15-Year-Old Talent Takes On Music Row
The country song protesting the direction of country music has in many respects just as much tradition and lineage in country music now as many of the genre’s other defining elements. From Waylon Jennings’ #1 single “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” in 1975, to the song “Murder on Music Row” that was the CMA Song of the Year in 2001, to Dale Watson and Hank Williams III’s recent chest-pounding protest songs, as long as the business of country music has been trying to veer the music off of its true path, there’s been artists willing to take a bold stand and speak out against it.
In many ways the country protest song has become so prolific in its own right, sometimes they can trend toward cliche in a somewhat similar vein to the songs they are looking to criticize. But to see such sentiment coming from a 15-year-old songwriter and performer in an original composition speaks to both the depth and degree of country music’s current wayward trajectory, and the wisdom and talent of the songwriter and performer penning such a tune.
Anti-Nashville / Music Row / Pop Country Song Compendium
Williamson Branch is a bluegrass and country band from Nashville, and their 15-year-old fiddle and guitar player Melody Williamson recently wrote a song called “There’s No Country Here.” Despite her age, Music Row would be wise to remove themselves for their laundry list clatter and listen to what the future of country music has to say about where country music is headed.
5 out of 5 stars.
January 22, 2014 @ 1:08 pm
Shine on. Her music excites the heart and the senses.
January 23, 2014 @ 11:00 am
Excellent performance and message by such a young artist.
I doubt country radio will play anything like this. I’ve heard other songs criticizing mainstream country for not being country enough, but usually only established traditionalists like Alan Jackson and George Strait can get airplay for those kinds of songs.
I hope this song goes viral on Youtube though. I think there is a big silent majority in the country music audience that doesn’t like country rap.
February 19, 2014 @ 6:12 am
Just gave it a listen and a thumbs-up. She gets it.
June 7, 2014 @ 5:01 am
Yes alan jackson and George strait sang murder on music row which is a great song but then they went on the country music awards and said the song was written as a joke which is complete b.s !
September 8, 2014 @ 8:41 am
Andy, it was George Strait who said it was a joke. Alan Jackson, I’m sure didn’t think it was a joke. Furthermore, GS was completely misunderstood when he said that and people can’t just let go of it even after he already explained what he meant by it. The “joke” was not about the song but the idea he passed on to AJ to record a collaboration of this song, Murder On Music Row, with him. In other words, he was not really serious about doing this collaboration and not only AJ accepted to do it but it was also leaked out to the media before they could even record it. And, as they say, the rest is history.
I love this song by Melody Williamson just as much as I love Murder On Music Row. Good for you, Melody! Let ’em hear it!!!!
January 22, 2014 @ 1:17 pm
I thought you might like her!
January 22, 2014 @ 1:25 pm
“When all we sing about are tractors, trucks and beer…” Nice! Love it. 😀
January 22, 2014 @ 1:29 pm
Refreshing.
January 22, 2014 @ 1:35 pm
Out of the mouths of babes oft times comes gems…
January 22, 2014 @ 2:07 pm
Very good.
“Who told Music Row we want to listen to that crap?”
January 22, 2014 @ 3:18 pm
I felt the urge to send her money.
If she would take one of the lines like “When a grown man never sings about his wife” (which is an amazingly good observation of modern country), and make it a direct pot shot a Luke Byran or Jason Aldean we might have something that would make the news.
I’d just really love to see the bubble penetrated and some embarrassment thrown their way. How Luke Bryan gets up in the morning and looks at himself in the mirror is a mystery. I’d take Luke Bryan over Aldean any day but Luke is by far the bigger sellout (Jason Aldean if anything is true to his arrogant thug like nature).
January 22, 2014 @ 3:27 pm
That was the one line that really stood out to me when I watched this. It speaks to the juvenile nature of so much of mainstream country that so many of these songs mention a ‘girl’ but not a woman. It really says something about the songwriters when you think about.
January 22, 2014 @ 3:43 pm
Yeah and this line of thought honestly makes me feel a little bad for ever saying anything negative about Garth Brooks. He had a lot of really great songs along these lines (“The Dance”, “Two of a Kind”, etc. etc). I can’t think of any main stream artist since Garth Brooks that really stands out in this area (probably would come up with a couple of names if I thought on it, like Brooks and Dunn).
Every main stream song about women now is about the guy chasing a hot girl. It’s really kind of like Country Music has been invaded by the Boy Band song writing mentality.
January 22, 2014 @ 3:55 pm
And I’m not even sure that was fair.
I was never a fan of the boy band invasion growing up, either musically and lyrically. Yet, I had a unique respect for the Backstreet Boys in particular due to their distinctive harmonies and the fact that lyrically, while interpreting nothing noteworthy, nonetheless refrained from douchery overall.
No, country music has been invaded by 80s Teen Movie Douchebag Syndrome (think Nick Hauser in “Tuff Tuff”, Kenny in “Mischief”, Biff in the “Back to the Future” franchise, Troy in “The Goonies”, etc.)
January 22, 2014 @ 3:57 pm
Don’t forget the very best Garth song along this line ‘Unanswered Prayers’. The line ‘I look at my wife and thank God for unanswered prayers’ is just amazing. I’m sure there are many others if given some thought but not many I can think of in the last 5-10 years.
January 22, 2014 @ 10:55 pm
One of my favorite country songs of all time. Reciting the verse from memory:
As she walked away
I looked at my wife
And then and there I thanked the good Lord
For the gifts in my life
The best thing about this part of the song is about how it fakes us out with the rising music just before it, making us think that Garth will break into the chorus. That makes the musical step-down to emphasize the verse about his wife all the more rewarding to listen to.
June 7, 2014 @ 6:46 am
What happened to the songs that you could tap your foot too and be able to hear the words over the music. I have stopped watching award shows since they think its ok to put the so called rock music in, and the so called sell out country singers (Justin Alden, Taylor Swift) trying to make a name for themselves. Just because you wear a cowboy hat and boots don’t make you COUNTRY!
January 22, 2014 @ 5:24 pm
Great line showing wisdom and perspective beyond her years. It reminded me of the Sturgill Simpson line, “The most Outlaw thing that a man can do is buy a good woman a ring.”
January 22, 2014 @ 8:18 pm
Careful with giving Garth to much credit, actions speak louder than words. Just ask his ex and Trisha.
January 23, 2014 @ 2:14 am
I’m not sure about that, for all we know his wife was making him miserable and he was going nuts.
I don’t remember hearing anything else about him cheating and he’s stayed loyal to Trisha since that happened (as far as I know).
For all we know he traded in the wrong woman for the right one. There’s no way to really know one way or the other except his behavior hasn’t repeated itself as far as anyone knows.
January 22, 2014 @ 4:14 pm
That observance is so inspiring and much needed.
One of my single biggest lyrical gripes with “country” music over the past four years in particular is this referring to women as “little” and “things” (if not “little thangs”). I LOATHE that. Like they don’t live, breathe and walk like they do, and are property to them.
My views on relationships and sex deviate from the traditional mold in all honesty, and so I’m not the least uncomfortable when topics beyond marriage and conventional monogamy are considered and discussed. Even so, I value connection as much as anyone who subscribes to the above………and that’s what’s in short supply right now: connection and chemistry in the context of love songs.
Brooks’ discography is rife with both, and though Brad Paisley’s attempts at love songs can often come across as condescending, I have to say “The Mona Lisa” is a breath of fresh air on a lyrical level in that he actually sounds grateful and humbled to be a source of support to someone he loves. Outside of those examples, you’d be hard-pressed to find on the present radio playlists songs with authentic connection and chemistry.
January 22, 2014 @ 9:56 pm
There are a lot of non-hit gems on Aldean’s albums. I’m surprised people hate him more than Luke Bryan. I think Luke’s sold out harder than any of the new artists of the past 6-7 years.
January 23, 2014 @ 10:14 pm
I think it’s Aldean’s arrogant, learing personality that makes him appear an easier target than Luke Bryan’s more-annoying-than-anything personality.
But I agree. I’ve said this several times already, but I do give credit Aldean for selecting his share of respectable deeper cuts. “Church Pew or Barstool” is a true gem on “My Kinda Party”. “On My Highway” was a solid cut on “Wide Open” as was the single “The Truth”. His first two albums were even more rife with strong album tracks including “Back In This Cigarette”, “Grown Woman”, “Not Every Man Lives”, “I Believe In Ghosts” and “Asphalt Cowboy”.
With his most recent album, I’ll say I felt it lacked a solid stand-out cut like the rest of his albums consist of. Still, I enjoyed the hit title track in spite of its formula, and “Staring At The Sun” still signals his potential as an interpreter.
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Aldean is better than the majority of his frat-boy country-influenced peers. His personality may be among the most insufferable and thus I understand what fuels these perceptions of him being worse than any other recording artist in the current “country” scheme………but in terms of actual output, Aldean’s still better than most who have made a killing off of this woeful trend.
I mean, there’s not a single track off of Luke Bryan’s two most recent releases (three if you include his “Spring Break” collection compilation) that truly affected me and has had staying power. Not a single track off of “Tailgates and Tanlines” impressed me like the aforementioned tracks Aldean interpreted have. Not a single track off of “Crash My Party” impressed me like the aforementioned tracks Aldean interpreted have. In fact, I loathe “Drink A Beer”. It just sounds completely disingenuous when taking into account all of the celebratory drinking songs he has released as of late. Besides that, though, the lyrics are cringe-worthy in the context of “sad songs” and Bryan doesn’t even sound emotionally vested in his performance like he was on some tracks off of his debut album “I’ll Stay Me” (most notably “Tackle Box”, “The Car In Front of Me” and “We Rode in Trucks”, where he sounded genuinely invested).
Florida-Georgia Line have yet to release a song I consider affecting. Same with Justin Moore. Same with Thomas Rhett. So it does say something when, in spite of peddling some of the very worst to country radio as singles, Aldean has managed to release nearly a dozen tracks to date that speak to me in one way or another.
January 24, 2014 @ 4:20 pm
I don’t really know what part of his personality is so controversial. He had the cheating scandal, but I’d venture a guess that he just happens to be one of the only major performers who was dumb enough to get caught on camera. Otherwise, I’m not sure what the issues are. Aside from defending Bryan, I don’t see him ever come off all that bad.
You pretty much named every song of his that’s gotten me. I might add “I Ain’t Ready to Quit” from My Kinda Party and “I Don’t Do Lonely Well” from his newest album. I also really enjoyed “Water Tower.” To me, that song could be this generation’s “Down Home.”
When it comes to selling out, I hate to say it, but I commend the path that Jake Owen has taken with his most recent album. I’m not sure if the word “country” makes it into the lyrics at all. It’s a bunch of catchy, good songs that don’t make you think too hard. I’d say it’s akin to diving into a Dean Koontz novel if you’re a big literature person. Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the heavy stuff. I don’t mind “country” artists that either are pop or go pop if they drop the colloquial bullshit.
January 24, 2014 @ 6:07 pm
It’s not the cheating scandal in itself that I take issue with. That’s none of my business, and is none of our business. It’s the self-centered way he addresses the scandal ever since then in interviews that irritates me and just makes him out to look like a douche. Where it’s all about “Yeah, it happens!” and not taking any responsibility on his own end.
According to numerous reviews and accounts I’ve heard, Aldean appears to say a lot of douche-y things in concert too: such as asking the hotties to shake their asses and uses a lot of foul language even at all-ages shows.
Finally, based on the account of him swimming too far out on the Gulf coast before being cited by the guards there, that seems to underscore this idea that Aldean’s ego has inflated from fame and he sometimes feels as though he is above others.
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It honestly doesn’t surprise me that Jason Aldean appears less likeable than Luke Bryan, despite me preferring Aldean’s output (I’m not a fan of either, but will give credit where credit is due). We hear often here and on Farce The Music on how much of a douche Luke Bryan probably is in real life too, but I think he and his management team have done a much better job at maintaining his “Aw shucks!” perception in spite of many of the songs he has recorded being replete with douchery (“I Know You’re Gonna Be There”, “That’s My Kind of Night”, “Drunk On You”, “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”, etc.)
January 22, 2014 @ 3:33 pm
I say this not meaning to suggest individuals will shape this effort (it is collective)……………..but Melody here epitomizes the heartbeat of “Saving Country Music”. =D
January 22, 2014 @ 3:38 pm
Amen. And, it’s honestly a blessing seeing it come from someone so young.
January 22, 2014 @ 3:49 pm
It’s also further proof that it is unwise to flat-out dismiss our youth altogether as bobbleheads to the likes of Florida-Georgia Line and Chase Rice………….and that they disrespect those of preceding generations as “old farts” who don’t value their music.
Youth are as much a part of this effort as its elder statesmen are. And it joys me most of all when both are standing side by side: with our youth paying homage to the elders of our rich musical tradition, while our elders sit back and nod appreciatively observing our youth add their fine, unique threads to the long tapestry that is a constant work in progress.
January 22, 2014 @ 3:55 pm
Exactly, standing on the shoulders of giants, instead of pushing previous generations in the mud. I caught a little Tommy Makem influence in that guitar part.
January 22, 2014 @ 4:25 pm
I’ve never understood the mentality of wanting to blame Generation Y for the popularity of bad corporate music such as ‘bro-country.’ It seems like mainstream pop music listeners (ie. passive listeners) make choices based on the options they’re given, and corporate radio is giving fewer and worse quality options than ever before. And of course the active listeners out there aren’t listening to radio music at all. I think it’s the mainstream country music establishment that’s failed young listeners more than anything.
January 22, 2014 @ 4:28 pm
Right on. I love the song and the spirit behind it. Keep it up!
I would complain about the MUST WATCH click-bait title, but I liked the video, so I guess I’ll let it slide. 😉
January 22, 2014 @ 4:39 pm
Well at least he didn’t call it ‘the greatest thing ever’.
January 22, 2014 @ 4:39 pm
Amen! ACM and CMA Song of the Year!
January 22, 2014 @ 4:44 pm
you retiring the guns?
January 22, 2014 @ 5:26 pm
No, just holstered them to be age and content appropriate for this particular artist.
January 22, 2014 @ 10:50 pm
I think that deserves five stars over just two measly guns, good call!
January 22, 2014 @ 4:56 pm
Great song! It epitomizes a key ingredient missing in today’s “country music”: sincerity.
January 22, 2014 @ 5:15 pm
Hahaha! That was awesome, a fifteen year old girl just slapped music row. Hope this gets exposure and eventually makes it to the desks of those in power in Nashville.
January 22, 2014 @ 6:18 pm
She should be in the spot BI**H Swift is in.
January 22, 2014 @ 11:16 pm
Did you miss the part where Melody sang about behaving with class?
January 22, 2014 @ 6:55 pm
That little lady just nailed it perfectly! When did class go out of style…and who told Music Row we want to hear that crap!! Love it! Thanks for bringing it to our attention!
January 28, 2014 @ 4:30 pm
Someone is buying the trash that keeps the demands for more of like stuff, high up on totem pole. And as long as music is measured by money rather than art, it will continue to produce slop that even hogs wouldn’t listen to. Would love to have artists that dress and act morally strong as examples for the future generations to follow than most of the persons of today who dress so “fashionably” and act so immorally wrong.
February 19, 2014 @ 6:44 am
Yes, someone is supporting the crud. Which leads me to a blinding flash of what should have perfectly obvious to me before reading this blog-how many of the fans of this trucks and beer crud give a plugged nickle about country music? Because this isn’t country. Here we are, young and old alike, fans of real country music, just wandering around like the Hebrews in the desert, a whole untapped audience for music that no one in the mainstream is offering.
I miss the Kendalls. And that duo from the Seventies which did parodies of country hits, like Jeanne Pruett’s “Satin Sheets”. What was their name? They were much funnier than the trying-too-hard frat boys currently en vogue.
June 9, 2014 @ 10:11 am
THANK YOU FOR YOUR NEEDED COMMENT, I AGREE!!!
January 22, 2014 @ 8:16 pm
She’s very sweet and a pretty decent singer. However the songs about Tractors, Trucks and Beer are making people a fortune and they’re having fun doing it. Listen to what you like, ignore what you don’t. It’s a waste of energy to ponder music, Art and people you don’t like.
January 23, 2014 @ 7:01 am
Steak,
I don’t have a problem with folks making money on songs, what I do have a problem with is the utter disregard for any respect of the genre, Country Music, or any respect for the art of music.
Garth Brooks made more money than anyone and made more people more money than anyone…but he had respect for the genre and every song wasn’t total elementary level bullshit music.
Today, and for the last 3years, the same fucking song has been sung 10,000 ways. Truck, beer, hot girl. Beer, truck, hot girl. Hot girl, beer, truck. Hot girl, truck, beer.
Then they really got creative…. hot sun, cold beer, truck yeah, southern girl.
Hell, a 15yr. old girl can write better stuff.
It isn’t music, it isn’t art. It isn’t subjective. There is no quality control. Someone can simply say “I wanna write songs” and they can apply for a position and get a job doing it, much like a “financial advisor” selling life insurance in a pyramid scheme. It’s a joke.
Songwriting isn’t an occupation. It shouldn’t be a scheme. It is a way of life and you get good at it by life experiences. Not sitting in a cube rhyming every word you can think of.
Check out Blake Shelton’s new song…he fucking sings “…when I bring home fresh fajitas, and we drink margaritas.” WTF does that mean? Who is bringing home fresh fajitas? Buy definition of fajitas, that can’t be done. But it rhymes with margaritas, so a song we have!
January 23, 2014 @ 7:07 am
Since this song is about country radio, how do the millions of people listening to country radio ignore the “art” they don’t like when it’s most of what they play now, and how do they listen to what they like (great country music) on the radio when country radio doesn’t play enough of it? No one made a fortune when country radio played less crap and more great country music? Some acts making crappy music now made a fortune before they started making crappy music, and many of the crappy songs aren’t making anyone as much money as the better songs. For example Kacey sold 300,000 albums, which is more than most men with crappy songs including some radio played more and to #1. Radio and the market is saturated with crappy songs so many people are tired of hearing and buying them. It’s time to move on back to better songs.
January 25, 2014 @ 2:52 pm
I follow your advice and listen to what I like, which is why I DON’T listen to country radio. Country radio has abandoned country music, as the young lady’s song illustrates, and thus has abandoned me as well. Shrug, if that’s good for them it’s good for me.
But I must confess that I can’t wrap my head around the idea of a country radio station refusing to play music on the grounds that it’s “too country”.
January 22, 2014 @ 8:46 pm
Well, well, well…what have we here, a young OUTLAW!!! YEP, you go girl. Great song, true talent, looking for more. I’ll tell you the same thing Waylon told me in ’85, you keep singing the truth and they’re gonna ban you in Nashville. True to that conversation, they did. But I was there because of all my firends in the ’70’s – ’80’s, not because I wanted a deal, just having fun and like you, wrote a few too many real Country songs. But don’t worry about it, Ain’t no Country there anyway, we all left long time ago. Best wishes, good luck, you’ll do fine.
(The Most Unwanted Outlaw In Nashville Tennessee)
January 23, 2014 @ 1:57 am
With much respect, I do think there is some great country music in Nashville, Tennessee. This young woman is just one example.
But I agree that such music cannot be found on the radio.
January 23, 2014 @ 7:58 am
Yep, you’re correct, however, I think you may misunderstand the comments from Artist such as myself who have mingled in the music row systems past history, which hasn’t changed their direction since the early 70’s . Any “Country Artist” in Nashville understands I am not saying there are “NO Country Artist” in Nashville.
To claify; Just as I do not condemn the Complete population of Nashville when I fire on Nashvilles music row bunch. I spent many years living there and love the area and the people there. I still have many friends there and know several True “Country Artist” who live there, or the surrounding towns.
When we (former artist) speak of this it is saying, just none who are in the major offices such as the major labels, cma, acm and all the attached at the hip bow and kiss cliques.
Those people who should be signing the True Country acts who should be touring big time but who are usually found on lower broadway in clubs working for near nothing who are actually more talented than the acts being signed to majors because of who they know, not because of deserving it.
I suppose I should always clear my point first with a warning label header that says, Beware, former Nashville Outlaw who hasn’t forgotten what the Nashville cliques done to myself and some of the true Outlaw Country Artist of a couple decades ago as a warning to young Artist like this girl whose songs speak truth of how that money tree bunch in their private little clubs will do everything in their power to shut you down if you’re anti-Bow & Kiss. (Names need not be stated here if you know the industry, then you know exactly who and what I speak of).
One can’t help but notice how the major song, Murder On Music Row got a one round performance and then hidden in the do not play files, rather than given full promotion and made play list as it deserved.
Thanks for supporting SCM, though I may not always agree with everything he does write, I know Trig appreciates every reader and does a lot to promote True Artist such as this young lady. thanks
January 22, 2014 @ 10:49 pm
Way to go Melody…. loved it…especially the bridge.
January 22, 2014 @ 10:50 pm
Beautiful song and gorgeous voice. I felt a little bit uneasy about the “who told those white boys that they could rap” line, but otherwise this song perfectly captured exactly what is wrong with country.
The very heart of the fight to save country music is to pave the way for Melody and others like her to have a future where they get the fame they so richly deserve.
January 23, 2014 @ 8:47 am
That line didn’t make me feel uneasy at all, it made me laugh (and it was a valid point).
There was some video interview they were showing of Aldean a couple of years back (maybe on an award show or CMT or something) where he was talking about rapping in his Dirt Road Anthem song and how cutting edge, coo and risk taking he was (seriously patting himself on the back). That made me feel uneasy. I think that line in her song could be re-worked to be more of a direct point about white country singers rapping and using Auto Tune to try and be cool and hip though.
Political Correctness and Country Music weren’t meant to be kissing cousins.
January 25, 2014 @ 10:25 am
I don’t know if it made me uneasy, but that was an interesting line coming from such a soft voice. It made me laugh though, and man is it true. This girl deserves songwriter of the year. This song probably took more thought than any of Luke Bryan, Brantley Gilbert, or Florida Georgia Line’s songs all put together
January 23, 2014 @ 3:27 am
How dare she talk about the type of music we pander…uhhhh, I mean promote here at Big Machine Records. I am going to make sure she never sees the light of day in country music….right after I get back to my office. I am in the studio overseeing Luke Bryan’s hip hop remix of “That’s My Kind Of Night” with Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, Florida Georgia Line, and T-Pain.
January 23, 2014 @ 3:33 am
U think we care? Yeah we do all the stuff this h8r talks about….Itz just what we do!!!!
January 23, 2014 @ 12:02 pm
Keep up the good work fellas! You are the best douche bags out there! Get your shine on boys!!!
January 23, 2014 @ 6:41 am
What I find interesting, and I think appropriate, is a 15yr. old girl, who music row and most of the male artists are trying to win over, is singing this song.
One reply said she should take it to Taylor Swift, but I think Melody is smart enough to know Taylor isn’t the problem.
She goes right at the current “men of country’. She’s calling out Luke, Blake, Aldean, Urban, McGraw, Paisley…on and on for what they have been putting out the past 5 years. Basically saying, you are grown men, fucking act like it. If they were influenced by who they say they were, then what the hell are they doing?
January 23, 2014 @ 10:11 am
I’ll disagree with you there. Taylor Swift has done as much as anyone to steer Country Music in the wrong direction. She’s up for a country grammy for “Everything has Changed”. I dare anyone to explain how that song is a country song (for example).
Taylor does really pale in comparison to what the dominant men are doing but it’s not really their fault really (aside from selling themselves out). The record labels are the problem. But, is trying to make the most money you can while running a business really something wrong? I mean if you’re Wal-Mart you don’t make warehouse orders for products that don’t sell well.
The serious question after that is would a real country artist if given the same label, radio and financial backing as someone like Aldean be able to sell records like Aldean does? I like to think so. Who knows.
January 23, 2014 @ 11:20 am
I understand how you can go to the Taylor card. I get it, but I think you also have to realize that when people go to the Garth ruined country or Taylor ruined county cards, they are not giving these artists the credit and respect they have earned, like their music or not. Garth and Taylor are on levels (and Garth is far higher level than Taylor) but on levels that aren’t genres. Sure Garth started out making country music. But now Garth makes Garth music. Now Taylor makes Taylor music.
Just like The Beatles made Beatle music and Elvis made Elvis music. You might not like the music or think their talents can’t be compared to one another, but the fact remains, Garth is in the league of Beatles and Elvis. Taylor is in her own league and when she is 50, will be in the league with Garth, Beatles and Elvis.
That said, Garth and Taylor have made their music, their way. The problem is that record companies get lazy and rather than trying to find the next big artist, they just try to copy the big artist. How many labels tried to catch the Garth fever in another artist, so they tried to find better looking, more pop music guys… i.e Tim McGraw arrives and it goes from there. That isn’t Garth’s fault.
Same can be said with Taylor. The record labels try to find a copy cat Taylor or a male version of Taylor… they don’t try to find the next wave. Maybe this Melody Williamson is the next wave, she certainly isn’t a copy cat Taylor.
So I agree, big labels are trying to make money. Some artists will sell out. But for artists like Taylor and Garth, who never have sold out…. they are not the problem.
January 23, 2014 @ 10:46 am
Taylor is a big part of the problem with mainstream country. But it isn’t wise for a new artist to pick too many fights at the same time. Better to divide and conquer, and focus on one target first.
January 23, 2014 @ 11:25 am
Really? She makes her own music, her own way. Seems we praise others for that.
She does work for a record label, and they determine her genre. And if some label tosses money at an artist and says, “We need you to sing and look like Taylor” and that artist isn’t Taylor, and they take it and go with it…Taylor isn’t the problem.
January 23, 2014 @ 3:38 pm
I’m all for people making their own music their own way but Taylor Swift recording pop songs and slapping country stickers on them is not cool at all.
January 24, 2014 @ 1:21 pm
Recording speed metal and slapping country stickers all over it isn’t cool either.
January 23, 2014 @ 1:48 pm
You’all sure do a great job in saving country music! I’d just wish it was possible to send just a little Country to Germany… apparently the posted video doesn’t work over here… So if anyone knows a remedy for the lack of Country in this country, I’d appreciate it a lot!
15 Year-Old Takes On Music Row [VIDEO] | 870Daily
January 23, 2014 @ 2:02 pm
[…] This is definitely worth sharing to a huge audience. A tip of the cowboy hat to SavingCountryMusic.com! […]
January 23, 2014 @ 6:53 pm
And to top it off, she doesn’t sing the same thing 100 times in three minutes…
January 24, 2014 @ 7:42 am
Lovely, pure voice.
January 24, 2014 @ 12:42 pm
This song reminds me of this post form a while ago describing how country music worked in 2013. http://ratherwut.com/same-song-vs-country-music-of-2013/
January 26, 2014 @ 3:10 pm
Such a lovely voice….LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!
Quotable Country – 01/26/14 Edition | Country California
January 26, 2014 @ 3:13 pm
[…] Saving Country Music, hope that the entire world has not gone to hell in a hunting satchel. Melody Williamson (age 15) […]
January 26, 2014 @ 10:41 pm
So her video has gone from about 275 views when Trigger first posted this, to more than 12,000 views. By comparison, the other two videos her father posted are still hovering around 400 or so. Glad to see her song has gone viral.
January 27, 2014 @ 4:20 pm
Really enjoyed this.
What ruined it for me was the thought of the A&R people saying “hmm, there’s potential, but we needs a big a**ed curling iron, a load of makeup and some sequins… get on it!”
June 7, 2014 @ 11:38 am
This song is so true! Today on the radio up here in new england radio station wklb 102.5 nothing but junk pop country! !!
June 9, 2014 @ 10:04 am
Way to go, she said it all exactly what I have felt, always loved country music, but have been recently turned off by the hype, addition of rock, rap etc, and loss of country’s roots conveyed in songs. This past year has been over burdened with songs about, beer, hot girls- getting the groove on etc, what happened to what people can relate to. Also, overly sexy,……………why is it everyone has to upstage the next one with sexy videos, like thats all there is in life. Not a prude, just lets get back on track and set a good example with some good lyrics and profound video footage!!!!
June 9, 2014 @ 1:38 pm
Hey Melody, as a songwriter and artist myself, I could not be more proud of you for writing this tune. So many people feel the same way you do. Well done.
Aaron Solinger