Aaron Lewis Signs to Big Machine, Releases Protest Song “That Ain’t Country”
Most every day a story of someone in the greater country music realm announcing an upcoming album goes out across the wires, sometimes including the info on a new label, or the release of a lead song. But I can’t recall a more strange scenario than this one. Aaron Lewis, the frontman for [retracted for the whiners] Staind, whose been dabbling in country music for years now, has just signed to Dot records—a division of the Big Machine Label Group—and will be releasing a new record called Sinner on September 16th. And as part of the announcement, Aaron has released a country protest song called “That Ain’t Country.” Lewis has been performing the song live for a year or so now.
Compounding the unusual nature of this news, the album is now available for pre-order through the crowdfunding site Pledge Music. Pledge Music says it’s different from other crowdfunding sites because it is “direct-to-fan” from the artist, but then why are Dot and Big Machine involved, especially since this song “That Ain’t Country” ostensibly cuts down 2/3’rds of Big Machine’s roster, including fellow Dot label mate and rocker-gone-country Steven Tyler?
Aaron Lewis’s work in the country realm has etched a strange arc in itself. He started out by releasing a pretty terrible song called “Country Boy” that was met with poor reviews and mild fanfare. Then in 2012 he turned things around a bit with his first country full-length called The Road. Then a couple of years later in 2014, while Lewis was on an acoustic country tour, he was calling out pop country from the stage left and right, and specifically shat on Tyler Farr for his stalker song, “Redneck Crazy.” Aaron Lewis had gone from a “gone country” carpetbagger to a traditionalist hardliner willing to spit venom in the eyes of anyone not respecting the integrity of the genre.
The new album Sinner, and certainly the lead song “That Ain’t Country” begins where Lewis left off. We’ll have to wait and see if the album is any good or not, but you can be rest assured it will sound country. Written mostly by Lewis himself, Sinner also includes a song co-written by Chris Stapleton called “Whiskey and You,” a cover of Bruce Robison’s “Travelin’ Soldier” made famous by the Dixie Chicks, and a duet with Willie Nelson.
As for this protest song “That Ain’t Country,” it’s undoubtedly interesting to hear it emanating from a Big Machine imprint, but the lyrics are pretty generic. The music is great, but these country protest songs are so dime a dozen these days. They’re more cliche than the cliche’s they’re calling out, and that’s been the case for years now.
As RC Edwards, the bass player and songwriter for the Turnpike Troubadours said recently, “Pop country/bro country songs that make fun of pop country/bro county songs are the new pop country/bro country.” That’s not exactly what you have with “That Ain’t Country,” but you get the drift. It really takes a unique angle on the protest song to make it something worthwhile, like Randy Rogers’ and Wade Bowen’s “Standards.” But the effort to sabre rattle against what’s happening in country is always appreciated, and it probably means that whatever we get from Lewis is going to be authentic, even if some continue to question whether Lewis is authentic as a country artist himself.
Yeah, so there’s all that. It should all make for a pretty interesting few months ahead of the release of Sinner. You can get a load of the track list below.
1. “Sinner” (featuring Willie Nelson) | Aaron Lewis
2. “That Ain’t Country” | Aaron Lewis
3. “Whiskey And You” | Lee Thomas Miller, Chris Stapleton
4. “Northern Redneck” | Aaron Lewis
5. “Mama” | Aaron Lewis
6. “Sunday Every Saturday Night” | Aaron Lewis, Ira Dean
7. “Lost And Lonely” | Aaron Lewis
8. “Story Of My Life” | Aaron Lewis
9. “Stuck In These Shoes” | Aaron Lewis
10. “I Lost It All” | Aaron Lewis
11. “Travelin’ Soldier” | Bruce Robison
If you do the Spotify thing, you can listen to “That Ain’t Country” below.
June 17, 2016 @ 6:30 pm
Murder On Music Row by Alan Jackson and George Strait is one of the best protest songs in my opinion. This one isn’t horrible though. I agree though, the protest song is getting played out. It has to be done right just like you said. I thought “Get Out of My Country” off Daryle Singletary’s last album was a decent protest song also.
June 17, 2016 @ 7:50 pm
You took the words right out of my mouth. I would also include Dallas Wayne’s ” If That’s Country” in the list of noteworthy pop-country protest songs…
June 21, 2016 @ 10:57 am
If you like Daryle’s ‘Get Out of My Country,’ I recommend a fellow named John Crabtree. Has a song called ‘Taking Back Our Country,’ and he’s a true traditionalist. His song ’90 Proof Memories’ is also highly recommended.
June 17, 2016 @ 6:42 pm
He is clearly country, I mean look at him leaning on that truck window and looking tough by the railroad tracks.
June 18, 2016 @ 5:37 am
And don’t forget that camo hank hat. Wow he looks country…
June 17, 2016 @ 6:50 pm
I personally have loved Aaron’s country stuff (being a Staind fan originally and a country fan it was pretty easy). So I’ll definitely pick this up when it comes out. BUT he’s also been playing Northern Redneck for a couple years now, and it’s as laundry list song as you can get. Like worse than Country Boy. I’m sure the music will be fine on the record, but the lyrics blow pretty hard.
We grow tobacco and we drive trucks
We kill whitetails and greenhead ducks
Drive our four wheelers down the main road
And break out our sleds when it gets cold
We got back roads n’four-wheel-drives
We got tailgates on a Friday night
It’s a half hour from my front door
To a Walmart or a grocery store
What you all don’t understand
It ain’t all about the Southern man
Cause we got outlaws and we got Hicks
We got honkytonks out in the sticks
We love our whiskey and we love our homegrown
God damn it’s good to be home
We wear Carhart we don’t wear suits
We wear square toes and Chippewa boots
And we all know where we come from
We’ll be right here when it’s done
What you all don’t understand
A southern drawl don’t make a man
Because we got family living out in these woods
We got pride and a sense of what’s good
And we all got dirt on our hands
It’s a song for the workingman
We get up early and we work third shift
Pay our taxes and protect our kids
And we’ve all got dirt on our hands
There’s rednecks north of the Mason Dixon
There’s Rednecks north of the Mason Dixon
I’m from the north son you’re from the south
Straight out the trailer fresh off the plow
You got your Chevy parked next to my Ford
And the colors flying high at your door
I got a shotgun fill it with shells
You got a Bible but I’ll see you in hell
We ain’t that different son you and me
Trying to make it in the land of the free
What y’all don’t understand
It ain’t all about the southern man
Cause we got family living out in these woods
We got pride and a sense of what’s good
We all got dirt on our hands
It’s a song for the workingman
We get up early and we work third shift
Pay our taxes and protect our kids
And we all got dirt on our hands
We’re the rednecks north of the Mason Dixon
We’re the rednecks north of the Mason Dixon
June 17, 2016 @ 7:34 pm
Those lyrics were so hard to read-I made it less than halfway. Maybe with melody and music they’d seem better? I doubt it
June 17, 2016 @ 11:23 pm
Which, again, underscores my primary criticism with him even after releasing the well-produced “The Road”.
Lewis has been thinking more like a marketer in terms of country songwriting than as someone who has been washed in the blood and is emotionally spelling out one’s experiences. There were definitely decent songs on “The Road”, but even the strongest ones essentially piggybacked off of some of the most tread-and-tired themes in the genre to where you can’t quite tell what directly reflects his experience or what is just shrewdly tipping his hat to his idols.
“Northern Redneck” is simply laundry list lyricism at its worst, much like “Country Boy”. Especially that “You got your Chevy parked next to my Ford” line. Again, it seems Lewis is still approaching his songwriting more like someone with a marketing degree than as an artist, regardless of how sincere his intentions truly are.
June 18, 2016 @ 8:50 am
As someone with a marketing degree, I can vouch that marketing is exactly what it sounds like. There is huge opportunity in the whole “northern redneck” thing. It is essentially an ignored market in songwriting. The concerts and festivals do very well up here and there’s a whole lot of New Englanders whom this faux rebel badass schitck seems to really appeal to. Smart for Big Machine to focus on this demographic. Though unfortunately I could see it spiraling into another shitty bro country subgenre.
September 3, 2016 @ 4:08 am
It’s not marketing honey . That is the best line in the song because it’s true. He drives a diesel ford truck unlike most country singers especially down south that drive Chevy trucks and throw Chevy in all there songs. Do you call that marketing when they do that ? Northern rednecks get that line and will explain to all that don’t . Ps Massachusetts invited America. Look it up. That is all.
June 18, 2016 @ 7:18 am
Did he just name-drop Walmart?!
June 18, 2016 @ 8:18 pm
In order to rhyme with Carhart, though…I’ll allow it.
Where’s the LL Bean name-drop, though? Or Eddie Bauer?!
June 18, 2016 @ 8:55 pm
I could write ol’ Scotty some wonderfully shitty songs about winter camo and bean boots. Too bad could I could never accept his devil dollars.
This song really comes across as northerners pandering to southerners. Which is kind of ironic, but also hillariously true to how so many New England country fans act.
June 17, 2016 @ 7:41 pm
Sorry to nitpick, but this is at least the second time you’ve called Stain an emo band and that just isn’t an accurate description of them. Stain fits into the post-grunge or nu metal scene. They are not remotely emo. At all. I have never seen them called that anywhere but this site.
Stain’s music fits in with Nickelback, Creed, Puddle of Mudd, Three Days Grace and the like. (Post-grunge)
It does not fit in with Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance or Hawthorne Heights. (2000s mainstream emo)
It also doesn’t fit in with The Promise Ring, Jawbreaker, Sunny Day Real Estate or American Football (’90s awesome emo that people should listen to)
June 17, 2016 @ 7:45 pm
I agree.
June 17, 2016 @ 7:57 pm
You would rather them be grouped with nickelback, creed an puddle of mud? Ha ha. I like a lot of music, but that stuff is horrible.
June 18, 2016 @ 12:16 pm
What wrong with Creed?
June 18, 2016 @ 8:19 pm
Other than the music, lyrics, production and singing ability?
June 19, 2016 @ 6:13 am
I have personally only heard about a handful of their songs, but from that handful, in my opinion they are a good band. True Scott Stapp may not be the best singer out there, but he has a unique voice.
While we may have different musical opinions, let’s not let that get in the way of the fight of our common enemy, pop country and bro country crap!
June 20, 2016 @ 2:19 pm
On the subject of Creed, I can at least respect them because from the ashes of Creed came the excellent Alter Bridge.
June 20, 2016 @ 10:27 pm
So, you have an opinion. Congrats. Have anything else?
June 17, 2016 @ 8:03 pm
I’m holding pat that Staind is an emo noise band, if for no other reason than you jackals will tear me apart if I reverse myself after all this time 🙂
Besides, it doesn’t appear any consensus can be found on where they belong anyway.
June 17, 2016 @ 11:34 pm
Nu Metal for sure. Not even remotely emo.
June 18, 2016 @ 10:57 am
No, they’re definitely post-grunge. Not even slightly nu metal. Break the Cycle is one of the best mainstream post-grunge albums ever released, along with Creed’s My Own Prison and Tantric’s self-titled debut album. Please note that I said best mainstream releases, not necessary best post-grunge releases.
June 21, 2016 @ 10:49 am
Go back and listen to Staind’s 1996 indie debut, Tormented. That’s where all of the nu metal talk comes from. But they quickly moved away from their original sound into post-grunge territory.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=monrTzO9n0g
June 21, 2016 @ 9:47 pm
By the way, it’s my opinion that My Own Prison is a classic. What I love about Creed is that several of their songs could exist as plain poetry without music. I’m convinced that people who think this is “terrible” music have never heard terrible music. Compare these lyrics with Bob Dylan and they might seem mediocre, but most would. Compare them with other “terrible” music acts, like Nickelback and FGL, and they’re positively ingenious when stacked up.
A court is in session, a verdict is in
No appeal on the docket today
Just my own sin
The walls are cold and pale
The cage made of steel
Screams fill the room
Alone I drop and kneel
Silence now the sound
My breath the only motion around
Demons cluttering around
My face showing no emotion
Shackled by my sentence
Expecting no return
Here there is no penance
My skin begins to burn
So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) All held captive
Out from the sun
A sun that shines on only some
We the meek are all in one
I hear a thunder in the distance
See a vision of a cross
I feel the pain that was given
On that sad day of loss
A lion roars in the darkness
Only he holds the key
A light to free me from my burden
And grant me life eternally
Should have been dead
On a Sunday morning
Banging my head
No time for mourning
Ain’t got no time
Should have been dead
On a Sunday morning
Banging my head
No time for mourning
Ain’t got no time
So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) All held captive
Out from the sun
A sun that shines on only some
We the meek are all in one
I cry out to God
Seeking only his decision
Gabriel stands and confirms
I’ve created my own prison
I cry out to God
Seeking only his decision
Gabriel stands and confirms
I’ve created my own prison
So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) All held captive
Out from the sun
A sun that shines on only some
We the meek are all in one
So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) We’re held captive (I created)
Out from the sun (I created)
A sun that shines on only some (I created)
We the meek are all in one (I created my own prison)
Should’ve been dead on a Sunday morning
Banging my head
No time for mourning
Ain’t got no time
“Terrible” music my ass. As someone who appreciates the great lyrics of Kris Kristofferson and his peers, this is right up my alley. Mainstream ain’t got a damn thing to do with it.
June 22, 2016 @ 3:59 pm
I’m quite fond of all of Creed’s albums. It was popular to hate them simply because of how overplayed “Higher” and “With Arms Wide Open” were. What people forgot is that those were two great songs on the fantastic Human Clay. I consider My Own Prison their best work, but none of the three following albums are far behind, and all hold truly moving songs like “Wash Away Those Years,” “Bullets,” A Thousand Faces,” etc.
June 22, 2016 @ 8:03 pm
I would consider MOP to be their best work, but I think the filler is less enjoyable than on later records. I love the band but even I’ll admit that none of their albums were “perfect.” I love every track on Human Clay, even the ones that run together. I also love Weathered, but the filler on that record is much weaker than HC and even MOP. Full Circle was merely okay to my ears, with the ratio of great moments and filler the complete opposite from the first three records (as in, instead of a bit of filler and many good songs, it was a bunch of filler and a few great moments, IMO).
Call me biased, but I still just don’t get why this band was hated on the MUSICAL side of things. Scott Stapp was seen as an arrogant prick at the time and still is in some circles, but how many “great” bands and artists are full of assholes? Pardon the ranting, but this is a hot-button issue for me. I don’t care what the “general consensus” is, if half (if not more) of the band’s most vocal critics listened to more than three songs with an open mind, I highly doubt they’d come out on the other side the same. I’m not naive enough to assert that they’d be “fans”, but when I listen to this band’s music I just don’t hear how it’s so “terrible.” I’ve heard broken, out-of-tune and otherwise cringe-worthy music, and this ain’t it. It’s not even close.
Worse still, this is one of those bands that it’s SO acceptable to hate outright that nobody gives them any credit whatsoever, deserved or not. Sold over 50 million records worldwide? People have “terrible taste.” Won a grammy for “With Arms Wide Open”? That ceremony is whitewashed and “lost it’s respectability years ago.” The band holds the record for the most straight number one rock hits from a debut album? See the “terrible taste” charge. Tied for the most weeks at number one on the albums chart with a flipping BEATLES compilation? Not worthy of note. Like, holy shit: there’s criticism, and then there’s just plain daft stupidity and biased hate. It’d be one thing if haters came at the band from an intelligent and intellectual point-of-view and took the time to explain their apparent “mediocrity” instead of making it about childish insults and punch lines, but hardly anyone does that.
I don’t care if people don’t like them, but come off of your high horse long enough to actually engage those brain cells you claim their fans are so “deficient” of. The closest we get to this are comments like Cool Lester’s in which the implication is that they’re basically terrible at everything, which is as out of touch from reality as a music fan can get. NO band or artist is terrible at everything, and certainly not one with millions of fans. That goes for Bieber and Nickelback, along with everyone else that gets a bad wrap (even if I don’t personally care for them myself). At least when Trigger tears apart FGL he gives the reasons he doesn’t like them a good write up, and credit where it’s due. Apparently it’s too much to ask other music “enthusiasts” to do the same.
/end rant/ 😉
June 20, 2016 @ 6:34 am
I thought you were calling Staind “emo noise” just to be insulting, lol. I didn’t realize that was a real genre.
This song sounds straight out of the 90’s with the guitar and the steel. But jeez, why’d he write so many lyrics? You don’t have to pretend to rap anymore, Aaron…
June 17, 2016 @ 8:21 pm
This from someone who can’t even get the name of the band right.
June 18, 2016 @ 7:30 am
Crap I forgot the “d”. Staind not Stain. Oops.
I like a couple of their songs but am not a huge fan. I like Lewis’s voice though
June 23, 2016 @ 6:49 pm
Amen Richie! As a huge fan of good emo music, I don’t want to see Staind associated witht that scene at all. Staind is generic nu metal/post grunge butt rock.
June 17, 2016 @ 7:43 pm
His voice and the instrumentation ain’t that bad. But yeah I just got to the last verse and it’s a laundry list. Still it is better than the grungy stuff of country boy. Sounds like Aaron appreciates the genre, just doesn’t know exactly how to do it.
June 17, 2016 @ 8:10 pm
The northern redneck lyrics are just as bad as the songs he’s trying to protest
June 17, 2016 @ 9:43 pm
I like Staind and Aaron’s 2 country cd’s.
I will pick up the new one when it comes out.
I don’t know what emo band music is.
I am slways suspicious when an indie or small label artist transitions to a major label.
So we’ll just have to see how the new effort turns out.
June 17, 2016 @ 10:41 pm
He’s a country music carpet bagger. Every time he opens his mouth, I think of a whale hitting puberty.
June 19, 2016 @ 9:58 pm
Conway Twitty, Kenny Rogers, and Charlie Rich are “country music carpet baggers” too.
June 20, 2016 @ 10:31 pm
Yeah, but they weren’t “northern rednecks” to my knowledge 🙂
June 17, 2016 @ 11:14 pm
“Country Boy” was as terrible a first impression as one can possibly muster with me, and the follow-up “Endless Summer” seemed to crystallize his dearth of credibility in my eyes.
However, I have to admit “The Road” was a fairly solid album. Not great due to relying on overtly familiar themes and macho posturings on one too many tracks and the tempo being a bit too samey from front to back…………………but nonetheless a pretty good album that did pleasantly surprise me.
So, you know, I won’t be the least surprised if “Sinner” doubles down on the stylings of “The Road”. I’m just hoping the songwriting is more varied, nuanced and sharper. It does help that his baritone sounds oddly close to Darius Rucker’s on “That Ain’t Country” and a number of other cuts, considering how unbearably monotone he has been in the past.
As for “That Ain’t Country”? Well, it’s decent. It nails it from an instrumental standpoint, but lyrically is just okay. It still leaves me longing for lyrical development and maturity on his end, but it’ll do for a first take. I’m thinking a Decent to Strong 6 out of 10 for it.
June 17, 2016 @ 11:36 pm
I feel Aaron has been underrated due to his affiliation with Staind. His first album was really good, and I’m looking forward to this one.
June 18, 2016 @ 6:29 am
If I wanna hear a rocker be Country, I’d rather stick with Bruce Springsteen whose sound might be heavy on rock but his lyrics could fit well in Real Country. (Yes I’m a Springsteen fan and I know we got some haters on here so bite me.)
June 18, 2016 @ 8:21 pm
Or just listen to his normal stuff, haha. A ton of it is roots-adjacent.
June 18, 2016 @ 7:47 am
Talk about cliche article. ” People in the greater country music realm” not giving Aaron a fair shake.
I could tell this article was garbage when “emo noise band” was mentioned in the first paragraph.
Just another so called writer that has no clue what the fuck they are talking about.
Try something original.
June 18, 2016 @ 8:09 am
Oh, poor oppressed Aaron Lewis. It’s not fair that some country listeners are not standing there with open arms when he decides to release a country record with the same label as Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts. You’re damn right I have no idea what to label Staind. Why? BECAUSE I’M A COUNTRY MUSIC WRITER. Talk about cliche, that’s “That Ain’t Country” by definition. Try something original? How about the frontman of a rock band fleeing to the safety of country as his career recedes. See Darius Rucker, or Aaron Lewis’ new label mate, Steven Tyler.
See this is the reason mixing genres leads to conflict. Go back and read my coverage of Aaron Lewis over the years. I think you will find that I have given him a pretty fair shake, and did nearly a 180 when he released “The Road.” But he’s still a rock guy from Massachusetts making country, and so folks have every right to be speculative. Meanwhile you’re a pissed off rock guy who thinks I’m attacking him unprovoked.
When this record comes out, I’ll listen to it impartially, just like I did “The Road.” But Lewis SHOULD have to fight an uphill battle, there should be skeptics, because there are scores of country artists who’ve worked at the discipline their entire lives, just like Lewis did in rock, that are not getting half the attention he is because they never fronted a commercially-successful rock band.
Be grateful I’m talking about Aaron Lewis at all.
June 18, 2016 @ 9:30 am
“Pissed off rock guy” ??? I love it..Having you patronize me is the most amazing thing that has happened to me in a long time. I just became a fan of yours. Weather you like it or not.
June 20, 2016 @ 11:00 pm
“When this record comes out, I’ll listen to it impartially, just like I did “The Road.” But Lewis SHOULD have to fight an uphill battle, there should be skeptics, because there are scores of country artists who’ve worked at the discipline their entire lives, just like Lewis did in rock, that are not getting half the attention he is because they never fronted a commercially-successful rock band.”
This is sort of where I’m at. If someone who is a rock singer wants to put out a country record, fine. But know for true country fans you are being compared to Sturgill and Sunny Sweeney, etc., and you probably won’t make the mark. There is a frustrating misconception that country is easy and anyone can cross over.
Neither of those things are true.
June 21, 2016 @ 8:41 am
I agree. There’s a bunch of folks jumping my butt because I dare called Staind “Emo noise,” yet they immediately chastise Demi Lovato for dueting with Brad Paisley. How is it any different? Because Staind was rock? NEITHER should get a free pass past the country gates in my opinion. Yes, Aaron Lewis has established himself in country and his music is not bad, but he still by definition is an interloper. He can write all the protest songs he wants, he should still be dealt with speculation. Get back to me in 15 years when you’ve poured your whole life’s purpose into the genre.
June 18, 2016 @ 7:59 am
I’ll tell you what “ain’t country” is a dude from a crappy metal bad recording a crappy Country song that plays up to the worst stereotypes of the genre, that song bombing miserably, then hopping on the anti-mainstream Country train when the industry rejects him.
Also, minor nitpick here, but can people stop covering “Whiskey and You”. I love the song, but isn’t Lewis like the 4th or 5th artist/band to record that song? McGraw, Eady, Stapleton (and I think one or two Texas bands/artists). It’s a great song, but the fact is no one is going to be able to top the Stapleton and Eady versions, trying to is a waste of time.
June 18, 2016 @ 11:12 am
I agree and disagree. Staind is still a fairly successful band. Their album sales have declined but are still good. Their tours sell well too. Aaron could be making a lot more money touring and releasing albums with Staind. This is something he wants to do.
With the song Whiskey and You, once Jason Eady covered it, there is no point of ever doing it again.
June 18, 2016 @ 7:16 pm
I’m just put off by him going the Pledge Music route. It’s pathetic, Aaron Lewis should have enough money to pay for his own album.
Leave the crowd funding campaign to guys that actually need it like Drew Kennedy and the like.
June 18, 2016 @ 10:48 pm
…but he’s also signed to Dot Records, which is owned by Big Machine. So Big Machine doesn’t have the money for the record? The album is done, I can guarantee you that. Actually, a lot of crowdfunded albums are done even before a dollar is donated. Usually your money for the campaigns go to publicists. Why he’s doing this through Pledge Music is anyone’s guess.
June 18, 2016 @ 8:01 am
I know the protest songs are cliche… but I still love them all… I think Jason Boland’s “Hank” is probably the epitome of protest songs though…
And honestly, “Travelin Soldier” used to be one of my favorite songs, but I grew so soured on the Dixie Chicks that I haven’t heard the song in years, and can’t stomach it any more. So I will probably buy the album just for a cover of that song alone by an artist that I haven’t grown soured on.
But COME ON! anybody else wonder why the big protest songs are coming from the very label against whose artists the protests are directed? First “Girl in a Country Song” and now Aaron Lewis?
Scott Borchetta has always had a penchant for vintage scream-rock, so with all the non-Country artists he’s signed, Lewis seems par for the course… Releasing a protest song? Maddie and Tae did it, it’s an easy way to make traditionalists buy albums so that Scott Borchetta can have more money to destroy Country Music…
But a Willie Nelson cameo, a classic Country cover, AND a Stapleton cowrite? he’s either figured out that most of the traditional crowd didn’t fall for his neo-traditional Miley Cyrus protest farce Maddie and Tae, (except the few Maddie and Tae apologists who did fall for it) and is trying to up his game to get traditionalists buying his records… OR Aaron Lewis is making his record his way, without a lot of Borchetta’s input… OR Scott Borchetta is just following where the money is, and it just happens to be traditional Country at the moment… If this third option is the case we have a bigger problem, because as as soon as the marketplace shifts then he’s just going to throw Country Music under the bus again…
But Aaron Lewis going Country is definitely going to be better than Steven Tyler doing it.
June 18, 2016 @ 8:30 pm
So…by having actually listened to Maddie and Tae’s pretty excellent debut album, rather than immediately dismissing them for being pretty and blonde, and on the same label as Trisha Yearwood and The Mavericks, have I “fallen for it”?
Oh, and did Trigger fall for it too, when he gave their debut 1 1/2 Guns Up?
He is the first name I think of when I hear “neotraditional Miley Cyrus apologists.”
June 20, 2016 @ 10:44 pm
Did I just read a comment where you wrote off Creed in the most generic early-2000s way possible, and scroll down to see you jumping down someone else’s throat for what amounts to the same thing elsewhere? What if Fuzzy hates the music, lyrics, production and “lack of singing ability”? More to my point, have YOU listened to Creed’s albums before judging, as per your own standards? And why is it an issue if Fuzzy dislikes the inherent hypocrisy of Maddie & Tae’s message?
Come on, Lester, you can do better than this.
June 18, 2016 @ 8:52 am
“Hank” was originally released by 1100 Springs, for whatever that’s worth. I think Matt The Cat wrote it, not sure, but Boland is not the writer I don’t believe. He does NAIL it though. Especially on High In The Rockies.
June 18, 2016 @ 10:12 am
thanks for straightening me out.
June 18, 2016 @ 12:44 pm
Yup, “Hank” was written by Aaron Wynne, who played steel guitar for 1100 Springs at the time. Pretty much every version of that song I’ve heard is golden, but I prefer Boland’s studio cut.
June 18, 2016 @ 9:20 am
It reminds me of when bands like Nirvana came along and killed hair metal. I guess in this case, Chris Stapleton or Sturgill Simpson are playing the role of Nirvana and Florida Georgia Line are the most lipstick wearing hair metal band you can think of. The downside is that it created a bunch of shitty wannabe grunge bands in the 90’s that were almost if not as bad as the hair metal stuff.
June 18, 2016 @ 9:26 am
I don’t have any thoughts about his record label, or marketing scheme, or anything else. All I care about is that I love Aaron Lewis’ country-voice and I believe the words when he sings them.
June 18, 2016 @ 10:00 am
it’s like a bad version of, “good direction’s.”
June 18, 2016 @ 10:03 am
directions. whoops.
June 18, 2016 @ 1:06 pm
Huh. I’m not sure about the name drops, but he sounds GREAT on it vocally, and they nailed it with the instrumentation. Better than Steven Tyler for sure, and pretty good on its own merits. I’d buy it.
I am interested and scared at the same time about “Travelin’ Soldier,” though.
June 18, 2016 @ 1:07 pm
Apologies for being off-topic, Trigger. Just wondering if you planned to do an album review of Luke Bell’s record that dropped yesterday? Went to the album release show last night, and it was a blast. Some great tunes on there – especially “Where You Been.”
June 18, 2016 @ 10:55 pm
I’m sure I will get one posted. After reviewing 50% of this album previously, writing an article previewing this album, and interviewing him about the album, I’ve pretty much said what I have to say about it. I have a few new observations, but it might not be my most riveting review because I’ve done covered it all already.
June 18, 2016 @ 4:33 pm
He’s only the fifth person to cut “Whiskey and You” in the last decade.
June 19, 2016 @ 9:52 pm
“Sunday Morning Coming Down” was cut by Ray Stevens, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Lynn Anderson, and Kris Kristofferson himself within 2 years.
99% of everyone in the 60s and 70s released “Abilene”, “Long Black Veil”, “Green Green Grass Of Home”, “Me and Bobby McGee”, and/ or “I Still Miss Someone”.
June 21, 2016 @ 5:14 pm
Hag fuckin’ nailed “Green, Green Grass of Home” on Mama Tried, though.
June 18, 2016 @ 4:56 pm
I really like that tune, good singing, better playing……If the country purists didn’t know his name, they’d all like it.
June 19, 2016 @ 2:14 am
Jeff Walker from Carcass and his band Mississippi is ten times better than anything than Nu Metal Boy aka Aaron Lewis, could ever be!!!
June 19, 2016 @ 10:58 am
You had me for a second, not going to lie! I got as far as the “Miss” in Mississipi before I realized I took the bait
June 19, 2016 @ 6:02 pm
Yet another country song about country music. These country songwriters aren’t exactly flowing with ideas, are they? Please, no more country songs about what’s country, what ain’t country, and country songs being played on the jukebox. We’ve already got about a million of them.
June 19, 2016 @ 9:48 pm
“emo noise band Staind”-I’m not a huge fan of the band, but wrong. Now we have that out of the way..
“Country Boy Can Survive” is pretty much a “laundry list” song if you want to get right down to it. Hank Jr listed a lot in his music. “Hey Good Lookin'” lists things. Songs about songs are part of country music. Get over it, people. There are only 12 notes in music and only a finite number of things to sing about-work, drugs, love, loss, women/ men, religion, death, sex, material items, beliefs. Songs that aren’t incredibly dull and drawn out that tell stories are hard to find. It’s nice to hear the good ones, miserable to hear the bad ones.
Aaron Lewis has a great voice and that alone seperates him from the crowd. The fact that he’s trying to make country music, rather than have “country music” given to him (Steven Tyler, Darius Rucker…), tells you he is serious about his work. Most of Hank Jr’s music from about 1985 til present is laundry list crap and Hank singing about how Hank he is.. Anyone who tries to make non-bro country is damned if they do, damned if they don’t-“they too (this)” or “they’re not enough (that)”. Songs about country and being country aren’t any more played out than cheating songs or love songs. It’s just a characteristic of country music. When you list the same words in every song, a la Cole Swindell, then we have a problem. The topic itself, though, is fair game.
As far as there being “too many” songs protesting the bro shit, there is NEVER going to be enough until bro is completely dead. I love nothing more than listening to 45 year old records and 23 year old CDs, which is why non-bro/ non-metro country needs all the voices it can get, even if it is a rocker. Remember, Conway Twitty and Kenny Rogers had rock n roll careers before switching to country. Linda Ronstadt rocked pretty hard, too. We aren’t going to save country music by bitching about everyone who is at least making an effort. No, it’s not perfect, but I guarantee you Aaron Lewis isn’t shitty enough to ruin a great song like “Wagon Wheel”, a la Diarrhea Rucker.
If it helps at all, would you rather listen to this voice list things with real instruments playing, or the fuckheads from Florida Georgia Line try to rap about their trucks and banging teenage drunks to a computerized drum track with computer instruments, again and again and again?
June 20, 2016 @ 6:15 am
Yeah. I always figured that by saving country music, by extension we’re saving rock n roll, too.
June 21, 2016 @ 9:35 pm
I think the difference between Hank Jr. or David Allan Coe cutting a laundry list song is this: they actually lived it. Perhaps even more importantly, laundry list songs are not the extent of their contributions to country music. Aaron Lewis’ biggest country hit is a song called “Country Boy” in which he basically sings a press release about how he was raised country. Everybody else hopping ship into pop country tells interviewers that they were raised on country music and have always loved it, etc. Aaron put an acoustic guitar behind it and called it a day (not to mention somehow roping a very frail-sounding George Jones in for a cameo, along with a proselytizing Charlie Daniels).
Not that you’re “wrong” (it’s your opinion and I respect it), but you’re literally the ONLY person I’ve ever seen that’s not an uber Staind fan — assuming you’re not, of course — that’s praised Lewis’ voice as anything resembling “great.” I personally feel that both Steven Tyler and Darius Rucker blow his vocals out of the water. He’s very monotone and sounds like he’s trying to pass a BM more often that not. That fits his music with Staind, but I don’t think it really applies to country. Here, we favor raw technical ability (George Jones, Marty Robbins) or soul/delivery (Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson), and as far as I’m concerned Lewis has neither in his country music. And this is coming from someone who considers himself both a casual Staind and Aaron solo fan.
As for who’s switching to country when, the difference between Conway Twitty/Kenny Rogers coming to country and Aaron Lewis is that the formers did it before their careers really took off. Aaron’s career has peaked and come down from the glory days, so he’s seeking greener pastures. Conway Twitty and Kenny Rogers LEFT green pastures and took a gamble on an unfamiliar field. Those two situations are not nearly the same thing. And I’m not personally of the opinion that Darius Rucker ruined “Wagon Wheel” (if anything, the original sounds out-of-tune to me), but let’s wait to hear Aaron’s version of “Whiskey and You” before giving him a free pass, eh?
I’m with many others here: Lewis clearly knows what real country sounds like and how to put it on record. What he REALLY needs is some better songwriters, as he clearly doesn’t understand the SOUL of country music. It’s about more than family, hunting, God, and Grandaddy’s gun. Those might be hallmarks of the experience, but they’re not the experience in and of itself. Hence the difference between an interloper and someone who was raised with it in their blood.
Still, I’ll probably be buying this record. I’m hard on him and his albums have never really struck me as “great”, but I LIKE them and they’re somehow real country, even if the lyrics need work.
June 20, 2016 @ 8:01 am
Tim McGraw, Jason Eady, Chris Stapleton, Aaron Lewis…how many renditions of Whiskey and You do we really need?
June 20, 2016 @ 10:22 am
I’ve seen Aaron Lewis 4 times with the country band.
First off, his band is excellent. The guitar player and the lap steel player really good.
I’ve really enjoyed him live.. He is pretty sincere and legit with the delivery.
He also did a couple country versions of Staind songs that were also surprisingly good.
My wife loves him.
We are going to see him and Willie..
June 20, 2016 @ 12:00 pm
“If it helps at all, would you rather listen to this voice list things with real instruments playing, or the fuckheads from Florida Georgia Line try to rap about their trucks and banging teenage drunks to a computerized drum track with computer instruments, again and again and again?”
I don’t want to listen to either. Is there some reason why that can’t be an option?
September 1, 2016 @ 7:57 pm
In the for what it’s worth bin, Cody Jinks was lead singer of a faux Metallica thrash metal band, Unchecked Aggression, before he became the “I’m Not The Devil” guy we see now. So while I don’t have a dog in the Aaron Lewis fight, it is possible for an “interloper” to make a successful transition.Also, check out that early Waylon while you’re commenting on Conway Twitty’s pre-country days, by the way….
September 25, 2016 @ 12:22 am
The way I see it, if Aaron sings a catchy tune that while it doesn’t hit “Murder on Music Row” levels, but still protests those DAMNED cutoff jeans-ice-cold-beer-hop-in-my-chevy-truck songs that Nasville keeps churning out, and people listen to it and enjoy it, then I say more power to him. His origins in music are irrelevant to me. I’m just sick of so much damned bro-country. To quote Richard Bowden: “I’d rather hear a fat girl fart than a pretty boy sing.”