Chris Stapleton, Justin Timberlake Re-Create Historic Country Moment
If you asked me point blank what the single most important moment in country music over the last ten years has been, without any hesitation, I would answer conclusively that it was Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake performing “Tennessee Whiskey” at the CMA Awards in November of 2015. Hands down.
So many different threads and narratives can be drawn from that specific moment, and the reverberations were so earth shaking, they still can be felt today. Appreciate, that the moment happened seven years ago this November, and still, just this week, “Tennessee Whiskey” was the 5th most streamed song in all of country music, and its parent album Traveller also remains one of the most popular titles in all of country, in part due to the strength of “Tennessee Whiskey.”
Yes, Chris Stapleton’s version brings a distinctly R&B/classic soul flavor to the classic country track, but appreciate that this is a song that was written by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove in the early 80s, was recorded by David Allan Coe in 1981, and was re-recorded and became a hit for George Jones in 1983. It is a 40-year-old classic American country song that is still as relevant today as it was during the Reagan Administration, if not more.
Let’s also remember that the song’s approach can also be tied right back to the modern country music insurgency. It was Chris Stapleton listening to Sturgill Simpson’s magum opus Metamodern Sounds in Country Music that motivated him to shelve all the other stuff he’d been recording, look up producer Dave Cobb, and record Traveller and “Tennessee Whiskey” live in studio. In fact, it was Dave Cobb who suggested Stapleton cut the song.
When Chris Stapleton took the stage of the CMA Awards on November 4th, 2015, he was in no way a household name. Few mainstream country listeners even knew who he was. Traveller was barely raising a blip on the charts, and “Tennessee Whiskey” was an afterthought. But piggy backing off the star power of Justin Timberlake, that one performance was like a dagger in the heart of the Bro-Country era, which reigned supreme at that time. Bro-Country wouldn’t die right there, but it’s been slowly bleeding out ever since.
On Friday night, June 10th, Chris Stapleton was in Los Angeles, playing at the legendary Forum in Inglewood when Justin Timberlake stepped on the stage with him to re-create that moment, turning in an epic, 12-minute version of the song to close out the show. It brought the house down, and reminded many of that moment back in 2015.
With everything else going on in the world—including in country music—it’s easy to forget just how important that moment was. The purists and Americana types will cast it off as superfluous. But even here seven years later, it’s hard to not assess that what we saw that night was magic, and something that helped reshape the direction of country music more than any other moment we’ve experienced in recent memory, and that we may experience ever.
Chris Stapleton, Justin Timberlake, and their particular version of “Tennessee Whiskey” may not be for everyone in country music. But it’s something that has most certainly affected everything else in country music, and in ways that are still resonating, and that may not stop anytime soon. In that moment, those two men helped save country music, even if it took a little R&B flavor to do it.
June 12, 2022 @ 9:52 am
I 100% agree. I rarely watch any awards shows but that night was epic.
They faded into JT’s Drink you away which only made it better.
June 12, 2022 @ 10:13 am
That was something, I love Tennessee Whiskey but Drink you away stole the show !
June 13, 2022 @ 9:14 am
Well, I don’t like Tennessee whiskey at all. In fact, I think you should only use it to clean the mud off your truck tires but then only if you wear heavy, rubber gloves and are careful not to get any of that gunk on you.
Wait…what? You are talking about the song? It sucks, too. Tennessee Whiskey – 5 syllables. Kentucky Bourbon – 5 syllables. You’d think a guy fortunate enough to have been borne and raised in Kentucky would understand the difference.
🙂
June 12, 2022 @ 10:49 am
A Rock/Soul singer butchering a C(c)ountry classic with help from a metrosexual pop star (Justin “I’m from Memphis” Timberlake) can’t be the most important moment in country music the last 10 years, because it wasn’t a country music moment.
Unless, by “important”, you mean negatively impactful or detrimental?
June 12, 2022 @ 11:22 am
ok, gatekeeper. I think what he’s saying here is that in order to “save country music,” bro country had to be overthrown in the mainstream, and that’s why this is important.
June 12, 2022 @ 12:53 pm
Wilson,
I appreciate your acknowledgment of my position as gatekeeper. I imagine it must’ve been difficult to humble yourself before me, given our prior history, and I respect your willingness to do so.
Nothing has been overthrown. Popular sounds change. If there’s less Bro-Country now, it’s because Metro-Country, and Talk-Singing, now occupy more market share. And although Bro-Country was less substantive than Stapleton, it’s no less country (rural).
You and others, including your idol Trigger, are confusing substance with genre. Stapleton is authentically not a C(c)ountry singer. He’s a talented Rock/Soul singer who records substantive music. Presenting him as a savior, or as important for C(c)ountry music, further confuses people who aren’t rooted in C(c)ountry music, like you, by misrepresenting what C(c)ountry music sounds like.
June 13, 2022 @ 8:22 am
You my man are a pompous jackass. How does it feel up on that pedestal. I know your type. You don’t have a real life so you troll around and shit on everyones parade. Sitting in your mommies basement where you live & screaming at mommy to bring you a grilled cheese and milk. I am willing to bet that you hide behind your keyboard saying things that. In my neck of the woods that would get you an azz kicking talking sh!t like that! I would love to be the first to do so. Your type are the POS of the world, always stirring the crock of sh!t. Get a real life friggin loser. Now I wait to see what ignorant azz sh!t pours from your mouth towards me for telling you the way you appear to those of us that like Stapletons style. It beats the hell out of bubblegum pop country! Now you just keep on being a keyboard badazz. Don’t think of telling me that I’m doing the same, because I will back my mouth up. Now go listen to your favorite Taylor Swift songs.
June 13, 2022 @ 8:53 am
Hello Jiu jitsu life,
Your handle is Jiu jitsu life, and you’re literally making physical threats of violence online, while simultaneously accusing me of keyboard badassery. Also, your emotions and subnormal IQ have prevented you from comprehending anything I’ve said about Stapleton’s talent.
The one thing you got right is that I love grilled cheese. I can never decide whether to use Cheddar or American, so I always end up with both.
June 13, 2022 @ 10:28 am
Hey king of crackershit. You wanna take a hit at my I.Q.? Well if you can’t top 145, you are the degenerate with a Forrest Gump I.Q. Friggin dildo. You haven’t said anything that gives him credit for anything. You don’t deny being a shitty troll. You are only on this thread to stir up shit. Watch what you say little man because I am not the only one on the internet that is willing to put you in your place. Be it ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. Yeah I said it! The only emotion I have right now is fuckin with the troll, that being you Forrest. I’m just smearing your shit back on you. Just how old are you hoss? I bet your a fat fuck. If you wanna escalate this matter I would love to talk it over in person, so I can obtain your infinite knowledge. 😉 Eat a Dick friggin loser! 🤣
June 13, 2022 @ 11:01 am
You’re 90, or below.
With the suggestion to “Eat a dick…”, can you please clarify the insult?
Is it like this: “Eat a dick, straight guy, cause I know you won’t like it, because you’re a full-blown heterosexual who would hate to have to eat a dick. And because I know you’re totally straight, you’ll think eating a dick is gross.”
Or is it more like this: “Eat a dick, homosexual, because you’re a total homosexual who loves eating dick, and I’m telling you to do something you love as a way to insult you.”
June 14, 2022 @ 5:19 pm
I’m guessing that you bowed out of our little conversation. I can’t blame you, you suck at trolling. 🤣🤫 How does a virtual ass kicking feel. I wouldn’t know. 😂👊🏻💥
June 12, 2022 @ 11:26 am
With his star power and name recognition, Justin Timberlake imparted an incredible amount of attention on Chris Stapleton, who at the time was a non radio-supported artist that very few people outside of independent and Americana circles had ever heard of. That moment imparted millions of listeners with the knowledge that there was an entire world of music out there they weren’t being served on country radio. Shortly thereafter, we saw explosions of interest in artists such as Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Cody Jinks, and many others, while hip-hop-inspired Bro-Country acts such as Sam Hunt and Florida Georgia Line were diminished.
Of course Justin Timberlake is not a country artist. But that’s irrespective of the point. He was critically instrumental in this moment in ways that are still most definitely resonating today, and will continue to do so for years to come.
And hey, maybe you want to asses it was the most “negative” and “detrimental” moment of the last 10 years because that makes you look cool. But it still was the most significant moment. And though I’m getting trounced on Facebook for making such a statement, I’ve yet to see anyone offer an alternative moment to the one I’ve presented here.
June 12, 2022 @ 1:26 pm
Trig,
Your mommy exists to tell you you’re handsome, and that you can do anything you put your mind to. I want you to think of me as your daddy. I’m here to teach you right from wrong, to help keep you grounded in reality, and to discipline you when you act like a moron.
As your daddy, I have no interest in looking cool. I only care about making sure you keep your head out of the clouds. So I have to tell you, the only thing Stapleton has done for C(c)ountry music, is cause an already confused nation, to be even further confused about what traditional, authentic Country music is and what it sounds like.
I also think it’s important for you to understand that there doesn’t have to be a most important moment. I know your mommy taught you to find the “good” in everything, but I need you to understand that there can be zero important moments. This means the argument, “You haven’t named a better one, so I’m right.” is another pipe-dream that mommy told you would come true. Don’t be upset with her, though; she meant well.
June 12, 2022 @ 1:38 pm
What a weird and creepy analogy.
And you still don’t get it. The question is not if Chris Stapleton is pure country. Of course he isn’t. The question is if Stapleton is more country, and better than Sam Hunt and Florida Georgia Line who he helped depose. Clearly that answer is “yes.”
June 12, 2022 @ 2:05 pm
Trig,
She tried to instill wishful thinking into you, and that had a purpose. But you’re a man now, and it’s time to put childish fantasies behind you. Substantive does not equal authentic.
Stapleton caused a significant number of music consumers to believe themselves fans of Real™️ Country music, by being fans of him. In doing so, we’re now further removed from C(c)ountry music than we were before he started.
Also, you really need to get rid of the “Horse crap smells less foul than dog crap, therefore horse crap is acceptable for consumption.” argument. Throw it away. Never use it again.
June 12, 2022 @ 2:26 pm
“What a weird and creepy analogy.”
2nd that.
June 12, 2022 @ 3:16 pm
“Stapleton caused a significant number of music consumers to believe themselves fans of Real™️ Country music, by being fans of him. In doing so, we’re now further removed from C(c)ountry music than we were before he started.” LOL, the Garth Brooks effect.
June 12, 2022 @ 4:42 pm
I understand what you’re getting at. But i bet you like Waylon or Hank Jr, right? When waylon came out w albums like Honky Tonk Heroes, the purists were up in arms. It had a rocking, fast rock beat inspired by his infusion of Buddy Holly. You would have been the guy saying Waylon was ruining classic country by bringing rock fans into the mess. Or Willie bringing hippies. Or Hank Jr straight up copping lynyrd skynyrd and the allman brothers into his sound. “Futher confusing country music”. Give it a rest old man nobody cares what you think.
June 12, 2022 @ 5:37 pm
Dang, Mary, your argument is the worst so far. Also, you definitely care.
Nobody was claiming that Hank Jr. or Waylon were helping to save Country music, or that important moments in their careers marked turning points back toward a traditional sound. If they did, they were as wrong as you and Trig are now.
June 12, 2022 @ 5:46 pm
Honky,
The only person saying that Chris Stapleton is saving country music, or a country music savior is you and others that want to set up that straw man to argue against it.
I wrote this eight days after Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake performed “Tennessee Whiskey” on the CMA Awards in 2015.
“The Case Against Chris Stapleton As Country Music’s Savior”
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/the-case-against-chris-stapleton-as-country-musics-savior/
June 13, 2022 @ 9:26 am
Trig,
Let’s be clear. I want the entire world to agree with me. Therefore, building strawmen would have a negative impact on my goal, because it would be intentionally creating things for people to disagree with me about.
Having said, it’s always possible I’ve misunderstood your position. You’re stating that this moment in Stapleton’s career, has done more to save C(c)ountry music than any other moment in the last 10 years. Doesn’t that imply that he’s a savior of C(c)ountry music?
I remember that 2015 article when you wrote it. I understood this current article to be a revision of your 2015 position, based on hindsight.
June 13, 2022 @ 7:11 am
“call me daddy”
lol.
June 13, 2022 @ 8:25 am
Not sure why the genre classification is so important. As someone who has seen Stapleton perform live three times, I can assure you he cannot be boxed like other artists. Clearly his musical talent was shaped from listening to a variety of genres ( as my taste is), and some of us actually appreciate his ability to sing almost any genre of music and make it his own. I enjoyed his early work with The Steel Drivers, but also love the Southern Rock feel of his time with the Jompson Brothers. Oddly enough his concert ticket prices are affordable when purchased directly from his site, and it’s money well spent. I have attended many concerts, many different artists ,and types of music. My one take away is that Stapleton consistently delivers an excellent live performance. For those clamoring for “country” music, guess what ? It’s gone. Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood – yeah that’s not country. Sorry you weren’t born sooner, those days of people like Haggard, Jennings & Jones will never be replicated. Nashville music today is no different than what’s being put out in L.A. Luckily for Stapleton, because he wasn’t some record producer’s manufactured “star” and came up through the ranks on his own path, he can pretty much do, or sing whatever he wants. And that makes his music that much more appealing to a wider audience.
June 14, 2022 @ 10:56 am
I’m so much better at trolling than you, you should be folding my socks.
Neatly.
Haggard, Jennings, and Jones (you forgot Buck, cretin) were the shizz. However, I just checked, and they are all still legally dead, and this is the 2020’s. Chris Stapleton came to my attention as lead singer/guitarist for The Steeldrivers. If he didn’t hit your radar at the same time, it’s because you were lost in your 8-tracks. It’s not others’ fault you weren’t paying attention.
Merle Haggard took a lot of crap in the 80’s, for “going pop.” Waylon spent a lot of his time playing “Puh-puh-puh-Peggy, my Peggy Soo-huh-hoo, ha-hoo-hoo.” Jones was once Thumper Jones, rockabilly star. Buck, too.
The country purity test gets failed by EVERYONE, because country purity-tests are bullish*t. They were in ’68, too. I could also mention that all the aforementioned legends also released TOTAL septic-tankers, too, even my beloved George Jones. ESPECIALLY my beloved George Jones. Yes, some modern country stars are pretty awful, in my estimation. But that’s always been there, and is a total matter of taste. Guaranteed, a trip through your personal music collection WILL contain several things that smell like somebody tried to put out a tire fire with a portable-jon. Chris Stapleton is a singer’s singer, in an era of “chew-tobacco-chew-tobacco-chew-tobacco-spit.” He worked for it, I knew who he was 15 years ago, even if you didn’t. He’s written for some of the country-est artists of the last 20 years. He showed up for work.
That’s country as eff, right there. Now get to folding, I have a gig tomorrow.
June 12, 2022 @ 3:27 pm
If it wasn’t for the suspension of country music belief there wouldn’t be much to talk or argue about.
June 13, 2022 @ 1:52 pm
Honky,
It is a war of attrition that Trigger wages. No different than the conservative movement in America. Yet both sides can’t understand why that they keep losing ground despite little victories.
I have come to terms with it. This country is doomed anyway.
June 13, 2022 @ 2:59 pm
I started Saving Country Music in 2008 when the worst things we had to worry about in country music were Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift. Then Bro-Country hit, and mainstream country got progressively worse. Then this moment happened, and the tide started turning. Soon we saw independent artists getting #1 records and selling out bigger venues. We saw Bro-Country acts start to get sidelined for artists like Chris Stapleton and Luke Combs. I don’t think we’re losing ground at all. Yes, sometimes the victories are little and there is a long way to go, but I can’t imagine how someone could assess how having Chris Stapleton, Zach Bryan, Luke Combs, and Morgan Wallen as the top acts in the genre as opposed Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, and Luke Bryan is worse as opposed to better.
June 16, 2022 @ 9:11 pm
It is nowhere near the early 1990s or earlier.
Bryan is good but even you admit he isn’t straight country. Stapleton is barely country. Wallen has two good songs. Combs is country but pretty vanilla.
Yeah, they are better than that trio. But that isn’t saying much. War of attrition
June 12, 2022 @ 11:29 am
Maybe on the 10-year anniversary they can perform “I’d Rather Go Blind,” off of which Tennessee Whiskey was ripped.
June 12, 2022 @ 3:41 pm
And Christine Perfect soothes my soul in a way that only a handful of country artists replicate (Gene Watson at the top of that list)
June 16, 2022 @ 9:10 pm
It is nowhere near the early 1990s or earlier.
Bryan is good but even you admit he isn’t straight country. Stapleton is barely country. Wallen has two good songs. Combs is country but pretty vanilla.
Yeah, they are better than that trio. But that isn’t saying much. War of attrition.
June 12, 2022 @ 4:03 pm
Omg yes the Stapleton version is a copycat of Etta James. Of course that’s meaningless to the dumbmasses who have no clue who Etta James is and thinks that Stapleton is some kind of musical genius original.
June 12, 2022 @ 4:24 pm
This argument is such a meme.
Did George Jones rip off David Allan Coe who recorded the first version? Did David Allan Coe rip it off of Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove who wrote the song? Did the Blind Boys of Alabama rip off The Animals when they recorded “Amazing Grace” to the exact same pentameter to “House of the Rising Sun,” who got it from Dave Van Ronk, who got it from an old English folk tune, that was crafted by one bard, and taken by another bard, who learned it from yet another bard?
Right now every single person in the music industry is suing someone else for ripping off one of their songs. Yet somehow the estate of Etta James is perfectly fine with Chris Stapleton’s version of “Tennessee Whiskey.”
If this song had been recorded by 49 Winchester, everyone would be praising it here, because just like Stapleton, Isaac Gibson is a badass soulful country singer. The problem is Chris Stapleton and and “Tennessee Whiskey” are popular, which means they must suck.
June 12, 2022 @ 5:08 pm
This conversation is very interesting.
Last night lying in bed, Pete Seeger’s, Turn, Turn, Turn, as sung by the Byrds, popped into my head. Hadn’t thought of that song in years.
The lyrics for that song were written thousands of years ago, yet became very popular in a song, sung last century.
June 13, 2022 @ 3:40 am
I’m usually with you on most matters Trig, but this analogy wasn’t very accurate to dispel what you were trying to. George Jones covered the same song by DAC who recorded a song wrote with lyrics by someone other than him. The Blind Boys performed a gospel tune to an established popular culture song beat as homage/parody or whichever similar word for that you’d enjoy choosing. That’s not really the same thing as what they’re accusing the song of doing. And this is not me trying to decry the Stapleton, Timberlake or the version of the song. I talk positively about music I enjoy, and I enjoy many things from Red Sovine to Eminem; I’m only pointing out what I see, especially since your comments are held to a much higher standard than anyone else’s.
June 13, 2022 @ 8:36 am
Well, it can’t be nearly as bad of an analogy as Honky talking about my mommy and my daddy. 🙂
Maybe those are not the best examples. My greater point is that this is extremely common in music, and not necessarily the result of someone ripping off someone else. Songs are regularly built and borrowed off of others. “Wagon Wheel” is another example. It started as a Bob Dylan melody. Old Crow at first way coy about it, but then fessed up to it. It was everyone’s favorite Old Crow song until everyone else started loving it, including your co-workers and friends who don’t know anything about music, and then everyone started hating it. Then Darius Rucker recorded it, and it made the whole thing even worse. It doesn’t mean that “Wagon Wheel” is a great song. Clearly it is.
“Lovesick Blues” is another example. It had been around in various incarnations for 25 years before Hank Williams recorded it. It became his signature song.
Chris Stapleton took “Tennessee Whiskey,” brought a classic R&B attitude to it, and made it his own. This is music. This is art. The fact that a 40-year-old country song continues to be one the most popular songs here seven years later should be a Godsend.
June 13, 2022 @ 5:54 am
Good points Trig. Ive said it before, Id Rather Go Blind is a blues song. In the world of blues, everyone copies each other. Take John Lee Hookers Boom, Boom Boom, or Boogie Chillun, or Smokestack Lightning by Howlin Wolf or any Bo Diddley song, and Muddy Waters, and out of those sprang 2000 more ” original blues songs”, licks, beats, chords, arrangements, all copying each other. Tennessee Whiskey, regardless of the arrangement or cadence or time signature is still a Dean Dillon song. Period. The people who bring this up, do it because they NEED some kind of exhibit to hold up as proof Stapleton sucks. As to a purity test, nobodys claiming Stapleton is bedrock country tradtional. Hes a hybrid act. But if you dig through his 4 solo records and 2 Steeldrivers albums, there are many great country songs to be found. That said, i tire of the blue eyed soul thing. And while you are correct that he brought substance to the table, he didnt have the same effect that Randy Travis did in 86, when he along with Dwight, turned radio back to traditional sounds. But you are right about the live performance launching his career and disrupting the Bro era.
June 13, 2022 @ 10:14 am
Love Chris Stapleton, but I always wondered more about the lyric from Parachute “Flying feels like falling til you hit the ground”. This is an exact lyric from the song Hit the Ground by Hinder Guess it depends how nitpicky you want to get about one lyric, but Hinder was a country-ish rock band from the Red Dirt/Oklahoma scene in the years just before the Jompson Bros. Hard to think CS wouldn’t have been aware of the band or heard the lyric at least subconsciously in passing.
June 12, 2022 @ 12:02 pm
It was nice to see Paul Franklin and Mickey Raphael playing with Chris, it doesnt get any more country than those two!
June 12, 2022 @ 12:43 pm
Fascinating take…that a song that you admit was changed away from its country roots is seen by you as the biggest event in country music this decade.
If you want to know how badly a remade song can be, just look at Reba’s “remixed” album on her three album release recently. Awful stuff.
June 12, 2022 @ 2:51 pm
I’ve always found Timberlake’s voice to be thin and weak. I’d much rather hear Michael Buble or Harry Connick, Jr. do a country song/album from an out-of-genre Southern perspective. Timberlake just sucks.
June 12, 2022 @ 3:41 pm
Doesn’t matter if you think this is country or not people. That was bad ass
June 12, 2022 @ 3:57 pm
Yes, it was bad, ass!
June 12, 2022 @ 6:19 pm
Why can’t music simply just be enjoyed?It doesn’t matter if I enjoyed it, and perhaps you did not. Or vise versa. Should it matter if Joe Blow finds the evening and event the “greatest” moment of all time, and Jack Black completely disagrees? Why should it? We are all free to listen, to like, dislike, and to express our opinions and perspectives on the matter, whether it be in regards to music, literature, economics, kindergarten antics and so on. Be happy people, enjoy life, however you may see it.
June 12, 2022 @ 6:48 pm
Making a definitive statement usually incites a spirited discussion. This one did not disappoint.
June 12, 2022 @ 8:15 pm
Love to hear Chris Stapleton sing Tennessee Whiskey, and, Alannah Myles sing Black Velvet.
Both have a very sensual beat.
The kind of beat that slows you down, when you are making love – after you have gotten that first O out of the way. laughing…
Like a dear friend says, when i get there going to carry you up the stairs, make love, so we can get that out of the way 1st thing …
June 12, 2022 @ 8:44 pm
Actually, it is Armand Sabal-Lecco’s bass, that is straight up sex, in Alannah Myles’, Black Velvet.
Goodness …
June 13, 2022 @ 1:58 am
Well…”Black Velvet” became a #12 hit on Billboards Hot Country Singles in 1990…for Robin Lee.
Just another historic country moment (her only Top 20 hit as a singer).
June 13, 2022 @ 8:53 am
Thanks, OlaR.
Just looked up & listened to Robin Lee’s version.
It is good, and she has a good voice.
But, i prefer Alannah’s version. It has more of a smoky & funky, groove
June 13, 2022 @ 7:31 am
100% agree on the importance of that moment. JT’s inclusion solidified that country classics are/can be soulful. This inclusion didnt undermine the authenticity of country at all. And country has often mingled with soul/R&B.
June 13, 2022 @ 7:47 am
Based on the commentary above I have a whole list of people that I would not want to sit or stand by at a concert. It would just be a constant beat down of how the artist sucks or is stealing their music from another artist or is not country enough. Can you image seeing the JT/Stapleton performance live surrounded by these complainers?
June 13, 2022 @ 8:31 am
Always amusing how the average person, who probably can’t sing a note in key, becomes the expert on others’ performances. Not a fan of Timberlake myself , but have to admit, if not for him, millions of people would have never been exposed to Stapleton’s music.
June 14, 2022 @ 3:40 pm
It is amusing isn’t. So your (derailed) train of thought means your comments are useless and without merit? See, I can sing in key and write and play, and have enjoyed a certain amount of success at all of those things. So I guess that makes me more qualified? Nonsense.
The ‘millions of people’ who watched the CMA show where Stapleton performed with Timberlake would have found out how great Stapleton was (fans of the Steeldrivers already knew how great he was) regardless of wether or not Timberlake was there, and regardless of what song he performed.
Stapleton’s success was inevitable. Suggesting otherwise takes away from his own talent and hard work. The man had been on an upward trajectory for years.
June 13, 2022 @ 8:07 am
That moment wasnt near as important as you claim. Great performance though.
June 13, 2022 @ 9:04 am
If you think there was a more important moment in the last 10 years, I’m all ears.
I’ll even spot you a couple:
Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” being removed from the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Morgan Wallen being caught on a camera using the N word.
…but both of these were mostly media-driven narratives that didn’t really result in any sonic differences in music.
Appreciate that this moment happened nearly seven years ago, and “Tennessee Whiskey” is STILL one of the most popular songs in all of country. Nothing stays in the zeitgeist that long. It’s popularity has outlasted entire musical rends. It’s been popular for longer than the psychedelic or grunge eras lasted for.
June 13, 2022 @ 9:22 am
Interesting. You have pointed out three important moments in country music, yet the main protagonist in each was not a country music performer or had anything to do with country music.*
*FWIW, I personally consider Morgan Wallen to be a jackass who is not a country music performer but someone who brings much disgrace to the greatest Commonwealth in the Nation, that being, of course, Kentucky.
June 13, 2022 @ 10:07 am
That’s an interesting point. It used to be that popular artists put out at least one album per year. Now it’s several years. Overall music seems stagnate, especially when the best of it is almost entirely in the rear view mirror by decades. As far as country music, I think the high mark was George Strait. Sadly nothing in the past 25 years has come close to being equal on the same playlist.
June 13, 2022 @ 12:49 pm
I love George Jones’ version of “Tennessee Whiskey,” which is the benchmark for me. Stapleton did a great job, but his version is about as country as Iron Maiden. That being said, I am very happy for Dean Dillon (and Linda Hargrove) because they’re making bank on a 40 year-old song.
As far as it being the most important moment in country music in the last ten? That is simply one man’s opinion (and there’s nothing wrong with that). Ask one hundred different people, and you might get one hundred different answers. No one opinion is any more valid than the next.
For me, the most important moment in the last ten years in country music is Jason Isbell’s Southeastern. Now some will piss and moan that Southeastern isn’t country, and they would be right. But it’s far more country than the Timberlake and Stapleton rhythm and blues love in written about here.
A side note: I have commented several times that I believe Isbell is an insufferable prick, which he is, but there’s no denying how great Southeastern is. Lots of meat head artists create amazing music.
June 13, 2022 @ 3:41 pm
I agree with this. Male vocalists like Stapleton are closer to 90’s rock singers. Carrie Underwood ruined country for female artists. Yeah it’s great that you can bellow and trill but doing it all the F$%#@ time is redundant. Soul doesnt equal yelling.
June 13, 2022 @ 4:34 pm
The release of “Southeastern” is not a bad one. Nor would be the release of Sturgill’s “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music.” But these moments really didn’t have a major effect on the mainstream or the greater country music consciousness … until this Chris Stpaleton/Justin Timberlake moment. It was the connection of producer Dave Cobb that runs like a thread through all of these releases that people discovered once that CMA moment happened during primetime. As I said in the article “Tennessee Whiskey” moment includes in a small part the effort by independent artists to turn the tide. Metamodern definitely saw a sales bump in the aftermath. Not sure about “Southeastern,” I’d have to check, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
June 13, 2022 @ 4:54 pm
Some of these comments sound like who has the biggest balls instead of the fact of EXCELLENT GUITAR AND VOCALS. Chris has the voice of a miracle and Justin is in a class all his own. We are lucky to have them in this world of bullshit. If we are lucky they will preform many more times together. Nothing if more soothing than a GOOD GUITAR. That’s what music is all about. Soothing tje soul. Thank you GOD for music.
June 14, 2022 @ 7:01 am
In reading Trigger’s assessment it immediately brought to my mind the year 1992 when Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit resulted in the extinction of hair bands, spandex, and grown men in eye makeup. Any rock fan at the time would agree the impact on the genre was profound whether or not they actually liked that band or song. If anything, fans of authentic and honest music should be eternally grateful for the impact Stapleton and Timberlake’s performance had. I do believe it resulted in many folks seeking out and finding artists like Stugil, Jinks, Jamey, etc… Myself being one.
June 14, 2022 @ 7:37 am
Good analogy, and it was one we saw being made directly with Sturgill Simpson’s “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music” being released. That was the album that inspired Chris Stapleton to record “Traveller” with Dave Cobb, including “Tennessee Whiskey,” resulting in this moment, and basically taking the independent movement in country mainstream.
June 14, 2022 @ 3:28 pm
I get your point, but the grunge movement, not just Nirvana–they were just one of the biggest bands to come out of it–rattled the rock genre like nothing before it. Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake’s performance on the other hand, while really good, didn’t have anywhere near the same impact. It’s apples and oranges.
To suggest people like Simpson, Jinks, Jamey (if you’re talking Jamey Johnson, he was doing fine long before CS and JT performed together), etc. owe part of their success to the Stapleton and Timberlake’s performance would negate the hard work these artists did to get where they are at today. Those artists are where they are because of said hard work and word of mouth.
I understand Triggers assessment, and often agree with some of stuff he says (and admire how far he has come as a writer), but the correlation is mostly coincidental in my opinion (which is about as valid an anyone else’s, I reckon).
A lot of good music came to light at the same time as the CS and JT performance, doesn’t mean it had anything to do with either artist.
June 15, 2022 @ 5:53 am
Thanks for the reply Jimmy. I probably should have made my comment more personal. Didn’t mean to imply those artists (yes – Jamey Johnson) road on someone’s coattails. The article resonated with me because seeing that performance (which for me was a couple years after it actually happened on Youtube) hit me personally like a bolt of lightening. At the time my exposure to country music was the radio stuff played by city folks that think Garth Brooks invented country. I had found alt-country like Lucero and Lucinda and Whiskeytown but assumed all “country” was the hot garbage I heard at parties and cook-outs. So seeing the performance quite literally caused me to find SCM, and seek out current artists with a more traditional country sound like those I listed. Maybe there’s a few more folks out there like me. In no way did I intend to diminish the success those artists had already achieved by their own hard work. I’m just thankful I eventually saw the performance and it opened up a door for me.
June 14, 2022 @ 9:00 am
The only part I would have to disagree with is the part that states that it was the most iconic performance in 10 years because come up, let’s face it Eric Church and Lzzy Hale was a step above!!! Perfection by both though.
June 14, 2022 @ 3:33 pm
This a joke, right? Sarcasm? Eric Church is good at what he does, but nothing he has done has been groundbreaking. Many artists before and after him have mixed country and rock.
There is a new artist from Canada named Corey Marks (Marquardt, is his real last name, I believe), who after failing to get any traction as throwback traditionalist with a bit of edge (under his real name), is now being touted as doing something completely original by mixing rock and country. Only what he does, while good, sounds like every other country-rock artist from the last twenty years.
Mixing country and rock, even Lazy Hale, who has a really good voice, is nothing new or groundbreaking.
June 14, 2022 @ 3:55 pm
Maybe it was important, but I never saw or heard it(because I had long since given up on the CMA’S), but I did read about Stapleton on here and other places, so checked out his stuff online and finally bought Traveller. Great album. So maybe it was one of those moments that propelled a lot of things, because I’ve heard people listening to him in odd places. I think it made a lot of people realize: there is a lot of good music out there that you are not hearing, so you are going to have to put a little effort into it.
June 18, 2022 @ 2:39 pm
I didn’t read all of the posts, but for all of the credits being given to other country artists for influence and the writing of Tennessee Whiskey, is it not obvious that this is a huge borrow from Etta James (I’d Rather Go Blind)? Maybe there’s credit given somewhere that I haven’t seen, and Stapleton is phenomenal, but this is not original.
July 29, 2022 @ 6:40 am
I agree this is not country music. I also agree, like George Jones found out in the 80s, country music is hard to define. Waylon Jennings is probably my favorite and he is a Buddy Holly inspired West Texas Rocker with Ralph Mooney at his side. What concerns me more is the lack of originality and individuality. Who is the next Waylon? Merle Haggard? Hank Williams? The closest I have seen would be Sturgill Simpson.
I just hope for real talent and individuality. These Nashville created Super-Stars are just not interesting.
On a side note, I genuinely believe Keith Whitley would have been the greatest traditional county singer of all-time had he lived longer. He needed more time to have more hits. But his voice is as great as any singer before or since.