Kravitz Flips Off Country Crowd, Hank Williams Marked “DUMMY”
Yes ladies and gentlemen, that is a picture of Hank Williams performing live on The Grand Ole Opry with the word “DUMMY” emboldened in all caps across his chest. The picture was taken at the CMT Awards last Wednesday by Raul Malo, the outspoken front man for The Mavericks who performed at the CMT Awards’ as the house band. The image incensed the singer so much he took to Twitter, posting, “Do we really need to say anymore about the country music establishment? This image ran for three days at the arena.”
Though the picture was likely a test image for the display used as part of the CMT Awards presentation, it symbolizes the palpable lack of respect and understanding for the traditions and artists of country music who sweated, and in the case of Hank Williams, died for the music, and built the legacy that modern institutions like CMT and the CMA now benefit from. Test image or not, how hard would it have been for the image to read “TEST” or to use an image of something else instead of Hank Williams?
But that’s only where the fallout from decisions made at the annual CMA Fan Fest conducted last week begin. Both the CMT Awards and the CMA invited rocker Lenny Kravitz to make appearances as part of the festivities. Though up-and-coming country acts like Ashley Monroe and Kree Harrison were only given 30 seconds to perform on the CMT Awards, Kravitz was given a full slot to execute the classic rock cover “American Woman.” Once again an incensed Raul Malo took to Twitter, saying, “So Lenny Kravitz demanded the AC be turned off in the arena before he came out. We should’ve demanded he turn off his mic…!” and later going further, “So when is country music going to grow some balls and close its legs to every has-been, asshole Rockstar that wants to be on tv? Yes ladies and gentlemen this is the leader of the house band for the CMT Awards tweeting these things.
It got worse, much worse for Lenny Kravitz on Saturday night when he took the main stage at LP Field (the biggest stage of CMA Fan Fest) and proceeded to spare the crowd to death with his rehashed rock tunes, culminating in an excruciating 15-minute rendition of “Let Love Rule” that saw Kravitz pleading with the crowd to sing along.
At one point Kravitz ran out amongst the audience to try and engage them, then ran back on stage to flail his arms around ineffectively, finally giving up 10 minutes after his appointed set end and chiding the crowd for “not being able to get with love” before, ironically, exited the stage while flipping double birds with his back turned to the crowd. Lenny’s antics cost country performers stage time.
See Video (bird flipping near end)
The CMT Awards and the CMA Fan Fest are also catching flack for not showing more respect to country legend George Jones who recently passed away. Though on Friday a panel of artists including Jamey Johnson and Randy Travis convened at Music City Center to discuss the passing of the country icon, the CMT Awards only spent 30 seconds in tribute to Jones on their broadcast, stimulating an angry letter from Naomi Judd that she sent to The Tennessean.
George Jones is to country music what The Beatles are to pop, the Rolling Stones to rock, Elvis to rockabilly, Mozart to classical and Aretha to soul. Yet, the “Country” Music Television awards show allowed only a “by the way” mention of Jones’ death and legacy. Incongruously, they chose alternative music group the Mavericks to perform their short version of George’s “The Race Is On.”
True country music fans are a loyal bunch and are passionate about our roots and heritage. Every year, CMT includes artists of unrelated genres, many of whom some country music fans don’t even know. I suggest the CMT Awards show change its name. Perhaps to “the Multi-Genre Awards Show, Featuring Artists under 30.”
I realize speaking out will cause me to now be forever banned by CMT. But I’m tired of folks messing with my country music. Especially when it involves my dear friend George Jones.
June 11, 2013 @ 11:34 am
I’ve always had a lot of respect for Raul Malo. Now I have even more.
June 11, 2013 @ 11:35 am
Naomi’s right, of course. But it’s been a long time since CMT and the CMAs have had anything to do with Country music. I gave up hope that they ever would again 5 or 6 years ago. Call it Nashville Pop, if you want. But what they’re selling these days ain’t country music.
June 11, 2013 @ 11:40 am
As someone who was kicked out of The Stage on lower Broadway for trying to fight the singer of the bamd for fucking up “Lovesick Blues” and then LAUGHING about it, if I EVER find out who made that image of Hank, we have problems…as for Lenny Kravitz, what do you expect when you have someone on an awards show that probably has less respect for country music than the idiot who made the Hank graphic?
June 11, 2013 @ 3:10 pm
Nice touch, Josh.
Some things are simply worth fighting for.
I was at a Tony Bennett concert last week (with my wife, as a dutiful husband) and he sang some Hank song (I think it may have been lovesick blues) and made it sound like a lounge song (e.g. I Left My Heart in San Francisco).
If someone isn’t going to faithfully replicate art, I don’t want to hear it.
June 12, 2013 @ 12:01 am
You mean faithfully replicate the art you can’t be bothered to know the title of? Sure do love me a good ol’ rendition of “some Hank song”.
Tony Bennett has been singing Cold, Cold Heart for 60 years. His version is as much as a classic as Hank’s ever was.
June 12, 2013 @ 10:16 am
Lighten up.
I have other things to do than commit set lists to memory.
I like Tony Bennett, just not his cover of Hank’s music.
I suspect I wouldn’t like Bocephus’ cover of New York, New York, Chicago, Mack the Knife, I Left My Heart in San Francisco or Strangers in the Night.
June 11, 2013 @ 11:47 am
Dude’s wife left him for Khal Drago… what do you expect?
June 11, 2013 @ 11:58 am
If Naomi is finally getting it the situation is real bad. There is no way for the cmt or cma to rebrand and bring me back. I have been done since with the cma and cmt for over 15 years now. This site is the only resource that brings me the music and information from my musical genre. I struggle to call my genre country anymore. I will call my genre “kiss my fu@kin6 ass you pansy ass yuppie sob’s”.
June 11, 2013 @ 12:07 pm
so i guess kravitz is the next “going country” rockstar?
why aren’t they ever people i used to like at least a little?
June 11, 2013 @ 2:01 pm
Well, he may have kissed his chance of a country career goodbye when he told the crowd they were #1.
June 12, 2013 @ 12:03 am
Twice!
June 12, 2013 @ 2:42 pm
Given the crowd that he was playing to, I’m happy Kravitz shot em the bird, good for him. And, I feel bad for anyone who only listens to one type of music, but even then, I think a true music fan even one with narrow tastes should be able to respect AND SHOW RESPECT to artists of other genres
.
June 12, 2013 @ 6:07 pm
Thom,
How was the crowd not showing respect to Lenny? They were listening, they clapped for him after the set. I didn’t hear any boos. But he didn’t get them to go absolutely crazy like he is used to at shows with fans that came to see him and him only, and so he threw a hissy fit about it. It is the artist’s job to engage the crowd. If he can’t that’s not the crowd’s fault. It was Lenny’s fault for thinking he could get the whole crowd to sing along in the first place. Some were by the way, just not in the numbers he wanted. And who ran his set 10 minutes long? This is just as rude as flipping off a crowd of fans who are not familiar with your music, but politely clapped and listened nonetheless.
And for the folks that say they’re happy that he flipped them off because they were pop country fans (not necessarily you), in my opinion that doesn’t matter. Kravitz was there by the grace of country music, and should have shown respect. Everyone deserves respect, even pop country fans. This goes beyond taste. Kravitz had no choice but to show respect regardless of the outcome, because he was a guy from outside the genre there by invitation.
June 11, 2013 @ 12:22 pm
There is so much that pisses me off, I don’t even know where to start. The Hank Williams thing is disgusting! Why would they do that? …Why? I don’t get it. You’re totally right, even if it is a test image, why would they actually put the word “Dummy” across a country legends face? I can’t even categorize him as a country legend. He is above that.
The Lenny Kravitz thing is just ridiculous. As much as I hate it, I get when they pair up a country star with some rocker or pop singer for certain reasons (movies, tributes, painfully bad crossover remixes). But who the fuck even cares about Lenny Kravitz anymore? He is the farthest thing from talented, his music sucks, and “American Woman” is as far from country as you can get. What possible association does he have with Jason Aldean, CMT, or country music? The fact that he got a full song, opening the show no less, while Ashley Monroe barely got 30 seconds kills me. They seriously put that shit on instead of a full blown tribute to George Jones? Most of the other awards shows are just as pathetic, but think about some of the deaths in other genres in the past few years. You couldn’t watch a single awards show for the entire year without the show being in honor of Michael Jackson after his death. It really just proves the lack of respect in the country music business.
I am far from Naomi Judd’s fan, but when I agree with her, you know its getting bad. She has been on how many CMT shows and now even she is speaking out against them. The only thing I don’t like is what she said about The Mavericks. The Mavericks are more country than anyone else on that show. If they would have given them a full song to tribute to George Jones, I’m sure it would have been great.
June 11, 2013 @ 12:24 pm
Liked what Naomi said, but it’s a little out of line for her to call the Mavericks “incongruous.” They may be an alt-country group, but they’re much more in keeping with the traditions of country than any of the other BS on there.
June 11, 2013 @ 1:40 pm
I agree with everything Naomi Judd said except what she said about The Mavericks, I think The Mavericks are more about Country than a lot of so called ‘Country’ artist out there. Raul Malo is my hero, I love that he is not afraid to speak the truth. As for Lenny Kravitz, he should know better, shame on him. The whole thing just makes me sad, when I think of all the pioneers of country music, they must be rolling in their graves! And the country pioneers still living must feel very disrespected.
June 11, 2013 @ 1:43 pm
I agree, The Mavericks are truly talented and have earned and deserve respect!
June 11, 2013 @ 3:12 pm
Like everyone, I disagree with Naomi’s take on The Mavericks, and not to defend it, but in some way I understand it coming from her perspective. She would have rather seen someone like Vince Gill or George Strait do the tribute. What Naomi’s letter shows to me is that the displeasure of how CMT handled the situation is far reaching, crossing many country music perspectives. Raul Malo is against what is going on in country, and so is Naomi Judd, even though they come from opposite sides of the country music spectrum. If I was CMT, I would find this troubling.
June 11, 2013 @ 5:28 pm
“If this is the case, I think they”™ve underestimated the shallowness of the mainstream country fan base.” In the event that this statement is true, and I think it is, why would CMT find it troubling? Who cares what Naomi Judd thinks if all the kids are going to buy FGL and Luke Bryan?
June 11, 2013 @ 10:19 pm
Maybe they don’t, I don’t know. But I see this as an extension of the “Old Farts & Jackasses” embrolio from earlier in the year. This idea that the aging demographic is irrelevant is beyond preposterous, and it is slowly organizing in opposition to what is going on in country music. I just think we are much closer to the boiling over point than we have been in a long time. There were some pretty powerful, cutting words in both the statements from Raul Malo and Naomi Judd. These are people that have something to lose by upsetting the apple cart, and their doing it anyway for what they believe is right.
June 13, 2013 @ 9:02 am
Just for the record, I was not stating I disagreed with Naomi Judd or Raul Malo or did not care that they were standing up against what is transpiring in country music. I was writing that from the perspective of CMT. That said, I think you are right about being at the boiling point. It can’t go much lower before all is lost and everything that was good is washed away. I hope that there is a rebellion in country music and if Judd and Malo’s comments are indicative of the fomenting of said rebellion, then all the better.
June 12, 2013 @ 4:43 pm
While I’m a fan of the Mavericks and I’m sure they did as good as possible with the 30 seconds they were given (I didn’t watch), the whole move to use the Mavericks seemed cheap and like a last second throw-in by CMT.
“Hey we know we will hear about it if we don’t mention George Jones, and since the Mavericks are already booked as the house band we might as well have them do the tribute.”
In a perfect world somebody that collaborated with Jones, like Merle, Willie Nelson, or Vince Gill, would have been asked to give a tribute, but the entire tribute seems like it was an afterthought to CMT.
June 11, 2013 @ 12:47 pm
Blasphemy of the highest order. CMT awards are a joke mainstream country is a joke. Lenny Kravitz is a joke. The image of Hank is so very wrong. God bless Raul Malo. Thank God I live in Texas and have access to good country music anytime I want it.
June 11, 2013 @ 1:40 pm
Amen!
June 11, 2013 @ 1:06 pm
I worked downtown last weekend, I worked Friday and Sunday, so I missed the Lenny clusterfuck. I did however have to listen to Jason Mraz and Sheryl Crow on Friday, then on Sunday, with an approaching storm, they limited the artists to 2 songs each, so Carry Underwood could do 6 songs. One of her choices? Paradise City, the country classic. You know, G and R, the greatest country band of all times. Now if I had to choose 6 songs to hear Underwood sing, you know her take on Axle Rose would be my very first choice! What a fucked up genre this bunch has become!
June 11, 2013 @ 1:16 pm
Where’s HANK JR and that girl who fought Heaven & Hell to prove she was his daughter?!?! They oughta be suing CMT for defamation and anything else they can get em for
June 11, 2013 @ 2:03 pm
That would be Jett.
June 11, 2013 @ 2:20 pm
While I agree with Ms. Judd’s review of the CMT awards and questioning the rationale behind including Lenny Kravitz in the production, I am not in agreement with her assertion about The Mavericks. Raul Malo and his band are talented musicians, and have a deep respect for the seminal musicians in the country music genre….who better to have performed a George Jones song to honor his legacy? It was a foolish decision to only allow less than 30 seconds of Raul Malo to sing “The Race is On”…but many foolish decisions were made during this particular CMT awards production. Including The Mavericks as the house band was certainly, in my opinion, the only good decision the producers made.
June 11, 2013 @ 3:23 pm
Wow. Just when you thought Florida Georgia Line was the final straw, Trashville has to go and stomp on Hank, proving there is still a little further left to sink before they hit bottom. It’s over folks. I do not think Nashville has enough air in its lungs to get back above water. Country is not dead, but Nashville is.
April 24, 2014 @ 9:17 pm
Nashville is not close to being dead. Not as a city, or as a musical center, or as a the location of a lot of great country music.
June 11, 2013 @ 3:25 pm
This all bothers me a lot.
Giving air time, particularly a disproportionate amount of time, on a purported country music awards show, to a pop singer is a waste.
It denigrates the respect for the art form that it should be celebrating.
And I don’t like flipping the bird, particularly at an audience.
I would like to see this sexually ambiguous faux pop star try this with an audience at Billy Bob’s.
And plastering “DUMMY” across a picture of Hank is a sacrilege.
It’s like urinating on the Alamo.
June 12, 2013 @ 8:07 pm
“I would like to see this sexually ambiguous faux pop star try this with an audience at Billy Bob”™s.
And plastering “DUMMY” across a picture of Hank is a sacrilege.
It”™s like urinating on the Alamo.”
But you have no qualms with urinating on Tony Bennett, eh? You need a “DUMMY” trucker cap.
June 14, 2013 @ 9:54 am
You need to go back on your meds, Gino.
Going off of them makes you attack other posters whose musical tastes may vary from your own.
When I said above that I like Tony Bennett, I meant it.
I buy his music at CD stores, the same way I buy country music, rock, metal, Broadway shows and the blues.
I also meant it when I said his cover of a Hank tune made it sound like lounge music, which you equate to urinating on him.
Just like I also meant it when I said I probably wouldn’t like a Bocephus cover of a tune associated with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, etc.
The name of this site is Saving Country Music, not Saving Tony Bennett.
June 11, 2013 @ 3:41 pm
Here’s Rolling Stone’s Magazine take on the CMA Festival
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lenny-kravitz-struggles-at-surprise-cma-fest-appearance-20130610
I guess Jason Mraz, Sheryl Crow (of course), Kid Rock (of course), and Kelly Clarkson (1/2 and of course) were performers over the festival. At least Clarkson got Trisha Yearwood on the stage to sing a Garth Brooks song. That’s kinda cool.
I think the root of the problem is that labels aren’t developing artists into stars anymore (whatever that means) and cutting the cords on others way to quick. We don’t have any stars in country music! I mean, when Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton are winning Entertainer of the Year awards, we are in trouble.
Just look at who headlined each night and is it any surprise they had to bring in rejected pop stars.
June 11, 2013 @ 4:12 pm
No true leadership, and no true farm system developing new talent. Country needs migrating pop stars just as much as the migrating pop stars need country.
June 11, 2013 @ 4:12 pm
CMT= Country Music Trash. Thank god for Raul Malo tweeting what he did. Anybody want to laid odd that Lenny Kravitz is going to announce his heart has always been in country music. Frankly I can’t wait for Dale’s new genre to take off and the pop country crowd is left in the dust.
June 11, 2013 @ 4:31 pm
I was hoping this article was one of your spoofs. I kept waiting for something about Luke Bryan wearing tampons or some new douche fragrence for men by FGL, but it never came.
If traditional country music is for old farts and jackasses, what the fuck would you call Lenny Kravitz covering an old time rock and roll song? Fuck these people and the limo they were chauffeured in on!
June 11, 2013 @ 5:40 pm
complete disrespect to tradition and I’m glad we have a few that have the backbone to stand up for what is right.
June 11, 2013 @ 5:59 pm
Naomi: Ever hear Ralo sing “Sweet Dreams?” Now that’s country!
June 11, 2013 @ 8:35 pm
I agree with you about Kravitz and the lack of a george jones tribute, but I honestly cant’t get worked up over Hank Williams. Yes it is symbolic of what CMT has come to stand for, but it was clearly not designed to disrespect him, was not shown publicly, and most likely (as I’m sure senior executives do not get involved in approving what is shown as a test image) the work of some lowly technician without any oversight or approval.
June 11, 2013 @ 10:23 pm
I tend to agree with you about the Hank Williams image. I’ve caught some grief for being “sensational” about it, but I thought I was fair portraying both sides of the argument. I don;t think it was done on purpose, but I do thing Raul has a right to be angry about it, seeing it there for three days. At some point, someone should have said something. Though it wasn’t being broadcast through mass media, I’m sure a lot of people moved through that building in 3 days. I had been sitting on that image for almost a week, and it was getting to the point where I was starting to get grief for not saying anything about it. I figured it was important to at least set the record straight that in my opinion, the image was not on purpose, but nonetheless symbolic of country’s ambivalence to its past.
June 12, 2013 @ 12:26 am
http://youtu.be/JN99jshaQbY
June 12, 2013 @ 9:20 am
Ok so maybe it wasn’t on purpose ? However, in truth that in a way makes it worse, because someone was that ignorant. Worse than that those around over that long of a period did not immedeately say something. In the enviroment of the CMT awards show prep that should have been caught from the word go. It was not, that says a whole lot in my mind.
June 12, 2013 @ 6:43 pm
I agree, even if it wasn’t an intentional slight, shouldn’t someone with some type of authority seen it and ordered it to be taken down? If not for the (presumably unintentional) disrespect then for the publicity that would get generated if the public in general saw it. It’s like everyone in charge not only didn’t care, they didn’t figure anyone else would care either.
June 12, 2013 @ 12:07 am
This is a shame and disgrace to country music! I thought the Country Music Association is supposed to be about supporting and expanding country music, not other genres. I could see giving Lenny and the other pop acts maybe 1 song or duet with a country artist apiece. His set was 5 songs and 1 lasted 15 minutes. Lenny is a great rocker but LP Field is the 1 place everyone expects to be filled with country artists and music. The lineup is more pop and rock and less country than ever. Terrible! Some powers that be sure are working hard to kill country music. According to CMT, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Saving Country Music and many other critics, Kellie Pickler made the best country album of 2012 so she earned and deserved an LP Field set for sure! I know that would have been a much better surprise than any rock or pop act for the country fans who paid a lot of money to buy tickets and travel to see country music and love Kellie. She should’ve been the first artist they booked a year ago. If she wasn’t available (and it looks like she was since she was at CMA Fest all week) we have plenty of other talented country artists. If the best country artists aren’t good enough to perform on the biggest country music festival and stage in the world, who is and what does that tell the world about country music? And calling Hank a DUMMY and giving a 30 second tribute to George Jones? Kellie gives George a much longer tribute at her concerts by covering his songs. I’d fire whoever is making these terrible decisions and replace them with someone who actually cares about and promotes country music.
June 12, 2013 @ 12:10 am
Incongruous – Not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something; not in place.
She’s not dissing The Mavericks, she’s calling out the CMTs for even having the band there, i.e., it doesn’t make sense with the rest of the train wreck of a show.
June 12, 2013 @ 6:55 am
F CMT! their TV Station sucks and is just another MTV, they have more shows than actual music on there. All reworked awful reality TV shows. CMT Fest is going the same route and starting to be like another MTV Music Awards. Pretty soon there will be a CMT 2 with just music and then it will be all shows then they will have a POP CMT channel that plays Luke Bryan and Taylor Swift 95% of the time.
June 12, 2013 @ 7:30 am
Well, that Lenny Kravitz sure is demanding of the audience. I like the way he shakes his head in disgust at the end and goes all soul brotha with his “You can’t get down with love? That’s a shame, baby” schtick. And by “you”, I’m guessing he meant “you dumbass crackers.” I guess it didn’t occur to him that the particluar crowd at that event might not get down with a rock/soul song almost 25 years old that I’m sure many of them never heard before.
June 12, 2013 @ 10:15 pm
While it was a huge mistake to book him and the other pop acts for full sets, my guess is he was working so hard for a crowd response for the ABC TV show taping. They may have even asked him to do that. I’ve seen videos of artist introduction tapings in past years and they had a director telling people when to cheer and did some retakes.
June 12, 2013 @ 8:26 am
I hope Jr. and 3 raise some hell over that bullshit image.
June 12, 2013 @ 9:11 am
I never watch CMT. Ever.
June 12, 2013 @ 11:29 am
Did the image air on the live awards show.
June 12, 2013 @ 5:56 pm
No, it was only during setup / rehearsals.
June 13, 2013 @ 8:48 am
I wonder why they had it up. It was very disrespectful.
October 22, 2013 @ 8:40 am
prolly some overpaid CMT JACKASS’s idea of “feeling the crowd”!
June 12, 2013 @ 2:47 pm
I doubt it but I dont know, I would never watch it anyway… That doesnt mean that they wouldnt want to have it displayed live.
June 12, 2013 @ 4:06 pm
I’ve had mixed use for Naomi J. in the past, but yay for the gal this time
June 12, 2013 @ 10:23 pm
This lineup was in dire need of more country full sets.
http://lineup.cmaworld.com/?sort=LPField
http://www.cmaworld.com/news/newsitemdetail/2013/06/10/2013-cma-music-festival-sets-new-attendance-record-with-80-000-fans
No Alan Jackson, George Strait, Reba, Kellie Pickler, or any of the best artists covered here. Next year they should try something different and have a full night of country. Gee I wonder if that would go over better than pop and rock with country music fans.
June 13, 2013 @ 3:33 am
It seems to me the word “dummy” across the Hank Williams picture was most likely short hand for “dummy image”.
Naomi Judd only (with Wynonna as “The Judds”) was on the CMT “Girls’ Night Out” TV special in Las Vegas, and that was only two years ago. I really enjoyed that special (basically just a stage and music from some of the biggest female artists without too much fluff). I think a lot of people might think Naomi had nothing to loose, but the Judds were headliners at this CMT Television event only two years ago (I thought the still sounded great too by the way).
Every time I see Lenny Kravitz, the only thing I can think about is that horrid lawsuit story where the constantly overflowing toilet in his fancy New York condo kept overflowing and backing up to his down stairs neighbors (nasty).
I still watch the CMT award show every year. This may be there first year I didn’t see anything at all (not one moment) that made it worthwhile to sit through. I was happy to see Kacey Musgraves get a full slot though.
BTW: I have a hard time looking at Jason Aldean and he was a horrible host along with that annoying Bell woman. He never use to wear a cowboy hat when he was younger, it’s just a Cowboy Toupee to him and like a like of guys that go bald and can’t deal with it, he’s grown out that really nasty chin muff (and I highly suspect he cheated on his wife).
June 13, 2013 @ 4:53 am
Perhaps this is a tipping point.
Regarding the Hank Williams image, I wonder what would have happened had Hank Jr., Hank 3 or Holly Williams been there? Bet it wouldn’t have hung for three days.
June 13, 2013 @ 3:14 pm
The Mavericks were invited to be the house band – providing music and backing for other acts . This is a thankless job that takes days of prepping and learning new material including the tribute to George Jones . The Mavericks are fantastic musicians and did great . The Mavericks were cut off by CMT and switched to a station break while still playing the tribute song . Please do not blame The Mavericks for CMT’s goof up . Judd owes The Mavericks a public apology !
June 13, 2013 @ 11:12 pm
This “Dummy” controversy is ludicrous–or Ludacris, for all I care.
Some of you people sound like some whacked out Muslims in Yemen or Egypt or somewhere, who go all ape-shit because some hapless teacher inadvertently “insulted” Muhammad. I remember when that happened a few years ago. The “liberal” Muslims said the guy should be flogged. (The hard-liners wanted him beheaded.)
Just what we need: Country Music Taliban
June 14, 2013 @ 1:52 am
Shut The fu** up f**et and go Blast some taylor swift or jason aldean
June 14, 2013 @ 5:07 am
Oh. I know what I’ll do! I’ll call them whacked out Muslims and Country Music Taliban! That will really piss them off!
Hyperbole. Always a winner. Especially if you’re a troll.
June 14, 2013 @ 2:00 pm
Actually, I was expecting that there are enough intelligent people here who would agree.
People going out of their way to find reasons to be insulted when no insult was intended is one of the embarrassing features of this culture of political correctness.
June 15, 2013 @ 6:21 pm
(sigh) This is very troubling because it seems like those in charge are really out touch on all fronts. On my music blog I play country music occasionally usually stuff pre 95 but some new torch bearers and older acts with new music get played so I am keeping abreast with the scene a little and I am finding the young people LOVE the older country music. I see it in YouTube comments and posts and blogs and on my own blog when they reblog my posts about country music.
I think what is happening here is those in charge are watching the pop demographic and what they like as a opposed to the country demographic. So they are catering to the pop fans more than the country fans but still calling it country. I remember in HS (mid-nineties) country music was not cool, it was the litmus test for if you truly like ALL kinds of music. And liking it got you hated or loved depending on the person but it it did make you look more open-minded and outgoing. It was lamost a badge of honor to like country music along with pop and hip-hop. And now it seems all the people I know who like BS and TS and FGL all hope up and down about how they listen to country because they think it makes them hipper and more inclusive and accepting. But when I start to mention Hank Snow, Merle, Waylon, Jessi Coulter, Bobbi Gentry, Ernest Tubbs I get blank stares or they say they don’t like old country because it sounds “old”. However when I get country fans together either who have been listening to it before the Shania Twain disaster of the 90s or had parents that did, the opposite happens they bemoan BS and praise Hank Williams, and Dwight, and Tammy.
Maybe my experience is an anomaly but I am pretty sure the kids like “real country” from Naomi to Mary Chapin, to Lyle, to The Mavericks and they would buy that kind of music if those in charge were pushing it. But they won’t push I guess because they believe their own hype or their focus groups are all done in LA or NT or Portland , I don’t know but maybe the older acts will rise up and start their own industry and reclaim Nashville or move the business to Kansas or something…
After the weak tribute to Earl Scruggs I am not surprised George Jones didn’t get much screen time despite Frank Sinatra saying once, “George Jones is the second greatest singer I know.”
The Kravitz thing justs seem like ego taking over. What an ass. He should know his audience and this pop audience was not it.
June 23, 2013 @ 12:23 am
I completely agree with what Mr. Malo said about kravitz and the whole spectacle. Full disclosure being as that I did not watch the show.I have no interest in watching all those thrashville hacks kiss each others and their own asses..so I gave up on CMT and all the awards shows years ago. The situation in my opinion is well past embarrassing.These days it seems like anytime some half baked pop act needs a career second wind or shot in the arm, they just pair them up with some radio friendly pop country hack and re-brand them as country.(Nelly,Bon Jovi,Aaron Lewis,Ludacris..) I am thankful I live in Texas with satellite radio in my truck.Their is an outlaw country station, willies roadhouse,and prime country.When I have to listen to fm radio,its the possum,Dallas classic country station.I have made my opinion known loud and forcefully to all my friends who say they enjoy listening to country music.I ask them who they are talking about,then politely tell them that what they are fans of is not really country music.I don’t really like being that guy,,the dick music snob,..but we can’t let this ignorance go unchallenged can we?
June 25, 2013 @ 6:56 am
Here is a link to the 6/17/203 edition of somethin called Country AIrCheck, which Country Califronia referenced in their latest Quotable Country piece.
https://www.countryaircheck.com/pdfs/current061713.pdf
And here’s an interesting exchange with CMT president Brian Philips on the appearance of Lenny Kravitz at the LP Field show:
CA: And then he stuck around for an LP Field performance which wasn”™t entirely well received.
BP: I”™ve heard a bit of grumbling about that, to which I say, with all affection for Nashville audiences, Lenny Kravitz fills soccer stadiums all over the world. It makes us sound a bit parochial when I read tweets like, “Why is Lenny Kravitz in Nashville?” It doesn”™t make us look smart to take pot shots at great players who are also brave enough to stretch, in my opinion. My company was built on this kind of risk.
CA: The crowd didn”™t seem to reject Lenny outright, but the set was overly long and kind of out of step with the audience. So it wasn”™t the idea of Lenny, it Was the execution of the performance that turned the fans off.
BJ: That”™s a different issue. I wasn”™t there, so maybe that is a fair criticism. But the CMA was also making a TV show on that stadium stage. Again, his surprise presence will help drive tune-in for the ABC special, I”™ll bet.