This is The Reaction You Make When …

The horror on this poor woman’s face says it all. What could cause this reaction? Let’s look at some of the worst case scenarios in country music.
Trigger Down with Pop Country 69 Comments
The horror on this poor woman’s face says it all. What could cause this reaction? Let’s look at some of the worst case scenarios in country music.
Clint Black, Dan+Shay, Diplo, Dustin Lynch, Dwight Yoakam, Morgan Wallen, Sam Hunt, Walker Hayes
Trigger Radio/Media 32 Comments
Platforms like Twitter and Tik-Tok have been instrumental to the rise of artists outside of the musical industrial complex by connection them directly with fans, and circumventing the need for major labels or mass media to help performers find a sustainable audience in many instances.
Elon Musk, Jason Isbell, Matt Taibbi, Parker McCollum, Priscilla Block, Tik-Tok, Twitter, Walker Hayes, Zach Bryan
Trigger Down with Pop Country 107 Comments
If we’re being honest, country music continues to improve across the board, including in the mainstream as we continue to get farther and farther away from the Bro-Country era. But there are still some stragglers and terrible songs out there that are worth exposing to the sunlight and watching them whither.
Brantley Gilbert, Cole Swindell, David Morris, George Strait, Jake Scott, Jo Dee Messina, Mark D. Sanders, Russell Dickerson, Shania Twain, Tim Nichols, Walker Hayes
When the Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Lower Broadway in Nashville was under threat of being closed down permanently and sold off earlier this year, a few were predicting sarcastically that they might turn the historic business and property into a Walker Hayes-themed Applebee’s restaurant.
Applebee's, Ernest Tubb Record Shop, lower broadway, Walker Hayes
Trigger Random Notes 13 Comments
“It’s more radio-oriented,” Dillon says. “I hate to say it, but more one-hit wonder-ish kind of thing now, as opposed to back then when we strived to write great every time. I don’t think that holds true now. I think what holds true is radio candy, I call it. You can call it whatever you want…”
Chris Stapleton, David Allan Coe, Dean Dillon, George Jones, George Strait, Key West SOngwriters Festival, Walker Hayes
Trigger Random Notes 47 Comments
Ever since Billboard tweaked their formula for how songs are slotted on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2012, it has given rise to heavyweight tracks that sit atop the chart for weeks and weeks on end. All the more reason that the current song to get stuck at #1.
Blanco Brown, Cody Johnson, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Maren Morris, Sam Hunt, Walker Hayes
Trigger Down with Pop Country 43 Comments
Shit! No, not necessarily these nominations. Well, kind of the nominations as well. But the fact that by some obligatory sense of duty by the powers vested in me as the owner/operator of a country music website, I must convey the nominees of the 2022 ACM Awards, which have fallen so far down in relevancy […]
ACM Awards, Ashley McBryde, Brooks and Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Caitlyn Smith, Carly Pearce, Chris Stapleton, Chris Young, Elvie Shane, Gabby Barrett, Lady A, Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett, Walker Hayes
Trigger Down with Pop Country 88 Comments
‘Tis the season to set ’em up, and tee off on the worst “country” songs released in the last calendar year, and boy, were there some doozies in 2021. It still feels like country music in the mainstream continues to improve. But that doesn’t mean some stinkers still don’t slip in.
Billy Currington, Brantley Gilbert, Fancy Like, Florida Georgia Line, Hardy, Luke Bryan, Pitbull, Toby Keith, Trace Adkins, Walker Hayes
Nominees for the 2022 Grammy Awards were announced on Wednesday, November 23rd from the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, with some big names receiving some important nominations, a few obvious omissions, and the “who” being nominated as opposed to the “what.”
Allison Russell, Billy Strings, Brandi Carlile, Carly Pearce, Jason Isbell, Jimmie Allen, Kacey Musgraves, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Walker Hayes, Yola
Trigger Radio/Media 58 Comments
I know what you’re going to say. “NeW yOrK CiTY!” like that guy in the old Pace Picante Sauce commercial. Or if you pride yourself in having any sort of semblance of taste, maybe you’re wondering why anyone in 2021 would still be listening to mainstream country radio at all.
94.7, Bebe Rexa, Blair Garner, Blanco Brown, Bobby Bones, Breland, Chuck Wicks, Cumulus Media, Florida Georgia Line, Kane Brown, Mickey Guyton, Nelly, New York, Reba McEntire, Ronnie Dunn, Sunny Sweeney, Terri Clark, Walker Hayes, WNSH
Trigger Random Notes 29 Comments
When you hear certain albums from some of country music’s mainstream performers, it’s patently clear to large portions of the audience that these albums aren’t pop country, they’re just pop, period. But in the pop world when artist dabble in country influences, they tend to be more honest about how the end result is still pop.
Beyonce, Chris Stapleton, Chuck Leavell, Dolly Parton, Don Was, Greg Leisz, Hillary Lindsey, John Mayer, Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban, Kesha, Lady Gaga, Maren Morris, Miley Cyrus, Priscilla Renea, Sara Watkins, Taylor Swift, Walker Hayes
Trigger Down with Pop Country 78 Comments
Bad pop star Walker Hayes recently infiltrated the mainstream country ranks after unleashing the terrible hit “You Broke Up With Me.” Now this hack is going out on tour, and since he has no original thoughts, Walker and his PR team have chosen to put the task of naming the upcoming tour in the hands of the unwashed masses.
Trigger Random Notes 41 Comments
Whether it was our vehement protestations, or simply patience revealing a more balanced perspective, the recent additions to the Randy Travis Spotify playlist have done a complete 180, and deserve recognition, if not outright praise.
Cody Jinks, Joe Nichols, Joshua Hedley, Lee Brice, Randy Travis, Scotty McCreery, Shane Owens, Spotify, Walker Hayes
Trigger Random Notes 55 Comments
The effrontery of whomever is really responsible for compiling these five songs together and presenting it as an expression of Randy’s tastes or desires is appalling. This is ridiculous, and everyone involved in the perpetration of this ruse must think we are all incredibly gullible, and should be called out publicly.
Brett Eldredge, Kane Brown, Lauren Alaina, Luke Combs, Randy Travis, Shane Owens, Spotify, Walker Hayes
Trigger Random Notes 144 Comments
Dear Saving Country Music readers, country music listeners and lovers, fellow journalists, and especially fans of Walker Hayes and the work of country music producer, Shane McAnally . . . On December 18th, 2017, I wrote a “rant” entitled, “‘Boom’ By Walker Hayes Is The Worst Album In ‘Country’ Music History. Full Stop.” . . .
Trigger Down with Pop Country 123 Comments
We were so swept up in praising ourselves for all the gains made in the independent realm of country music in 2017, it wasn’t until here in the dwindling moments of the year that we realized just what a dreadful era 2017 posed in the mainstream.
Brantley Gilbert, Brett Young, Chris Janson, Chris Young, Faith Hill, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini, Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Shania Twain, Thomas Rhett, Tim McGraw, Walker Hayes
Trigger Down with Pop Country 268 Comments
Friends and neighbors, I know you would rather spend your time reading about something a bit more positive in nature than the rabid attitudinal protestations of some twisted up music critic spouting off about this grotesque specimen of audio diarrhea, and during what is supposed to be a festive season no less….
Boom, Kane Brown, Lou Reed, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, Walker Hayes
Trigger Down with Pop Country 146 Comments
Man did Music Row in Nashville turn in a whole slew of stinkers this year, setting new lows for the substance, and non-country-ness of “country” songs in 2017. This year was a great example of how you should never think it can’t get any worse, because it can, and did, and by a long stretch.
Canaan Smith, Chris Janson, David Allan Coe, Dylan Scott, Florida Georgia Line, Moonshine Bandits, Sam Hunt, The Chainsmokers, Thomas Rhett, Walker Hayes
Trigger Down with Pop Country 105 Comments
I don’t care if Walker Hayes is the most upstanding citizen from his affluent suburb, donates to charity, is sweet as pie to his fans, and gives mouth to nose resuscitation to orphaned puppies. This is not the type of incendiarily vapid stuff we need infecting anything being sold as “country.”
Boom, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, Walker Hayes, You Broke Up With Me
Trigger Down with Pop Country 267 Comments
It might actually be the intangibles and industry tentacles extending from Walker Hayes and “You Broke Up with Me” that make the whole thing so sinister. This is not just the lead single from a Sam Hunt knockoff you’ve never heard of before.
Chris Lane, Shane McAnally, Walker Hayes, You Broke Up With Me