American Aquarium Recalls Florida Georgia Line Opening For Them
Raleigh, North Carolina-based country rock band American Aquarium, and specifically their frontman, singer, and principal songwriter BJ Barham have been known to twist off about the state of country music upon occasion, both online and on stage. Such was the case on Tuesday (10-28) when the band reminisced about the time one of today’s biggest pop country acts actually opened for them during their 8-year run of playing some 300 club shows a year.
“Three years ago, to the day, Florida Georgia Line opened up for us in Jacksonville, FL with their same brand of bro country that is all over the radio today,” the band posted on their Facebook page. “They now have millions of fans, tons of money and all the cut off bedazzled denim vests anyone could ask for. At least we still have our self respect. Here’s to the working bands out there that never settle. Good on ya.”
Though you would think that most of the fans of American Aquarium would carry similar sentiments about Bro-Country as they do, apparently multiple people took exception, which stimulated American Aquarium to double down on their ideas of what is country and what isn’t, and the right way to make it to the top.
To the people bitching about the previous post…
1) I am surprised you are into what we do if you are taking up for this garbage on the radio, but to each his/her own.
2)You are right, I AM jealous of their success. Every band wants to be big. Every band wants to make a living. Every band wants to live the dream. But I want my fame to come from earning people’s respect, not it being handed to me. I want to bust my ass every single day and know that I earned it. I want to play music with my best friends, not some band that my label put together for me. I want to write my own songs. I want to sing my own songs. I want to know that 6 guys stood in a room with microphones and performed every single note you hear, together…as a band. A real band. But jealousy is not the only emotion. I’m also…-Sad that this is what “country” music has been reduced to. One of the greatest American art forms has been reduced to garbage. No attention to detail. No honesty. No soul.
-Angry that when I tell people that I play country music and this is the first thing that comes to their mind. Angry that America has accepted this. Angry that these “songwriters” do it for the dollar, instead of the integrity.
-Afraid that its only going to get worse. If fans of country music keep letting the powers that be lower your standards, IT WILL become more and more laughable. As long as they know that you will buy it, they will keep dumbing you down. Scares the shit out of me.But its not all negativity. I’m also…
-Happy that folks like Jason Isbell, John Moreland, Josh Ritter, Patterson Hood, Ben Nichols, Cory Branan, Sturgill Simpson, Evan Felker, Justin Townes Earle, Joe Pug, and many, many more folks are keeping a real, sacred tradition alive. Writing, playing and singing good songs that matter. That will stand the test of time. That will not go in and out of style, but will always fit, because I truly believe that is what honest music does. It transcends time, trends and everything else.
…and last but not least, I am excited that I get to be a part of the solution, and not the problem.
American Aquarium boasts a wide array of influences, and similarly have pulled from various sectors of the music world to form their loyal fan base, including country, Americana, and Southern rock. They’re also considered honorary members of the Texas country music scene. Jason Isbell produced their last record, the critically-acclaimed Burn.Flicker.Die.
And apparently Florida Georgia Line is not the only Bro-Country outfit that opened for the band and went on to big fame. Former Survivor contestant, “Cruise” co-writer, and rising Bro-Country star Chase Rice also once kept the stage warm for them as can be heard in the following clip of BJ Barham from an American Aquarium show.
Here’s another story from Jacksonville, FL:
October 29, 2014 @ 8:38 am
“Waylon Jennings would punch all these pussies in the face.” Hahahaha, that’s so great.
October 29, 2014 @ 8:39 am
These guys will be on my playlist when I kick back up in December.
October 29, 2014 @ 8:40 am
It’s the McDonald’s analogy all over again. It’s cheap, greasy, and an easy fix, and even though I like Red Lobster better I will still end up going to McDonalds. the same can be said of these “fans” who decided to defend the FGL guys. I even knew a guy once who loved music from “Les Miserables” and “Phantom of the Opera” and even listened to Don Williams and Buddy Holly, but still loved listening to “Cruise.” Glad to know that people are working towards the solution.
October 30, 2014 @ 11:31 pm
The difference here is that listening to good music does not cost any extra money. There is no question of “easiness” when it comes to music today, with pretty much every song on the Internet.
October 29, 2014 @ 8:41 am
He pretty much nailed it. I should print out his second response and hand it to people when they ask me why I ONLY listen to Texas/Red Dirt/Americana music.
October 29, 2014 @ 8:47 am
I was fortunate to catch this fin act a few times already, great show, great songs, great musicians and he said “All the cut off bedazzled denim vest anyone could ask for”: classic.
October 29, 2014 @ 8:54 am
The thing that baffles my non industry mind is the album reviews. Big media names are giving their album great reviews. They just skim over the fact that the lyrics are bad, perverted and repetitive and post some generic “It’s a good time, party album blah blah review”. Do they do this because they don’t want to lose advertising money? They’re afraid to ruffle feathers? Reviews are being written by 15 year old girls? Or do they honestly think that it’s good?
October 29, 2014 @ 9:20 am
I give some reviewers the benefit of the doubt and assume that their line of thinking is that “it is what it is”.
I’m glad there are reviewers like Trig that are willing to call a spade a spade, but the fact remains that mainstream country today is ruled by the likes of FGL/Luke Bryan/Jason Aldean, etc.
So the job of reviewers for mainstream publications is not to critically review the music with respect to what it could or should be, but rather with respect to what mainstream listeners have come to expect. If Luke Bryan’s sucky-ass album is a huge commercial hit and FGL’s new album is along the same lines, it’s going to get a positive review from a mainstream reviewer because it lives up to the current expectations. This won’t change unless and until a significant number of fans finally get tired of it all.
October 29, 2014 @ 9:35 am
It is because the majority of country music media is in bed with the industry. The industry advertises with them, and then they offer positive coverage of the music. At this point music journalism is simply a promotional arm for the industry. And it doesn’t just stop with the mainstream. In the independent/Americana world, this practice is arguably even worse.
October 29, 2014 @ 10:53 am
TOC is one of the worst. They are vomit inducing kiss asses. Not to mention, they are usually 3 days behind on a story.
October 31, 2014 @ 3:27 am
As someone who spent 37 years in newspaper journalism (although not, admittedly, as a critic) I would posit there is a consideration that plays just as much a role (if not more so) as the don’t-want-to-lose-advertising one: Access. If you’re a critic for a major publication or website and you spend your time decrying the current state of country music and the utter vacuousness of acts like FGL et al, eventually the industry people stop talking to you and stop making acts available for interviews. They stop feeding you “scoops.” That’s one of the way publicists keep critics in line, and it works on many of them. (I was fortunate to work with many who didn’t give a hoot about such things, and did their jobs honestly and called ’em as they saw ’em.) otherwise, you get sycophantic and superficial coverage, which the industry is just fine with as long as you get the act’s name spelled correctly and their picture is in the paper or on the website.
Thank goodness for guys like Trigger.
October 29, 2014 @ 8:59 am
Moot Davis and I did a duo show opening for American Aquarium in Tulsa last year. They were the coolest dudes and super talented, I’m glad they have the balls to call bullshit on the posers.
October 29, 2014 @ 5:49 pm
Hell, if you opened for them someone ought to be by any day now to fit you for your bedazzled denim vest!
October 29, 2014 @ 9:36 am
Love these guys, have all the albums, and some of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
Anyways, I saw someone post this on another website this morning. It’s a nice little tune.
There’s No Country Here: http://youtu.be/7TtSamAaRvg
October 29, 2014 @ 10:11 am
Yes, I’ve heard that song.
October 29, 2014 @ 9:52 am
That is one of the best rants against bro-country that I have ever read.
October 29, 2014 @ 10:10 am
When he said he’s “angry that when he tells people he plays country music, FGL is the first thing that comes to their minds,” I almost cheered. I wrote something similar a couple of months back about having to explain myself as a country fan. I tell someone I like country music, and I have to clarify that I’m not a fan of that pop crap, but real country music. And then I’ll list artists like Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers Band, Elizabeth Cook, Dean Brody, Lindi Ortega, and they’ll have no idea who I’m talking about.
.
I’m also glad he mentioned Josh Ritter. Josh Ritter is fucking amazing and I love his music.
October 30, 2014 @ 6:34 pm
In regards to your comment on how you have to explain to people what you’re listening to and not the bullshit that’s on the radio. Same thing has been happening to me: I gotta explain to people that my radio hasn’t been on unless I wanna plug in the MP3 Radio Adapter in my car to listen to Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers, Garth Brooks, George Strait etc. etc. at random and a good chunk of them don’t even know who these guys are.
October 29, 2014 @ 10:15 am
That’s my audio recording. I heart BJ Barham and American Aquarium. I’m glad BJ has no filter.
October 29, 2014 @ 10:18 am
Thanks for capturing the audio and putting the effort out to post it.
October 29, 2014 @ 10:21 am
De nada. I’ll try to post the video at some point. I record audio and video of pretty much every show I go to, mostly Americana and alt.country stuff.
October 29, 2014 @ 10:16 am
I love these guys. Great band and a nice bunch of dudes. I’ve seen them several times and have never been disappointed. What I can’t figure out is why it totally has to be one or the other. To me AQ is like is like a good healthy meal that should be eaten every day. It’s what’ll keep you fit and thin and happy, but every once in a while, you just have to go through the Taco Bell drive thru, because you’re hung over from the night before. My hard earned money will always be spent on bands like American Aquarium, Turnpike Troubadours and Reckless Kelly, but I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t like the occasional Luke Bryan or Aldean song thrown into the mix. If the radio people could just do the same thing, it would make everyone a lot more happy I think.
October 29, 2014 @ 10:23 am
As I’ve always said, pop country music has its place in the world, and it always will. People can wiggle their fists all they want, but as you say, when you’re in a hurry, sometimes Taco Bell is the best, or only option. What I’ve always lobbied for is balance. Why can’t an American Aquarium song be on the radio? Or Jason Isbell or Sturgill Simpson? Give people a choice. We’re already seeing choice re-enter the marketplace with things like NASH Icon and the country radio format split, and as we had been saying for years, it’s commercially successful. There is still much more to do, but if balance is yearned for, not just the domination of one mindset over another, then victories can be won, and music can be better.
October 30, 2014 @ 11:51 pm
Taco Bell is just about the healthiest fast food restaurant out there. The chicken there is grilled, not fried. If you buy a chicken burrito without cheese or sour cream you will get a high-protein, high-complex-carb meal with virtually zero fat.
October 31, 2014 @ 9:48 am
And if you eat it often enough, you might even start lactating.
October 29, 2014 @ 10:23 am
alls I nos is the last time I was in jacsonvile was 1988 an the band I was n was openin for molly hachet. the concert was rockin butt long storee short I left florida with a stab wund I did not have win I got there.. I thank the florida gorgia line boys mite be tuuffer then u mite thank. an there good boys just havin fun n all. an I dont no the america aqariam band but they look like a good band. it mite be a good idea if the to bands got together for a song. U no what garth sez about people lovin people. an I wanna say evry wuns doin a good job in the coments. God bles yall!
October 30, 2014 @ 4:56 am
That is funny, because in my mind I picture Lil Dale as always having a stab wound at some point in the healing process.
October 31, 2014 @ 7:27 am
Pain don’t hurt Lil Dale
October 30, 2014 @ 9:08 am
You, Lil Dale, are a national treasure. So glad you’re back, gracing us with your wit, insight, and prose!
October 29, 2014 @ 11:08 am
Listened to “Jacksonville” and immediately DL’d the rest of the album (note – there’s a link to get it for free from the American Aquarium website; you can leave a tip in the amount of your choice, so if you go, don’t be a douche – do the right thing).
Thanks SCM for again introducing me to a music I never would have heard.
October 29, 2014 @ 12:53 pm
I am two paragraphs into this review, and already cheering.
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2014/10/jason_aldean_florida_georgia_line_gexa_energy_pavilion_review.php
October 29, 2014 @ 2:32 pm
Saw that review earlier – it is outstanding.
October 29, 2014 @ 1:50 pm
Very, very well said. This is pretty much exactly how I feel as a fan and it’s even more poignant coming from a musician. I need to check these guys out.
October 29, 2014 @ 2:06 pm
Amen. And I feel bad for them. Must suck having FGL open up for you.
October 29, 2014 @ 2:28 pm
Well said. One overlooked thing that he mentioned was that George Strait and Randy Travis are what used to be considered to be pop country. That time seems like 100 years ago, but I’m not that old and I remember it. That’s why I’m flabbergasted when people look back fondly at Alan Jackson or Garth Brooks as some representation of great, true country music. Shit, in the 90’s I was listening to DAC, Waylon, Jerry Reed, Hank, Jr., Merle Haggard, Billy Joe Shaver, Guy Clark, Robert Earl Keen, etc. Back then, I thought Jackson, Brooks, etc. sucked. I have only a mildly more favorable opinion of them now, and that’s only because everything that came after them was significantly more awful.
October 30, 2014 @ 6:32 am
Hey RD
Say what you will abot Alan Jackson. I love Waylon and that whole crowd as much as the next guy, but Alan Jackson was and is a great country music singer and songwriter. Case closed.
October 30, 2014 @ 7:04 am
Whew, I’m glad that you cleared that up for me. We wouldn’t want any difference of opinion to cloud our certainty. I almost forgot that when I was watching the world’s longest line dance, I was watching the second coming of Hank.
October 30, 2014 @ 11:20 am
Strait and Travis were never considered pop country. They were neo-traditionalists along with folks such as Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless, and a few others who came along in the 1980s and proved that there was still a market for traditional country music after the charts had been dominated by pop country artists such as Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, Ronnie McDowell, and the like for close to a decade when interest in the “outlaw” movement waned.
For the record, the outlaw movement was never about making traditional country music vs. pop-country, it was about artists having more control over their music
October 30, 2014 @ 11:31 am
Obviously you didn’t listen to the audio clip.
October 30, 2014 @ 11:49 am
Actually I did. When he says “pop country” he’s talking about what was popular on country radio at the time; that is, what would have been considered mainstream contemporary country at the time. He’s not talking about music that’s been decountrified to broaden it’s appeal.
October 30, 2014 @ 6:52 am
Did anyone see where someone claiming to be the tour manager for FLGA line chime in and claim to be big fans of American Aquarium and Wilco and other bands? If that’s the case, he needs to make his boys listen to some of those bands so they might be inspired to write better songs.
October 30, 2014 @ 9:32 am
That’s how it is in Nashville. Most industry people listen to legitimate artists and peddle garbage to the morons.
October 30, 2014 @ 10:40 am
Tattoos: check
Cliche lyrics: check
Stupid name: check
Too many Gibson’s on one stage: check
Who am I talking about?
My point being some of these “keeping it real” guys and gals are not as far away from they’re enemies as they would like to think. Pbr promenade? Give me a break. Scratchy voice and fuzzy guitar thing is played out. With the right producer these boys could sound and look like fgl.
And who the fuck thinks red lobster is a good restaurant? But maybe these guys are the Red Lobster of music and fgl is McDonald’s. Not that different
P.s. Next person that tries to make me listen to Lucero will get a wooden stake through the heart.
October 30, 2014 @ 11:23 am
I agree with Jimmy Row, to start with I personally don’t like or listen to FGL and haven’t even heard of these guys until now but I think a lot of these “real” country bands tend to try too hard to go in the opposite direction. Music has variations for most all tastes and if one is not your taste then simply don’t listen to it, you don’t have to knock it, in FGL’s case there’s obviously millions of folks that disagree with AA’s opinion here.
October 30, 2014 @ 6:43 pm
Which speaking of Isbell: I’ve been hearing that he’s been building a big enough following where he’s mostly been doing big festivals, theaters, and auditoriums due to ticket demand, anybody know about that?
October 30, 2014 @ 7:09 pm
Yeah, Isbell is pretty much a theater draw at this point, maybe with some bigger clubs to help fill in dates. Bus not van level.
October 31, 2014 @ 6:07 am
I saw Jason Isbell at the 9:30 Club (capacity 1000) in DC in January. The show sold out about a month before the day of the show. The previous May, I saw him at the Birchmere (capacity 500) in Alexandria, VA. That one sold out just days before the show. About a month or so ago, I saw that he will be playing the Lincoln Theater (capacity 1250) in February. Should have kept on top of that, because it’s already sold out! Meanwhile, there are still tickets for Lucinda Williams on 11/14 and she has a new album out that’s getting a lot of positive attention.
It seems that Sturgill is right behind Jason Isbell. I saw him in August at the Birchmere. It was a sold out show. About 9 months before that, I saw him do a no cover show at Hill Country BBQ in DC in front of maybe 100 people, and I had the impression that very few of the people at the show had heard of him beforehand. Checked his schedule recently and he will be playing the 9:30 Club in February!
November 2, 2014 @ 7:14 pm
I couldn’t make it to the Birchmere show in August but I’m going to the 9:30 Club show in February. I can’t wait.
October 30, 2014 @ 8:15 pm
First, this is not a defense of Florida Georgia Line. Rather, this is a sharp critique of the self-absorption of this “public service announcement”.
My main issue is with a single sentence: “Three years ago, to the day, Florida Georgia Line opened up for us in Jacksonville, FL with their same brand of bro country that is all over the radio today.”
So these guys were doing the exact same thing back then as they are now. How can American Aquarium say that they “still have their self-respect”? I would think “selling out” would mean drastically changing who you are to gain acceptance, which would indicate a loss of self-respect.
Instead, FGL started out doing something, the market accepted it, and it got huge. Why are they to fault for that? Why is it presumed that they got anything handed to them if they were opening up for these nobodies years ago? Sounds like they were willing to play most anywhere and it worked out for them.
I don’t like their sound, and I don’t like the state of country music. But I’m sure as hell not going to presume that everyone in country music had it handed to them, or sold their souls. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at the droves of country music fans who show up for these shows. But even that’s a farce, because you can’t be mad at someone for liking what they like.
Instead of some “banner carrying” statement, this does sound like sour grapes.
October 31, 2014 @ 9:11 am
That’s a good point. While I have no use for FGL or their music, I grudgingly have to give them a little respect for making it big doing what they’ve done all along. Especially compared to those like Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean who broke into the business performing something closer to country music then jumped on the “bro-country” bandwagon when this tripe became popular and rode it to the next level.
October 31, 2014 @ 2:41 pm
I like how he points out that he writes songs about trucks not to get out an endorsement, but about the one his dad drove. Like who cares about what truck we drive anyway.
November 3, 2014 @ 8:31 am
Ummm…. well I live near Jacksonville Fla. & I have seen these guys before at a local bar I actually enjoyed them however, focus on your own career instead of bashing someone else. To each his/her own but that doesn’t make it ok to be such a sore sport. Negativity will get you nowhere.
November 3, 2014 @ 9:52 pm
Small World. David Childers son Robert was my roommate and drummer for a while back in the day. He turned me on to American Aquarium . That’s pretty cool to hear his name in the audio . Much respect for the love of real Country Music!
January 9, 2015 @ 9:23 am
People like what they like. This article actually makes American Aquarium look horrible from an industry stand point. Negativity and jealousy never sells these days. If they want there band to have success like FGL has they need to sell regardless of what type of music they play. Thats the sad truth. Also, there message in this article is a complete oxymoron, by talking about something they dislike so often they are only making FGL bigger. This is not a successful mindset. When I dislike something I ignore it. Hope you people can see the truth in this statement.
-Ty March.
March 17, 2015 @ 9:24 pm
Maybe they’d make it in the music industry if they stopped bitching about all the people that opened for them and then blew their doors off. Who cares if it’s bro country, pop country, or whatever you want to classify it as. Millions of people like it, listen to it, and are not paying to listen to your garage band. You have fun signing about your “roots”. They’ll be performing and counting they’re millions all while laughing at you for calling them sell outs. Bunch of ass clowns.
March 17, 2015 @ 9:26 pm
Their *
July 7, 2017 @ 2:19 am
Nah, they probably won’t make it big if they stopped bitching, because they have something more to say than trucks and dirt roads and whatever else bullshit those pretty boys on the radio think they know about. The reason for that is most country music listeners are vapid gashes who open wide for whatever radio shoots down their throats, so the easily packaged, sugary shit gets played and makes money and American Aquarium doesn’t because apparently country fans are too shallow to listen to anything that required much thought to write.
Also Florida Georgia Line fucking sucks old wrinkly ass and all the money in the world won’t change that.