So…much…fail…

Tyler Farr, via Country California:

I don’t want to be Vern Gosdin…Music, it evolves. People thought when Garth came along, or Shania, ‘This isn’t country.’ You play “Any Man of Mine” now, and it sounds countrier than a squirrel turd.

Hokay, three things here:

1. Yet again, why is it that every time certain people talk about country music “evolving,” it’s always in the context of the music sounding…less country?

2. Tyler Farr doesn’t want to be Vern Gosdin, eh? Well, that’s good, because he isn’t fit to lick the squirrel turds off Vern Gosdin’s shoes.

3. “Any Man of Mine” sucks just as much now as it did 20 years ago, and for the same reasons that it did 20 years ago. And that’s WITH my “evolved” musical tastes.

Oh, and…

“Redneck Crazy” was “not (him),” eh? Well, he sure as shit didn’t have any trouble defending that song back when it was out, so he must have identified with it on some level. Dude needs to at least try to keep his freaking stories straight.

Monday music musings, 20.4.15

A lot of times the Dallas Observer has good musical commentary, but this is not one of those times:

It doesn’t make sense to bring dozens of up-and-coming artists to a state that is practically overflowing with them. Between Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin, you could put on a solid slate of country artists — William Clark Green, Madison King, Daphne Willis and Chris King come to mind — that would demonstrate all of the great music in Texas and help these bands make the case that they deserve national attention. Undoubtedly, some of the tens of thousands of fans that will stream through Arlington this weekend will be from out-of-state. It’s also likely that many of these fans are disappointed in the current state of country music, and would appreciate the refreshing authenticity of Texas country. This could have been a rare opportunity for these artists to get their music out to an audience that is practically begging for something better.

Ehhh, what? Showcase Texas artists at a Nashville award ceremony? Not sure they thought this through, because those things have always been a sad spectacle even at their best. And when you have the likes of Florida-Georgia Line and Luke Bryan bringing home the hardware, and Miranda Lambert winning awards for winning awards (oh my, a meta circle-jerk!), well, we’ve gone from sad to downright pathetic. As far as this Texan is concerned Nashville can have all that business. Folks down here seem to be doing all right all on their own and have been doing so for a good long while, though it’d still be nice if radio would play the new Aaron Watson album.

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I…I just don’t get the whole fascination with Chris Stapleton. Everyone on the blogs seems to rave about him as a great artist as well as songwriter, but much like Shane McAnally, he seems intent on blowing his trad-country cred to shit with all this slick pop country that he’s putting his name to. Seriously, ripping off Sam Cooke?!) Honestly, I’ve been suspicious of that guy since I first heard “Love’s Gonna Make It Alright,” my least favorite cut from George Strait’s Here For A Good Time. And that’s one of the better songs that has his name on it.

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Speaking of the Texas scene, Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen’s Hold My Beer, Vol. 1 comes out today, and if this song is any indication, it’s gonna be really, really good:

And a cover of Willie and Merle’s “Reasons to Quit”? YES, PLEASE.