On Chris Stapleton Playing The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
Normally I don’t do these types of posts, where the day after an artist performs on a late night talk show or covers some other artist at a show in Osh Kosh, outlets rush to post the video the next day and promote it on their own site, as if a direct link to the video wouldn’t suffice. That’s what the stupid news crawl at the top of SCM that nobody pays attention to is for. I just think it’s lazy journalism to look at everyday musical events as original content.
There are exceptions however, maybe when a relatively smaller artist makes their network debut like Dale Watson or Ray Wylie Hubbard, or when the event is newsworthy on its one right for whatever reason, and maybe Chris Stapleton’s performance on Fallon Thursday (12-17) falls into that category. It was not his network TV debut, nor is it relevant to refer to Stapleton as “relatively small” anymore. He’s now a Top 20 selling artist in 2015, and he pulled that off for all intents and purposes in less than a month.
The song Stapleton chose to perform on Fallon was “Sometimes I Cry,” which was a fairly strange selection. The song takes a bit to get off the ground, ends abruptly, and isn’t particularly country whatsoever. But Chris knew his crowd. The Tonight Show demo is full of mainstream humans who need something easy to get into, and that’s what Stapleton gave them. As you watched him perform, you just knew he probably sold himself another 40,000 albums.
Even Questlove and the Tonight Show band were visibly blown away after the performance. I’m sure normally when they hear the musical guest is going to be of the country persuasion, they’re fishing for their ear plugs in their gig bags. In Stapleton’s case, he practically showed them up.
jesus friggin christ @jtimberlake: you was NOT LYIN bout @ChrisStapleton. #Cotdayum. #converted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Questlove Gomez (@questlove) December 17, 2015
All Stapleton has to do is get on stage, and everything else works itself out. He’s unstoppable. When he releases a new record, who knows where it could go. He could pull Taylor Swift-sized numbers. And if, if he pulls out an upset at the Grammy Awards in February and gets a performance slot, he could become one of the biggest performers from North America. There’s no marketing behind this. I’m pretty convinced Chris Stapleton’s peeps have no clue what they’re doing. We all know mainstream country is a copycat business, and there’s no model for this. They’re just as surprised as the rest of us, and are not sure exactly how to handle it. But this is all what happens when you give real talent a chance.
Anyway, here’s the stupid video:
December 18, 2015 @ 10:54 am
Questlove giving Stapleton some praise? I would probably equate that to when Max Weinberg from the E-Street Band played drums with Jack Ingram singing on Conan O’Brien.
December 18, 2015 @ 11:15 am
Best song to show his otherworldly singing talent. Is his voice country? Who cares about that! It’s incredible. Like you’ve said before about Adele’s success, people are sick of electronic, over produced shit. They want raw music with some soul
December 18, 2015 @ 11:53 am
I don’t know why people make it a game of mutual exclusivity.
The two hottest acts in mainstream music are Adele and Justin Bieber. The two best-testing songs at pop radio are Adele’s “Hello” and Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.” They’re definitely not cut from the same cloth.
People are embracing Chris Stapleton because he’s damn good, but it doesn’t mean the market is necessarily “sick” of other breeds of country music. Sam Hunt’s EDM-leaning “Break Up In A Small Town” is Top 10 at radio, selling like hotcakes, and has comparable listener callout scores to “Nobody to Blame.”
Thomas Rhett and Cole Swindell are killing it on iTunes, but so too is Cam. It’s not in spite of each other – it’s just that all three acts are finding audiences for their music.
December 18, 2015 @ 11:26 am
My goodness-I was hearing all kinds of things in there-reminiscent of Duane-era Allmans, post-Duane Allmans, James Brown, and even a little ZZ Top Fool For Your Stockings, in the guitar sound. But it was all his own. That was refreshing.
December 18, 2015 @ 11:33 am
‘Unstoppable’ is the right word when it comes to honest and unique musical talent and a passion that connects on that basis…not on the basis of trends or fashions , age or sex appeal .
Chris Stapleton has a transparent honesty in his performances and a defining vocal style that provides the perfect vessel for his gift.That is apparent regardless of a listener’s genre preferences or personal musical tastes . This emotional connection and the timeless nature of the music he writes or chooses is a throwback to a time when it WAS all about the music ( Hendrix’ guitar , Janis’ voice , Hank Williams’ seemingly simple lyrical observations) and the artistry – NOT about cashing in on trend or taking advantage of a naive ( young ) impressionable audience . The importance of his success , beyond the fact that his passion is being acknowledged , is , I believe , the proof that timeless ,honest , real music delivered with integrity and conviction to that music IS always in ‘fashion’ and ALWAYS marketable because of its sheer integrity . What aligns CS’s music with country music’s traditions is not a mandolin or a steel guitar as accompaniment but the above approach to that music and the intent behind what he’s doing …..the emotional conviction and expression of a feeling PLAYED and SUNG by a REAL human and done so far more successfully than machines , light shows or volume levels could ever hope to in terms of moving a listener’s spirit . We inherently KNOW where he’s coming from and genre isn’t REALLY a factor except to say that country/roots/blues have traditionally been the caretakers of authentic musical expression based on the above . Pop has absolutely NOT been involved in preserving those elements and as today’s ” country ” music has become , for the mostpart , POP music a Chris Stapleton is very much like a savior , whether he likes that mandate or not .
December 18, 2015 @ 12:24 pm
And by the way, I ALWAYS check the news scroll at the top of the page!
😉
December 18, 2015 @ 1:13 pm
Ditto, I’m always fishing for interesting headlines on that thing.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:39 pm
Thanks guys.
December 18, 2015 @ 2:03 pm
Likewise …LOVE the heads-up news crawls and read them AND the articles regularly
December 19, 2015 @ 3:00 am
I also read the news scroll.
Some of the articles that interest me I read right away, some I stick in my “bookmarks” for later!
December 19, 2015 @ 11:24 am
On the other hand, I forgot it was there. I had to check to see if it existed! But trust me, I read everything else!
December 18, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
This song, and slow blues music in general, are not my cup of tea, but this guy can sing. This song seems like a very odd choice (as Trigger said) for a show like that…
December 18, 2015 @ 12:48 pm
Nashville is so quiet right now. Its strange and suspicious. Its the weirdest limbo I’ve ever seen. And then all of a sudden a whole bunch of albums and tours are going to be rolled out and nobody knows what to expect them to sound like.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:38 pm
The industry takes December off for the most part, except for skeleton crews, but I do think there’s a lot of concern of where things are headed, and people don’t want their noses pointed in the wrong direction. That is why we’ve seen so many albums pushed back after lackluster debut singles. Everyone wants to be bold, but at the first sign of trouble, they go running from their own shadows.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:46 pm
I also think there is a lot of artists who can’t afford to be the first ones to strike and take a chance so they are holding out as long as they possibly can, with Sam Hunt and a select few others excluded who have nothing to worry about going into their next projects. Whatever he does next is going to be huge, and I think people realize now there isn’t really any copycatting what he does. He’s an entity of his own now.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:56 pm
Good point. Pretty much everyone with an established career who’s tried to go Metro-Bro has failed. Brett Eldredge and Thomas Rhett are the exceptions, but they are still new enough to get away with it. And meanwhile who else is killing it these days? Cam and Chris Stapleton.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:01 pm
Here’s an old article that gives some “track-by-track” background on “Traveller”: http://www.sacksco.com/notes/chris_stapleton-track-by-tack.html Excerpt about “Sometimes I Cry”: ” It was (written in) the same building where I met my wife and witnessed a record being made for the first time. A Guy Clark record called The Dark. Now, when I play this song, I”™m reminded of that building and those memories.”
December 18, 2015 @ 1:14 pm
When I was in Nashville, I saw Mike Henderson, who used to play in the Steel drivers with Chris. Mike was playing a blues show at the Bluebird Cafe, but it was amazing. Reese Wynans from Stevie Ray vaughan was there too. I really want to see Stapleton at some point
December 18, 2015 @ 1:18 pm
Why is it so surprising that Questlove like it? Good music is good music, and Questlove knows his music.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:35 pm
I’m not sure it was surprising Questlove liked it. I was just surprised how much the Tonight Show band was animated after the performance. Unfortunately, that portion is cut off from the video above. It seems they went especailly out of their way (including Questlove’s tweet) to express their approval of Stapleton.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:52 pm
NOBODY hates shit music more than musicians …..especially world class musicians who’ve seen and heard it all . You can well imagine what a breath of fresh air it is for The Roots to hear something authentic and honest and from the heart after all the shit they have to sit through week after week after week. NOBODY feels worse about the state of pop music and radio in general than GREAT players . No inspiration , no challenges , no options for REAL players to be creative . There’s an interesting interview Tavis Smiley conducted with songwriting greats Marilyn and Alan Bergman . They diplomatically dance around the dreaded issue of today’s songwriting and music but the message is loud and clear . There’s TONS of stuff out there , but little in the mainstream that rivals or inspires writers and players the caliber of The Roots or the Bergmans . Stapleton’s performance was obviously something very special for that band .
December 18, 2015 @ 1:54 pm
Great point.
That’s even more exacerbated for The Roots because they play ostensibly every day, and have to hear god knows what on the Tonight Show.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:57 pm
Chris Stapleton kinda sounds like Chris Cornell when he hits high notes.
December 18, 2015 @ 4:19 pm
No, he kinda don’t. Sweet baby satan!! Cornell is boring and without any soul.
December 18, 2015 @ 6:44 pm
Well, he (and the band as a whole, i guess) lost his shit after Badmotorfinger. But BMF and everything prior is worthwhile.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:58 pm
This is an interesting list ….and mostly encouraging . As long as critics ‘ get it ‘ the word has a chance of getting out . No bros on this list .
http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/year-in-music-2015/6806125/best-country-albums-2015-critics-picks?utm_source=twitter
December 18, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
It’s because Chuck Dauphin is from the old school. Just like many of the executives and musicians, many journalists don’t like the bros either. They’re just forced to participate.
December 19, 2015 @ 7:17 am
Much better than the sorry ass list Rolling Stone Country put out.
December 18, 2015 @ 1:59 pm
Just curious, is anyone hearing him on mainstream radio? I listen to it out of laziness when I’m in the car running quick errands, and at least in Chicago & Indianapolis I haven’t heard him once. On the other hand, here in Chicago, our country stations are especially terrible (they used to play the pop cuts of T Swift instead of the country ones, for example). Wondering what it looks like in the rest of the country.
December 18, 2015 @ 2:05 pm
“Nobody To Blame” just cracked the Top 25 this week on country radio, so somebody is playing him. He might not be in heavy rotation anywhere, but if he keeps up this pace, radio’s going to have no choice but to play him. They already look like the ones who are out of touch for being so behind the times with him. The CMA’s were six weeks ago.
December 18, 2015 @ 2:42 pm
“Nobody To Blame” is getting quite a bit of play on 98.7 The Bull here in Portland, Oregon! =)
They’re also giving generous unsolicited spins to “Tennessee Whiskey” (which is New & Active this week just outside the Top 50)
December 18, 2015 @ 8:12 pm
I’ve heard it about as often as you’d expect to hear a song sitting at #25 on the airplay charts in St. Louis.
December 19, 2015 @ 2:42 am
I hear Chris Stapleton on the radio a fair bit in Nashville. The last time or two I flipped on WSIX, they played “Nobody to Blame” as part of their regular rotation. I’ve also heard “Traveller” on WSM a bunch of times lately. Granted, WSM isn’t a typical station. Yesterday morning I flipped it on and they were playing “Cover Me Up” by Isbell on the morning show.
The indie / alternative station may be playing Stapleton too for all I know. I wouldn’t be surprised.
December 21, 2015 @ 11:15 pm
I definitely hear “Nobody To Blame” on GoCountry 105 (LA & The OC country station) every time I’m in the car for more than 30 minutes. And with traffic I’m always in my car longer than 30 minutes.
December 18, 2015 @ 2:09 pm
Not much airplay up here in Vancouver for Stapleton , from what I can ascertain . They jumped on Tennessee Whiskey initially …but let’s face it . That song is really asking TOO much of mainstream pop-country radio to get on board with . That’s something else altogether . The song ‘ Traveller’ would have been perfect as an introduction to the uninitiated and generally uninformed who make up the ‘ country’ listening audience today . The sales are the real litmus test for the direction an artist is heading and obviously CS is in GREAT shape there.
December 18, 2015 @ 2:32 pm
I look for another Chris (Lane) to have a breakout year in 2016, and he has a mean falsetto!
December 18, 2015 @ 2:40 pm
I definitely enjoy it when entertainers go off on a limb and don’t feel pressured to play their current single or signature song.
Adele gets this too. She understands that, when committing to an album format, you’ve got to be willing to give all the individual songs their fair due. So she, too, has been performing different tracks from “25” at various televised performances.
These days, that’s a rarity to see. Among more established names, Pearl Jam, Eric Church, Counting Crows and the Dave Matthews Band are the hitmaking names that stand out who are not afraid to eschew playing their own biggest hits in favor of deeper cuts and unreleased material. Otherwise, what you expect is to see from most everyone else is a set of fifteen to thirty songs consisting of the vast majority of their biggest singles, several covers and perhaps a non-single cover or two. And that’s it. You almost never hear the remaining songs from a particular album, at least beyond the time of the album’s promotional run.
December 18, 2015 @ 4:32 pm
This is one of my favorite websites on the entirety of the internet, so I say this as well-intentioned criticism from a fan and someone who runs a website, as well.
I do pay attention to the news scroll, but have read complaints (which may be missed sarcasm) about nobody paying attention to it in multiple articles from you. It’s a good addition to your site, but if you feel that way just drop the feature. Writing about it unfortunately comes off as whiny.
As for this paragraph: “Even Questlove and the Tonight Show band were visibly blown away after the performance. I”™m sure normally when they hear the musical guest is going to be of the country persuasion, they”™re fishing for their ear plugs in their gig bags. In Stapleton”™s case, he practically showed them up.”
I’m not sure that’s fair to Questlove, who seems like one of the smartest guys in the music business, or the supremely talented Roots. They may know more about country or respect it more than you think. Look no further than them absolutely slaying “Just Dropped In” with Kenny Rogers a few nights ago (which was featured as a bonus online video).
December 18, 2015 @ 5:00 pm
Julian,
I appreciate the feedback.
The comment about the news feed was total sarcasm, or more like self-deprecation. I’m not sure how much people pay attention or don’t pay attention to it. I do get many comments and emails alerting me to things that have been in the news feed for days which can be a little deflating, but even if nobody paid attention to the news feed, I would still do it because it’s a good exercise to keep me engaged with current events. Also, I feel it’s important for SCM to not just be about my ideas. I like sharing the perspective and news of other outlets. If I came across as whiny, I apologize.
December 18, 2015 @ 6:48 pm
I’ll admit that I only looked at it because of your comment, Trig. But I clicked on at least three items scrolling through. I love that it’s unobtrusive. I concede that it might be more efficacious if it were more obtrusive. But I say – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
December 18, 2015 @ 7:25 pm
I read a few newsfeed articles. The one about Streaming driving people to buy records started supporting Sam Hunt though, so I quit reading.
It also shows up really dark on my monitor, but If I’m on a different computer I can see it fine.
December 18, 2015 @ 10:17 pm
I’m about always reading it on my phone. iPhone makes it open on another page when clicked. Which can be good and bad. I just personally don’t pay as much attention to it on the other page if it was like the current page. Kind of like how Facebook has changed in the past few days on mobile iPhone to opening up a little easier. Don’t have hit the X to close it, just scroll back. Nothing major just my perspective.
December 18, 2015 @ 7:21 pm
I think it’s because mainstream music has become so completely whitewashed, with everything so weak, trite, and void of substance or originality, or even for that matter the human element, that Chris Stapleton resonates. It’s like nothing most of these people have ever heard before, and I bet if we put Daniel Romano or Isbell up there with him and gave them the same opportunities that the result would be the same. Stapleton is an industry insider who plays both sides of the coin and does it his way, and that means he writes shitty songs and makes a lot of money and then shows up all the people who recorded his shitty songs.
December 19, 2015 @ 8:21 am
It is very ironic for sure. Maybe there are others but I can’t think of many artist who have written such different music to be sold mainstream and then turned right around to record their own music in such different vain.
I have no issue with it. Guy was smart to get out and make some money. Dude has serious soul.
December 18, 2015 @ 8:22 pm
I can respect an artist going with a different song than expected for a performance, but I tend to think Chris did himself a disservice in doing so this time. I really think Chris needs radio behind him and radio needs Chris and if he came out singing Nobody To Blame I think it would have helped him gain more traction. I’m not saying he can’t be successful without radio, but it is much easier to gain and sustain success with radio. For what my opinion’s worth (i.e. nothing), “Sometimes I Cry” isn’t much more country than a lot of the bro-country junk that’s out there. I enjoyed it and it is good music, but it is more Blues/Soul than a Country song. Maybe that was the point to draw in the wider audience but I can’t help thinking of your quote “I”™m pretty convinced Chris Stapleton”™s peeps have no clue what they”™re doing.”
December 18, 2015 @ 11:59 pm
Hey, if it’s got a lot of blues/soul, that’s fine with me.
Country with blues/soul has some great history: Joe Stampley, Razzy Bailey, Charlie Rich, T. Graham Brown, Travis Tritt all did it to some extent or other. Stapleton is great.
December 19, 2015 @ 11:42 am
I’m only aware of T Graham because of the Country Family Reunion videos. That guy is amazing on those shows. Are his albums good at catching that energy?
December 20, 2015 @ 5:20 pm
T. Graham Brown is a bit odd. His albums–and singles–from when he was a major-label “pretty boy”, and having top-10 radio hits are rather bland. “I Tell It Like It Used to Be” is probably his best work from back then. Brown’s music from his post major/radio period is a lot more soulful and impressive. I’d bet that his most significant song as far as his career now is “Wine Into Water,” which was never a hit, but blows away everybody who hears it!.
December 25, 2015 @ 11:20 am
I always thought ol’ T. Graham was country radio’s way of playing Delbert McClinton … without having to play Delbert McClinton.
December 19, 2015 @ 2:55 am
One thing to keep in mind is that Stapleton just played “Nobody to Blame” on Colbert a couple months ago. Would it be weird to play it again now? I don’t know.
He blew up due to a viral video of “Tennessee Whiskey,” then released “Nobody to Blame” as a single (which was apparently already planned.) Then he performed “Sometimes I Cry” on TV, and is apparently in the process of working on a music video for “Traveller,” I think. It is kind of confusing, but I guess that’s kinda what happens when an artist blows up so unexpectedly.
December 19, 2015 @ 8:13 am
There’s some folks who will tell you that Chris Stapleton’s rise is nothing more than a conspiracy by the industry. All you have to do is point to his radio strategy (or lack thereof) to see this is not the case. If it was, he would have performed whatever his current single was on the CMA Awards. He would have performed his upcoming single on Fallon. Furthermore, for the entire industry to be in on a conspiracy, but the artist still here six weeks after the CMA’s to still have marginal radio play shows that not everyone is on board. Radio is still not on board, and they still have no clue what to do with Stapleton when it comes to radio.
December 20, 2015 @ 4:31 pm
I hear it a couple of times a day on KK97 San Antonio Tx
December 18, 2015 @ 8:30 pm
This song I found on YouTube from the Bing Lounge is how I discovered CS! I respectfully disagree the slow start and abrupt ending because it was nearly identical to the original live track that I watched. Granted, it is more blues than pure country but I’ll take it over singing about “tailgates” and “small town Saturday nights” any day!
December 19, 2015 @ 8:36 am
Nobody is saying entire industry but this is the new marketing ploy bring your artist up through independent ranks earn them some respect. Blend em with a little Justin Timberlake. Give em cma.
Ok the song was good, but not superstar quality, and OBVIOUSLY a slower and more pathetic rip off of whipping post. I mean come on if writing a song like that is ” being true to yourself ” then anyone can rip off a hit. Some times sometimes sometimes I steal other peoples songs ooooohh. But the bluesier sound does suit his voice alot better and yeah he does sound more than a little allman. But man what a guitar solo, too bad it was just an allman brother solo slower and without the hard parts. “I play a jaguar ( or jazz master) because I’m different and it distracts from the fact I can’t play guitar.”. Hopefully Chris won’t make any abrupt stops or you might get your head stuck.
December 25, 2015 @ 11:43 am
If that sounded like “Whipping Post” to you, then you must get really confused if you ever happen to run across a blues channel. It’s just a blues. It’s not the same chords, melody, time sig, or anything close to “Whipping Post”. Now he sounds like a young Gregg Allman or Warren Haynes when he sings, but that doesn’t mean he’s stealing from them. Good Lord.
December 19, 2015 @ 10:59 pm
Perhaps him doing so many songs off the album on different shows is a reflection of him being marketed more at Americana from the beginning which is more of an album format. Not surprised to hear Jason Isbell and Stapleton on WSM. They report to the Americana charts so they often mix in some interesting stuff with the country. I also noticed his wife was not with him on this show so perhaps he chose a song that did not share so much of her wonderful harmonies since she could not be there. Just guessing. I have no idea. I am just sitting and waiting to see how many major labels in town sign guys with beards who wear beat up cowboy hats and have long hair and kinda have a blues sound to their voice now. Seems to be the pattern in this town. I am thrilled for Stapleton’s success though and am sure the label folks will take full credit like they had this whole thing mapped out but I am not so sure. 🙂
December 20, 2015 @ 6:38 pm
Chris Stapleton is about as country as Florida Georgia Line, I’m convinced. However, Stapleton has a couple of songs I like, and he possesses some sort of talent. This song isn’t something I care for though.
December 25, 2015 @ 11:46 am
How country was Travis Tritt? Has everyone forgotten about him???? Chris is just filling the void Tritt left of the Southern Rock / Blues side of mainstream country that’s been around for at least 40 years.
December 21, 2015 @ 7:07 am
I agree with Kathy A. The minute the song began I knew he chose it cause Morgane wasn’t there to sing harmony it’s almost Christmas and they have young kids I’m sure she had something more important to do that’s part of their charm ☺
Long live the house of Stapleton I think you’re all absolutely amazing
December 21, 2015 @ 8:12 am
One of the funniest things I think and a clear expression of the absolute bewilderment Stapleton has brought upon trashville are the old YouTubes look at the old YouTubes of him before he hit it big look at all the supposed legends in their own minds sitting next to him at writers rounds lol watch what happens when he opens his mouth and they realize just how lame they are it’s absolutely hilarious
I apologize for my lack of punctuation and grammatical skills typing on my phone n I’m obviously not very good at it
December 22, 2015 @ 10:37 am
This seems like a wonderful choice for the performance, IMO. It’s the best song on the album & shows off his vocals well. I’ve never considered Stapleton to be a country artist though, so perhaps that’s why it doesn’t bother me. He made a great rock album with blues, soul, country, gospel & Southern Rock influences. He reminds me more of Gary Clark Jr. than anyone in the country scene, blending multiple styles as a songwriter who is resolutely not constrained by genre labels.
December 22, 2015 @ 5:05 pm
I musta watched that video 100 times! Was it country? Who the hell cares? It was amazing times 100.