by | April 20, 2015 · 8:00 am

A Miranda Lambert Playlist

Tonight, as I was flipping through the channels I came across the ACM Awards. I had forgotten they were on tonight (and so close to us in Dallas!) and I had started watching just in time for Miranda Lambert’s performance. Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara were awarding her an achievement award for being the single most winning female country artist at the ACM’s ever. I have always been a fan of Lambert, and I’m honestly not totally sure why. I don’t love her music overwhelmingly more than others or anything. I really think it might be her charisma. She has that whole, blonde and bad-ass thing going on for her which I guess appeals to my musical taste, (Ha!). Seeing her perform two of her recent hits made me think back on my favorite Miranda Lambert moments, and I compiled a list of my favorites!

5.

This was my introduction to Miranda Lambert. While some may call the song cliché, I think Lambert definitely makes an impression. I also couldn’t get this song out of my head for what seemed like months back in 2009. (Not to mention, this music video is probably where I got all of my blonde, rebellious vibes from her.)

4.

This music video and song couldn’t be more fun and that’s why I love it. I am also a fan of Carrie Underwood and so the combination of Lambert with Underwood is perfect to me and they make this video such a fun time!

3.

I love this song because I think the lyrics are truly beautiful. Lambert wrote this song with her husband Blake Shelton about losing a family member and I think it really resonates with people who have experienced that type of loss.

2.

This song, just like Kerosene, is classic Miranda Lambert to me: vengeful, sassy, and powerful. The lyrics are clever and her amazing vocals are clearly demonstrated. This is one of my favorite moments of her career because the song just feels like it was made for her.

1.

I think I love this song the most from Miranda because while all of her other songs certainly make me admire her as an artist and a female performer, this song is the song I most identify with. It describes childhood roots and memories in a childhood home and as a college student I certainly think fondly of my house back home and my whole childhood spent in it. I think Miranda is such a dominant female country singer because she is able to master the emotional songs as well as the more up-tempo fun songs. I certainly am a fan for both of those reasons!

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Filed under Lists, Song Analysis, Women

by | April 17, 2015 · 4:53 pm

Country Fans Turn on Tim McGraw

Sandt HookIn December 2012, a shooter took the lives of 20 children and 6 adults in an assault on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. It was the deadliest shooting ever to take place in an American public school.

Two and a half years later, the Sandy Hook Promise organization has put together a concert to raise funds for promoting “gun safety”. Charity concerts happen all the time, but this one is stirring controversy because the man that has agreed to headline it is one of the biggest stars in a genre of music whose fans have clung to their right to bear arms even in the face of mass shootings.

That man is Tim McGraw.

News of the concert was spread by the conservative media outlet Breitbart in an article titled “Country Singers Tim McGraw, Billy Currington Headlining Gun Control Fundraiser.” (Currington had been scheduled as the opening act.) In the comments, Breitbart‘s readers expressed their dismay, claiming that McGraw had abandoned the principles of the country music fans that bought his records. Some readers even suggested that his participation in the concert might end his career. As the user WyoAndy put it, “So I guess you will be able to see Tim McGraw and Billy Currington opening for the dixie chicks real soon at the Paramus, Nj holiday inn! They are both dead to me!”

Trigger, over at Saving Country Music, argues that Breitbart is being intentionally inflammatory. McGraw agreed to do the show because he has personal ties to one of the victims of the shooting. Moreover, the concert is raising funds for gun safety, not gun control. After the Breitbart article went viral the organization released a statement clarifying its purposes:

Sandy Hook Promise supports the 2nd Amendment and is not anti-gun. We recognize an individual’s right to bear arms and support millions of law-abiding citizens in the United States who own firearms. Our primary focus is preventing children from being harmed by gun violence…

We support policy that helps identify, intervene and stop at-risk individuals from hurting themselves or others. And, we support laws that will help to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerously ill people and criminals, as well as out of the reach of children to prevent unintentional shooting deaths and injuries that have become much too frequent.

McGraw, in a statement for The Washington Times, takes a similar stance:

Let me be clear regarding the concert for Sandy Hook given much of the erroneous reporting thus far.  As a gun owner, I support gun ownership. I also believe that with gun ownership comes the responsibility of education and safety – most certainly when it relates to what we value most, our children.  I can’t imagine anyone who disagrees with that…

Through a personal connection, I saw first-hand how the Sandy Hook tragedy affected families and I felt their pain. The concert is meant to do something good for a community that is recovering.

And yet despite these attempts at damage control the concert continues eliciting outrage among fans of country music. Buckling under the pressure, Currington announced on Thursday night that he would not be playing the charity concert though he will open for the other shows on McGraw’s summer tour. Guns rights advocates took Currington’s cancellation as proof that they had been right all along — that the concert had been organized to deprive them of their firearms.

The controversy raises a number of questions that I would love to hear your thoughts about in the comments (or your own posts). Why are guns such a big deal for fans of country music? Do you agree that every “authentic” country performer should support the Second Amendment? Should McGraw have agreed to perform the Sandy Hook Promise concert? Should Currington have pulled out of it?

Most importantly, do you think WyoAndy is right that the controversy signals the end of McGraw’s career? Is he the new Dixie Chicks?

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Filed under Charity, Country Pop, News, Politics

by | · 8:00 am

Small Hometown Country Play List

In country there are several topics that could be consider main themes which, small hometowns would be one of those. The reason i think this is, is because if you ever lived in a small home town you would know that it tends to be very tight woven network of people who tend to be very simplistic people who find enjoyment out of just sitting around drinking beer and just have a fun time. The Reason I’m writing this article is because I recently started to appreciate the fact that a came from a small town were the stereotypes are exactly what they say. For the longest though I tried to avoid associating myself with my hometown because I really didn’t want to be judge on the stereotypes but instead, I wanted to become recognized for me not what people think i am due to those stereotypes.

1. Eric Church -Give Me Back By Hometown

The reason I put this at the top of my play list is for the simple fact that I can relate to this song just based on my life experience. Also I tend to enjoy more modern country music with more of a rock feel to the rhythm and this song plays along those lines and appeals to that nature. The song basically talking about someone that kind of had there hometown ruined by someone and how they want it back beccause that person doesn’t care about it like he does.

2. Jason Aldean Tattoos on this Town

This Song is #2 on play for some of the same reason as the song above it has that rock beat and its really easy to relate to my life. one thing i really love about this song it talks about how town leaves marks on and you leave marks on it as well which something that I feel that my hometown kind of did for me growing up, but also is has man i can look back at my hometown and know what memories are special to my friends and I.

3. Justin Moore Small Town USA

This song to me has a more of a traditional feel to the instrumentation which helps me to relate back to my childhood where I was listening to George Strait, Randy Travis, and Alan Jackson.Why its its number three on my list though it kind of reminds me of the things that I did with my friends and all those memories i enjoyed with them. The story in this song is this small town were everything very similar and pretty traditional and its a simply, easy going, fun town that is home .

 4. John Michael Montgomery – Letters from Home

Though I can’t relate to this song as much I know that my grandmother who is very close to me can. when she was younger she sent her father who serve in the military for over twenty years letters while he was station in Hawaii. Which she use to tell me story about my great grand father and what kind of man he was and talk about his trips over sees which is where I gain this sense of wanting to travel around the world. In this song it talks about this solider who is receiving “letters from Home” and how he reads them to his buddies and keeps his letters inside his uniform to keep them safe.

5. Mayberry- Rascal Flatts

The reason Mayberry is on here is kind of reminds me of the hometown feel, where everyone is nice and everyone knows everyone. I think it helps me to remember that there are still people out there who believes in respect and kindness. though this song is more pop country through its instrumentation I still tend to like just due to story told. Which, talks about this guy who is remembering walking through his hometown Mayberry and how everyone is so nice and the things that make is hometown unique.

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Filed under Lists, Music Videos

by | April 16, 2015 · 8:00 am

Hey Willie!

Willie Nelson Somewhere Over the RainbowOver Easter weekend, my brother and I randomly got the urge to drive around the great town of San Antonio. We rode around in my new black Mazda CX-5 with Conway Twitty’s Pandora radio blasting. Somehow we ended up at La Cantera mall, which is right by Fiesta Texas Six Flags. While walking around, the two of us wandered into Urban Outfitters and decided we could not leave without a record player and vinyl record. Fortunately, we headed back home happily with a portable turntable in one hand, and Willie Nelson’s 1981 Somewhere Over The Rainbow album in the other.

This vintage album features 1940’s pop standards arranged by Nelson. The album’s acoustic jazz instrumentation was also meant to play tribute to one of his heroes, Belgian gypsy jazz guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt, who influenced Nelson’s playing. This could be a possible reason why some vocals were also performed by Freddie Powers. The album includes the tracks of:

  • Mona Lisa
  • Exactly Like You
  • Who’s Sorry Now?
  • I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You)
  • Won’t You Ride In My Little Red Wagon
  • Over The Rainbow
  • My Mother’s Eye
  • I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
  • It Wouldn’t Be The Same (Without You)
  • Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

If you have not been lucky enough to listen to at least one of these songs I highly recommend you do, my personal favorite would be “Mona Lisa.” This album does not seem to resemble any of Willie’s outlaw music he is so popular for today. It is a slower and more relaxed type of instruments and vocals. This is an album you play in the background while having guests over, it is a simple sound. Which was the same type of feeling I got when I visited his statue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvjqMt2nwno

For our Country Experience Reflection project I knew I had to go see this infamous statue, and after owning a vinyl record of his I thought it was the perfect time. On the drive over to Willie I was expecting this statue to be huge and extravagant. I expected a lot of color and maybe some of his music playing. However, when I got there I walked right past it. I did not even notice his statue. It was very simple and made me think of his album I just bought. The statue was of Willie sitting down holding his guitar, of course he was sporting his famous braids and bandana. There were not any splashes of color or music around him. He was just a statue at the corner of busy roads.

Willie Nelson statueThis begged me to question if I really understood Willie Nelson at all. I always thought of him as this outlaw that was loud and “in-your-face.” Now I see him as this laid back and “go-with-the-flow” type of guy. Maybe this is what makes him an outlaw in some ways. Country music seems to be all about the bling and Nashville commercialization, however Willie does not convey that. Is this why Willie is so popular? If you have visited the statue, did you feel the same simple atmosphere?

For another blogger’s experience visiting Willie Nelson’s statue, make sure to check out Abby Shamis’s post.

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Filed under Austin, Outlaw, Texas

by | April 15, 2015 · 8:00 am

Eric Church’s The Outsiders Tour

About a month ago, a few of my closest friends and I braved the chilly rainy Austin weather and headed to the Frank Erwin Center to attend the Eric Church Outsiders Tour. After hearing from Dusty that I could get tickets for ten dollars as a UT student, there was no way I was going to pass up this concert. Having seen many country music concerts in the past, I knew I was in for a treat.

Eric-Church-Outsiders-World-TourBefore the concert, I had occasionally heard the name Eric Church but barely knew much about him or his music. I was familiar with a few of his hit songs like “Springsteen” and “Talladega” that are constantly played on country radio, but never really thought of him as a top performing country artist. That being said, going into this concert, I had no idea what to expect from him or his songs.

Dawning our best “country” clothes, cowboy boots and all, my friends and I waited anxiously for Eric Church to start playing. We got there early enough to (unfortunately) catch the opening band, Drive-By Truckers. These guys were definitely an interesting choice for a country concert opener. They were a heavy rock band that seemed to yell more than sing, making it extremely difficult to understand what they were even saying. It’s safe to say that most everyone in the arena was relieved when they finished their set.

However, the wait was worth it when Eric Church finally walked casually onto the stage wearing his signature aviator sunglasses, plain t-shirt, and baseball cap. He immediately got the crowd pumped up by shouting things like “Hook ‘em Horns” and anything else related to the great city of Austin. I was amazed at how relaxed and normal he looked and sounded. He had such energy and charisma it was hard not to completely immerse yourself in the experience. I was completely taken off guard when he announced that he was going to be playing whatever he wanted to, with no set list. He pumped up the crowd by telling us that there was no set time limit to how long he would play and that “he would stay there all night”. He wanted everyone to simply enjoy themselves and the music he was about to play. This was so cool to me because it seemed like nothing was going to stop him from having fun and performing the way he wanted to. Nowadays, most huge concerts like his are carefully scripted and arranged a certain way, but Eric Church made it clear that this was not going to be a cookie cutter performance.

Florida Country Superfest Inaugural Season Day 1The crowd’s excitement rose as he jammed to popular songs such as “Drink In My Hand”, “Smoke a Little Smoke”, “Give Me Back My Hometown”, and “Homeboy”, making each performance special and important. His audience interaction was more than I could’ve hoped for. From signing a woman’s rhinestoned boots that were thrown to him onstage to talking to the audience like we were his best friends, he took the time to make every single person there feel included in the experience. Stories about his little boy and home life moved the show along in between more top hits like “Springsteen”, “Creepin’” and “Cold One”. My friends and I stood up out of our seats the entire show, dancing and singing along even to the songs we didn’t know. During one song there was a huge inflatable monster looking thing that randomly popped up in the middle of the crowd. The whole show up to this point had gone on with little effects, making it a very raw and natural performance. To me, it was an unnecessary effect that took away from the simplicity of the concert, but nevertheless entertaining.

Eric-Church-on-ACL-350x350Eric Church’s concert was unlike any other performance of a male country artist. It wasn’t staged or scripted. There was no glitz or tons of special effects. He wasn’t trying to sell himself or his music. It was simple yet extremely engaging and memorable. This was the most natural performance from a rising star I have ever seen and for that I really admire him. He definitely took me by surprise throughout the show and forced me to completely change my view of him. Now I definitely see Eric Church for the talented singer he is and have since become a bigger fan of his than I think I ever thought I would be. By his last encore, I was so thrilled that my otherwise ordinary and boring Wednesday night had turned into a memorable concert experience shared with my good friends. To anyone who loves Eric Church or doesn’t know a thing about him, I would highly recommend seeing him in concert for an exhilarating and memorable experience.

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Filed under Austin, Bro Country, Live Music, Reflection, Reviews