Dwight Yoakam to Duet with Sam Hunt for ACM Special
In the latest sign that a godless Apocalypse is nigh upon us and will reduce the entire effort of humankind from the beginning of time to an infinitesimal blip of virtual nothingness perpetuated in a faraway corner of the universe, Dwight Yoakam has agreed to pair up with country music sham artist Sam Hunt for a duet as part of an ACM Awards television special. The news was reported in this week’s issue of Country Aircheck, that for most readers was quickly reduced to a nappy, unreadable paper mess as they involuntarily emptied their entire upper gastrointestinal systems in a most violent convulsive movement at the sheer thought of such an unrelentingly evil thing transpiring.
The duet will happen in conjunction with the Academy of Country Music Awards, or ACM’s set for Sunday, April 19th. Every year the ACM’s take advantage of the assembled star power for the awards themselves to tape a television special based around a specific theme to be broadcast at a later date. Over the last couple of years, they featured a tribute to the troops and to Lionel Ritchie. As part of the ACM’s 50th Anniversary, they have decided to feature a duet special pairing up current stars and past greats, including Dwight Yoakam with Sam Hunt.
Other duet partners include Miranda Lambert and Patty Loveless, Keith Urban with John Anderson, and The Band Perry with Deana Carter. The concert will happen at the Texas Rangers baseball park, just down the street from the Dallas Cowboys stadium where the 50th annual awards will be held to a crowd of 70,000. The duets will be part of a “Party for a Cause” festival at the baseball park.
About the only solace Dwight Yoakam fans and traditional country fans can take in this development is that Dwight probably is perfectly ignorant to who Sam Hunt is and signed up simply because he was asked, similarly to how Sam Hunt’s fans are perfectly ignorant of who Dwight is. The sad thing about the duet concept is it is actually a good way to showcase older country artists—something these award show organizations struggle with regularly. It’s similarly sad that Sam Hunt, who spent the early part of his career actually writing okay songs and showing some promise, will probably follow Dwight’s lead and the duet won’t be as terrible as it seems on paper.
Nonetheless, it is a definite sign that Satan is alive on earth and is looking to subjugate us all into audio slavitude for our country music sins.
Jack Williams
April 7, 2015 @ 7:59 am
The first words out of my mouth:
Oh, that sucks.
Joshua R.
April 7, 2015 @ 10:46 am
Lol, mine were eww. Before I even opened the article.
Klancy
April 7, 2015 @ 8:07 am
Sad that the only way classic artist can even make an appearance on this “country” award show is by teaming up with younger acts.
Josh Killian
April 7, 2015 @ 8:10 am
I’m not sure this is all bad news. Sure, I will most likely suck, but I’m hoping that some Sam Hunt fan out there will wonder “Who’s this Yoakam fella?”, go listen to his records, become a huge fan, then spread the gospel of Dwight to all of his pop country listening buddies.
Spoony
April 7, 2015 @ 9:25 pm
You spend lots of time hoping for world peace too? They both seem as likely to happen.
Golddust
April 7, 2015 @ 8:11 am
Please tell me that they will make Sam sing one of Dwight’s songs versus the other way around, as I believe happened with one duet last year … drawing a blank on who because I was so sad that the “old” had to pay tribute to the new rather than the other way around.
Enjoy Every Sandwich
April 7, 2015 @ 8:12 am
Maybe Dwight is being generous and giving the boy a music lesson. Who knows, maybe something good will rub off.
hoptowntiger94
April 7, 2015 @ 8:25 am
The Lambert/Loveless duet is very intriguing! Loveless attended a Pistol Annies show in early 2013 and backstage Lambert was working Loveless on the idea about recording a new album. Lambert went as far as to say the girls would write and produce the album. But, Loveless kept responding with “I’m out (of the country music business).” Since then Monroe and Presley have up-started their solo careers, so the song pool might be dry, but if Lambert could make this happen, I’d forgive her Platinum atrocity.
As for Yoakam/Hunt, see what happens when you tour with Eric Church!
frank the tank
April 7, 2015 @ 12:22 pm
I agree; I have high hopes for the Loveless/Lambert duet. I’d love to hear some new music from Patty Loveless, but I can also understand why she got out of the business.
As for the Yoakam/Hunt duet, at least half of it will be good.
BwareDWare94
April 7, 2015 @ 8:28 am
I find so many current artists ten times less likable that Sam Hunt. He’s not a country artist and he’s not great, but there are much, much worse all over the place. I slid over to The Highway yesterday and some song called “Ridiculous” by whatever the hell a “Haley Georgia ” was playing and it made me want to vomit. Funny thing is, it was meant to be an anti-misogyny song but it filled up on the bro country trends.
Clint
April 7, 2015 @ 10:14 am
No way BD. Sam Cunt, with his comb-over and combat boots, makes me sicker than anybody else so far.
I can’t stand to look at him long enough to even find out how crappy he really sounds
Shawn
April 7, 2015 @ 10:38 am
The wife dragged me to one of his shows this weekend, I agreed to go because I hadn’t heard much about him. I’m in my mid twenties, as was much of the crowd. I’m a fan of all genres of music but normally my radio is tuned in to country stations, namely the ones who play traditional country.
All that being said, while his music is certainly not country, he’s very talented. The show was entertaining and he sounds very good live. He also covered Waylon and David Lee Murphy. So say what you will about his haircut and his resume so far, but he’s a talented musician who very obviously grew up on and has an affection for traditional country music.
Clint
April 8, 2015 @ 6:52 am
“All that being said, while his music is certainly not country, he”™s very talented. The show was entertaining and he sounds very good live. He also covered Waylon and David Lee Murphy. So say what you will about his haircut and his resume so far, but he”™s a talented musician who very obviously grew up on and has an affection for traditional country music.”
Yeah, as far as I can tell, Bieber has some musical talent, so I’m not sure what your point is with that.
And no, it is in no way obvious that this guy gives two craps about Country music. Covering Waylon just proves that, like every other loser in this current generation, he thinks Waylon, Willie, and Cash, invented Country music sometime in the early 70’s.
RD
April 8, 2015 @ 6:59 am
But Clint, don’t you remember when 99% of the commenters on this site did back flips when it was suggested that Justin Timberlake might do a country album? I guess he’s got talent, because he always seems to be sashaying around wherever there is a camera, crooning like a eunuch, and he’s in every other shitty movie that my wife watches while she’s painting her nails. He must be able to make a great country album….
BwareDWare94
April 7, 2015 @ 2:52 pm
Sam Cunt–that’s so creative and witty!
I’d rather hear him than a lot of mainstream artists right now, including Swindle, Chase Bryant, Kelsie Ballerini, etc.
Clint
April 7, 2015 @ 3:01 pm
It wasn’t supposed to be creative or witty. It was just me, a really bitter dude, taking the low road.
Lorenzo
April 7, 2015 @ 3:05 pm
Chase Bryant is a pop artist but he’s good, he reminds me of keith urban. still I agree with you, Sam Hunt is not the worst thing out there. Jason Aldean is the biggest idiot: hell I hate his stupid music coming out the radio every hour. and what about Lady Antebellum? their music annoys the hell out of me. Thomas rhett, chase rice and Michael ray speak for themselves.
Summer Jam
April 7, 2015 @ 5:31 pm
Sam Hunt actually is NOT a “crappy” artist. He is a very good singer, and his music is pretty good. BUT……..he is a SHIT ASS “country” artist….theres not much country about him or his music…it belongs on pop top 40 radio. If you can just listen to Sam without caring what genre his music is released to, he’s really damn good. And to top that off, he’s a really good person. I wouldn’t be talking shit just because you don’t like his music, he isn’t a piece of shit like Justin Bieber for example..
Clint
April 8, 2015 @ 7:21 am
“Sam Hunt actually is NOT a “crappy” artist. He is a very good singer, and his music is pretty good. BUT”¦”¦..he is a SHIT ASS “country” artist”¦.theres not much country about him or his music”¦it belongs on pop top 40 radio. If you can just listen to Sam without caring what genre his music is released to, he”™s really damn good. And to top that off, he”™s a really good person. I wouldn”™t be talking shit just because you don”™t like his music, he isn”™t a piece of shit like Justin Bieber for example.. ”
Yes, Mr. Cunt is a POS. Anybody who helps destroy my beloved Country music, is a POS.
Whether he’s a good singer or not completely subjective, but in my opinion, he just sounds like another generic voice in a sea of generic voices
Chris
April 7, 2015 @ 8:36 pm
Hunt’s music isn’t country at all so what makes him 10 times more likable to you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhnFCMyM7eE
She’s just answering Hunt’s dumb chick pick up songs. Maybe he’s slightly better than that song but that’s not saying much. Ten times better? No way. Not even 2 times. What’s worse is country radio is keeping Hunt in the #1 slot, taking a lot of airplay away from country artists and listeners who love country music. Haley on XM was just a test and she’ll be lucky to get played at all on FM. So Hunt is the worst on country radio.
BwareDWare94
April 7, 2015 @ 8:39 pm
“Ridiculous” is much, much more offensive to country music than even “Take Your Time” is. It’s all in the stupid vocal tool that’s changing her voice during the repetition of dic-dic-dic in the key word. It’s fucking awful.
Chris
April 7, 2015 @ 8:59 pm
The chopping was done to make it sound like she’s calling the guy a dick. They are at least equally offensive and Hunt’s lame talking/rapping is more annoying. He’s another no one told white boys can’t rap. Radio plays Hunt constantly so listeners can’t avoid him and you just happened to hear Georgia once on XM so she’s not even a real concern to country music fans yet.
Erik Ingram
April 8, 2015 @ 12:42 pm
White boys cant rap? ANYONE CAN RAP! IT takes no fucking talent! The fact that these douches in so called country music do it now just means they’ll suck the corporate di– to make it! God bless Jamey Johnson
BwareDWare94
April 9, 2015 @ 6:58 am
Rapping takes a boatload of talent ,from the lyrical prowess to an even deeper understanding of the poetic skill needed to pull it off, let alone “freestyle” as many have done before.
Don’t hate on it until you hear the good shit. Just like any genre, there is great hip hop out there.
Chris
April 9, 2015 @ 12:22 pm
Erik, anyone can try to rap but not just anyone can do it well. Eminem is one of the few white boys who can. It almost always sounds forced and sucks when others try it. What’s funny is Brent Cobb raps better in his bro-country parody song “Yo Bro” than all of the country acts who try to rap seriously. Lame fake rapping is one of the problems with bro-country and it’s no different than a rapper trying to sing a country song. Otherwise you made good points. Jamey Johnson is the man.
Chris
April 9, 2015 @ 12:08 pm
Enjoy this redic video https://twitter.com/niknikolaj/status/585196270391795712 LOL Does that guy not know radio has pop stations he can turn to for this kind of music?
It looks like Georgia is on the same label as Hunt (Universal) and they love to put pop on country radio. Since they hate playing women she’ll be lucky to chart though. Someone on twitter said “Ridiculous is annoying as fuck but you’re hot as fuck” and Georgia replied “I’ll take that #callme I’ll have songs you like later.” Possible but based on this song I wouldn’t bet on it. We don’t even know if she can sing country and she sounds like a pop singer like Hunt. The problem with Hunt being in country is his album doesn’t have a single country or country/pop song and all are 100% pop. It’s hard to believe that The Highway plays songs this pop once, far better new country music isn’t getting played and they keep playing any pop that sells. Where’s the gatekeeping?
Dr. Doom
April 7, 2015 @ 8:28 am
I have changed my mind about taking over your world. It is already doomed.
Red Skull
April 7, 2015 @ 3:09 pm
I will just step in to conquer the world then. In fact this is part of my plan to become master of the world.
HAIL HYDRA!!!!
Dr. Doom
April 7, 2015 @ 3:32 pm
I knew it!!! Nice of you to finally reveal the face behind Blake Shelton! I knew when he sang “Redredredredredredredredredneck” he had to be you! Very well Mr. Skull, you can have this world! But when those “old farts and jackasses” start to overthrow you, don’t come crying to me!
Fuzzy TwoShirts
April 7, 2015 @ 8:52 am
are you sure they said ACMs? this looks like it belongs on Sesame Street. “okay kids, what’s diffferent between these two things? that’s right! one of them is a country artist!”
Dr. Doom
April 7, 2015 @ 4:01 pm
I’m not known for giving compliments, but I must say this is quite possibly the best comment I have ever seen.
Charlie
April 7, 2015 @ 8:55 am
70,000 people will actually go to this thing??????
Shirley you can’t be serious.
Gary Worsham
April 7, 2015 @ 11:00 am
Don’t call him Shirley
DimM
April 7, 2015 @ 8:58 am
At first, i thought ”sad news for Dwight” , but now i think that this duet is the only way to clearly hear who is country and who is not. Of course we know this but sam hunt’s fans don’t.
marky mark
April 7, 2015 @ 9:02 am
…and i was so stoked for Dwight’s new album, which i hear was going to be a back to basics album of good ‘ol cow punk like the way he started. Hopefully there will be no intersection between said album and Sam Hunt and his type of “music”. i have faith in Dwight, he is probably just doing this duet to give him something to laugh about later (or maybe he lost a bet?).
Trigger
April 7, 2015 @ 9:29 am
This is just a television stunt. I wouldn’t take it as a sign of anything with Dwight’s direction.
Marky mark
April 9, 2015 @ 5:16 am
I was going for sarcasm there. Unfortunately I guess it went flat on the page. I have every Dwight release and his quality has never dipped. Anyone that lost interest after This Time should go back and discover his last bunch of albums. He is not quite the same without Pete Anderson on guitar and production, but still wildly consistent and creative. ….so I have no worries a duet like this will impact his new album and I will buy it without hearing it and without delay upon release. I was just trying (and failing apparently) to be funny. Incidentally, saw him live a month or so ago, and again was worried about how the absence of Anderson would impact the older songs. Still missed him, but the new guy Dwight had (whose name escapes me) was great and the show was amazing. Dwights voice was still top notch!
AJ
April 9, 2015 @ 11:17 am
I agree – “Gone,” “A Long Way Home,” “3 Pears” and now “Second Hand Heart” are all creative high points, in addition to “This Time.”
I’ve always thought Dwight has one of the most consistent discographies in ALL of music. Since his debut, he has remained the artistic/creative standard for country music.
Jim
April 7, 2015 @ 9:03 am
Hopefully Dwight will be a no-show cause he realizes he ain’t that lonely yet…
Gena R.
April 7, 2015 @ 10:14 am
Nice. 😀
Now, backing Brandy Clark on the Grammys I can understand, but this? Oof… :p
Houston Erwin
April 7, 2015 @ 9:11 am
I immediately scrolled down to look for the fake news tag. Wtf. I hate life.
Sam Jimenez
April 7, 2015 @ 10:42 am
I did the same thing – before even reading the article…
kingfish
April 7, 2015 @ 9:11 am
the only duet I want to see Dwight a part of is one with Maria McKee.
Enjoy Every Sandwich
April 8, 2015 @ 6:46 am
A fine choice, although I like the duet that he did with Heather Myles (“Little Chapel”) on her “Sweet Talk And Good Lies” album.
dukes
April 7, 2015 @ 9:15 am
There’s so much glamour in the tinseled land of lost and wasted lives.
captain canada
April 7, 2015 @ 9:27 am
This will probably be just like when Willie, Merle, and Kris sang with that turd blake shelton. Everyone will say “oh its sad how old and out of practice he’s getting” than when the rest of us country music lovers watch him at his next show we’ll know… Sometimes you just got to play ball in order to get a point across.
Stew
April 7, 2015 @ 9:34 am
Dwight’s new album is good (i think). It’s streaming on NPR right now.
NPC
April 7, 2015 @ 9:39 am
There’s a mistake in the article… Dwight Yoakam is actually performing with a Dell laptop running XP and Windows Media Player.
martha
April 7, 2015 @ 10:47 am
Maybe Dwight will take Hunt to school and show him how to graduate.
Joshua R.
April 7, 2015 @ 11:04 am
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2015/04/joe_nichols_country_thunder_interview_ct.php
Possibly of interest to you Trig.
Davey Smith
April 7, 2015 @ 11:31 am
Its nauseating to think that Sam Hunt could provide a bump to Dwight Yoakam’s listenership…
Alex
April 7, 2015 @ 12:10 pm
Gives me hope that one day I’ll be able to see a reunited Highwaymen…Willie, Kris, Tyler and Brian
Sandra
April 7, 2015 @ 3:56 pm
Did you hear about the duet between Nick Jonas with Dan and Shay. Did I forget to mention that Christina Aguilera will be making an appearance and no im not joking.
Albert
April 7, 2015 @ 4:04 pm
Wow ….everywhere you look in the music biz there’s an air of desperation . Its like nobody knows what to do or what direction to take or how to write a good song or how to market an act ….Everyone is second guessing ( or selling out ) their instincts to appeal to 16 year old kids . Listen to ANY new album by any new ” country” act and tell me its doesn’t sound schizophrenic . Trying to be all things to all people does NOT nurture longtime , faithful trusting ‘customers’ .
My car salesman may be a great guy , but as soon as he loses his job selling Fords and goes to work for the GM dealership down the road , he’s all about GM and and downplays Ford . He HAS to if he wants to continue generating an income. But after he’s done that about-face a few times , I start to realize that he knows NOTHING about the product he’s selling and my faith and loyalty to him vanishes.
Simlarly , a Tim McGraw record will invariably have some of the shitiest songs known to man ( radio for the 16 year olds ..” It Felt Good On My Lips” ??..that song runs out of a coherent direction about 1 minute in – after that its just anthem-like phrases and chant ) ) and some of the best writes you’ll ever come across . Schizo ….right ? Why not just ignore the fan who doesn’t give a damn how GOOD your album tracks are ? WHY ? Here’s why – YOU’VE ALREADY SCARED OFF THE FANS WHO DO GIVE A DAMN WITH THAT RADIO SHIT YOU ARE PEDDLING TO KIDS .
We don’t trust you guys anymore . You obviously don’t care about the product you peddle anymore than the car salesmen selling Fords one week and singing the praises of GM the next . Your records are trying to be all things to all people but the only stuff that gets attention is the radio crap . I wouldn’t waste my hard-earned $$ on a gamble like that no matter how cheaply it sells on iTunes. I wanna know I can count on consistency and integrity from MY car salesman …errr…..” Country Music Artist ” . And if I ever wind up at one of your shows , it’ll be BECAUSE I was drunk or stoned and didn’t know where I was going …not because I was going there to GET drunk or stoned.
Talk to you later , Mom …I just ran outa nickels at the phone booth .
Eric
April 7, 2015 @ 4:13 pm
I can’t imagine that the same 16-year-olds who like bro-country would find anything interesting about “Felt Good on My Lips”. I’m sure they would consider it as too slow and boring.
“That Girl” and “Truck Yeah” would serve as much better examples.
Albert
April 7, 2015 @ 5:26 pm
Yup …they would be better examples , Eric . But have a look at the schizo lyric to the song I mentioned ….. it goes everywhere looking for sing-along radio/stadium hooks without really going anywhere . Again , a song written for youthful , contemporary ” country ” or pop radio ears . LBT is the same …they don’t know who they are so they throw everything at the wall . There is no consistency to their style , if you’d call it a style . Antebellum has become the same . I mean …they actually played a Motown song on the CMAs ( ACMs ..? ) a couple years back .Eric Church is the same …he’s all over the map . There’s no consistency to his gameplan .
I’ve stated I’m not a Sturgill fan but I’ll give him points for knowing who he is , staying true and consistent to it and making sure fans know what to expect from him .
RD
April 8, 2015 @ 6:41 am
“Felt Good on my Lips”
Is that an actual song? I thought that’s what Sam Hunt said to Luke Bryan as he rolled out of bed wearing one of Luke’s over-sized t-shirts…
Fuzzy TwoShirts
April 8, 2015 @ 8:19 am
But they both sing about “Girls” all the time. “Gasp” what if the songs are about each-other and they just cross-dress all the time? sarcasmsarcasmsarcasm
Texasboy1995
April 7, 2015 @ 4:18 pm
Maybe Dwight duetting with Sam Hunt will give Sam a little lesson in what real authentic country music is and not the typical assembly line manufactured shit.
ElectricOutcast
April 7, 2015 @ 4:30 pm
I know you don’t do rumors around here Trigger, but words going around that both Garth and Hunter Hayes might be doing something in the near future.
pete marshall
April 7, 2015 @ 4:49 pm
oh boy
CountryKnight
April 7, 2015 @ 5:00 pm
Would this be considered a sellout?
Trigger
April 7, 2015 @ 6:55 pm
It’s a duet on a second-class TV special that will probably air on a Friday night. To sell out you have to receive something.
CountryKnight
April 8, 2015 @ 6:54 pm
Fair point, but would Dwight Yoakam be on this special if he didn’t agree to duet with Sam Hill?
Trigger
April 8, 2015 @ 10:03 pm
I don’t know the particulars of how the duet came about. Maybe this will come out in an interview with one or the other. That is what happened with his duet with Brandy Clark on the Grammys.
Jay Row
April 7, 2015 @ 6:13 pm
Retirement is coming soon, needs some more publicity which comes next money. Im sure he really doesn’t care for his music. Maybe
The Ghost of Waylon
April 7, 2015 @ 7:19 pm
Times are tough for us all. Even Dwight.
If he has to sing with Sam to earn a case of beer we shouldn’t judge him for that. We should admire his iron will and dedication to land a case of coldies.
Let’s just hope the mountains are blue.
Chris
April 7, 2015 @ 7:51 pm
Seems like an obvious attempt to make Hunt look like a country artist. Good luck with that. Can he even sing country? Doesn’t sound like it.
Bear
April 7, 2015 @ 9:11 pm
April Fool’s is late this… year… oh MY GOD! *shakes head* They should put Dwight with Patty Loveless and let Miranda coo with Sam Hunt. Or let Hunter Hayes coo with Sam Hunt and let same could show it what real facial hair is.
pete marshall
April 7, 2015 @ 10:08 pm
Sam Hunt and Miranda Lambert would be a good.
BwareDWare94
April 8, 2015 @ 6:39 am
On topic–Second Hand Heart is really, really fucking good.
Madwolf
April 8, 2015 @ 6:29 pm
Does this mean I’ll soon be hearing Sam Hunt on my Dwight Pandora station???
D
April 9, 2015 @ 6:36 am
No, because as soon as you hear the auto tuner rev up. You will crush the thumbs down option on your screen and he will never be heard by you again. Congratulations!
Brian
April 8, 2015 @ 7:41 pm
Who the hell is Sam Hunt?
Frank the tank
April 9, 2015 @ 7:22 am
I’ve been listening to some old John Anderson lately; it’s nice to see that he’ll be making an appearance (even though it’s with Keith Urban). Does anyone know whey he’s been up to lately? Is he still releasing new music?
hoptowntiger94
April 9, 2015 @ 6:10 pm
i see eric church and marty stuart are playing together too.
OLE JUSTIN CHAMBERS
April 12, 2015 @ 1:18 pm
i swear to god you are making most of this shit you post on here up youve got to be there is no way dwight yoakam is singing with him you are fucking crazy stop making shit up
Adrian
December 23, 2015 @ 5:37 pm
Oh, come the fuck on.