20 African American Artists Better For Country Than Lil Nas X
This story has been updated.
Oh the irony of so many people demanding all music sound the same in the name of “diversity.” The only reason we’re even having a discussion of where Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” should be placed on the charts is because you can’t tell the difference between most any given piece of popular music anymore. It’s all basically the same—hip-hop electronic beats and rapping, with whatever else thrown in as window dressing. It doesn’t matter if it’s hip-hop, country, pop, R&B, or even rock, the same formula persists. And somehow this development is being sold to the public as “evolution,” while in truth it is the bleeding out of the vast tapestry of diverse influences that went into making American culture the most influential and creative epicenter in the world, which is now being destroyed in the gross homogenization of popular entertainment.
We shouldn’t just be having open and honest discussions about what Billboard chart Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” should be slotted on. We should be having open and honest discussions of whether meme algorhythms that can’t even clock in at 2 minutes and are brought to prominence via things like the Tik-Tok app should even be eligible for chart inclusion at all. A “song” like “Old Town Road” isn’t just an example of the onset of the monogenre, it’s an example of the onset of Idiocracy. Lil Nas X isn’t even a performer. He showed up to an Atlanta Hawks game recently to sing “Old Town Road,” and just stood at center court while the song played over the loudspeakers. At least Wal-Mart yodel boy Mason Ramsey could sing.
If people have fun with “Old Town Road,” more power to them. But memes shouldn’t being included in music charts. And Lil Nas X is the least of the guilty parties in this matter. He made a silly meme track that went viral. He’s doing the American hustle, and gamed the system to get “Old Town Road” to be considered on the country charts in the first place. If anything, you should tip your hat to him. It’s Billboard, and otherwise intelligent members of the music and media community who know this song is a misogynistic joke track, but refuse to speak up in fear of being labeled racist, even in the face of outright lies being perpetrated in this song’s defense.
If the music community actually gave a shit about diversity, they wouldn’t be advocating for a song like “Old Town Road” which is an affront to the integrity of all popular music. They would be opposing it at all turns, regardless of what genre you want to call it. Then, they would actually begin advocating for the inclusion of actual country and roots music artists of African American descent on Billboard’s country charts—artists who devoted their lives to these important American art forms, who exhibit incredible, generational, and world-renown talent, and are just waiting in the wings for their chance at more attention and support while artists like Lil Nas X don’t open doors for them, they close them in favor of viral meme culture invading the music space.
Lil Nas X doesn’t just threaten the integrity of country music as a cultural institution, he specifically makes a mockery and downgrades the legacy of African Americans in the genre, who per capita, do more to preserve the roots and traditions of country music than Caucasian performers. Here’s a list of some of them, many of whom have been featured on Saving Country Music multiple times while being ignored by the rest of the media who profess to want inclusion in country music.
Mickey Guyton – A major label-signed artist, Guyton is a great bridge between the classic and contemporary, pulling fans from both sides of the country music divide, and registering a Top 40 hit in 2015 with “Better Than You Left Me.” Unfortunately, he career has stalled since then as attention gets placed on other artists less deserving.
Yola – Americana UK’s Artist of the Year in 2017, Yola just released her Dan Auerbach-produced debut LP Walk Through The Fire. Yola is blessed with a one-in-a-million voice, and is ripe for being included within the mainstream country ranks.
Rhiannon Giddens – A founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drop who helped revitalize the African American legacy in country music, she’s already seen charts success as a guest on Eric Church’s Top 10 hit “Kill A Word.” Her solo career is filled with incredible offerings, and she also just released a new album with a supergroup of black women she assembled called Our Native Daughters.
Tony Jackson – Tony Jackson is one of the greatest country singers of our time, evidenced by his viral cover of George Jones’ “The Grand Tour.” He also recently competed on the USA Network singing competition Real Country.
Aaron Vance – A staunch country traditionalist with an incredible voice and unique style, he’s been summarily ignored by the mainstream and much of country music media. His latest record, 2017’s My Own Way displays his incredible adeptness with traditional country.
Charley Crockett – Part African American and Jewish, and a direct descendant of Davy Crockett, his throwback style reconnects the roots of country and blues. He’s released covers records of both country and blues classics, along with his original music. Charley also has that indefinable cool factor, that has made him a fan favorite from the traditionalists in his home state of Texas, to the hipsters in east Nashville and California.
Valerie June – Her roots music footprint is massive, and though there is certainly some old school R&B in her sound and other genres would love to claim her for themselves, the heart of Valerie June’s music still revolves around wood and wires, and the real foundations of country music’s bluesy and Gospel past.
Dom Flemons – A former member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Dom Flemons is one of country music’s premier revivalists. His 2018 album Black Cowboys was full of primitive country and folk songs, recitations of black cowboy poems, and was a deep reenactment of what you might have heard from African American trail riders and pioneers during American expansionism, including modes of music making, lyrical phrasing, and instrumentation that went on to influence Western music and country styles that traditionalists in the country genre still employ today.
Kaia Kater – Canada’s banjo maestro and roots revivalist, Kaia Kater has a sound and style that’s bold yet sparse. Great songwriting is bolstered by a strong voice, and she is charting a path as a rising star in roots music, building off the work others have done before her to break down the myth that black artists aren’t owed a debt of gratitude to the formation of the country genre.
Allison Russell – Member of both the roots duo Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters, if everyone did things in life with the same passion that Allison Russell sings with, the world would be a better place.
Amythyst Kiah – a Southern Gothic roots music performer born in Chattanooga and based in Johnson City, Tennessee, she graduated from East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies as the only African American in the program during the time of her enrollment. She is also a member of the supergroup Our Native Daughters.
Leyla McCalla – From Haitian heritage, Leyla McCall is a classical and folk musician specializing in cello, who has played with both the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Our Native Daughters. Her first album Vari-Colored Songs was a tribute to Langston Hughes, and was sung in Haitian Creole.
Our Native Daughters – A collaboration between fellow female African American roots performers Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell, and Amythyst Kiah, their February 2019 album released via Smitsonia Folkways portrayed the often overlooked suffering, resilience, and agency of black women during the slave era.
Miss Tammi Savoy – An Ameripolitan Music award winner in the rockabilly category, Tammi Savoy bridges the gap between old school R&B and the juke joint vibe of traditional country. A stunning singer, she commonly collaborates with Chris Casello, and has become a favorite on the vintage circuit.
Milton Patton – Though much more of a contemporary artists than others mentioned here, Patton still carries the roots of country in his sound. He once tried out for Americas Got Talent singing Brad Paisley’s “Whiskey Lullaby,” and has struggled to launch a career worthy of his talent.
Sunny War – Call her punk blues, folk roots, or primitive country, what you can’t call Sunny War is tame. Though her countenance is calm demeanored, her music holds powerful messages born on tempest-torn stories that resonate.
Ben Hunter – Primary member of the duo Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons, this Seattle-based primitive country and folk-based musician specializes in discovering forgotten songs and stories from America’s musical past, and putting new life into them for today’s audiences.
Mavis Staples – Though known mostly as a R&B , Gospel, and soul goddess from her work with The Staple Sisters, Mavis has come to be considered one of the greatest living legends in Americana, and regularly lends her voice, musical influence, and wisdom to country performers awed by her presence.
Darius Rucker – Despite quite a few questionable efforts in Hootie’s country career, he did make a #1 song out of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel”—taking a song that might have been ubiquitous in the underground, but was probably worthy of a wider audience all the way to the top of the mainstream charts, underscoring again how it’s often minorities championing the more rootsy material in the mainstream. He also recently covered Drivin’ & Cryin’s anthemtic “Straight to Hell,” though that effort stalled out at #40. Still, Rucker has been most of his time in country sticking closer to the roots compared to his mainstream Caucasian counterparts, and to some serious success. Five of Rucker’s first six singles went to #1, proving that African Americans can have success, and refute that race solely plays a factor in who is allowed to succeed in country music.
Priscilla Renea – A songwriter from the pop world who also has composed multiple mainstream country songs, her 2018 Thirty Tigers release Coloured navigated the intersection of the pop and country world, but one where a mutual respect was brought to both art forms.
Along with these current performers, the legacies of Charley Pride, Ray Charles, Stoney Edwards, OB McClinton, Cleve Francis, The Pointer Sisters, and other African American artists that achieved chart success in country is often overlooked. Though not currently active, the legacy of the Carolina Chocolate Drops looms large in African American inclusion into country, Pastor Shirley Caesar was a Gospel artist with lots of country influences, and Linda Martell was the first black woman to perform at the Grand Ole Opry when she took the stage in August of 1969. DeFord Bailey was the first performer on the Grand Ole Opry ever, and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Tina Turner‘s debut solo album was Tina Turner Turns the Country On where she covered Hank Snow, Dolly Parton, and Kris Kristofferson among others. And there are many other African American performing artists that have been welcomed into the country and Americana realm such as The War & Treaty and The McCrary Sisters, Black Joe Lewis, and Leon Bridges just to name a few.
Beyond frontline performers, African American side players can also be seen in country currently, including drummer Jerry Pentacost who is one of the most well-recognized and beloved side players in country and Americana, and guitarist Michael “Scooter” McDonald, aka Black Shelton, who has played with numerous outfits in the Texas music scene.
In fact there are so many African American performers in country music and adjacent scenes, it’s tough to list them all. Apologies to all the artists who were not included here.
None of this means that country music didn’t have a race problem in the past, or may not still not need to work to eliminate lingering elements of racism today. But with the recent success of Kane Brown, Jimmie Allen, and Darius Rucker in country, it’s clear that African Americans can make it in the genre, despite the characterizations of the media. Including Lil Nas X in the country ranks doesn’t open doors for black performers, it closes them due to pushing actual musicians down a notch in recognition, stereotyping black country performers as nothing more than opportunistic meme creators with trap beats, while the African American artist who could bridge gaps, have devoted their lives to the music, and can prove the love for country and roots can be universal continue to struggle in the shade of the hip-hop monoculture.
Music has the unique power to down racial barriers. But it does so by celebrating our differences in background, heritage and influence, not attempting to resolve them under misguided notions of inclusion and diversity based solely off of skin color.
dukeroberts
April 2, 2019 @ 11:48 am
“Caucasian”? Yuck. I hate that term. If I must be separated by color, just call me “white”. My ancestors didn’t come from the Caucasus. I also hate “Euro-American” and “European-American”. Blech!
Great article on some great and criminally overlooked talent.
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 1:09 pm
You must hate political caucuses then too
dukeroberts
April 2, 2019 @ 1:30 pm
I do-die-do-die-do-die-do…
Lefty Throckmorton
October 5, 2019 @ 4:28 pm
Caucasian applies to you and other white people just like ‘Negroid’ applied to black people.
dukeroberts
October 5, 2019 @ 9:14 pm
And I don’t think people like the term “negroid” either.
Steophan
April 2, 2019 @ 11:48 am
After criticising your previous post, I thought I should say thanks for posting this, and that I’ve read it and will save it and check out the artists I’m not familiar with.
Trigger
April 2, 2019 @ 12:32 pm
Not to toot my own horn, but the majority of the artists listed about have been covered in multiple dedicated articles and mentioned in many others here on this very site. These artists are hiding in plain sight, and it is an extreme point of frustration when people claim there are no African American artists in country when as a demographic and per capita, they represent some of the most important, talented, inspiring, and dedicated artists of our generation.
Steophan
April 2, 2019 @ 12:42 pm
Thanks for doing so, I now have a bunch of albums saved on Spotify to go through, so it’s worked on this occasion. I’ll also try to read the site more often.
Sparky Lee
April 2, 2019 @ 2:33 pm
I don’t care if you’re green skinned if you can sing real country music and the western heritage that is being forgotten because of the all mighty green bill and is a shame. All the singers now on so called country stations are nothing but sell outs and imposters and can’t sing luke bryan is joke Florida whatever line make me vomit. This girl Mickey guyton is very good I have listened to her many times and Nashville is stupid for not promoting her more along with others. George jones , Conway , hank., Merle, bob wills are all rolling over in their graves because country roots are being buryed with them Btw if it matters I am white boy
JD
April 3, 2019 @ 4:56 am
I totally agree. Many with our views are fed up with the BS Nashville is pushing. “Bro-Country”, “Pop-Country and “R&B-Country”, give me a damn break. Where is Cody Jinks, Wade Bowen, Cody Johnson, Casey Donshew; these are TRUE COUNTRY Acts!
Lefty Throckmorton
May 2, 2019 @ 7:16 pm
@Trigger, these ‘people’ (a better term for them is sheeple) have no idea how to search for things anymore (even though many people have access to the Internet) and this is true when it comes to music as you said. I’ve got Facebook friends in my age range who have no idea that new rock music like the kind they grew up listening to is still being made; they all ASSume that everything is all pop music. I tell them that there is new music, and that they have to find it even though radio’s not really playing it anymore (with some exceptions, like this station here in Toronto, college radio stations in some cities, listener-supported radio stations and government stations like the CBC, BBC, or NPR.) They have to get it that commercial radio’s not interested in pushing anything like pop, and that they must take the initiative to find something that isn’t just older rock all of the time (people looking for actual country music must do so, too.)
Lefty Throckmorton
April 25, 2024 @ 8:57 pm
The big reason this is still (as of /4/25/2024) happening is because (and I hate to say this) Gen-Y (who are in charge of the media and media companies/outlets like Rolling Stone) and the generation coming up, Gen-Z are very lazy at doing historical research (assuming that history only happened as they know it from yesterday), which is why the howler about Charley Pride and the one mentioned by you in this article happened= (somebody posited that when a lot of older people were let go from media companies because of the downturn that happened to the newspaper industry, all that got hired in its wake were younger ones who know nothing about the past [resulting in interviews of celebrities like this one: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jerry-lewis-awkward-interview-thr-editors-reaction-viral-clip-958834/%5D). This whole situation-first with this incident in the wake of what Lil Nas X did up to the whole thing about Beyonce singing ‘country’ only nails it, IMHO.
King Honky Of Crackershire
April 2, 2019 @ 11:50 am
Trigger,
I know you won’t listen, but I’m begging you not to do this. Don’t go down this road.
In your attempt to combat the crybabies, you are rendering them credible, and by writing articles to qualify folks by their race, you almost become just as nutty as they are.
Please stop.
Trigger
April 2, 2019 @ 12:28 pm
I don’t care how unpopular it is, I don’t care if I lose readers and followers, I don’t care how many times I’m called racist, I believe this issue poses and existential threat to country music, and I would not be able to live with myself if I did not address it, and with a full-throated passion. It would also be a compromise of my journalistic ethics to let outright falsehoods and unmitigated lies prevail in the marketplace of ideas.
King Honky Of Crackershire
April 2, 2019 @ 1:02 pm
But that’s just it, the lies won’t prevail. Nobody who matters takes them seriously, except you.
MH
April 2, 2019 @ 2:21 pm
Have you been asleep for the past 3-5 years? Lies are now believed as truth, even moreso on social media.
No one fact checks anymore – people just take it and run with it.
Trig is providing facts that make those people look dumb.
King Honky Of Crackershire
April 2, 2019 @ 3:02 pm
So mock the living crap out of them. Use facts to ridicule their utter stupidity.
Trigger is approaching this as though these are respectable people, deserving of a serious conversation.
MH
April 2, 2019 @ 3:32 pm
So presenting facts is mocking and ridiculing?
Saying nothing does more damage.
King Honky Of Crackershire
April 3, 2019 @ 1:07 pm
MH,
No. You completely misunderstood me.
I saying that Trigger should use facts to mock and ridicule these people, but he’s not doing that.
Acca Dacca
April 2, 2019 @ 4:11 pm
See, it’s this type of opinion from certain regulars around here that really makes absolutely no sense to me. Misrepresentation of facts DOES matter; Adolf Hitler convinced enough of the German populace of lies about Jews, among other things, which allowed him to gain power. And bringing the point back around to this particular corner of the net, if “nobody who matters” takes these opinions seriously, why are you and others always whining about how you’re misrepresented and facts are covered up? Why are you so bitter about everything that you know being changed and “destroyed” if nobody who is destroying it “matters,” the facts surrounding it aren’t being misrepresented, and everybody who thinks differently from you is just an idiot? You’re just contradicting yourself: either the people with power are putting you down and twisting the issues or they’re not. All of this “the mainstream opinion is this, but nobody actually thinks that way, but I’m also the only person I know with a brain” logic makes zero sense. If your and only your opinion is valid and “true,” it seems like you wouldn’t be so venomous and misanthropic about everything.
King Honky Of Crackershire
April 3, 2019 @ 11:09 am
I replied to you, but Trig didn’t let it through. Not sure why as it was not in violation of anything, just a polite request.
Clyde
April 3, 2019 @ 11:19 am
According to Godwin’s Law, Acca Dacca’s post should have ended the thread, but I couldn’t resist posting myself.
Whiskey_Pete
April 5, 2019 @ 11:03 am
Why are we talking about Hitler and the Nazis?
..Clyde, you beat me to it.
Acca Dacca
April 6, 2019 @ 5:07 pm
Good Lord, it was just an example. Call it dramatic if you wish, but the actual content WAS relevant, if on a completely different scale.
Whiskey_Pete
April 5, 2019 @ 3:43 pm
It’s obvious to me that the media has this problem where they like to sensationalize anything to do with race even if there is no racism involved. I mean if a white person looks at a black person the wrong way the media will pick it up as proof that racism is a serious problem in this country. They invent these words like “racially charged, racially tinged, racially fueled, alt-right” so they can somehow connects dots to white supremacy. It’s so preposterous.
I can see the point being made that the more we keep fighting it, the more we keep perpetuating these absurd discussions. Then again it may be important to shut down these accusations to deter others. It is a bit challenging to know what the right move is to make.
FeedThemHogs
April 2, 2019 @ 11:59 am
+1 for the OB McClinton mention. I could throw in Big Al Downing to this article as well. “Mr. Jones” is a neat song
TwangBob
April 3, 2019 @ 6:35 am
Yes, Big Al Downing had several country hits back in the late 70s. As good as “Mr. Jones” was, I liked his 1979 hit “Touch Me (I’ll Be Your Fool Once More)” much more.
Lump
April 2, 2019 @ 12:15 pm
Stoney Edwards had limited success in the 70’s (two top 20 singles though) but is always overlooked in these lists. Without Stoney , Jones wouldn’t have had a hit single with “Shes My Rock”. In the age that Charley Pride was killing it , I thought he had a fraction of the talent of Edwards.
Trigger
April 2, 2019 @ 12:34 pm
Though they most certainly make up a minority, there are so many African American artists in both the past and present of country music, you can mention over 40 of them, and still you’ll overlook some, which was one of my worries composing this article. Thanks for reminding us of Stoney Edwards.
Boss_Cash
April 2, 2019 @ 12:29 pm
I think if you are going to use a term like “meme algorhythms” you need to explain it to your readers. I can’t be the only person who has no idea what that term means, if you misspelled “algorithm” intentionally, and if so, why.
Trigger
April 2, 2019 @ 2:26 pm
I was trying to be cute mixing algorithm and “rhythms” to illustrate how some of these “songs” are nothing more the derivative beats with window dressing designed to go viral. In the case of this song, it actually samples Nine Inch Nails’ “34 Ghosts IV,” so there’s really nothing original about it at all except the adolescent lyrics.
The meme portion of this situation is critical to understand. This song did not go viral because a bunch of people listened to it and found it enjoyable to listen to. The primary way it is being shared is with people making 30 second video clips for Instagram etc. using apps such as Tik Tok and others. This data then gets fed into the music metadata system, and ends up factoring into Billboard’s charts. Calling this song a “meme” is not a pejorative. It’s an accurate description of how the vast majority of listeners are consuming this song.
Hope this helps clarify.
Phil Oxford
April 2, 2019 @ 10:12 pm
“Algorhythm” is incredible.* Deserves to be all over written music journalism. Not that there’s much of that left. Thanks for what you do.
*See, e.g., the emergence of so-called “stream-bait pop”, Greta Van Fleet, etc.
Kross
April 2, 2019 @ 12:33 pm
until I hear someone complain about the lack of diversity in the NBA, this whole conversation is dumb.
OlaR
April 2, 2019 @ 12:38 pm
I miss…(not)…Cowboy Troy on the list!
Not so well known black artists:
Miko Marks produced two albums in 2005 & 2007.
Joy Styles released a fine EP (Unbreakable) in 2014.
Rissi Palmer…charted in 2007/08 with an album & couple of singles.
KC Williams released a couple of albums from the late 90’s to 2007 (The Best Of KC Williams).
Soul/Gospel/House diva Candi Staton recorded 40+ songs with Rick Hall in the Fame studios in Muscle Shoals & for the Fame label. Beside “Stand By Your Man” she recorded “Jolene”, “We Had It All” (co-written by Troy Seals), “It’s Not Love” (Hank Cochran) & Harlan Howards “He Called Me Baby”.
Great southern music & all songs are part of the double-album Evidence: The Complete Fame Records Masters.
Kelly Gregory
April 2, 2019 @ 12:41 pm
Some of these artists are as country as Lil Nas X. Mavis Staples?
Trigger
April 2, 2019 @ 2:28 pm
Two weeks ago I was at Willie Nelson’s ranch outside of Austin for the Luck Reunion, and saw Mavis perform numerous songs that I would label country, or with country influences, including an absolutely epic version of The Band’s “The Weight” that still gives me chills. Is Mavis Staples a country singer? Of course not. But she’s a hell of a lot more country than Lil Nas X.
Ron
April 2, 2019 @ 4:01 pm
I saw Mavis do “The Weight” live just after Levon died. It was one of my top 5 song highlights from any concert I’ve seen.
OlaR
April 2, 2019 @ 1:06 pm
I forgot Dona Mason. She had a small hit together with Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass.
“Green Eyes (Cryin’ Those Blue Tears)” was the last charted single for Danny Davis & Dona Mason in 1987.
The late Dobie Gray. The singer/songwriter moved to Nashville in the late 70’s after his pop career (“Drift Away”) went south. His last charted country single was “Take It Real Easy” (#82) in 1987. He wrote songs for Don Williams, George Jones & Ray Charles.
Dobie Gray returned to the charts in 2003 with Uncle Kracker (“Drift Away”).
Mickey Guyton released “Hold On” (Breakthrough soundtrack) two weeks ago. A Faith Hill styled power ballad.
dukeroberts
April 2, 2019 @ 1:39 pm
I liked Cleve Francis in the early 90s. He had a few songs that got little airplay and videos that were shown on CMT. He was a cardiologist before turning to recording country music. He wasn’t a traditionalist really, but he fit right in with the Doug Stone-type of light, breezy country crooning.
Tom
April 2, 2019 @ 1:40 pm
Is Cleve Davis the love child of Clive Davis and Cleve Francis?
dukeroberts
April 2, 2019 @ 1:46 pm
I think so. 🙂
Tom
April 2, 2019 @ 2:58 pm
It was funnier before Trigger fixed it.
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 1:43 pm
Hey so I wrote a song… and I’d like to share it. Please give me feedback. It’s called “Dandelion Fever”
————————————————————————-
They said She was my Spring Fling,
But I knew better, she wasn’t just a play thing.
She kept my temperature a rising,
There was no compromising.
I thought she was gonna be a keeper,
But just like that the wind swept by.
And our time went a bye bye.
She was my Dandelion Fever.
Ohhh , She was my Dandelion Fever,
My Spring time Equinox Keeper.
Had my heart racing, Temperature rising
Her love petals were in disguising…
Guess it was Just a seasonal spring fling.
My Dandelion Fever
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 1:54 pm
Edit:
They said she was my Spring Fling,
But I thought I knew better, she wasn’t just a play thing.
She kept my temperature a rising,
There was no compromising.
But just like that.. the wind blew by,
And our time went a bye bye.
Thought she was gonna be a keeper,
My poor little Dandelion Fever.
Ohhh, She was my Dandelion Fever,
My spring time Equinox Dreamer.
Had my heart racing, Temperature rising.
Her love petals were in disguising….
I guess it was just a seasonal thing…
Oh, my Dandelion Fever
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 2:27 pm
Verse 2
Yeah, it’s not my allergies acting up,
Love Doctor said what’s the fuss?
Eyes have been a watering, but this ain’t pink eye.
Gotta win her back, Have to try.
She left an Ache in my heartstrings,
Still no diamond wedding ring.
She was my Dandelion Fever,
My heartbreak little teaser.
Doctor said I’ll be alright,
Just gotta get her out of my sight…
I guess it was just a seasonal thing….
Oh, my Dandelion Fever… Fever… Fever…
TwangBob
April 3, 2019 @ 7:03 am
A quick critique from a published and recorded songwriter: The verses don’t align: number of lines (v1: 8, v2: 6), and the syllable count of lines aren’t congruent for a singular verse melody. The chorus repeats information provided in the verse, employs the same end rhyme pattern, and doesn’t pay off like a good chorus. It reads like a first draft in need of a rewrite. That’s my take with a quick view. Best wishes with the song!
Fiddle Me This
April 3, 2019 @ 9:52 am
Thanks. I wrote it yesterday for fun. I’m no songwriter. That’s not my job. But thanks for the advice!! It was definitely a rough cut
SameOld
April 2, 2019 @ 2:32 pm
Are you the person on twitter who claimed this would be Blake Shelton’s new single?
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 2:54 pm
Ha!!! No. But it inspired me to write a song with that title.
SameOld
April 2, 2019 @ 4:00 pm
Interesting
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 4:04 pm
Ohh ??
SameOld
April 2, 2019 @ 4:03 pm
Interesting.
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 4:06 pm
Well, Blake recorded a demo of it. Not sure if it will be on his album or anything 🙂
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 4:08 pm
I’ve said too much.
SameOld
April 2, 2019 @ 4:15 pm
That’s weird because you wrote a song inspired by a tweet but the tweet said he already recorded the song?
Kinda like a chicken egg situation. Which came first. Wait your name isn’t Christian by chance is it?
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 4:44 pm
@ SameOld,
Let’s finish this conversation on Twitter dm. My Twitter handle is @biscuitsandgra1
See you there
SameOld
April 2, 2019 @ 5:25 pm
I DMd you at your highonshelton account.
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 5:35 pm
@sameold, that is not my account… I only have one and my name isn’t Christian.
My only twitter account is @biscuitsandgra1
Sameold
April 2, 2019 @ 5:56 pm
That brand new account you just created? That’s pretty amazing since you were able to see an old tweet that got you so inspired you wrote a song about a song that you claimed was already written and recorded. All that and you didn’t even have a twitter account at the time?
You sir, are a magician!
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 6:07 pm
@sameold , ok this is getting ridiculous… just dm me on my new Twitter account, if u want….. And I can give you the details of this song.
There must be a miscommunication here with you.
And I won’t be responding on here again… (poor Trigger) let’s move it onto twitter please
SameOld
April 2, 2019 @ 6:50 pm
Dude we follow each other in twitter why do you need to make a new account? Are you blocked on that one should I DM you on your account?
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 6:57 pm
I’m not Christian… what is your Twitter account then??
SameOld
April 2, 2019 @ 7:22 pm
I know you like trolling but seriously I DM’d you. Sorry for wasting everybody’s time here. Go check your messages.
Fiddle Me This
April 2, 2019 @ 7:42 pm
I contacted that account. I dm’d him. He said he received no messages from you. You are lying… Go check his account out. We tweeted at each other. We are not the same person.
Sameold
April 3, 2019 @ 3:11 pm
In 24 hours you’ve created another account, claimed you were on twitter then suddenly it’s your first time on twitter. Changed your name twice, moved from Nashville to New York where you work at a radio station that has no idea who you are while tweeting yourself from your multiple accounts.
You illustrate Trigger’s point extremely well. Fake.
Tom
April 2, 2019 @ 1:54 pm
Don’t forget Lionel Richie. “Stuck On You” made it to #24 – the version shipped to country stations pictured him wearing a cowboy hat on the sleeve to prove that he was legit – and “Deep River Woman” with Alabama cracked the top 10. And he’s been a judge on two singing contest shows which gives him extra credibility.
david larson
April 2, 2019 @ 2:19 pm
damn aaron vance is awesome he should on the top 10
Ron
April 2, 2019 @ 4:03 pm
Anything by Rhiannon Giddens is great including the “Our Native Daughters” release.
Ray
April 2, 2019 @ 6:50 pm
Would it be considered racist if Randy Travis released a song to the Urban Contemporary charts? That is a fair comparison because this is how country the song from Little Nas X does NOT represent the genre.
Paul
April 2, 2019 @ 8:27 pm
How could they not mention Stoney Edwards when talking about the Black pioneers of Country Music? https://youtu.be/IF0AlZmmYPM?list=PLAEC4C0099D7074FA
Trigger
April 3, 2019 @ 8:40 am
Stoney and others have been added to the story. 40 artists were mentioned here, and you could probably mention 40 more. African Americans still make up a big minority in country music, but there are a lot more performers than country music ever gets credit for. It’s not just Charley Pride and Darius Rucker.
Swagg
April 3, 2019 @ 12:18 am
This WHOLE Article is racist im sorry.😔
Heyday
April 3, 2019 @ 2:35 am
A decade or so ago, an Oklahoma-born singer named Kareem Salama was getting some ink because not only was he a country singer who was black, he was also Muslim. Released three albums, according to Wikipedia. Can’t find that he’s done anything in the past few years, though.
Scottyo614
April 3, 2019 @ 3:00 am
The characterizations that “black people cant make it in country” discredits Jimmie Allan and Kane Browns time on the charts recently. You can’t please the main stream (on both sides) media now adays
Atomic Zombie Redneck
April 3, 2019 @ 6:34 am
Great article, Trigger. The editors at Rolling Stone need to have their inboxes clogged with links to this post.
Lefty Throckmorton
August 24, 2019 @ 8:41 pm
I’ve been trying to publish said links myself to lots of similar places.
Jack Williams
April 3, 2019 @ 9:25 am
Speaking of Rhiannon Giddens, I came across this video recently when looking for a different one I’d seem before, where she talked about how sometimes black people come up to her after a show and quietly admit to her that they always liked country music and she laughs and says something like “well I’m glad I could help you say that.” I thought that it spoke toperhaps a stigma in the black community about liking and probably even more intensely, performing country music. This video is about her reaction to the Beyoncé/CMA incident. She talks about how she was angered that it overshadowed the two other performers of color who were there naturally (Charley Pride and herself as a guest of Eric Church)) and who “inhabit” the music. Seems like Trigger was saying things like that as well back then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbduBDQbBpg
Lefty Throckmorton
December 23, 2020 @ 1:13 am
IMHO, the blame for the whole thing that Giddens spoke of (the rise and domination of pop music-and pop country-over all other genres of contemporary music) can be laid at the feet of Bill Clinton and the radio industry, as shown in this article (North) Americans have to start speaking up and demanding of our governments that this system of things in our culture stop by getting radio reregulated, particularly and especially in the United States (although if this happened, I wouldn’t mourn, as what was said by Ras Al Ghul [Liam Neeson] about Gotham City in Batman Begins applies to the [North] American radio industry), so that we can get a better radio industry that cares about music, and is not so fraking greedy-gutted that all it can play are pop stars and pop ‘music’ like that of Beyonce, Brittney Spears, Taylor Swift, One Direction, or all of those K-Pop singers and groups clogging up the charts and the airwaves. Actual music will rule again, and that will be good.
SavingEquality
April 3, 2019 @ 1:53 pm
I still disagree with nearly all of your opinions (and the further back you look, the more controversially phrased they become), but the crux of this article is well-intentioned, and I thank you for it.
Bear
April 3, 2019 @ 11:19 pm
This is a fantastic list and shows just how willfully ignorant some journalists and people are.
I know he get shoehorned as a blues man but I would add Keb’ Mo’ to the list. Listen to a song like God Trying To Get Your Attention, or Everything I need and tell me those are not country songs.
Bear
April 3, 2019 @ 11:20 pm
Or heck even Taj Mahal has some very country leanings.
Jack Williams
April 4, 2019 @ 5:53 am
Another good one from Keb Mo is Henry (..when Henry plays the steel guitar).
As for Taj Mahal, he did a killer cover of Six Days on the Road early in his career. And he covered Hank’s Mind Your Own Business on his great 1997 album Senor Blues. And of course, a ton of country blues.
Eclectic bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart has shown a fondness for country music. Here he is covering Meanest Jukebox in Town, which was on his 2005 album Motivational Speaker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oLp0FBI280
RD
April 4, 2019 @ 6:57 am
Taj Mahal claws the hell out of Colored Aristocracy on the Big Step album, as well.
Bear
April 4, 2019 @ 9:33 am
I LOVE the Taj cover of Mind Your Own Business! He had added Naw’lins flare to it. And Honey Bee on the same album is a sweet little slice of country blues. This just points out how sometimes people get too focused on genre labels while others just completely seem to ignore any kind of rationale for stepping into a genre.
But if we go down this road SO many blues cats have crossed the border and certainly B.B. King played with some of great country players and singers of all time.
At least with most blues people who hit up country it seems to be a blending (Odetta for example) whereas nowadays it is just an invasion by the kind of acts who know they can’t cut it on the Hot 100 hundred so they put on country face and squat in a genre they have no business in.
RD
April 4, 2019 @ 10:30 am
Check out BB playing with Jerry Reed.
Charlotte
April 4, 2019 @ 3:59 am
The fact is, IMO, is that the sounds of traditional Country music have not held up over time with the vast majority of listeners. The same can be said of Elvis Presley era rock and roll. You will not hear songs from that era on the radio unless there is some kind of dedicated show occasionally. What I do hear daily are rock/pop songs that are 30 to 40 years old. Very, very often throughout the day. When these songs were released, for example in 1985, I was not hearing songs played next to them from 1950. Music and life are more edgy these days. It seems that rock/pop from the 1980s forward has survived the test of time as far as listener appreciation and that older Country has not. Not making a statement about the quality of the music, just about the majority of listeners. I even have heard so many people in their 60s and 70s say they can’t stand the old country songs. America and its values have changed and so has music.
RD
April 4, 2019 @ 6:31 am
Production quality has as much to do with that as anything. Production technology and quality really improved from the mid-60’s on. Older recordings just generally sound bad. Also, music from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, etc. is still consumed by people who were alive when it was new. There are few people alive today who are old enough to have heard Roy Acuff or Hank Williams on the Grand Old Opry. Many of the children of boomers, like myself, grew up listening to classic rock and country, that my parents listened to. For many of us, popular music went to shit in the 90’s and was all but un-listenable by 2000. So, if I’m flipping on a radio station, the only thing I can tolerate is classic rock, or perhaps a classic country station, if I can find it.
Lefty Throckmorton
September 7, 2019 @ 3:02 pm
RD, I seriously doubt you’ve heard anything else but current pop music to be even making a judgement like that; there’s been great rock and country music made in the most recent decades, you and people like you have to get up off of your asses and look for it, not expect it to just drop in your lap.
I’d leave you with a list of places (and radio stations) where you can find said great new music, but I doubt that you’d want to go to them anyway, so programmed are you to dislike anything new just because it doesn’t sound exactly like what was heard years ago, and also because people like you expect everything to always sound the same due to you all being trapped in the past unable to progress, so I’ll leave you as you are.
Tom
April 10, 2019 @ 12:29 pm
So, in a nutshell, you think songs like “Sidewalk Talk” by Jellybean are edgier than “That’s Alright Mama” by Elvis?
Lefty Throckmorton
September 7, 2019 @ 2:48 pm
@Tom, they pretty much are, unless the writer meant something similar.
Lefty Throckmorton
September 7, 2019 @ 2:44 pm
Charlotte, this is because people have moved on, and younger people want to hear music of today that relates to them today, not music regurgitated over and over on classic rock radio format stations. A lot of older (white) people and some younger white people don’t seem to understand that.
Lefty Throckmorton
April 8, 2024 @ 10:13 am
Also, with regards to what you said about Elvis Presley, people (Gen-Y and Gen-Z) aren’t admiring of him anymore as people were in ages past, mainly do to what people believed he said about black people (which wasn’t true and was a misconstruction of something he said) and also because of what happened with Priscilla Presley before they were married when she was 14. The recent Elvis Presley bio pic with Austin Butler as Elvis was affected by this somewhat, and his music’s been not as popular as it used to be.
Jack Williams
April 4, 2019 @ 6:00 am
Songs of Our Native Daughters might be my favorite album of 2019 so far. And I love the contributions of Amythyst Kiah on the album. Didn’t know anything about her previously. Here’s one of hers from the album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkZXCAPz8s4
Tom
April 10, 2019 @ 12:30 pm
I can’t believe nobody mentioned Rockin’ Sidney. Don’t mess with my Toot-Toot!
Charlotte
April 10, 2019 @ 5:24 pm
I was a fan of Madonna back in the 80s but I didn’t know that song. I listened to it on Youtube. It is non-descript. The Elvis song is a million times better. You are cherry-picking. But it still wasn’t being played on radio next to Madonna or any other artist in the 80s. It has not stood the test of time with listeners of radio. I still hear Rolling Stones songs 30 to 40 years old on radio next to rock/pop songs of today. Oddly, never hear The Beatles but do hear Paul McCartney and Wings. I don’t think Madonna has held up over time. Rarely hear her. My commute is about 100 minutes a day. I hear alot of music. All I am saying is that I hear tons of music that is 30-40 years old. When these songs first came out, radio was not playing music next to them that was 30-40 years old. Vintage Country is heard rarely where I live. There are 3 country stations and one of them has a dedicated show a couple times a week later at night. I think it is syndicated and plays when listenership is low and they give employees time off. I am in no way debating quality though I do like alot of the new stuff. I’m just not that rigid. Yes, the old Country did talk about drinking and cheating but the tone was different. Remember when Jaws came out and people were throwing up in the theater? Now, even the SAW movies do not produce that effect. Anyway, my intent was not to debate quality, just stating that I feel the old type of Country is not that commercially viable with enough of the population.
Funk Soul Bubby
April 18, 2019 @ 7:49 am
Rhiannon was playing in Frankfort one night last summer. Earlier that day I went to lunch and was driving up the hill to get on 127 and saw this tall caramel goddess with red-tinted hair shimmering under the sun on an afternoon walk with her headphones in. I did a little double take, turned around and parked at the Subway for a minute, and I was like, ‘Yep. That’s her.’
I came back to work and sent her an @ shortly thereafter and maybe an hour later she said, “Yes. That was me.”
So random but so awesome. I couldn’t make her show, though. I had the kids that night and it was already sold out.
(Sorry for the threadjack.)