The 2024 CMT Awards Were Absolutely TERRIBLE
I saw Jason Aldean perform on the 2024 CMT Awards, and now I’m a RACIST! Aldean performed in front of the 27-story University of Texas Tower in Austin, and murdered it harder than Charles Joseph Whitman.
I saw Jason Aldean perform on the 2024 CMT Awards, and now I’m a RACIST! Aldean performed in front of the 27-story University of Texas Tower in Austin, and murdered it harder than Charles Joseph Whitman.
The CMAs. The ACMs. The CMTs. The PCCAs. None of them come even close to truly recognizing the “best” that country music has to offer in a given year. It’s questionable if any of them truly deserve your undivided attention at all.
Some moments, and some songs are bigger than genre, or even era. They resonate with the audience irrespective of age, race, creed, gender, or anything else. They’re universal, regardless of the story or the style behind them.
Taking a step back and zooming out, it’s an entirely different setup in 2024 compared to when Saving Country Music was founded going on 16 years ago. It all begs the question, “Has country music been saved?”
Make no mistake about it. Jelly Roll is not a country artist. The music he makes is not country music, with some minor exceptions. And not to be pedantic or arrogant about it, but this is pretty inarguable.
Any objective assessment of how this lineup was curated will come to the conclusion that political affiliation was a critical part of the decision making process. “It’s for the people who love America,” is the slogan.
Sure, there might be bigger things to worry about in life and country music. But if there ever was a year to feature country music on the Super Bowl Halftime Show, it would be this one.
Not only is country music codifying its monopoly at the top of the charts, it’s being done by independent and outright unsigned artists that came up solely from the strength of grassroots support.
Ever since Oliver Anthony and “Rich Men North of Richmond” went viral, the accusations that he’s an “industry plant” or that his meteoric rise has been the product of “Astroturfing” have been pervasive.
Breaking the moratorium on posts about the controversy surrounding Jason Aldean’s new song and video, “Try That in a Small Town” to dispel some misinformation that Saving Country Music has intimate knowledge of.
Unlike Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town,” there was no cancellation attempt. In fact, it was nominated for a Grammy Award. CMT didn’t ban it. They made a movie around it.
I have been warning all the elitist think piece writers, academics, Twitter intellectuals, and even some artist who’ve been imploring country music artists to speak out politically to be careful what they wish for .
On Friday night, July 15th, Jason Aldean was playing a show at the Xfinity Theatre, and had to stop the performance down only 20 minutes in due to heat exhaustion. He’s now facing strong criticism.
It goes without saying that at this moment in history, everyone in America is incensed and sickened by the level of gun violence plaguing society, and specifically the prevalence of mass shootings, and especially school shootings.
For the last dozen years or so, one of the most contentious battles within the realm of commercial country music has centered around the incursion of hip-hop influences into the genre, and specifically the use of verses that are rapped as opposed to sung, and electronic beats replacing organic drums.
As the concert ended, the friends of Cory Barron couldn’t find him. They searched the entire ballpark, hung around to see if he would show up, called friends to confirm he didn’t leave with someone else, with no clue of where he’d disappeared to. By Saturday morning, a missing persons report was filed.
According to numerous journalists, artists, and activists, after MIranda Lambert’s appearance on stage at the Bridgestone on Friday evening with Jason Aldean, all of her good will and Miranda’s active efforts to make country music a more inclusive place deserves to be called into question.
Hip-hop artist Nelly has been accused by three separate women of rape and sexual assault, including by one woman who accused Nelly of rape while he was on a country music tour with Florida Georgia Line. Diplo has also faced accusations of rape, and grooming underage girls.
Country music is country music, and the best definition of what country music is, is that you know it when you hear it. It’s self-evident. But the genre has birthed many subgenres, many stylistic movements over the years, and at times has seen a splintering and Balkanization.
Dolly Parton will be one of the next inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The next question is how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will consider country performers for induction moving forward. This moment presents a slippery slope.
If it wasn’t for “the slap,” the biggest story in all of entertainment last week would have been Eric Church choosing to cancel his sold-out show on Saturday, April 2nd at San Antonio’s AT&T Center so he could watch the Duke Blue Devils take on his North Carolina Tar Heels.
Larping as a ode to hard working rural folks, “Rolex® On A Redneck” is really just a laundry list of product endorsements from Gilbert for stuff actual farmers would never be caught dead with. Dusty Bumpkins on a sorghum patch outside of OshKosh isn’t sporting a Rolex.
This extensive “Mix It Up With Florida Georgia Line” exhibit that the Hall of Fame recently opened on February 6th really is an unfortunate, and frankly shortsighted move by the museum, overlooking the widely-polarizing nature of the Bro-Country duo.
“Macon” is a letdown if you’re an actual country music fan. But I would be lying if I didn’t confess that I was actually somewhat surprised by the content of this album named after Jason Aldean’s hometown. Again, this is not a “good” album by any stretch. But it’s good for Jason Aldean.