Thomas Rhett’s “Center Point Road” is a Country Music Dead End
The great American country music goober is back ladies and gentlemen, riding a wave of nepotistic opportunity and slavish trend chasing to launch his own insipid bid in a crowded field of hopefuls to be considered the most non-country “country” star stultifying the American country music airwaves with knockoff R&B rubbish.
It’s clearly evident when listening to Thomas Rhett’s Center Point Road that he not only harbors no love for the actual and authentic sounds and modes of country music, Thomas Rhett outright loathes them, giving a wide berth whenever they threaten to enter his path, and instead turning his wheel into sounds and influences that symbolize the very antithesis of the country genre. Listening to Center Point Road, Thomas Rhett might as well have just cued up a mic and screamed “Screw country music!” and released that, or Instagram’d an image of him rubbing his balls on the stone-carved cowboy hat sitting at the foot of the Hank Williams grave.
Where previous Thomas Rhett’s efforts at least feigned some allegiance or interest in adhering to the country music format, he’s all in on Center Point Road, pulling a demonstrative white boy Bruno Mars routine without any remorse or pragmatic effort to try and hide that he’s nothing more than an R&B singer on a country imprint. In an embarrassingly brown nosing puff piece entitled “Thomas Rhett Doesn’t Really Care If You Think He’s Country Enough” in Rolling Stone Country, Rhett says about his primary influence on the record, “I think I watched [Bruno Mars’s] Super Bowl performance at least 100 times on YouTube.” Genre bending my ass, Center Point Road breaks its back to be all things but country, but Rhett sure won’t recuse himself from being considered for country awards, or getting ink in what’s supposed to be a “country” periodical.
Thomas Rhett is music for people who do not like music, but only barely listen to it in the background lest their mind is forced to dwell in a silent moment and focus on a stimulative or original thought. Songs like “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time” and “Look What God Gave Her” symbolize the worst appropriations of vapid dance pop ever perpetrated in the country genre. “VHS” is so laughably bad, Beck is probably kicking himself for not thinking of this oversexed tripe when he recorded Midnite Vultures mocking the stupidity of this shallow version of R&B music.
Thomas Rhett seems like a fairly affable guy and a devoted family man, but when he takes the stage or locks himself in the isolation booth in the studio, there’s no soul dwelling within that rib cage. It’s all about swallowing hard, and doing what you must to become an arena-level superstar, even though his own contributions to the creative cannon of modern music are eclipsed by many club acts from the sheer lack of originality. Thomas Rhett is a chameleon of commercialization, with his premier attribute being a pliability to do whatever sells. But why would anyone buy the Opie version of Bruno Mars when they could go directly to the source?
Thomas Rhett has got so much nothing and he knows it. This is the reason his wife receives just as much face time as he does at country music’s stupid award shows. Laura Atkins is more compelling sitting in the crowd smiling than Thomas Rhett is standing on stage with $500,000 worth of stage production behind him. Like Rhett says himself in the song “Dream You Never Had”:
“I’m seeing the signs with your name written on in my mind
Spotlight’s on me but they know you’re the reason I shine
You married the music the day that you married me
Baby, I’m just a singer, and you are the songs that I sing…”
This isn’t flattery. Thomas Rhett has never been more right in his life.
Of course like most any mainstream album—especially one with 16 tracks—there are a few moments that aren’t as terrible as the others. If your looking for something resembling anything nearing country, I guess “That Old Truck” would qualify, though it immediately forfeits any rights to be called “good” as just another extremely generic country truck song. “Beer Can’t Fix” is fine enough as a song, but even Jon Pardi’s presence can’t country up the production of this track, and hearing Pardi wheeze into an Auto-tuner doesn’t do him any favors in building up his country cred. “Remember You Young” might be the only decent overall song out of the 16, but still fits significantly more into Adult Contemporary than even most modern country.
And don’t mistake it ladies and gentlemen, it might be a man singing, but this album is for the ladies. Listening to songs like “Don’t Stop Drivin’ ” and “Barefoot” expose the mark for this record. One of the reasons it’s so hard for performing women in the mainstream to find any traction is because many of mainstream country’s women listeners are wrapped up in the People Magazine lifestyle branding and daytime television themes and tones of Thomas Rhett—how wonderful of a father and husband he is, and how so many of his songs so sappily praise his better half. This whole bamboozle is written, recorded, produced, and choreographed for country’s female demographic, and it’s spectacularly effective at sucking them into its narrative.
Is there worse music in the mainstream at the moment than Thomas Rhett? The unfortunate prognosis is probably a “yes,” simply because we still have performers like Walker Hayes, Mitchell “Bitches” Tenpenny, and Keith Urban running around out there, with Urban probably still coming in as less country and quality than Rhett, believe it or not. But with Rhett sitting as the reigning, 2-time ACM Male Vocalist of the Year, the impact of a record like Center Point Road matters gravely.
The mainstream still feels like its going through a slow, but measurable resurgence into more country-sounding singles, albums, and artists over the last few years. But Thomas Rhett remains a holdout, and a problem. It will be interesting to see just how Center Point Road is received with rootsier artists like Luke Combs surging. This R&B country was really hot a couple of years ago, but how long will people continue to sup at the trough of Thomas Rhett when they could go to the source of today’s actual R&B and get something so much better?
Two Guns Down (0/10)
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RD
June 5, 2019 @ 10:02 am
Fuck. That is awful. Is he fronting Miami Sound Machine.
Joe
September 12, 2023 @ 10:24 pm
Thomas Rhett doesn’t always have to be a country singer, I love how he does pop music like VHS Live right now, And Unforgettable, I’m glad he is not a Texan!
Doyle Hargraves
June 5, 2019 @ 10:08 am
I started the video then scrolled up to finish reading and I no shit thought it was a youtube ad for sunscreen playing. Scrolled down and nope, that’s the damn song.
Nate
June 5, 2019 @ 10:10 am
Just going off the song linked at the end of the article, he sounds like a male version of Megan Trainor
A
June 5, 2019 @ 10:13 am
God, who listens to this shit? Brutal review. I love it!
Mike
June 7, 2019 @ 4:38 pm
Thirtysomething and fortysomething suburban moms…that’s who. They lap this shit up with a soup ladle!!!
Jay Eff
June 5, 2019 @ 10:19 am
I read in another review that this is his “Red.” But it sounds even less country than that, and at least Red had a lot of decent songwriting attributes.
OlaR
June 5, 2019 @ 10:26 am
Bruno Mars biggest fan gir…boy is back.
Poor Thomas Rhett…he can’t sing like BM…he can’t dance like BM…he can’t sell like BM…he can’t….well…look what god gave him.
New Stuff:
Tanya Tucker – “The Wheels Of Laredo” – Single (Album Release: While I’m Livin’ – 08/23)
Kaitlin Butts – “White River” – Single (released)
Tania Kernaghan – “Better Worn In” – Single (Release: 06/06)
Robert Ray – “Good Country Song” – Single (released)
&
Madeline Leman & The Desert Swells – Nobody’s Fool – Album – 11 Tracks – Released
Australian alt-country act with a great new album.
JB-Chicago
June 5, 2019 @ 10:30 am
It’s Pop drivel, and I’m being way too nice. This goofball is the epitome of everything that’s wrong in the mainstream. I’m sure I’d never get through half of the 16 songs to find the 2 almost Country songs because I don’t have the time and there’s too much great music out there right now to listen to.
Benny Lee
June 5, 2019 @ 10:38 am
5 seconds in and… OK, back to Tyler Childers!
Montanaman
June 7, 2019 @ 7:30 am
Yeah. You always gotta cleanse your palate after eating a shit sandwich.
Gabe
June 5, 2019 @ 10:39 am
I really tried to give him a chance (approach this with an open mind) but I could barely make it through “Don’t threaten me with a good time”. What pains me more is the fact that he’ll be the first country singer to have a #1 album this year (and his music is NOT even country).
Joseph Stein
June 5, 2019 @ 10:45 am
Speaking of Urban, do you like his new single, We Were?
Trigger
June 5, 2019 @ 12:02 pm
I may review “We Were” at some point. I will say it’s probably better than most anything on his last album, but that’s partially a symptom of setting such a low bar.
Atomic Zombie Redneck
June 5, 2019 @ 11:10 am
Thomas Rhett performs on the Today show a lot, which makes so much sense that he should be their house band. The Today show live audience is nothing but soccer moms and their kids, taking selfies and whooing for the cameras while Rhett sells his soul onstage.
Hate to bash on a seemingly good guy, but he’s the utter definition of a sell-out.
Trigger
June 5, 2019 @ 12:08 pm
I’m sure I’m going to catch a lot of flack from my comments for “blaming women” for the lack of women on country radio, but this is an undeniable dynamic going on in the mainstream. If you want to turn more attention to the women of country, you have to take away attention from performers like Thomas Rhett. There’s a lot of issues facing women in country, but this is one that many who profess to care about this issue are not being honest about. Women like the men stars and they are very specifically patterning their careers to appeal to them, and the women are not competing.
Atomic Zombie Redneck
June 5, 2019 @ 12:49 pm
I agree 100%. And it’s not a trend that’s exclusive to the country genre. Boy bands aren’t massively successful because of their male fans. It’s because of the millions of teenage girls that they’re designed to appeal to.
CraigR.
June 5, 2019 @ 2:36 pm
I agree as well. But the scary part of what you wrote is about is this Walter Mitty illusion that they are buying into. It use to be country wasn’t fantasy-it was adult music. Now it only serves to mentally masturbate frustrated, powerless woman? When I say ” powerless” I mean woman who are unable or unwilling to stop going down this rabbit hole. Are they music lover or just people unable to see through the presentation? I assume they also like Florida Georgia Line and Dustin Lynch as well. But these guys are just blank space to project fantasy on. They create the ” I want to be” reality. Sad.
Tracy
June 6, 2019 @ 4:41 am
I am a woman and I strongly agree with you. This is music for the blind masses. It is horrible to think Loretta, Tammy, etc., wouldn’t get air play if they were just starting out now. I have said it before on here: people have been dummied down to accept and enjoy this bland, meaningless pop country. It is a sad commentary on society that women find this appealing and that the Nashville machine so easily manipulates people.
TheRealBobCephus
June 6, 2019 @ 11:00 am
Because a song like “loli-pop” was so full of meaning. Pop music has always been simple and bland, we haven’t been “dumbed down”.
Atomic Zombie Redneck
June 5, 2019 @ 11:18 am
And holy shit, the auto-tune on Rhett’s voice in “Don’t Threaten Me” is SO blatant. You know he can’t pull that off live, unless he’s going to start lip-synching now.
Tex Hex
June 5, 2019 @ 11:19 am
Related question, is there any genre apart from country music where an artist can start out or claim to be squarely in that genre but eventually get far away from it and still be classified as being within that same genre? I can’t think of any.
If you start out rock, metal, hip-hop, whatever, and you go pop, people will classify you as pop. You will be promoted as pop. That doesn’t seem to be the case with country. Maybe Taylor Swift is the exception, but most people have accurately classified her as country for a long time.
I was seeing TV ads for Thomas Rhett’s performance on the Today Show last week and they kept calling him a “country music super star” or whatever. This is why so many people think they hate country music. They probably just hate pop music.
What is going on with country music lately where nobody can seem to figure out what its inherent qualities are, and attribute genre more accurately to artists (case in point, Lil Nas X, but I’m noticing most mainstream media is now sticking with calling him “hip-hop” or “trap” despite the previous shit storm about him getting kicked off the country charts because, racism).
Billy Wayne Ruddick
June 5, 2019 @ 12:12 pm
The difference is that the mainstream “country” music industry (mainstream “country” radio, record labels, awards organizations, etc.) is a huge marketing / $ making machine that doesn’t care about anything but making money…..certainly not any of country’s inherent qualities or its history. They have decided to start pushing crappy pop music, as they have smartly realized that this will increase their audience. But, they haven’t bothered to drop the “country” label for marketing purposes, so there you have it. And why would they….they already have a huge network of captive radio stations branded as “country”, and a huge audience of people across the country who strongly identify with the label “country”, but who also crave cringeworthy crap like Rhett. Second, if 99% of this crap were marketed as pop or hip hop, it would fall flat on its face, as there are much, much better artists in both of those categories.
It’s more an issue of marketing and labeling pushed by the record labels, not any phenomenon of real country music fans or artists being any more open than other genres to having their music bastardized and changed.
Tex Hex
June 5, 2019 @ 11:21 am
Erratum:
*Maybe Taylor Swift is the exception, but most people have accurately classified her as POP for a long time.
Florida Cracker
June 5, 2019 @ 11:37 am
Thomas Rhett is who he is, just another pop/R&B wannabe who can’t make it to the big leagues so he has to settle for the Triple-A league that mainstream country music radio has become for the pop world.
What’s disappointing to me is that Little Big Town and (especially) Jon Pardi would agree to be a part of this. I don’t know what they think the upside for their careers could possibly be in participating in this monstrosity..
PJ
June 5, 2019 @ 5:45 pm
And Little Big Town is a member of the Grand Ole Opry! They seem to be drifting (no…marching!) further away from their original sound and look. Trying to appeal to the younger market maybe…? I wonder if this change was to try to alter the tide of lower record sales or to keep that possibility from happening in the future. I don’t follow their music that closely, so I don’t know.
wayne
June 5, 2019 @ 11:38 am
Plain vanilla.
Chris
June 5, 2019 @ 11:51 am
Bruno Mars? Bruno Mars’ eyelash is more soulful and talented than Thomas Rhett’s entire body. And that comment is coming from someone who isn’t a Mars fan by any means.
Besides, “Look What God Gave Her” sounds to me more like a copy of Shawn Mendes’ “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.” And that’s an insult to Shawn Mendes because at least he can sing and doesn’t pretend to be something he isn’t. No surprise, the song is climbing the Hot AC charts as we speak. Maybe if the song does well enough in pop he’ll do a Taylor Swift and officially switch lanes. We can only hope…
63Guild
June 5, 2019 @ 12:01 pm
40 seconds is all I could last. Bless all of you who went further. This is horrible
sbach66
June 5, 2019 @ 12:07 pm
Thomas Rhett is a prime example of why tigers eat their young.
MH
June 5, 2019 @ 12:23 pm
If I click on the video link does a picture of his wife show up?
Tracy
June 5, 2019 @ 12:33 pm
Holy Hell, that is bad. Just bad.
Pierre Brunelle
June 5, 2019 @ 12:35 pm
Between Thomas Rhett and silence, silence always wins. 🙂
Pierre Brunelle
June 5, 2019 @ 12:37 pm
Thanks again Trigg for your sacrifice. I cannot imagine the pain you went through listening to this garbage.
Chris Barnes
June 5, 2019 @ 12:36 pm
OMG! STOP IT! JUST FUCKING STOP IT!
George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher
June 6, 2019 @ 2:06 pm
I am sorry the guys from Cannibal Corpse kicked you out of the band and replaced you with me.
Montanaman
June 7, 2019 @ 7:40 am
Don’t sell yourself short Mr Corpsegrinder. You’re a far better growler than Barnes. At least you enunciate. 🤘
George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher
June 7, 2019 @ 4:41 pm
Thanks. And at least I am not getting my ass kicked by that GG Allin wannabe Seth Putnam on my tour bus.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my neck exercises!!
Colt
June 5, 2019 @ 12:38 pm
That sounded like a bad album cut from a crappy late 80’s pop band.
albert
June 5, 2019 @ 1:25 pm
the only thing worse than rhett singing this science-fiction ‘country music’ would be rhett trying to sing ACTUAL country music . the man does not have a voice . I consider it a blessing to COUNTRY music that he doesn’t THINK he CAN sing it and stays clear of trying to record it .
71dude
June 5, 2019 @ 1:58 pm
Don’t threaten us with any more of your “music”.
Michigan Country Music
June 5, 2019 @ 1:59 pm
His music was listenable early on, honestly. Now Rhett is just straight and complete pop. I’ll even defer the discussion of if it’s good MUSIC or not, let’s just rid him from this part of town (country).
I’m not a Little Big Town fan, but how do they not know better esp after their dance album from a few years ago was as quickly forgotten as The Band Perry’s latest several secret albums/EPS.
Now, I’m a BIG Pardi fan and agree he definitely should know not to make the deal with the devil to boost his career this way.
Chris Barnes
June 5, 2019 @ 2:50 pm
I just to Jon Pardi for the first time, and while he ain’t George Strait or Alan Jackson, he’s definitely better than this bullshit by Thomas Rhett, If I was Thomas Rhett’s father (Rhett Akins, he sang “That Ain’t My Truck”) I’d take a leather strap to his ass.
Lisa
June 6, 2019 @ 9:02 am
Rhett Akins is writing a lot of Thomas Rhett’s music. He is responsible for this.
Reasonable Mainstream Country Fan
June 5, 2019 @ 6:00 pm
I reckon Pardi and Rhett go back a ways. I mean, there’s this from 2012: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oqQIOZYe340
Anyways, Pardi is giving a good go at saving country music with stuff like “What I Can’t Put Down”, “All Time High” and his new one, so I’ll give him a pass here.
Bad One
June 5, 2019 @ 2:34 pm
WTF he isn’t even trying, I want off this ride now please.
WRS
June 5, 2019 @ 3:05 pm
Question. With all the other Magazines or anything in print for that matter folding left and right, how is Rolling Stone staying in business?
Trigger
June 5, 2019 @ 8:44 pm
Rolling Stone has lost about 80% of its market value recently, and was sold to a new media company for pennies on the dollar. One thing keeping them afloat is Trump. Every other article is Trump clickbait, which is a very lucrative business these days. If Trump loses the next election, they’re toast. Nonetheless, I expect to hear news about massive restructuring and layoffs at the company in the next 12 months. They will survive because they are a legacy brand, but their burning through their credibility in order to survive the short term, and are working off an antiquated business model.
WRS
June 6, 2019 @ 8:58 am
Thanks, I knew they had to be on the ropes.
Pedals Down
June 5, 2019 @ 3:16 pm
God, ya just have to imagine his dad has to have disowned him by now.
MH
June 6, 2019 @ 3:32 am
His dad is responsible for some of the most unlistenable “music” of the past ten years so when it comes to chasing trends, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
kristofer hitchcock
June 6, 2019 @ 9:23 pm
Farther than that! Ol Rhett himself is the opening warm up act for his son, and generally comes back up for a tune in the boys set. He’s laughing all the way to the bank.
me
June 5, 2019 @ 5:03 pm
Sad Little Big Town got drug into all of this.
Thomas Rhett’s music isn’t bad…it just isn’t country.
Country When Country Wasn't Cool
June 5, 2019 @ 11:34 pm
“Thomas Rhett’s music isn’t bad…it just isn’t country”
Exactly. So, at the risk of being excoriated, I’ll be the one…I actually like Thomas Rhett. I suppose I consider him a country artist because his records are played on country radio. But I don’t think of him as being “country” in the same way I think of George Strait, Merle Haggard or Garth Brooks as country. That’s OK. He’s just Thomas Rhett to me, and I admit I can’t get “Look What God Gave Her” out of my head. It’s just a fun song, country or not.
I think the excessive, groupthink criticism is over the top. We have an admitted country-pop/contemporary/R&B-influenced artist being insulted for making (gasp!) a country-pop/contemporary/R&B-influenced album? Well DUH…what did you all think he was going to do? These younger artists like Rhett, Ballerini, and others have grown up with wider and different musical influences than the previous generations of country artists have. That will undoubtedly be reflected in their work. Rather than hate on all of the new music, I’ve found some (not all) of it to appreciate. I dont mind Rhett…he doesn’t pretend to be Willie, nor is he trying to BE Bruno Mars, despite the review. He’s not even trying to sound like his father, which he shouldn’t do. He’s making his music, his way. Besides…he could record the most finely crafted country album of the year, and everyone here would criticize him for “trying to sound too country.” He can’t win here.
The part of the article I found most laughable yet disturbing was the assertion that Thomas Rhett is somehow pandering to the audience by writing songs about his wife and appealing to women. Hello…that’s called selling records and country music singers have always done that. Check the catalogs of George Strait, Alabama, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Ronnie Milsap, Brad Paisley, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, and, oh, I dont know…every artist ever…and you”ll find endless examples. It’s unfair to single out Rhett simply because you don’t care for him in general. Some of his best songs (“Die A Happy Man, “Marry Me”) hold up next to an entire subgenre in country music…songs like “I Cross My Heart,” “Don’t Take The Girl” or “She Believes In Me” (and on and on).
Every young artist doesn’t have to sound like Grandpa Jones. Rhett may not sound “country” to most of you, but he’s not the musical devil incarnate he’s being made out to be here either. Lighten up.
For the
June 6, 2019 @ 6:22 am
Throwing in how Blake used to pander to female fans during his marriage to Miranda. “God Gave Me You” and all the worshipful tweets.
Lisa
June 6, 2019 @ 9:19 am
I agree. Every love song that’s ever been written was marketed to the female audience. The same way rap songs with their “bitches and hoes” are marketed to a male audience. TR isn’t country, yet I’d rather listen to him than most of pop music.
Mike
June 14, 2019 @ 4:44 pm
90s kids…ruining good music in America since 1996.
Corncaster
June 5, 2019 @ 5:06 pm
Made it a couple seconds and bailed. Life is too short.
There’s no way this is actually played on “country music” stations, is there?
Why don’t they go whole hog and play Metallica as “country music” on country radio?
Reasonable Mainstream Country Fan
June 5, 2019 @ 6:18 pm
Ha! I think I remember hearing “Mama Said” !
Mike
June 5, 2019 @ 5:29 pm
Jesus H. Christ.
I expect nothing. And still, I am let down!!
special_K
June 5, 2019 @ 5:42 pm
This sounded like a shitty disney movie in a song. I havent listened to anything new in years besides some of the texas/ alt guys and this is the worst shit ive ever heard. Sounded like a carnival nightmare while eating nasty stale cotton candy. How the fuck old is this guy to be making music that 10 year old girls like? I would be embarrassed and I don’t care about the money. Guy is a clown and makes disney clown music for 10 year olds.
Donna
June 5, 2019 @ 5:45 pm
I read the article and some posts and was irritated. I really like Thomas Rhett. I like all his songs that I have heard…until this one. I have to give in and agree with everyone. There is no country in this song. Even though I like his music I could make through the chorus. I hope his future music is country. If not he needs to follow Taylor Swift and The Band Perry.
ScottG
June 5, 2019 @ 7:13 pm
I choose to believe this song is part of a social experiment or prank.
Ignorance is bliss.
Save Austin Country
June 5, 2019 @ 10:38 pm
Kinda Like Jake Owen’s experiments.. I do believe some of these artists laugh at some of the music that gets cut to their mass produced-poppy snap your fingers Albums that for some reason music row thinks it’s “country evolving”.. but Jake And Chris Young like knowing they can rub elbows with Phil Mickelson or Gronk, attend cool Super bowl parties..etc and just opt for “playing the game “.. still haven’t figured out Rhett.. maybe he is a pop guy inside of a country family or just plays the game..
ScottG
June 5, 2019 @ 11:56 pm
Not really a fan of mainstream “pop” but I can at least appreciate a good pop song. This in-between stuff reeks of cowardice, lack of commitment / integrity / authenticity and being a pandering master of none.
This is so bad I broke one of my own rules, which is “don’t comment without reading Triggers full article.” This is the first time I failed. 20 secs in I had to stop the music and pretend this never happened. “Why am I talking about it then?” Oh good point. Memory purge starting now. Bye.
EW in DFW
June 5, 2019 @ 7:41 pm
Now THAT is a review!
Scottyo614
June 5, 2019 @ 7:45 pm
Stuff like this is why trap country is existing. Why would I listen to this when I can listen to Blanco Brown who sounds good and sounds like he cares.
Why do I want to listen to your terrible rap or pop beat when I can pop a hip hop musicians beat. Country has messed up and allowed real hungry musicians to infiltrate the space who are more talented at beat making and singing than their Nashville puppet selfs.
Biscuit
June 5, 2019 @ 7:47 pm
How, in any universe, by any definition, is this computer generated, autotuned pop song considered “country”? This thing is from the worst part of the over synthesized 80s/early 90s.
Save Austin Country
June 5, 2019 @ 8:09 pm
The live version of the song tonight during the RIP CMT Music Awards made my dog bark at my TV. It was An insulting wanna be rendition of Pitbull and the Miami Sound Machine rebirth.. but sadly no Gloria, no Pitbull, and no Miami Sound Machine. The best part of the live version was Trombone Shorty.. funny People gave Sturgill crap for the Horn section In 2016 but he lead the charge in its rebirth back into country. But trombone shorty’s performance was greatly diminished by paint dry Thomas Rhett and Little Big Town sadly going pretty much full blown pop. Surprised they didn’t try to prop Thomas Rhett’s Wife to make you forget how awful of a performer he is.
Best performance of the night was Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker performing her Iconic hit, Delta Dawn.
Daniele
June 6, 2019 @ 2:45 am
Awful!! On the other hand i can’t help but cringe when people say that Bruno Mars or the likes is R&B! How the hell didthe genre morph from Ray Charles or the staple singers to that soulless caricature? At least country music is not the only genre getting disrupted…
Dennixx
June 6, 2019 @ 4:25 am
Not one thing I would watch 100 times.
the realist
June 6, 2019 @ 5:35 am
Thomas Rhett is another in the long list of “singers” that debut a somewhat decent song written by someone else, it becomes a hit, then every song afterward sucks. When asked why their other songs are so different than their ONE and ONLY good song, they say their “breaking out of the mold” as if they’ve been around for decades. Thomas Rhett is the guy that gave country music that stupid, corny, idiotic T-shirt song. God I hate that song with every fiber of my being..
Conwayfan98
June 6, 2019 @ 12:03 pm
I thought “Body Like A Back Road” was the song that killed country music off officially, but this song…
Jared
June 6, 2019 @ 1:55 pm
I will never understand the huge appeal of Thomas Rhett.
seak
June 7, 2019 @ 5:39 am
Trigger, your comments about why Thomas is performing well, and women aren’t at radio, are just totally the opposite of the data. Currently in the national media survey, among women Kelsea and Maren are 4th and 7th, among men they’re 9th and 10th. Thomas’ new song on the other hand is 7th among men, and 14th among women. Yes women like songs by male artists. They ALSO like songs by female artists. Men on the other hand tend to far prefer songs by male artists. Please stop blaming women for the problem, k thanks.
T-grondo
June 7, 2019 @ 1:13 pm
I LOOOOOVE TR’s “Center Point Road” song….it’s my fav..!!!!!
“I’m gonna take my horse to the Center Point Road….Gonna ride…till I can’t no more….!!!!!”
What…? That’s not the same song..? Opps, sorry….
And…Yes, I’d say most modern country is written for the ladies…so they can…..
“Wave their hands in the air…Like they just don’t care!!!” (just like Minnie Pearl use to)
MidwestPatriot
June 8, 2019 @ 6:42 pm
Thomess Rhett is just like his father, Rhett Akins, who was a thorn in the side of country music back in the 90s. Rhett Akins did have a few decent songs back then, but that’s mostly because 90s mainstream country was still at least somewhat likable. I have no doubt his father’s music would be just as awful today if he was an up and coming artist today.