There Are No “B-Level” Stages, Thomas Rhett. Only “B-Level” Stars
It is an ugly, stupefying, embarrassing black eye that Thomas Rhett and his big bag of nothing is the current reigning ACM Male Vocalist of the Year, with the only salve to put on that sour, pussing wound of a dubious accolade being that the ACM’s ceased to be anything more than an insular circle jerk for the industry many years ago. Thomas Rhett’s coronation only solidifies that. Still, the idea that Rhett is even being attempted to be crowned as one of the top artists in “country” is an abomination of the highest order.
There’s a reason that every time you see something written about Thomas Rhett, his hot wife is in tow. It’s because she’s more interesting just standing there than Thomas Rhett is singing and moving around. She’s pregnant, she’s going over to third-world countries to volunteer and adopt a young girl, then she has a baby of her own. You can’t get away from it. She’s Thomas Rhett’s best salesperson because if you actually settle your mind on Thomas Rhett’s music, you quickly conclude he flat sucks. So they guise it behind People Magazine copy. You don’t buy into Thomas Rhett’s music, you buy into his celebrity lifestyle.
I’m sure Thomas Rhett is an excellent family man and smells fantastic. Nominate him for father of the year all you want, and I won’t submit a gripe. But as a country music artist, he deserves nothing. Luke Bryan is also a good person. I hate his music, but I get why 13 to 17-year-old girls go crazy for him. He’s got the sexy dance moves or whatever. But if Luke Bryan is Gomer Pyle, Thomas Rhett is Opie.
So apparently Thomas Rhett is releasing a new album called Life Changes, and to promote it, he’s going on what The Boot described as a “small club” tour, and what the Thomas Rhett camp dubs as “Live from the B-Stage.” This is the music tour equivalent to spending $1,200 on a pair professionally fashion-curated pre-ripped jeans, or you know, some shirt with holes in it (see above). It’s bid for authenticity from the most inauthentic and manufactured second-generation preordained “country” star our generation has seen.
As country music’s current stars become more prefabricated, become less and less naturally talented, spend less time paying dues and putting in service time early in their careers to justify their ascent, they lean more and more on the artifice of authenticity, knowing they don’t have the real world battle scars to make the words count when they try to identify with the lives of the common man.
First, Thomas Rhett’s “small club” tour only consists of three dates. Yeah sorry, but a long weekend isn’t the equivalent to what true country artists stuck in an Econoline vans playing for beer and tips have to suffer through to bring the music to the people for six week stints. And the capacity of these small clubs? Joe’s in Chicago has local fire marshal cutting it off at 2,000 heads. And notice you can’t get into these shows unless you’re part of some exclusive invite or fan club? This isn’t about bringing the music back to the people in intimate performances, it’s about excluding the common man from the upper crust experience.
There are no “B Level” stages. The idea that artists who play 1,500-2,500-capacity clubs are somehow inferior to Thomas Rhett or anyone else is really an insult, and an aberration of the truth. I understand in the music industry there must be slotting at festivals and venues based on an artist’s estimated draw, but any artist who can book and fill a club with 1,000 people, especially if they haven’t had a career delivered to them on a silver platter and the support of radio or other mass media, deserves a pat on the back, not a backhanded compliment.
If there was anything, or anyone’s career who ever deserved the distinction of being “B-Level,” it would be Thomas Rhett.
Jim
August 17, 2017 @ 12:12 pm
Amen.
In other news, I don’t think I could name a single Thomas Rhett song besides “Die A Happy Man” if you held a gun to my head.
Dan Morris
August 17, 2017 @ 12:25 pm
Well Jim you’ve got me beat just by knowing that one song. I’m ashamed of myself for even thinking this way but I take one look at that smirk on his face and I feel like giving him a kick in the crotch with my cowboy boots.
Gbkeith
August 17, 2017 @ 5:55 pm
That ain’t my truck?
Mule
August 19, 2017 @ 2:57 pm
Oh, Don’t Get Me Started.
Jim
August 18, 2017 @ 7:27 am
Cards on the table: I Googled it. I knew I’d heard his name, but couldn’t place him. Wikipedia listed his singles and I went “Oh, I know that one!” The rest did not seem familiar at all.
karl
August 18, 2017 @ 4:17 pm
Yeah, now thanks to you, Jim, I can name one song of his.
Bob Loblaw
August 17, 2017 @ 12:21 pm
Lady Gaga and John Mayer both recently went on ‘dive bar’ tours sponsored by Bud Light to promote their new albums (before embarking on their respective stadium and arena tours). This smells something like that. The main difference is, Gaga and Mayer are both talented musicians without famous parents who likely sound great in a variety of venues.
Trigger
August 17, 2017 @ 12:33 pm
That’s exactly what this is, but without the sacrifice. Lady Gaga played The 5 Spot in East Nashville. That’s a legitimate dive bar that you could maybe fit 250 in with a shoehorn.
Jack Williams
August 17, 2017 @ 12:48 pm
And that capacity truly is what I consider a small club, with 500 or so being a medium sized club and 1,000 a large club. 2,500 is like the Ryman and just a few hundred short of the Beacon Theatre in NYC. And It would make for a huge club.
Bob Loblaw
August 17, 2017 @ 2:22 pm
Right. It seems like a perfectly fine marketing gimmick, especially for an artist who plays stadiums. Maybe it can be a throwback to when they were starting out. You are right about his characterization being insulting.
seak05
August 17, 2017 @ 3:49 pm
yeah, I really don’t mind the idea…and if it is for his fanclub..that would actually be cool. And (sadly) at this point 2000 people is a small venue for Thomas. It’s the characterization that strikes me as more of a problem.
Greg
August 18, 2017 @ 3:21 pm
Also remember that these dive bars were small but also posted world wide throughout Facebook. So th actual audience was much bigger.
Jim
August 18, 2017 @ 7:29 am
I saw John Mayer years ago, before “No Such Thing” was released as a single. (I don’t mean to sound like a hipster, cause I had no idea who he was and was just along for the ride.) He played with just one other guy backing him up on bass and he was fantastic. John Mayer is very underrated as a guitar player and a performer.
Jayne
August 17, 2017 @ 12:31 pm
Not sure why you feel it necessary to tear down and denigrate artists you don’t care for. How about just promoting those you do? Obviously your opinion is on the minority. Maybe the difference comes in the evolution of genres of country music? Take the high road.
Trigger
August 17, 2017 @ 12:40 pm
Calling a stage a “B-Level” stage is demeaning to the artists who worked their entire careers with little to no help from the industry to get to that level. I went out of my way to point out that it appears that Thomas Rhett and his wife are good people on a personal level.
Tubb
August 17, 2017 @ 7:11 pm
Ohh god, “evolution” and “opinion is on the minority.” Did you end up here after getting lost on your way to CMT.com?
JP
August 17, 2017 @ 10:13 pm
Country music? Ahahahahaaaa!!!!
jtrpdx
August 18, 2017 @ 3:40 pm
Thomas Rhett isn’t “country”….and certainly not any form of “evolved” country. You can’t be serious with that comment?
DJ
August 17, 2017 @ 12:53 pm
I wondered about that T-shirt with the collar removed and the holes. Maybe he is sacrificing. LOL…. but really, is that how anybody even remotely tied to celebritydom connects? Good lord.
OlaR
August 17, 2017 @ 1:19 pm
What goes up.
Must come down.
Will Thomas Rhett go away in the next 1-2 years? No.
But in a couple of years he will be lucky to play in a club with 300 people or shake his ass on “Dancing with the stars”.
There is always a younger, better looking (who cares about the voice in the current climate) guy just around a corner in Nashville.
albert
August 17, 2017 @ 3:59 pm
”There is always a younger, better looking (who cares about the voice in the current climate) guy just around a corner in Nashville. ”
Exactly, Ola ….WHO CARES ABOUT THE VOICE !
Mule
August 19, 2017 @ 3:02 pm
Dan Baird said it best in “Younger Face” over 20 years ago…
https://youtu.be/SHQWm5UimCY
Greg Green
August 19, 2017 @ 8:41 pm
I’ve always liked Would You Catch A Falling Star by Bobby Braddock. Though he’ll have few golden oldie songs, and can he even play the guitar?
Amanda
August 17, 2017 @ 1:29 pm
As an artist, the only Rhett song I would ever label as good is Beer With Jesus. Crash and Burn is an okay pop song. The Day You Stop Looking Back is not terrible. But the rest is god-awful. Especially South Side, Vacation, I Feel Good, and Front Porch Junkies.
Speaking of South Side, I used to call that song the worst of all time. Until the other day when I heard Haley Georgia’s “Becky”. I’m not linking that garbage, but it’s on YouTube or Spotify if you’re curious. Listen at your own risk.
JB
August 17, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
I ignored your disclaimer and looked up “Becky”. You are correct: it is not only the worst “country” song of all time; it is, in fact, the worst song of all time. That’ll send you running to Thomas Rhett for reprieve. (Actually I just turned on Childers instead).
Amanda
August 17, 2017 @ 9:47 pm
After listening to “Becky” for the first time out of curiosity, I spent two hours listening to Jon Pardi, William Michael Morgan, and Aaron Watson.
Greg Green
August 19, 2017 @ 8:44 pm
I did something similar after listening to bad music. Cleaned my ears with good music then bought a Roger Miller set. I had no idea of all the other country songs he wrote, so eventually it worked out well.
Bo Fiddley
August 18, 2017 @ 1:45 pm
I looked it up as well. I’m amazed at just how bad it is. So amazed that I’ve listened to it probably three times now because it’s just so bad that it’s good. Thanks for sharing, Amanda.
The Goddess of Country Rock
August 17, 2017 @ 7:00 pm
I’ll admit, with some painful regret, that I actually don’t hate “Cravin’ You.” A lot of that is due to Maren Morris, though.
Amanda
August 17, 2017 @ 9:38 pm
I really like Maren Morris. Hero was a good album, and she’s very talented. Craving You is just “meh” to my ears though.
JB-Chicago
August 18, 2017 @ 9:30 am
It’s a good Pop song but it should be played on Pop stations.
DimM
August 17, 2017 @ 2:20 pm
That look in his eyes makes me angry. And his songs too.
Seak05
August 17, 2017 @ 2:23 pm
He’s just so generic to me & he strikes me as artificial. He’s prob nice, but even if he made good music, I wouldn’t be into him.
glendel
August 17, 2017 @ 2:46 pm
“Joe’s in Chicago has local fire marshal cutting it off at 1,500 heads. And notice you can’t get into these shows unless you’re part of some exclusive invite or fan club?”
the meaning behind these sentences is accurate. but it’s the suburban joe’s near the airport, not the joe’s near downtown. also, I understand that tix were put on sale to the public for $30 a pop, and sold out muy quickly. what held me off from even thinking of buying a ticket was not my dislike of t rhett, but that each order came with a t-shirt, his new album, and a download, none of which I have the least bit of interest in. plus, if I had really wanted to see this country music faker, he just headlined one of the days of the lakeshake festival.
Trigger
August 17, 2017 @ 3:36 pm
Okay I stand corrected. The capacity of Joe’s on Weed St. in Chicago is 1,500. The capacity of Joe’s in Rosemont is 2,000. So that’s arguably even worse.
What it says on his website for ticket info is, “Private event. Admission by guest only.”
http://www.thomasrhett.com/tour/all/5357
In the press release it says basically that the way you get in is purchasing pre-sale album packages that put you on a VIP guest list. Not saying that there weren’t some tickets released to the public, but I’m guessing there were very very few.
glendel
August 17, 2017 @ 4:01 pm
we’re both kind of right. really don’t like the fact you have to buy merch to go: https://thomasrhett.pmstores.co/
seak05
August 17, 2017 @ 4:18 pm
I hear you, but at $30 it’s actually cheaper than a lot of concert tix nowaday without the merch. And it’s supposed to be for his fans..not those of us who don’t want to own the stuff :p.
stacy
August 18, 2017 @ 8:13 am
Nothing cheap about his prices- his presale packages go to $500. I can’t reconcile who he’s trying to be. Doing a small venue tour but asking for $500 for a jacket and socks? It’s painful at best.
JB-Chicago
August 18, 2017 @ 9:40 am
Actually Trig Joe’s On Weed could barely fit 400. I saw Luke Combs there and it was sold out packed. It’s a small place. Joe’s Live in Rosemont (suburb 1 mile from O’Hare airport) is a House Of Blues type venue that tops out at 1800ish. So in theory he really should be playing Joe’s on Weed but since he’s doing 3 (acoustic) shows that day and both venues already had shows booked for that date. Logistically Joe’s Live made sense. Doors are at 5p, show is early (he’ll play a few acoustic tunes and talk) and they’ll be clearing the venue by 8p for the Latino show that was already booked.
glendel
August 18, 2017 @ 11:44 am
I wasn’t there for Combs, but the Brantley show a couple of yrs ago was the most crowded I’ve seen at the Weed street backroom. There’s not space enough here for me to go into what I like about joe’s and the more voluminous things I don’t like about joe’s, but it seems that shows w/ a cover charge over $25 (pat green, the leann rimes benefit) are more comfy than when there’s a promotional show sponsored by one of the two radio stations, and the place gets way, way overcrowded…
JB-Chicago
August 18, 2017 @ 3:01 pm
I feel the same about Joe’s Live. 1000 people is comfortable but anything over 1500 isn’t enjoyable. 7-800 is perfect. I doubt they’re going to let Rhett get anywhere near capacity because they have to get his crowd out and a new one in in fairly quick order. It’s not a normal concert, it’s promo event.
Desperado Destry
August 17, 2017 @ 3:09 pm
You hit the nail right on the head Trig. That’s the problem with so many artists today, they have their careers handed to them on a silver platter. Why? Because they have a rich Mommy and Daddy?Thomas Rhett would be playing those “B-Level” stages if he actually had to work his way up! The legends wrote good songs because they knew about life, ups and downs. When it’s all handed to you it’s hard to know that element let alone write about it. Let’s just hope someone playing a small venue tonight is our next big country star.
Travis
August 17, 2017 @ 3:14 pm
Maybe my wife won’t make me throw out shirts, socks, and boxer shorts if I can convince her that rips and tears are the cool thing . She bought into the messy hair look and tried to make me style my hair for a couple years, which thankfully she’s given up on. That picture above is absolutely ridiculous.
Charlie
August 18, 2017 @ 4:18 am
At least I’ve learned my underwear are back in style. Score!
JB-Chicago
August 20, 2017 @ 12:38 pm
It’s not messy hair, it’s “deliberately disheveled”…lol
Kent
August 17, 2017 @ 3:28 pm
B-stage… Well, here’s a girl who’s been playing the Z-stages
for a couple of years now…:-) https://youtu.be/QWh7jMbTItg
Both in Sweden and US and other countries…
David
August 17, 2017 @ 3:49 pm
Why is it that in every photograph I see of Rhett he looks stoned?
albert
August 17, 2017 @ 3:57 pm
”But if Luke Bryan is Gomer Pyle, Thomas Rhett is Opie.”
…..funniest thing I’ve seen in months , Trigger . I’m laughing tears…..SO dead on …..so funny , man .
The rest of your observations are , also , dead on throughout . Good stuff .
The Goddess of Country Rock
August 17, 2017 @ 4:29 pm
I’m a young woman, and I don’t think Thomas Rhett is hot AT ALL. He looks like one of the Geico Cavemen went on a diet, lost weight, and became a metrosexual. SO THERE! 😛
Amanda
August 17, 2017 @ 5:56 pm
I completely agree with you! I recently turned 21, and I don’t find Thomas Rhett attractive at all. Now William Michael Morgan, that’s a man right there 😉. Hot as all get out, talented as everything, and an actual COUNTRY singer.
seak05
August 17, 2017 @ 6:32 pm
lol, hmmm in the last year WMM has had a baby, gotten engaged and broken it off, and that’s with two separate women. For music purposes I’ll absolutely take WMM, but umm if we’re talking dating, I’ll take the guy who doesn’t *appear* (bc really we have no idea) to treat women as disposable.
Nate
August 17, 2017 @ 4:36 pm
Some of the best shows I’ve ever been to have been “B-Stage” concerts. I think arena shows are great (never been to a stadium show) but they’re so impersonal. When I was front row for Blackberry Smoke, Kacey Musgraves, Lucie Silvas, Halestorm, Lindsey Stirling, Wheeler Walker Jr, etc. on those so called “B-Stages”, I’d take that any day over seeing “A-List” talent perform in an arena from 30 rows up in the second level.
TheKillerRocksOn
August 17, 2017 @ 5:13 pm
I get what you’re getting at with this article, but… when I was but a wee twenty something, I was dating a girl that had a friend that got us into a Rolling Stones club show. They did those to warm ups before their stadium gigs. We had comp tickets, but I heard,after the fact, that some were being scalped for 10 grand.,.point is, the press harped ‘how could the Stones play such a beneath them venue’.. I didn’t think it was insulting to bands playing that venue, I wasn’t thinking anything other than I was 20 feet from Keef. I think the strength of this site is reporting on and introducing talent that keeps true country music alive. Your review of Tyler Childers album was spot on and naming Justin Wells The Dogs song of 2016 was genius, but ripping the current pop country roster is preaching to the quoir and seems counter productive. The masses know this news, but I would have never heard about it till you posted it. It’s your site and you can do whatever you like, but ..
Trigger
August 17, 2017 @ 11:12 pm
Criticism is the portal to enacting true change in the country music marketplace. Without spirited criticism of the mainstream, you wouldn’t be here. Without spirited criticism of the mainstream, I wouldn’t be here. It is what this website was founded on, to be a voice of dissent, not to make music recommendations to people. I make music recommendations as a service. I appreciate you and others want to see more positive coverage, but no negative story ever replaces a positive recommendation.
The Senator
August 21, 2017 @ 1:41 pm
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; two sides of the same coin.
You need to make a case against the problems in the mainstream if you want to find a solution for them, and you need to present good alternatives to the pabulum and get others to support the quality acts as the other part of the solution.
That’s how I see the mission of Saving Country Music, and those are the ways that I think we can go about fulfilling that goal. If we can preserve what is good in country music, find acts that both uphold that legacy and carry it forward, while also cutting out what’s wrong, we have ourselves a healthy genre.
Tubb
August 17, 2017 @ 7:15 pm
He’s doing this to save face because of the fact that he’s the reigning CMA male artist of the year but he couldn’t sell out the mid size arenas and amphitheaters as a headliner if he tried.
Eugene
August 18, 2017 @ 4:47 am
That has never stopped Miranda from booking those venues, the trick is to not publish receipts…
Mike Honcho
August 17, 2017 @ 7:54 pm
Is Thomas Rhett the offspring of one-hit wonder Rhett Akins? Man, he must be kicking himself when he sees how far shit talent can take you these days.
Amanda
August 17, 2017 @ 9:43 pm
I always liked That Ain’t My Truck. The only Thomas Rhett song I’ll proudly admit to liking is Beer With Jesus. Thomas has had some real clunkers, especially on the Tangled Up album. Yikes.
scott
August 18, 2017 @ 7:29 am
Yeah, Beer With Jesus is a guilty pleasure of mine, too. Shouldn’t like it, I know, but…
Bear
August 17, 2017 @ 10:11 pm
UGH> I just had a Thomas Rhett ad play before a Secret Sisters’ video. Now I feel dirty.
Kim Davis
August 18, 2017 @ 5:06 am
Wow, not sure why your felt the need to tear him down! But, hey feel world! He has a ton of fans !! I love him and I pretty sure is not concerned about your opinion!
Fuzzy TwoShirts
August 18, 2017 @ 9:44 am
and I am not concerned with yours. except that your opinions are ruining Country Music.
karl
August 18, 2017 @ 4:20 pm
Yes, it is a ‘feel world’, I suppose. At least certain parts of it.
Corncaster
August 18, 2017 @ 7:12 am
“If you can fake sincerity, you’ve got it made.”
Not interested. Don’t respect it. Life’s too short for fakery.
Evan Rhodey
August 18, 2017 @ 9:22 pm
I love my boy Thomas. Can’t wait for the new album. Dig.
Bertox
August 19, 2017 @ 5:18 am
Me, too. I’ve got my favorite Affliction shirt, blinged out jeans, snapback flatbill hat, case of Bud Light and bottle of Crown Apple all on standby ready for tha drop. It’s gonna be lit, bro
Jack Williams
August 19, 2017 @ 7:00 am
Man, you gotta try the Bud Light with Lime. I mean, come on! It’s Bud Light, but with a taste of lime!
Bertox
August 19, 2017 @ 7:47 am
Sounds perfect for my beer pong tournament! With that and my lucky Toby Keith autographed red solo cup, I can’t lose!!
Evan Rhodey
August 22, 2017 @ 5:51 pm
Bud Light is good stuff. I love the Lime too.
Nick Brown
August 19, 2017 @ 3:13 pm
If you place Thomas Rhett in his daddy’s era, he would be just like his father, nothing more than an opining act!!!
Chris
August 20, 2017 @ 12:52 pm
I see a future for Thomas Rhett in Branson, Mo. some day in a few years.
Jtrpdx
August 20, 2017 @ 3:51 pm
Maybe as a ticket taker or a waiter?
Bertox
August 20, 2017 @ 6:14 pm
LMAO! At least that would be honest work, unlike claiming to be a country singer
ScruffyCity
August 20, 2017 @ 6:14 pm
Some record exec in Nashville signed Rhett to a song writing contract in Nashville when he was 20 years-old? Really? And he was a drummer in his band in his high school years? Sounds pretty far fetched …
As has been stated, this was all his daddy’s doing. Rhett Akins and his fellow Peach Pickers did the ghost writing for young Thomas, at least in the beginning. And it doesn’t matter if the Peach Pickers wrote his stuff or if it was team of 14 writers, his stuff is all wretched, horrible music.
Jimbo
August 31, 2017 @ 5:41 am
Thomas Rhett is a good fucking artist. If you don’t listen don’t be an asshole and judge the guy. You’re pissed at the world! Everyone else will enjoy it! You don’t kno jack about the music biz so maybe go a troll the IT some more. Or slap you’re minkey. God, I hate fucking tools like you. Go bitch about Trump for Christ’s sake!
ROBERT JOSEY
November 14, 2018 @ 6:46 pm
You suck I like all kinds of music but this is not country backstreet boys