Appearance on the Good Neighbor Get Together Podcast

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Just a quick note from here to let you know that I (Trigger) recently appeared on the “Good Neighbor Get Together” podcast with Jason Estopinal and Benji Magness. I rarely do interviews, but this is a cool podcast and I decided to make an exception, and I really enjoyed my conversation with these guys.

On the podcast we talk about the motivations behind starting Saving Country Music and the philosophies that I bring to it, how the site grew out of MySpace, where I grew up and how it influenced my perspective on life and music, how I got into country music, why country music is in such a fractured state of independent vs. mainstream, how country music continues to improve from the Bro-Country era, my feelings on hick-hop, trying to define country music, how I got the nickname “Trigger,” and many other interesting topics.

I also speak briefly at the end about my recently-released literary novel Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board.

The podcast can be found on Spotify and Apple Music along with other places podcasts can be found, and is part of the website Country Music Pride, which posts all kinds of info and commentary on country music.


Below is the first exchange from the hour-long podcast where host Jason Estopinal introduces me and talks about the sold out nature of music journalism, and why Saving Country Music is so unique compared to other country music websites.

]Music outlets] are just owned by the advertisers and the swag that they send them. They’ll say anything for a can of Pepsi and a new hat or something. So it’s very hard to find the three chords and the truth in the country music or influencing world. It’s extremely hard to find someone that hasn’t sold out and bent a knee to the advertisers. But we have to commend to you Saving Country Music and the captain of that ship Trigger who gives us the forest and the trees … They’re actually talking about the things people want to know about, but no one wants to go there, because they’re gonna piss off everybody in every single camp. But good job Trigger, you actually do the job that a true media outlet should do. You know you’re that guy, right?

Well, that’s a lot to live up to, and I appreciate the compliments. But that really is the way I have always approached Saving Country Music. I wrote it into my business model to not rely on sponsors, or underwriters, or investors, but just to spitball it and do it my way, be as honest as I can be, and hope that finds an audience that appreciates honesty in country music journalism, in music journalism, and unfortunately these days, journalism at large because everybody seems to be coming from a camp, or pandering to a certain constituency, or fulfilling some sort of niche that they think that will get them the most attention or most clicks, or what have you. It is a click economy on the internet, and I’m just as much involved in that as anybody. But I try to do it with the best integrity that I can and hope that eventually I find the people that appreciate me for doing it that way, and try to tune out the noise.

In my opinion, when people are with their friends, their family, and they’re talking about music, they’re talking about it honestly. That’s the kind of conversations I want to have, but have them publicly. And when I say something negative about an artist, or song or album or something, most of the time it’s meant constructively. I love music and I want good music to get better, and I want bad music to get good. And I believe everybody has a right to good music. I don’t want to be preaching to a choir or be part of some sort of elitist idea about what music should be like ‘Well my music is better than someone else’s music.’ Everyone deserves good music, and good music makes better people, and more fulfilled people, teaches us about life and human interactions. That’s what I’ve tried to do from the very beginning.

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