Mickey Guyton’s Making Waves with “Better Than You Left Me” (Review)
We bemoan much over the loss of melody and story in modern country, and how it’s been replaced by simplistic rhythms and lists. But another casualty of the times not given its proper edification or concern over its cataclysmic disappearance has been the waltz beat. An absolutely essential element to early country, and one that still can strike at a chord that no rhythm divisible by two can touch, this tool’s value can’t be overstated, though its fashion seems to be irrevocably marked by a slow and steady decline.
When Kacey Musgraves released “The Trailer Song,” not off her album Same Trailer, Different Park, and not as a single, but as a “gift to the fans,” a big opportunity was wasted for a traditionally-oriented country song that could resonate with listeners to be featured on the radio. One of the reasons it could have gone over so well was because it was a waltz. With the waltz all but disappearing from radio country, yet with it still remaining one of the most defining rhythms of the human experience, the appetite couldn’t be greater. And we may be seeing that evidenced by the performance of the debut single from emerging country music artist Mickey Guyton called “Better Than You Left Me.”
Before many folks had even heard the song, it already accomplished something that is quite astonishing. “Better Than You Left Me” received 79 “adds” at country radio, meaning radio stations that put the song into their rotation during the week of its release, making it the most-added song of the week and the highest one-week add total in Country Aircheck history for a debut single. In statistical terms, this was a spectacular showing.
I’m going to say something that many people are thinking, but few, if any in the country music media have the freedom to say: The reason “Better Than You Left Me” has been so successful initially is because Mickey Guyton is a black woman. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m not saying it’s wrong, but since this song is emanating from a major label, and there is a desire in the industry to be inclusive, Guyton is not finding a low ceiling, but a receptive audience amongst the radio programming oligarchy. This may sound unintuitive given the closed-minded history of country’s radio programmers, but in truth Mickey Guyton and “Better Than You Left Me” display the perfect remedy to combat criticism of a lack of inclusiveness for women and minorities.
Making things more difficult for Guyton on the surface, beyond her race or sex, is the fact that this debut single is fairly traditional. We saw this with Darius Rucker’s first country record. At the time, it was more country than most of his country male peers. Fair or not, Rucker had to prove his country muster to gain acceptance from the industry. I’m not saying Mickey Guyton’s traditionalist leanings are calculated and deceptive. I think she holds the ghost of Patsy Cline and the spirit of Dolly Parton within her heart chambers, and what we’re seeing is a true expression from an artist. But it makes the initial acceptance of “Better Than You Left Me” that much more exceptional.
Guyton’s first big break came when she sang Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” at the White House for a PBS special, and nailed that sucker to the wall. It may have been a little bit over-sung, and that is also a symptom of “Better Than You Left Me,” and where you see her influences from the other side of the music world from artists like Whitney Houston and the Winans gospel duo seeping into her music. Some will take Guyton’s over-singing as a sign of pop, but there’s nothing wrong with stretching your vocal wings, even if it sounds foreign to country ears because so many singers these days can’t fly. She’s from the Dallas, TX area and grew up singing gospel in church. This is where her wings grew strong, and her voice was instilled with a lot of authentic soul.
“Better Than You Left Me” gets most all of the textures right—the steel guitar, the waltz beat, the swaying back and forth that jars loose the emotions from the heart and sends them racing through the blood stream. It’s pop country, but like Patsy Cline was pop country. Sure I’d love a little bit more dirt thrown on it or for her vocal performance to be a bit more subdued, but it’s more than a start. As we love to say about good first-person songs from females, it is empowering, but not in a shallow, “screw that guy, let’s get drunk and key his car” kind of way. It resides and resolves in more depth.
I’m all for celebrating the uniqueness of having Mickey Guyton make an impact on country radio. But not from the color of her skin, but from the content of her music; holding to a more traditional style, re-introducing the waltz beat, and doing it all with resounding taste. It’s about time modern country radio got integrated with songs that actually sound country. Even better if it’s a minority doing it.
1 3/4 of 2 Guns Up.
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“Better Than You Left Me” was written by Mickey Guyton, Nathan Chapman, Jennifer Hanson and Jenn Schott. It was produced by Nathan Chapman.
January 14, 2015 @ 6:52 pm
Been hearing A LOT about Mickey lately. She’s getting tons of support in mainstream and fringe circles. The vibrato she employs throughout the whole song is giving me a little pause from loving it… simply because I’m a fan of solid notes more than modulation and vibrato… but I think she’s pretty damned good. Definitely a better song and a better performance than most Major Female Offerings to radio lately.
I’m not crazy about some elements of the production…but it sits nice enough on the ear.
Gonna be interested to see what’s coming next. I’ve heard tons about her, but not much FROM her. Definitely turns my country dial a hell of a lot more than “little red wagon” though.
January 14, 2015 @ 7:01 pm
I recognized her name but hadn’t heard any of her material until I just listened to this song. While it’s not my next favorite tune, it’s definitely better than much of what’s on country radio. I checked and saw that it’s #88 on the iTunes Country chart which is a good sign for her considering it was released in October 2014 ”“ Proof that it’s not flash-in-the-pan release week sales but rather a steady climb over several months. I’m looking forward to hearing what else she has to offer.
January 14, 2015 @ 7:22 pm
I think she is adorable AND SHE CAN ACTUALLY SING! She doesn’t look like some middle aged perv in at a record label found her, bleached her blonde, teased up her hair, dressed her in her mandatory peasant skirt and tank top and gave her a guitar to hold, like so many others. I love that she just looks her age and sounds natural. No overdone twang. The oversinging may lesson with more experience, but I will take that any day over faux twang.
January 14, 2015 @ 7:26 pm
I was listening to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday and happened to hear Mickey Guyton’s debut performance there. She sang very well and was extremely well received, soliciting two standing ovations, one for each song she sang, which as far as I know is extremely rare. She also seemed deeply humbled to be performing on the Opry and standing on the Ryman stage, even bursting into tears at one point. After her performance I looked her up online, and in the last few days I’ve been hearing more and more buzz about her, as Dukes described. It seems like the industry is really excited about this gal.
Anyway, I like the song: the steel guitar, the waltz tempo, the genuine emotional message being conveyed, and the vocals, which even if slightly overdone, at least sound human instead of like a sentient Pro-Tools app gone haywire. As far as I’m concerned, this is mainstream country taking another step in the right direction; I don’t know how far it’s expected to rise on the charts, but I hope it’s a serious hit. I also hope Mickey holds on to the traditional country elements on display here once she gets her foot in the door as an established country artist.
January 14, 2015 @ 7:37 pm
I fully understand why you would say Whitney Houston is from the “other side of the music world” but we shouldn’t forget that they were originally grouped together as “Hillbilly and Race” records. They have a lot more in common than most people think.
January 14, 2015 @ 8:04 pm
I have noticed that some of the best country singers now have liberal tendencies. Sturgill, Ashley Monroe, Brandy Clark,Kacey Mushraves, and presumably Guyton as well. I know Willie Nelson is a noted liberal, but it is only in recent years that I have noticed something of a trend. What do you think explains this, Trigger? (I do not intend to put words in Guyton’s mouth, but I presume, for obvious reasons, that she is left of center.)
January 14, 2015 @ 11:48 pm
I can’t figure out Ashley Monroe’s political views, but I have a theory as to why so many currently successful traditional country singers have culturally liberal views. It has everything to do with appealing to the younger audience.
There are two main ways in which country singers can appeal to this demographic:
1) Introducing rap and electronic music to a song and basing the lyrics on the typical laundry list.
2) Using culturally liberal themes, which aside from appealing to younger listeners also gain widespread publicity due to the unexpected nature of such songs in such a culturally conservative genre (witness the buzz around Kacey’s “Follow Your Arrow” or Sturgill’s “Turtles”, for example).
The ability to execute strategy #2 basically frees an artist from having to pursue the bro-country route.
January 15, 2015 @ 7:38 am
Younger people generally tend to be more liberal/open-minded. The current climate is also more accepting of people who are more open-minded. I think previously, other artists with similar views probably had to hide them and instead pander to the bro-country and/or “old guard.”
A shame that being open-minded about certain things gets you labeled a “liberal.” That just shows how far we have to go yet. I just wish we could enjoy good music and not have to throw labels on it….someday.
January 15, 2015 @ 4:35 pm
I’m not sure how you infer that Mickey Guyton holds liberal political views? Just because she’s black? I don’t think you can assume that.
Anyway, if it’s true that there are currently more country artists with liberal social views, I would guess it’s simply because that’s the direction the culture itself is heading, but these things tend to go in cycles to some degree.
One thing to keep in mind is that these days with all-encompassing social media and widely-distributed interviews on blogs and podcasts, people have much more information about the views and opinions of public figures than ever before.
January 15, 2015 @ 10:05 am
Eric, I have a different view on this. I think the music industry, and the entertainment industry in general, are much more culturally liberal than the American public as a whole. I think the liberalism seeping into mainstream country is a reflection of the views of decision makers and artists within the record industry.
It is hard to make liberalism a selling point of “country” music, because there is no shortage of liberal views in popular music, and there are other genres that are far more consistently liberal. Young Nashville females who have had blockbuster hits, including Carrie Underwood as well as Taylor Swift pre-2012, cultivated conventional, Christian, culturally conservative personas (I don’t know what their political views are, I’m talking about their public image). Miranda Lambert also has a “red state” image, though she has showed more of a wild side. And neither Kacey nor Ashley Monroe has reached a level of mainstream commercial success that would suggest a sea change in country music’s overall cultural orientation.
January 15, 2015 @ 12:59 pm
liberal=rebel=youth
it has always been thus
January 15, 2015 @ 11:32 pm
I agree that artists have always been significantly more culturally liberal than the general population. However, the connection between cultural liberalism and traditional country is quite new. Up until the bro-country era, traditional country songs either were apolitical or featured conservative-leaning imagery (e.g. support for wars, clear gender-based division of labor, a working man turning to faith to find comfort amidst his economic woes, etc.).
I think that the shift in intended audience can explain much of the new paradigm. Up through the last decade, traditional country singers targeted a middle-aged, married, and rural or exurban core audience, which leaned culturally conservative. However, I think that the bro-country phenomenon has fundamentally shifted the core demographic of the genre toward young singles and permanently alienated much of the older audience.
Therefore, in order for an artist who sings with a trad country sound to succeed in the current environment, he/she must find a way to appeal to the new core genre demographic of young singles through lyrical themes, given that the trad country sonic style does not appeal to them at all. Artists like Kacey Musgraves and Sturgill Simpson have found that the easiest way to do this while also staying true to their own beliefs is to shock the country music establishment by playing up culturally liberal values.
January 15, 2015 @ 6:54 pm
I love country music, but this is the crap I don’t like about being a country music fan. The only reason why her race and her political interest is now being discussed is because historically, country music fans tend to be bigots. Trigger, set an example. You should have resisted your desire to mention her race. When it comes to race relations, country music fans walk at a snail’s pace. Pick up the pace guys! Who the hell care that she is black! A lot of black people love country music. Trust me on that.
January 14, 2015 @ 8:04 pm
Everyone has to come to terms with the fact that country radio is never going to sound like it did in the 60’s or 70’s. But I also don’t think it has to evolve into complete pop with autotune and dumbed down lyrics. If the radio was full of music like this, I could actually handle it. This isn’t traditional country. But it sounds great, is well written, has a talented singer, and definitely has enough country elements to make me happy.
January 14, 2015 @ 8:09 pm
The reason “Better Than You Left Me” has been so successful initially is because Mickey Guyton is a black woman.
I have to disagree here. The reason “Better Than You Left Me” picked up so many 1st week adds is that Capitol Nashville strategized this launch perfectly. Mickey Guyton has been on a radio tour since late August after a loooong build up. “Better Than You Left Me” was released to Itunes in October and made available to radio, but UMG Nashville set an official adds date of 1/12/2015 & asked radio stations not to officially add it until that date because they wanted to bank adds and make a huge 1st week splash.
Going for adds at the beginning of the year also meant radio stations would be looking to freshen up their playlists, and to the degree that radio was making a New Years Resolution to move away from bro country domination to something more balanced and more country (see the comments from radio people here) and break more female acts through, Mickey Guyton & “Better Than You Left Me” was the perfect and perfectly timed choice.
Let’s also not forget that a Ryman Auditorium full of radio programmers gave Mickey Guyton a standing ovation when she performed the single at UMG Nashville’s February 2013 Lunch At The Ryman CRS (Country Radio Seminar) showcase, where 20+ acts on its roster each performed a song apiece (more in the case of a couple of people, like Vince Gill). That had nothing to do with the color of her skin. Fans and industry people alike have been wondering for over a year and half when Capitol Nashville was going to finally launch her, so there was a lot of built up anticipation from her live introduction of the song. For this and more background (with links & video) on Mickey Guyton, you can check out my writeup about her backstory here.
Now, let’s see if all those adds translate to sustained radio play. Last March, The Swon Brothers (who finished 3rd on The Voice Season 4 and got a deal with Arista Nashville after Big Machine Label Group passed on them), got a record 70 1st week Mediabase adds after a similar banked adds strategy (they performed the song on The Voice in December 2012, but the song didn’t go for adds until the 1st week of March). Their single “Later On” peaked in t15, but sold behind airplay. It was enough to get their album out (which also hasn’t sold much) and we’ll see what happens with their follow up single. I think “Better Than You Left Me” will leave much more of a mark, but that depends on country radio’s sustained support.
Speaking of follow up singles, that’ll be the Mickey Guyton challenge too. Country radio has failed to support any non-established female artist to 2 consecutive t20 hits since 2007 (as noted with data here), while 84% of guys getting their 1st t20 hit have been supported to a 2nd t20 hit in that same timeframe.
I’m a fan of Guyton’s voice & I love “Better Than You Left Me” so I’m rooting for her. I really hope she doesn’t get “token” treatment from country radio – as the token new woman they’ll let break out or a token minority talent they’re willing to support. But I also believe that reducing the big launch of her single to the color of her skin ignores the intelligently planned and long build up to this moment.
January 14, 2015 @ 8:31 pm
Oh Windmills, we’re like two baseball managers: One that goes off of “feel,” and one that goes off of metrics. Hopefully we’re both right.
I’m not saying that this song’s acceptance on radio solely has to do with skin color, but I do think there’s an effort out there to be inclusive, which is not a bad thing, and may have been built slowly over years with her performances for radio-heavy crowds and other hard work in a slow buildup that has lent to this success.
Yes, the second single has been the bane of these rising females. Here’s hoping the first one does good, and the suits down screw up the second one.
January 14, 2015 @ 9:14 pm
Oh Windmills, we”™re like two baseball managers: One that goes off of “feel,” and one that goes off of metrics.
Haha, great analogy! And hopefully together they understand the game better than they would on their own.
I”™m not saying that this song”™s acceptance on radio solely has to do with skin color, but I do think there”™s an effort out there to be inclusive, which is not a bad thing, and may have been built slowly over years with her performances for radio-heavy crowds and other hard work in a slow buildup that has lent to this success.
Oh, I totally agree there – I think all the grief country radio’s been taking for the past couple of years plus actual bro country saturation really does have programmers looking for inclusiveness/balance/diversity/[insert buzzword here]. At least for now. Hopefully this commitment will last longer than most New Year’s resolutions. As we both said in on our own ways, this commitment needs to be filtered through the prism of musical quality. Nothing improves if country radio congratulates itself for playing just a token song or 2 that’s tasteful, leans traditional, that’s sung by a woman, and/or that’s sung by a person of color instead of re-orienting itself vis a vis country music fans and country music itself.
January 15, 2015 @ 6:46 pm
Windmill, this is a long comment. It better be interesting.
January 21, 2015 @ 1:38 pm
Interesting.
January 14, 2015 @ 8:40 pm
“Better Than You Left Me” gets most all of the textures right””the steel guitar, the waltz beat, the swaying back and forth that jars loose the emotions from the heart and sends them racing through the blood stream. It”™s pop country, but like Patsy Cline was pop country. Sure I”™d love a little bit more dirt thrown on it or for her vocal performance to be a bit more subdued, but it”™s more than a start. As we love to say about good first-person songs from females, it is empowering, but not in a shallow, “screw that guy, let”™s get drunk and key his car” kind of way. It resides and resolves in more depth.”
Nailed it in a paragraph Trigger .
Thanks for the introduction to this artist . This kid can SING !! …no question . For me that’s a big plus in today’s radio climate. She kills this track . Love the traditional approach to the arrangement too .
In my opinion this is a very average song lyrically and melodically and BTW …not a waltz , really Trigger . This is closer to a slow, bluesier pop 6/8 (yes I’m splitting hairs and it doesn’t negate your point about the freshness of a time signature rarely heard on contemporary country records.) -think Joe Cocker’s classic interpretation of WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS or Aretha’s YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A NATURAL WOMAN written by Carole King … Mickey even throws some of that ‘soulful’ vibe into the track in places .
I think she may need a much stronger song as a follow-up in order to really get her off the launch pad .But ….this is downright refreshing from groove to arrangement to , perhaps , one of the best vocal performances I’ve heard in a while no question about that . I could hear Sara Evans or Lee Ann Rimes singing something with heart and a soulful vibe like this . But they don’t seem to get much traction on radio these days . Hopefully Mickey fares much better .
January 14, 2015 @ 11:58 pm
Gorgeous. song. The voice and the melody are perfect, in the best tradition of neotraditional country. If this song actually attains heavy rotation on radio, perhaps I will actually start enjoying country radio for the first time in years.
January 15, 2015 @ 3:26 pm
yup, I really like this one. Not over sung at all.
Very beautiful voice, and great tune.
January 15, 2015 @ 5:58 am
Not bad!
As long as she does not go all Mariah-Carey-singing-the Star-Spangled-Banner-melisma on us I think we have something here!
January 15, 2015 @ 1:35 pm
Charlie …I think your concern is valid . I hear a voice ACHING to let loose here . This song and arrangement doesn’t ( and shouldn’t ) allow a vocalist of this calibre that kind freedom , unfortunately . I think Mickey’s strengths as a vocalist have been compromised with this particular song .
January 15, 2015 @ 6:24 am
I like it.
January 15, 2015 @ 6:35 am
” It”™s pop country, but like Patsy Cline was pop country.”
I actually did hear a rumor once that she was thinking about doing a Jazz Standards album.
January 15, 2015 @ 8:14 am
I think the r&b vocal inflections in the crescendo work well here. This is a very hopeful sign for mainstream country. Looking forward to hearing more.
January 15, 2015 @ 9:02 am
I’m really liking this song at the moment. 🙂 The vibe I get is early-to-mid ’90s — Mickey’s voice reminds me a lot of LeAnn Rimes, while the song itself almost sounds like the kind of stuff Lorrie Morgan and Pam Tillis used to do…
January 15, 2015 @ 9:27 am
I knew nothing of Mickey Guyton until I read this article. After hearing the song, I am very excited for her. It’s great to start the year off like this. The last black female that tried to break through in country was Rissi Palmer, who put some R&B inflections in her music, even covering the song “No Air” and releasing it as a single. That was around 2008 I believe.
Guyton seems to fall more in a traditional style which I love. Country has adopted some pop-R&B accents lately. I find it funny that the R&B country singers are all white guys (Sam Hunt, Jason Aldean, sometimes Blake Shelton) but the two black artists in the format aren’t going in that direction. I wonder if radio would be accepting of a black R&B country singer or if that only works when they’re white?
Anyways, I am very excited for this new artist. Hopefully this becomes a hit and she can follow it up with more hits. Go Mickey!
January 15, 2015 @ 10:51 am
I think it has taken white performers to integrate the mainstream with traditionally-black styles of music. Remember country rap had been around for years with performers like Cowboy Troy, and later with Colt Ford. But it took the Ken doll of Jason Aldean to take it mainstream. If a black artist would have come out with the same song, it never would have flown, especially on radio. Conversely, I think some black artists have the latitude to be able to release more traditionally-oriented material for many of the same cultural reasons. It’s taking the idea of integrating country rap, and flipping it around. That is what I was trying to say with my race comments in this review, and I feel I’m still kind of struggling to articulate what I’m trying to say.
January 15, 2015 @ 12:45 pm
Look no further than Meghan Traynor . I think there’s a generation of white kids who’ve absorbed , by osmosis , the rap and urban stuff which was primarily a black music . I’m certain they don’t even know themselves they are white girls imitating blacks in terms of slang , dialect ( dialect ? ) regional expressions etc any more than the Canadian ” country” singers recording with a drawl . For me , this just takes even more of the honesty and integrity from the song although it doesn’t seem to diminish the entertainment quotient in many instances .
January 15, 2015 @ 2:13 pm
Imitation of black singing styles is nothing new. The 60’s and 70’s were replete with white rock n roll singers imitating the raspy blues vocal style, and there were quite a few white jazz singers in the 20’s and 30’s imitating the black smooth jazz singing style as well.
I would argue that the dividing lines between genres are primarily generational, not racial. Hip-hop/electronic/urban music is to Millennials what rock was to Boomers and what jazz was to the Greatest Generation.
In every case, Genre X would be pioneered by blacks, with a significant focus on rhythm and groove. It would then rapidly gain popularity among young whites. As those young white fans entered middle-age, the genre would shift somewhat to feature a smoother and more melodic style (compare pop-rock in the 80’s to rock in the late 50’s, for example). After about 3 decades of Genre X domination, new generations of young people would look to new musical styles, causing the cycle to repeat again and leaving Genre X as a niche for music nerds (this happened to jazz in the 60’s and has just happened to rock as well).
January 15, 2015 @ 11:57 am
Hunter Hayes is another in this category of white r&b singers who get programmed on mainstream country radio (I think he is more r&b than these Aldean or Shelton). Great voice, mediocre material (at best). All of this just shows there is plenty of r&b inflection on mainstream country radio already, so Guyton is not innovating there. But bringing a little of that to a relatively traditional waltz and making it sound honest is impressive.
January 15, 2015 @ 12:53 pm
“Great voice, mediocre material (at best).”
Hunter is an amazingly talented young guy who , as you note , has some VERY mediocre material . This is NOT an uncommon scenario right now . Beyond a couple of tracks, Lady Antebellum , I believe , suffers from the same syndrome….Little Big Town, Shelton and about a dozen other ‘name’ acts have some very weak albums . Some of these acts have enough promotion , exposure , airplay to seduce radio into playing the next one and the next one . But seriously ….how many of these songs would see the light of day were it not for the industry stature afforded the act recording them . Were Hunter to attain a higher stature ( no height pun intended ) he could sing the instructions from a box of Kraft dinner and score BIG with the current contemporary country crowd ( no alliteration intended ) .
January 15, 2015 @ 10:29 am
I like her voice sounds a mix of Lee Ann Womack and Rebecca Lynn Howard but more vibrato
January 15, 2015 @ 12:14 pm
Articles like this are why I come to savingcountrymusic. I had heard of Mickey before but maybe hadn’t given her as much of a chance as I should have. I was sort of keeping her in the back of my mind. However, I was unaware of the white house performance and seeing that, it really set the hook.
To my ears, Mickey steps right up to the line of “oversinging” but doesn’t cross it. It’s a fine line and I’m not sure I could define it in a defensible way. The comparison with Whitney Houston is a good one, because I always thought Houston was the model that all other “oversinging” female vocalists were trying to imitate. Not to put too much pressure on Mickey with this comparison, I just think the two are similar by striking a good balance in this respect.
I look forward to hearing more from this new artist. 2015 is looking very promising in terms of new artists.
January 15, 2015 @ 3:22 pm
If I was listening to the radio(big if), and this song came on, I wouldn’t change the station. Unfortunately though, this is probably as Country as this girl will ever get.
And I completely agree with you Trigger, about the race thing. Affirmative action, which is actually progressive racism, is still alive and well in America. With this girl though, it won’t matter much, because she’s talented enough succeed without the racial boost.
January 15, 2015 @ 4:47 pm
Yeah, because this country wasn’t built on their backs.
January 15, 2015 @ 5:14 pm
Greg,
If you’re attempting to engage me in a conversation, would you please say something coherent, instead of using melodramatic, exaggerated, leftist talking points?
January 15, 2015 @ 5:29 pm
But I’m not trying to engage you in conversation! I left a comment in reply to yours.
My lefty brain knows when to engage or not, and this ain’t the time.
I’m sorry you misread my intentions. When I’m ready for you you’ll know it.
January 15, 2015 @ 5:39 pm
Alright. Well, let me know.
January 15, 2015 @ 6:25 pm
Just looked up the songwriters.
That is a very illustrious group.
January 16, 2015 @ 12:33 am
Do you remember Star De Azlan, a Hispanic female with traditional leanings a few years ago? What about Crystal Shawanda? I hope Mickey gets some commercial success – to me it is not about her race or her gender, but about the music. But I think she faces long odds.
January 16, 2015 @ 2:55 pm
Star De Azlan was great! She only released a couple singles but all of them were good and very traditional. I really was hoping she would breakthrough big. She was also a gorgeous girl if I remember correctly.
I’ve been waiting for the next Latino country star. Traditional Mexican music, such as ranchera, banda and norteno have often reminded me very much of traditional country music. The styles were easily mixed in central California and south Texas for many years. If you don’t believe me, listen to your local regional Mexican station. I swear I hear stuff that sounds like Dwight Yoakam on mine.
I think Mexican radio is the place on the radio dial where you hear the most traditional country sound. You see way more cowboy hats in Latin music than in country music.
January 16, 2015 @ 2:35 pm
sure like this song.
Better Than You Left Me,” co-written with Jennifer Hanson, Jenn Schott and Nathan Chapman, was added to 79 country radio stations in its first week ”” the highest one-week add total of a country artist’s debut single in Country Aircheck history.”
and other stuff”¦”¦.she’s a Texan.
January 16, 2015 @ 9:42 pm
was not sure, about linking, apologies.
January 16, 2015 @ 11:51 pm
No worries posting a link Mark, I actually meant to just delete all the superfluous stuff. Rolling Stone is one of those sites where if you cut and paste anything, it embeds a whole string of stuff that doesn’t have to do with the link.
Here’s the link:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/mickey-guyton-shakes-up-a-breakup-in-better-than-you-left-me-video-20150114
January 16, 2015 @ 4:24 pm
This song made me think she could be the female Charlie Pride of ths generation…awesome.
January 24, 2015 @ 11:16 pm
“I”™m going to say something that many people are thinking, because we’re all a bunch of racist assholes who don’t have the good sense to left stupid things unsaid.”
Fixed that for you.
January 25, 2015 @ 5:48 am
I find the assertion that she is only doing THAT well because she is black interesting. If being black was an asset, so what happened with Rissi Palmer?
February 25, 2015 @ 9:18 am
Trigger,
You should not be so quick to pull the ‘trigger’ on crediting Mickey’s race for her initial success. ‘Better than you left me’ touches people and resonates with country music fans both young and old. I had no idea who Mickey was…had never heard of her before, but after hearing her song a few times, I decided to look her up on YouTube and was pleasantly surprised to learn she was Black. I then Googled her to learn more about her and came across your review with its racist sounding reasoning. While her entry into the country music scene has served to diversify this predominantly White genre, her success can only be credited to her talent. The fact that she happens to Black is totally secondary and inconsequential to her success. If the girl didn’t have the ‘goods’ it would make no difference what her race or ethnic background was.
March 1, 2015 @ 3:59 pm
I’m proud to be an Arlington native. Keep going strong and you blessings will come true. You are truly a true country song bird.