Breaking Down Shaboozey’s Break Down of “A Bar (Tipsy)”

Saving Country Music is on the record saying that Shaboozey’s smash summer hit “A Bar (Tipsy)” is not a terrible song. It’s important that distinctions are drawn between songs, albums, and artists when sharing spirited praise or strong criticism to not fall into some sort of binary, reactionary, and bias pattern. That was the approach taken to “A Bar (Tipsy).”
As was shared about the song in early May, “For a derivative, commercially ambitious and formulaic song grasping for low-hanging fruit, ‘A Bar’ is not bad. Compare this to Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road,’ Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em,’ or Blanco Brown’s ‘The Git Up,” and ‘A Bar’ is probably more country-sounding, and perhaps, better overall. It relies more on melody than rhythm and the fiddle is welcome…”
Don’t mistake “not bad” as meaning it’s “good” though. As also said previously, “For a bad song, is not especially bad. Which is good, because we might have to live with it pursuing us in life at every turn for a long, long time.”
If you want to be honest and objective, you have to tip your hat to “Tipsy” for being catchy, compelling, and figuring out how to capture many relevant elements to what is hot in music at this very moment, then putting them all in one place. But again, this doesn’t mean it’s “good.” In fact, looking deeper into this song, there is some stuff that’s outright troublesome about it.
About a week ago, Rolling Stone posted a video of Shaboozey breaking down the massive hit track (see below). Perhaps the idea was to explain the groundbreaking, genre shattering nature of how this song came about. But instead of exposing the genius behind it, the breakdown was an inadvertent self-own by Shaboozey, exposing just what a novice Shaboozey is when it comes to country music, and just how little organic effort actually went into the song.
First and most important to understand about “A Bar (Tipsy)” is that the song is not an original track. As Shaboozey says, they got the idea of “flipping” a 2000s song into a country song, and the song they chose to “flip” was the 2001 song “Tipsy” by hip-hop artist J-Kwon.
To put this in more lay terms, “A Bar (Tipsy)” is a direct derivative of a 23-year-old song, both in the approach, and in much of the lyricism. This is the reason the original “Tipsy” writers Jerrell Jones, Joe Kent, and Mark Williams are credited on the Shaboozey track as well.
Though this “song flipping” practice is very common in hip-hop—in fact, flipping or sampling songs is sort of foundational to the genre—this practice is extremely uncommon in country, and significantly frowned upon. It isn’t unprecedented though. You can think about Dustin Lynch’s recent reworking of “Drift Away” into his derivative and terrible “Chevrolet.”
The second thing that becomes patently evident by watching Shaboozey’s “A Bar (Tipsy)” breakdown is just how little effort went into the song. We’re used to seeing videos for song recordings where you have expert instrumentalists and singers all in the studio together, perhaps in isolation booths so the signals don’t bleed over, doing their best to bring an original and organic country song to life.
But for Shaboozey, he’s just sitting in front of a computer. In front of a computer is how this track came about. Once again, this is common in the hip-hop realm, and though most country songs these days will also be recorded using a computer or digital interface of some sort, that’s not where the project begins and ends. It’s starts with a songwriter feeling inspiration and writing original lyrics and a melody.
For “A Bar (Tipsy),” it existed in the digital realm from start to finish.
“You don’t need to be in a mega studio or anything like that. It’s just me and two friends made a song,” Shaboozey explains while staring at the “A Bar (Tipsy)” project screen. “We had an idea and went for it. Probably had it done in about an hour … well, the demo [laughing],” (meaning, basically, the whole song).
Sure, a “mega studio” or big production value is not needed to make a great song. But originality is. And when it comes to country music, the human touch is also critically important. This is what separates country music from many other modern genres.
In the breakdown video, Shaboozey calls the fiddle the “best part of the song.” He’s not incorrect. He says it has a “Hobbit vibe. The Shire,” which speaks to the kind of shallow, pop culture perspective Shaboozey brings to this music. The more accurate description of the fiddle part would be that it has an Old World Celtic folk style to it. Who knows where they got the part, if it’s a sample or someone played it. Shaboozey never says.
At the 2:21 mark of the breakdown video, Shaboozey lets us know that he considers “Tipsy” a “traditional country song.” So not just a country song, but a “traditional” country song. As the breakdown continues, Shaboozey’s sheer, unmitigated ignorance of what country and traditional country are becomes patently clear.
At the 3:35 mark of the video, Shaboozey says, “You guys want to hear some 12-string guitar? You can’t have a country song without 12-string. You can’t have bluegrass without 12-string guitar.”
You might have difficulty finding a more ludicrous, asinine, and horrifically uninformed statement from any artist ever in the history of country music than this quote from Shaboozey. 12-string guitar is in no way synonymous with country music, and it’s absolutely not in any way affiliated with bluegrass.
For the uninitiated, most guitars you see and hear in music are six string guitars. 12-string guitars are rare, specialty instruments with double the strings to create harmonious sounds while either picking, or usually strumming the instrument. Though they can be found in certain eras of folk music, they’re especially common in jangle pop, like the music of The Monkees, The Byrds, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, for example.
12-string guitars are never used in bluegrass except perhaps in extremely exceptional cases. Bluegrass guitar is commonly flatpicked, and a 12-string guitar would get in the way of that technique. Another common bluegrass instrument, the mandolin, is somewhat similar to a 12-string guitar since the strings are paired together, though there are only 8 strings on a mandolin.
Have 12-string guitars been used in country songs before? Of course. Are they synonymous with country or bluegrass songs? Absolutely not. A similar foot-in-mouth moment ensues when Shaboozey says, “Brush loops. Gotta have a brush loop. You can’t have an Americana song without brush loop.”
What Shaboozey is talking about here is incorporating a snare drum played with brushes instead of sticks into the song. The brushes give the snare hits a more diffused and muted sound. Sure, a snare drum with brushes is a common element to country or “Americana” songs.
But looping the sound—meaning recording a short snippet of an actual performance, or borrowing it from another source—and then interpolating that over and over into the song to create a percussive element is the very essence of taking something organic, and digitizing it for convenience, rendering it inorganic.
This also helps underscore how nobody “played” the song “A Bar (Tipsy)” in the recording process. It was part and pieced together.
“A Bar (Tipsy)” is a perfect example of scraping the essence of organic authenticity out of other songs and performances, copying and pasting it into a “project” wholly of the digital world, and releasing it as product.
Shaboozey also says in the breakdown that he was listening to Zach Bryan when he composed the track, as well as The Lumineers. This affirms what Saving Country Music concluded when first addressing the song:
The devilish ingredient, and perhaps the quiet genius of this song is how it deftly taps into the whole Zach Bryan appeal in the way the song is structured. To the right ear, this comes screaming out from its blatant obviousness. “A Bar (Tipsy)” is a Zach Bryan song dumbed down for the masses, which may sound ironic to some Zach Bryan opponents who consider him a dumbed down version of Tyler Childers.
By taking the melancholic structure of a typical Zach Bryan song, adding Shaboozey’s savvy at incorporating zeitgeist signifiers (Birkin, Jack Daniels, whiskey, tipsy), he creates a viral hit.
Many Zach Bryan detractors are rendered stupefied of how he’s become the 2nd most popular artist in country, and one of the most popular artists in all of music over the last few years, especially when his music seems so amateur and unpolished compared to many other performers.
The answer is quite simple. It’s because in an increasingly plastic, digital, and deceptive world, the music of Zach Bryan is real. It’s not in spite of Zach Bryan’s amateurish nature that he’s popular. It’s because of it, and his blatant honesty.
Shaboozey had the smarts and instincts to understand this appeal and harness the essence of that Zach Bryan realness in “A Bar (Tipsy).” But the public should not be fooled. There is little or nothing organic about the song, and virtually nothing about it that’s country.
“A Bar (Tipsy)” is a pieced-together product optimized to entertain. It’s effective in that manner, but the inorganic nature of the song is what separates actual country music from the interjections of interlopers and genre benders like Shaboozey.
June 6, 2024 @ 11:58 am
What us country music fans should reconcile with is judging the process over the result. I also prefer a more organic sound. I would agree A Bar Song largely doesn’t have those qualities, and the qualities I don’t like were created by a computer.
But 99% of music, including your rich, organic sounding independent country & Americana artists, are using the methods you describe to achieve their results. Invisible pitch correction, human drumming dragged onto a grid or machine drumming massaged to give it a more organic feel, sample string sections and guitar parts at times combined with live takes, the main vocal being a compilation of other takes that are then tuned. Even the reverb and haze associated with more lo-fi productions are often digital filters.
I think we need to get away from the idea that digital = bad, because I can assure you all of that Zach Bryan stuff was recorded & edited by someone hovering over a laptop much like Shaboozy, deciding which ‘mistakes’ made the song better and which ones needed to go.
June 6, 2024 @ 12:24 pm
I agree it’s important to not say digital = bad, or even hip-hop = bad or EDM = bad. But I also think it’s important to say that whatever Shaboozey is doing here does not = “traditional country.”
You’re correct that in at least the mainstream, there are likely a lot of digital enhancements that are used in the recording process. And even with more independent/traditional/Americana artists who won’t use drum loops, Auto-tune, etc., they’re still probably recording digitally, unless they’re in an analog studio.
The issue here is the gulf between what Shaboozey says he’s doing here, and what he’s actually doing. He pretty much admits in the video that these “organic” sounds are important. But instead of putting together a studio session with a fiddle player, banjo player, guitarist, bass, and drummer, they part and pieced it together to give the appearance of an organic composition when it truth it was an ad hoc production done by producers.
Again, there is nothing inherently “wrong” about any of this. It’s just the difference between what Shaboozy and others are saying the song it, and what it actually is when you break it down. And to be frank, you can hear that when you listen.
June 6, 2024 @ 2:02 pm
But that’s what I’m saying – ‘organic’ is a sound not a process. I’m not bothered by Shaboozy choosing to use a laptop and sampled sounds because I know I’ve also heard them in rootsier recordings I’ve enjoyed. Even in this song the guitar, bass and handclaps sound fine. It’s the bright, tuned vocal production that’s I dislike. And that’s a problem with how he’s chosen to use a particular tool rather than the tool itself.
The question for country listeners when talking about things like this is: if you didn’t know how it was recorded, would it still bother you? When you find yourself answering ‘no’ that’s when you should stop worrying about how the sausage was made. In those instances, it doesn’t matter.
June 6, 2024 @ 3:35 pm
100%.
The way the vocals and sounds are stacked in this is painful to my ears. Untrained ears wouldn’t be able to differentiate between digital and analog recording. The way this track was composed is annoying, cluttered, and generally unpleasent to listen to. I hate the busy, flashy, loud recording style. Is this what is required to hold peoples’ attention today?
June 6, 2024 @ 4:56 pm
Yes, ultimately if you like the song, that’s all that should matter. When I first reviewed the song, the vocals to me were the biggest hangup. It sort of tipped you off that it was more of a “project” than a “recording” with the way the Auto-tune was so heavy handed.
Shaboozey didn’t need to make this video. He didn’t have to expose the sausage making. I’m not sure he really “sold” the track to anyone through this process, while he played right into the hands of his critics. Rolling Stone did him no favors. Though I’m not sure John Q Public is paying attention to it. I just thought it make a good discussion point.
June 10, 2024 @ 5:12 am
That’s the problem with most everything anymore; the public isn’t paying attention.
June 7, 2024 @ 11:50 am
I will never eat an impossible burger. I just won’t. My wife cooks them and the sausages smelled pretty good. But I will never eat one. Not worth it. No, not every old milk cow or died of old age bull stake is would be to everyone’s liking, but it’s still good and I am still human.
2Maccabees7:2
June 6, 2024 @ 12:00 pm
That was a fun read. I haven’t watched the video yet but am surprised Rolling Stone didn’t educate Shaboozey on some of those more egregious claims (traditional country, 12-string guitars in country and bluegrass). That stuff really makes this guy look ignorant on music in general.
June 6, 2024 @ 12:36 pm
I really can’t emphasize enough how shockingly ignorant that quote from Shaboozey is. I don’t mean to pile on the guy. He’s clearly out of his depth. Yet he has the audacity to speak about country like he does so with authority.
I don’t think we can take it as a given that whoever put together the Rolling Stone video is any more knowledgeable about country and bluegrass than Shaboozey. One of my frustrations over the years has been the general lack of knowledge about the country genre throughout media that is tasked to cover it. I completely understand that not every one can be a country music expert. But the people who are covering country should have at least a basic fundamental understanding of the genre, at least enough to know that a statement like “You can’t have bluegrass without 12-string guitar” is ridiculous.
I truly thought to myself while watching the video what I would do if Shaboozey said the 12-string guitar line. Would I edit it out to protect him? Would I keep it in because it’s what he said? Sometimes you edit things out because they might be misunderstood, or not have the proper context. In this case, I’m glad that they kept it in because it says a lot.
June 6, 2024 @ 1:30 pm
A properly “educated” progressive “journalist” who works for RS would NEVER question this guy, for obvious reasons. That is, to Triggers point, if they even knew better themselves, which is more than highly doubtful.
June 6, 2024 @ 2:16 pm
Ive never read RS other than checking out some of their ridiculous Top 100 of whatever lists, but I find it hard to believe they don’t know 12-strings are in no way affiliated with bluegrass. I’m probably wrong, but that’s as ridiculous to me as if I heard someone say, you can’t play metal without a hurdy gurdy and a slide whistle. I will add that now after watching the video, Shaboozey seems like he’s having fun and his heart is in trying to combine genres and elements he likes, he just misunderstands the genres. I don’t think he understands what bluegrass is at all. I don’t want to know which ‘bluegrass artists’ he was listening to when he wrote the song (he mentions in the video he was listening to bluegrass at the time).
June 6, 2024 @ 3:29 pm
I don’t believe that it’s the job of the interviewer to “educate” the person they are interviewing. Even if the person is blatantly wrong, I find it annoying if an interviewer feels that it’s his job to correct minor details. Your job is to ask good questions. That’s it.
Any man over the age of 35 who likes Zach Bryan is the kind of person to yell “Play Freebird” at a show and think that it was funny….or laugh when someone else does it.
June 6, 2024 @ 9:11 pm
60 years old and you couldn’t be more wrong. I really don’t get why you degrade others to make yourself feel better. You must have some inferiority complex. I truly hope you find your path. I am very fluid in my musical taste and have supported many genres of music and country has been in my blood since the late 70s. Huge Merle fan and watched it change through the years. Absolutely despised and stopped listening when the likes of Florida Georgia line and the like became popular. I am so glad quality country has come back thanks to the likes of a few various artist, turnpike, Crockett, Flores, and yes even Bryan. I just don’t get the hate for Zach. Just doesn’t make any sense. But I guess there will always be critics for any artist.
June 7, 2024 @ 1:13 am
You “You are just jealous of Zach Bryan’s fame” guys don’t bother me at all.
June 8, 2024 @ 7:23 am
Travis, there may have been a time, back in the 1970s, where Rolling Stone would have least pointed out the issues you mentioned. But the last three decades have seen it erode into a clickbait-filled electronic rag with some of the dumbest opinions by a writing staff in this country.
They recently published a list of the “top 200 country songs of all time.”
Of. All. Time.
Think about the scope of that: how many country songs have been recorded in the past 70-80 years? Now look at their top 20. While most of their selections make some sense, Taylor Swift’s “Mean” is *not* the 20th best country song “of all time.” (Sorry, Swifties).
And yes, they did add Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” at number 192. Here’s a song that has been discussed here and that appears to be heading in the wrong direction, chart and airplay wise, after a big to-do about the cultural importance of a Black woman R&B artist breaking down the doors into the world of country. Without even going into a discussion of all the other Black artists who have done this and are working hard to do it still, I suppose this was supposed to be a game changer, a cultural earthquake that would have us all holding hands and doing a steel guitar rendition of “Kumbya” as different genres merged together in a grand melting pot.
As I write this, Beyonce’s song is #48 on Billboard’s current Top 100 chart. I don’t know where it sits on country charts, but I imagine it’s not faring as well as expected. Trig recently broke down that songs fall right here. So no matter what you may think of the song or the movement, placing that song on a “top 200 of all time” list – even close to the bottom – is a flat out insult to many far more deserving works.
June 8, 2024 @ 11:00 am
The story of 2024 in country music was supposed to be Beyonce. Now it’s the Beyonce implosion, though nobody is telling that story, because it’s embarrassing, and outlets don’t want to get attacked by Stans. It’s even worse since I wrote my report.
June 6, 2024 @ 12:25 pm
You can’t have a country song without 12 string guitar…..
Wow… that’s pretty funny and patently false. Let’s see if I can think of any country songs that had 12 string in em…hmmm. Marty Stuart dabbles a bit in that Byrds sound such as the song Time Don’t Wait, where Cousin Kenny brings in a 12 string Rickenbacker. That’s one. If memory serves right, in his earlier years, Glen Campbell did a 12 string record, but it was instrumentals I think, and it was a one- off. John Jorgenson may have used one with Chris Hillman in The Desert Rose Band. That’s all I got off the top of my head. Gotta be a few more perhaps, but it’s just rare. Oh wait, there was a Merle Travis blues album where he dabbled in 12 string, but it wasn’t very country. Dale Watson put out a 12 string Leadbelly tribute called Starvation Box recently, so there’s that one. Yeah sounds like ol Shaboozey is a little woozy on the Country and bluegrass knowledge. But, he’s not a country artist, so in fairness I wouldn’t expect him to get it right.
June 6, 2024 @ 12:39 pm
The few instances of 12-string guitar in country songs are probably going to have ties to the West Coast, like Marty Stuart, Chris Hillman, and Glen Campbell. I didn’t want to get too pedantic on the point, but the instrument is only going to appear in a very narrow niche of country influences.
I honestly can’t think of one instance when 12-string has been used in bluegrass. I am sure it has happened at some point, just from the sheer volume of bluegrass songs. But to say, “You can’t have bluegrass without 12-string guitar” is a genuine laugh out loud moment.
June 6, 2024 @ 4:36 pm
There is a guitar setup called the Nashville high strung. Where you take the high strings from a pack of 12 strings, put them on a 6 string guitar. It’s good for layering guitar tracks. Kinda emulates a twelve string without the effort of playing 12.
June 7, 2024 @ 8:56 pm
Yes! I’m glad someone mentioned this. If you hear acoustic guitar in the mix of a full band on a popular record it is highly likely this guitar setup because the lower register of an acoustic guitar doesn’t conflict with the register of other instruments in the mix.
June 6, 2024 @ 6:53 pm
Kristofferson played ALOT of 12 string guitar both on his early albums and live…
June 6, 2024 @ 6:32 pm
Roger McGuinn had a 12-string guitar. It was like nothing I’d ever heard.
June 6, 2024 @ 10:14 pm
lol
June 6, 2024 @ 12:59 pm
I think you are on to something when explaining the appeal of Zach Bryan. In an overly polished, digital music world, his work does come off as “authentic.”
June 6, 2024 @ 1:48 pm
Even after all of this, I’ll still gladly favor listening to this over Chris Young’s shameless attempt to lazily coast on David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” riff and write new corny-ass coming of age romcom cliches to its melody in a desperate last-gasp attempt for continued commercial relevance (or the aforementioned “Chevrolet”).
June 6, 2024 @ 1:55 pm
I look forward to the “Bill Monroe’s Greatest 12 String Guitar Hits” album.
June 6, 2024 @ 2:13 pm
The point about people like and dislike Zach Bryan for the same reasons is good. This is the whole world imo. Think of anyone or anything you dislike? The thing you dislike is specifically what others do like about it.
June 6, 2024 @ 2:52 pm
I don’t think anyone here, including SCM, is necessarily claiming otherwise, so this is not an indictment aimed at anyone in particular. But can we acknowledge that “authentic” can still…kinda suck? Obviously we’re not going to encounter a perfect album where every single track is amazing, and yet I get the sense that, compared to the “system” artists out of Nashville and on pop country radio, we give way more of a pass to the young “authentic” artists lately: Zach Bryan, et al. And by “we,” I’m leaning more towards rabid internet fans who, to borrow from Farce the Music, scream the lyrics so loud at live shows that nobody can hear the artist. It’s like “authentic” has become the backstage pass to automatic success bolstered by the new hipster tribalism of the internet.
There’s an old adage out there that goes something like, “You have to write 99 bad songs before you write your first good one.” Maybe a better way to put that is you have to be *willing* to write 99 bad songs before you get to your first good one. John Baumann has a line in his song “Here I Come” about that. And we all know that sometimes you just get luckier than others by writing your first good one super early, whether it’s a one-hit wonder or you continue to add good ones to your catalog, and that’s great! But for the most part, that saying has been the cornerstone for a lot of artists we consider legendary today…or perhaps just “consistent.” They recognize that it’s a long way to the top. Most artists starting out are okay with climbing that mountain or getting as high as they can before they decide a different path. But is that even a mountain anymore? Is it a long-term good that the mountain might be gone?
I can’t speak to the young “authentic” artists that have been showcased here over the last couple of years, but from the outside, it looks like a lot of these folks simply wrote 99 “bad” (or perhaps “unpolished” is the more accurate term) songs and one or two genuinely *good* ones and then…put them all on these big albums anyway. I’m obviously exaggerating to keep within that saying above, but does that make sense? Are we just in a new era where we’re okay with releasing all the unpolished material since, after all, it’s authentic? Is every single record from 2019-onward simply “AMAZINGGGG”? Are consumers locusts content to devour any content we can find as long as it’s new, regardless of the quality?
I’m genuinely not trying to be a hater here, and I’m sort of covering a couple of different topics here, but it seems like we’ve been so quick to flip the criteria of what’s “good” country music these days based on the last few years. The general (again, exaggerated for effect) rule of thumb appears to be “Bro/pop/over-produced/drum track/finger snaps country = automatically bad; ‘authentic’ unpolished raspy sad-boy countrifolkana 30-track-live journal = good.” But then we don’t know what to do when a bro country artist puts out that rare “good” (or even just catchy) song that’s well written with a strong melodic structure and seems to come from the heart…mainly because we’ve entrenched ourselves so deeply in our respective camps, and maybe that really is just an online problem, but I don’t buy that wholesale.
As much as we’re willing to discount a lot of bro country for how awful and over-produced it is (and believe me, you don’t have to convince me how bad so much of it is), are we just as willing to admit that “authentic” doesn’t absolve you from good, hard, deserved criticism? Is there a bubble on “authentic” that we’re not seeing? Is this just the current trend that’s going to overcorrect and the cycle begins all over again with the next “authentic”?
You have a lot of, sure, *older* consumers asking “Why is this particular artist blowing up?” and I think it’s a worthwhile question that deserves an answer beyond “Because listen to how authentic they are!”
By that measure, there sure are a lot of truly authentic artists in and around central Texas (and elsewhere, but that’s where I roam), and a whole bunch of those folks are going to spend most of their careers struggling up that mountain playing a lot of thankless cover gigs and empty rooms with their originals, wondering what they’re doing wrong, falling into the trap of comparison with who they’re seeing on Spotify’s “Hot Country” playlist every week, getting older and a little more desperate while their teenage and twenty-something counterparts open arenas for the big boys and girls. Or they’ll release a very good record that only gets a little bit of regional airplay and some local/inside-baseball appreciation, but not much else. Is that fair? Maybe it is. Maybe that’s the market and how pop music works. Maybe there actually are more stories about these newer artists “paying dues” and either we just don’t hear about them, or the journey has just been made shorter to the point that we don’t consider that a factor anymore. After all, you don’t even have to leave your house or go buy any live sound equipment to risk any live feedback and launch your career from your bedroom. Maybe nothing has really changed except for the technology, and in 5-10 years, we’ll all be having a completely different argument.
I can’t believe I rambled that much in an online comment, but I’m in the middle of my two weeks’ notice at work and I had the time. I know I’m all over the place and not 100% right about any of this, but this trend interests me, and it’s a feeling I’ve had since the pandemic. For what it’s worth, I’d love for one of the younger artists of this era pull a Willis Alan Ramsey. That would be badass.
Would love to hear anyone’s thoughts on all this (Jason Boland, if you’re out there, please chime in). I could very well be wrong!
June 6, 2024 @ 3:22 pm
Yeah authentic doesn’t automatically equal good. And inauthentic doesn’t automatically equal bad. Like I’m not sure Frank Sinatra can be considered authentic but boy he was great at singing. And sure being honest in your music doesn’t mean you have anything worth listening to. I often think of people who say I stand up for what I believe as if that automatically means what you’re standing up for is good.
But I think you’re missing the appeal of Zach Bryan if you think it’s *just* authenticity. The authenticity is great but it’s not the only thing. I certainly think Oliver Anthony is authentic but I don’t like his music. People like Zach Bryan because they think he is authentic but also because he writes songs that speak to their expected and he is capable of turns phrase and genuine insight people find moving.
Like with Zach Bryan what he’s doing is speaking to a specific generational experience of people who grew up with social media where emotional oversharing is normal. But it’s not that he’s being authentic alone it’s that he has insight into what that experience was like for a lot of people. That’s what people love that in his music they hear their experience in a way that’s true and more eloquent than what they could have said themselves.
It’s like a good standup comedian. It’s about saying what I already thought but better than I could have said it and maybe I didn’t even realize it was what I thought and felt.
June 6, 2024 @ 5:15 pm
Definitely agree that “authentic” doesn’t equal “good.”
Truly “authentic” artists are usually also the toughest to wrangle. I’m thinking Billy Joe Shaver, Luke Bell, James Hand, Spencer Cornett.
I really don’t think the appeal for Zach Bryan is 100% tied to “authenticity.” That’s why I didn’t use that word, but went with “real.” I think for the current 18-30 generation that lives primarily on their phone, they see Zach Bryan and it reminds them of themselves. He’s going through what they’re going through. The songs are about the issues and anxieties they have. It’s like he’s singing exactly about them and to them. That’s why they sing back so emphatically.
I have a whole article coming up on Zach Bryan that will go deeper into this. But I think there is a lot of misplaced anger and resentment toward him. Fans are connecting with him in very deep ways. This is the power of music. I think some that are on the outside looking in feel alienated by it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not genuine and powerful.
June 7, 2024 @ 7:37 pm
I adore you for your comment. You said what you wanted to, simply stated. I appreciate your honest opinion. Enjoyed reading your comment.
June 7, 2024 @ 8:52 pm
Sterling, that was a very good response. I have complained before that I believe one of the biggest problem with country music now is a lack of quality songwriting. The best written songs usually rose to the top pre-2000’s. The biggest hurdle from me latching on to red dirt country artists was that their songwriting was sub-par to 80’s and 90’s country and the musicianmanship was far from the Nashville A-listers. However one of my favorite country songs is alt-country-red dirt: Corpus Christi Bay by Robert Earl Keen.
June 6, 2024 @ 3:06 pm
I didn’t think it was possible to dumb down a Zach Bryan song, however I can see why ZB’s music would resonate with someone from the rap world. Zach Bryan’s lyrics do the same thing as many rap lyrics; they both incongruently throw out dumb random words, dumb ideas, and dumb metaphors yet think they are profound.
June 6, 2024 @ 3:24 pm
Good article, I agree with most of what you say. However, as one of the Zach Bryan detractors you mention, my issue isn’t just the unfinished feel of his work, its how UNauthentic it feels. He probably can play a guitar quite well, but does his lame strum pattern over and over to make it sound amateur and relatable.
Also, whoever mixes his sound does a great job. That acoustic sound is nicely widened and leveled so it sounds perfect of speakers tuned for pop (most Bluetooth speakers are like this).
So its not the rawness thats the problem, its how it seems (to me anyway) mostly all put on.
The most prominent 12 string guitar part I know in country is the intro on ‘Some days are Diamonds’ John Denver. That strum really brings out the 12 string sound.
June 6, 2024 @ 8:52 pm
My frustration with his music is that he is so close to making something that could objectively be good/great (to me). And it wouldnt alienate his current fanbase with these changes. I feel no frustration towards the music of Jelly Roll and Morgan Wallen in this way because they both are too far gone. Zach isn’t. He could create something so much better if he changed a few little things – that is the frustration. I still think he is a net positive for country music, as opposed to Jelly Roll and Wallen who are net negatives. I know Zach is influencing a lot of guys to pick up guitars much in the same way early Taylor Swift influenced so many young women (who can barely sing) to start performing their own songs. (and they closely copied her sound much like the Zacholites or Zach-swifties did too). Taylor Swift changed her sound for the better. Zach could do the same and also put out songs with better lyrics, but he probably won’t and he doesn’t have to…because he’s already uber succesful. That’s the frustration.
June 6, 2024 @ 4:03 pm
I’ve been listening to songs from Shaboozey’s upcoming album for the past half-hour or so and I’ve got to say that there’s some good stuff on it, regardless of how the sausage was made. “Highway” is a banger, and “East of the Massanutten” is basically “Something in the Orange” all polished up and shiny. There are duds in the collection as well, but overall, if a dilettante is going to put his boots under the country music bed, I wouldn’t mind having it be this guy. Of course, radio will demand another mindless bop like “Tipsy” as a follow-up single, so the good stuff will remain obscure album tracks. Oh well. (Apparently, the whole album has been available on YouTube) since May 31. I’m surprised you haven’t checked it out, Trig.)
My two cents on the “12-string” howler is that he might have been thinking of a pedal steel guitar. At least I’m hoping he misspoke, because I’d hate to think that someone who obviously finds something he likes about country music could be that horribly wrong.
June 6, 2024 @ 5:05 pm
Howard, I wondered that too. In ignorance you might look at a double neck steel guitar and call it 12 string, not knowing that’s the wrong terminology. But, then again steel guitar, at least electric isn’t common in bluegrass either
Though it must be admitted JD Crowe and The New South did indeed use pedal steel. But I doubt Ol Boozy knows who JD Crowe even is.
June 6, 2024 @ 8:55 pm
I lost count of how many times my pedal steel was called a “lap steel” by people who play country music. I think Shaboozey just misspoke,
June 6, 2024 @ 4:08 pm
I believe this song is what some folks call cultural appropriation.
June 6, 2024 @ 6:55 pm
A whole article on a simple but fun somewhat a little bit country song that is a redo and a inferior one at that of an older song. And of course we get the obligatory zack bryan reference with the promise of a whole article on him in the future. Is his numbers dropping, does he need a boost. One thing ill say is that this song does have a little more country going through it than most of bryans stuff.
June 6, 2024 @ 9:01 pm
Sorry for writing a whole article on country music on a country music website.
Zach Bryan’s numbers are not dropping. He’s continues to do curiously spectacular.
June 7, 2024 @ 11:02 am
You got me there but going with that flow. Bryan recently said he wasnt a country artist so you doing a whole write up on him then would be what?
June 7, 2024 @ 12:13 pm
Zach Bryan also said he was not a pop artist. As I have said from the beginning, Zach Bryan in not country, but still fits within the country canon as a country-inspired folk/Americana artist, which puts him more in the domain of country than any other major genre.
I appreciate your patronage and that you want to read all the articles published on this website, but it goes without saying that not every article is going to appeal to everyone. So if this article or other articles involving Zach Bryan don’t appeal to you, by all means, don’t read them. I won’t be offended, and I would appreciate if you’re not offended by me writing them. These articles do appeal to others, and also broach important subjects in country music. I posted three articles yesterday and another today, so there are plenty of other options for you to read.
June 7, 2024 @ 9:01 pm
Oh just mainly pulling yout leg there trigger. But just so ya realize i could cherry pick my articles but you never know when a random zack bryan reference will be thrown in. Also yoi would get a little bored if everybody just said good job and left it at that.
June 7, 2024 @ 6:05 am
It really doesn’t take any amount of talent to make these kind of songs. A few years back I told my son that the rap he listened to was so easy to make and that anyone with some computer knowledge could do it. Of course he said prove it. Just as an experiment, I hopped on Apple’s GarageBand, and started putting some loops of drums, bass, and synths, together into a song. Of course I’m no rapper, so I went to one of many royalty free vocal sample sites and snatched up some rapping vocals. I added them to my song.
It took me a little longer than the two hours Shaboozy claims here, but within a day’s work, I had my rap song. I played it on my car stereo for my kid and asked him if he liked it before telling him I made it. He said he liked it, and he was actually surprised it was made by me. I was surprised when he asked for a copy of it to play for his friends.
Proof positive that someone with no talent (Me), can make a listenable song on a computer.
June 7, 2024 @ 7:05 am
“Roger McQuinn had a 12 string guitar. It was like nothing I’d ever heard.”
June 7, 2024 @ 8:49 am
The Byrds were the first act I thought of when I saw “12-string guitar.” The “Eight Miles High” Byrds, not the “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” Byrds.
June 7, 2024 @ 10:22 pm
@Brian–Not to be too pedantic (I can’t help it) but the guy was the leader of the Byrds–an iconic H-o-F band in the ’60s–and performed and made albums under his own name and with other collaborators into the ’90s (and he’s still living). His name is Roger McGUINN!
June 7, 2024 @ 8:23 am
What the hell is a shaboozey?
June 12, 2024 @ 7:59 pm
Shabeyoncé ???
June 7, 2024 @ 11:01 am
a trans “woman” was just crowned Miss Maryland.
a morbidly obese woman was just crowned Miss Alabama
Shaboozy a black rapper, has the the number one selling “country single” on iTunes
Cultural Marxism is real.
June 7, 2024 @ 11:08 am
not sure what this has to do with Shaboomy, but I had to google those claims. Holy Shit!
June 7, 2024 @ 12:10 pm
it’s all part of the same intentional effort by social activists to subvert western society by destroying traditional cultural institutions like country music. Destroy country music, you destroy America. I know Trig doesn’t like it when bring things like this up, but it just seems so obvious, that’s too hard to ignore.
June 7, 2024 @ 12:51 pm
I don’t take issue with people bringing up how some do want to destroy country music. I just don’t want the discussion to veer into other divisive subjects.
I agree that some see country music as a traditional country institution, and thus have targeted it as either having to be co-opted by their ideology, or destroyed. Do I think Shaboozey is part of that? No, I don’t. I think he’s a young, semi-talented artist trying to leverage the zeitgeist for fame and success. It’s the media that has ulterior purposes. But as this song breakdown video from Rolling Stone exposes, their efforts are rendered clownish when you have someone like Shaboozey saying “Tipsy” is a “traditional country song,” and that “you can’t have a bluegrass song without 12-string guitar.”
These folks are so out of their depth, I don’t even know if it’s something to be worried about.
June 8, 2024 @ 3:45 pm
I Googled it.
The Maryland story appears to be legit (apart from the gratuitous connection to Maxism). The Alabama story is essentially fake. (It’s an “alternative” pageant, that some group set up on their own, to pick non-traditional beauties.)
June 9, 2024 @ 3:48 pm
Non-traditional beauty is an oxymoron.
June 7, 2024 @ 11:15 am
Let’s not get into random culture war grousing here. This is a country music website. Let’s talk about country music.
June 9, 2024 @ 5:38 am
Some might like it, I don’t. It does not sound good to me and it does not sound that authentic and it might be that Beyonce who makes it clear she is not country (which she isn’t) is more country. This is not for me.
June 10, 2024 @ 2:17 am
you can’t have an hip hop song without a harp lick
June 10, 2024 @ 8:40 am
I am going to go ahead and thank you for writing this piece, Trigger. This is a perfect description and summation of the points.
I can’t believe what is being considered country music these days. What’s next, an NWA country song featuring Kane Brown and Sam Hunt?
Sad. Sad what they are trying to do to this genre while the clueless masses believe they are listening to country music because they saw a video on CMT.
June 11, 2024 @ 8:23 am
Just gonna say I love the song Tipsy and how fun it is . People enjoy it, found a live performance from Stage coach, everyone is singing every word and loving it. That is the best kinda country fun song. And also dig the name Shaboozey !! 🙂 I like to get shaboozey everytime I wanna party, 🙂 He was at Cma Fest, they should have had him on the main stage at night getting the whole giant crowds singing along and dancing.
September 15, 2024 @ 6:09 am
I really don’t care what y’all think .. I’m 76 and love Shaboozy’s version..And I love Country.