Ween Trolls Florida Georgia Line, Reunites The $hit Creek Boys at the Ryman

Any proper country music fan should know and love the rock band Ween’s foray into country music in the mid 90’s called 12 Golden Country Greats. Recorded at Owen Bradley’s legendary Bradley’s Barn studio at his farm just outside of Nashville, the album featured The Jordanaires as backup chorus singers, Country Music Hall of Famer Hargus “Pig” Robbins on piano, Nashville A-Team member Buddy Spicher on fiddle and mandolin, Charlie McCoy on banjo and harmonica, and a stable of other notable Nashville musicians affectionately dubbed “The Shit Creek Boys” who at the time were considered past their prime to some in Nashville, but were perfect for what Ween was trying to pull off.

12 Golden Country Greats has since become the stuff of country music cult legend, but you better not roll up to it expecting a completely straightforward and wholesome country music good time. Though some songs on the album fit that model and any humor and subversion is so well hidden you might as well be listening to country radio in 1966, Ween made their mark on the country experience by being offbeat, to downright ribald in places.

After releasing the album in 1996, Ween played a few select shows with elements of “The Shit Creek Boys,” reprising the studio magic of 12 Country Golden Greats. But since then, many of the songs have been backlisted in the Ween repertoire. That will all change when the duo plays a two-night residency at the Country Music Mother Church in Nashville centered around the record, with the remaining elements of The Shit Kickers backing them up on October 16th and 17th, 2018.

But that’s not all. The dates at the Ryman Auditorium are an extension of a run of shows Ween is doing that the band’s dubbing the “Florida Georgia Line Tour.” Playing October 13th in Miami, the 14th in St. Augustine, and October 19th and 20th in Atlanta, they decided to troll country music’s most notorious duo with their tour name. Only appropriate they would chase it with performances rekindling the country music magic of 12 Country Golden Greats.

READ: Vintage Album Review – Ween’s 12 Golden Country Greats

Tickets will presale Wednesday, August 15th for the Ryman shows, and go on sale to the gen pop on Friday, August 17th. This should be handled as a destination event. Ween fans, and fans of 12 Country Golden Greats will be flocking to Nashville for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

© 2023 Saving Country Music