Florida Georgia Line Answer Their Critics (or try to, at least) with Dan Rather

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Well well well. So Florida Georgia Line has decided to go on the offensive when it comes to the significant criticism the duo is fielding as the face and premier franchise of Bro-Country. The faltering of the trend has put the Big Machine cash cow on unsure footing it seems, and they’re out to do something about it. In an interview with Dan Rather that will air Tuesday evening (5-12) on AXS TV, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley are being marched out to “answer their critics,” but in the teaser videos already released covering the majority of the pertinent parts of the interview, we see the duo answer very little, and show the shallowness of their knowledge about music.
First let’s all just recognize and appreciate why Dan Rather is interviewing Florida Georgia Line in the first place, and why it is happening right now. Forget that the duo is still selling tons of concert tickets and are still in the Top 10 on radio at the moment. When it comes down to the underlying statistics and trends, Florida Georgia Line is in a tailspin compared to where they were a year ago, and are poised to become the sacrificial lamb of the Bro-Country crash.
At this time in 2014, or even 2013 for that matter, if Florida Georgia Line released a song, it was almost guaranteed to go to #1. They were selling albums and singles left and right. Now that they have much more competition in the Bro-Country space, and the trend itself is in the serious decline, it has put Florida Georgia Line on the precipice of becoming a has-been—the Nickelback of Country Music to evoke the fact that the two bands share the same producer. This charm offensive is an attempt to turn the tide for the band. Coach them up on their interview skills and have Dan Rather throw them some softballs.
When asked to describe their music, Tyler Hubbard says, “I would say our music is just who we are. It’s a culmination of all of our influences. Growing up, we both had very very similar tastes in music and very similar influences and they were kind of all over the map. Something that a lot of people don’t understand, but we listen to everything….I think it’s important that our music portrays who we are, and where we’re at in life.”
On this point, there’s no need for argument. Unlike many of the other “country” artists who are chasing the trends that Florida Georgia Line helped start, Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard don’t know any better. They are being themselves.
Then it came to Dan Rather asking Florida Georgia Line to define Bro-Country, and that’s where it got very interesting.
“I’m not really sure,” says Brian Kelley about what Bro-Country means. “I’m not sure if I’ve got the exact definition. Somebody coined it, and you know what, we’ll take whatever. As long as people are showing up and loving out music, having an experience, and we’re creating moments they’re not going to forget, and they’re living out our music night after night, were blessed as can be man. There’s no label that can really hurt our feelings. Some people say that can be a negative thing, ‘Bro-Country,’ but every night we look out and we see thousands and thousands of fans that are happy and partying and enjoying.”
So just appreciate this ladies and gentlemen: Here’s a band who’s made millions and millions of dollars off of playing music that many people label as Bro-Country, the term “Bro-Country” has been around now for almost two years, they know people call their music Bro-Country and have been posed the question of what Bro-Country is many times before, yet they still can’t define it themselves? They haven’t taken the time to educate themselves about what this term means? Either they’re playing dumb, of they’re just plain stupid.
Then Dan Rather tries to help put, and makes even more of a mess.
“I’m guessing, and it’s only a guess, that ‘Bro’ as in ‘brother,’ are those that call it Bro-Country, they see some elements of hip-hop or rap in the music. And there are some of those elements. Undeniably so.”
Wrong Mr. Rather. And I understand that he was making a guess, but my word, this is a professional news anchor who used to serve the news nightly to a generation, and he can’t take two minutes to Google “Bro-Country”? And no, “Bro-Country” is not making reference to the hip-hop influences in the music, though Rather is right this is an element of the style.
Where the “Bro” comes from is the term of endearment douchebag white dudes suffering from a lack of self-awareness say to each other. As writer Jody Rosen who coined the phrase in August of 2013 described, it’s “music by and of the tatted, gym-toned, party-hearty young American white dude.” And what inspired Jody Rosen to coin the phrase? It was Florida Georgia Line’s song “Cruise”—yet the duo still has no idea what it means, or where it came from, and neither does Dan.
And then it gets even better when Dan Rather asks Florida Georgia Line to define the difference between rap and hip-hop.
“By the way, help me out because I don’t know myself. Brian, what’s the difference between hip-hop and rap?”
Oh, you knew this wasn’t going to end well. Once again, Brian Kelley is a professional musician who makes millions of dollars and professes to be well-versed and inspired by hip-hop with his own music, so you think he would be qualified to answer this question, right?
Rap is a style, and a cadence of conveying words in a musical context. Hip-hop is a culture and a genre of music, but it doesn’t necessarily have to involve rap. There’s hip-hop dancing. There’s hip-hop clothing styles. Rap is something very specific, while hip-hop is a more generalized cultural term. I know this, and I don’t even cover hip-hop music. I’m a country writer. But what did Brian Kelley have to say in response to Dan Rather?

“I would probably put it in the same—hip-hop slash rap to me. Kind of the same thing. Really,” Kelley said as he nods assuredly. Then Tyler Hubbard chimes in with, “That’s a great question. You’re full of great questions tonight!”
Yes, riveting banter between the top newsman of a generation and one of the highest-paid country acts in history. Have any of these morons ever heard of Wikipedia? Good Christ.
That leads into the most maddening portion of the interview, when Dan Rather asks the duo, “What about those that say you may be something, but you’re not country?”
Brian Kelley’s response is, “There’s never going to be another Johnny Cash. You’re not doing your fans justice, or yourself as an artist if you’re gonna go back and copy. I’m going to take what I know, my life experiences, you do the same, and let’s make some magic.”
This is the same lame answer that has been given by so many mainstream male country artists for years now. This is what Blake Shelton basically said with his “Old Farts and Jackasses” statement. Johnny Cash is exactly who Eric Church cited in his song “Country Music Jesus” that deals with this issue.
But nobody, nobody has ever said that they want modern country stars to impersonate Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, or anyone else. That has never been said by anyone, but is constantly forwarded as a point of discussion to paint people concerned about the direction of country music as asinine sticks in the mud who don’t want country music to “evolve.” Yes, country music must evolve. We already had a Johnny Cash, and the absolute last thing I’d ever want in the world, or Johnny Cash fans would ever want in the world, is for knuckleheads Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley to get up on stage and try to act like him. But read some of Florida Georgia Line’s garbled lyrics and try to explain to me how that’s “evolution” of anything. Florida Georgia Line and Bro-Country acts like them are devolution by definition.
But there’s nothing fret or worry about when it comes to this interview ladies and gentlemen. Dan Rather interviewing Florida Georgia Line is a good thing, and so is the fact that the headline coming out of the interview is that they’re “answering their critics,” because it means they’re running scared. They’re trying to take back control of the narrative because they’re losing it and they know their days could be numbered. That’s why it was so astounding when their last album Anything Goes came out, and they didn’t try to diversify or advance their sound. It seems obvious this is what they needed to do to survive, but they ended up going even deeper into the Bro-Country well.
READ: Florida Georgia Line’s “Anything Goes” is the Worst Album Ever
Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard aren’t bad people, they’re just completely over their heads. And it may not even be that they’re the fundamental problem with country music as much as their popularity and the people aping their style is the problem. These are a couple of “bros” who understand a little about melody, a lot about marketing, who struck it rich from being in the right place at the right time and meeting Scott Borchetta. But their days are numbered, and they know it. What was their last big hit? “Dirt,” which they didn’t write, and was the one deep song on their last album. Everything else has underperformed, and now they’re trying to save themselves from the inevitable backlash of a hyper-trend.
Regardless of what their staunches critics say, Florida Georgia Line is not without talent. But if they’re going to save their careers, it’s going to take actions, not words.
The other two teaser videos are “unlisted”, but you can watch them HERE and HERE.
May 12, 2015 @ 8:30 am
If I was their lawyer I would tell them to keep their mouth shut. Everything they say makes them look like “Dumb n’ Dumber”
May 16, 2015 @ 7:06 pm
Lets not lump a great movie like “Dumb n’ Dumber” in with these two douche nozzles.
May 12, 2015 @ 8:35 am
What that young man said is true, Johnny would say the same, all artists have to stay true to themselves. Some like what they do even if I don’t
May 12, 2015 @ 8:57 am
Florida Georgia Line man they make state of Georgia and Florida look bad. They give those 2 states a bad name. They gave country music a black eye and so does bro-country gave country music a bad reputation. plus Taylor Swift (who I like) and Same Hunt.
May 12, 2015 @ 9:00 am
Brian and Tyler are both over their head they need to record some country music like Dirt which was a very good song and they need to follow that so we don’t pick on them too much. I want to like them.
May 12, 2015 @ 9:28 pm
or maybe not
May 12, 2015 @ 9:02 am
Man, these doofuses sound stupid trying to talk their way around bro country. They are being who they are, they’re not the ones selling out to this low for hits, they simply started this low. But like you said, Trig, actions not words. Either these guys are incapable of writing and singing about anything else, or they’re naive enough to believe that they can do this same thing forever and ever and expect nothing to change.
December 12, 2015 @ 4:13 pm
Really? I actually like Florida Georgia Line and I like their music. What songs have u made?
December 12, 2015 @ 4:18 pm
I agree
May 12, 2015 @ 9:05 am
My issue with these guys, and those like them, does not emanate from them making shitty music. As the saying goes, there’s an ass for every seat, and I suppose that could be interpreted as an ear for every sound, as well. If people want to buy the dreck that these guys call music, then good for the “artists” and those who enjoy it.
My true problem is that this is what modern Country Music has been accepted as by the mass majority of the general public and media, despite the existence of more cerebral and classic sounds that appeal to those who grew up on 90’s country (like myself) and the great sounds prior. The fact that there is no longer an acceptance for the tried and true Country sound on radio, or in most of the mainstream industry is the cause for my disdain for what these guys put out.
The rhetoric that comes out of the mouths of the FGL’s, Sam Hunts, Luke Bryans and Jason Aldeans of the world can continue as far as I’m concerned, but it should be kept in a genre where it belongs…and that genre is NOT Country. To poison a genre that I grew up on and love to this day is what pisses me off about the whole bro-country/R&B/Metro movement that has taken shape the past few years, and I can only hope that the eventual, gradual distancing from these sounds results in a re-institution of music that deserves to be heard by the masses.
Sorry for the rant…just felt the need to put my 2 cents in.
May 12, 2015 @ 9:13 am
Ok I am going to admit something that will probably get me banned from this site. I went to a FGL concert week before last. My mother won 2 VIP Experience tickets at a silent auction and gave then to my sister and I because she thought that we were fans, so we went. The “experience” included an acoustic concert by FGL backstage before the actual show. I went in expecting the worst, but the two guys on that little stage with just their guitars wearing jeans and t shirts weren’t the FGL that I have grown to despise. They sang Dirt and a few other mellow songs that I wasn’t familiar with, because I only know their radio singles. Brian sang quite a bit, and they actually sounded pretty good. There was no banter in between songs, no douchebag commentary, just a short Q&A session. After the private concert, there was a meet and greet. There were maybe 75 of us in the room and they had us line up and I figured it would be the normal M&G cattle call. Wrong again. They actually hugged my sister and I after the photo, thanked us for coming to their show, and were just very nice and personable. I thought maybe I had misjudged them and started to think that the concert might actually be a good time. Boy was I wrong. When FGL busted on stage wearing shirts with pictures of their respective states on them, gone were the normal, decently talented guys that I had just heard sing. They were replaced with the two biggest douchebags ever. It was all “Yo BK” and “What up T HUBB” and the most annoying pseudo gangster ignorance that I have ever seen. They even rapped Eminem songs. It was the worst concert I have ever been to, by far. (Thomas Rhett hadn’t helped things by being a total goob as one of the openers). I guess my point is, they can be so much better than they are. Why don’t they want to? Oh yeah, because the 10,000 other people at that concert were eating that fake ghetto shit up and FGL knows it and laughs about it all the way to the bank.
May 12, 2015 @ 10:04 am
Was that the Hershey concert? If so, I had two friends who were at the backstage concert!
May 12, 2015 @ 10:09 am
No, it was in WV.
May 12, 2015 @ 9:15 am
In the short -attention-span era upon us ,celebrity music careers are here and gone . Very little thought is given to grooming a celeb’s career for the long -term . There are too many waiting in the wings to replace this one when the ever-more-finicky public decides they’ve had enough .
I’m not surprised this act can’t define what it is . They obviously have no game plan …no career map . They are simply riding an outdated trend while the riding’s good and the public’s attention span holds out .
These are dumb songs about dumb , meaningless scenarios sung and written by mediocre talents at best . If I was Dan I wouldn’t have wasted my time looking up the ” details” on Wikipedia either . Life’s too short .
May 12, 2015 @ 9:22 am
This article needs its few typos fixed and to then be splattered all over the interwebz. I’ll check back later and start spreading it around to anybody who will listen.
May 12, 2015 @ 7:55 pm
I really dislike the practice of changing the english language by peppering it with the letter z. Interwebz just made me think of that. It’s bro-countryish.
January 19, 2016 @ 3:45 pm
Nearly as bad as not capitalizing the word “English.”
May 12, 2015 @ 9:35 am
Dumb and dumber? No–I immediately think of Spicoli and Wooderson.
Imagine if those 2 had got together and formed a band! It would look a lot like FGL, wouldn’t it?!?!
‘Me and Mick are going to wing on over to London and jam with the Stones!’
‘All right, all right, all right!’
May 12, 2015 @ 10:06 am
I cannot hate FGL. Probably, because they are just fun guys who wants to play silly, summer songs. Their EP showed some promise, but they were corrupted by a trend.
May 12, 2015 @ 10:18 am
Just looked at the charts…Dirt went to no. 1 on both the country chart and country AirPlay. Sun Daze, the second single, went 3/1, and Sippin on Fire is currently at 3/5. I’m not so sure they’re in danger of becoming “has beens” yet.
May 12, 2015 @ 1:53 pm
I’m telling you, compared to the chart dominance “Cruise” and “Dirt” and some of their other earlier singles showed compered to their latest is night and day. I think “Sun Daze” was at #1 for a week, and only on radio. “Cruise” was the longest-running #1 in the history of country music. I’m not trying to paint them as the sisters of the poor, but radio programmers and label managers are all saying now that they’re going away from Bro-Country and this cannot bode well for the duo. So what do you do, you get out there and you start making your case through the media.
They had an opportunity with “Dirt” to change the narrative, but in the end they proved to be one-dimensional. All this talk of evolution, they better “evolve” to something else, and quickly.
May 12, 2015 @ 7:47 pm
There are fissures in the flood walls, but all in all I think the talk of their downfall is a bit hyperbolic at this juncture.
Like I said below, Jason Aldean and Eric Church are the only entertainers that are poised to cross the million-mark in total units sold with their current albums, with Luke Bryan being the only probable one to make that three. Carrie Underwood MIGHT make it four. Florida Georgia Line are sitting on approximately 650,000 units shifted for their current album so far, so they basically represent along with Brantley Gilbert, Miranda Lambert and possibly Blake Shelton the second tier.
Plus, you have to take into consideration the crossover appeal “Cruise” had for their debut album, that is highly unlikely to be mimicked this era. There’s no sure means of measuring how many units the remix of “Cruise” or “This Is How We Roll” shifted, but it certainly helped.
Where we do surely agree is that it is baffling Florida Georgia Line and their management team didn’t learn the wisdom of “Dirt” and its success. Or, rather, they didn’t follow further on that instinct and try and cut a handful of more songs that highlighted lyrical maturity.
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My advice to Florida Georgia Line would be to, firstly, release “Confession” as the fourth single. That song isn’t as good as “Dirt”, just to be clear………………but it also points to broader potential for the duo in both its spacey, atmospheric sound as well as some decent imagery in the lyrics. That would be just enough to tide them over until they can get their third album yet while also not getting further boxed into the bro-country corner.
Then, forget about another re-release. Take a little time out of the spotlight, and re-emerge with a lead single that draws back into the populist appeal of “Dirt” without trying to Xerox it. We already know they have no intention to ever ditch Joey Moi because they laud him for making their songs sound “big” and “towering”. But Joey Moi produced “Dirt”, after all, so I’m sure he can still inspire them to produce more poignant and far-reaching fare.
Which gets to my next point, and is very similar to a criticism I’ve directed at Kacey Musgraves lately with regards to songwriting: switch up your choice of collaborators. Much like Musgraves seems to rely too heavily on Luke Laird, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, Florida Georgia Line rely too heavily on Rodney Clawson and Chris Tompkins (and it’s already quite clear when they’re in the same room with Cary Barlowe, Jesse Frasure and Sarah Buxton………..you’re always going to expect a Weapon of Mass Destruction to the eardrum). Would it hurt to give tried-and-true songwriters like Tom Shapiro, Casey Beathard, Jim Lauderdale and Tony Martin a call? Or promising up-and-comers that aren’t from Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell and Dallas Davidson’s fraternity, or also-rans off of “Survivor”? One idea that comes to mind is teaming up with Jon Pardi. I’ve said before how I think Jon Pardi has a nasal twang that is reminiscent of Tyler Hubbard’s, but his debut album “Write You A Song” is solid, downhome contemporary country with overtly generous amounts of pedal steel and dobro.
What if Florida Georgia Line took a page out of Jon Pardi’s playbook, and perhaps even phone some of the writers he has collaborated with including Bart Butler, Brice Long and Aaron Goodvin? I mean, Jon Pardi had some fun songs on his album such as “Trash A Hotel Room” and “What I Can’t Put Down” that also don’t hit you over the head and are overtly obnoxious. Florida Georgia Line can still tap into that youthful energy and act their age, and also show they’re growing and developing as entertainers by making their sound richer and their use of tropes more varied.
I, too, would like to see Florida Georgia Line get better and succeed for the long haul. Just as I do for Luke Bryan, Chase Rice and all the others. Hopefully they’ll learn the lesson as to why “Dirt” has been their most successful single this album cycle.
May 12, 2015 @ 10:23 am
I’m impressed that they said words like “culmination.” Someone else probably told them what to say, but I guess I can put away the ghetto dialect I was planning to address them with when they inevitably made fools of themselves. I too hope this is a sign that this tired trend is almost over, but I won’t hold my breath. The problem isn’t acts like FGL, but label heads like Scott Borchetta and hosts like Bobby Bones who don’t know what country music is and expand the definition to mean hip hop music with “country” themes. But Sam Hunt’s urban dance music doesn’t even have country themes, so it really doesn’t make sense why he would be considered country when he is clearly more like those metrosexual pop singers. But the fact that he is considered country and is doing very well may signify an ever darkening age in country music. The monogenre may be upon us. We can hope true country music can overthrow this oppressive system, but it will take a series of miraculous events, and this horrible phase will forever be regarded by true country music fans as the dark age of country music. I hope nobody believes this is country music in the future, and the pop country fans don’t cause trouble for real country music.
May 12, 2015 @ 10:24 am
LMAO. Dan Rather blew his credibility as a newsman ten years ago. It’s all too apropos that he is interviewing two douchebags who never had any credibility as country music artists.
May 12, 2015 @ 12:36 pm
The thing is Dan Rather has interviewed lots of great artists. I love watching The Big Interview, but when i saw the trailer for this, I was scratching my head. I know that Dan is a country music fan, you can tell by his other interviews with Charlie Daniels, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Marty Stuart and lots of others. I don’t think that Dan handpicked this interview. I will watch it though, if only for the same reason I watch NASCAR, to see them crash.
May 12, 2015 @ 1:57 pm
It could have been set up because like Dan Rather says in one of the segments, his grandson is a Florida Georgia Line fan, sort of like when Waylon did Sesame Street for Shooter. Or maybe FGL reached out to Dan, who knows? But I found it very interesting that all three of the promo videos had to do with them “answering their critics,” so clearly that is the message the PR people want out there.
May 12, 2015 @ 10:33 am
I am sure they are nice guys who are capable of good music-the issue is that the industry has forced a lot of artists to go this route to become stars. Of course the artist has to be willing-but there is a deep rooted systemic problem that goes much deeper than FGL.
May 12, 2015 @ 11:11 am
Very true ….and never more apparent than in the generic cookie-cutter product packaged by Twangtown today .
May 12, 2015 @ 10:57 am
Beavis and Butthead strike again!!!
May 12, 2015 @ 2:00 pm
From Brad Paisley’s self-animated “Crushin’ It” video released this morning.
May 12, 2015 @ 2:09 pm
That is fucking hilarious!
May 12, 2015 @ 7:09 pm
Hahahaha, that’s hilarious! =D
Ahhhhhhhh, but alas: he forgot their tattoos! 😉
May 13, 2015 @ 12:44 pm
Okay, I hate that song. But I have to admit, that’s an awesome video!
May 16, 2015 @ 4:12 pm
Yeah baby, we rap while wearing Johnny Cash shirts on stage, we don’t know what bro-country is, and we’re in Brad’s video with George Strait so we MUST be country! Take that haterz! We’re gettin big new tattoos to celebrate!
May 12, 2015 @ 11:46 am
The problem with artists like FGL and whatnot is that they’re constantly in the forge. They’re removed for mere moments at a time to be bent, stretched, and struck into whatever is suitable for the state of country music.
May 12, 2015 @ 11:49 am
I don’t really have a problem with bro-country’s lyrical focus on partying or the small-town lifestyle. Those themes have always been a part of modern country music (although a little variation is always nice).
To me, the biggest issue with FGL — and really all of today’s radio artists — is that they’ve stripped away traditional country music instrumentation, arrangements and production styles, and replaced them with an approach that can only be called arena rock.
Each and every radio song today hits you with a wall of sound, and the time-honored guitar, fiddle, steel guitar interplay that used to define country music is long gone.
Like Trigger says, no one wants FGL to imitate Johnny Cash. But you shouldn’t be able to take away every single element that makes something “country” and call it country music.
May 12, 2015 @ 2:13 pm
Wow, that was a painfully awkward interview.
Their management must have said “No need to rehearse, pick up a thesaurus or have cue cards prepared! People will respond to you just being yourselves!” in advance of meeting Dan Rather. Which part of it is understandable, but in the context of answering your critics and explaining yourselves, they’re just going to come out of this looking even more polarizing than before because of the way they’ll appear oblivious to many.
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That out of the way, I have to make one point.
If we’re being completely honest with ourselves here…………………while I get that both Rather and the duo could easily have Googled “bro-country + definition” in advance of the interview and do their own research………………..I also have to say that I don’t think there has ever been a finite consensus around exactly what constitutes “bro-country” as a sub-genre of mainstream country/”country” music.
Thus, I honestly get where some of the bewilderment on their part stems from. Because while “bro” as a stand-alone term is rather self-explanatory……………”country” has been the tireless subject of debate as to how it is defined at heart………………..and when you conflate the two, it gets particularly muddled when you’re defining it not so much as a clique, but as a sub-genre.
I offered my own definition of “bro-country” in a previous thread (I am at a loss as to which thread discussion it was exactly)…………but there were other users who had their own takes that had some commonalities, but also differences. So while there would be agreement as to features, characteristics and aspects of this trend, there are others where there hasn’t been any crystallized consensus.
Even now, there is much disagreement as to how precipitously “bro-country” has declined in the mainstream, or whether it has died altogether like you seemed to suggest last early autumn. I personally think “bro-country” has mutated more than anything, much like a strain of avian flu, rather than flat-out decline………………..and that may explain where I’m in disagreement with you that “metropolitan” is a whole different trend taking shape, when I view it as the latest mutation of “bro-country” that may be the “metro-bro” pandemic.
Because most of the same side effects are intact. You have male narrators using vehicles and material possessions as bargaining chips to solicit female subjects into having sex with them. You have clichéd country tropes and imagery wedged into the lyrics (although the setting is often a club or urban environment in this case). You have excessive Auto-Tune, drum machines and loops, chunky guitar riffs, vaguely rap-like cadences in lyrical flow and delivery and scant country instrumentation that’s usually in the form of a fleeting token banjo or pedal steel buried underneath thick coats of Mainstream Top 40-esque production. And more often than not, the entertainers are still wearing ball caps and blue jeans (Sam Hunt the notable exception, but newcomers like Michael Ray and Canaan Smith still look bro-esque).
Anyway, I do agree that Florida Georgia Line and their decision to sit with Dan Rather does strike me as thin-skinned and defensive strategically. The dandelion seeds of bro-country are still intact in the majority of songs currently peppering the country chart, and the weeds are stubbornly refusing to be uprooted………….but there are notable outliers that are in the upper echelon of the chart too. “Girl Crush” is #1 on the mongrel chart, and “Sangria” is right behind it at #2 which is, itself, not a particularly good song but decidedly neither bro nor metro-bro. But bro-country still has its share of clout as evidenced by Cole Swindell releasing a straight-up bro-country single as his latest single after a fresh “New Artist of the Year” win, Chase Rice’s “Ignite The Night” having ridiculous staying power on the album sales chart despite the lack of a hit radio single in months, and Luke Bryan supposedly ready to drop in a week and a half his brand new single “Kick Up The Dust” (which may be judging a book by its cover, but is a Dallas Davidson co-write, so…………………yeah!)……………….along with Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett’s staying power as radio forces.
Florida Georgia Line’s total sales for “Anything Goes” are at roughly 650,000 now, so while that is clearly a notable decline from a couple of years ago, it’s still not bad enough to where it will result in their overall decline for at least the next three years. Eric Church and Jason Aldean are the only entertainers who are poised to cross the million mark with their current albums, with Luke Bryan the only other one who is likely to follow. So as long as Florida Georgia Line are selling just below their ceiling, we shouldn’t expect them to abruptly disappear, love or hate them.
May 12, 2015 @ 2:30 pm
I like how you compared metropolitan as a strain of bro-country because to me, they are pretty much the same. To me,it’s the same thing, just “dressed up” a little differently.
May 14, 2015 @ 7:36 pm
Yes, I have always preferred the term “metro-bro” because it shows that the style has it’s roots in the bro movement. I also was the one to propose using that term. Not to brag, of course.
May 12, 2015 @ 3:39 pm
There are majority of people really like Florida Georgia Line and good country fans don’t really care for them.
May 12, 2015 @ 4:33 pm
Ugh, I hate Dirt. It’s just so, so insincere and banal.
I’d rather listen to Sun Daze any day of the week, because that’s the music they like to play, and they have a good time doing it.
If I have to listen to FGL, I want to listen to them do what they’re good at, and what they enjoy doing, not a pathetic attempt to ape Jason Isbell.
May 12, 2015 @ 6:20 pm
Life is too precious and short to ever be in a situation to listen to shitty music!
May 12, 2015 @ 6:45 pm
Makes me think Trigger about your review on Yelawolf’s ‘Love Story’ album…if Dan Rather had asked him the difference between rap and hip hop would he have said well I think there the same thing?
May 12, 2015 @ 9:26 pm
How can we expect Florida Georgia Line to respect different musical forms when they can’t even define them? I guarantee Yelawolf knows the difference between rap and hip-hop, and the difference between country and western.
May 13, 2015 @ 3:44 am
Exactly what I was I thinking Trig, I’m actually really enjoying that album and wouldn’t have even given it a shot if you hadn’t featured the article. Like you say he’ll be one to watch….
May 12, 2015 @ 7:12 pm
Gunga Dan was the perfect person for this interview. One has been interviewing future has beens. In fact, FGL should have answered the criticism of bro country’s authenticity by describing it as “fake, but accurate.”
May 12, 2015 @ 7:27 pm
I really don’t have a problem with Florida Georgia Line. Do I like their music? Nope. Even a little bit? Nope.
But they were doing this stuff long before they hit it big. That’s what they do. So I get it. Why should they have to answer critics? What they’ve always been doing just resonated with the public. That’s how stuff happens.
Then the industry thinks it has found the magic formula and pounds it into the ground until nothing is left.
I have resisted comparing Bro-Country to Hair Metal simply because, in my opinion, there has been no good music to come out of the Bro-Country movement. But it does have a parallel in this respect, Whitesnake, Scorpions, Ozzy, among others all teased their hair out and layered the vocals and did what was popular at the time. But they eventually came out the other side. Hopefully the established artists who have fallen into the Bro abyss can come out the other side as well.
My $0.02.
May 12, 2015 @ 9:34 pm
I feel sorry for Florida Georgia Line. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Bro -country, metro- country , country rap is here to stay. Dear country music heaven We need a steel guitar, bongos, acoustic guitar, fiddle, and real country singers. We need to take out the trash.
May 12, 2015 @ 10:54 pm
Next question:
“When will we get our Sam Hunt and Brian Williams interview?” 😉
May 13, 2015 @ 3:47 am
Brian Williams will be too busy dodging RPG’s and small arms fire.
May 13, 2015 @ 12:12 pm
You mean to tell me he was there, too?
He’s EVERYWHERE, man! =O
May 13, 2015 @ 12:22 am
So FGL continue to be FGL… ok.
May 13, 2015 @ 1:35 am
It is because of douche twats like these two that when people ask me if I like country music I usually say no. When people asked I used to say ” yes but only outlaw country and alt. country or traditional country”. I would then have to explain what the differences were or start naming artists that they had never heard of. A typical conversation would go like this:
Me : I like country but only people like Steve Earle or Ryan Bingham and Dwight Yoakam, and Hank Williams lll.
Them: Oh I’ve heard or Hank Williams. But I don’t like the twangy stuff. (I love this answer, usually from Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban fans.)
If Johnny Cash was mentioned they would nod their head because they’ve heard the name and act like they listen to him because their dad probably had a bargain bin cd from Walmart in the truck. Really you like johnny cash? How many of his amercian recordings have you heard?
I was playing Neil Young’s Harvest Moon album the other day and my wife asked “what is this?” I said “one of the best country albums ever”. To which she replied “this is country?” Call it whatever genre you like (Neil Young fans know what I mean) but it’s a lot closer to what I consider real country than the bro/pop/hick-hop ear-raping drivel being spewed out from radios everywhere. I’m tired of explaining the differences between good country and bad country to people when they ask if I like country so now I just answer will a resounding “no”.
One more story to illustrate my point:
Me: I mostly like outlaw country like
Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.
Friend: Yeah me too, and Rodney Atkins!
I rest my case.
May 13, 2015 @ 6:43 am
I think some of the first country or country influenced songs in my album collection were by Neil Young. Songs like Harvest, Star of Bethlehem, Love is a Rose, Comes a Time, and Field of Opportunity.
May 13, 2015 @ 4:54 am
No one seems to bring up when all this “change” began happening. The tremendous downturn in quality and actual country music really took the sharp turn with the advent of the 360 deal. The labels have much more say-so in what their “artists” I.e puppets do as an act…from the recording, to interviews, to band choices, merchandise etc. on through each organization.
If you don’t believe this, just look at what older established acts are being made to cut. Joe Nichols “Summer & 75” or Gary Allan’s “Hangover Tonight”….really guys?!? Just fucking awful.
It makes it easier for labels to grab these douchbag singers that’ll do anything just for the fame and whatever money, not matter amount, comes with it. They are all too dumb to see the big picture in that they will all eventually be put out to pasture by the Nashville machine in favor of dumber singers that’ll give up more to get less.
May 14, 2015 @ 9:51 pm
“Sunny & 75” is the name of the song. If you are going to bash a good summer song, at least get the name right.
May 13, 2015 @ 6:01 am
I didn’t click this interview because I cannot listen to Tyler Hubbard in any context without wanting to brain myself with a brick. Reading the excerpts given proves my theory that these two dips are not S-M-R-T, to quote Homer Simpson. I don’t ask for my country singers to be MENSA members, but is it too much to ask that they be able to clearly answer a simple question like “define your music”?
Did Dan Rather address the objectification of women that is a major aspect of the bro-country genre? Did he ask Tyler Hubbard about his defensive, whiny, childish, monosyllabic statement about Maddie and Tae’s “Girl in a Country Song”? Not that I would expect Beavis and Butthead here to be able to eloquently explain themselves, but it would be nice to see it acknowledged by a journalist with a large enough clout to make FGL, Cole Swindell, Chase Rice, Jason Aldean, and the like shake a little in their unscuffed boots. If he did, fantastic. Maybe I’ll be brave enough to click “play” after I’ve had a couple more cups of coffee.
May 13, 2015 @ 10:01 am
This Dan Rather interview was a promotional piece, plain and simple. Basically that is what all journalism has become—an arm for the entertainment industry and a sound board for political pundits.
May 13, 2015 @ 12:20 pm
And Taste of Country, Roughstock and The Boot are the worst offenders of this in the name of “country music”.
Thus, it’s no surprise that we have this growing crop of passionate bloggers to counter that. But then one veers too far to the opposite end of the pendulum in that straight-talking rants are no appropriate substitute for traditional journalism. And many are closed-minded about anything decidedly mainstream. It’s like the Pitchforking or Sputnikizing of the country music community.
May 13, 2015 @ 10:54 am
The reason this crap exists is because a whole generation has grown up with Snoop Dog and Eminem, etc. This is nothing more than deliberate and controlled marketing. I blame the money hungry suits on Music Row.
May 13, 2015 @ 11:35 am
My hunch is that these two probably grew up on christian rock not county music. If their album sales lag, they’ll just do a collaboration with Jason Aldean and re-release the album to puff up sales. Then they’ll do special remix version with Pit Bull after that. Soon afterwards, the Sam Hunt clones will be all the rage and these guys will be too country for country radio and the cool kids will be lamenting the dearth of real country like “Sun Daze”.
May 13, 2015 @ 11:57 am
They say in the interview and have said in the past that they both listened to Christian rock growing up.
May 13, 2015 @ 12:28 pm
Man, you’re full of hate. Who determines what music should be played and bought and listened to? Any writer, critic, fan or performer taking a stand as to what should and should not be listened to has real problems. Elvis was hated in his day. The Beatles weren’t supposed to survive because rock ‘n’ roll wasn’t going to last. And lots of country “experts” decreed that Hank Jr. should be a loser for not duplicating his father. Now a couple of young guys are making it their way, seemingly overnight; while others keep struggling as critics and priding themselves in the envy of success. Don’t like it? Don’t play it or buy it or listen to it. Breathe in, breathe out, move on. By the way, that last line is from a Jimmy Buffett song, and boy do lots of ctitics slam his music as well! Who cares? Stop writing your bile; try writing and performing a hit song instead. Go on. Try.
May 13, 2015 @ 1:50 pm
I don’t think you know what you’re talking about Les. Elvis was talented. Amazingly so. The King didn’t need a computer to fix his mistakes, because he didn’t make any. And he could sing ANYTHING. Sad ballads, rock’n’roll. Classic country, Broadway show-tunes, you name it. These guys only sing one kind of song: beer and trucks. The Beatles actually played their own instruments, rather than stand and posture like clowns, AND they didn’t use auto-tune either, because they were capable of singing on pitch, and they were pretty diverse stylistically as well.
“Tonight I got my party on,
see those jeans on a pretty little blonde,
Harry and Ron brought a case of Bacardi,
I think tonight’s gonna a real fun party.”
That chorus took me five minutes Les. I play thirteen instruments, wrote you a hit song, and disproved everything you said about the King and the Fab Four. Have a nice day.
May 13, 2015 @ 4:30 pm
Fuzzy, your hurried lines do have imagery. Should you attach a catchy tune, and if I were a music exec, heard your work, signed you, and people bought, don’t be an intellectual hypocrite and tell me you won’t catch the checks, just as do, oh, lemme see…the FGL guys? And oh, listen to their Girl On The Radio…; tell me Elvis or McCartney or Hank, Jr. wouldn’t have done a similar number in this day and age. Nice day to you too
May 13, 2015 @ 6:48 pm
Les: I think you missed my point. Why you want to listen to a song I threw together in five minutes? Wouldn’t it be better if I took a few hours? I deliberately rhymed party and bacardi because the FGL guys do, but don’t you think it’s a sign of poor craft that the songs are so cheap? would you ask an architect to design a house in five minutes?
May 13, 2015 @ 10:10 pm
Fuzzy, you’re gracious enough to not jab me in the eye for my “catch the checks” slip, when I meant “cash the checks”, which I hope you are doing or can do with your aptitude at imagery put to music. Here’s the rub: I have written 3 books in 5 years; fiction; none have sold as expected; fine with me… maybe. I’m now taking a long, long time doing the 4th, yet the inspiration and effort are no less, just more investment in time. I thumb through writings by Ann Rice or by Stephen King, don’t care for the genre, but can’t help being amazed at their skillful shaping of stark phrasings into brilliant sentences. The length of time taken to pen a thought has little to do with the breadth of its effect. The image-scaping in FGL’s ‘Confession’ take hold, as firmly as do the ones in Vince Gill’s ‘Never Knew Lonely’, or Kenny Chesney’s ‘You save Me’, or Kristofferson’s ‘Breakdown’. I’m the outsider in a circle of friends who lament my inner-soul oneness with country music. Well, their loss, my gain. You, too, might question their reverence when listening to the stark notes from jazz horns sounding lost in wailing but saying nothing. But art should never be denigrated. Instead, we listen, we read, turn the page, turn the corner, move on, without smearing lines of poison across someone’s efforts. The creative process, from any source, takes an investment in time and effort and sharing of self and should not be too readily insulted. (Even if in there somewhere’s a line that says: ‘Phone blowin’ up where you is'(!) …ear-aching rendering from FGL’s Anything Goes single). There’s a new opinion that neither Shakespeare nor Beethoven could make it today. Maybe neither Hank, Sr. I’m sure you get that. Every effort has it’s time. As for you, keep at whatever has made you the master of 13 instruments. Twice that number totals all letters in our alphabet. Put those 2 elements together and you might do better that ‘Baby you a song…’. And I’ll listen. Good wishes.
May 14, 2015 @ 5:45 am
Les: thank you for having a reasonable discussion as opposed to just badmouthing everyone who disagrees with you. I’m surprised that you’re a novelist, my favorite author is Brian Jacques. You mentioned Shakespeare, who died in 1616, but we still read the man’s work, but since we’re talking songs, let me quote one.
“They say we are aged and gray, Maggie.
Our time on this Earth nearly run.
But to me you’re as fair as you were, Maggie,
When you and I were young.”
This song was written in 1865, but it’s still a pretty commonplace song. How long do you think people with still play “Cruise” or even “Dirt?” Since you still listen to those old Vince Gill and Kristofferson songs, surely they must have some sort of deeper meaning to stand the test of time.
May 13, 2015 @ 3:00 pm
Nobody is saying that anyone’s music should or shouldn’t be listened to. I simply give my opinions and open a forum for people to give theirs, like you just did. I give my opinions to to help people navigate through music to choose if they want to listen or not. Your comment and continued presence here is proof this is not an autocracy.
May 13, 2015 @ 2:03 pm
Tyler Hubbard always seems like a happy go lucky moron I could tolerate to some degree. Brian Kelley always seems like an cocky douche bag with no real confidence or talent.
I could tolerate Hubbard as a friendly moron but Kelley grates on my nerves.
I really think the overall theme at play is that the music industry invests in a smaller amount of people now and if any of those people gets a good hit they do everything to keep those people from dying. FGL should have been a one hit wonder. I think they’re really pushing things staying afloat this long and they’re really going to be hating life when the bottom drops out and they can’t accept it.
May 13, 2015 @ 3:51 pm
Our work on earth destroying country music is done! Thank you to all you singers who sold your souls to us. Just think, the eternity you shall spend in hell should remind you of the endless summers you sing about all the time. Thank you again for helping us destroy all that is good…in country music.
May 13, 2015 @ 6:56 pm
I’ve just obtained a special “Unrated” version of “The Big Interview”, and it includes this excerpt:
*
DAN RATHER: So, we’ve talked about bro-country, we’ve talked about rap and hip-hop, but we haven’t talked as much about country, specifically. So if I may ask you both: “How would you define country?”
BRIAN KELLEY: (amused laugh) Ha! You ask me what is country? I mean, it’s pretty obvious, right? It’s about………..like………life, man! It’s about life, and…………..living your life! And not letting others tell you how to live your life…
DAN RATHER: Isn’t that more consistent with rock and roll?
BRIAN KELLEY: ………..no, man, not anymore. It used to be. But, like, that goes back to what we’e been saying all along, you know what I’m saying? All music evolves. It has to evolve. Rock and roll used to be about not letting others tell you how to live your life……….but I think that’s more country now!
DAN RATHER: Interesting.
BRIAN KELLEY: Yeah, tell me about it. And…………….oh boy, what else? Tyler, bro, help me out here!
TYLER HUBBARD: Brian, buddy, we already had this talk. I’m paid to do all the singing, and you’re paid to do all the talking. I love you bro, but you gotta do your job! Make me proud! It’s gonna be okay!
BRIAN KELLEY: (nods head) ……………yeah, like……………I mean, I can go on all day about what country is, but don’t take my word for it! Just listen to our songs cuz that’ll do all the talking for you! It’s about dirt, I guess…………..and partying like this day is your last, every day! Oh, yeah, and……………like…………..working hard and playing harder!
TYLER HUBBARD: Yeah man! (high fives Brian) See, I knew you could do it! Isn’t he full of awesome answers and explaining stuff to you?
BRIAN KELLEY: Yeah, you were right. And Dan, you’re the man too. Your questions are so smart! They’re like going to the gym, except in my head!
DAN RATHER: Why thank you! So, let me put this another way. What wouldn’t you consider country to be? What is country not?
BRIAN KELLEY: (stops to ponder for long pause) …………..you know, I’m not sure. (ponders more) Maybe, like, not living your life and not working hard and playing harder? I mean, country is a state of mind, I think. It’s just what we do. I mean………..if you love trucks, dirt roads, hunting and six-packs like we do, that’s like super-awesome. But, I mean, if you love living and all that, that makes you country too. You’re country…………but that would make us, like…………………supercountry, I guess!
DAN RATHER: Supercountry?
TYLER HUBBARD: Yeah, you know, dude………….like, very country! Pretty intense stuff, man! Or stone cold country like we call it!
*
😉
May 13, 2015 @ 7:18 pm
I wish I could like your comment more than once. LMAO!!!!!!
May 15, 2015 @ 3:10 pm
I truly hope their days are numbered (and many others) I refuse to listen to that tripe.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:51 pm
Getty Images knows what bro-country is http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-bro-country-duo-florida-georgia-line-tyler-hubbard-news-photo/473896812