Tracy Byrd (2025)

One Liner: High Cheese rating 90's Nashville country and a DWI PSA

Wikipedia Genre: Country

Home: Nashville (but originally from Vidor!)

Saturday.

Thoughts:  Last here in 2023.

Oh hell yeah. The "Watermelon Crawl" guy!  Amazingly, several of the other songs in his top ten are also familiar to me, even though when I started this listening experience, I legitimately thought that I had never heard of anything from Byrd.  "I'm From the Country," "The Keeper of the Stars," and "Don't Take Her She's All I Got" are all classics.  But they don't have nearly the stream count of "Watermelon Crawl," so you get to kick it off with that song about avoiding DWIs.  141.4 million streams (fascinatingly, up from 90.9 in 2023?).

His face in that screen grab looks a little like a young, unfurry Ted Cruz.  That lady painting that sign and trying to sexily wipe away sweat with her forearm is amazing.  Why is Byrd singing over his shoulder like that?  Did he hurt his neck in a DWI incident and the State of Georgia made him write this song as a PSA?  Also, have you ever been to the Luling Watermelon Thump?  I went once and had a spectacular time.  Pretty sure whoever drove me home that night, likely one of my cousin-in-laws who is now in law enforcement, did not participate in the watermelon crawl to get me home.  Good times!

Oh no.  The fourth most popular song is right where my bemused enjoyment of this ends.  "Drinkin' Bone" is one of those awful, just deeply terrible country songs.  "The drinkin' bone's connected to the party bone, the party bone's connected to the stayin' out all night long, and she won't think it's funny and I wind up all alone, and the lonely bone's connected to the drinkin' bone."  Ooofff.  I mean, he's not wrong, but that is just a terrible set of lyrics right there that lives up to all of the issues with country music of this ilk.  The "Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo" song is also terrible schlock that feels like he is trying to copy Buffett/Jackson.

But then "The Keeper of The Stars" fires up - this is a great song!  I had zero clue that it was by Tracy Byrd, but that is a cheesy-as-hell modern country classic.  A love song, leaning on God, just righteous.  That one is definitely a camp rodeo dance classic.  35.6 million streams.

Soft focus camera-work.  Little girls with pigtails.  The moon.  A white dove.  Bubbles!  They used freaking bubbles!  This video is cheese heaven.  That song is apparently popular for weddings and also won Song of the Year at the 1995's ACMs.

57 years old, Byrd got his initial break in 1993 with a single called "Holdin' Heaven," which is still in his top ten but with a very low stream count relative to the rest of his popular tunes.  Funny stuff, when I started it, I figured I had never heard it before, and then the chorus kicked in and I somehow know the whole dumb thing.  The brain is weird, man.  7.1 million streams.

I don't understand what is happening.  Do I actually like Tracy Byrd?  This one feels like it could have been George Strait, or maybe Clay Walker.  Despite my preconceptions, I like it!

Tracy Byrd is even his real name.  That is probably more normal in country than in other genres.  He grew up in Vidor, Texas, which has some sad history in the area of race relations.  But is also the hometown of Clay Walker and Don Rollins, the guy who wrote "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere."  He left Vidor and went to Lamar University and then Texas State.  A friend talked him in to singing "Your Cheatin' Heart" at one of those mall recording studios (do you remember those?  More on those in a minute) and the owner of the studio liked it so much he entered Byrd into a talent contest, leading to him signing with MCA Records.  Discovered in a mall!

The mall recording studio!?!?  I totally remember those!  I never went in to one - I wasn't much of a mall person - but I absolutely recall those things existing.  You could go into the "studio" and record yourself with a karaoke-style backing track, and they'd make you a tape or VHS of your sweet performance right there on the spot.

Reddit is telling me that the store was called Soundtracks.  I can't recall, but that is awesome.  I can't find much online about them, but I was always a little jelly of the people who went in there and got sweet recordings of their awesome singing...

His first eponymous album was 1993's Tracy Byrd, and then 1994's No Ordinary Man must have been the big hit, with several songs on there that I recognize.  After that, 1995's Love Lessons has very low stream counts, and 1996's Big Love really only has "Don't Take Her She's All I Got."  1998's I'm From the Country has that title track as a big hit.  After that, it's a wasteland of either the bad songs I outlined above or low stream stuff.  Including the awful-looking All American Texan album from 2016 with songs like "Texas Truck" and "Only Jesus."  "Texas Truck" actually sounds like he's trying to copy Lyle Lovett's "You're Not From Texas."  "Don't Call Me Momma" kind of made me smile, as goofy as it is.

Anyway, Tracy freaking Byrd!  Actually, pretty not horrible!  I'm shocked.  I literally just caught myself singing "I'm From the Country" while walking the halls a minute ago.  What is happening.

Nelly (2025)

One Liner: THE St. Louis Rapper, as far as I'm concerned, with loads of hits you know (and a new country angle that is depressing)

Wikipedia Genre: Hip hop
Home: The Lou

Day: Sunday

Thoughts: I could have sworn that he already did a Two Step, but I went back and looked and the rappers so far have been T-Pain and Ludacris (with other weird things like Diplo around as well).  I guess in my head, he is pretty much a lot like Ludacris - past his prime, famously from a certain city, and with a HUGE catalog of fun songs.

And it is good that he has a good old catalog, because there is no new album.  At least as of today.  However, he does have a terrible rap/country crossover that popped up in 2022.  MOre on that in a moment.

This guy was awesome.  If you don't agree with me, then you are a crazy person.  Or you just don't remember the power of 2000 and 2002 Nelly.  I'm going to run through the power tunes, and you're going to be like - OH YEAH!  THAT ONE RULES TOO! 

First, his freshman album, Country Grammar, from 2000.  Boasts two major hits, as well as another tune that I still love even without the major playcounts.  First, the big hit.  "Ride With Me."  672.2 million streams.

"Heeeyyyyyy, must be the money!"  Weird that they cut out the "get high with me" part of each chorus on that video.  I like the guitar strum part of the beat.  Next, my favorite from the album, "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)," which has a freaking fantastic beat and is key to my running songs mix.  262.7 million streams.  Sadly, a censored version of this too.  

Hot beat.  So fun.  He can't say "street sweeper?"  Because it connotes guns?  Censorship is weird.  Lotsa views of that video too, so this is a big hit.  Such a cool ass beat.

One more from this album, because I always like it.  "E.I.," with 80.8 million streams.

Love the Scooby Doo sound at the start, and I dig the beat of this one too.  Why can't I hear the proper cuss words?  Dammit, Nelly!  Uh ohhhhhhhh!  "Batter Up" and "Luven Me" were also popular tunes on that album, but I'll save your additional viewership for the next mega album.

Country Grammar went Diamond, meaning it sold more than ten million copies in the U.S.  Pretty sure no one does that now except for TayTay and Drake, so, pretty impressive.

2002's Nellyville also had a pile of hits.  I still randomly sing snippets of them, even 22 years later, so I think this one stands the test of time.  Also peaked at #1 on the charts, but only sold six million copies.  The top song, in my mind, is not his most streamed song (somehow).  I'll get to that #1 song in a moment, after I play the best song.  "Hot in Herre," with 575.8 million streams.

Another great beat - done by the Neptunes (Pharrell, and you can hear his little cowbell influence on it throughout).  Another unforgettable chorus (that I randomly sing to my kids all the time).  Also, "I was like, good gracious, ass is bodacious."  Word.  And, "I think ma butt gettin' big!"  This would be the best song to jam out to at the fest.  Bar none.  

Somehow, the tune with Kelly Rowland (of Destiny's Child) on it is the top track, and his overall most streamed tune.  "Dilemma" with 928.2 million streams (creeping on a billion).

Fine, although the slow jam style kind of sucks the energy out of the room to me.  Gimme those jams with the dope beats and the slick rhymes, yo!  This album has a few other hits, and a few others that I remember from owning this album 20 years ago, tracks like "#1 (24.7 million)," "Air Force Ones (87.6 million)," "Work It" (with Justin Timberlake, 7.6 million), and this next one, that I randomly sing to annoy my wife with some frequency, "Pimp Juice."  21.1 million streams.

Yessir.  That beat, which uses a little flute-ish lilt in the background (that I recognize from the outro from Geto Boys' Til Death Do Us Part), is groovy as hell.  I'm sure you can all understand how fun it is for my wife to hear me sing to her about my "Pimp Juice."  She is literally a saint.

Now, after the golden age of Nelly, I honestly didn't even know if he kept making albums.  But yep.  Looks like he just kept on plowing along, without the public along for the ride.  He really got deep with his album naming for a short while, with 2004's Suit (includes a song with freaking Tim McGraw), 2004's Sweat, and then 2005's Sweatsuit.  See what he did there?  Sweat did better than Suit, but neither of them crushed the charts.  The next album was 2008's Brass Knuckles, and the hit from that was "Body on Me," with Ashanti, with 113.6 million streams.

I don't recall ever hearing that song.  Like, ever.  But I do recall Akon now.  That guy was huge for a minute.  Not a great song.  Nelly released 5.0 in 2010, and one song on their blew up - "Just a Dream" fired up 530 million stinkin' plays.  Let's see what is up with that one.

Oh yeah.  I've heard that.  Honestly wouldn't have said it was Nelly on that one.  One of his biggest tunes, now that I see that.  Which is weird!  

In 2013, he released M.O., and it has a collaboration with Florida Georgia Line, which is the most depressing sentence I can think of writing.  Also has songs with Future, T.I., Nicki Minaj, and a bunch of others - but those don't have much in the way of streams.  Somehow, one without a collab is the top song from this album, "Hey Porsche," with 83.3 million streams.

Oh God.  No.  Oh, what just ...  oh, my ears ...  Please God, make that stop!  What is happening?  NOOOOOOOO!!!  I would not advise listening to that rap/EDM/Country pile of shit.  Just avoid it at all costs.  Stick to the good old stuff.  And a quick run through the rest of this album finds the songs more generally terrible, and not so especially, intentionally, horrifically awful.  But this album is bad.  

And then, you get the turn of the wheel that gets him on the poster to the Two Step Inn.  In 2021 he released Heartland, which is an obvious crossover attempt.  Features Florida Georgia Line, Breland, Kane Brown, Darius Rucker, etc. to get him some of that sweet,. sweet Country action.  Of course, the FGL song has 267 million streams.  Dammit.

Oh man.  Yeah, that is awful.  It makes me very sad that if I went to see his show at TSI, we might end up having to listen to this trash because he thinks the country fans want to hear him pander with this awful stuff.  He also released a 2022 single called "Birthday Girl" that is similarly countrified and awful.  Bummer.

Nelly should stick to his post-rap life, of being a generally good dude in the St. Louis community (and not the part of his post rap life that includes two sexual assault charges).  Or acting!  He was pretty solid as generic inmate #7 in the remake of the Longest Yard.  Just stop making bad new country/rap.  Either make rad old rap like you used to or keep collecting a million pounds of food to fight hunger.

I doubt that I will see this show, being that he will likely be against Ryan Bingham, but if he'll stick to the classics it would be a killer show!

Shane Smith & The Saints (2025)

One Liner:  Damn fine Texas-centric country

Wikipedia Genre: red dirt, country

Home: Austin!

Sunday at ___

Thoughts:  They came through ACL in 2016 and I remember enjoying the vibe.  The first comp that comes to mind is Turnpike Troubadours.  Not the same sound here, but these guys sound like the kind of band that has a huge following at Texas State and Sam Houston State and can sell out a frat party or small town barroom in the blink of an eye.  Basic red dirt stuff, but with a massive band all playing well to combine their forces into a party.

Four albums, 2013's Coast, 2015's Geronimo, 2019's Hail Mary, and 2024's Norther (with a pair of live albums among the rest).  This isn't quite outlaw country, but is a little bit more country than straight Americana would be, but its right in that same area of the musical map where those two nations border. Some electric guitar, some fiddle, some acoustic guitar, and pretty great lyrics that should be easy to sing along with.  Maybe it sounds a little like the Avett Brothers, if they were a little more traditionally "country."

The most streamed is one off of the 2015 album, called "All I See Is You," with 62.6 million streams.  Was under a million back in 2016, for what it's worth.

Live version, so the sound isn't quite as good as their studio version, but you get it.  High energy and fun, almost jam band-ish if it weren't for the insistent fiddling.  You also get the Yellowstone effect - that song was apparently used in Season 4 of the show, and that may be why it has popped into a major hit for them.

Huh.  Wikipedia says they are actually from Austin, which I did not realize.  I wouldn't say that you hear their name a bunch around town as a band about town.  The entire episode of Yellowstone where that song was used was named after the song, which probably ramped up the excitement a little more.  They also even appeared in the show, playing songs at an inaugural ball.  I really enjoyed parts of the first season of that show - mainly the landscape porn - but after a little while the drama and soapyness of it removed the pleasures for me.  Since then, they've gotten to play to a sold out show at Red Rocks and a jam at the Ryman, so their star is definitely shining these days.

Their old official bio claimed: "Hints of folk, rock, country and Americana all shine through an aggressive, rootsy fiddle beat stew that’s connecting with students, hipsters, bikers, roughnecks and songwriter buffs at every stop."  Fiddle beat stew.  Not going to get those words out of my mind for a bit.  They then name check Mumford & Sons, Band of Horses, Flogging Molly, and Creedence.  Bold and weird choices there, but whatever.  

Before that one hit so big, the first album boasted "Dance the Night Away," with 12.7 million streams.

A little banjo, tambourine, and you've got a good time song.  I like it, and I bet it's fun as hell to jam out to in a live setting.

However, this is also that kind of name-checking country that I used to make fun of, as pioneered by Robert Earl and Pat Green, singing about Copenhagen, Wolf Brand Chili, and Shiner Beer to establish their bona fides as real Texas boys.  That track above goes to the tried and true "cajuns and zydeco" well.  "Work Was Through" is a name-checking paradise, from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Kurt Cobain to Johnny Cash (and the Broken Spoke, although that ain't dead yet).  Other songs drop Austin, oil, Neil Young, whiskey, headin' for the coast to heal your soul, and a prayer to be buried in Texas when your time is through.  That being said, this doesn't taste as craven, so I'm not as hung up on the dropping of names and well-used tropes.  

What you realize after a few listens is that the lyrics are remarkably clear - which I love - meaning that you can really hear and understand the lyrics.  And I think these lyrics are good, worthy of being heard.  "The Mountain" is a good example, going from an a capella lament until it morphs into a fiddle breakdown, all about miners who have to go down into the under-mountain dragon who keeps the coal in his lungs.  Or "Oil Town," which evokes Springsteen over an almost Irish (maybe Boston Irish) fiddle/harmonica rock track.

The two newer albums don't stray from the system that got them here - maybe the new album is a little darker-sounding?  Like they were pissed when they made it?  You know what is funny, I then came back to the new album today, and it sort of sounds like Springsteen tried to make an Americana album.  Strange to put some space between your thoughts.  

Not too many streams for the Hail Mary album - nothing breaks 3 million - but the Norther disc has one that must be on playlists somewhere because it is over 6 million streams.  "Fire in the Ocean."

This almost has some U2/Edge guitar going on in there at the start, and when the drums come in I hear Coldplay.  No, wait, is that Kings of Leon? Something about that drum piece sounds 100% borrowed.  But I also feel like this song would force me to just start yelling WOOOOOAOAAHGAHAHHHHHH along with the chord progression if I heard it live.  If you listen to their Red Rocks live album, you can catch a feel for the experience live.  And it sounds amazing.  I'd go see this for sure.