No Really, Sam Hunt’s “Montevallo” is NOT Country
“You can paint a wall green and call it blue, but it’s clearly not blue. That would go over badly, because people know. When people trust you, they believe you’re investing them with a piece of your life and their lives in turn, so you want to keep that trust at every level.”
No this isn’t some illumination by a country music purist criticizing the excessive use of the term “country” these days to describe what is really pop, rap, rock, or some other form of music. These are the sage words from none other than Taylor Swift of why she decided to call her new album 1989 pop instead of country.
Taylor Swift went on to say, “So, it felt like it was important to tell people what [1989] was…I don’t really think people were surprised I made a pop album; I think they were surprised I was honest about it.”
Contrast this with Sam Hunt, and his new album Montevallo. Forget all of the tired arguments about what is country and what is pop, and how pop has always been a part of country. All of that goes without saying when broaching discussions on acts like Luke Bryan or Florida Georgia Line, to the point of calling them not country is as cliché as their vacuous laundry list lyrics. But this Sam Hunt business enters an entirely new stratosphere of “country” term-perversion.
In a nutshell, Sam Hunt and Montevallo are not country, and this goes beyond opinion. So what that a couple of songs feature a banjo or a steel guitar. This arguably makes the offense even worse because it proves they know they’re trying to put one over on consumers. For every element someone presents to claim this album is country, I can present fifteen that prove it patently isn’t. And it’s not really even close.
Montevallo is country music in marketing only. This is EDM/pop. So the next question is, where is the label MCA Nashville in all of this, and the Country Music Association? Don’t they have a stake in making sure at least some control is levied and boundaries set around what country music actually is? Where are the radio programmers putting up the stop sign, protecting the integrity of the genre? How about Billboard who is including Sam Hunt’s albums and songs in their country charts?
At the moment, Sam Hunt’s Montevallo album bests all other country albums, sitting at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart for its debut week. His lead single “Leave The Night On” is #1 on the Country Airplay chart, meaning no song was played more on country radio in the last week. And it is also #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, meaning overall it’s received more attention than any other song by radio and consumers. There was barely time to pay attention to Hunt’s X2C EP released in August before his full-length was announced to take advantage of his rapidly-rising demand. This is not Jerrod Niemann striking out with a gimmicky EDM song as the last dying gasp of a sputtering career, this is an artist poised to become a country music mega-star. But he’s not country, in really any capacity.
Montevallo is an excruciatingly-typical urban dance album that does Molly-laced grinds up against every single worn out trope of the velvet-roped, indirect-lighted, $15 cocktail club scene and the music thereof. Aside from the banjo in the song “House Party,” the steel guitar in “Single for the Summer,” and the sentiment in “Break Up In A Small Town,” this ten-song LP is a product of the pop/EDM world 100%.
This is the type of gaming of the country music term that has become typical over the past couple of years. Label managers looks for what they perceive as vacancies in the marketplace and interject manufactured stars to fill them. Hey, claiming rap and rock as country has been quite lucrative, so why not just launch your own EDM star and make believe it’s organic and erudite for the genre. Sam Hunt showed up into Nashville as a songwriter, and not a terrible one at that. But his most valuable asset revealed itself to be a willingness to make himself a blob of silly putty for marketing executives to fashion into whatever monster they so choose. Not that Sam doesn’t have his own motivations of money and stardom, or even sonic inspirations to take his music in this direction. If Sam Hunt’s music can make it in country, literally any type of music that exists on the planet can, and be successful enough where it tops the charts. This is not hyperbole. This is proven by Sam Hunt’s success.
Montevallo sits down in a space occupied by young white affluent to semi-affluent Americans that frequent the glitzy clubs of the shallow “see and be seen” world. Its lack of breadth and unifying emotional sentiments are striking. The songs “Break Up In A Small Town” and “Take Your Time” make use of the awful trend in EDM of talking verses in hushed tones, and transitioning over to heavily-infused Auto-Tuned singing towards the end. Jealousy and other signifiers of the under-maturated late-teen, early 20-something world are big players on Montevallo in songs like “Ex to See” and “Make You Miss Me,” while drum machines, DJ scratches, and synthesized accoutrements are featured unflinchingly. Though these things may be new to country, they come across as typical, if not tired elements of the EDM/dance world that has generally moved on to more complicated structures. Montevallo feels dated and unimaginative even in its native genre.
About the only saving grace of Sam Hunt and Montevallo is that the dude genuinely does not seem like the type of waste of human flesh that some of pop country’s other worst offenders embody. Sam Hunt seems more misguided. Similarly, a lot of these songs aren’t heavily-offensive to the ear on their own. The only reason to call them offensive is because they’re being called country—the same conundrum cast against Taylor Swift early in her career. The other question is why a 29-year-old is singing about the emblematic behavior of young adults just now exploring their legal right to drink?
Sam Hunt and Montavello symbolize nothing less than a dangerous, bordering on cataclysmic paradigm for country music where the genre could lose its identity long-term, rendering its autonomy and the entire meaning of “country” inert. Nice guy and good songs or not, Sam Hunt isn’t stretching the “Country” term, he is a downright attacking it, and represents a fulfillment of the mono-genre that should be roundly rejected by country music or face potentially dire long-term consequences.
Two Guns Way Down.
November 9, 2014 @ 6:23 pm
Thanks for this, Trig. I saw his album at #1 and didn’t know what to say. I’m so tired of labels putting out microwaved dog shit, calling it country, and watching the masses of consumers eat it right up.
June 16, 2015 @ 7:17 pm
I agree. I’ve given up trying to find country music on the four stations we have in our area. Our last stand was WPCV in Lakeland, Fl. For years, they had decent country music but in the last few years have begun to sound like a black rap station.
I can’t believe that country has become the crap that it has.
November 9, 2014 @ 7:18 pm
Maybe he thinks that since he wrote a few country hits, he has to sing country as well?? I don’t know… There is something about him that is just off putting to me. Like he can’t decide if he wants to be Macklemore, Adam Levine or the third member of FGL. He tries to hard to be a hipster.
November 9, 2014 @ 7:23 pm
Exactly what ive been saying about faux-country acts like Luke Bryan & FGL, Trigger. One girl on YouTube had this to say about Luke Bryan when i mentioned that he won an undeserved award at the CMAS:
“Umm excuse me he didnt win cause of shaking his butt or singing about sex and girls which he dont”
Need I say more, Trigger? Ignorant fans like this just prove your point and mine.
By the way: I asked her since Luke doesnt sing about sex and girls, then what “Country Girl (Shake It For Me) is about. No response. Not surprising. Fangirls & fanboys think their hero can do no wrong. Sad and pathetic….
November 10, 2014 @ 8:04 am
Anyone who thinks that Luke Bryan’s music is deep, this is a guy who is most proud of the line “drip of honey on the moneymaker gotta be the best buzz I’m ever gonna find.” He said in an interview it means exactly what we think it means. Oh, so now country music is honoring someone who has crossed over into singing about licking honey off a girl’s ass? Great.
March 29, 2015 @ 10:32 am
So agree with you re: Luke and FGL! Tired of sings about parties in pick up trucks l, shaking your tail, wtc.
November 9, 2014 @ 7:27 pm
where do you draw the line? maddie and tay tay are ‘country’ but this is not?? face it they’re all asshats.
November 9, 2014 @ 7:54 pm
Yes, Maddie & Tae are solidly pop country, while Sam Hunt is not country at all, and I don’t even think there’s any question of that. In fact Maddie & Tae might be the most country act in the Top 10 right now. Actually looking at the Top 10, I would say there’s no doubt about it. Maddie & Tae and Sam Hunt may draw the widest possible contrast in popular country music at the moment. But just like my review of Maddie & Tae’s new EP, people will likely judge that opinion based on the one Maddie & Tae song they’ve heard, and laugh. “They’re all asshats,” is not an informed opinion, it speaks to a prejudice I can’t subscribe to while trying to be an objective critic.
November 10, 2014 @ 12:06 am
I’m glad you said Maddie and Tay are POP-(country) , Trigger. They are NOT country music. The most country thing on radio ( when it gets airplay at all) is Musgraves in terms of obvious influences , sound and references to REAL country music . In fact I would argue that there is almost NO country music on mainstream radio any more . And the guy in your incredibly accurate to-the-point-as-always review is , with several other acts , about as far removed from Country music as you can get . Just shameful .
November 10, 2014 @ 8:35 am
I don’t know how things are where you live, but most of the country stations in my area have been much better in the last couple months. They’re playing more country and pop-country, and far less bro country. Even Cole Swindell, Tyler Farr and Jake Owen have solid singles out right now (I am aware not everyone likes ‘Ain’t Worth the Whiskey’ but I enjoy it for what it is). Throw that in with Dierks, Carrie, and Blake, and it’s hard to get too upset about where things are at compared to the last year or so.
November 10, 2014 @ 12:04 pm
Hayden …I think our definitions of ” country music” may differ . I would never consider what Cole Swindel ,Jake Owen and , least of all . Blake Shelton are doing as real country music . In fact I would put all three of those guys in the bro-country camp along with Dierks if he keeps recording crap like Drunk on a Plane . Carrie is a bit of a question mark with that song . Ok song , I guess , but her delivery is SOOOO over the top I can hardly leave the station on .
November 10, 2014 @ 12:41 pm
I made sure to say pop-country, in case you didn’t notice. You don’t have to like the songs or the artists, but judging Dierks for one song, and one that is NOT his current single at that, is just ignorance. I mean really, are you even aware of what the current singles are for the artists I mentioned? None of them really fit the bill for bro-country. You can’t judge an artists entire catalogue on one song.
Country radio is starting to move in a better direction. You can complain about it all you want, but it’s a huge improvement. And from the way it sounds, you’ll never be happy with it. Or even remotely tolerant of it.
November 10, 2014 @ 12:28 pm
I have to admit that “Drunk on a Plane” has grown on me over time. When it first came out, I hated it and lumped it in with the rest of bro-country. However, a closer look at the lyrics reveals that the bro aspect is contained to the first half of the chorus, with the verses and second half of the chorus actually telling a story and explaining the sadness between the narrator’s partying veneer.
November 11, 2014 @ 12:09 am
I agree , Hayden . Most of the artists you mentioned USED to record some pretty good , fairly country-sounding and themed music . And perhaps they have some fairly country-sounding stuff on their latest albums . I can’t say . But NEON LIGHT, DRUNK ON A PLANE and BEACHIN’ were NOT country songs and if that’s what these artists want to represent themselves with then I’m not buying/taking a chance on what MIGHT be hidden somewhere on one of their records or paying to see their live shows. I KNOW who records REAL country and I know who records really GOOD pop-country and for my money and time, its none of the artists you mentioned …and again …I can only base this on what they choose to release to radio . Granted , perhaps these artists have or will release something more country to radio in the future . I am not holding my breath . When guys like Easton Corbin , Alan Jackson and Lord knows how many great COUNTRY female artists, are ignored by radio so they can play ‘BEACHIN’ …sorry …I’m looking elsewhere for country music .
November 20, 2014 @ 12:54 am
Everyone is entitled to lay an egg every now and then. Deirks gets a pass because Long Trip Alone is probably one of the best modern country songs.
April 5, 2016 @ 11:13 pm
Just to throw it out there, you can judge an artists entire catalogue from one song. You just can’t do it if they don’t have a solid sense of who they are. If you listen to any U2 song you get a sense of who they are. Same could be said of Cash, Waylon, Johnson. Of course they aren’t the same every song, however they don’t deviate from who they are because they aren’t trying to be something they are not. Artists create something, they don’t sing things or adjust based on popular demand or label pressure. Luke Bryan is my favorite target, he is no more country that Michael Jackson. He grew up on a farm outside Valdosta, yet drove his brand new truck into a lake. Thank god he wasn’t backing in a live stock trailer. Point is, he has the southern accent, was born in the south and can rhyme. So he’s the white version of ludacris? Aldean doesn’t care what Zach brown has to say apparently but he’s just as bad. I don’t see the old guard arguing on Twitter like a bunch of little bitches. I’d like to slap the synthesizer out of his mouth. All the greats, who actually create country music can be judged to a point based on one song.
November 9, 2014 @ 8:08 pm
Trigger,
Tight jeans, tight shirts, eye candy, shitty music etc. Do you think guys like Jamey Johnson and Sturgill Simpson would have bigger careers if they played the same music as they currently play but had the whole bro country look? I have always wondered if The Mavericks would have been bigger had Raul not put on the weight. I am not sure if you have covered this topic before, my apologies if you have.
November 9, 2014 @ 8:32 pm
From a female perspective, absolutely. People can talk all day long about women being objectified in music, but we aren’t much better. I would much rather watch a hot guy sing any day of the week. Of course, my opinion of hot would be totally different than the next girl, and she may be into shaggy, slightly dirty looking guy, and that is her prerogative. Now, that doesn’t mean that I am going to watch a Chase Rice show. Even though he is attractive, he can’t sing for shit, but my two favorite male singers are both men that I find very attractive.
November 10, 2014 @ 12:15 am
” I would much rather watch a hot guy sing any day of the week.”
And therein lies the crux of the problem . You don’t WATCH music . You WATCH images . This is the very issue that brought about the decline of good and even great music way back when MTV was launched . You could ‘ WATCH ‘ most of that stuff with the sound turned down and be nearly as entertained if THAT’S what you were into.We’ve forgotten that we LISTEN to music because the suits brainwashed us into thinking we WATCH music . If the Kruise Kids were two overweight balding guys in their 60’s with wrinkled sagging tattoos and suspenders would today’s “country music” fans be as interested in the stuff they are singing ?
November 10, 2014 @ 1:58 am
You may disagree, but I think that the 80’s and much of the 90’s were filled with great music. As I have mentioned before, the best songs of the 80’s probably featured the greatest vocal ranges and instrumental diversity of any decade.
November 10, 2014 @ 5:12 am
I won’t disagree with you at all. There have been several times that I have heard a song, grown to really like it, seen the video sometime later and thought “Well he doesn’t look like I thought he would.” That doesn’t mean that I won’t like it anymore, but as far as spending money to go see someone live, I am definitely more likely to go see the one I think is attractive.
November 10, 2014 @ 12:11 pm
‘That doesn”™t mean that I won”™t like it anymore, but as far as spending money to go see someone live, I am definitely more likely to go see the one I think is attractive.’
I rest my case . It is hardly ever about the SONG anymore . If GREAT artists singing GREAT songs are not so GREAT looking , labels , management and , most importantly , potential fans aren’t as interested . So the solution to getting BETTER music on the radio ? Get GREAT looking , attractive , sexy , fit artists to SING GREAT SONGS . That should be easy ….right ? Well …apparently not ….cuz if you and your label and your fan base think you are serious eye candy , you can sing the instruction manual for assembling a lawn mower and make money doing it … A LOT OF MONEY !!
November 9, 2014 @ 8:52 pm
With mainstream artists, image is part and parcel to the music, and Sam Hunt is a perfect example of that. If you dressed up Sturgill Simpson as a pop country star would he do better? My guess is no. You would be blown away by the hundreds of artists in Nashville right now spending thousands of dollars on image consultants and putting out pop country records that you’ve never ever heard of. But if Sturgill Simpson was releasing music the masses were wanting to hear, I think he would be fine in his Carhart. It would hinder him to a certain extent, but his appeal would be the lack of image.
November 9, 2014 @ 8:32 pm
I gave the album 1 star out of 5, but looking at it, that was probably overly generous. There were a couple of songs on the album I kind of liked, even if they weren’t country. Actually, it’s interesting, but the two songs I did like actually COULD be country if presented differently from a country artist (“Make You Miss Me” and “Cop Car” (the latter of which I still prefer Mitch Rossell’s cover over Keith Urban’s version)). But Trigger nailed the whole thing down…there was absolutely nothing country about this album at all.
November 9, 2014 @ 9:24 pm
You were way too generous. I decided to be a glutton for punishment and make an honest attempt to listen to the Sam Hunt album. I want the 40 minutes of my life back now please. Crap like this illustrates my point that the suits at these record labels and the Powers That Be don’t even bother listening to these albums before they give radio stations the green light to play it on country radio. I’m all for experimenting and trying new sounds, textures or instruments in music. However, there comes a time where too much experimentation changes the genre altogether. This is a prime example. You cannot toss in steel or fiddle and call it country. That would be like a drug addixt going to an AA meeting and saying that I’m a drunk. The line has to be drawn somewhere. Its diluting our genre.
November 9, 2014 @ 8:35 pm
I just got an image of Sturgill and Jamey wearing bedazzled tight jeans, playing in a vocal duo band called “Cocktails and Tailgaits.” They’re cleaning up at the CMA awards and tearing up as they receive the biggest award of the night, best male outfits. Then I woke up.
November 9, 2014 @ 9:14 pm
Feels like a lot of corporate decisions being made to use this guy to drive the country charts, country sales, country stations, country money a certain way.
Sometime in his future though, Sam Hunt is probably going to feel like he has no identity himself.
November 9, 2014 @ 9:40 pm
Not only it is pop music. It is bad pop music
November 9, 2014 @ 9:52 pm
This story reminds me of the Swedish parody with Elizabeth Cook – Long Way Home. Life imitating art…perhaps?
November 9, 2014 @ 10:17 pm
You guys must all be wrong here, because the ass kissing colostomy bags over at RS Country have all their pants down around their ankles over this album, calling it the most adventurous album of the year….yea…
On a side note: Does anyone else have the problem of only about 20% of their posts going through here?
November 9, 2014 @ 10:29 pm
Sam,
Let me guess: they bend over and grab their ankless for any album being release on a major label and turn their noses up at the first mention of the words “independent label.” Wouldn’t surprise me at all if they do that sort of the thing.
To answer your question, all of my posts go through just fine.
November 9, 2014 @ 11:58 pm
Sam,
I just found about 20 of your comments stuck in the spam folder and approved them. Hopefully that will let the system know you’re okay and let your comments go through more freely. The site receives some 20,000 or so spam comments a day at this point, so sometimes there’s casualties in trying to keep the spam out. I apologize.
November 10, 2014 @ 1:09 am
Thanks Trig! At least I know I’m not just crazy now. Crazy, yes – but not JUST crazy! 😀
November 9, 2014 @ 11:29 pm
What I love most about this, is that yesterday I texted my bass player and my steel player and said “Why the f**k are we letting “Sam Hunt” happen?” … and then you write this today.
Damnit, Trigger. I love you, man.
November 9, 2014 @ 11:48 pm
Hey …If you are gullible ( read : ignorant ) enough to accept this as country music , knock yourself out .
I happened to catch this singer performing live ( on TV ) several times over the past few weeks . Nondescript , forgettable , substance-less , generic ….no …make that GENERIC ..here today gone this afternoon JUNK from the lyrics to the music to the lack-lustre “performance”.
Like I said …if you are gullible ( read: ignorant ) enough to think this is country music ..knock yourself out . This is the kind of shit that gives ALL music a bad rep .
November 10, 2014 @ 1:00 am
Songwriters with a good look that can also sing and play can eventually get record deals. luke Bryan Eric church Jason AldeAn Dustin lynch Jon Pardi all were writers with publishing deals before they got a record deal. Why is Sam Hunt on the radio, cause he was a good songwriter who could play and sing with an image so they signed him up. Really, that’s how it’s been for years on music row. People are amazed how this guy ends up on radio, well he is down there in the trenches of music city writing great songs and people took notice. Some of you all can bitch about what’s country and what’s not, but the truth of the matter is no one buying music and going to concerts wants to hear George jones type songs. Sure, a few of us do. But people wanna hear shit like sun daze ,leave the night on, ready set roll. I’m just glad that every now and then these acts cut a song like dirt, or a song like the house that built me makes radio.
November 10, 2014 @ 5:11 am
The majority of those people can barely sing, save Dustin Lynch and Jon Pardi. I’ve yet to see Jason Aldean pick up a pen, a piece of paper & write his own songs. Luke is singing other writers’ songs, from what I’ve read in the liner notes of his last 2 albums.
If you’ve watched the recent CMAs, the tide is turning. People are getting to be sick & tired of the “all style & no substance” gimmick. Even FGL used common sense (for once) and performed “Dirt”, the only decent song they have that comes close to constituting substance.
The Sam Hunts, FGLs, Luke Bryans & Jason Aldeans of the world will be here today, gone tomorrow & barely remembered. Artists like Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell will be remembered down the line because they actually contributed to the genre of country music without trying to pass off EDM/R&B/Rap with banjo and steel thrown in and attempting to call it country.
For the record Justin: more than a few people want to hear George Jones songs, myself included.
November 10, 2014 @ 8:14 am
Luke Bryan cowrites some of his music and has cowritten some of his number one hits. He stil has cowritten material on his latest albums. He also cowrote good directions for billy currington. Fl Ga Line cowrites a majority of their stuff. And Jason AldeAn had a publishing deal before his record deal and had some stuff he had written on his first record. I dunno why everyone gets in an uproar if someone doesn’t write all of their material. Pretty sure some of Waylon’s biggest hits were written by billy Jo shaver.
November 10, 2014 @ 2:21 pm
Justin,
Its not the fact that others write for them. That’s a Nashville staple that goes back before I was even thought of. Its the lyrical content that has us up in arms.
November 10, 2014 @ 4:23 am
The new Garth Brooks cd is great!
November 10, 2014 @ 6:19 am
It makes me sad and not a little angry that Sam Hunt is probably going to be the next big thing in “country” music while guys like Sturgill Simpson and Adam Hood will continue to be on the sidelines. I’m glad they can make a living without radio, but dammit, THEY are the ones who should be seen as the evolution of the genre, not carpetbaggers like Hunt.
November 10, 2014 @ 6:36 am
I actually like Leave the Night On for what it is, an upbeat mostly pop song. I may be in the minority, but I really liked Cop Car on Keith Urban’s album so I was looking forward to giving this album a shot. Leave the Night On may be the closest thing to country on the album and I’m still not sure there is much in that song to call it country. I’m not sure why he is hyped so much other than his looks. Judging by the success of his EP, I’m sure this album will shoot up the charts. Hopefully radio makes a stand and doesn’t play anything else from the album.
November 10, 2014 @ 6:44 am
Hopefully radio makes a stand and doesn”™t play anything else from the album.
That. will. not. happen.
November 10, 2014 @ 6:51 am
We can all dream, right? I didn’t think country radio would pass on playing Shake It Off, but I haven’t heard it yet. I think the problem with radio these days is that the stations are run by program directors that control everything. I feel like the days of requesting songs and having the current DJ throw it in are long gone so it’s hard to have a voice as a consumer. Sturgill’s chart success with Metamodern Sounds in Country Music shows that fans are voting with their dollars. Hopefully radio will see those things and adapt. We have a new HANK FM station in town so I’ve gone mostly to that when I’m not just streaming Spotify.
I just saw the Rolling Stone article. The worst thing about that article was that he apparently works closely with Shane McAnally. They actually mentioned Sam Hunt in the same sentence as Kacey Musgraves and Brandy Clark.
November 10, 2014 @ 7:04 am
The worst thing about that article was that he apparently works closely with Shane McAnally. They actually mentioned Sam Hunt in the same sentence as Kacey Musgraves and Brandy Clark.
Agreed. Apparently, Shane McAnally co-produced the album.
November 10, 2014 @ 3:22 pm
Shane McAnally has always worked closely with questionable artists, and written questionable songs. His work with Musgraves recently have people overlooking that fact, but Shane plays both sides of the fence and always has.
November 10, 2014 @ 6:41 am
This guy falls into the Rascal Flatts realm for me: so obviously not-country that it doesn’t even bother me.
This dude has written some decent pop songs in my opinion. The only problem is that someone decided to call them country.
November 10, 2014 @ 9:13 am
Uggh Rascal Flatts… I do not understand their appeal at all. Gary sounds like Donald Duck huffing helium.
November 11, 2014 @ 12:21 am
Thanks . For the life of me I don’t get Rascal Flats either . Except for GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD and SARAH BETH ( ? ) I am at a loss to explain their ongoing appeal . I’m certain if they’d launched their career only 4 or 5 years back they’d have been FIRMLY in the bro-camp chasing music trends, fashion and hairstyle like the Kruise Kids….. so I guess maybe I just answered THAT question .
November 10, 2014 @ 8:08 am
I tuned the radio to a local country show yesterday and heard the single playing. Spent a couple of minutes trying to find out why I was hearing that rather than some country music before the DJ came on and announced it as no. 1 on the country chart …. I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry – or vomit!!
November 10, 2014 @ 8:29 am
This is overreaching. When you said EDC I expected something like Jason Aldean’s burning it down (possibly the worst song of all time btw).
Sam Hunt’s album is literally a standard deviation or two less country and more dance than Aldean’s song. I don’t even know what to say. I see a lot of people compare him to Luke Bryan, I may be biased but I don’t think Bryan is anywhere near as bad, save for “Thats my kind of night”, his songs are at least tolerable and don’t sound like wannabe dance hits.
My perception of Luke is very biased though. He played a free concert at a hole in the wall three miles from my house in Florida, and no other solid country artist has ever come out here. He was cool as all hell, and when the power went out, he followed my buddy’s and I back to my friends back yard and finished singing acoustic by the bonfire. He may not have the most country sound or good music but he’s a cool guy and in my opinion, doesn’t embody the immoral filth of guys like Fla-Ga-line.
Back to Sam Hunt, the current music scene is sad. I just hope a few artists who are traditional can shift the trend back to a reasonable blend of pop-country and traditional country. Remember when pop country was the only thing to worry about during the Garth Brooks era in the 90s?
November 10, 2014 @ 9:12 am
I’m not as offended by Sam Hunt as many people on here are. firstly, he doesn’t do the tattoos and the wallet chains, and he actually looks respectable. two, he can actually sing. and three, if anyone caught his Ryman performance, he talked a bit about Waylon, but he went beyond doing what Aldean and everybody else does, because when he finished talking about Waylon, HE PLAYED WAYLON, and not just a cliché “prove my roots” Waylon song like “Only Daddy” or “Good Ole Boys” he played “Belle of the Ball”, and not only that, but he did it with just his voice and an acoustic guitar, and did it commendably. No, he’s not a true country artist, but he’s a lot better than most of the rest of them.
November 10, 2014 @ 2:18 pm
I listened to 2 and a half songs on the album (not including Leave the Nite On). I couldn’t make it any further. What I heard would be unoffensive on a Pop radio station. I wouldn’t feel like I need to change the station if it came on in the car.
But that music belongs on Country Radio like Trigger belongs on the Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse team. It is zero percent country. It should never have been associated with country music.
November 10, 2014 @ 3:23 pm
True. I’m more of a field hockey guy.
August 18, 2015 @ 9:57 pm
This guy couldn’t shine Waylon Jennings boots. He is not country, he is not that talented. Put him where he belongs.
November 10, 2014 @ 9:25 am
two guns down as a Country Album, 1.25 guns up as a pop album.
November 10, 2014 @ 10:11 am
I have never heard this guy and unless someone crams it in my ear I am not going to.
That cover photo though … whaaa? I swear all I see is Hitler (though part of that is from shadow) in the back alley on trash day.
November 10, 2014 @ 3:46 pm
Here’s my take on this. Love it for what it is or hate it for what it isn’t. If you are a country “PURIST” things like this by artists like this make you cringe. I get it…. I do want to point out, it’s songs like this that get (Young) people who aren’t interested in country to give it a try. I like to refer to it as a “GATEWAY DRUG” for country music. I grew up rual and HATED country. Now I live in a metro area and it’s a preset although not my first choice. I starts out where people listen for this song (or FGL/Luke/Etc.), then they discover songs that have deeper meaning and are a little more authentic to the format or actually have a story they connect with. It’s just like when a country artist has a song huge enough to cross to pop music. I would look at that as being a plus for country music NOT that the artist sold out. You are opening the door and inviting an audience that may not ever try your product if not for that.
November 10, 2014 @ 4:47 pm
Yes, the gateway drug theory. Offered up often. We waited for seven years for Taylor Swift fans to convert and it never happened to any measurable degree. Now she’s converting country fans to pop.
The way you convert young people to country fans is by explaining and highlighting the virtues of country music, not by running away from them and offering up a watered-down version. Or in the case of Sam Hunt, something that really isn’t country at all, making for even more confused consumers. Music is not war, or religion. The team with the most fans doesn’t win. I’m not sure I want people whose first taste of country music is Sam Hunt converting to the genre. It seems that would only cause more conflict.
November 10, 2014 @ 6:12 pm
“We waited for seven years for Taylor Swift fans to convert and it never happened to any measurable degree.”
Is there data backing this up. From my cursory reading of the statistics, country music seems to have increased in popularity since Taylor came to the scene.
November 10, 2014 @ 7:35 pm
Yes, country music has never been bigger and popular, and it’s never sounded worse. Is there a correlation? Don’t know. And no, I don’t have any statistics. But my gut tells me the gateway drug theory lends to more conflict than true country fans.
November 10, 2014 @ 8:02 pm
Trigger,
Since you’re posting a lot of review lately and artists like Sam Hunt polarize country music listeners: when are you going to review Jason Aldean’s new record? It’s been a little while since you posted a rant or a scathing review. I always get a good chuckle out of those.
November 10, 2014 @ 8:21 pm
I didn’t think it was rant worthy, but it was pretty awful. A few decent songs near the end kept it out of rant territory.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/album-review-jason-aldeans-old-boots-new-dirt
November 10, 2014 @ 8:42 pm
You’re a better man than I, Trigger.
I tried listening to the entire album. Maybe 4-5 songs out of 15 were actually decent. The R&B drum loops on certain song sound tacked on like an afterthought.
November 11, 2014 @ 12:25 am
‘We waited for seven years for Taylor Swift fans to convert and it never happened to any measurable degree. Now she”™s converting country fans to pop.’
Well said Trigger .
November 10, 2014 @ 6:00 pm
That’s like a junkie in an AA mtg claiming to be a drunk. FGL, Sam Hunt, Jason Aldean are piss poor representations of country music, for the simple fact that they’re not country in the slightest. When you experiment to the point where the music doesn’t even sound like country but goes into a completely different genre altogether, that’s not country. I made an honest attempt to listen to Sam Hunt’s album. I really did. DJ scratches, hip-hop beats and spoken word (poorly done at that)…this isn’t country. And the masses are hoodwinked into believing that it IS country. Name dropping rappers in your songs makes you sound dumb and ignorant. You can’t introduce someone to country music if you not making country music yourself. Taylor Swift isn’t country and at least she had the decency to let folks she isn’t country anymore.
November 10, 2014 @ 5:14 pm
Yup. The “gateway drug” theory only works when the artist being touted as such is at least somewhat similar in sound, i.e., Metallica being touted as a gateway drug to real metal, or Alan Jackson being touted as a gateway drug to traditional country.
November 10, 2014 @ 6:05 pm
Can’t introduce folks to a genre you’re no longer a part of or never weew a part of to begin with. You come off sounding pretentious and hypocritical.
November 10, 2014 @ 6:19 pm
The sad thing about “Montevallo” is that, when you get past the egregious marketing intentions, I’m convinced Sam Hunt has some genuine talent as a songwriter for Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Contemporary radio.
That said, after listening to the album several times……………it became increasingly unlistenable for reasons having nothing to do with it not being country in any way, shape or form. The more you take the lyricism in, that actually makes it a more grating listen than the mislabelling.
“Montevallo”, for an album of ANY genre, is mired by songwriting that is steeped in arrogance, self-obsession and utter lack of distinctive personality. “Ex to See” is the single worst offender. I absolutely LOATHE songs, regardless of genre, that depict immature exes playing to retaliate against each other rather than get over whatever drama lingers in the air, and that’s exactly what we get there. Then you have “Breakup In A Small Town”: where Hunt attempts to grasp the understandable sentiment following breaking up with someone only to see that ex hook up with someone else, but then disingenuously sings about that “you have to move or move on”…………and yet keeps whining about it the entire rest of the song. And “Single For The Summer” rings so hollow in attempting to justify his string of casual sex encounters but yet sounding so indifferent and detached to each of them: all while attempting to frame him in a remorseful light.
Hunt may truly be a nice guy in real life, but this debut effort certainly doesn’t help his case in how self-indulgent and arrogant it comes across. And that’s important not to overlook amidst the whole genre labelling conversation.
November 11, 2014 @ 12:28 am
Haven’t heard the whole record Noah , but it seems what you’re saying is that its just another pile of *%#& trying to stoop down to scoop up the lowest common denominator demographic-wise.
November 11, 2014 @ 2:01 am
…………………yep, that’s about the size of it! 😉
I just put the effort in to give everything a fair listen: hoping I’ll be surprised. And sometimes it does happen. For example, Brantley Gilbert’s “Just As I Am” was significantly better than I ever expected it to be, to be honest, aside from back-to-back horrid singles. The star of “Pretty Little Liars”, Lucy Hale, came out with an unexpectedly solid debut album earlier this year too.
With Sam Hunt, though…………..I genuinely think he is better than “Montevallo”. I actually believe he has the chops to write some potentially compelling material from here on out. He already proved this with “Cop Car”. But SKIP “Montevallo”.
November 11, 2014 @ 12:21 pm
Hear ya…..right songs -wrong place . I’ve always found that about Tim McGraw . Seems to me his radio stuff is usually geared to the cursory , ear candy – loving music ” fan ” . But his albums have always had at least 2 or 3 terrific tunes -lyrically dynamite with themes that appeal and relate across the board and across generations ( like a great movie ) – and IMO he does a credible job singing them ( on record anyway ) so he gets points from me for trying to ‘keep it country’ on one hand even if he’s trying to sell to the uninitiated or uncaring ‘pop-country’ fan ( youth demographic ). I think his ‘image’ has always been geared to that country music ” watcher” as opposed to country music listeners….but that’s another issue altogether .
Maybe we should be thankful that guys like Chris Young , McGraw , Miranda , Kacey Musgraves , George Strait , and a handful of others at least TRY to celebrate the hard work and skill of the serious writers and the universal themes still available to ANY artist .But perhaps it may be too tall an order to expect younger radio-raised fans to appreciate the ‘good stuff ” enough to search it out .
November 11, 2014 @ 12:34 pm
I’m 31, and I’d much rather be hearing the likes of Jason Eddy’s “Daylight & Dark” (my personal favorite country album of 2014 thus far), Sturgill Simpson’s “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music” and Angaleena Presley’s “American Middle Class” on the airwaves than your usual “bro-country” suspects.
At any rate, I like to decipher what I’m listening to rather than lap up at face value that something is stellar or sucks just because someone has already uttered it via megaphone. That goes for “bro-country” too. It’s just a shame most who get their music solely through commercial radio and television don’t keep their critical faculties engaged! =/
November 12, 2014 @ 1:44 am
” It”™s just a shame most who get their music solely through commercial radio and television don”™t keep their critical faculties engaged! ”
I guess it really comes down to what music means to the individual . If all you need is some musical wallpaper in your life …well there’s no shortage of that around. BUT if you LOVE music and appreciate it, with a little effort you can always find the good stuff and keep your ‘critical faculties’ intact and engaged .
November 10, 2014 @ 8:17 pm
I have a hard time believing Hunt, or any other of these blatant pop stars charading as country acts, are “misguided”. That would imply a level of innocence and/or ignorance to the situation. I just don’t see it.
The game is very clear and very apparent to anyone who gets involved in the music industry, and I would dare to say this applies extra to songwriters like Hunt. I think they know full and well what the method of operation is, and willingly dive in headfirst for the sake of commercial success.
I am not trying to diminish anyone’s character, more trying to be realistic about how people know where the line is when it comes to making music and simply pushing a product.
November 10, 2014 @ 9:45 pm
This guy is such a good R&B talent… why is he bothering to mislabel this?
It has no business in country, but if I wasn’t so pissed off by it being in the wrong genre, I’d jam this when I was in the mood for R&B.
November 11, 2014 @ 1:43 am
Maybe this a good thing. It’s high time that White Trash Pop got its own genre and chart. He’s a good looking guy with a decent voice a catchy songs. Way better to me than Eric Church, Luke Bryan, or Florida Georgia Sleeveless Tabernacle Choir. Let him have a hit and call it Trailer Park Pop or White People Office Music or whatever. But goddamnit, let’s have Stapleton and Simpson on a real country chart.
November 11, 2014 @ 12:35 pm
The biggest problem that I have with Sam Hunt is the fact that he could use his success with “Leave the Night On” and essentially act as a Trojan Horse for the destruction of the genre. While this single isn’t necessarily much of a change sonically, songs like “Break Up in A Small Town” are so dangerous they could destroy the genre if it’s released as a single and becomes successful.
However, If he has a Jerrod Niemann moment and this blows up in his face, he might be forced to take the Brantley Gilbert route and lower down some of the edginess and make it more country. Or simply, go and take the Taylor Swift route and stop calling yourself country.
November 11, 2014 @ 8:14 pm
The robust sales as an album track for “Breakup In A Small Town” greatly worry me, to be honest! =(
For weeks on end preceding the release of “Montevallo”, it was consistently positioned in the lower end of the iTunes Top 100 all-genre composite chart. That’s a surefire sign there’s a hit single in the wing to be reckoned with.
The only question that remains is, though it’s all but certainly going to be a #1 hit on the mongrel “Hot Country Songs” chart, will it necessarily be as big a hit on the Country Airplay chart?
Up until “Somethin’ Bad” peaked outside of the Top Five late last month, no single other than “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (for obvious reasons) and “This Is How We Roll” (only because it was blocked from the top by an even bigger mega-hit that was “Play It Again”) peaked at #1 on both the mongrel and airplay charts. I argued at the time “Burnin’ It Down” was doininating the iTunes all-genre composite chart that, if it were to succeed at topping the Hot Country Songs chart, it would all but certainly top the airplay chart too regardless of the vociferous backlash. And that’s exactly what happened.
But “Somethin’ Bad”, for the first time ever, directly refutes the theory that a mongrel chart #1 will inevitably be a chart-topping airplay hit as well. It even struggled to make it into the Top Ten for multiple weeks before finally surviving numerous leapfrogs from competing singles and limping into a Top Ten peak position. But despite selling reasonably well and spectacular YouTube video streams, its callout was considerably poor and it will not hold well as a recurrent on playlists.
“Cop Car” is also an interesting case study. It’s a relatively rare recent single that has peaked higher on the mongrel chart than on the airplay chart. It peaked at #4 on the Hot Country Songs chart and has enjoyed solid sales…………yet also limped into the Top Ten and ultimately settled for a #8 airplay peak. Even more mysterious is the fact the song garnered generally positive callout from listeners.
Considering Urban’s version of “Cop Car” is slightly more country-flavored (but decidedly pop overall) than Sam Hunt’s EDM-Adult Contemporary heavy version, there’s a strong case to be made that a song like “Breakup In A Small Town” may more likely be the next “Somethin’ Bad”: a mongrel #1 hit that will nonetheless be too polarizing at radio to replicate its success on the airplay chart. Callout will provide us more clues, as well as continues sales as an album track.
November 12, 2014 @ 11:31 am
Is that accent put on or real cause it’s annoying as hell.
November 12, 2014 @ 11:32 pm
…at least he’s good at what he does? I’d rather listen to well done adult contemporary music, and this is good ACM, than shitty country music. “Leave the Night On” was a breath of fresh air on the radio in August, because it wasn’t terrible music.
It was by no means country music, but I’d rather listen to something like that than “Ready Set Let’s Roll” and its ilk.
Then again, I’m not a purist, and really don’t care what genre a piece of music falls into as long as it’s well-written and executed. Jason Isbell, the Dixie Chicks, Nas and Chance the Rapper are the top played artists on my iPhone.
November 13, 2014 @ 3:33 pm
I liked Leave The Night On, Raised On It, and Ex To See. After that, this album is atrocious. Break Up In A Small Town is quite possibly the worst song on the album, with Speakers being a close second. I’m sorry, but when a song is so forgettable that I can’t even remember the name a minute after listening to it, it’s bad.
January 14, 2015 @ 12:52 pm
Honestly, none of any of the “Country Music” out today is country. It’s all complete shit and the same boring crap over and over again. FYI all of you so-called country artists, we get that you have a big truck, go to parties, ride on back roads and think you’re country..you’re not. Furthermore, adding EDM type of sounds to your music doesn’t make you revolutionary, it just makes your crap sound even more horrible. Also, another tip for country artists nowadays, take some lessons from Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and some of Country Music’s greats before you decide to put out another shit album!
January 14, 2015 @ 11:31 pm
Leave the Night On was tolerable so long as I never actually type Night spelled incorrectly, and Take Your Time is more well done than the other misguided bullshit on this album (Break Up in a Small Town is so clumsy). Granted, those are the only 3 songs I know, aside from Cop Car due to Keith Urban. This guy is dangerous, and it’s like he doesn’t realize it.
I wish the good pop-country artists got this kind of attention. I mean, it’s impressive that something like “Kiss You Tonight” by David Nail has stayed on the charts for as long as it has, but it hasn’t approached #1, as far as I know. To stick with Nail, “Burning Bed” might be the best contemporary country song released in 2014. Incredible song.
Anyway, back to Hunt–harmless persona, devastating impact.
February 8, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
So sick and tired of hearing little trendy affeminate boys prancing around to California beach party feel good music and calling it country. Thank you for this piece.
March 1, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
How about rather than arguing about what is or isn’t “country” music these days we embrace the change and cyclical nature of it all?
Rather than bashing anyone who seemingly isn’t “country” enough for your liking, we just enjoy what music you like as an individual…
Don’t be so short-sighted and purist to the point where you can’t get over the fact country music is ever-changing and maybe will never be like it was with the legends of old like George Jones, George Strait, etc…
Like Dave Grohl said, “That’s one of the great things about music. You can sing a song to 85,0000 people and they’ll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons.”
Just because you don’t like a song, or an album, or an artist doesn’t mean it’s not good music. What difference does it really make whether an album or artist is labeled as country, or pop, or jazz for that matter…does it really matter?
Mainstream radio plays what the people want to hear, simple as that. Leave it at individual people liking different variations of music, regardless of what genre they associate with.
March 29, 2015 @ 10:49 am
Well, conversely, why can’t you just like pop music and stop trying to convert country music in to pop music. Why can’t people like you just leave country music be for those of us who like it a certain way.
Furthermore, your use of Dave Grohl is laughable, since Grohl is fed up with the current pathetic state of music today, as many of us are.
March 29, 2015 @ 11:42 am
On the other hand…this doesn’t sound horrible, and most stuff on the radio that’s more ostensibly “country” does.
I’d rather listen to something that doesn’t sound horrible than something that does, regardless of genre classification.
March 28, 2015 @ 6:14 am
If you want true young country artist(s), than Mitch Rossell and Mo Pitney will fill that bill!
April 10, 2015 @ 11:05 pm
Lol the guy the guy that played college football in bama isnt “country” and he plays make you miss me on a piano. Call him what you want, but he’s super talented and way better musician than a lot in today’s music scene
April 14, 2015 @ 9:52 am
XM Highway pushes several artists that are clearly not country and they have a big part in this as well. Sam Hunt is definitely not country and need to not be on the country charts or country radio. There are others and they are obvious.
April 20, 2015 @ 7:21 pm
If I heard “Leave the Night On” or “Take Your Time” without knowing which radio station I was listening to, I would immediately recognize that I had turned to a Country station. I really can’t imagine these sings being played on a non-Country station. I enjoy what I feel is enjoyable and well executed music with good vocals in almost any genre. Personally, I feel that Sam Hunt’s voice is immeasurably better than Luke Bryan’s – I have been scratching my head over Luke Bryan for a long time. He sounds like Kermit the Frog, he’s so nasal. Sure, Sam Hunt isn’t pure Country, but his music fits that genre better than any other, and obviously a lot of people enjoy it. (And I love the haircut – different isn’t always bad.)
April 22, 2015 @ 12:01 pm
WTF is wrong with people.. I see these posts about how Sam Hunt isn’t country and ripping on the whole country music situation. How bout this.. Its good fucking music, dance around your kitchen music, and roll the windows down in your car summer singing music. This dude is doing what he loves, obviously, I say congrats to him, I don’t give a shit what record label supports him and gets him out there as long as it is. So BOOYA Bitches, if you don’t like it just don’t listen to it.. move on… 🙂
June 10, 2015 @ 7:45 pm
I personally think Granger Smith is really sticking to what country music is all about. And the fact that he is a self-represented artist is probably what has kept him from producing songs that don’t belong in country music. Groups like FGL and Luke Bryan basically just reconfigure the same subject matter into preverse, overproduced Garbage. So Granger Smith has my respect for sticking to real country music (though Earl Dibbles is more of a spoof) than any other artist that you hear on the radio these days. Zac Brown band does a good job as well
June 12, 2015 @ 6:24 am
I believe we have to ask ourselves what is country music? If we are to be honest, Straight and Brooks do not fit that mold either. It is always changing. Sam Hunt does not qualify as country to yall because of the way he expresses it through his style and instrumental choices… yet his songs tell honest stories and he writes them. Not to mention he probably comes from a smaller southern town than most of the people on here. No offense to anyone on here, I just want to hope and feel like country music is deeper than someone’s appearance or instrumental choices.
June 12, 2015 @ 8:28 am
I agree country music is deeper than someone’s appearance or instrumental choices—but I still disagree that Sam Hunt is country. Not sure if Sam’s stories are “honest,” but they’re certainly shallow and steeped in urban settings and jargon, so why not call it urban pop, which it is?
October 21, 2015 @ 10:18 am
Only thing I have to say is “I don’t think Hank would have done it that way”. Old school, punch you in the mouth and buy you a beer from the highway men is the best country around. Most of what people call country today sounds like they trying to cross over to pop cause its all about the almighty $. Back then they sang country cause it was in the blood.
November 1, 2015 @ 9:14 am
I hate Sam Hunts music he is not country. Now he is touring with Miranda Lambert and possibly dating her. Yuck
January 15, 2016 @ 1:49 pm
So much negativity (well deserved) on this comment board. Has anyone listened to Django and Jimmie? Good to hear those two back together again!
May 17, 2016 @ 5:21 pm
Geez people yall would live a lot longer if you minded your own business. Sam Hunt might not be your typical cookie cutter country singer/song writer and I do know the definition of country music but, that was way back when country first got going. Its changed and grown with the new generation of people that go to concerts and clubs etc. Like all things we want new more “House Party” “Leave The Light On” up beat music with enough of that country twang to dance to. Sam Hunt blurred the lines between Country, R&B, Pop, Rap and even went as far as to cross over into spoken word. His music embodies the best of all these genres. To say that calling his album “Country” is offensive sounds like a personal problem to me. Because who does it offend? Who you? Do you own country music? Did someone die and make you the “King of Country”? What he did was introduce people to something new just like FGL and Luke Bryan they are bring people out of their stereotypical boxes and giving them some culture and it scares people. People that might have said “Oh I don’t like country music”. Are now like hey that’s my shit. We like what we know but, things change all the time. If you have a problem with classifying Sam Hunts music hell they can make his own genre and call it “DAMN GOOD MUSIC” only reason yall have to hate (and I do mean hate because yall can miss me with that offensive bullshit) Sam Hunts music being in the country genre is that he colored outside the lines and its beautiful. Now before someone makes the mistake of calling me a fangirl shut your mouth because I’m not that love sick teenager I don’t worship the ground Sam walks on I don’t know the guy all I know is that he is a damn good musician and he refuses to be one thing one genre and I respect that he doesn’t try to be the cookie cutter country singer. Sam isn’t killing country music he is bringing in new listeners breathing new life into it. We don’t have to be just one thing as people so why shoud music be any different.
If I paint a wall green and call it Blue it is Blue because that’s what I named it. Its okay to color outside the lines every know and then.