Highwomen Admit Mickey Guyton Left Out of Video Shoot
Country artist Mickey Guyton has been receiving a lot of attention lately by the media as one of the only black women music performers in the mainstream of country. It’s a shame that it’s taken massive protests and riots, and a man dying for her to find the attention she deserves. Saving Country Music has been touting her since early 2015 as an artist that could help bridge the classic and contemporary divide, along with adding some diversity to the mainstream ranks. However over five years later she still doesn’t have a debut album.
Earlier this week, Guyton was asked to write an op/ed for Billboard about her experiences in country music, and how the country music community could improve to help artists of color. In the well-written piece, Guyton spells out numerous frustrations she’s experienced, but one of the most shocking revelations of the article was not on the systemic racism she’s suffered from in the country music industry, it was how she was snubbed by her fellow women in the genre.
“I’ve gone to all the girl parties full of wine, ring light selfie booths, white female country singers and writers talking about ongoing projects and music they are putting out,” Mickey Guyton writes. “On one occasion, I left my ailing husband, who almost died from sepsis, in California just four days after his life-saving surgery because I had been invited to be a part of a female empowerment music video full of these same women. I arrived at the airport exhausted but excited. I checked my itinerary only to find that the entry had been deleted; I had been disinvited. The song was about supporting women in country, yet they disinvited the only charting African American woman in country music. Do they know? Don’t they see that I support them? Do they care? Do they want to see me? The answer is no. Let that sink in.”
This seemed like a pretty shocking accusation. Getting snubbed by major labels, and being forced into endless delays for her debut album is what we would expect from Music Row. But to have her fellow women snub her seemed scandalous. So who could be the culprits? Unfortunately, one of the reasons that women continue to be mistreated in the industry is a reluctance to name names. It’s not always their fault. If you speak out, you could have your career ended. But leaving an accusation open-ended like this could do even more damage as people assume who the guilty party is.
Was Mickey Guyton talking about a Song Suffragettes shoot? A CMT Next Women of Country event? As fans tried to put two and two together, a timeline of who might have been responsible began to emerge. Mapping out roughly when Mickey Guyton’s husband had sepsis and surgery, and a “female empowerment music video” was being shot, it seemed to coincide with the shooting of The Highwomen’s “Redesigning Women” video—the one where the country supergroup of Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, Brandi Carlile, and Natalie Hemby dressed up like firefighters.
But we had no confirmation this was the particular video shoot Mickey had been disinvited from, and making that accusation unverified would be irresponsible. Saving Country Music poked around a bit, but was unable to corroborate anything. However on Thursday (6-11), Maren Morris acknowledged that it was indeed the Highwomen’s “Redesigning Women” photo shoot that disinvited Mickey Guyton from participating.
“I’ve known Mickey Guyton since I moved to Nashville and she’s always had a heart of gold and a voice with such conviction,” Maren Morris first said on Twitter. “She released her single ‘Black Like Me’ recently and I hope our friends at country radio give it the air time it deserves.”
Then when Maren was asked by a fan to comment about the Mickey Guyton situation specifically, Morris responded, “We were notified of this yesterday + were completely mortified that such a giant miscommunication occurred under our watch at the shoot that day & have each reached out to Mickey privately with the utmost respect & apologies. It shouldn’t have happened & isn’t what we stand for.”
First off, good on Maren Morris for acknowledging what is a very embarrassing and disappointing development. She could have very easily swept this under-the-rug, or thrown someone else under the bus instead of taking a level of responsibility, even though it may have not been her fault specifically. But the next question is, who, how, or why was this allowed to happen? Clearly, the women of The Highwomen themselves weren’t being overtly racist, if they had even known about Mickey Guyton’s involvement in the production plans in the first place. The Highwomen collaborated with black British singer Yola on their “Highwomen” theme song, and Yola also performed with them at Newport Folk Fest in 2019.
But what makes Mickey Guyton’s situation especially disappointing is the whole point of The Highwomen was to raise all women’s voices in country music, and here was one of the few black voices who was supposed to be part of the moment being disinvited.
There’s really no winners or moral to this story unfortunately, though it does feel important to acknowledge what happened and lay in all the details with the significance of Mickey Guyton’s account from her op/ed. It does sound like the air was eventually cleared, and it’s not that The Highwomen themselves deserve to be vilified when the cancellation could have been due to a simple logistical snafu. But hopefully all parties and the country music community can learn from this unfortunate experience suffered by one of the few black and female voices in the mainstream, and make sure a similar instance doesn’t happen again.
MH
June 12, 2020 @ 9:45 am
Is Morris’ reply her true words or her publicist’s? We’ll never know.
The irony is that a group that features Amanda Shires is tied to this.
Trigger
June 12, 2020 @ 9:58 am
I took Maren’s reply as her own words. No publicist is going to want to touch this story with a 20 foot pole, and that’s why I give Maren credit for addressing this. No journalist is going to want to address it either, but it was really important we set the record straight of who Mickey was talking about.
Brian
June 12, 2020 @ 10:24 am
Normally that might be the case, however in this current climate, once the topic was out in the open there was no way in hell that names would not eventually have been named. Maren and them had to come out and try to get in front of this or it would have looked so much worse later on.
Jake Cutter
June 12, 2020 @ 11:33 am
I’m thinking the same thing, she probably saw it coming.
They didn’t know she was invited and then missing? Were they REALLY that disconnected? That seems like a stretch to me. I don’t buy it. Another reminder that it’s peoples ACTIONS that matter, not what they SAY, or if they post a black square on their social media.
Trigger
June 12, 2020 @ 12:59 pm
The “Redesigning Women” video initially features just the four Highwomen. Then a second truck pulls up, and there’s numerous other country women that are introduced in the video, including Cam, Lauren Alaina, Wynonna, Tanya Tucker, etc., Apparently Mickey Guyton was supposed to be part of that second wave.
A video like this is going to be produced by a production company whose job is to handle the logistics. Whether any of The Highwomen knew Mickey Guyton was supposed to be part of it or was initially invited, I don’t know. But it is worth pointing out all the women in the video were white. It also worth pointing out, what would be the harm of including one more woman in the shoot? Why would they not include Mickey if she had flown in to be there?
Imagine if you were in Mickey Guyton’s shoes. You fly all the way across the country, leave your ailing husband, show up to the Nashville airport specifically to appear in this video shoot, and only then you find out you’ve been uninvited with no explanation. I can only imagine how demoralized I would be.
Jake Cutter
June 12, 2020 @ 1:13 pm
I just posted another comment below. I think it’s terrible. I think the whole thing is bullshit, including the excuse. There’s more to this story.
Dee Manning
June 13, 2020 @ 8:20 am
Maren was one of the the first country artists to support justice for George Floyd, and she tweeted repeatedly about the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as giving Mickey’s awesome new song Black Like Me a signal boost. So whatever happened with the Highwomen, I don’t think it was her doing in any way.
So, how about y’all? Black Like Me could really use some repeat streaming and iTunes buying. How about it? Here is everyone’s chance to do the right thing.
Bear
June 16, 2020 @ 3:45 pm
My cynical ass agrees there is more to the story. But with all the books I’ve read of late about the record industry it is still very, “Don’t worry your pretty head and leave it to me.”
So I could totally see some or all of the artists involved no knowing she had been uninvited. Specifically because record execs fear a video with a black woman might not play in Topeka or wherever losing them $$$.
Look at Starbucks. They didn’t want to alienate their the extremest base so they banned BLM attire to go after every last nickle even from the Klan. But it turns out the other team buys more Starbucks so they switched.
I think the same thing happened here. And though it will not happen. I think a video reshoot is in order, though that would not play well either at this point.
Marc
June 12, 2020 @ 10:48 am
Can you please expand on the irony and Amanda Shires? Not a big fan of The Highwomen or Jason but been a fan of Mickey’s for several years.
North Woods Country
June 12, 2020 @ 4:03 pm
You hit the nail on the head with your last comment. Soaked in irony.
Suzanne Boos Linebarger
June 15, 2020 @ 5:25 pm
I have always loved Mickey Guyton’s music, regardless of why, who did it or what was done… makes no difference. You can’t change what has already happened, you can just improve on it and learn from the mistakes. I like Maren Morris and the fact that she apologized for the miscommunication, is admirable. I have never heard of this other black artist, but I plan to open my horizons on a lot of different music genres. I love the fact that Mickey Guyton is true to herself and that’s what is important- as far as I’m concerned- good for her!
Mike Honcho
June 12, 2020 @ 9:52 am
I blame Pudge Isbell.
Rob
June 12, 2020 @ 7:01 pm
Yes, you nailed them! They’re actually closet racists and personally and intentionally disinvites her! Genius!
Jack W
June 12, 2020 @ 10:19 am
But the next question is, who, how, or why was this allowed to happen?
Indeed. And I find this notion that they just found out about it interesting. I guess that’s possible. Don’t know much about these things.
Retloc
June 12, 2020 @ 10:24 am
No story here. These women could never do anything wrong under any circumstance whatsoever in the entirety of their lives.
Scott S.
June 12, 2020 @ 10:38 am
Lol. The queens of identity politics. Guess they should be looking in the mirror next time they point out racism and sexism.
Kevin Smith
June 12, 2020 @ 12:19 pm
They did collaborate with Yola. Yola is a big name in Ameripolitan but not a country music artist. Mickey Guyton actually records country music, albeit a bit pop sounding but nonetheless considered country. Maybe they went with Yola due to her being a known and very recognizable figure in music as compared to the little known Mickey Guyton. But I got no pony in this show so ehhh either way to me.
Greg Walloch
June 12, 2020 @ 3:41 pm
This woman’s talent is just fair. She has a ways to go yet. Now if it were Amythyst Khan this would be an issue
wjmtv4me
June 12, 2020 @ 11:01 am
Speaking of bands changing their names, can we do something about this one? (Barf.)
Trigger
June 12, 2020 @ 11:06 am
Ironically, there were a couple of bands already called The Highwomen before they started using the name. I was going to write a story about it when the group was first announced, but never got around to it. Now “Lady A” is getting attacked by an R&B singer called “Lady A” who’s accusing them of “privilege” for co-opting her name. I guess you just can’t win.
wjmtv4me
June 12, 2020 @ 1:29 pm
Maybe they can change their name to “The Artists Formerly Known as Lady Antebellum.”
Now *that* would open a can of worms…
Luckyoldsun
June 12, 2020 @ 4:09 pm
Funny, the “Highwaymen” name was not without its trouble and intrigue, either.
When Cash and Willie and Waylon and Kristofferson recorded the Jimmy Webb song “Highwayman” in the early ’80s and expanded it into a whole album on CBS, they were not called “Highwaymen” anywhere. The album was called “Highwayman”—in singular–same as the song–and the artists were not billed as a group. The cover and inserts simply listed the four artist’s names. That’s probably because there had been a folk group in the 1960s called the “Highwaymen,” who were known for their big folk hit “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.”
When country foursome came out with their follow-album a few years later, featuring the single “Silver Stallion,” they were still billed only by their individual names, but the album was called “Highwayman 2”–again, in the singular.
A decade later, in the mid ’90s, the country foursome regrouped for a new album featuring the title single “The Road Goes On Forever.” This time, their new label, Liberty figured “What the hell?” and called the group the “Highwaymen.” They’d been touring a lot, as a group, so the name seemed to fit.
After the country group made it official and actually called themselves the “Highwaymen,” the folk group “Highwaymen” sued. The Wall Street Journal wrote it up at the time. Everybody was wasting a lot of time and money on the litigation. Finally, Waylon said “Let’s settle this damn thing,” and he called the folk “Highwaymen” and said “Why don’t you do some shows with us?” The group had not performed in years, but the members were younger than Willie and Cash, at least. They accepted, and the “Michael” “Highwaymen” got back together and opened a few shows for the Waylon-Willie-Casj-Kris group. And the country supergroup was allowed to keep using the name.
Sam Cody
June 13, 2020 @ 8:18 pm
Anita has been using that name, playing under that name, and touring under that name a long ass time. I’ve known her for 12+ years. She ain’t as famous as those douchebags – but a simple google search would have brought her up for sure. How lazy do you have to be to not even google a fucking name you’re gonna use? Ridiculous.
Bear
June 16, 2020 @ 3:48 pm
Had to look that up it’s Kiah just FYI.
Marc
June 12, 2020 @ 11:02 am
How soon before folks look past Maren’s comments and go straight for the cancel The Highwomen movement?
Trigger
June 12, 2020 @ 11:12 am
Will never happen. Like the Dixie Chicks, they’re insulated.
Quite ironic that all of the Highwomen are on the infamous spreadsheet keeping track of “country” artists who’ve posted on Twitter and Instagram (only) their support for the black community, yet then you hear about this. Meanwhile Eric Church who featured Valerie June in a big moment and included Rhiannon Giddens on an anti-racist song is still in the doghouse.
Rob
June 12, 2020 @ 7:04 pm
But if you could you’d start that cancel party! I’ll remember your sentiments here.
WRS
June 12, 2020 @ 8:09 pm
They have a spreadsheet keeping track of who is participating who isn’t? For people that claim to like diversity they certainly don’t like diversity of thought.
Trigger
June 12, 2020 @ 9:14 pm
Story here:
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/willie-nelson-dolly-parton-more-on-misguided-accountability-list/
HayesCarll23
June 12, 2020 @ 11:35 am
The people that devote their life to “inclusion”, you will see, are the most exclusive people. I’ve been around it my whole life. There is a phase called deceptive liberalism. Beware. Most in the media, many on this site are exactly that. The world is smoke and mirrors, and nothing is real. I cannot tell you how many people I’ve been around that vote Democrat, preach tolerance, but use the N-word and other derogatory words. I am not saying the highway women would do this. I am saying that a lot of this is a show.
Strait Country 81
June 12, 2020 @ 11:38 am
She can come to my bedroom i wont keep her out.
Here’s a idea how about all these country singers that was taking part in blackout Tuesday call her up and ask if she wants to do a song that would get her name out there more Brad Paisley,McGraw and whoever else was doing it.
Tubb
June 12, 2020 @ 12:45 pm
She opened for Brad last time he did a big tour, and sang Whiskey Lullaby with him during his set. It was a great show.
CountryKnight
June 12, 2020 @ 11:48 am
Not shocking.
Usually, the people who talk the most rarely back up their words with meaningful actions.
Of course, to the woke Nashville media, the talk matters more than the actions.
Blackh4t
June 12, 2020 @ 12:46 pm
Or maybe it was just a mistake.
Sure, it would be really poetic if the the highwomen were closet racists, but mistakes happen.
The world if full of confirmation bias. That is, if you’re looking to be offended you’ll find proof of it everywhere.
My personal irony is that i want to be a balanced person but find very few black performers i like. Maybe my ears are racist.
Trigger
June 12, 2020 @ 1:10 pm
I think it was likely just a mistake. I don’t think The Highwomen are closet racists, and even if they were, you throw a black women in your video just to get credit for being inclusive anyway. Nonetheless, it’s a really ugly thing that happened to Mickey Guyton.
I’ll be honest, when I first read her op-ed, I don’t want to say I didn’t believe her story, but I just had a feeling like maybe it was being embellished, or there was more to the story, like maybe Mickey had done something that put her on the outs with somebody involved. I just couldn’t imagine any outfit set up to empower women would do this to a fellow artist. I don’t think it was on purpose. But on purpose or accident, the result was the same for Mickey Guyton.
Double Cutaway
June 13, 2020 @ 1:50 pm
Mickey Guyton (not just Mickey, Trigger refers to her by her first name only in order to diminish her) relates rather garden variety antiBlack racism she experienced and Trigger’s first instinct is not to believe her and that she must have “embellished” her “story”. I wonder what would be his reaction if this involved a sexual assault? Trigger would be tearing her apart under the cover of fairness.
Country music is a form of BLACK music and is not some “pure” expression of white identity. Such an example would be Irish music which is even less popular.
Really sick of Trigger and his gang acting as if they are some kind of arbiters of authenticity. They whine about “cancel culture” but are the first to throw out performers whom they feel don’t fit the image of what they conceive country music should be.
What moron writes an article “Opposing Lil Nas”? Why not write, “We wish to stay irrelevant as a music form and are throwing out everyone under the age of 25!”
As for Trigger whining about Lady Antebellum having to change her name and finding it was already taken, how about learning some respect? Lady A is a music veteran of 25yrs, of course Lady Antebellum should have researched better before impulsively snatching away someone’s identity and intellectual property. Trigger your response,”You just can’t win [with these people]!” reveals what a snide and unprofessional person you are.
Trigger you are skating a fine line here. Your passive aggressive racism will be your blogs undoing. Asshole.
Di Harris
June 13, 2020 @ 5:01 pm
Huh,
This sounds like an outright threat to Trigger.
Sweetie, know you are all involved in your naarrative.
So, going to help you out.
Threats by wire are a federal offense
Trigger
June 13, 2020 @ 11:19 pm
Double Cutaway,
I think I’ll respond to your comment by posting a screenshot of the comment you just tried to leave on the story of Hank Jr.’s daughter—27-year-old Katherine Williams-Dunning—dying tragically in a auto accident. She has a small son, Beau, and daughter Audrey Jane who will now have to grow up without a mother. Their father is also in the hospital. I think you should really re-evaluate your moral compass before you preach any more about anyone else’s.
“God’s terrible judgement upon Hank Williams Jr. for his racism and general boorishness.”
Double Cutaway
June 14, 2020 @ 6:04 pm
I stand by that comment absolutely. Hank Williams is racist and deserves every bit of ill fortune that comes his way.
Now, that we’ve gotten your straw man out of the way, let’s get back to you and your blog’s passive aggressive racism, or are you scared too? Half measures in revolutionary times proves what a pussy you are Trigger and pussies can’t “save country music”.
Trigger
June 14, 2020 @ 7:51 pm
Was Katherine Williams-Dunning a racist? Was her 2-year-old daughter a racist? How about her 5-year-old son? Should they have to suffer because, as you say, their grandfather is racist and boorish?
Katherine Williams-Dunning posted her solidarity with Black Lives Matter on June 2nd. She also donated proceeds from her clothing store to the cause. When she faced backlash since she lived in the small town South and lost some followers on social media due to her posts, she doubled down, saying she wouldn’t apologize.
I also find it interesting you lash out at me for saying I was demeaning to Mickey Guyton for referring to her by her first name (Reba anyone? Cam? Dolly?), yet then you turn around and demean all women by using the term “pussy” as a derogatory term.
I have issues to work out. We all do. But when you have as many issues as you’ve illustrated in just a few comments, where your seething hatred has blinded you to humanity, you really should take some time to focus on yourself. I say that constructively.
Will
June 14, 2020 @ 7:26 pm
/mic drop
Bear
June 16, 2020 @ 3:57 pm
Don’t pull the Lil’ Nas card here, either it’s country music or it ain’t black has nothing to do with it.
But fine let’s talk race in country music… I am going to wager you can’t name a country artist who isn’t white who was performeing before 1970. And I’m being generous in saying you can name any country artists working before 1970 (without google).
To steal a cliche from all the great westerns, “You’re not from around here are you?”
jim bob
June 13, 2020 @ 11:46 am
racists, probably not in a big way. maybe in that white guilt, condescending toward people of color way.
virtue signaling, disingenuous bullshit artistes? you be the judge
#highwomenlivesmatter
Corncaster
June 12, 2020 @ 12:48 pm
I like her, and she sounds a lot more country than Maren Morris, Eric Church, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, etc.
618creekrat
June 12, 2020 @ 5:02 pm
Way to set a torpedo spread.
Corncaster
June 12, 2020 @ 5:31 pm
She just released a song that expresses something I think is too negative, but she has great talent. I believe she’s real and sincere.
618creekrat
June 13, 2020 @ 7:36 am
I hadn’t heard of her before yesterday, but toured her catalog on Apple, and for the most part enjoyed it.
Both of her most recent singles are kind of the two sides of the same coin.
Looking at her output, it seems likely she’s grown frustrated with her professional situation. She’s in a bit of a quandary – her style ought to be Nashville friendly, but although she got signed to a label, she’s basically gathering dust on their shelf. Maybe she would’ve been better off forging ahead independently rather than getting hitched to the label. You don’t need to be terribly traditional to carve out a niche in the TX scene. And rather than being in a three-way between the label and the studio, and having a couple of EP’s and handful of singles to show for it, she could have a few albums to stand on by now.
Bear
June 16, 2020 @ 3:58 pm
OK. Sturgill and Jason have actively denied they are country. Maren Morris kinda duped us and I wish she’s apologize for that too.
wayne
June 12, 2020 @ 12:56 pm
Mickey Guyton is a good artist but if she continues to attempt to make a bigger splash by riding this horse, it may alienate rather than draw additional fans. I do understand her comments and plight.
The Highway Women are not even on my radar. They are typical liberal hypocrites. Don’t care.
Erik
June 12, 2020 @ 9:22 pm
Yeah, liberal hypocrites.what could be worse?maybe people who go to church and vote for a greedy,racist,sleaze bag?
Justin
June 13, 2020 @ 12:53 am
You mean Biden?
wayne
June 15, 2020 @ 7:15 am
Erik’s comments pretty much sum up my reasoning. “Nough said.
Jack W
June 15, 2020 @ 7:34 am
19 Likes and counting for a comment that is basically a variation of “I know you are but what am I?”. Sad!
Jake Cutter
June 12, 2020 @ 1:11 pm
I’m super curious about the logistics of this. It would be interesting for someone to research what actually happened. How does someone find out, after traveling across the country, that they are disinvited? How does that even happen? And what was the “miscommunication” that was brought to light only after being called out? Like it was a typo? She was confused with someone else? You said “make her the lead role” but someone heard “disinvite?” Was it a language translation problem? How does Maren know what the issue was? And why not share it? Really, how is being disinvited a “miscommunication” and why is everyone just going to buy that, no questions asked? There seems to be some low hanging fruit here, that if I was a journalist, I might just be tempted.
liza
June 14, 2020 @ 8:51 am
Likely some video producer made a mistake or decided they had more bodies than they needed. A half dozen women or more showed up and no one said why couldn’t so and so make it – can totally see that happening. It’s possible they didn’t even know who all was asked. As a side note, the song and video stink.
Andrew
June 12, 2020 @ 1:20 pm
Way too many people in this thread trying to attribute malice to a situation where the most obvious and likely explanation is that someone in charge of logistics just screwed up.
618creekrat
June 12, 2020 @ 4:55 pm
Yup, probably just a case of the left hand not knowing what the right already set in motion. Or someone in the mix was stoned.
Stuff like this can lead to Cheech and Chong flying in Burt and Dolly’s stead.
Chucky Waggs
June 12, 2020 @ 5:51 pm
I was wondering if someone was gonna say this. I’d be pissed too if I flew across country only to find out I got cut out of a gig but I don’t see anything in this article to suggest that It wasn’t some management, booking or video production folks gettin their wires crossed. I would hope that’d be the case anyway and don’t see a reason to assume otherwise.
Jake Cutter
June 12, 2020 @ 7:20 pm
I understand this sentiment and wanting to give people the benefit of doubt, and obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But I just can’t believe that the artists themselves are innocent bystanders or puppets, a la a boy band like the Backstreet Boys. Did they just show up to the shoot with no participation in the concept or talent involved, or are they hands on in their careers and image? Which is it? I fail to believe they weren’t hands on In selecting who was in this video that is an important part of their “identity.” The flippant “miscommunication” excuse Is the oldest excuse in the book and just makes the story worse, in my opinion. Perhaps it represents how confident Maren is In that most people are eager to look the other way on this….and she’s probably right.
Trigger
June 12, 2020 @ 10:06 pm
Having been on some of these photo shoots, there’s more going on than you know. There’s cameramen, sound and light guys, drone people, costume and makeup, catering, and people in charge trying to coordinate everything. I’m not saying that one, some, or all of the members of The Highwomen couldn’t, or shouldn’t have known that Mickey Guyton was supposed to be there. But if you’re a detective working a murder case and looking for a suspect, for example, the first thing you try and corroborate is motive. What is the motive for The Highwomen inviting Mickey Guyton, only to disinvite her last minute? That’s some really cold shit. And unless there’s a reason for someone to do that due to some bad blood from something we don’t know about, I just don’t see that happening.
And I just keep imagining myself in Guyton’s shoes, staring at my phone, wondering what the hell happened. And if you question what you’re being told or just show up anyway, then you’re the party crasher who doesn’t get the hint you’re not wanted.
No matter the reason, the result was the same for Mickey, and it really does suck. She has every right to be angry and disappointed.
Jake Cutter
June 13, 2020 @ 9:10 am
I’ve been around things like this several times. I know what goes on. It still doesn’t add up and that’s a bad excuse. I don’t think anybody thinks there was behind closed doors racist motive. I think the story here is that 1) Their inclusive brand is just that, a brand. If they actually really cared about it they wouldn’t make a video with what looks like a dozen ALL WHITE women. How does that happen in 2019, especially when it’s about “redesigning women? Redesigned women are all white?? NOBODY saw a problem with that? Meanwhile a non-white person was disinvited due to “miscommunication?” 2) The flippancy of their excuse and the allegiance of the press. 3) Actions speak louder than words and this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about the danger of blindly accepting virtue signaling vs. actions but instead it was probably a “miscommunication.”
There’s much more potential in this story, but It’s ok, let’s move on. I guess there’s nothing more to see here.
Hopefully her travel expenses were reimbursed. If so, it’s nice to know that music videos have such high budgets they can fly people across country just to fuck with them.
Trigger
June 13, 2020 @ 10:50 am
Jake,
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can say that I’m not dealing with this issue flippantly. As soon as the scenario was presented to me I started sending out feelers and digging deep for any information available, I am still actively working to get more information, and if necessary or warranted, I will report on this story when more information becomes available. I also agree that nobody else in the media reporting on this story is beginning to become a story itself, similar to how everyone gave Florida Georgia Line a pass for ripping off a Kane Brown song.
All that said, one of the issues with media and society today is people taking moments like this and attempting to exploit them. The Highwomen screwed up, and the public and Mickey Guyton deserve a detailed explanation. And you’re damn right the situation would be different if it wasn’t an artist the media finds such favor with. But The Highwomen don’t need to be burned at the stake here. Let’s be patient and let this play out.
Jake Cutter
June 14, 2020 @ 8:49 am
Fair enough Trigger. The flippancy comment was mostly directed at your peers, not you. I agree with your exploitation comment, but it seems we both agree that there is more to this story, and I don’t see many calls for canceling them in these comments, let alone a “burning at the stake.”
Good luck in getting more information.
Jack W
June 14, 2020 @ 10:50 am
Jake,
I would say that “canceling them ” and “burning them at the stake” would mean the same thing in this context, with the latter just being more hyberbolic. There has been a fair amount of schadenfreude being expressed in this comment section and most likely from people who have already canceled them for cultural reasons.
In her tweet, Morris has said that all of the Highwomen have reached out to Mickey Guyton to apologize for what happened. Would she lie about that? I don’t know. Probably not. Also, it looks like Mickey Guyton acknowledged that tweet with some heart emojis (yes, I feel silly typing that) and responded to her sharing of Black Like Me with “Thank you sis for seeing me.”
Still, this doesn’t look good. Bad optics, as the political types say. And it would seem that Mickey Guyton was treated extremely shabbily by somebody.
Jake Cutter
June 15, 2020 @ 5:54 pm
Good point. And I would agree that cancelling would be burning at the stake in context. I’m totally against that and don’t see anyone calling for that here. I just think excusing it as a miscommunication made it a bigger story.
At the very least, it seems to me more than “bad optics.” I ‘m weary of overly PC culture or identity politics myself, but I would not feel right making a video about “redesigning” women” without a single POC. Honestly, I would not want to be involved or even have my name associated at all, because I think it’s wrong. Blacks make up 30% of Nashville and you make a video with a dozen white women as the “redesigned” woman?. It’s beyond bizarre to me that they of all people found it acceptable.That could be a story in and of it self. Add to it that a POC was disinvited and sent home? Come on. Nothing I’ve heard makes this story worth glossing over.
Jon
June 13, 2020 @ 12:57 am
It smacks of people who didn’t really listen to Isbell’s lyrics, got pissed when he started speaking out on Twitter, and want him to get their form of comeuppance because they assume his wife messed up.
Di Harris
June 13, 2020 @ 7:18 am
Guess again
Jon
June 13, 2020 @ 9:57 pm
No, I’m pretty confident in my assessment of many responses here. People want other folks who speak out against their beliefs to mess up so it’s easier to write them off.
I don’t have an assessment of how/why it happened and would like more information than Maren’s tweet, though.
AnonaMrs
June 14, 2020 @ 8:52 am
This comment section is petty, petty, petty. Mean Boys gleeful about slamming someone they don’t like anyway. Eager to attribute the worst possible interpretation. All the while, projecting those same attributes to the “Other” with little actual sympathy for Ms Guyton and introspection about her situation in today’s country Music.
It explains a lot about why I don’t come here much any more. I’m still trying to decide if this is purposeful ‘Sic ’em Boys’ because it’s starting to seem that way.
Bear
June 16, 2020 @ 4:15 pm
Well since we are already down this road why is always in term of black and whites. There were no Asians, Latinos, in the video either or (insert minority here). This is same beef I have with the Oscars when the talk about awards stats and gripe that only so many black people have won a trophy. Yeah, get in line behind the Native people.
I mean are we going to talk about race in the US or “talk” about race in the US.
Maybe all that is going on is the start of that. But sometimes I it just gets more frustrating.
Di Harris
June 12, 2020 @ 3:35 pm
Going to wade in …
This smacks of insecure females nudging “one of their own” out.
Instead of everyone saying “hold up, we’re missing an important member. We will record after she gets here …”
Well,
Kelly
June 12, 2020 @ 9:01 pm
That’s so disappointing. When I read Mickey’s piece The Highwomen video was the only one I could think of she could be referring to, but I was hoping it was something else. As a band that’s supposed to be inclusive they should’ve done better.
Wuk
June 13, 2020 @ 2:41 am
This is a good balanced article in difficult times. Women generally are not achieving much in country music at this time and for some years. Guyten is a real talent and I have thought so for years but I truly hadn’t paid any attention to her colour. I never have for any artist. I always thought she is a real talent. Music is ultra competitive maybe even more so amongst the female artists because of the lack of real success. She is not jumping on the ‘bandwagon’, which would have been easy to do. It makes one think. For whatever reason people’s thoughtlessness or worse. She was shown a lack of respect. She is clearly hurt by what happened for whatever reason it happened. I feel for her. Hopefully those responsible for treating her so badly will pass her on their way down as she rises to the top. She has the talent to reach the top. She is so much better than a number of others. I hope she succeeds. .
LB
June 13, 2020 @ 3:43 am
I’m just a tad bit confused as to how none of the women in the band knew that Mickey was supposed to be in the video. Like, I know they aren’t necessarily in charge of everything and there are so many other people like directors, camera people, etc, but the actual artist obviously has a lot of say too. I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem to add up 100%. At least Maren acknowledged it, but I’m just not sure I’m buying the whole story.
Trigger
June 13, 2020 @ 7:44 am
“I’m just a tad bit confused as to how none of the women in the band knew that Mickey was supposed to be in the video.”
I don’t think that we can say that definitively that they didn’t. My guess is one, some, or all of them did. She was actively invited to participate. With all of these women’s public pronouncements of inclusiveness, I can imaging there was a discussion at some point to make sure there was an artist of color there. The offense occurred when she was disinvited, but also when nobody noticed she was supposed to be there, but wasn’t. According to Maren Morris, they were only notified through Mickey’s op-ed of what had happened. No matter what happened, it doesn’t look good, and everyone involved should take a level of responsibility. I just think it’s a level too far to assume malicious or racist intent on the part of anyone, unless it was some underling.
I’m going to continue to look into this story, and if I can find some more detailed explanations, I will share them.
Paddy
June 13, 2020 @ 1:57 pm
Well said. I think the other three have thrown Maren under the bus. Brandi should explain what happened. She is the most high profile and has not been slow to speak out on other issues in the past. Looking forward to see if you can get any answers. Kudos to you for raising it.
Jake Cutter
June 13, 2020 @ 9:15 am
Bingo
Paddy
June 13, 2020 @ 3:56 am
I believe that to call The Highwomen a country supergroup is a vastly overrated way of looking at them. Most of them are not really country at all and only Brandi Carlile can be called anything close to a superstar. The other 3 can only be called good. Guyton, on the other hand, is really good. Has been from the moment she appeared on the scene. Until the likes of Brandi Carlile speak out we will not know what took place. I am assuming this took place prior to the death of George Floyd. And should that be the case then we need some answers from the people behind this decision to cancel Guyton. I cannot see these people making that decision after the death of George Floyd. Can they possibly be jealous. Guyton is more country than any of the Highwomen and is more talented than any of them.
I.M. Brute
June 13, 2020 @ 4:06 am
When all else fails… play the race card. Works every time! Sends white folks running for cover like roaches when the light comes on.
It ain’t like thousands of white artists haven’t been snubbed, screwed over, or had their hearts broken in one way or another in Nashville. But hey, this case is special!
Kentucky_1875
June 13, 2020 @ 6:05 am
Lets be like liberals and automatically assume there are racist intentions behind this lapse in logistics.
Felipe de Oliveira
June 13, 2020 @ 7:55 am
Funniest thing about reading the comments is that most people desperate to cast The Highwomen as racists are racists themselves.
Trigger
June 13, 2020 @ 9:00 am
Not really seeing anyone claiming they’re racists. Seeing some people calling them hypocrites. Also seeing some people defending them. It’s easy to focus only on the negative, especially in a comments section. I think the dialogue here has been mostly healthy.
Felipe Oliveira
June 13, 2020 @ 1:32 pm
It’s ok, I wasn’t expecting you to understand.
Trigger
June 13, 2020 @ 4:20 pm
But perhaps I could if you would be willing to engage in a discussion as opposed to demeaning, down-looking quips delivered from a pedestal of self superiority.
Felipe Oliveira
June 13, 2020 @ 9:17 pm
LOL, it only took me to act like a typical commenter to be called arrogant. The thing is, especially when talking about black experience, no matter what we say, there’ll always be people dismissing it, saying we’re making a big deal out of nothing and etc. I highly recommend listening to the mess that went down on Jana Kramer’s podcast with Mickey. It’s a great example of what I’m talking about. You make a case, someone says it isn’t so and that’s it.
So let’s go. Let’s engage in conversation. A conversation that is not about me or you specifically. It’s about millions of people who were kidnapped in their countries and taken to another one, to work for free. It’s about deciding it was ok to do so because those people had no soul, therefore they were not humans (google the Valladolid debate). It’s about building a country like this, and then “freeing” those people with basically no rights and pretend to expect them to survive. It’s History. And it’s really unfair (not to say dumb, or blind) to think that this background doesn’t have any implications until today. It’s naïve to even think you understand anything about social organization and stuff if you don’t consider this.
Anyway, people will say that this happened many years ago (I know how this works, it’s not the first time). That we should let go of it. People who don’t let go of the civil war (see the flags and the statues lol). People who don’t let go of 9/11. It’s easy to let go of something that doesn’t (directly) affect you. The point is that racism is part of how society was and is built, and it’s not a personal issue, but a collective one. So it really makes no difference to say something like “I don’t see color”. Racism is not over because of that. We live in a world with almost 8 billion people, and just you (not specifically you) claiming you don’t think like that won’t make it true to the whole world. Racism is alive and everywhere, and denying it won’t make it go away. But again, it’s not a personal issue. So if you say you’re not racist, thanks for doing the bare minimum, but it’s just not enough.
Part of that consequence is not having our voices heard. Not having access to means of getting our voices heard. This is a non-mainstream country music blog after all, it shouldn’t be that hard to understand. A system that allows 20 white dudes singing about the same damn thing over the same drum loop. It has been discussed here. Why does it happen? What do they have in their favor? Not let’s think about the bigger picture. Think about the same thing happening not only in country music, but in society in general. Who will end up being in prominence if not white men? Anyway, I brought this all up because of your comment of not really “trusting” Guyton’s words when you first read that. Think about how natural that is. How any narrative that is different from what we are used to listen feels a little off. But that’s her narrative. And there are multiple layers that make narratives “doubtful”. We have a lot of examples of different judgments. But again, it’s not a personal issue. You are not the first nor will be the last to do it. That is the point. Our tendency to think we need to validate other people’s experience to make it true. People were questioning her intentions by releasing “Black Like Me” and talking about this stuff. It takes a lot of privilege to think about a black woman singing about her own life story as too negative or as a marketing strategy. Ugh.
I wasn’t talking about you specifically, although I now have spoken about how you doubting her story at first is upsetting. I understand your intentions, especially being the website owner and trying to have a impartial view of thing – even though there’s no such thing as impartiality even in journalism, but anyway – but the dynamics is not that different here. I had just written my perception, which is very clear reading some comments, and you kinda lecture me about what I should be focusing on. See, I’m not here saying that you are racist and you hate all black people and stuff. I’m pointing a pattern of behavior that is really common everywhere, especially on the internet, and usually by people who are not used to be confronted with diverging opinions. I think I have said it before on this website, the underlining message that comes across most of those controversial topics is that people are only comfortable with things that suit them. When the conversation gets to a different place, the response is to shut down and attack. I’ve seen it countless times and I swear to you, I wrote my second comment with that in mind “let me comment like an average SCM commenter and see what happens”. And we saw what happened. There are a few comments on this very topic that are hella problematic, but you didn’t even bother to answer. You didn’t demand them to engage in a healthy conversation. As someone has said somewhere in this page, it’s not in the words, it’s in the actions. And I know (1) most people won’t read until this far and (2) some will reply exactly the way I said they usually do, because that how it works. But I wanted to write anyway.
Oh, and last but not least, my two cents about the topic per se: it doesn’t surprise me at all that something like this could happen. But it doesn’t prevent me from being sad and disappointed. The hard learned lesson is that no matter how progressive and open-minded we think we are, we always need to re-evaluate ourselves and our actions, and try to see what we’re missing and who’s being left out of our discourse. But I guess my opinion on this is the last thing someone would want right now.
Victorino
June 16, 2020 @ 8:12 pm
“Funniest thing about reading the comments is that most people desperate to cast The Highwomen as racists are racists themselves.”
The ones that yell the loudest are the ones with the most to hide. The Twitter Lynch Mob (the Highwomen fall in this category) are always screaming.
“It’s about millions of people who were kidnapped in their countries and taken to another one, to work for free. It’s about deciding it was ok to do so because those people had no soul, therefore they were not humans.”
Was it really kidnapping if their own race was putting a price tag on them?
Jack W
June 17, 2020 @ 3:43 am
Was it really kidnapping if their own race was putting a price tag on them?
Trying to get “the white race” off on a technicality? And I hope you’re not of these people who rhetorically asks “what about black on black crime?”
Yes, if an African is complicit in another African’s kidnapping, it’s still a kidnapping. And of course, there would be another sale of the kidnapped African across the Atlantic in the New World. That’s if that African was lucky (?) enough to survive the horrors of The Middle Passage in a slave ship that was definitely NOT African. And then that African would live the rest of his life in bondage somewhere in the Americas, as would his descendants for generations to come.
Victorino
June 17, 2020 @ 4:37 am
“Trying to get “the white race” off on a technicality?”
The white race is just as guilty but let’s not act like the black race was an innocent party 400+ years ago.
“And then that African would live the rest of his life in bondage somewhere in the Americas, as would his descendants for generations to come.”
Oprah Winfrey. Ben Carson. Robert L. Johnson. Countless others.
Yeah, they’re really hurting from that bondage.
hoptowntiger94
June 13, 2020 @ 3:09 pm
I agree. No one is calling them racists and if you didn’t have such loud liberal voices in Carlile and Shires and by extension Isbell (who righties have been waiting to go after) I don’t know if there would be much of uproar at all.
Trigger
June 13, 2020 @ 4:22 pm
Strongly disagree. There is no uproar, and it’s specifically due to the people being accused being loud liberal voices. If Eric Church did this, he’d be dropped from his label and ostracized from country music.
Hooters
June 13, 2020 @ 8:56 am
For me the interesting thing the super woke Nashville tweeters, Marissa Moss specifically who’s built her career on female outrage won’t say a single thing about Mickey’s situation. She called out men for not saying anything about BLM but completely ignored the women. So much for equality.
Trigger
June 13, 2020 @ 10:56 am
If it had been Eric Church, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, or Cody Jinks that had disinvited a black performer from a collaboration last minute, you can guarantee cancel culture would be full throat against them. With a story like this, they’re not just ignoring it, they’re outright protecting artists they find favor with.
A lot of folks have been criticizing Saving Country Music for taking some sort of right turn politically lately. But when you have stories like this that nobody else is reporting on, someone has to step up. It’s not a shift in perspective. It’s covering stories and issues everyone else in country music media is curiously silent on.
Di Harris
June 13, 2020 @ 11:32 am
Tell it Trigger.
LB
June 13, 2020 @ 11:08 am
I have noticed this also. Marissa is extremely confusing in terms of what she gets upset about. I can’t really take her too seriously because she can be very hypocritical and has also called people on Twitter rude who were asking for genuine information about country radio.
Victorino
June 16, 2020 @ 8:18 pm
Exactly. It’s why I can’t take Moss and Lorie Liebig seriously.
They are the equivalent of the actors/actresses in Hollywood that never spoke up about Harvey Weinstein until they were well ahead in their careers thanks to Weinstein and the smoke started squeezing through the door cracks.
OlaR
June 13, 2020 @ 10:00 am
Not-So-Popular Opinion: things happen. Get over it.
Releasing a single faster than the speed of light after Minneapolis & the story now…Mickey Guyton is milking the cow.
…& the Highwoman?…meh!
Blackh4t
June 13, 2020 @ 7:05 pm
I went back and read the op-ed on billboard.
I know a lot of people, particularly artists who talk like that. I.e: I belong to a group of people who are treated unfairly, therefore I should be famous.
Her piece is all about what white people can do to help her black brothers and sisters and is in places flat contradictory.
So it seems there is more to the story. Was she invited? Did she get paid to be there? Was it a mistake that she was disinvited? Why didn’t she try to call Maren if they are such close friends?
And more to the point: will anyone invite her next time unless its just for publicity?
And will she be given the chauffeur and ritz suite but kept away from the party because if she missed on a round of drinks it becomes systemic racism?
And worse yet, will other black people be treated like that? Now THAT is how a society becomes divided and racist
Patty Bowman
June 13, 2020 @ 7:08 pm
I love Mickey Guston’s music. I really am disappointed that this has happened to her.
Big Pete
June 14, 2020 @ 8:52 am
Mickey Guyton is one of the best female nextgen-singers of country music, at least in my book, and waay better singer than any of those Highwomen (who’s not bad singers, but not as good as Mickey). And the resulting Highwomen album was mediocre at best but few dared to critique the group since it’s was all-female. It still got rave reviews by the majority, except from the Guardian & American Songwriter magazine, who wrote more appropriate reviews.
I never liked that project from the start as it reeked of corporate involvement in accordance with the current trend of gender-swapping old, proven “male-formulas” in order to pander to the woke crowd. It just never felt either organic or genuine to me.
If you read this Mickey; forget about those broads, you don’t need them. Make a followup to you fantastic 2015 EP instead. Your voice is more than good enough to stand on it’s own legs, without using other artists as a crutch.
Holly
June 14, 2020 @ 10:17 am
No manager allows an artist to get on a plane to fly across country for a “cameo” in a video without absolute confirmation… especially with a sick husband.
That’s how managers get fired.
Sad that because the Highwomen are doing so much good, that the default is Guyton’s “a partycrasher,” someone who didn’t get why she wasn’t welcome. Or “a misunderstanding.”
My gut? Once she was invited, someone decided she was too pop, too mainstream, not successful enough… because the group felt very one from Column A, B, etc (mainstream star, cred star, musician/activist star, songwriter star) + thats a lot of worlds coming together.
Yola, who’s been very front and center, is an Americana/Ameripolitan/roots force, much cooler, more cred, more “woke.” Mickey looks like any pretty girl from Dallas with the flowing hair and the gleaming smile.
Could it be when they started sifting, Mickey was deemed not cool enough?
Looking at the list of who cameo’d (Lauren Alaina, Kassi Ashton, Cam, Lilly Hiatt, Wynonna Judd, Catie Offerman, Cassadee Pope, Erin Rae, RaeLynn, Natalie Stovall, Tanya Tucker, Anna Vaus, and Hailey Whitters), it seems like a couple icons, a few Song Suffragettes, a couple Americana rising stars and a big scoop of CMT Next Women of Country. She’s certainly the latter, definitely not an Americana act. But even if there was a “Screw Up,” with that many women, why not one more? “oh, crap, well, cmon!” Even if she couldn’t ride ON the truck due to an insurance maximum, why not let her go to the bonfire? Or let her wave to the truck as it pulls up like she’s been waiting for her friends?
And the fact Maren spoke up (who shares a publicist with Brandi, so you know), it says it bothers her that this happened. She may well have been the person saying, “We need to get Mickey…” and was surprised when she wasn’t there, but as Trigger says, those shoots are chaotic + you leave bone tired. What you notice in the moment, you may not think about later.
And then… the op/ed, the “oh crap,” the phone calls + whatever she’s been told.
It doesn’t add up, but lets not blame or suggest Guyton’s maxing the story for her own gain. I’ve never spoken to her, but am impressed by how she carries herself, the commitment to causes in her music (“What Are You Gonna Tell Her,” as well as “Black Like Me”) and the fact that she shows up a lot even without obvious product to flog.
Was her music too creamy and mainstream? Her look too Miss America? Maybe. Looking at your comments, that seems to be the objection to her here as well. I agree: there’s more here than what’s being said. Good for Maren, who has to walk a line between her group and her conscience, for saying anything.
What’s done is done, and I’m sorry for her hurt. As someone who’s been left out of things I should’ve been at, I know the sting, the heart falling through your stomach, the tears in your eyes. No one deserves that, especially a young woman flying across country to go to what she thinks is the biggest femmepower celebration pep rally video shoot ever.
Now it’s more how do we learn/grow/be mindful of not just optics, but people’s feelings?
Bear
June 16, 2020 @ 4:34 pm
I have to kind of agree with the boy band angle. You can only have so many members at least in Western acts. But I still feel like somebody up top started smelling fire in more racist America and didn’t want to lose a single nickel simply because one black woman was in a music video. We saw how Starbucks flip-flopped this week. They always go where the money is.
Another example, NSCAR said it is banning Southern Flags when it already banned them years ago. It just doesn’t enforce the rule because that’s $$$.
And I also agree her manager needs to be questioned.
Bear
June 16, 2020 @ 4:28 pm
I am inclined to believe that many of the performers involved were oblivious. It is also hard to believe they all didn’t know. And yes there is no good resolution but to move forward.
While I appreciate Marren’s comments I think the reason many find disingenuous is because in this kind of situation mature adults do not TWEET an apology on social media. You call the person directly and then if Mickey later wants to discuss it publicly than that is up to her.
So often when stuff like this blows up and people get their knickers in a twist because so-and-so “never apologized”. I tend to go with maybe they had the decency and respect to not make it a click bait spectacle and called the person directly and settled the matter in private. It seems to me the only people who deal in this kind of tabloid apology show are advertisers and corporations pinching pennies.
And all I’ve been reading on the history of record labels. They go where the money is. If singing and pushing a quality black female artist and having her in a prominent music video cause sales to drop for others artists in their major revenue streams. They will do what it takes to stop the blood-letting to make sure they loose as few nickels as possible.
So I could see the label signing her knowing she had potential then things get even more tense around race and music row doesn’t want to lose any money from the pardon the phrases, “klan fans”. So they stall her, knowing she’d be a tough sell anyway. But I am a cynical bastard when it comes to the music business.
Also I gotta be honest we talk often about a bland color palette in country music but when I go see black roots artists like Rhiannnon Giddons, Brittany Howard, and Keb’ Mo’ and other country, blues, or whatever the color palette is also mostly pasty white people like me supporting them. Maybe a few older black folks. So how do we get more young non-whites to attend these shows.
Also we all know Old Town Road wasn’t country and was terrible but DAMN IT if that’s the gateway drug so be it. We don’t have to listen to it but maybe in small steps we get the diversity we are striving for in country music.
I.M. Brute
June 17, 2020 @ 3:30 am
Why are “we” striving for diversity in country music? Can’t white people have ANYTHING they can call their own anymore? Kinda reminds me of the immigration situation. Unlimited numbers of Chinese, Mexicans, Indians, Somalis, etc. can flood into America and change it forever, but China, Mexico, Somalia, and India will remain unchanged, and their cultures will be preserved forever with no outside interference.
Why change country music just for the sake of change?
Paddy
June 17, 2020 @ 6:07 am
What a load of shit especially in relation to Mexico. Where do you think the USA stolen half the country from. Texas, Arizona, Nevada, California,New México and so on. And where did the whites steal country music from. Blacks seem to come to mind