Dirty Grass Soul Releases New Song, Takes SCM To Task

Since 2011, Dirty Grass Soul out of Shelby, North Carolina has been regaling people in the Piedmont and beyond with their stirring blend of country music that takes inspiration from the string-based roots of the region and instills it with a kick of Southern rock soul.
This is perhaps best illustrated in their brand new song and video “Back to the Holler,” which captures this band that’s opened for big national acts over the years metaphorically and actually picking out their life stories around a campfire.
Led by singer, songwriter, fiddle and guitar player Kevin Dedmon, he’s joined in Dirty Grass Soul by his brother Kris Dedmon on banjo, Lance Watson on bass and mandolin, Tommy Smith on electric guitar, Glenn Miller on pedal steel, and Jared Miller on percussion. Check them out:
In the new song, Kevin Dedmon rings out early on, “Everyone has their opinion. Right or wrong just shout it out.” He took that line to heart a couple of days ago after he saw Saving Country Music and other outlets shouting down country rapper Katie Noel and her terrible new song “Southern.”
“Gettin up on a soapbox for a minute. I just want to get something off my chest,” the band posted on Facebook. “I haven’t listened to this particular song, it may be awful, it may be incredible, I don’t know, that isn’t the point. My point is that it is incredibly sad to me that country music social media outlets (and most all media outlets for that matter) have devolved to the point that they had rather spend their time bashing artists that “suck” more than they had recognizing folks busting their ass that deserve the recognition these outlets could easily give them instead.”
The post went on to say:
As many of you know, we are self-managed. Literally every business aspect of our band is done in house, and I am proud of that, we wear it like a badge of honor. Whether it is booking shows, website, merch, recordings, videos, etc. it is all done by US 100%. I ain’t got a clue when it comes to promoting our music in this digital age, but I’m trying my best to learn.
On many occasions, I have sent our songs & videos to these exact pages in hopes that they might share our stuff. Something as simple as a “share” by these pages have proven to be career changers for many. I’ve never ONCE received a response other than the generic, “we receive lots of emails, we’ll review your submission, blah blah blah.”
I’m perfectly okay with that, I’m not asking for anything we don’t deserve. I know there are hundreds of artists across the country emailing them the same way I did, and we’re no different than anyone else. What pisses me off to the core however, is to see those same outlets resort to posting garbage clickbait articles like this. You think this Katie Noel gal gives a damn Saving Country Music,Whiskey Riff or We Hate Pop Country wrote an article about how her song sucks? Maybe, maybe not… but I’d bet she is probably thrilled to death that you just gave her the clout she is chasing, and got her another million views.
You really want to Save Country Music??? How about post COUNTRY MUSIC from the ones trying to SAVE IT that desperately need the spotlight you are willingly handing to the people you are bashing!!!There are tons of us out here BUSTING OUR ASS to get a piece of the pie, and it’s a slap in the face when these pages use their platform (that reaches millions of country music fans) to write a full pledged article about this hick-hop shit rather than highlighting the artists out here trying to do it the right way. Sorry. Rant over. We appreciate everyone that has shared our new tune! Can’t wait to see you all in Daytona next week.
Go check out the new one if you haven’t yet!
As I was searching for something else late Wednesday night on Facebook, this post came across my feed, which was a lucky chance in itself since the Facebook algorithm rarely if ever shows you want you truly want or need to see. And since Saving Country Music always encourages criticism, and for everyone to shout out their opinions right or wrong, time was taken to respond.
Thanks for raising this concern.
I can only speak for Saving Country Music, but SCM writes on average of about four of these “rants” per year. SCM also publishes an average of 13 articles per week. That means that these rants make up about 0.5% of Saving Country Music’s content. Saving Country Music currently has published 7,789 articles to date, with the vast, vast majority of those articles offering positive coverage for independent artists.
So when you say SCM would “rather spend their time bashing artists that ‘suck’ more than they had recognizing folks busting their ass that deserve the recognition these outlets could easily give them instead,” this is just false. Now, when you’re talking about an outlet such a We Hate Pop Country, those percentages couple be flipped. But that is a very different outlet from SCM, or Whiskey Riff. That’s not to bash WHPC, but that’s what they do, they hate on pop country.
As frustrated as you might be that independent artists are not getting more press, independent press is frustrated that articles about independent artists don’t receive nearly the attention from the public. Just this week you can find SCM features on Laid Back Country Picker, Tommy Prine, Channing Wilson, Miles Miller, Amanda Fields, and more. But these features get 5% the attention of something like taking down Katie Noel. SCM will still always prioritize supporting independent artists. But this is a two-way street. The public needs to support this coverage of independent artists for it to sustain.
All that said, when I started Saving Country Music, it was deemed important to offer spirited criticism of what was happening in the mainstream in hopes of improving it. Everyone deserves good music, just like everyone deserves good food and water. You can’t “save country music” while ignoring the millions of consumers in the mainstream. Again, the primary focus is always supporting independent artists. But critiquing the mainstream is what makes the “rub” where you integrate and convert disgruntled mainstream fans into independent foot soldiers. You can’t do that just by preaching to a choir.
Finally, I can completely understand how frustrating it can feel being an independent band trying to get attention, and feeling like you’re screaming into a void. I am just as frustrated that I can’t feature more independent artists and bands than SCM already does. But with an average of 15 albums coming out per week in the greater country/roots world, you just cannot feature everything. So you just try to do the best job you can featuring the stuff you can get to, and wake up the next day, and start hacking at it again.
The hope is that a rising tide will raise all boats. Over the years, SCM has published less and less critical coverage, and more positive coverage, because more positive things are happening for independent artists. There’s still more work to do, and worthy artists that have fallen through the cracks.
But we all have to understand that in independent music, it’s just me and you. We all have to help each other. But the occasional over-the-top rant about a terrible song is not what is going to hold us all back. If anything, they create rallying cries and re-engage the public.
Keep your chin up, keep doing the best you can, keep sending your stuff to SCM and I’ll keep considering it for feature. And who knows, you might be featured sooner than later.
Best of luck with your music,
–Kyle “Trigger”
Saving Country Music
To further echo this sentiment, take for example the articles posted earlier this week on Saving Country Music featuring The Laid Back Country Picker and Amanda Fields. These are truly independent artists with no labels, no representation whatsoever, and they both received big reviews. Their posts on Facebook received 16 and 21 likes/reactions respectively. The Katie Noel post receive 1,400 likes/reactions, 159 shares, and 850 comments. A post on Billy Strings received 2,700 likes/reactions. This illustrates the challenge that both the Facebook algorithm and public sentiment create to featuring lesser known artists.
In fact, since posts about big-named artists or “rants” receive so much outsized attention, it results in the skewed perception that led to the rant by Dirty Grass Soul. If you’re solely relying on Facebook and other social media platforms to curate your news feed, all you think that Saving Country Music does is post rants or about big artists. And when you interact with these posts—especially if that activity is negative—it reinforces it in your feed, while album reviews for independent artists get systematically depreciated on social media.
Also, it’s really important for folks to reach out to Saving Country Music directly and submit their music through the Contact Form, and to read what to submit and when for the greatest chance at coverage. For example, Saving Country Music rarely features live albums. The one time Dirty Grass Soul reached out previously, it was about the live album they released last year. SCM also rarely does interviews or features singles. The primary way artists are featured is through album reviews. However, everything is considered, screen, and every message is responded to. Just the time commitment this takes is an incredible burden.
And even if a band or artists don’t get a full-blown feature on Saving Country Music, they might get a mention. Their album might end up on one of the Release Radar posts so folks are made aware of it. A song might end up on the Top 25 Playlist. At the least, if a song or video is worthy, it will end up in the news crawl that goes along the top of the site, just like “Back to the Holler” from Dirty Grass Soul did.
But with so much music coming out all the time, and the inundation of requests for coverage, Saving Country Music is still not going to be able to feature everybody, and not everybody deserves to be featured. But it just happens to be that Dirty Grass Soul and “Back to the Holler” do. And by putting out a good song and speaking up, they finally got the Saving Country Music feature they deserved.
March 2, 2023 @ 12:23 pm
Thanks for what you do, Kyle. Not all of us feel the way Kevin does.
I can identify with his feelings of frustration sometimes, but ultimately nobody deserves a career in music. If I’m not connecting with fans on my own and putting butts in seats, it’s no one’s fault but mine. Quality content over time wins.
Like BJ Barnham sang, “The harder you work the luckier you get.”
March 2, 2023 @ 1:06 pm
I do make a point to listen to some of the songs from people who complain the loudest about not having gotten a fair chance at success. Every single time I listen to their music I can see why that happened.
March 4, 2023 @ 5:47 am
hey Conrad that “Cecilia” song is heartbreaking! Congrats!
Nobody i know works harder tha Trig, wrong target here.
March 4, 2023 @ 2:45 pm
Thank you, Daniele.
March 2, 2023 @ 12:30 pm
Nonsense from these guys. Trigger is absolutely helping save country music.
I was only listening to classic country because all the new stuff, I thought, was trash. When Chris Stapleton broke out I was impressed, and as I was reading about him I came across SCM. None of the other articles about Stapleton said anything about the rest of the independent scene. But here, I found people commenting about other acts.
I never would’ve found the Turnpike Troubadours, Sturgill, Jinks, Childers, Isbell, Lindi Ortega, Colter Wall, Mike and the Moonpies, etc etc back in 15/16/17 if it wasn’t for this site. Keep it up Trigger.
March 2, 2023 @ 12:50 pm
Just to clarify folks, I’m not trying to call out Dirty Grass Soul. I appreciate the criticism and feedback from them. That’s why I highlighted their Facebook post. I may disagree with some of what they said, but I also appreciate the sentiment behind it. This is a criticism I see commonly, so I appreciate them forwarding an opportunity to address it. I understand their frustration as an independent band.
March 2, 2023 @ 1:43 pm
Earlier this week I thought about people like your past self, people who just don’t know that there was anything past the 1990’s that was any good. I met a lot of y’all because I play music casualy and I’ve used Craigslist Musicians a few times in the last 5 years to find people to jam with, whch gave me a lot of responses from people whose taste in country music didn’t go beyond the 1990’s at best, mostly because they just don’t know there’s anything good going on today.
I started a little mini-awareness campaign where I started making social media posts with the following:
” Do you play old-school country music but think all country sucks now? Not if you look deeper. There’s a golden age of independent country and Americana and bluegrass going on right now. There are too many great new artists to list here.
Here are some places to hear more about the good underground artists if you’re not finding them at your local shows:
Ameripolitan.org, Reddit’s r/CountryMusic and r/CountryMusicians, Saving Country Music, Twangville, Americana Highways, the GimmeCountry internet radio app, Mixcloud DJ app and it’s many independent country and rockabilly DJ’s, Americana UK, Wide Open Country, Black Opry, No Depression, Lone Star Music Magazine, Ignition Country UK, Holler.country, California Bluegrass Association, Post To Wire, Adobe And Teardrops. ”
i’m going to fine-tune it a bit- I didn’t vet all these websites entirely- and will probably try and really push this social media campaign outside of the tiny musician pages where I’m trying it out.
Any suggestions for other general youtube channels (ie WesternAF rather than, say, a specific band’s channel), podcasts, or other websites that cover independent country? I don’t really want to send people to Facebook or Twitter because of the same algorithmic thing Trigger mentions in the article, but forums are fine.
March 2, 2023 @ 1:44 pm
I specifically don’t know about any good Red Dirt resources and I know they’re out there. Suggestions?
March 2, 2023 @ 4:03 pm
If you live in NC , reddirtnc.com is a fantastic resource for upcoming shows in the state of NC
March 4, 2023 @ 9:12 am
Similar to Western AF, I also enjoy Dusty Vaquero, GemsOnVHS, The Coyote Radio Show & Podcast, and The Tomboy Sessions, to name a few.
March 4, 2023 @ 9:44 am
I love the Dusty Vaquero channel! The Converse Cowboy is another great channel- long and very interesting interviews with people in country and western (emphasis on western) music, ranching, craft, etc. He asks really interesting philosophical questions, too.
March 2, 2023 @ 12:50 pm
I have been checking this site every single day (articles and comments) for several years now, I’ve never commented but felt obligated to do so on this particular piece. I have discovered so much great music through your writing, Trigger, along with all the commentors. I could not begin to list the artists I would have never heard of if it weren’t for you. My gateway to independent country was the Turnpike Troubadours, but after that I can credit pretty much all of my subsequent discoveries to you. I just saw 49 Winchester in concert a few weekends back, at what was probably one of the best concerts of my life, and I would have never heard of them if it weren’t for you. I can say from this former pop country fan’s personal experience – you have totally changed my life through your work, and that’s no overstatement, because music is such a huge part of my life. Independent country has changed me on a fundamental level, and I can thank you for the vast majority of what I know. So keep up the good work, and keep doing what you’re doing my friend.
Side note, but I was actually aware of DGS for about 2 years now after my wife saw them in a small outdoor venue (we live not far from Shelby.) She doesn’t even like country much and even she was floored by them. I have since told many of my friends and family, and they are fans too. So they are definitely making an impact and the word is getting out about them, whether they see it or not.
March 2, 2023 @ 12:53 pm
Thanks for reading Nick.
March 3, 2023 @ 5:06 am
Nick, my story is similar. I was a rock guy who listened to some bluegrass, but hated modern “country music” on the radio. Turnpike caught my ear, then I found this site. Now my radio stays on Outlaw Country, and I stream many of the artists I’ve discovered here and on the SCM playlist. Saw Turnpike recently, and we’re going to see Mike and the Moonpies soon!
March 9, 2023 @ 10:33 am
Nick, my story is largely the same, regarding country music and SCM (and also, with some other genres of music too, for which a few other websites have helped me to learn, similarly to SCM, that there is still *so much great new music* being made, by both newer and older artists)!
Until around six or seven years ago, when I listened to country music, it was almost exclusively older artists, and their classic songs and albums. I had become so disgusted with the pop-bro-country that had been dominating radio for years that I all but assumed high-quality new country music either simply wasn’t being made anymore, or, it had gone so far underground that it was limited to very localized scenes, and would be very hard for me to find in my current living environment, far outside of the deep South where I was born and raised.
I’m happy and grateful to say that finding SCM *completely reinvigorated* me, as a country fan who *wanted* to be interested in quality new country artists, but just didn’t know where to look to find them! I can’t even begin to count the number of great bands and singer/songwriters that I’ve become a fan of through this website. Trigger has my eternal gratitude for that, and for his work here in general.
In the same vein, over the last three years, my enthusiasm for new rock and jazz (from Southern rock, to hard rock and metal, to prog, jazz fusion, and more) has also been reinvigorated by a guy named Pete Prdo and his *incredible* Youtube channel, Sea of Tranquility. For any fans of the aforementioned genres who love the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s giants, but who believe that there really are no great new artists making music in these styles anymore, check out SOT!
Together, SCM and SOT have gotten me into most of the good new music, by far, that I listen to these days. I still love and listen to the classic artists, but there are so many great newer ones out there, right now, making amazing new music, that it’s actually quite challenging to keep up with all of them– but trying to do so is *so much fun* for this lifelong music lover, who is pushing 50, but feeling like a young man again, discovering *so many* cool, newer singers and bands! 🙂
March 9, 2023 @ 10:37 am
Typo: Pete *Pardo* is the name of the guy who runs Sea of Tranquility on Youtube.
March 2, 2023 @ 1:03 pm
The most viewed Dirty Grass Soul videos on Youtube were 6+ years ago.
They weren’t trying to be objective. They were leaning into an emotional plea because they want you to help make them more popular.
Hey people of Dirty Grass Soul! No one is obligated to cheerlead online for you. We can discuss country music without you getting your panties in a bunch.
March 2, 2023 @ 5:54 pm
You just comment or do you actually listen to there music! There really good. They have opened for Hank Williams, Josh Tunner,CDB, Sawyer Brown. They played at Toney Stewards race track ,Orange County Chopper s there going to Daytona Beach for bike week. They put there time in and stay and hang out with their fans!!!
March 3, 2023 @ 4:46 am
I listened to their most recent single ‘Back to the Holler.” Comparing it to other songs on alternative country or roots radio stations, it wasn’t very good.
“Putting in the time” and “hanging out with fans” doesn’t automatically make a band good or listenable.
March 3, 2023 @ 10:18 am
Who is Josh Tunner?
And I don’t care if they hang out with fans any more than I care if the coaches of my teams are friendly with fans. Produce good music and wins.
March 2, 2023 @ 1:16 pm
It worked!! Listened to DGS for the first time after the SCM article and have liked what I’ve heard so far. Big fan of SCM which has helped me build and incredible library. Without SCM I would never have found DSG. To both , keep up the good work
March 2, 2023 @ 1:16 pm
A negative article will usually garner more comments and reactions than a positive article. As I said, “usually”.
As stated above, “That means that these rants make up about 0.5% of Saving Country Music’s content. Saving Country Music currently has published 7,789 articles to date, with the vast, vast majority of those articles offering positive coverage for independent artists.”
Thus, if 0.5% of articles are negative rants, but they elicit 30% of total views, comments, etc., then that is possibly why it seems there are more negative rants on this website than really are.
A simple algorithm could be ran to “maybe” prove this point. Case in point, the article on what’s her name” garnered 128 comments. If you take 8 recent postive articles, that results in an average of 16 comments per positive article. One would assume that views of negative/postive articles would as well be skewed.
So yes, there are FAR more postive articles posted here. But it goes a bit deeper than that.
I have no opinion either way. Just trying to add some context. But Trigger is correct in his analysis. He can’t help what the viewers read, respond to, link to, etc.
My 2-cents
(including inflation).
March 2, 2023 @ 1:33 pm
My immediate reaction is the following:
1) you’re right – these types of rants do not take over your page, and you do focus a lot more on the music.
2) I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT when you go on these rants. Please don’t stop completely!
3) Kudos to you to print their criticism verbatim.
4) This is great music! I’m going to look them up.
March 2, 2023 @ 2:20 pm
You won’t be sorry! They are great!
March 2, 2023 @ 1:35 pm
yeah fuck Facebook. you have a very good point about both the algorithm and the way that outrage gets more attention than more reasonably written neutral articles.
March 2, 2023 @ 1:42 pm
There are so few rants on here that I have seen comments requesting a good rant on occasion.
Kevin should familiarize himself with the website before ranting himself, apparently he is not a daily reader as many of us are.
As far as the song, I thought it was very well done. I listen to a lot of bluegrass of all styles (on Bluegrass Country) and the addition of the pedal steel is a nice touch. Although one doesn’t see a pedal steel often around the fireside!
March 2, 2023 @ 1:44 pm
Any honest content creator knows that negativity sells at a rate significantly higher than positivity. It’s just our nature to pay more attention to conflict, and lots of people make money that way.
That’s a big reason why I’m so grateful for SCM and have a lot of respect for the work done here.
Sometimes, certain subjects deserve to be eviscerated, and there’s a time and place for it. As long as that’s not half of your content, I would never fault anyone for covering things in that manner.
March 2, 2023 @ 1:57 pm
Great song and instrumentation. This isn’t the type of music I listen to much, but given their musical chops, I’ll check out more of their music. Despite their rant, it sounds like it comes from a place of them realizing what this type of exposure can mean to independent bands, so in that way, I find their criticism pretty complimentary of Trig and SCM.
March 2, 2023 @ 2:08 pm
…also, don’t get rid of the rants! Scrolling down and seeing ‘Katie Noel getting humped by a dog’ had me laughing in my office yesterday to the point where a couple people walking by had to stop in and check on me.
March 2, 2023 @ 2:01 pm
“Everyone has an opinion. Right or wrong shout it out.”
Unless it’s criticism of a shitty viral song apparently. There’s always a catch, isn’t there?
Also, how on earth can this guy be in this sphere and not already know the work you actually do? Fucking Facebook??
March 2, 2023 @ 2:28 pm
Dirty Grass Soul do have a point but, as others have already mentioned, lumping SCM in with Whiskey Riff and those other clickbait sites is ludicrous.
Absolutely blows my mind that SCM is run independently by one dude, and that dude still has time to engage with fans in the comments section and social media. Can’t think of any other music site like it.
I credit SCM with guiding this yankee through country music for at least seven years now – a genre I previously didn’t touch (on account of my ignorance). Between the countless albums bought and streamed, shows attended, and merch purchased in that span of time, SCM has certainly helped funnel a considerable amount of my income (along with that of family and friends) into this genre. Indeed helping save country music, one fan at a time. Job well done, and keep it up.
March 3, 2023 @ 10:15 am
I am a Yankee who grew up weaned on Nashville country music. I had no idea, due to my geographical location, that Red Dirt and Texas Country existed. I naturally assumed that Nashville was the only creator. Once Nashville’s brand of country music (with a few exceptions) went straight to hell, I was left out in the cold. Until one day, I discovered SCM. No idea how. It probably came from a mention on Country Universe (there’s a site practicing 1984-style censorship. Kevin bans anyone who doesn’t agree with his silly takes).
I learned about a whole world of country music that I never knew existed. If not for SCM, I would never have heard of Turnpike, Boland, Whiskey Myers, and other amazing bands and singers that makeup 90% of my musical collection.
Not knowing “The Bird Hunters?” I shudder at the reality.
March 2, 2023 @ 2:57 pm
Props to Trig for telling this whole story. Even I’m guilty at times of seeing an article or rant and thinking to myself why’s he wasting time on that when he could be doing ______. Every independent artist knows how tough it is and they all want to be recognized right here on the best Country music site in all the world. This place is the very reason the tide is changing and sometimes a rant is needed and welcomed. SCM like many above said changes lives, mine included. I like the song and the guys balls for sayin’ what’s on his mind. Now I’m off to see Joe Stamm and Alex Williams this evening with other like minded individuals on here that were kind enough to let me know of this show as well as Channing Wilson tomorrow.
March 2, 2023 @ 4:17 pm
I love most venues of music, but country and bluegrass have my heart. I try to support local music and Dirty Grass Soul is one of my favorites and the whole band is the most down to earth country boys you will ever meet. If you ever get a chance to talk or see them play I promise you won’t be disappointed.
March 2, 2023 @ 5:32 pm
Where to start- wow! I like that video, btw, and I will post it on my face book page… most of my face book “friends” are music lovers and local artists… I have posted many videos of great music and gotten 0 responses… I’ve posted a few SCM articles (and even made a point to point out how objective a journalist Kyle is in fact, he is the most objective journalist I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and I read a lot )… 0 response. SMH… people refuse to read or watch videos… I have no idea how they ever form any opinion about anything… beats all I ever saw…
March 2, 2023 @ 5:39 pm
I just posted that video on face book- looking at their you tube videos they have had quite a few views… of course I can’t see the analytics, but, a lot of views should garner attention…
March 2, 2023 @ 5:44 pm
What an uninformed thing to say. I wish Trig would do 30% of the reviews he does. I hate seeing so many reviews of acts who I have zero interest in knowing exist. Every review is just another article I won’t read, with a few rare exceptions.
Give me more “Hate” articles. Give me the articles about classic performers and music. Give me the articles about politics-adjacent issues.
Screw the reviews.
March 4, 2023 @ 9:00 am
Lol, sounds like you should start a blog Princess! After all, you are anointed with the wisdom of the ages. Though I highly doubt you have ever written a song or can play a G chord on a nylon string guitar.
March 5, 2023 @ 6:26 am
Ian,
That’s it? You got offended enough to hurl some trash talk, and that’s what you came up with?
Come on, man, impress me. Do another one.
March 2, 2023 @ 5:51 pm
Trigger,
You apologize too much.
They deserve zero coverage from this outlet after that rant.
They ranted because they wanted coverage. They got it.
March 2, 2023 @ 5:55 pm
If the song and video wasn’t good—and it is good—then this article would have never been published. I’d already spent the time responding to their Facebook post. Might as well turn it into content for the website.
I didn’t really apologize for anything here. I was just trying to foster understanding.
March 3, 2023 @ 10:04 am
They didn’t deserve a response, Trigger.
They wanted attention from you and they got it. You did apologize by offering up that whole lengthy response and thus justified their childish rant.
They have no business calling you out like that. You have done more for country music than any other outlet.
If anything, I miss the rants. They are an excellent gateway to the real stuff. That is how I first discovered this site. Then I kept reading and discovered a whole musical world that I didn’t know existed.
March 2, 2023 @ 6:12 pm
Love you Trig. You have brought so much joy and happiness into the lives of me, my friends and my family through this site. Keep on keep in’ on. If you weren’t doing it right. They wouldn’t be hatin’.
March 2, 2023 @ 6:41 pm
“Back to the Holler” a new song by Dirty Grass Soul. This is a song that really touches you, take a few minutes and see what this band is about. I promise you will enjoy the talent this group has to offer.
March 2, 2023 @ 8:32 pm
Great song, I can relate to everything he says. Hope these guys get more attention.
March 2, 2023 @ 10:12 pm
Kevin from Dirty Grass Soul here. I genuinely appreciate Trigger’s response to us. I can tell the effort and thought he put into explaining his perspective, and he certainly didn’t have to acknowledge or respond to my opinion I posted on our page. But I’m grateful he did, and in an unexpected turn of events here we are!
Anyone that knows us, or our band knows that we don’t expect anything from anyone or anybody. We’ve been at it as DGS 11 years now, and are constantly working to improve our craft and what we are doing. I sure hope we are just getting started good in this music thing and that you’ll be hearing from us a lot more in the future.
To be clear, I am a fan of SCM. I, just like many of you, have discovered tons of great artists through this page I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.
Judging by some of the comments I feel a little misunderstood and want to clarify. In an age where mainstream country radio is lacking, thousands (just like me and you) turn to outlets like SCM to find new music, and Trigger’s articles carry real weight when it comes to reaffirming bands that find themselves in our shoes. After releasing our new song and video, once the excitement wore off, I found myself falling into the social media trap of negativity. I was particularly pissed that on the day I put our new stuff out, I had a timeline full of articles going viral about how bad this country rapper’s new song sucked. I couldn’t help but wonder why stuff like that is being given the time of day and afforded the validation and opportunity that even a negative rant/bash brings? Why not instead use that space to highlight someone who could desperately use the platform a page like SCM offers, which clearly also does. Ironically, it was me going on this “rant” of my own that ultimately led to us being featured on the site. Not really how I pictured that going, but life can be funny like that.
My point was this, and I stand by the sentiment of it. Music will always be subjective. There’s so much great music out there from all kinds of artists, let’s focus on lifting up the ones we love, and quit harping on what we don’t, just scroll on past it. Lord knows there’s enough negativity in the world right now, do we really need any more?
I’m heading back to the holler.
– Kevin
March 3, 2023 @ 4:43 am
Don’t forget that nobody who is not working extremely hard trying to make original music for a living will ever understand the difficulty and emotional turmoil it brings. You deserve a rant here and there. Great tune and I will buy the music!
March 3, 2023 @ 9:12 am
Hi Kevin,
Want to preface this by saying, not trying to be harmful or hurtful. Your voice might not be for everyone, all the time. Your band is really tight, and I especially appreciate the banjo player.
Wishing all of you the best, & success, as you travel down this road.
P.S. lived in Shelby for 2 years, PPG, before Fed. Gov. Sweet town, with some wonderful people.
March 3, 2023 @ 10:07 am
Because it is extremely important to point out why bad songs suck. It is not negative to point out poor material and why that material is not good and potentially harmful to the genre.
Playing the ostrich doesn’t work.
March 2, 2023 @ 11:54 pm
The truth is there are so many great bands and artists, and unfortunately most of them fall through the cracks. SCM is an amazing resource for discovering independent country music.
March 3, 2023 @ 8:26 am
So let me get this straight? ‘Country boy’ whines about a country girl’s ‘hick-hop shit’ music as he calls it, being mentioned on SCM blog. And he was mad because he didn’t get mentioned because he just put a song out? So SCM gives him a ‘participation trophy’ post because country boy had all the checklist things a ‘country band’ should have in it – sitting on hay bales, banjo, pedal steel, and mentioning of ‘back to the holler’. Oh my aching ass, if this is the state of country music pretty sure it doesn’t need to be saved!
March 3, 2023 @ 8:41 am
There were three reasons I decided to publish this article:
1) I see the complaint this band posted all the time and I wanted to answer it, and on record.
2) I had already written out a long response to their Facebook post. It was one of those instances where you see something and want to respond to it, and next thing you know, you’ve written a novel. I thought, “Hell, I basically just wrote an article,” so I decided to make it into one.
3) The song and video are good, and worth highlighting. So adding that on top and giving this worthy band a mention only felt right.
I understand some may walk away from this saying, “Ha! Some band bellyaches on Facebook like a spoiled child, and gets their way.” The truth is this happens every day. SCM is constantly getting slammed by self-absorbed artists who think they’re entitled to media coverage. But this was a unique moment where lessons could be learned, and so I decided to highlight it.
March 3, 2023 @ 8:55 am
they make a valid point, but I would also make the argument that part of “saving country music” is also pointing out the stuff that needs to be avoided and for what reasons. There are a lot of artists and songs that come along, that I sometimes find myself not minding as much as I should, because they appeal to the part of my brain that wants to eat McDonald’s, watch porn, and smoke week all day. Only to be set straight by your wise assessments and critical evaluations of objectively bad music. As long as there is a good balance, there is nothing wrong with pointing to the dog turd in the grass so that none of your friends step in it.
March 3, 2023 @ 5:56 pm
Trigger, you have always given real reviews and real updates on these true country albums. I know Channing Wilson personally from living in Chattanooga and I love his music. I truly don’t care for thr Cobb produced album, but if you go listen to his live at Eddie’s Attic album you will see what his music truly is. But sometimes people get butthurt because they feel they don’t get the recognition they should….boo hoo, make something people want to listen to. Off my soap box now, but just keep doing what you do Trig, and God Bless
March 4, 2023 @ 9:31 am
I don’t mind the rants, they break things up. The only real gripe I have is that somehow Staind got an 8.5 for their dogshit album with lyrics that read like an email forward from your dipshit uncle, while The Flatlanders released a fantastic country record last year and it didn’t even get reviewed. One is group of emos who cosplay as rednecks, the other is a legendary group of songwriters who have essentially changed the musical landscape of independent country/folk music for over 50 years. Obviously this is old news that nobody else probably cares about, unless somehow you get stuck listening to the most recent Staind Acoustic record, in which case be aware of suicide hotlines because it’s such a pantload you might try and end it all.
March 7, 2023 @ 12:06 pm
I’ve heard of them now. Good job, everyone! Next time I’m up Shelby way, after I’ve eaten at Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge and taken in the sites at the Earl Scruggs Center, maybe I’ll be able to catch a Dirty Grass Soul concert at The Don Gibson Theater.