Chris Stapleton Earns Marty Stuart’s Praise – “It’s Not Bull$hit Country.”
The biggest adversity to independent music is success. Nobody knows this better than Chris Stapleton. A golden boy of independent country and Americana fans when he first released Traveller—despite being on a major label—after he was fully embraced by the mainstream industry and was winning awards left and right, folks began vilifying him as a sellout and for not being as country as advertised. Stapleton went from universally acclaimed to polarizing in a matter of months, but like with all controversial personalities, the truth often lies somewhere in the middle.
Alan Jackson spoke to the strange place Chris Stapleton resides in when he said, “I love Chris, he’s authentic. A real writer. Musician. He opened for me for awhile before he hit so big. I’m a big fan of his. He was a bluegrass singer and has written bluegrass stuff. But what he’s making now really isn’t real country: It’s more like bluesy, Southern rock kinda stuff. I love it, it’s great, but he’s the closest thing to country out there.”
This is the way many country traditionalists regard Stapleton. Most appreciate the music as being more country than most in the mainstream, and quality regardless of the classification. But it’s not country music like Alan Jackson, for example, while some staunch purists go even farther and don’t consider Stapleton country at all, and don’t draw any distinction between him and the rest of the mainstream.
But Marty Stuart doesn’t see it that way. Currently on tour opening for Stapleton, when asked in a recent interview what he thought about Chris, Marty responded,
“He’s flying the flag for the entire culture of country music right now, and he’s doing it in a very real way. It’s him and three guys on stage. And he’s delivering, it’s not bells and whistles. It’s not bullshit country music, it’s not anything other than true, authentic music coming from his heart and soul.”
Marty Stuart also said, “I think his authenticity is what’s speaking to everybody. In Nashville, they always say, ‘It all begins with the song.’ The song that introduced Chris to the world, ‘Tennessee Whiskey,’ it was a good song 40 years ago, it was a good song when George Jones cut it, it was good when David Allen (sic) Coe cut it. But Chris introduced it in a way where the whole world got behind it, and that’s beautiful. He’s a song man.”
As the spotlight grows on an artist, so does the scrutiny. And as the best-selling country artist over the last two years, as well as the most decorated with awards, the spotlight on Chris Stapleton is blazing. But country fans shouldn’t overlook the fact that what he’s done as a non-radio country artist is remarkable. His peers certainly do, from major superstars like Luke Bryan, all the way to guys like Marty Stuart. No single artist will be ideal specimen of a country music savior to deliver the genre out of its current creative malaise. But some help much better than others, and Chris Stapleton is most certainly one of them.
Black Boots
July 16, 2018 @ 7:52 am
My favorite thing about Chris is he just seems like a great guy
Koozie
July 16, 2018 @ 7:53 am
As a fan of country music, you’ve got to be encouraged that a tour of Chris Stapleton, Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb is one of the top tickets this year. That’s about as strong a lineup for a major tour as we’ve seen in years. I think you’ll also see that as a catalyst for Brent Cobb, taking him into the spotlight.
Gina
July 16, 2018 @ 7:57 am
Absolutely.
Trigger
July 16, 2018 @ 8:00 am
Yeah, one of many things critics of Chris Stapleton overlook is the fact that he’s been supporting some great acts as openers in front of massive crowds. How many Stapleton fans are learning about Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb through this tour?
Gina
July 16, 2018 @ 7:57 am
Honestly, I’m just glad to be living in a time when Chris, Sturgill, Margo, Brent and Marty are doing well and bringing thousands of people out to see them. Good music is good music and they’re all more real country than anything on the radio. And Chris and Marty killed it at the St. Louis show the other night.
DAVE
July 17, 2018 @ 2:41 pm
Absolutely right, good music IS good music….
Dobe Daddy
July 16, 2018 @ 8:07 am
Marty Stuart likes Chris.
Alan Jackson likes Chris.
That puts everybody else who likes Chris into pretty good company. Let the haters and the hardliners worry about how country he is or is not. He’s true to himself, and that’s all that matters. He seems to fit just fine in my record collection along with everything from Bill Monroe to Buddy Guy to Cody Jinks to Miranda Lambert to the Pogues. All I want in an artist is authenticity. I don’t have to check and see what section of the record store the VP of marketing puts it in.
Kent
July 16, 2018 @ 8:25 am
This what I like about your blog…Two days ago you wrote article about a traditional country artist (Cliff Westfall) you just found and sound as happy has kid on Christmas day who just have gotten the best Christmas gift ever. 🙂
And two days later about an artist that is well… not as traditional.. Your article’s are truly varying 🙂
A Country-Pop Fan
July 16, 2018 @ 9:25 pm
Yeah, and he even makes country music fans think that it’s okay to like other kinds of music by reviewing rock and even pop (Adele’s 25) albums.
Corncaster
July 16, 2018 @ 8:25 am
Some older generation folks like Chris, that’s great. But another key question is, who does *Chris* like? If he’s one of the ones who get to carry things forward as a headliner, where is he going? Who is he going to bring with him? I don’t know. I hope it’s people who care about country music and work to carry it on. It still seems possible Chris will turn out to be one of these guys who doesn’t care about country music so much as he wants to make it “evolve” into something else.
It’s a good sign that he’s spending time with Marty Stuart. If anybody can convince Chris to carry on the tradition, it’s Marty.
Cool Lester Smooth
July 16, 2018 @ 9:18 pm
This would be a much stronger argument…if the entire impetus for Stuart’s statement hadn’t been Chris choosing Marty “to bring with him,” haha!
hoptowntiger94
July 16, 2018 @ 8:47 am
We just saw Marty Stuart last night at the Allegany County Fair in Cumberland, MD. He and Cousin Kenny, and Handsome Harry and the Professor were f* King fantastic. Stuart is the bullshitless country
Ulysses McCaskill
July 16, 2018 @ 8:48 am
The guy transcends genres. He’s so damn good he can play anything. His work with the Steeldrivers is still my favorite and always will be.
TwangBob
July 16, 2018 @ 9:20 am
Transcending genres: I really loved his bluegrassy songs and vocals with the Steeldrivers, but I also enjoyed his hard-drivin’ southern rock sounds with the Jompson Brothers. That’s another musical project that I’d like to see him revive for another album and tour.
Marky Mark
July 20, 2018 @ 6:05 am
Right on Twang Bob! I like all his stuff, but the fact he can swing from bluegrass to southern rock and still be awesome in either genre speaks volumes. He plays what he wants and that’s ok by me. I’d be first in line if he rolled out a tour focusing on the rock side of his music.
Kent
July 16, 2018 @ 9:13 am
I have question about one of Stapleton’s song. “Scarecrow In The Garden” I absolutely love everything about it. The singing, the lyrics and the production. Even though I love the lyrics I really don’t fully understand them, in particular the last two verses.That is also a reason as to why I like it…That I can do my own interpretation of it.
But at the same time I’m also of course curios about the real meaning of the songs. Does anyone know?
Kevin Smith
July 16, 2018 @ 9:22 am
Kent, my take on that song: multi generation farmer is trying to eke out a living on family land. He’s hit really hard times, possibly gonna lose the farm due to foreclosure or bankruptcy and in despair he’s contemplating suicide, yet struggling to find answers within his bible, he’s reading Revelations and trying to make sense of the symbolic language contained within, while looking for hope at the same time.
It’s a heady, deep song that many can relate to IMO. One of the best on that album.
Kent
July 16, 2018 @ 10:17 am
“struggling to find answers within his bible, he’s reading Revelations and trying to make sense of the symbolic language contained within, while looking for hope at the same time”
Thank you very much! That makes sense… It’s such an incredible song everything about it is great. It’s one of these songs that put image in your head, while listening to it it’s like watching a film…
Don
July 17, 2018 @ 5:07 pm
And there is not one damn line about struggling in Nashville. It’s a good story.
Kent
July 18, 2018 @ 3:01 am
Kevin I think you would like this wonderful documentary about the Scotts and the Irish migration to the Appalachian Mountains…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHOyYQ0Wm_I
“Well, he came from Northern Ireland
Searching for the free man’s ground
And he came to bet his fortune
On a West Virginia plow
He built a house of timber
And raised a redhead son
Then they worked the land together
And prayed the rain would come”
Kent
July 18, 2018 @ 3:27 am
Sorry I forgot these two videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0F0k_vMAns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcfpINuX01s
Kevin Smith
July 16, 2018 @ 9:15 am
I so agree with Martys take on this. Just go see Stapleton live. Do it. Then tell me how he’s no good. I dare ya. The guy plays his own songs, his way, plays his own guitar leads, and delivers in a huge way every night. No gimmicks, no rock star glitz, no trapeze high wire acts, no lame booty shakin, no fake drums, no EDM sounds, no rapping, no voice modulaters, no annoying dance act, just a guy, his guitar , a bass , a drummer and his wife offering harmony to his unbelievably powerful voice. Oh, and the songs. Songs about honky tonkers, farms, drinkin, failed relationships, good relationships, prison, trains, and hard times. What’s not to like?
Music Jedi
July 16, 2018 @ 8:34 pm
Saw him open for the Eagles last month for a HUGE AT&T Stadium crowd in Arlington last month and he killed it! Almost as good as the second band. 😉
H.P.
July 16, 2018 @ 9:24 am
“Bluesy, Southern rock kinda stuff” is emphatically a feature, not a bug, at least as far as I am concerned.
Michelle Davison
July 16, 2018 @ 10:02 am
Chris brought me INTO country music. I never disliked country; really enjoyed it back in the David Alan Coe days, but am falling in love all over again thanks to Tennessee Whiskey & ever
Aggc
July 16, 2018 @ 10:10 am
Holding Clarence White’s old guitar i believe.
Trigger
July 16, 2018 @ 10:36 am
Yes.
Corncaster
July 16, 2018 @ 11:44 am
That guitar is a legendary thing. Sweetest sounding Tele in the business.
Clyde
July 16, 2018 @ 12:15 pm
Here’s a nice little article where Marty discusses why he thinks that guitar sounds so good.
http://www.martystuart.com/zArt-VintageGuitar4-04.htm
Dobe Daddy
July 16, 2018 @ 1:06 pm
Great article. Thank you.
Clyde
July 16, 2018 @ 12:03 pm
That’s a great picture of Marty…looking cooler than ever.
ChrisP
July 16, 2018 @ 10:17 am
I agree with Mr. Jackson; I don’t believe Chris Stapleton is pure country, but his music is awesome and it shows people are fed up with the bull that Nashville has been putting out. If nothing, it opens the door for others to sign deals with big labels and pull country back in the right direction.
KGD
July 16, 2018 @ 10:43 am
If some of Stapleton’s fans bother to listen to Marty and the Superlatives, they’ll be blown away. Those boys tear it up.
I love Stapleton, I’ll let y’all figure out what genre he is. I saw him several times in a few months right when he was blowing up. I always said I would like to see him tour with a lead guitarist like Laur Joamets or someone like that. I think the SNL appearance with Sturgill on lead proved that point.
That’s just nitpicking though. They’re great as-is.
Jason Hannan
July 16, 2018 @ 10:53 am
I tend to agree with Alan Jackson about the classification of Chris Stapleton’s music. But I think that even if country radio was in a place where they mostly played straight up traditional country music, there would still be a place of Chris Stapleton. Whatever you want to call his music, it is heartfelt, authentic, and tasteful. I’m a big fan.
Clyde
July 16, 2018 @ 12:19 pm
Part of the problem is that the definition of Country Music is so completely fractured…more than it’s ever been. And though I’m not questioning Marty’s assessment of Chris you have to remember that Marty hails from Mississippi and also has a big Blues and Gospel influence in his own music.
Linda Williams
July 16, 2018 @ 2:21 pm
That is one of Chris’s strong points I think. The blues in his voice and guitar playing. In his soul. He can write, sing , and play anything. I don’t try to label it. I just enjoy it. Plus , he is just a good guy.
What more could you ask for?
Mike Honcho
July 16, 2018 @ 3:38 pm
WTF is he supposed to say? Marty and his hair are opening for him.
KGD
July 17, 2018 @ 3:27 pm
Pretty sure Marty Stuart would say nothing vs. just blowing smoke.
DJ
July 16, 2018 @ 4:13 pm
Makes me wanna listen to You Are My Sunshine and Amanda- believe I will thank you very much!
DJ
July 16, 2018 @ 4:28 pm
Well I did- and i was right- voices are music and just to be sure I listened to Waylon sing it too- both (all three actually) voices were good music.
albert
July 16, 2018 @ 4:27 pm
You know …its not that hard to do what Stapleton is doing . In fact , its relatively easy . It’s only difficult if you aren’t talented and trying to be a ‘ country star ‘ . Unfortunately there’s a disproportionate number of people in the latter camp getting the airplay.
This stuff pours out of Stapleton like water from a tap . He’s gifted and he knows how that gift best serves him and the music . He’s not trying to re-invent the wheel or play the trend game or throw something else at the wall each time out to get his kicks or attention ……or traction ( Zak Brown , Church , Ashley Monroe etc ) He knows who he is and he knows there are thousands of fans who love that .
Its only when you don’t know who you are , who you are supposed to be to please people , who you are going to be on the next record and trying to navigate the business without a vision that being a ‘ country star ‘ is hard cuz there’s 500 other up-and-comers with the same dilemma but look prettier or sexier or sound trendier than you and they are all vying for the same 15 minutes of pop-fame.
albert
July 17, 2018 @ 7:14 am
”The thing I wish I would’ve known is to figure out what I do best, and do that 100%,” she says. “Don’t try to chase after what the dude next to me is doing, don’t try to chase after the radio. Because there are no other songwriters out there like you, specifically. So own what you do best—if you crush a weird lyric, then you should continue to write weird lyrics! Don’t change that. Or if your melodies are bizarre and jazzy, keep doing that. Because someday there’s gonna be an artist that comes along that fits that exactly. So, don’t try to morph yourself into what the industry is doing. Just do you.””-CAITLYN SMITH
Paul
July 16, 2018 @ 5:19 pm
Chris stapelton blows Nashville away with his true loyalty to country music.and my lady Mary Sue loves his music. Pure country with frosting on top.
55Merq
July 16, 2018 @ 7:01 pm
I have yet to hear him sing about tailgates or pontoons or Solo cups or Badonkadonks and never a bro-rhythm or hiphop feel. Its from his Tennessee Whiskey soaked heart & soul that make him a true country singer and I am glad he is out there doing what he is doing! Thanks, Trigger for all you do…
Cool Lester Smooth
July 16, 2018 @ 9:21 pm
I saw Chris in Mansfield a few weeks ago and, while I wish he’d played more Steeldrivers songs (and What Are You Listening To), I was blown away by how well he sold even the songs that I didn’t love from From A Room.
Dude’s just absurdly talented.
A.K.A. City
July 17, 2018 @ 6:47 am
I’ve been somewhat baffled by comments on this board about how Chris Stapleton isn’t “true country.” You can argue if he is more of a blues, R&B, bluegrass, or Southern rock artist, but he is authentic as can be, which is one of the stalwarts of country music and good music in general. He is the shining light on the mainstream charts, and I am so excited to see him, Marty Stuart, and Brent Cobb this fall. I truly consider it a three-fer.
wayne
July 17, 2018 @ 7:19 am
Anytime Marty speaks it’s worth a listen. So glad he is touring with Chris.
Dirt Road Derek
July 17, 2018 @ 10:15 am
I love Stapleton’s solo albums and the stuff he did with The Steeldrivers. He has a killer voice and great songs, regardless of whether his style can be considered “real” country.
Would you rather hear someone like AJ McLean on country radio, or someone like Stapleton?
Mike Honcho
July 18, 2018 @ 5:38 am
If that’s the only choice I guess I’ll listen to rap.
Dirt Road Derek
July 18, 2018 @ 5:42 am
There’s no shortage of rap artists and stations out there. Happy listening 🙂
Nan
July 17, 2018 @ 4:08 pm
It sounds like a lot of people on here knew who Chris Stapleton was before the 2015 CMA awards. (lame as it sounds, I didn’t). But I found out that night, when he won all of those awards and had I thought the performance of the night. I had recorded the show and ended up watching (just his performance) many times. I don’t remember much else from that show, but I remember that.
I could tell his peers were especially rooting for him, and got that he was someone well-known in the business for years but never broke big nationally. Miranda even wore a T-shirt (at the show) with his name on the front. It’s always easy to root for someone like that, esp. with his talent, and you’re so glad it’s finally their turn.
My non-expert ears agree with Alan Jackson,.”…..It’s more like bluesy, Southern Rock kind of stuff…” I think that describes it best. I like the sound so much, and I like the intensity he gives every note of his music.
Batterycap
July 22, 2018 @ 9:06 am
I love Southern Rock. I love Country Music. I search for them. In Chris Stapleton, I struck gold.
Oh – from a recent WSJ article on the idiocy of bucket lists:
“Like American Youth Soccer and contemporary country music, bucket lists started out as something harmless and amusing before turning into a nightmare.”