Kaitlin Butts

One Liner: Excellent story-telling Americana

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but I'd call this Americana

Home: Nashville (but originally from Tulsa, OK)

Poster Position: small Type 
Sunday.

Thoughts:  I ran across her one time several years ago, when I was listening to an album by Flatland Cavalry.  She was featured on that album, and I was kind of enamored with her name.  "The hit on here is the one featuring the excellently named Kaitlin Butts.  Who is either an heir to the HEB fortune and therefore it makes sense that she kept that surname, or was hoping for the old Beavis and Butthead crowd to find her and push her into stardom, or has a fantastic seat.  I'm going to imagine it's number 2.  Huh huh, cool.  Butts."

She's not on Wikipedia, but she is mentioned in the Flatland Cavalry post because she is married to the vocalist for the band, which was formed in Lubbock in 2012.  That post says that she is a frequent collaborator with the band and an "oft-seen part of their live shows."

I've pretty much just let these songs play for the past two days.  I really like her stuff.  Good lyrics, strong voice, fine instrumentation.  It all sounds really good, like a more Americana version of Kacey Musgraves.  "blood" is an excellent song, that she does two ways in her Spotify, a regular version with full accompaniment, and then a stripped-down version.  Lot of soul in there.  That is the top song from her new album - 669k streams.  This is the stripped version.

Just a killer set of lyrics about trying to measure up to your family and the things you do for your blood.  Makes me think of the way my sister-in-law treats my wife, and then the way my wife hides her feelings about it.  Really good.  She also does a cover of Leadbelly's "in the pines" that is pretty killer.  "It Won't Always Be This Way" is another well-composed tune about tough times.

2 albums.  2015's Same Hell, Different Devil and then 2022's What Else Can She Do.  She also released an EP in 2022 called Sad Yeehaw Sessions, where that stripped-down "blood" is from, that also includes a cover of Miley Cyrus's "Angels Like You" that sounds really good.  Her top single, by quite a bit, is a 2021 single called "Marfa Lights," wityh just over 3 million streams.

(1) nice tune.  (2) I was really hoping for a real video that would have been set in Marfa.  (3) that highway on the cover looks nothing like Highway 90.  Have you ever seen the Marfa lights?  They're pretty damn cool.  I've seen them a few times, and even with really good binoculars, I have no clue what is going on out there.  And her analogy is pretty good - "I'll chase you around, low and high, we're just out of reach, we're just out of sight."

Dig it.  I'd love to see her play.

Pillbox Patti

One Liner: Drum machines and well-told stories from the swamps of north Florida

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but I'd call this country pop

Home: Nashville (originally from Starke, FL)

Poster Position: small Type 
Sunday.

Thoughts:  Not what I was expecting at all.  This is a songwriter, Nicollete Hayford, who has worked with a lot of people to write pop country gold.  She's even the daughter of songwriters.  But she then took some bits and pieces of her small-town Florida upbringing and turned them into this wild persona named Pillbox Patti.  I get some Lana Del Rey flavor in here, over the top of a lot of beat machines.  Just one album, and it's totally random.  One song will be a heart-felt piano ballad ("25 MPH Town"), then a country tune sounding like Margo Price singing about doing drugs in a small town, and the next is an 808-fueled trap track about partying ("Young and Stupid").  Here is a quote from an article about her: "Directly inspired by her array of influences, she recorded the "Florida" EP with the aid of an instrument key to not country music but hip-hop's birth: an E-mu SP 1200 drum machine and a sampler she procured from Kid Rock."  So, there you have it.  Another Kid Rock acolyte.

Songs she wrote are not familiar to me - Little Big Town’s ‘God Fearing Gypsies’, Koe Wetzel’s ‘Cabo,’ Kylie Morgan’s ‘Gucci,’ or Ashley McBryde’s ‘One Night Standards’, ‘A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega’ and a bunch of other songs off Girl Going Nowhere and Never Will.  Her top streamers are Ashley McBride songs from some thing called Ashley McBride presents Lindeville, which feature McBride and a handful of other women on each track.

Just one album, 2022's Florida.  The surefire hit is the small-town anthem that tracks part of the Florida state song (and makes me think of "Dixie" as well).  "Suwannee," with 359k streams, is clever with that combination.

"coochi cutters!"  "Camel Cash speakers!"  Those are some awesome references to the white trash bits and pieces.  Also, "Yankees took the beach, left us with the swamp," that is a great line.  The Suwannee river runs from southern Georgia through Florida (although flows is a funny term for some of those Florida swamp rivers, it is more that it turns into the Okefenokee Swamp and that slowly pulses towards the Gulf of Mexico.  Solid tune.  I bet it is a real deal anthem for the people who came from that area.  

One article that I am reading is very assured about the ways that this is groundbreaking, but I'm less sure.  They say it is country "for sure," but some sort of "apocalyptic country pop."  Not so sure about that.  It definitely sounds different than anything else that is trying to "be" country, but a lot of it just sounds more like songwriter pop.  Nothing "country" there.

Some of these songs are very low streamers - three of them don't even have 5k streams, such as the crappy "Hookin Up."  But the other big streamer is "Young and Stupid," with 256k.

There is that Lana Del Rey sound I was talking about.  This almost feels like a Weird Al thing - like she's doing such a heavy parody thing that it feels like it's just a joke.  But then it seems like this is really the thing she was aiming for, an outsized persona with ridiculous lyrics.  I don't like that song nearly as much as some of the others on here.

I'll probably pass on this one.  Not terrible, but I also would rather hear a real band playing music than a vocalist singing over a drum machine.

Drake Milligan

One Liner: Rockin' country with a young ex-Elvis impersonator.

Wikipedia Genre: Country (but its got a real rock bent to it!)

Home: Nashville (but originally Mansfield, TX)

Poster Position: small Type 
Sunday.

Thoughts:  Remember that Whiplash movie with the abusive drum teacher and Miles Teller as the abused pupil?  Good movie overall, but there was something weird to me about the juxtaposition of Teller's looks and his role in that movie.  It just didn't click.  And the same thought crossed my mind when I saw the pictures of this fella, crossed with his deep, smooth voice.

I mean, look at this pretty fella.  And then his voice is creamy smooth baritone out of no where.  I actually dig it, I just had a weird expectation about what he was going to sound like, based on that photo.

He first rose to fame by portraying Elvis in a CMT series called Sun Records, and then after that he appeared on both American Idol and America's Got Talent.  He had performed as an Elvis impersonator in his hometown of Mansfield, Texas (up by Fort Worth), auditioned for the role in the TV show, and ended up having to move to Nashville for the part when he was still in high school.  After that, he went on American Idol in 2018, but dropped out to focus on his music for a while.  In 2022, he went onto America's Got Talent and ended up finishing third.

One album, 2022's Dallas/Fort Worth, and a handful of songs that bring other songs to my mind.  His big hit is "Sounds Like Something I'd Do," which makes me think of that other country song called "What Was I Thinkin'."  

That is a fun tune.  Rock and roll based, with some 90's Nashville flavor in there too.  A little Brooks & Dunn, a little Garth Brooks, and hell, a little Elvis in there too.  I could absolutely see that being a great dance song at a honky tonk.  If you wanted to do some serious two step and whipping your lady over your shoulder and launching her into the air, that is the jam for you right there.  "Bad Day to be a Beer" has some Alan Jackson undertones to it.  "Kiss Goodbye All Night" is cheesy as all get out, but at the same time, it is endearing and sticks in my brain the same way that some of those goofy latter-day George Strait songs do.  "Goin' Down Swingin'" (which features Vince Gill) has some Bob Wills flavor as well as a hint of Dale Watson's "South of Round Rock Texas" in it's melody and tempo.  The other most streamed track is "Over Drinkin' Under Thinkin'," with just over 2 million spins.

Classic sounding drinking tune.  Referencing Willie, sounding like he's winking when he sings, the whole package.  Again, I could see this being a fantastic song to dance to at a honky tonk.  I'm actually curious about his Elvis performance as well, let's see what we can see.

I know I mentioned it before, but that movie (not this CMT show, the full length movie that came out recently) was crap.  We didn't even finish it.  The part that I enjoyed was the concert footage, which looked a lot better than this.

Strange that I have been giving cheesy stuff like this a roast for the folks from the 90's who originated it, and yet I am ready to give this fella a pass on it, but I have enjoyed listening to this album today.  He even has a Christmas tune!  I'd go see him.
 

Priscilla Block

One Liner: Country pop that veers between sad, confessional tunes and funny, self-deprecating tunes

Wikipedia Genre: Country, Country pop, southern rock

Home: Nashville (but originally Raleigh, NC)

Poster Position: small Type 
Sunday.

Thoughts: Block grew up in North Carolina, but then moved to Nashville once she graduated from high school.  She had wanted to do that from an early age, playing at talent shows and small shows around home.  When she got to Nashville, she struggled at first, working odd jobs, and considering giving up.  But, per Wikipedia, "One day, she had a chance encounter with Taylor Swift while walking down a Nashville road. Swift pulled the car over and invited her inside. "That was truly the day that I decided that I really needed to give music a fair shot and do this thing," she commented."  WTF?!  Like, if TayTay just saw me walking down the road she might pull over, invite me into her car, and chat about my music career?  I need more details...

Here is what an interview says: "I was a year into Nashville, I was working at this yogurt shop from 9 to 5 and I had class from 6 to 9, and it was the day that I was literally having a conversation with my sister that I was going to leave town. That day, Taylor Swift was driving by and I was wearing a Taylor Swift t-shirt. She literally pulled her car over to the side of the road and hopped into her passenger seat, opened up her car door and waved me down. That was truly the day that I decided that I really needed to give music a fair shot and do this thing. From then on, I quit my job and I quit school and I was like, “I’m going to figure out a way to pay my bills. I’ll do whatever.” So, I worked every odd job in Nashville. I started co-writing with people, started learning the town and I would go and sit for hours and watch shows and just see how Nashville worked. I started writing with my friends and slowly but surely started building my group of people out here."  Pretty cool!

Her first hit ended up being a viral TikTok track - "Just About Over You."  After that one hit, she got to really record the song, and it was successful on the iTunes charts, leading to a record deal.  That one is still her top track, with 48 million streams.

Honestly, that is a very good song.  The idea of still looking for your ex's car when you are out driving, but also the cinematic bit of her almost making it out of love and then seeing him to throw her life back in to disarray.  I wouldn't normally aim for the pop country stuff in my tastes, but I will readily admit that this is a good tune.  "I Bet You Wanna Know" and "Wish You Were The Whiskey" are similar tunes, semi-sad songs sung to a lover.  "My Bar" is sort of like that too, but it is more of a tough song telling him that she doesn't care anymore.  That is her second-most streamed tune.

But she also has some party tunes and funny songs.  She's also got "PMS" and "Thick Thighs" for levity and fun.  I'll give you that second one here - "Thick Thighs," with 5.3 million streams.

A little Lizzo-esque body positivity action.  Sort of reminds me of some of the clever lyrics that Kacey Musgraves has done in her catalog.  And also, "I never eat the produce that I buy" rings very extremely true.  That would be a fun song to sing along to.  I'm genuinely shocked, but I've enjoyed listening to her.  I know that I have been crapping on some of the other pop country stuff on this poster, the party bro Neko Moon crap, but this is much more enjoyable.

Paul Cauthen

One Liner: Local-ish outlaw country style guy with humor

Wikipedia Genre: Country, country rock

Home: Tyler, Texas

Poster Position: Small Type 

Sunday.

Thoughts:  I saw this cat play at the 2017 ACL Fest, but his sound then (at least in my recollection) was much different than this sound.  I would have put both the 2017 version and the album version into the same outlaw country type bucket, but back then my recollection of his voice was that it was just a regular singer-songwriter thing.  Now it sounds like Elvis, Waylon, and Johnny Cash smeared together.  Wikipedia actually says that his nickname is "Big Velvet" because of that distinctive voice.

Man, I'm sorry if you liked it, but we have watched about half of that Elvis movie and it sucks on toast.  I don't get it at all.  Random aside, sorry.

Cauthen was born in Dallas (although his Wikipedia says "East Texas" which I wouldn't say for Dallas?), the son of a Church of Christ song leader at the same church where his uncle was the preacher.  If you have ever been to a Church of Christ, then you know that the singing is all a cappella, without an organ or other instruments.  One of my college roommates was a COC dude, and I remember how odd it was when I visited his church with him.

I have more to talk about with his upbringing, but I wanted you to hear this song, because I think it is funny.  Funny on multiple levels.  Mainly because when I saw him play ACL he was a very serious singer-songwriter country type, but now this one is just chock full of jokes.  I grin each time I hear him sing "real cowboys don't rock to Kenny Chesney."

"if you bumped into me, gonna always say sorry" just cracked me up as well.  Just the way he says it rules, especially after all of the boastful stuff right before then.  Dumb and fun.  Dig it.

Anyway, at first, he was in an Americana band called Sons of Fathers, with a guy named David Beck.  Beck is the son of the long-time Robert Earl Keen bass player.  The two met at songwriter nights at Cheathan Street in San Marcos.  "The band was initially called Beck & Cauthen but they later changed the name of the band to be Sons of Fathers when musician Beck sent a cease and desist letter."  Why can't Beck have some damn chill?  Jerk.  I bet I would like those two albums they made - produced by Lloyd Maines.  They broke up in 2014.

His initial solo album was 2016's My Gospel.  Made in Muscle Shoals, AL, it has a good-sized dose of country and Americana, but also a lot of soul.  "As Young As You'll Ever Be" is a soulful little slice of pleasure.  "Saddle" is the only one with a real video, and it was even filmed at the Broken Spoke!  1.4 million streams.

Ah man, Hill's Cafe.  I wish that place was still around.  Their burger was legit good!  Pretty catchy little tune.  After that he released Room 41 in 2019, and it spawned another kind of funny tune as the hit, called "Cocaine Country Dancing," with 23 million streams.

Finally, he recently released 2022's Country Coming Down, and the top song from that album is the one you already heard up there at the top.  I enjoy this stuff, I'd love to go see him again.

Little Texas

One Liner: Heavy on the harmonies and the rock guitar, "God Blessed Texas."

Wikipedia Genre: Country, country rock

Home: Nashville

Poster Position: Small Type 
Sunday.

Thoughts:  Oh hell yeah.  I remember a bunch of these songs.  Absolutely the stinkiest cheese on this poster, which is already full of all sorts of cringe-inducing schlock, but these guys lean right into it and make fun times sing-along tunes.

They were formed in Nashville in 1988 and released their first album in 1991.  Two of the guys came from Arlington, Texas, two others met in high school and moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University, and two others were already there playing backup for someone else. Through the 90's, they popped off seven top ten hits, as well as a gold album, a platinum album, and a double-platinum album in their first few years.  However, the group entirely disbanded in 1997 and the guys went off to do several other bands and solo projects, before coming back together in 2004 with a new lead singer.

The album that I really recognize is, of course, their most popular.  The second disc was called Big Time, and was released in 1993.  Double platinum.  Three major singles - commercial fodder "God Blessed Texas," adult contemporary crossover "What Might Have Been," and their only number one single, "My Love."  Now, after a few decades, those popularity counts have shifted, with "God Blessed Texas" the most streamed tune, by quite a bit (35.7 million), followed by "What Might Have Been" at 12.8 million, and "My Love" bringing up the rear at 7.1 million.  So here is that tune from many a Chevy commercial, and Dallas Cowboys intro song, and a million other uses.

YEEEEEEEHAW!  Loogit that hair!  Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders!  Rodeo!  Southfork Ranch!  The Alamo!  Line dancers!  The Capitol!  Mullets!  Big boobies in bikinis!  Windmills!  Cows!  I actually like that sign from Hondo, Texas.  I used to hunt out that way and always thought it was cool.  That guitar solo there in the middle is pretty rockin'.

But the big thing you get with these guys, other than cheesy 90's Nashville goodness, is really good harmonies.  Those other two songs from that second album have the harmonies in spades.  And then their third album, released in 1994, has two top notch classics that I dig.  The first, and much more popular, is the rock-and-rollin' "Kick a Little," with 7.4 million streams.  But my preference is the one that notches two things for me, personally, being that I am from Austin and married Amy, and that one is called "Amy's Back in Austin."  2.3 million streams.

That mullet is fabulous.  When I was in high school, one of my best friends could get us in to La Zona Rosa anytime for free meals or concerts - I think his step-dad owned it? - and that was the first place I ever tried flan.  So, I've always loved this song for multiple reasons.  It's not Pure Prarie League's "Amie," but it's a classic anyway.  All the harmonies you can get into one track.

As with many of the artists on this poster, they had their heyday right there in those few albums, and then it has been all downhill (or at least a sideways traverse) from there.  A Greatest Hits in 1995, a 1996 album with low stream counts, a 2015 album with low stream counts, a 2020 Greatest Hits, and a 2020 career retrospective.  So, I think we can expect to hear the best hits and nothing else, which sounds pretty appealing!

Blanco Brown

One Liner: The chameleon child of Mel Tillis doing country, soft rock, blues, and more.

Wikipedia Genre: Country
Home: Atlanta, GA

Poster Position: small Type 
Sunday.

Thoughts:  Dammit.  More of that drum machine/trap/country.  Is this rap?  What am I doing?  His top song, by a ton, is just a pandering line dance track trying to get people on the dance floor to do the things he is requesting.  It blows.  "The Git Up" somehow has 302.8 million streams.

Catchy, I mean, I get what he's up to there.  But it definitely feels like a sell-out move to get TikTok viral videos and club dancing.  Many of his top songs are actually someone else's tune - top track is by Parmalee (and sucks), #3 is by Lee Bryce, #4 is by Nelly, #6 is that terrible Parmalee tune again, #7 is a Diplo tune, #8 is by Leslie Jordan, and #9 is a remix of #2.  

Real name is Bennie Amey III.  He has produced music for Chris Brown, Fergie, and Pitbull (?!?).  And I was correct, he turned "The Git Up" into a TikTok challenge and it was featured in over 100k videos, which pushed the track to #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart.  He has co-written songs with Monica, 2 Chainz, and a bunch of artists I don't recognize.  The only other interesting factoid on his Wikipedia is that he was in a motorcycle accident in August 2020 that broke his wrists, arms, legs, and pelvis.  Holy crap, man.  That is freaking awful.

It looks like he really only has one album - 2019's Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs, which includes that song up above and then a bunch with a fraction of the streams.  The second-most popular is called "CountryTime," with 5.3 million streams, 

I'm confused by those lyrics.  He's saying "I'm screamin' fuck the blue and red."  And then he's also saying: "I put two gunshots in the air / The people scattered everywhere / But I don't really give a care, nope / Some things in life are just unfair."  So, he doesn't like the cops, and he's a mass shooter?  But he likes bacon and soda pop?  Or he's just insane?  I have read the lyrics a few times and still don't get the message.  Also, his voice definitely does not match his look.  "Don't Love Her" makes me want to die.

Somehow, this is the top comment on that video: "This man can sing and is a story teller , right up there with the greats like  Pride, Cash, Haggard ,Jennings ,Jones , Milsap and David Allen Coe He has an amazing and unique voice all his own.  A mix of old country, blue grass and a splash of hip hop and just a little touch of rock ...just wow....I love his style and him. This man may have just saved country music from the scourge that is pop...no joke."  WTF does that even mean, man?  You are comparing that song to Johnny Cash or Merle Haggard?  A "splash of hip hop?"  Insane person.

The basic idea I am getting from the album is that he is doing hip hop, but throwing in a little slice of country (imagine a banjo line behind the trap beats).  I do not find any pleasure in this and would not go see it.

Austin City Limits 2023: Random Early Thought

I know that by now, if you are still reading this blog right now, you are mired in 90's Nashville country hell with me, but know that soon enough you will be freed from this prison.  

OR WILL YOU?!?!?!

I just saw an announcement for Shania Twain's big world tour in support of a new album, which piqued my interest enough to click on the article.  Guess what ol' Momma Twain is up to next fall?  She'll be finishing up the London leg of her tour by September 28, and then has a nice little gap in her dates, before she picks the tour back up in San Antonio on October 12.  What's that you say?  When is ACL in 2023?  That's right, it is October 6-8 and October 13-15.  Which means that an October 12 show in San Antonio would be no problem for her.  The only issue there is that she is playing the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on the 13th, but she absolutely is wide open for a Saturday or Sunday headlining slot at the Fest.

And, while it also seems insane to predict, it seems a lot less insane this year after having P!nk and The Chicks play headliner sets.  Ten years ago, you would have been laughed out of the room for predicting that Shania freaking Twain might headline ACL.  But no more.  She definitely feels like someone in the same neighborhood of the big girl-power headliners ACL has leaned towards recently.  Seems legit to me!

LONG LIVE CRAPPY 90'S NASHVILLE COUNTRY FOR LYFE!!!

Lonestar

One Liner: The cheesiest cheese on the poster, but also a few good classics

Wikipedia Genre: Country

Home: Nashville

Poster Position: Small Type 
Sunday.

Thoughts:  Oh yeah, the "Amazed" guys!  I remember that one.  They also have classics like "Tequila Talkin'" and "No News."

Oh, their original name was the tragically bad Texassee.  Ouch.  Good call on changing that up. The reason for the name was that all five members were from Texas, but met in Nashville at Opryland theme park.  Five guys formed the band in 1992, including John Rich who is half of the comically terrible Big & Rich.  The lead vocalist has also changed a few times.  But since that formation, they've nailed nine #1 songs on the Hot Country Chart, and three of their albums have been certified as platinum or higher.  According to Wikipedia, their first two albums were more normal neotraditionalist country, but then they shifted into a country pop mode.

Their first big hit was from their eponymous debut, and it is one that I definitely recognize.  "Tequila Talkin'" peaked at #8 on the charts and has a surprisingly low 4.9 million streams.

Classic two-steppin' song right there.  A little bit sentimental, the hard rim shot to keep time, just right.  That song also had the more rockin' "No News," which I also think is pretty good.  It even mentions Pearl Jam, in a country song, which had to have been a first (and maybe a last?).  Their second album in 1997 didn't spawn many big songs (although their cover of "Amie" is fun), and after that one Rich left the band, but then their 1999 album Lonely Grill spawned the biggest track of their catalog.  198.6 million streams for "Amazed."

Spent eight weeks at number one on the country charts, and helped this album go double-platinum.  It also went to #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts, crossing over into dentists' offices everywhere.  They look like some Nickelback shit in that video, and that is such a slick piece of country pop schlock.  That being said, I would absolutely two-step to it immediately.  Will there be a dance floor in front of the stages for this festival?

After that, they released a parade of Greatest Hits, Christmas album, and other albums with generally less and less interest.  The top remaining song is the imminently cheesy title track to their 2001 album I'm Already There, which has 53.1 million streams.

FOR THE TROOPS!  That is a tearjerker extraordinaire  - I mean, I'm still definitely a sucker for those damn videos of people being surprised by their loved ones showing up after deployment.  While the lyrics of this song make it sound like this Dad is actually just a long-haul truck driver or something, and is just off being a bad dad somewhere else (see the "hotel room" in the lyrics), but this video for sure turns it into a message from the troops back home to their loved ones.

I'm not loving these guys as much as some of the other classics on here.  The transition into slick, adult-contemporary blandness, and leaving behind the more classic country sound, makes me less interested.  From their stream counts, it looks like most of the world agrees with me.

Zach Bryan

One Liner: Excellent low-key singer-songwriter Americana

Wikipedia Genre: Country, alt-country
Home: Oklahoma

Poster Position: HEADLINER
Saturday.

As with some of the others on this poster, this guy was just at ACL, so I'm mostly using my review and analysis from then.

Thoughts: Sweet!  I had completely forgotten about this guy.  My niece's husband pinged me about him a year or two ago and I tried out his only album (at the time) and really liked it.  Before I get to that, do you have people in your life who frequently send you direct messages on Instagram?  I find that to be such an odd action.  Like, the message is not forwarding an Instagram post or whatever, its just a substitute for a text message.  I'm sure all the youth use this all the time and I'm the weird one, but it just seems unnecessarily complicated to message through an app.  Get offa my lawn!

I'll readily admit that when I pulled this guy up, my first thought was that this was going to be some bro-country garbage like Jon Pardi was last year, but this is absolutely not that.  Isn't there another country guy with the last name Bryan? LUKE!  Thanks google. When I clicked on the first song, the voice just sounds familiar.  He's got a special voice that isn't perfectly tuned, but also isn't one of those ragged and raw singer-songwriter voices either.  Here is what I said about his debut album back in 2020:

"Zach Bryan - DeAnn.  I have a relatively new Nephew-in-Law (is that a thing?  I'll assume that is a thing, I will call him Nephew-in-Law) who suggested this guy to me, and I like it.  Very stripped down singer-songwriter type stuff - just a guy and his guitar - but some of these have good turns of phrase that make the guy appealing to me.  I won't say he's as good as Tyler Childers, but he's in that same wheelhouse.  He doesn't have a bio on Spotify, and his photos look like he was a Young Life counselor in a prior life.  This article makes it sound like he's been blowing up because of this album, released without a label or publicity.  He says he is on active duty with the Navy (which is pretty damn boss), but threw this together when some friends encouraged him to let his stuff see the light of day.  "God Speed" has a few great lines, like "And I wanna love a girl who doesn't worry about the pictures when we kiss ... lay in bed all day and call that shit pure bliss."  That's the song I'll give you - 1.9 million streams [up to 46.9 million now!].

I can imagine that these tunes would be even better with a full-on band and arrangements backing them up.  They're good as they are, but adding in some drums and banjos and a children's choir and digeridoos and BASS DROPS would complete the package.  Cool story, good stuff."

Here's another, filmed with his usual DIY-level of professionalism.  "Heading South."  Over 15 million streams on YouTube is damn solid [now up to 135.3 million].

Just a sweaty old boy jammin' his guitar.

Since that album, he's obviously gotten even bigger and better, and he's released a 2020 album called Elizabeth, and a handful of singles.  Elizabeth adds a tiny bit more accompaniment - "Mine" has some piano tossed in there.  "Revival" full on adds in a drummer, extra singers, and a little piano!  It's WILD!  The funny thing is that its actually not, it still has this same stripped-down and raw sound.  Oh hey, and thats the top song!  Just over 16 million streams [now up to 27.6 million].

Those goofy ass little stool drums, man.  Nothing makes me think YoungLife and Christian summer camp like one of those things manned by some overly serious white boy who thinks they sound like Neal Peart.  Even though you aren't getting the studio experience in that video, you get the picture.  He's still pretty stripped down and basic.  Lets the lyrics shine through.

His story is alluded to up above in my old review, but let's talk a little more about him.  He was born in Japan while his parents were deployed overseas in the Navy, but his home is some tiny town called Oologah, Oklahoma.  He also joined the Navy, and would still make music on the side as a hobby.  His friends encouraged him to put some of that music out there, and so he started putting videos up on YouTube.  His first album was in 2019, and is named after his late mother.  He apparently recorded it with his friends in an AirBnB in Florida while on leave.  He ended up putting in eight years with the Navy before being honorably discharged in October 2021.  Now he can put his music at the forefront.  Oh, hey, and he's supposed to release his first real-deal studio album in 2 days.  Look forward to checking it out!

We'll go with one more, his newest track, just for giggles.  Although "Open the Gate" is the named single on this release, the second song has all the streams, so we'll go with that one.  "Something in the Orange," released as a single in 2022 and already 12.5 million streams [now his top streamer at 164 million streams].

Lovely.  And all of those fan videos he stitched together with sunsets and sunrises were really cool too.  Except for the dorks dancing for the camera or otherwise looking at it.  Those were lame.  Show me more videos of nature and the sun.  Good tune!

And since I wrote this, he released that new album last Friday.  I had sort of forgotten about it, except that our youth group leader gave it a shout out on Sunday morning, saying that his "high" of the week was that his favorite artist had released a new album on Friday.  A kid jokingly asked if he meant Harry Styles, and he said it was Zach Bryan.  For someone to say this is their favorite artist overall is an interesting tidbit.  As for the new album, it is very good, but it is also THIRTY-FOUR FREAKING SONGS AND OVER TWO HOURS LONG!!!!!!!  Holy hannah.  Come the hell on, man.  Can't you just do three separate albums instead?  My goodness.  The top track is "From Austin," with 20.5 million streams [now 48.6 million].

Lovely.

I'd definitely go check him out.  I just got to see his ACL Fest show, and he tore into "From Austin" with some extra verve and a crowd of folks who knew enough to yell the chorus along with him.  Pretty sweet.  He's got a cool look, a great voice, a songwriter's knack for finding interesting ways to tell a story, and a steadily-growing following, so I expect we'll have more good stuff to hear soon.  I like this.

Uncle Kracker

One Liner: Lite-rock semi-rapper with Kid Rock's help turned lite-country guy 

Wikipedia Genre: Country (?!?!)

Home: Nashville (but originally from Muscle Shoals, AL)

Poster Position: Small Type 
Saturday.

Thoughts:  This isn't the guy I thought it was, in my mind, I think I was thinking that this was Crazy Town with the song that stole from the Chili Peppers.  Instead, this guy is more in the neighborhood of lite-rock Sugar Ray.

Several of his top ten songs are not actually his songs.  #2 is a cover, but that is okay.  But #4 is a Kenny Chesney song that he appears on, #5 is by Moonshine Bandits that he appears on (and is freaking HORRIBLE), and #6 features Kid Rock and feels very much like a Kid Rock song.  Kid Rock is actually a really apt comparison for what this dude sounds like.  "Good to Me" very much sounds like one of those newer, classic-rock-biting Kid Rock tracks.

The big hit was 2000's "Follow Me," from his debut Double Wide.  264.6 million streams.

Wait, is that the Sugar Ray guy in that video?  Maybe that is why I conflated them.  Those teeth, the lite-rock jazziness, and the light AutoTune make this a brutal tune.  I'm sure some people have happy thoughts from it from back in the day, but that is not me.  His 2002 follow-up album boasts his second-most streamed tune, another lite-rock anthem with him covering Dobie Gray's hit "Drift Away" and using all of the tip frosting that he could afford at the salon.  133.4 million streams.

Gah.  I feel like someone wrote back to me when I made fun of UK being on this poster, saying that this cover was great.  I do not find it to be great.  The sight of him singing the word "doooooo" with his little lips pursed over his foul flavor saver is sending me to a bad place.  Nothing interesting about suck an exact copy of the original.  Like, did he actually add anything there?  I don't hear it.  The best part is that he has Dobie on there to add some actual soul to the song.

Kracker is actually Matthew Shafer, and before going out on his own he was in Kid Rock's backing group called Twister Brown Trucker.  He was born in Michigan, and Kid Rock was part of his lore: "With his brother Mike Shafer, he visited a nightclub in Clawson, Michigan, where a turntables competition was occurring. His older brother was competing against a then-unknown Kid Rock. Shafer soon became friends with Kid Rock. In 1994, Kid Rock asked Shafer to play turntables for his band called Twisted Brown Trucker. Shafer knew nothing of using turntables, but since his brother was an experienced DJ, he agreed. He only performed at live shows at the time, until he began recording for Rock's album, Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp; Shafer was a featured vocalist on some of the tracks."

Rock apparently produced that first album, so this is why I am hearing that in these songs.  The album went 2x Platinum, although it did not have any other charting singles.  The second album, with "Drift Away," only went Gold, although "Drift Away" set a record for most weeks atop the Adult Contemporary charts with 28 consecutive weeks.  That sounds about right.  After this, he apparently made friends with Kenny Chesney and went in a country direction with his future albums.  Nothing on 2004's Seventy Two & Sunny has more than 1mm streams, but 2009's Happy Hour has a hit in "Smile," with 15 million streams.

Total modern country stuff there, with awful lyrics and a drum machine.  "sing like a bird, dizzy in my head, spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night."  Feels like something that the Nashville writers tried to get anyone else to use, and they all thought it was too cheesy, until Kracker finally came along.  The amazing thing is how many people in the YouTube comments LOVE these songs.  The backing music is lite-rock schlock of the worst order, and the lyrics are so derivative and bad.  I just don't get it.  Maybe I need to go into songwriting.  "You're cool, you're hot, you're nice, you're sweet, you're my baaaaaabeeeee, oh yeah!"  HIT RECORD RIGHT THERE!!!

I tried the newest non-greatest hits album, 2012's Midnight Special, and it blows too.

I would prefer to stop listening to these songs, and will definitely do my best to avoid his show at the fest.  I'm probably being too harsh and people just like these songs because they're mellow and inoffensive and remind them of good times, but if I am trying to be objective and critical of them, then I can find a lot to dislike here. 

Shenandoah

One Liner: Ex-session musicians churning out 80's country gold

Wikipedia Genre: Country

Home: Nashville (but originally from Muscle Shoals, AL)

Poster Position: Small Type 
Saturday.

Thoughts:  Another one of these bands where nothing came to me before I clicked on their Spotify, but I definitely know a few of the top ten.  Annoyingly, their top ten repeats songs, so I guess they really didn't have the run of hits I would have expected.  Strangely, the one song that pops into my head for them is "Under the Kudzu," but that isn't even in their top ten.

Shenandoah refers to a native indian tribe and an Oneida Iroquois chief, and several areas in Virginia are named the same - a town and county, River, Valley, Mountain, National Park, a University, etc.  There are also towns with the same name in many other states, as well as multiple ships like the USS Shenandoah, the CSS Shenandoah, and others.  There was movie using the name staring Jimmy Stewart and a resulting Broadway musical.  There is even a beard style called the Shenandoah, which "is grown full and long over the jaw and chin, meeting the sideburns, while the hair above the mouth is shaved" and is also called the "chin curtain."

But the band is five guys from Muscle Shoals, Alabama that formed in 1984.  The lineup has not been static the entire time, and from 1997 to 2000 the band was broken up entirely, but it sounds like two of the original members are still along for the ride.  Nine albums, with two being certified Gold.  That is much less than some of the others on this poster, I figured we'd have some platinum stuff here.  Five number one singles, and a Grammy Award for a collaboration with Allison Krauss.  These guys were originally a collection of session musicians who decided to give a real band a go, and CBS Records signed them.

After they became commercially successful, this ubiquity of their name came back to bite them.  After their third album, a band from Kentucky threatened to sue Shenandoah over the use of the name Shenandoah. After a financial settlement with that band, two other bands filed lawsuits over the name. The lawsuits depleted any earnings and the band ended up filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 1991.  That's not very fun.

The top track for the band is "Two Dozen Roses," with 49 million streams, and was originally on 1988's The Road Not Taken.

Classic sad sack love song.  Solid stuff.  I don't know why it is bugging me, but that "Under the Kudzu" song isn't even listed in their Spotify.  Like, that whole album just isn't there.  I guess their RCA Records albums, which they made after that bankruptcy, aren't available for streaming for some reason.  I'm going to give it to you anyway, because I enjoy the tune.  Zero streams.

Good old song about the South.  Part of the reason the song is so memorable is probably because it made me wonder what the hell kudzu is.  But a kind of southern rock tune there.  That was from their 1993 album, so it would have hit right around the time I was hearing more country from more sources.  I think "I Want to be Loved Like That" was also a song I recall from that album.  Too bad they aren't available for streaming.

One more, their other big hit, was "Next to You, Next to Me," from 1990's Extra Mile.  25 million streams.

An actual video!  And those mechanics are creepers!  Stop looking up the skirts, bro!  Also, he is looking way too intently into his fellow band-members' faces.  He looks like that hobbit dude - Samwise Ganjee.  But, end of the day, that is a good song - a fun classic full of schmaltz and two mentions of barbecue chicken.  I dig it.

They released a new album in 2020 that features a bunch of current country folks - Zac Brown Band, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Ashley McBride, etc.  None of these songs are very good, and their stream counts reflect my personal judgment.  They do a surprisingly good "Can't Buy Me Love" on their Certified Hits album though.

They aren't top of my list here of all of the available stuff on this poster, but solid.