‘SNL’ & Dave Grohl Parody Pop Country in “Lake Beach”
Saturday Night Live debuted a pretty spot-on and hilarious parody of popular country music on on their October 28th show. Hosted by Nate Bargatze and featuring musical guest The Foo Fighters, Bargatze mimicked a archetypal Bro-Country singer with other members of the recently overhauled SNL cast, and legendary drummer Dave Grohl came in as a crazy uncle who’s a stickler for the rules of cornhole.
The skit does a pretty good job lampooning all the tropes of country music’s Bro-Country era, including the obsession with inane lists of everyday items, hip-hop gesticulations, and predictable and formulaic production. As you can imagine, the song and video find a favorable audience at somewhere like Saving Country Music that has been lambasting this kind of “country” music for quite a few years.
But as funny as the skit is, it also helps illustrate where we’re at and how far we’ve come with popular country music over the last couple of years. Though a song like “Lake Beach” would have been on-the-nose characterizing pop country in 2015, in 2023 it feels pretty out-of-date. When comedian Bo Burnham did a Bro-Country parody song “Panderin’” as part of his Make Me Happy Netflix special back in the summer of 2016, this is when Bro-Country was near its zenith.
There is still some residue of the Bro-County era sticking to the sides of popular country like lake sludge for sure, and list-style songwriting is something that popular country still leans on like a crutch. But the prototypical act for the kind of “country” that “Lake Beach” is lampooning is Florida Georgia Line, and they’ve been broken up now for going on two years. This style of music is quickly being relegated to country music’s past.
James Austin Johnson who plays one of the singers in the “Lake Beach” skit looks like a dead ringer for Tyler Childers. Childers is one of the artists upstaging the mainstream and selling out arenas these days without singing songs that pander to radio. If you really wanted to parody the biggest trend in country at the moment, it would be to target singer/songwriters like Zach Bryan and Oliver Anthony and their acoustic earnestness.
Some will also point out that poor rural rednecks are the last marginalized demographic you can still make fun of on a program such as SNL. It’s also fair to point out that the South actually does have actual ocean beaches. It’s called the Gulf Coast. There are beaches beyond the Jersey Shore, SNL writers. Anyone ever been to Florida?
But let’s not get too uptight here. One of the great things about country music is that it’s always been able to laugh at itself, from Minnie Pearl and Jerry Clower, to Hee-Haw. This is all fair game and pretty damn funny. And since something like this appears on SNL, it also helps underscore how the criticism of Bro-Country has pierced the zeitgeist.
But this parody also underscores just how far popular country music has come in the last few years. With Tyler Childers and Billy Strings selling out arenas, Zach Bryan selling out stadiums, and a host of other artists offering a much healthier alternative to the mainstream and gobbling up a bigger percentage of market share each year, country music is becoming much less like “Lake Beach” and a constant parody of itself by the day, and more like the kind of country we all fell in love with.
October 29, 2023 @ 10:06 am
Was shocked by that surprise Luke Bryan cameo too. Him telling Lorne Michaels to kiss is ass…. uncalled for.
October 29, 2023 @ 10:35 am
I only have one beef Trig. It’s about to be 30 years since Dave morphed into the songwriter, guitar player, band leader.
October 29, 2023 @ 12:28 pm
Fair enough. But as a drummer, I’m always going to bias and point out someone’s drumming skills first, especially with a legend like Grohl.
October 29, 2023 @ 1:57 pm
Ahh, I didn’t know that was your jam! Makes sense.
October 29, 2023 @ 11:08 am
Hmmmmm…….Get more women and POC artists and the “bro-Country” era will be finally through.
October 30, 2023 @ 2:07 pm
That’s worked really well for Disney
October 30, 2023 @ 4:06 pm
(some of Disney’s most successful recent movies have been about non-white cultures and races. Adults whining about what color a mermaid should be is some definition of insanity. Comparing a very old successful single studio’s output to a recent entire genre of pandering derivative bad music doesn’t make sense-one will outlast the political furor of the times, and the other will go the way of disco).
October 29, 2023 @ 11:23 am
I don’t care if it’s 2023 if Morgan Wallen or even Dustin Lynch released this song it would go to No. 1 and be there for a few weeks. No one will be able to tell me different.
October 31, 2023 @ 12:57 pm
Yep. Morgan Wallen is still bro-country living on and he’s by far the most popular country artist. The numbers don’t lie
November 9, 2023 @ 8:39 pm
Yeah, folks who listen to mainstream “country” music will defend a guy who says the “n” word until the day they die.
October 29, 2023 @ 11:46 am
I suppose that was hilarious when compared to everything else on SNL. SNL hasn’t been funny, let alone hilarious in years. They abandoned comedy in favor of their political leanings. I saw this more as a jab at the rubes they paint middle Americans as than a parody of pop country. Look at it in the context of the rest of the show.
October 29, 2023 @ 1:53 pm
@BRO–Well, they did a pretty hilarious and spot-on send-up of a hesitating, addled Joe Biden prepping for Halloween that really hit home: liberal commenters on Mediaite are protesting that it was not funny at all.
October 30, 2023 @ 9:39 am
Having Nate Bargatze host is a clear signal they’re focusing more on the comedy…hopefully. He’s part of the YouTube/Rogan/Deathsquad crowd whose goal is to be as non-PC as possible. One of their most prominent members is Shane Gillis who got hired and fired by SNL pretty much within a 24 hour period, because they found out about a racial slur he used. Anyway, all that to say it was completely out of left field for them to have a stand-up comedian host who isn’t extremely well known.
October 31, 2023 @ 2:53 pm
You’ve clearly never listened to Nate Bargatze’s comedy.
November 9, 2023 @ 8:56 pm
A thousand apologies if I’m wrong here, but I find that most people who make the “SNL hasn’t been funny in years” complaint either a) haven’t watched it in years and are just complaining about something they know nothing about or b) they’re MAGA cult members who are just mad at anyone who makes fun of their Mango messiah.
October 29, 2023 @ 11:54 am
Perfect.
October 29, 2023 @ 1:13 pm
It struck me a pretty decent and dead-on bro-country spoof (if a bit of a random target by now — plus, when host Nate Bargatze was doing his monologue I thought he looked more like a cross between Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson), though I still think ‘Kroll Show’s 2015 take was funnier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruwc2c23E8I 😀
October 30, 2023 @ 7:56 am
Kroll Show is quite honestly the all time peak of sketch comedy. Nothing will ever touch it.
October 29, 2023 @ 2:36 pm
It is about seven years too late.
And Trigger, country music laughed at itself. That is different than a bunch of coastal elites doing so.
October 29, 2023 @ 7:12 pm
James Austin Johnson who is the guy in the skit that looks like Tyler Childers is originally from Nashville. Seen a couple people say this skit is taken from his stand up routine. So I’m not sure “coastal elites” are who are responsible here.
October 30, 2023 @ 5:13 am
Johnson was a Christian comedian at one point. Def not a “coastal elite.” And I’d believe it if this came from his act.
He does the best Trump ever, too.
October 30, 2023 @ 5:21 am
Nate’s also from TN. His stand up is pretty good and I enjoyed watching this, his monologue, and a couple other clips on YouTube yesterday. I watched the George Washington skit and the airplane skit a couple times each. I thought they were hilarious.
October 30, 2023 @ 4:40 pm
Who do you think runs SNL?
It isn’t the folks from flyover country.
October 30, 2023 @ 7:01 am
Don’t know if these guys are coastal elites or not, but SNL has ceased to be funny in favor of elitist politics for a long while now. Perhaps a new cast will remedy that, but it’s doubtful.
That’s why even though I find this humorous, I wonder if these guys are actually making fun of the bro country era, or if this is actually how they perceive country music and its fans. As CountryKnight points out here, they are a little late in celebrating the demise of Bro Country. Are these guys laughing along with us, or are they laughing at us?
October 30, 2023 @ 8:03 am
“As CountryKnight points out here, they are a little late in celebrating the demise of Bro Country.”
Oh, is CountryKnight the guy that pointed that out?
As I said in the article, I think it is fair to wonder if this skit is meant to lampoon Southern culture. But I think it’s also just as assuming and judgemental to use a term like “coastal elites” when you have multiple people involved in the skit from Nashville specifically.
October 30, 2023 @ 8:49 am
Not trying to steal your credit Trigger. Or trying to say they are elitists. I don’t know. But SNL does have a history elitism. Like you, I’m just wondering aloud if this is satire, or if this is how they see country music and its fans.
I’m not sure whether to clap or say wtf.
October 30, 2023 @ 10:50 am
It’s interesting that the same people who often call people “snowflakes” for finding offense where none was meant (and oftentimes when it was) are often the quickest to take offense at comedy that finds humor in places that hit close to home for them.
Did it make you laugh? Then its funny to you. Did it not make you laugh? Well, guess its not your cup of tea.
Literally the opposite of comedy is taking something too seriously.
October 30, 2023 @ 2:50 pm
You might be a redneck if you say coastal elite when describing an SNL skit…
October 30, 2023 @ 4:35 pm
I think some are taking my comments too seriously. I’m not offended by this skit, and I said in my initial comment I thought it was funny. I was just saying I can understand CountryKnight’s comment regarding SNL and their content. Not these particular comedians, but the show in general. Also his point that it comes a little late. A point Trigger also made as he stated.
These are just observations, not some huge objection or anything particularly bothering on my part.
November 6, 2023 @ 10:03 am
SNL is still plenty funny
October 29, 2023 @ 4:06 pm
How do you know when the drum riser’s level?
There’s drool coming out both sides of the drummer’s mouth.
Also, congrats to Nate. He sold out the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville earlier this year. Local boy done real good.
October 29, 2023 @ 4:08 pm
Morgan Wallen is probably already in the studio recording this as we speak, if we’re being honest.
October 30, 2023 @ 7:04 am
Or Taylor Swift !!!!
October 29, 2023 @ 4:37 pm
I’m the co-author of the first history of Saturday Night Live, which covered the show’s first ten years. Haven’t paid much attention to the show in a long time but this doesn’t strike me as satire with any bite. Who’s being made fun of here — the bro-country artists or the supposed hicks who supposedly like it? Neither seems a timely or worthwhile target.
October 29, 2023 @ 4:42 pm
Grohl is an attention whore and fronts an extremely mediocre AOR band. Perfect fit for SNL.
October 30, 2023 @ 6:08 am
In Jan. 2022 Grohl was worth an estimated 320 Mil. Don’t think he gives a tinkers damn about your, mine or anyone’s two bit opinion.
October 29, 2023 @ 5:10 pm
What is an SNL?
Sounds icky.
October 29, 2023 @ 6:35 pm
Someone here posted about a year or so ago a hilarious parody from a comedy show I can’t remember. It actually took aim at bro country, and was funny. This seemed more of a weakass shot at rednecks who are so backwards and put out, they swim with dirty diapers.
From SNL…the punk rock wedding and the DJ spoof were actually somewhat funny.
October 29, 2023 @ 7:07 pm
Seems like 10 years too late to me but they probably got wind of real country music being put out in this world and selling more than then pop and googled “country music” to write a sketch…I haven’t found anything funny on SNL in 10 years as well – occasionally a great musician but that’s about it…
October 29, 2023 @ 7:21 pm
Another day, and other SCM plug for Oliver Anthony – mentioning him alongside Zach Bryan, which the former doesnt deserve. Nobody thinks of OA as earnest because nobody thinks about him.
October 30, 2023 @ 8:00 am
The fact that what you took way from this article was that I “plugged” Oliver Anthony says way more about your obsession with his name than mine. Oliver Anthony had one of the biggest songs in 2023, and he represents the shift away from Bro-Country and towards earnest acoustic songwriting, which undercuts the cultural relevancy of a skit like this. What you think about his music or his person is irrelevant to that underlying fact.
To be frank, I think the exceedingly unusual phenomenon here is how triggered people get by simply seeing Oliver Anthony’s name to the point where they would seethe in the comments section any time he’s referenced.
Oliver Anthony was not “plugged” here. He was mentioned.
October 30, 2023 @ 3:43 am
it’s a shame that Dave Grohl’s band sucks because* he really comes out as a funny guy
October 30, 2023 @ 6:56 am
this would have been funnier five years ago. for me, this story really only highlights how unfunny and behind the times SNL really is on what they find worthy of making fun of.
October 30, 2023 @ 7:24 am
I don’t know where y’all at, but here, garbage like this is STILL getting played on the radio. Bro-Country will never fully die. Not as long as the record companies think they can make money on it.
October 30, 2023 @ 7:54 am
Well, that’s radio, and in no way representative of country music at large.
October 30, 2023 @ 2:00 pm
Maybe not to those of us who regularly visit this site, but it must be a huge player or Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean wouldn’t be playing in stadiums. More than any other genre radio drives country music. It sucks but it still is a big player.
October 30, 2023 @ 8:34 am
Haha I enjoyed the hell out that parody, I’m not gonna take it too seriously. Thanks for the link!
October 30, 2023 @ 11:18 am
The best skit *EVER* on SNL was when Patick Swayze was the guest host, and the show opened with “Dirty Square Dancing”!
I love to square dance, but I’ve never been able to convince a caller to call the dance from that skit! (That was fairly close to when “Dirty Dancing” was popular at the movies.)
October 30, 2023 @ 7:29 pm
sad how far into the song I had to get to realize it was a parody, I thought it was a legit new song being released.
October 30, 2023 @ 8:16 pm
Dave Grohl is hilarious in this skit.
He looks like he would be an absolute hoot, with that **it eating grin of his.
October 31, 2023 @ 1:39 am
…fair enough, garth brooks’ decision to distribute his new album exclusively via bass pro shop doesn’t exactly help to dismiss tthe point made there.
October 31, 2023 @ 7:04 am
“Coastal elites?” As opposed to pharma,tech and other business bros,eh,Trigger?
October 31, 2023 @ 10:23 am
I don’t find the skit funny at all. Not because it’s offensive, it’s lazy, boring humor.
I’m on the side this is instead satire of stereotypical rural folk rather than a bro-country parody.
Poor, rural, and white are the ultimate targets for the coastal elite. They are actually marginalized but they get the brunt of the fun poked at them because there will be no one of any important to the elites who will come to defend them.
November 9, 2023 @ 11:23 pm
The “elites” are too busy manipulating the poor, rural, white people, making them terrified of anyone who doesn’t look like them. They do this, not because they care about those people, but because they will do anything to stay in power. That’s why Mango Mussolini said he “loves the poorly educated.”
Also, for the record, I am a poor, rural, white guy. I’m just a little more educated and a lot more progressive.
October 31, 2023 @ 11:18 am
That was at least as funny as the Cross/Odenkirk spoof of bro country from, what, eight years ago?
October 31, 2023 @ 8:12 pm
Country music is all the rage. Yaaaahs????????????????????
November 2, 2023 @ 10:09 pm
What does it say about about the lamentable bro country when this parody was more listenable than the real thing?
November 7, 2023 @ 3:58 am
Every Southern state except…West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas…touches the ocean. In most southern states, if you don’t wanna leave the state, but still swim in the ocean, you may have a long drive, but you can do it.
November 7, 2023 @ 10:47 am
I thought the skit was mildly amusing. My husband didn’t agree. Either way, if Nate was actually singing, he’s pretty good. Do yourself a favor and watch his Netflix comedy specials or go see him live because he is funny, relatable, and family friendly. We saw him in Huntsville a few months ago and couldn’t stop laughing.
November 14, 2023 @ 8:11 am
rhyming “blew off my HAND” with “ambuLANCE”
That made it for me.