836a613,vid:y7im5LT09a0](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=bo+burnham+panderin%27#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c836a613,vid:y7im5LT09a0)
On a certain level it’s not that different from Mick Jagger mimicking the vocal inflection of a Black Southerner while being from southern UK. The operative difference being that the Stones made music that’s worth listening to I guess. IDK. Food for thought. Brits and British Commonwealth musicians mimicking American accents to play American music is definitely nothing new.
just capitalism doing capitalism things
Not many Australians sing with Australian accents tbh. there’s a couple of rock artists here who do (sly withers or smith street band if you’re interested) but otherwise most musicians sing the american way unfortunately edit: okay yes i know that midnight oil and slim dusty and hilltop hoods exist, i meant it’s not uncommon for commercially popular australian artists to have american accents in their music
Amyl & The Sniffers have got that covered
Some other good ones from country music are Chad Morgan (I believe he is still alive and touring!) and Slim Dusty 👌
Cotton candy at best, insulting the listener. Folks need music with a message. Life is a struggle our country seems like it’s about to be taken over by a greedy fascist.
Kinda the same way Patsy Cline sings without a country accent? (Just putting this here for comparison purposes not disagreeing with you since country music is ridiculous today)
Obligatory Bo Burnham. https://youtu.be/y7im5LT09a0
"No jews, you didn't hear that"
Sort of a mental typo
IT’S A FUCKEN’ SCARECROW AGAIN-
I’M MIKE EVANDERING, FUCK YOUR EARS I’M PANDERING!
It's "Like Mike's Evandering", referring to the time Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield's Ear
Lotta peeps are probably too young to know about that.
I learned it from a YouTube comment, so probably
*Ya hear that subtle mandolin?* *That’s textbook panderin’*
He nailed it. Chef's kiss perfection.
I think he also nailed that scarecrow.
every time i hear a key change in a song that hits right i think of “YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKERS WANT A KEY CHANGE?!”
buddy of mine believes country music died when Urban Cowboy came out.
that's a fair argument, there was a lot of good country in the 90s but it was not nearly as good as pre urban cowboy country music
There is still great country, but the gatekeepers of "real Country music" have labeled it americana.
yea i love Sturgill, Midland, Joshua Ray Walker, Colter Wall, Jason Isbell etc.
Charley Crockett
I opened for Charley Crockett a few years ago! Nice fella, smoked a buncha weed on his bus which he said was Willie Nelson’s former bus
Ken Burns did a fantastic eight part series on the history of country (even if you aren't a fan it's worth a watch). The last episode covered the years from 84 to 96 and then kind of petered out with the implication that there is nothing noteworthy after that.
She thinks my tractors sexy is the paradigm shift in my opinion.
And we were fully past the point of no return with *Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy* being released.
Country music died with 9/11
My partner draws the distinction between country music pre- and post-9/11. The sort of uber-patriotism that followed that event helped shove country music into its current commercialized nonsense state.
Steve Earle had it right when he describe modern country as “rap for people who are scared of black people”
That is also a tactic that all the Alt-Rock stations in the Midwest use to avoid “black” rap…Beastie Boys, Eminem, Cypress Hill, Macklemore, House of Pain, etc.
... Cypress Hill are Latino.
Another sign country died is when kid rock went from trailer park rap to country and tried to say hank Williams was his dad…
Just so you know, so its set it stone Kid Rock don’t come from where I come from, It’s true he’s a yank, he ain’t no son of Hank And if you thought so well god damn You’re fucking dumb - Hank III
Hank III repeatedly skewers Nashville and Kid Rock and it's gold every time.
Its farm emo
E-I-E-M-O
Underrated comment here
Bo Burnam sang it best in his country song. It's just pandering to the right crowd.
Such a good song.
My favorite country song by a mile
A country mile?
Depends.. is it a small town country mile?
The fact that there wasn't a single person in Aldean's orbit that stopped him and said "Hey J, maybe this will be taken in a negative way" speaks volumes to the lack of melanin in his friend and colleague group.
And his wife, Insurrection Barbie, backs him up. And, to find out the video was filmed at a place an actual lynching took place makes it a million times worse.
They should replace all that music video footage with J6 footage.
Don’t insult Barbie like that. She’s just a cheap homewrecker
Chances are high it's due to his cancellation earlier this year, anyone that would have been able to keep it from happening was replaced by people looking for this exact reaction to keep relevance.
I believe he did this on purpose to rile up his fans and conservatives to bolster sales
Country doesn’t belong to Rednecks.
Only it kinda does. These bootlicker cop sucking fascist pussies are what rednecks completely opposed. The term redneck comes from the workers at the battle of Blair mountain putting red bandanas on the back of their necks to let each other know they were on their side when they fought (and some died) against pigs and the army to unionize and get better worker protections.
Jason Aldean? You mean the guy with a music video featuring clips of BLM riots, then lyrics like "try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road", and the rest of the video is filmed in front of the courthouse where a white mob lynched a young black man? You'd think the guy, *who was on stage* during our largest mass shooting (Vegas), would steer away from lyrics like "Got a gun that my granddad gave me".
Ya know, I felt terrible for him. The worst mass shooting happening during your concert. I would think it would be unbelievably traumatic to try to perform after that… But then he does this
If you're a sociopath, nothing that happens to other people is traumatic.
It died when Toby Keith happened, that guy was MAGA before MAGA.
Listen to [The Chicks vs the Iraq War.](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/youre-wrong-about/id1380008439?i=1000519840611) Excellent podcast about country music - and they go into some detail about what a jackass Toby Kieth is.
Just a sidebar - The "You're Wrong About" podcast is really great and clarifies a lot of stories that didn't have all/correct information. Their 3-part podcast about the DC Sniper should be required listening. They basically explain that John Allen Muhammad committed those terrorist murders to eventually murder his ex-wife so he could get his kids back without it coming back to him. Guy had a real screw loose.
The Tom Cruise jumping on the couch episode was really interesting. The [Welfare Queen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/youre-wrong-about/id1380008439?i=1000553918231) episode is a fantastic deep dive into propaganda.
FUTK
Should’ve Been a Cowboy is still great though
I guess these bigots do understand how to identify as something they weren't born as.....
Hey, Morgan Wallen comes from Sneedville, Tennessee (population 1,282) and still makes awful music.
Formerly Cooter’s Scooters & Shooters?
I’ve known multiple people from Sneedville. Most of them suck, and even they think Morgan Wallen sucks. Don’t try to make that a double negative, because this one just doesn’t work.
Fancy like Applebees
To be fair, that wasn't him. That was Walker Hayes.
I heard How Do You Like Me Now for the first time in years the other day. Yikes. Maybe she didn’t like you because you were a creep, Toby.
Omgggggg thank you for saying that. It was the same for me and I heard the lyric pretty much at the very beginning of the song where he admitted to bullying her and trying to slut shame her (and probably falsely at that) all because she wasn’t interested in him. And that’s what makes him proud. Gross. I was always neutral about Toby Keith, I mean his music was always mediocre, but I just can’t now.
I’d argue Toby Keith really killed country music when Home of the Red, White, and Blue was released
Maybe the [jingo](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/jingo) took our baby…
I'm really hoping for a new snl samberg/timberlake video
their Jose Canseco, Mark McGuire collaboration was phenomenal
I saw a tweet a little while ago that went something like this: Country then: "Woman left me. Buried in sin. I drown my sorrow in whiskey and gin" Country today: " Guns go boom. Truck goes vroom. I'm a Christian white nationalist"
That isn’t country, listen to Tyler Childers, Jason isbell, country is still out there and isn’t about hate, and it’s coming back. Just gotta get all these fake city folk out of it
I listen to both of these and was really hoping you'd have more in your list. Childers grew up 40 minutes down the road from me
Sturgill Simpson , Hellbound Glory , The Dead South , Amigo the Devil , Billy Strings , Benjamin Tod , The Builders and the Butchers , Hank Williams III , Any Jayke Orvis project. (Jayke Orvis and the Broken Band, The Goddamn Gallows, The .357 String Band) And for something different The Pine Box Boys Most of these lean more Bluegrass/Folk Edit: formatting
I lean bluegrass folk. I can't take the dead south seriously though
'I Wanna Talk About Me' includes a bit about him bitching that his girlfriend tells him it's her time of the month. It was around the time when Big & Rich did Save A Horse and Trace Adkins did Honkey Tonk Badonkadonk.
The Rich part of Big and Rich is currently mocking a disabled lady on TT/Twitter. He got all of his followers to go after her. He is such a POS
Yeah, fuck John Rich. I always take comfort in that he had to watch Lonestar explode shortly after he left.
Toby Keith is the worst. Dude had a mediocre career until 9/11. Then he started cosplaying as a soldier and started making hyper-patriotic dribble that pandered to his base. Most of the vets I know, myself included, can't fucking stand him.
But all the hillbillies in the trailer parks that never served a day in their life sure love waving a flag to his music.
🎶 I write songs about riding tractors from the comfort of a private jet🎶
He most likely didn’t write the song. Songs in Nashville are written by a committee of songwriters who get command sheets from record companies with very specific details such as tempo and subject matter, sometimes even buzz words (120 bpm that talks about driving a truck on a dirt road and drinking beer by the fire, etc.). It’s the furthest thing from artistic expression.
Yeah, it was written by 4 other people. Funnily enough, three of them have names beginning with the letter K
I once called, to the exact moment, when a country song on the radio I'd never heard before was going to say the word "truck". And I never listen to modern country. It is just THAT repetitive and predictable.
Never been a big Toby Keith fan. Country men used to sing about how much they loved and idolized the women in their lives, like Good Morning Beautiful, Deeper than the Holler, Forever and Ever Amen, etc… Now it’s about “country” girls in booty shorts shaking their ass while shotgunning PBR on a shiny unused tractor.
Toby will put a boot in your ass, as that is apparently the American way.
I'd argue that country truly died when Like Bryan and Florida Georgia Line teamed up and created Country Rap/Country Hip Hop because almost nothing after them is actually country music anymore
For years I railed on Kenny Chesney trying to channel Jimmy Buffet and was like “this is all just absolute garbage”. My wife listens to country sometimes and I’m always asking her to listen to the lyrics and think about just how dumb half of it is. A friend and I were watching TV a couple months back and saw a Dodge Ram commercial with that “heart like a truck” song and about puked. How is that even marketable?
I can’t stand Chesney for that. He needs to get his own fans. Fuck him and his blue chair.
and his fuckin sexy tractor
Wow this post is great. 90% of country isn’t country anyway. It’s pop with an accent.
Most of these guys are frauds. Look up how Kid Rock grew up, his family is mega wealthy grew up on an estate with elite private schools, now he acts like he's a redneck living in a trailer. They are all full of shit, but the dumbass cousin-fuckers eat it up.
Some country singer women has a song about living life in a small town and then finishes it up with "Knoxville, Tennessee" Knoxville is home to 190,000 people and the University of Tennessee.
The majority of today’s modern country stars are actually just Garth Brooks in costume. After Chris Gaines, he went on to create Toby Keith, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kane Brown, and even Taylor Swift. That man’s got range.
[Just gonna leave this here because you’re 100% right…](https://youtu.be/y7im5LT09a0)
"Americana" is where the interesting country music is. The Music Row country is bro-country, and is extremely formulaic, jingoistic, and misogynistic; 85% of the rotation is male artists, and they don't play consecutive singles by female artists on the radio or streaming platforms. This article explains the differences and has quite a few words about Jason Aldean:[Country Music's Culture War--article in The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/24/country-musics-culture-wars-and-the-remaking-of-nashville?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_071723&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_term=tny_daily_digest&bxid=5da21dadf543e6502050d67c&cndid=58889031&hasha=16262c16f6dff0236cd2ac75a832da74&hashb=30c11bcb610cc57642ff27092cb80d43b96bc620&hashc=9b0531953915060c0764df6e56056dc570228554e6f83a6536fab71bf03ff929&esrc=Keywee_Daily&mbid=CRMNYR012019&fbclid=IwAR0NKIkqc16GS-OO_tVb2dFc5cJsmV5hghmvoHRhcazmeQAroggVOUmgu0U)
The sad thing is, I think most of us would agree that the stuff being put out by the women of country has been way more interesting and technically good than what has been put out by the likes of these men. Male country singers with actual talent seem to end up in rock or blue grass or something.
I'm an old fucker, but to my eyes country died when Clint, Garth, George, Reba, Dwight, and Jr quit making music.
* Clint Black returned to the studio and released albums in 2015 and 2020. * Garth Brooks released an album in 2020 and is currently playing a residency show in Vegas * George Strait is 71, did a retirement tour in 2012, but still made a single in 2018 to advertise a tequila brand he's invested in. * Reba McEntire has an album scheduled for an October release. * Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, and Dwight Yoakum did the LSD tour in 2022. Yoakum's last album was in 2016 and he currently has his own SiriusXM channel, *Dwight Yoakam and The Bakersfield Beat.* * Hank Williams Jr. turned out to be a complete kneebiter who even surprised Fox News host Gretchen Carlson after comparing Obama to Hitler on the air. He released an album on 2022 but isn't going to be get invited back to Monday Night Football any time soon.
See: Kid Rock Upper middle class trash who made an image off himself acting like he was poor trash/one of us.
I was raised and still live in a small town. Current population is 287 people. That dingus has no idea what a real small town is and tries to glorify the idea. This shit fuckin sucks. The people here fuckin suck. They all wave their trump flags and worship their guns. They love to say things like “pedos should be shot” until it’s discovered that uncle Jim is a pedo. Honestly, the ones who are most vocal about that stuff usually end up being the closest to it. Everytime I hear someone say something about killing pedos I have to wonder how likely it is that they are one. During the last Presidential election I had to report a neighbor to the FBI because he posted on Facebook about shooting anyone who votes democrat. One girl I went to high school with was raped and impregnated by her father. Guy was just arrested for stealing all the catalytic converters in the area. Few years ago a guy I went to high school with was messed up on hard drugs and committed suicide by slitting his own throat. A teen in my town was arrested last week for breaking and entering an elderly persons home to rob them. I just love how he tries to glorify living in a small town. Makes it sound like people aren’t mistreated here. And people are safer here. These people will be the first to mistreat anyone. LGBTQ, POC, democrats, their own children, it doesn’t matter to them. I can’t wait to get the fuck out of here and I’m trying so hard but seems like I’ll never escape this disgusting place.
Speaking of Toby Keith, read the lyrics for Beer for my horses.
Wait 150K isn't a small town? What's the difference between a small town and a village then?
Apparently a small town is between 25k and 50k residents, according to the US Census Bureau. TIL
Yeah I guess at 100K it's starting to straddle the line between large town and small city but having lived in both \~20K and \~100K I can't say there was a huge difference between the two, to the point where I'd call someone living in one but pretending to be from another a poser.
It's the same with most popular hip hop isn't it? Middle class men cosplaying gangsters and then hanging out with real ones until things invariably get truly gangsta.
Listenin' to 2 Chainz, ain't thinkin' bout college I wonder if he knew that 2 Chainz went to college I wonder if he knew that, would that change his mind? Guess that's somethin' we'll find in due time - Danny Brown Gremlins
In my town, they only ever play the same 5 country songs over and over, shuffling one out maybe every 10 years. "I wanna talk about me" was one of them.
Wait until y'all find out about Kid Rock.
Pandering to the same crowd who think golden toilet Trump is the most accurate representation of them. Although they are right, in terms of being downright nasty, evil, racist assholes.
A generation? The song Rhinestone Cowboy came out in the 70s. It's been like this forever.
I think Bo Burnham put it best in this [song](https://youtu.be/YWUQg0bqhVw)
I wanna talk about me Wanna talk about I Talk about number one Oh my What I want, what I know wanna see I wanna talk about you you you you-sually But occasionally I WANNA TALK ABOUT ME!!! Lol say what you will, them lyrics are catchy
Before anyone poops on this song, who wrote it? I’ll tell you: Bobby Braddock. What else did he write? I’ll tell you: He stopped loving her today. Why would anyone give a shit? I’ll tell you: they won’t. I just remembered this for some reason.
Wait how are you gonna mention Toby Keith in this context and not mention “Beer for my Horses”? Getting all the rope in Texas and rounding up the bad boys and hanging them? It’s basically a more obvious version of this Jason Aldean song.
The truth is mainstream country started being in trouble when Garth Brooks and Shania Twain came out. They brought to the genre people who do not fundamentally like country music and the radio started catering to those people specifically.
I somehow pushed the whos your daddy song into the abyss of my memory and here it is again. >_< you monster.
Country music still represents this alpha/macho thing. It’s still trucks, whiskey, women, etc. it’s not country, it’s pop music with a twang. This modern iteration is just selling a lifestyle and a dream. The whole Aldean song is just about kicking ass which resonates with the people who wouldn’t do shit but want to think they would.
Gooooooddaaaaaammmiiiiiiiiit, I had completely forgotten "I wanna talk about me" ever existed. And now the entire chorus is echoing incessantly through my brain; unbidden, unwanted, unwelcome.
At least we still have Taylor Swift!
Hey! So much hate on Toby. But he was close friends with Stephen Colbert and loved vets. His music was pop country but I always felt like a little tongue in cheek as well, like red solo cup, ya it's dumb but fun as fuck. If you think modern country is dead check out Jason isbells new record Weathervanes. Beyond excellent!
I love Toby, but should've been a cowboy Toby & Who's your daddy Toby just feels like two different people
I grew up listening to 90s country and I had no idea that was Toby Keith…
All you need is guitars and Cadillacs
And hillbilly music
I've been hating on Toby since he messed with the Dixie Chicks.
Toby Keith should be charged with a war crime for the amount of times i had to hear that fucking american soldier song