Brantley Gilbert’s Idiotic Pot Song with Willie & Lukas Nelson
WARNING: Language
Holy shit this sucks. And the participation of Lukas Nelson and Willie in this monstrosity doesn’t in any way resuscitate this effort, it exacerbates everything that’s wrong with it, and adds insult to injury.
For the pot holiday 4/20, the Godfather of Bro-Country Brantley Gilbert reminds us that our prayers to country music Jesus to inflict pestilence upon his singing voice, or at least permanently impair him with chronic laryngitis to render him irrevocably unable to perform have gone wholly unanswered, leaving Gilbert able bodied enough to continue fucking up what people think country music is supposed to be, despite the undeniable careening of his career and popularity recently.
Screaming for commercial relevancy in a manner not dissimilar to Billy Ray Cyrus sticking his tongue so far up Lil Nas X’s ass that the “Old Town Road” singer recently carried the dead corpse of the mulleted one’s career to the top of the Billboard charts, Brantley Gilbert tries to ride the dying embers of the marijuana craze and the legitimacy of the Nelson name to renewed attention by releasing this refer ode full of indolent lyrics vomited over an obnoxious and hyperactive electronic beat. The unforgivable dumbfuckery contained in “Welcome To Hazeville” makes one palpably feel your IQ points tick down simply by being in its presence, and no, not from any contact high.
Seriously, get the hell out of here with these lyrics:
Ah, just some good old boys, And, man them girls ain’t playin’
The way they move, the way they groovin’ man, it’s crazy, I’m just sayin’
And then here comes Colt Ford who is arguably more washed up than Brantley Gilbert these days rapping, “If you ain’t one of our people, best place you should get is gone.” Huh, doesn’t seem like the type of tuffy bullshit Willie Nelson would regularly sign off on. And what are you gonna do if we ain’t one of your “people,” Colt Ford—you torpid, corpulent, country-rapping pro golf flunkee—squirt some ketchup down our sides and eat us?
Brantley Gilbert is now in his mid 30’s, but still sporting the unbridled braggadocios machismo of a 15-year-old boy whose balls have just dropped and who just received his first hand job. Time hasn’t just passed Brantley Gilbert over, so have all the wisdom-inducing attributes of adulthood. Any redeeming entertainment value of “Welcome To Hazeville” comes via unintended comedic consequences.
And what the hell is Lukas Nelson doing here? He went to working with Oscar-caliber talent on the movie score of a critically-acclaimed film, to singing with the guy whose fans regularly break into their mother’s singlewides to filch jewelry so they can score meth.
If you want to advocate for the normalization of marijuana use, making an imbecilic stoner song that reinforces that smoking pot is nothing more than a stultifying activity of the great American meat head is not the way to go. Sometimes I wonder if some in Willie’s entourage can’t wait for him to croak so they can make his chest cavity into a cannabis-dispensing vending machine. With the $50 T-shirts and array of pot trinkets being peddled at Willie Nelson shows, it feels more like a rolling head shop than making music with his friends these days.
Hey I get it, marijuana is big business at the moment, and Willie Nelson is a big face of it. He also won’t be around forever, and best try to create a revenue stream beyond his music while he’s still alive. But let’s slow our roll in making Willie Nelson the Ronald McDonald of pot. His participation in a song like “Welcome To Hazeville” just makes him more of a pot punchline than the patron saint of smart legalization of a medicinal plant.
And you’ve gotta love that one of the themes of “Welcome to Hazeville” is “Hangin’ out with Willie,” when all Nelson was willing to contribute to the stupid song was three words lasting 1.21 seconds stuck on the very end. Willie Nelson has no idea who the fuck Brantley Gilbert is. Willie’s just too nice of a guy to say “no” to anyone, and sure he’ll take 1/4 of the performance royalties for doing virtually nothing, dumbass.
It’s not 1996 anymore, and your stupid pot songs are about as relevant as Brantley Gilbert’s Tapout attire. They’re not edgy and hip, they’re conformist and tired. Soon marijuana will be legal everywhere, and along with alleviating the unjust incarceration of people of the possession of a plant, hopefully it also ushers in the cessation of these shitty pot songs.
April 22, 2019 @ 10:10 am
0/10? I think that is too generous -8.5/10 is more like it
April 22, 2019 @ 10:10 am
This is some mustard biscuit eatin shit here.
April 22, 2019 @ 10:22 am
Let me just say that I love Willie Nelson and while I don’t hold him quite as high as I do Merle, he is on my Mount Rushmore, but I think Willie has somewhat used pot in his persona so much that it has both helped and hurt him. In one way he has stayed relevant in he public eye, much longer that Merle, Waylon, Cash (until a late surge when he released “Hurt”) and many others, because he was the cool pot smoking guy. Snoop sang with him and just about everybody wrote a song about smoking weed with Willie, it was the cool thing so a whole new generation knew him. On the flip side, regardless of great music he may still put our from time to time, it is the pot smoking he knows for. Tons of those people know Willie, but couldn’t name a song. The pot smoking theme with Willie has almost become this caricature that is as popular or even more so than the musician.
April 22, 2019 @ 8:28 pm
I think that despite probably having the least late career relevance out of the four legends mentioned. Waylon had the second most respectable late career, behind the impossible to beat cash who’s 6 final albums, all while drug free, are perhaps the best of his career. Waylon may have been out of the spotlight, but what makes him stand out against Willie and Merle, is that, for the sake of his son Shooter, he completely quit drugs over a decade prior to his death. This is a guy who was severely addicted to and basically ran on pills and cocaine from the mid 1960s up into the early 1980s, and yet he was able to find the strength to quit because he knew it’d be better for his family. Waylon Forever.
April 22, 2019 @ 10:38 am
Damn, Trig. That is positively brutal.
Nicely done. Very nicely done.
April 22, 2019 @ 10:43 am
How does Willie Nelson get bottom billing? Maybe he’s embarrassed to be involved in this (he should be) and wanted to go as unnoticed as possible.
There are singers here in north Georgia who are fantastic and getting no notice at all. And this guy’s playing with Willie Nelson. Oh, my God. There’s no justice!
April 22, 2019 @ 6:34 pm
my brother died in gorgia sum time a go I got no wun left to call
April 22, 2019 @ 10:54 am
I made the mistake of watching this on Youtube when it was released. It’s beyond awful, and terrible even by Gilbert’s standards. And all Lukas does is contribute backing “whoooaaaas” on the chorus. You can’t even hear him enough to recognize that it’s him.
Lame.
April 22, 2019 @ 10:58 am
I think this song kicks ass and so does BG,Nelson and Colt Ford
April 22, 2019 @ 11:36 am
You’re either being facetious or you’re a real-life citizen of “Hazeville.”
March 14, 2021 @ 2:58 pm
Hell yah brother
April 22, 2019 @ 11:03 am
I’ve never understood what people see in Brantley Gilbert. Bad enough he’s a rocker posing as a “country” singer, but I never thought he was that good a singer to begin with. Can barely understand him sometimes
April 22, 2019 @ 11:12 am
Man, I love reading these reviews on God-awful songs, as painful as they are to listen to. How does Brantley Gilbert have a career? I mean, which unfortunate soul listened to his demo and thought, “You know what, sounding like shit is the next big thing in country?” This may be one of the dumbest songs I’ve ever heard and for bro-country, that’s saying something.
April 22, 2019 @ 11:28 am
“Time hasn’t just passed Brantley Gilbert over, so have all the wisdom-inducing attributes of adulthood.”
Yep. And the problem is that he is rewarded for it. For any aspiring artist/celebrity, the lesson is that “wisdom-inducing attributes” will get you nowhere, unless you’re a phenomenal talent like Stapelton. Since Brantley is obviously not a phenomenal talent, he’s going to pander to the least common denominator of his chosen demographic, who are eagerly willing to spend money to validate their identity (“one of us”). If you need your identity endlessly validated, then that’s a good indication that it’s not an identity worth having — and it’s an identity loosely based in reality.
April 22, 2019 @ 12:01 pm
This is so bad, I have absolutely nothing to add to the conversation.
April 22, 2019 @ 12:06 pm
“If you ain’t one of our people, best place you should get is gone.”
Check.
April 22, 2019 @ 12:48 pm
“Brantley Gilbert is now in his mid 30’s, but still sporting the unbridled braggadocios machismo of a 15-year-old boy whose balls have just dropped and who just received his first hand job.“
Just one of many lines that were hilarious in this one. Well done Trigger.
April 22, 2019 @ 12:51 pm
I can’t figure out if this song makes me want to commit suicide or murder.
April 22, 2019 @ 12:58 pm
I don’t think I ever seen a 0/10 here before. Is this the first one?
April 22, 2019 @ 2:10 pm
Oh it’s happened a few times before. Walker Hayes owns the only sub-negative rating so far.
April 22, 2019 @ 1:30 pm
OMG. Who the hell are you to tell everyone what is good or sucks. It is your opinion. Don’t you have something else you could be doing?
Thumper’s mother was bang on when she said “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all”. I agree that her comment was incorrect with the double negative quote.
Perhaps you are someone who is supposed to be critical of everything, but, instead of TELLING me how you feel, I think you should give me your opinion only.
April 22, 2019 @ 2:24 pm
“Don’t you have something else you could be doing?”
Don’t you?
“…instead of TELLING me how you feel, I think you should give me your opinion only.”
He did. You’re just too stupid to realize it. You fit right in with the BG Nation perfectly.
April 22, 2019 @ 3:11 pm
I was going to issue a well-written and informative response about being offended by an album review on the reviewer’s own site, but I see here that you’ve quoted Thumper’s mother.
Have a nice day.
April 23, 2019 @ 7:18 pm
BG is way better than a lot of these new artist singing about nothing. Give it a rest!
April 22, 2019 @ 3:39 pm
Reviewing a song kind of goes hand in hand with being a music critic.
April 22, 2019 @ 8:13 pm
It was actually Thumper’s father who told him that. Thumper’s mother asked him “What did your father tell you?” Thumper then quotes his father.
April 22, 2019 @ 9:14 pm
Paula, has anyone ever told you music is subjective?
April 23, 2019 @ 5:49 pm
Quality of art is anything but subjective. Songs like this are bad in a factual sense.
That being said, I understand the point you were trying to make.
April 23, 2019 @ 4:35 pm
Paula:
I don’t give a Kentucky Fried Fuck what you think I should do. So shut up and listen to your lame trash like Brantley Gilbert.
April 22, 2019 @ 1:31 pm
BREAKING: In an emergency vote today, all 10,862 residents of Haysville, Kansas, have elected to immediately change the name of their town in order to avoid any connection to a recently released abortion of a song by Brantley Gilbert.
The town has not yet decided what it will call itself.
“Hell, we don’t care if you just call us Bumfuck, Kansas, now. As long as we don’t have to phonetically share a name with that shitty song,” mayor Bruce Armstrong said.
April 22, 2019 @ 1:44 pm
When you make a shitty song you should have the decency to call it a parody (better yet, not to release anything). A new new new low for Brantley Gilbert.
He should stay in his lane. He is decent when he release “country” rock songs. Rapping and talking about pot doesn’t help his credibility.
April 22, 2019 @ 1:52 pm
I always thought BG tried to sound like a modern day Def Leppard. I think radio is starting to clue in, with his duet with Lindsey Ell baring making a dent on the charts. Lindsey, Lukas and Willie should all know better. These guys in their mid-30s singing these types of songs must know they will not have any career longevity. I say the same thing about Luke Bryan. He is likable enough, but the guy takes one step forward (“Most People Are Good” to his latest two singles that suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.
April 22, 2019 @ 2:20 pm
Why don’t y’all take your whining and shove it up your ass. I happen to like Brantley Gilbert and Colt Ford.
April 22, 2019 @ 5:28 pm
LOL
April 23, 2019 @ 5:57 am
Good for you. Thanks for advertising to everyone on this website that you have terrible taste and a mental capacity to match.
April 26, 2019 @ 4:31 pm
That is good you admit that, Jodi. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.
March 14, 2021 @ 3:06 pm
Hell yah, you tell them bitches
April 22, 2019 @ 2:29 pm
Tell us how you really feel Trigger- LOL- son, you are an incredible talent – even if I disagree with you on what country is sometimes- and no this crap ain’t country no matter who’s involved.
April 22, 2019 @ 2:47 pm
Holy shit that is a horrendous song! WTF listens to that and goes, ‘yeah, turn it up?’ Brain dead people I guess.
April 22, 2019 @ 3:10 pm
I love me some brantley Gilbert. And every concert he has ever had is always sold out. Brantley Gilbert is the best.????????????????????????????
April 22, 2019 @ 4:00 pm
So you’re saying that if he DIDN’T sell out his shows we’d NEVER hear songs like this ?
April 22, 2019 @ 3:24 pm
It boils down to the “Good Ol’ Boy system” still. It’s not how talented you are or aren’t. It’s about who you know, or how much money you have. For many years, there have been so many talentless hacks putting out crappy music. Any press is good press! Like Jack Greene said many years ago about what CMA really stands for. It’s not County Music Association, it’s Country My Ass!
April 22, 2019 @ 5:50 pm
Not sure when the “Statue of a Fool” man said that, but he might have been complaining about Waylon and Willie and all those unkempt outlaws supplanting HIS carefully orchestrated music.
April 22, 2019 @ 3:46 pm
I used to read SCM religiously, but this is the first time back on in a long while. It’s a relief to see that Trigger’s savagery hasn’t waned in the slightest. Thank you for still vehemently standing up against the shitstorm that is destroying a beloved genre! I’m excited to get back to reading daily articles, discovering new music, and finding solace that there are other sane people out there when I read these eloquently verbose, spot-on rants that capture my anger in a way I could never verbally express!
April 22, 2019 @ 4:31 pm
Welcome back Clayton!
April 22, 2019 @ 7:12 pm
unlike Trigger, I remember the year Clayton Delaney died.
April 22, 2019 @ 3:57 pm
what can we learn from this ?
well , it actually explains why these dolts NEVER record worthwhile material .
if you don’t recognize this turd for what it is , how would you realize how shitty the rest of your material is ?
the sadder part of this scenario is that this guy is obviously surrounded by people who apparently scuffle by with this same lack of awareness ,talent , integrity, respect and manage to get PAID to stay that way . like a counter-country-cult . fed , clothed , washed in the BUD , speak no , hear no , see no evil , as it were . zom-bros !
hilarious as hell , Trigger . ….11 out of 10 for your article .
April 22, 2019 @ 3:59 pm
Made it 49 seconds…terrible. ALMOST as bad as the snake by eric church
April 22, 2019 @ 4:55 pm
“The Snake” by Eric Church is awesome. I can understand if you don’t like it, it is kind of weird, but comparing a lyrically and sonically impressive song like “The Snake” to the musical atrocity that is “Welcome to Hazeville” is completely unwarranted, and just flat out wrong.
April 24, 2019 @ 5:07 am
I agree… “The Snake” at least has a point to make and uses imagery and storytelling to make that point. It was also written partly by Travis Meadows, a very deep and thoughtful songwriter.
April 22, 2019 @ 4:09 pm
It’s just not for me, I generally gravitate to music that showcases some level of talent.
April 24, 2019 @ 11:52 am
At this point Baby Shark takes more talent than this fermenting bag of pig vomit
April 22, 2019 @ 4:38 pm
This article is comedic gold, yet it I am not sure it goes far enough in describing the talentless, irrelevant douche bag that is all things Brantley Gilbert. The dude insults my intelligence, my I.Q. momentarily takes a major hit anytime I hear his music or watch one of his music videos on CMT.
April 22, 2019 @ 5:43 pm
I guess it’s part of the shtick of running a site like this that you have to be capable of working yourself into a lather–and state of outrage–constantly, and over just about anything.
I watched/listened to the cartoon video of “Welcome to Hazeville.” I found it amusing.
Should Willie be making it. Why not? I’d bet that he enjoys the attention, respect and energy that he gets from working with young, mainstream artists who are probably the age of some of his grandkids.
April 22, 2019 @ 5:57 pm
Wow.
April 22, 2019 @ 6:41 pm
What does Lukas Nelson even do in this song?
April 22, 2019 @ 8:08 pm
Ok, Trig. I’ve been waiting for the right article to talk about the free pass Willie Nelson has been abusing since the early 2000’s.
First off, I’ll say I have no liking for Gilbert in any way, and I like Willie’s catalogue pre-Beer-For-My-Horses. But this article clearly shows a bias in that you and every other journalist are afraid to call out Willie on the clever having-it-both-ways strategy he’s perfected since going bankrupt in the 1990’s.
“Screaming for commercial relevancy in a manner not dissimilar to Billy Ray Cyrus sticking his tongue so far up Lil Nas X’s ass”
– The hyperbole and colorful imagery you use in this article makes it very apparent that you’re letting Willie off the hook. Why is Gilbert the target of this Barb and not Willie also? He’s just as much of a commercial relevance whore.
“Brantley Gilbert tries to ride the dying embers of the marijuana craze and the legitimacy of the Nelson name”
-Yes, and why is it not being pointed out that the legitimacy of the Nelson name is made more questionable each time Willie sells out like this?
“And what the hell is Lukas Nelson doing here? He went to working with Oscar-caliber talent on the movie score of a critically-acclaimed film, to singing with the guy whose fans regularly break into their mother’s singlewides to filch jewelry so they can score meth.”
– And what the hell is Willie doing here? He went from revolutionizing the country music genre and walking around with long barrel pistols stuck in his jean shorts to singing with this blah blah blah blah blah.
“Sometimes I wonder if some in Willie’s entourage can’t wait for him to croak so they can make his chest cavity into a cannabis-dispensing vending machine. With the $50 T-shirts and array of pot trinkets being peddled at Willie Nelson shows, it feels more like a rolling head shop than making music with his friends these days.”
– You’ve scorched Gilbert, scorned Lukas, and now you’re bringing Willie’s employees to task? At what point does the boss have to take some responsibility for the nature of his operations?
“And you’ve gotta love that one of the themes of “Welcome to Hazeville” is “Hangin’ out with Willie,” when all Nelson was willing to contribute to the stupid song was three words lasting 1.21 seconds stuck on the very end. Willie Nelson has no idea who the fuck Brantley Gilbert is. Willie’s just too nice of a guy to say “no” to anyone, and sure he’ll take 1/4 of the performance royalties for doing virtually nothing, dumbass.”
– Jesus Christ, idk where to even begin with these three sentences. They describe Willie selling out in the worst way, but somehow Gilbert is a dumbass for capitalizing on Willie willingly whoring out his brand?
When the fuck are you and all the other fawning press going to call out Willie for selling out consistently for the last 20 years?
And more importantly when is he going to be called out for his horrible treatment of women??? I like Willie’s music, and I’m sure he’s a decent person, but he is NOT a god, and it’s time for his free pass to be revoked.
April 22, 2019 @ 8:45 pm
God’s Problem Child was a great album, so Willie gets whatever pass he needs. This song though is about as bad as it gets.
April 22, 2019 @ 9:11 pm
Seth,
First off, this is a Brantley Gilbert song that Willie Nelson literally contributes three words to at the very end. He’s listed 3rd in the list of contributors in the cover art. Brantley deserves the brunt of the criticism here, and gets it. But to act like I spared Willie the poison pen here is ridiculous. He receives way more coverage in this review than the measly contribution he made to it probably deserves.
But the big difference between Brantley Gilbert and Willie Nelson here is street cred. Brantley’s done nothing but work to destroy country music ever since he showed up, with some exceptions, while Willie has put in 85 years of service time. You should respect to your elders, and what they’ve accomplished. Yes Willie has sold out, and on many occasions (remember the Taco Bell commercial I criticized one time?). But he’s also paid his dues.
Willie is 85-years-old, and it’s my professional assessment that it’s his handlers who are making him the Ronald McDonals of pot, not Willie himself. Yes, Willie is letting it happen of course, but none of us have any real bead on just how much he’s directing a lot of what is being done in his name.
And if you think this is the first time I have brought up Willie selling out, you need to do some searching in the Saving Country Music archive. I harped on this Willie Nelson pot subject so much a few years back, I stopped because I had started to repeat myself. If you don’t believe me I’ll post some links below.
I think I was very fair giving Willie and Lukas their fair due for contributing to this dubious effort. But also understand this was a rant, and hyperbole was definitely employed, and they played a very small role here.
Is Willie Nelson Becoming a Pot Punchline?
https://savingcountrymusic.com/is-willie-nelson-becoming-a-pot-punchline/
College Students Shocked Pot Icon Willie Nelson Plays Music
https://savingcountrymusic.com/college-students-shocked-pot-icon-willie-nelson-plays-music/
Let’s Remember Willie Nelson for More Than Marijuana
https://savingcountrymusic.com/lets-remember-willie-nelson-for-more-than-marijuana/
April 22, 2019 @ 11:32 pm
Yes, you’ve written about Willie and pot, but that was a small part of what I just posted. My main point is Willie has sold out horribly at times, and it seems like no one in media gives him a hard time about it.
I don’t believe in goodwill when it comes to consuming what celebrities are pushing. I’m more of a “what have you done for me lately type”, because these mega celebrities make and lose millions every day, and they’re doing just fine.
“And if you think this is the first time I have brought up Willie selling out, you need to do some searching in the Saving Country Music archive.”
I’ve already read all those articles. Before I ever started commenting on SCM, I read or skimmed every article from the beginning with your Myspace freehank3 days up to current posts which spanned about 6 months of reading. And the tone of those articles was more along the lines of SCM wanting Willie’s legacy to be identified more with the country singer rather than the pot advocate — not that he was selling out by being a pot icon.
From the Dukes of Hazard to Toby Keith to misogyny — Willie has gotten away with a lot because people worship him, and I would like to see that end. It’s annoying.
April 22, 2019 @ 11:44 pm
And I don’t remember the taco Bell thing or your commentary and there’s no link for that, so i can’t concede that you called him out and gave him the business for selling out, if that’s what you mean.
April 23, 2019 @ 7:33 am
I made the case for our very own hypocrisy in calling today’s stars “sellouts” in this article:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/counterpoints-to-the-claim-that-country-music-has-never-been-this-bad/
April 23, 2019 @ 6:07 pm
Ok, I like that article. Very interesting stuff. Sorry for getting up in your business about not calling him out in the past. Its still my opinion that he should have gotten a bit more ire from this newest article on the topic, and I would like to know more about his bad behavior toward women.
July 31, 2022 @ 8:24 am
Spot on.
Willie has been selling out for decades but he gets a free pass.
April 22, 2019 @ 10:23 pm
I can’t believe all the haters. You may not like BG’S music but you have to admit he deserves a lot of credit for the way he supports our veterans. Be careful haters your jealousy is showing. Personally BG could sing the phone book and his legion of fans would buy it. BG NATION is strong and growing bigger every day.
April 23, 2019 @ 5:27 am
Really nothing to be proud of, that next to last sentence.
April 23, 2019 @ 6:23 am
I love how small minded people always conflate valid criticism with being a ‘hater’ and being ‘jealous’. No, you d-riding buffoon, we just wish you and the rest of your terminally fragile ilk would disappear and stop supporting shitty music made for douchebag man-children.
April 22, 2019 @ 11:38 pm
Well, Willie does say, “roll me up and smoke me when I die,” and his employees might be capable me of following orders. Off the top of my head, I can say Willie’s ‘post-Beer for my Horses’ career has some gems I like enough to include on several playlists, including his cover of Kristofferson’s “Moment of Forever,” cover of “You Don’t Know Me” on the Cindy Walker album, and “Over You Again.”
I’ve somehow managed to see Willie (often with Lukas) so many times I’ve lost count (and I don’t partake in anything not legal), Merle twice (over 2 decades apart), and, yes…Brantley twice. Damn, make that 3 times (opening for Luke Bryan on 1st farm tour show at Kenny Rogers Old Farm, CD release party at Georgia Theatre in Athens, and opening for Tim McGraw on Two Lanes of Freedom tour).
Anyway…Willie is interminably gracious. I’ve heard stories of times he has brought a seemingly forgotten by radio artist in to the studio (Ray Price on his birthday, maybe). Sad as it may be, the young bucks including Willie as almost cliche on their records might think they’re doing him a favor (while subconsciously also propping themselves up with their genuine appreciation for his music and who he is in general). Before Brantley hit it big, there was a video of him hanging around with pals and singing some Vern Gosdin. Brantley’s current music may not be my taste, but I can see how he still has serious regard for great music.
And, my old State Farm guy co-wrote some of Brantley’s songs. Ha ha. He also wrote some of Kenny Rogers’, like the one about the stripper, “Scarlet Fever,” which I sang along with cluelessly as a kid.
Ah, hell with it… I’d rather talk about what an amazing song Lukas’ “Forget About Georgia” is. Even though I usually check the site when there’s some load of crap out there and I want to see if Trigger’s gone off about it yet.
April 24, 2019 @ 9:56 am
I shared the stage with Mike Dekle (your old State Farm guy) recently. He’s an extraordinary songwriter with an impressive resume, and very funny too!
April 24, 2019 @ 7:31 pm
Yes, indeed. That’s pretty cool. Small world!
I should clarify, “old” as in “former,” not as in “old farts and jackasses,” much as I might personally qualify as both. It’s been 23 years now since I walked into Mr. Dekle’s office for renters’ insurance.
My boss recommended him and mentioned that Mike had written a few songs back in the 70s. He became ‘my old/former State Farm guy’ when I moved out of the area for several years. In the meantime, Google was founded and suddenly you could easily look up something like what songs your former State Farm guy wrote. A nice change from getting info only from your boss who does not like any country music from any era.
When we returned to the area, I was tempted to go with Mike again for entirely impractical music nerd reasons. I made myself be a grownup and pick between the two agents whose offices were closer to our house. A few years later, the one I picked moved to a location farther away than Mike’s office. (BTW, that agent’s name is Rhett Butler…no kidding).
At the “Halfway to Hell” CD release concert, I recognized Mike and knew from the CD insert that he had co-written a couple of the songs. When there was a break, I said hello and asked if State Farm would get mad if I switched back to him. He laughed and seemed a little surprised that I noticed him and knew who he was. He said they kind of frown on moves between agents in the same territory. He was nice enough to sign the cd jacket I had in my pocket – again, kind of surprised, especially since all I had on me was a regular pen hastily grabbed from our car on our way in for the show. I doubt that I’m the only person to have requested his autograph, but might have been the only one that night. (I am the nerd who was in the Dean Dillon fan club and had a subscription to Country Music Magazine when I was in high school.)
Mike didn’t know it, but we had crossed paths a few years before the CD release show, when Athens had a little puddle-jumper flight route to/from Charlotte connecting to US Air. It was the best commercial flying ever. Not always the most reliable, but great service and none of the hassles of a giant airport.
Anyway, the passengers would sit in the terminal building, then the TSA would open the single lane of security. The 19 or fewer passengers would go through security and sit in a room (maybe 25×30) and wait to be released to walk out to the mighty Beechcraft 1900 plane. In the small waiting area, I recognized Dekle – the guitar case he was carrying made it easier to be sure. But, I didn’t bother him or his traveling companion.
I’ve wanted to catch Dekle at one of the songwriters in the round they sometimes have in Athens, but it’s never worked out with when I’m traveling for work or working late (or am to dang old and tired).
April 24, 2019 @ 7:49 pm
Very cool. I should have said “former” SF guy, not “old.” I’ve wanted to catch him at one of the songwriters in the round things they sometimes have around Athens, but the timing never works out.
(Apologies if this is duplicative…I posted something earlier in reply, but it was a long post and might not have gone through.)
April 25, 2019 @ 5:40 am
That’s really cool! Dekle is a class act. Also part of our Songwriter’s Round that night was Jim McBride, who wrote Chattahoochee and some of Alan Jackson’s other hits. It was a very memorable night for me. Being a fan first and foremost, I got both of ’em to sign my guitar.
April 22, 2019 @ 11:43 pm
BTW – not a defense of the song Trigger gave a zero. I didn’t even bother to listen to it. Not a defense of Brantley’s music or taste either. Just an observation that sometimes we share appreciation with folks who take things in a completely different direction.
April 22, 2019 @ 11:55 pm
Brantley Gilbert is simply amazing you either love his music or hate it. He shouldn’t be labeled as purely country he translates across many genres that’s what makes him different. This song is no where near bad it’s got a great beat and is catchy. Not all songs need to have an in-depth story behind it.
April 24, 2019 @ 1:11 pm
Great beat? Its the same generic beat everyone uses these days.
April 24, 2019 @ 2:49 pm
If by “GOAT” you mean he sounds like a goat, I agree with that.
And most of the (sound-minded) people who visit this website would be the last to label him “purely country” in any way, shape, or form.
Sorry, but you BG Nation types make it too easy.
April 23, 2019 @ 1:33 am
He should have sung this song with Snoop Dogg. It’s just the piece of shitty rap song about nothing. And notthing more.
April 23, 2019 @ 4:39 am
This song is a disgrace to all that put their names to it. I am not against marijuana just the opposite but for any respectable country singer to sing this trash they are not country. I am fuming you have your opinion I have mine I don’t give a damn about yours. Willie I have loved you all my life and followed your career for close to 60 yrs I say this out of love people are leading you down wrong road and taking advantage of you. Please put a stop to this that wife is ring leader don’t trust her
April 23, 2019 @ 4:53 am
I couldn’t tell you what’s ‘ hot ‘ on the radio these days. It all sounds the same., what with the ‘ bro-country, country-rap, hick-hop, and crossover. I do like Randy Houser’s latest release, but that’s the only standout. Hopefully, the record execs will pull their heads out of their collective asses and start looking for new talent and songs that reflect on the traditions and foundation of country music, while looking ahead. Or, is that just wishful drinking, er um, thinking?
April 24, 2019 @ 5:23 am
I like Randy Houser’s latest also, but I don’t think it’s getting the attention it deserves. Nashville is being run by 15-year old boys.
April 23, 2019 @ 5:56 am
this song is bad by every metric available, but it mostly just feels 5 years too late. The novelty of songs like this started wearing off as soon as states started legalizing pot. Not surprising that BG is the Johnie come lately in this scenario. He has a few good songs, but he’s not really known for being the most original guy on music row.
April 23, 2019 @ 6:23 am
I love you. What an epic rant. So amazing. What makes it great is it’s all true!
Never change
April 23, 2019 @ 6:45 am
It’s a bit frightening that this is the same person who wrote and sang “A Modern Day Prodigal Son”.
April 23, 2019 @ 7:43 am
Willie must hear something he likes in Brantley Gilbert, because Gilbert was the main headliner at Willie’s picnic a few years ago. It was beyond excruciating to have to sit through that pathetic excuse of a performance waiting for Willie’s set, but it did make me wonder why Willie wanted him there in the first place….
April 23, 2019 @ 8:10 am
C3 Presents who promotes the picnic always puts one mainstream artist on the bill like that, sometimes a good one, sometimes a bad one. It’s been Kacey Musgraves, Eric Church, Justin Moore, and others in the past. This year it’s Luke Combs. When I saw Brantley that year on the bill I laughed. Terrible curation.
April 23, 2019 @ 2:59 pm
It makes me sad to see artists with Willie’s level of influence glamorizing pot.
I’ve been clean and sober for over 30 years, but I have no qualms with other people who want to drink or use drugs, including pot.
But his promotion of it gives the false impression to teenagers that they can safely smoke, when, in fact, doing so can stunt brain growth and maturation.
I will always love Willie, but I don’t like or respect his promotion of pot.
April 23, 2019 @ 4:27 pm
This article literally made me lol several times. Gilbert’s music would be horrific in any genre. I understand why many may be frustrated with Willie for even agreeing to do this collaboration in the first place, but come on, he’s 85 years old – how aware is he? Like you mention, he probably doesn’t even know who Brantley Gilbert is.
On another unfortunate note, have you heard Sam Hunt’s possibly new unreleased “Easy Livin'” and read his recent Coachella interview where he claims he will be released a new album within the next several months?
April 23, 2019 @ 4:33 pm
the positive posts on youtube has me worried about this country
April 23, 2019 @ 7:15 pm
Why are you all punishing Brantley Gilbert for this song. Nobody punished the Chief for his song about weed. It is a nice party vibe type song. Let the man speak. Damn!
April 23, 2019 @ 7:51 pm
Because Church’s song was well-written, well sung and not in anyway a joke.
April 23, 2019 @ 8:59 pm
Y’all are just some salty bitches. Can’t handle the fact that Brantley is the only thing separating country from pop. I don’t like this song by any means, but there are songs by cash, merle, Waylon etc that people don’t like. To get this triggered over 1 song that it sends you down a spireling depression is sad and speaks to everyone’s mental imbalance on this thread. Grow the fuck up and stop sounding like every Hillary supporter, vaginas.
April 23, 2019 @ 10:43 pm
Lol. No one is triggered or depressed. People are just pointing out how much they think the song and BG suck. The fact that you bring up politics in a thread about music, shows who the mentally unbalanced one is. Lighten up. 😉
April 24, 2019 @ 3:46 am
Uhh did you not read the article? Have you not read some of these comments? It’s the oiteral definition of triggered. To get this worked up over a song that you need to write a novela about how butthurt you are is pretty sad. And this behavior mirrors that of Hillary supports, that’s why I brought it up. It wasn’t for political purposes but for behavioral. Nice try though ????
April 24, 2019 @ 10:03 am
I can’t stand Hillary, and I consider myself a Brantley fan, even hung out on his bus with him a couple of times. I’m a huge fan of the Nelson boys’ music. But this pitiful excuse for music, especially as a “country” song, sucks a$$.*
“Derrel-grow some bigger strawberries”. – Vagina
*Colt Ford not mentioned on purpose. Not even worth it.
April 24, 2019 @ 7:55 pm
*Colt Ford not mentioned on purpose. Not even worth it.
Oh, “former pro golfer guy who is married to a lady who used to work where I get my hair cut.”
His music generally isn’t my taste, though I did like “Dirt Road Anthem.” Even felt a little bit sorry for him and for Brantley that Aldean had Ludacris on stage with him for the show at UGA / Sanford Stadium and maybe didn’t even mention Ford or Gilbert (at least not that I could hear).
April 24, 2019 @ 9:11 am
Lol Salty bitches
This comment burns almost as much as the review
April 23, 2019 @ 10:32 pm
Omg stop being such a baby. Biggest overly dramatic review I’ve ever read. Song kicks ass. You care way too much.
April 24, 2019 @ 3:53 am
I’ve been a BG fan for awhile. But the stuff he’s cut the last couple years certainly isn’t as good. This in particular. This is more rap than country anyways. I prefer a little rock tinge in my country. But this ain’t country
April 24, 2019 @ 5:18 am
Exactly. It sounds desperation to me. He was at least more relevant in the “rock” ” country ” genre.
April 24, 2019 @ 1:21 pm
So funny that almost all the salty, triggered comments defending BG or this song are women – or maybe those who want to be lol. Shows who Nashville is targeting for this sh*t.
April 24, 2019 @ 3:21 pm
Great take. This country rap BS is absolutely awful. The sooner this trend dies the better!
April 25, 2019 @ 3:21 am
Where is Lukas on the track? The ‘oh’ stuff?
April 25, 2019 @ 9:21 pm
I live in a singlewide. The stigma never ends. It’s the AIDS of housing.
April 28, 2019 @ 4:14 am
” Willie Nelson has no idea who the fuck Brantley Gilbert is. Willie’s just too nice of a guy to say “no” to anyone, and sure he’ll take 1/4 of the performance royalties for doing virtually nothing, dumbass.
Proof that pot makes you stupid.
April 28, 2019 @ 7:23 am
I have always wondered, Trigger, where the majority of these pro-crap country troll replies to your articles come from. Especially the Brantley Gilbert ones. Do they come from actual individuals or bots? The way some of these pro-“bEe gEE nAYsHUn” posts are written, I think to myself that no one can be this idiotic, even in this day and age. Or are they bot spammers created by radio congomerates and production companies?
April 28, 2019 @ 1:41 pm
These are actual individuals.
What a lot of folks don’t appreciate is that the vast majority of readers come to this site not directly as daily readers, or from social media. They come via Google, because the entire site is designed to be a funnel for country fans who are either disgruntled or are looking for better alternatives. One side effect of that is super fans who have their favorite artists set up on Google Alerts, etc. see these articles and then come here and comment on them. Also, there are a lot of people who love to hate read this site, and they wait in the wings to complain when their favorite artist gets run. For example there’s an entire support group on Facebook devoted to Kane Brown fans hating this site.
April 28, 2019 @ 3:21 pm
Do you think these people are that stupid? Or do you think they just use misspelled words on purpose to increase the trolling effect?
April 29, 2019 @ 3:36 pm
“One side effect of that is super fans who have their favorite artists set up on Google Alerts, etc. see these articles and then come here and comment on them.”
Ahh, I never realized that’s how it works. Kinda makes sense now.
Still, that’s no excuse for someone hopping on here with “leave me alone!” comments. Maybe like those reCaptcha bot filters, you could have posters pass a basic IQ test before submitting?
April 28, 2019 @ 7:29 am
Brantley Gilbert is officially the Insane Clown Posse of country music!!!
May 13, 2019 @ 2:00 pm
I mean it’s not the greatest song by any means but this whole article just seems written by an extremely bitter person who got triggered more by a song than “liberal snowflakes” do by Trump…
September 28, 2020 @ 4:53 pm
I personally like Brantley Gilbert. He is a great singer and yes it may not sound like country but at least he writes songs that actually have a story. I don’t see a problem with Welcome To Hazeville. I have been listening to him for years
March 14, 2021 @ 3:12 pm
Just like BG said “country must be country wide” and you city slickers are just a bunch of assholes
September 3, 2022 @ 10:29 pm
Seriously seems like a 15 year old having a fit wrote this. Who cares what someone else sings? Seriously. If you don’t like it don’t listen to it??? Like I mean if this were 1990 and all you have is radio okay, the bitch seems legit then because when it comes on you have to listen or turn the radio off and guess when it’s over buuuutttttt….
This is 2022. With YouTube and apple music, and Spotify etc, you don’t have to hear it ????????♀️
So my thought is, why on earth would you waste your time listening to a song from an artist you’re already not a fan of??? Hmm ????
Unless, you’re a closet fan and seeking exterior validation. That or he beat your ass in high school and now you need to defame him, either way, you sound incredibly traumatized by the fact that Brantley Gilbert dares to continue to perform even though you don’t HAVE to hear it, unless you want to.
Get help dude. Change the song and quit bitching like a little kid ????