So Apparently All of Garth’s New Music Is On A Phone That He Fried & Can’t Power Back Up
Oh Garth Brooks. Gotta love him, gotta hate him, gotta wonder just what in the hell is going through his Garth Brooks brain at certain times. He’s made a billion dollars off of music and is putting together the biggest concert tour in the history of the world, but you’re not too sure he knows how to tie his own shoes. And when it comes to technology, forget about it. He’s like Mr. Magoo—trying to shove his silly GhostTunes down our throats as some true alternative to iTunes, and tripping over crazy ass conveyor belts on his stage whose purpose still eludes me. If it’s Man Against Machine, Garth is losing big time.
Ever since Garth came out of retirement and announced his Man Against Machine comeback album, he’s been promising that a second album would be released right behind the first one. In fact at the beginning, there was talk of the possibility of a double album.
But since then, stuff has gotten weird. First, Sony Nashville CEO Gary Overton (the “If you’re not on radio, you don’t exist” guy) left his position at the company, creating a power vacuum, and putting a hold on all of Garth’s plans to release new singles or new music. Then there was talk of issuing a 25th Anniversary edition of his blockbuster 1990 album No Fences with a remake of “Friends in Low Places” featuring Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, and George Strait, but then that got delayed from a dispute over royalties and was shelved.
Well now get this: All of the music Garth has been working on for a new release over the last six months? It’s currently sitting on a phone that’s dead, and nobody can get it to power back up at the moment. That’s right, there’s no backup, no Plan ‘B’, it’s all just gone unless they figure out somehow to salvage the files. Six full months of studio time and effort could be completely flushed down the drain.
Speaking to the Journal Sentinel, when asked about new music, Garth’s response was,
“We’re working on new music, and my problem is here’s where the old guy gets into technology which is bad. All the new stuff I’ve been working on for six months was on a phone that I fried and I can’t get the phone to come back up. And I know I should have backed it up. I know. But it’s like losing your briefcase back in the 90’s, you know. So it’s, yeah, I’m still working on that phone. But, we’ll get it.”
Why exactly Garth Brooks, Garth freaking Brooks, wouldn’t make a backup of his audio files, or at least entrust their handling to someone who wouldn’t drop their Galaxy S5 into the toilet like a butterfingered, middle-aged multi-million-dollar über star who couldn’t cook himself a Hot Pocket is beyond me. Maybe he didn’t want the files leaking, but goodness.
So yeah, there’s your answer of when we can expect new music from Garth Brooks. We can only hope the rendition of “Friends in Low Places” with Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean was on the fried phone.
***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE***
Apparently when nobody was paying attention, Garth also posted about this on Facebook. Here’s the missive:
Hey everyone, you know I am not one that is good at change, so I wanted to explain my absence over the break. I fried my phone in Brazil”¦I have had that phone for many years and it had ALL of my “stuff” on it”¦and by “stuff,” I mean pictures, videos, and SONGS”¦all of the stuff I have been writing and arranging. I have tried to bring it back to life, had it worked on, the rice trick, heat trick, everything”¦to no avail. (Can you say, “back-up”?) I have a friend that has a story where he dropped his in the lake and after trying everything, he had to get a new phone”¦three months later, he walked into his room and his old phone was working. So I am trying that; forever hopeful that my old phone will breathe again. So thanks to the wonderful family at Facebook , I am set up again and will be back to it starting tonight”¦thank you for the time to read this and the chance to explain.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:06 am
It’s difficult to buy his story…
September 29, 2015 @ 10:21 am
I’ll say this: If Garth Brooks was super paranoid about the new music being leaked and insisted it only remained on one device after mixdown, then I could see how this could happen. We know he’s been super controlling and paranoid with his music in the past. Remember suing Blockbuster Music for selling used CD’s?
Also, he’d need a motive to lie about it. With so many things getting bungled in his world recently (‘No Fences’ reissue, Ireland, his radio singles), I wouldn’t put it past him. If there was some other delay, he could just blame the label.
September 29, 2015 @ 3:46 pm
Terry Currier (Owner of Music Millennium stores in Portland Oregon) had a BBQ and burned all Garth Brook CDS. It was in the 90’s when Garth Brooks sent a letter to stores asking them not to sell his used CD’s. Garth’s argument was they didn’t count as sales and he didn’t get royalties. To this day Music Millennium stores doesn’t carry Garth CD’s used or new.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:22 am
The sad thing is that it’s really not.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:10 am
It’s a demo cut but it was supposed to be on the last album. Performed by red marlow “when the sun shines too” so there’s one anyways.
http://youtu.be/WJMhehkUGyY
September 29, 2015 @ 10:11 am
I accidentally left my old phone in my shorts when I went into the water while on a boat like an idiot over the summer, I can rest now feeling a bit better about that knowing that hey at least I’m not a famous singer who had all of the songs on the phone with no backups.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:16 am
Looking for the fake news tag. I find it very hard to believe that a record company would entrust recordings that cost thousands of dollars to make and will profit them millions of dollars in the future to one cell phone that the artist gets to walk around with. This reads more like a, “Hey I’m Garth Brooks and my name hasn’t been in the news this week.” ploy.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:23 am
He was asked the question by a reporter. This news didn’t come from a press release. Who knows if it’s true or not, but I do know Garth has control and ownership of all of his masters, so it’s totally plausible he had the files in his possession. It could be a situation where there’s still the raw files at the studio, they would just need to be mixed down or mastered again or something, but the way Garth obsesses over his music, I would put it past him asking the studio to wipe them so he knows they won’t get leaked.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:29 am
He posted about it on facebook back when it happened. It was a weird story then and its a weird story now.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:45 am
He has control of his own music since he pays for it himself out of pocket and owns the rights to it. Well has in the past anyways. Presents the full cd to the label as a finished product. Makes a royalty out of the sales of it to pay it back to himself in essence.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:25 am
Wow…
September 29, 2015 @ 10:33 am
… or at least entrust their handling to someone who wouldn”™t drop their Galaxy S5 into the toilet like a butterfingered, middle-aged multi-million-dollar über star who couldn”™t cook himself a Hot Pocket is beyond me.
I’m still laughing.
September 29, 2015 @ 11:20 am
My faith in a higher power has been restored. Hopefully Garth’s memory won’t be.
September 29, 2015 @ 12:01 pm
Can you say, “back-up”?
Well, apparently not…
Sure am glad George didn’t make that mistake, or if he did he wasn’t dumb enough to post about it on Facebook.
September 29, 2015 @ 12:28 pm
Machine 1 – GB 0
September 29, 2015 @ 1:12 pm
More like Machine-1,000 GB-0
September 29, 2015 @ 12:30 pm
I used the rice trick when the bus driver for my band took a pair of pants that were very clearly not in the laundry and washed my phone in them… The rice attracted an Asian person who fixed my electronics hahaha… But seriously, I have practically all my band’s videos that haven’t been made public yet on my phone, if it gets soaking wet they’re toast… I can relate to Garth…
September 29, 2015 @ 12:59 pm
Yes, the power may be fried but he should still be able to extract data from the memory chip. I mean, it’s possible that’s also a no, but if so, putting it in rice isn’t going to fix that either. I’m smelling excuses.
September 29, 2015 @ 1:16 pm
I’m picturing Garth on the phone with Apple Tech support…
Oh well, chalk it up to another lesson learned, just like not picking bad first singles.
September 29, 2015 @ 1:18 pm
right in the toilet is probably where it belongs…
September 29, 2015 @ 1:21 pm
I hear stories about this kind of stuff from other artist. It’s common for them to use their phone while on tour to store songs and guitar licks.
September 30, 2015 @ 12:24 am
I bet no one has ever announced in mid-September that they lost the songs for an album that is supposed to be released within the next three and a half months.
September 29, 2015 @ 1:30 pm
Yea!, never liked his “music” anyway, now Whiskey Myers!
September 29, 2015 @ 2:07 pm
If this could only happen to every over-the-hill artist trying to release another cash grab album #blessed
September 29, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
Huge fan of Garth, the debate going on at some other boards, is that, Did this really
happen?
There is a good chance that he may of fried it in Brazil, Different countries have different power outlets,
heck I visited the states this year, and fried my phone.
We also know that Garth doesn’t like technology.
And the big question is, what would his motive be?? Why would be do it? He has
nothing to gain from it!
On the other hand though, it seems amazing to me that he wouldnt have a backup, and as a fan its so frustrating to see one mis step after another.
I guess people shouldnt be too critical, hes currently having the biggest tour in the history
of music, so that side of things is taken care of.
But yeppers stuff like this is kinda mindblowing.
September 29, 2015 @ 2:28 pm
Looked on Garth’s facebook page cant find any message about his phone on it?
September 30, 2015 @ 12:26 am
9/17
September 29, 2015 @ 2:52 pm
Chris Gaines would be George Jones in today’s “country” “music” world.
September 29, 2015 @ 3:56 pm
Conveyor belts sabotaging him , cell phones leaving him high and dry . I’d say his album is aptly titled .
September 29, 2015 @ 5:23 pm
So he destroyed his phone.Has anyone checked the air pressure in his footballs? Courts may need to be involved.
September 29, 2015 @ 5:45 pm
I’m calling bullshit on that story. No way.
September 29, 2015 @ 6:32 pm
This story would still make a better country song than…. (enter bro country artist’s name here)
I was drunk, the day i dropped,
My phone in the toilet…….
September 29, 2015 @ 7:51 pm
and when I tried to pick it up… oh the pain… that old back still hurts me… since I got run over by a *censored* old train!
September 29, 2015 @ 6:38 pm
Sounds to me like just another Garth publicity stunt.
September 29, 2015 @ 7:07 pm
He’s a goober.
September 29, 2015 @ 8:30 pm
I don’t really care for Garth Brooks and he doesn’t make sense at all.
September 29, 2015 @ 9:27 pm
I like Garth Brooks’ music, and I think he seems like a pretty good guy, but this story is implausible, and he comes off like a clueless soccer mom listening to her friends’ urban legends about how to recover the data on your phone and get it working again.
You’re telling me that Garth Brooks, one of the biggest selling artists of all time, can’t get anyone to help him retrieve this stuff? C’mon now.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:07 pm
The story may be implausible, but I am still waiting on someone to explain to me what he has to gain by making it up. What is the motive?
September 29, 2015 @ 11:54 pm
This is my whole point. What is his motive? He has zero
to gain from lying about this or making it up. There has to
be motive,and he doesnt have any.
So as bizarre as this story is, I believe Garth.
September 30, 2015 @ 12:19 am
He sold a bundled package on Ghost Tunes when it launched that includes MAM, his 8 studio albums, 25th Anniversary Double Live and his “upcoming 2015 album”. The bundle is still for sale with the 2015 album included. His 2015 release should be in the can or damn close. Yet in February he said he planned to have something new “hopefully by Christmas or maybe next spring”. If he’s not ready, he should just say so and he should stop selling the bundle with the 2015 album included.
September 30, 2015 @ 12:36 am
Was actually sort of my thought, and to add my two cents in, I’m probably one of the lucky ones that chose not to buy the bundle because what was the point of me buying it if I had all the CD’s ripped and saved on my computer and from what I saw on GhostTunes, other than Fresh Horses having “To Make You Feel My Love” his other past albums don’t even have the bonus tracks from his 1998 Limited Series box set so if I were to buy the bundle I would automatically feel ripped off as a consumer and I played it smart and didn’t go for it.
So in a way me buying just Man Against Machine instead of the entire bundle, makes it a little less severe in terms of me being ripped off and why I’m probably shaking it off a little more than most Garth fans.
September 30, 2015 @ 8:59 am
I didn’t by the bundle either, just MOM. I’m probably more critical on most things Garth because I’ve never bought into and can’t stomach the overly saccharine persona that others try to assure me is genuine. I’ve tried to give him slack because of Trisha, but still think her affection for him must be an anomaly :).
September 29, 2015 @ 10:16 pm
Brooks is insanely crazy. This story is complete bullshit and I don’t buy it for a second.
September 30, 2015 @ 2:20 am
Why do you give Garth such a hard time?
Why does Garth Brooks get such a hard time from country music fans? I don’t get it! His music is definitely country and also it is very good.
His new album is very good and again it is country music. The lyrics are good, the instrumentation is country and the mixing, mastering and production are all good. He has not followed current trends and kept his own sound and personality. I agree his single releases were badly judged but the album was one of the best from last year.
As for Ghost Tunes – we should be supporting him. Here is a man with the clout and financial ability to take on iTunes – one of a few who is able to do so and to be brave enough to put his money into it, unlike other major artists. The revenue to the artist and songwriter from sales on Ghost Tunes is greater than that given by iTunes – so why should we not support it??!!!!
Cut the man some slack – he deserves it.
September 30, 2015 @ 5:24 am
Garth almost deserves to be cut a slight amount of slack–but not quite.
He’s like that cousin that made all that money on pyramid schemes back in the day and got away with it. Now he has come back around with some new scam and is asking everybody to get on board.
As for me, I’ll double my money by folding it over and putting it back in my pocket, thank you.
As for Cousin Garth, he can go roll around in his money.
September 30, 2015 @ 8:59 am
Cowboyal,
I’m just picking on him in this instance. Let’s face it, it’s pretty funny that Garth erased his music because of a phone mishap. These are the kind of things that continually happen to him. 1 1/2 years ago there were 18 semi trailers loaded on a barge headed to Ireland that kept turning around, back and forth, at the whims of the Ireland shows being canceled or not. It’s a comedy of errors. Yes, Garth’s album is better, and more country than most in the mainstream. But he’s such a funny (and polarizing) character. I think Mr. Magoo is the perfect analogy. He always seems to get himself into unbelievable trouble, but he still always seems to come out on top. None of this is really a commentary on his music at all.
September 30, 2015 @ 10:03 pm
“His new album is very good and again it is country music. The lyrics are good, the instrumentation is country and the mixing, mastering and production are all good. He has not followed current trends and kept his own sound and personality. I agree his single releases were badly judged but the album was one of the best from last year.”
I’m with you on this Cowboyal .Except that I didn’t even mind the singles as much as many seemed to ….ore as much as I mind the other 99% of what’s on radio . I’m confessing , I was a charter member of the ” Pile On Garth” club ( I’m still a little on the fence about the size of his ego ) but I can’t fault his new record…. for the reasons you point out above . Its one of the best out there , IMO .
October 2, 2015 @ 9:38 am
Thanks! Good to know someone else out there shares my opinion:-) As for the singles, I agree with you, they were ok. I just think there were better songs on the album and more suited for release as singles from the album.
Personally I would have liked him to lead with Rodeo and Juliet as it would have completely stood out from the crowd and sent a strong message to country music fans.
September 30, 2015 @ 2:22 am
probably a publicity stunt considering the name of his record ! That d make sense.
September 30, 2015 @ 7:18 am
Honestly, if it is an old phone, even a new one, how much storage could the thing possibly have?
Studio grade audio takes up a lot of bandwidth..
September 30, 2015 @ 11:50 am
My guess (and it’s just a guess) is that he decided he hated the new songs and wanted to wipe the slate clean but didn’t want to admit it.
Either that, or the story is true, and there was no backup in order to avoid leaks.
September 30, 2015 @ 11:57 am
What’s so unbelievable about this story? It’s funny as hell, too, so I really want it to be true.
Someone needs to teach Garth how to work a flash drive.
September 30, 2015 @ 12:10 pm
If this story is true then he’s a bigger moron than I thought.
ALL your songs & ideas were on your phone???
Give me a break….I constantly record ideas & such which I then backup…then transfer to computer folder,,,then to an external hard drive….and I’m not even an important star!!! So this is just nuts ..how you could record everything to ONE device and never be worried about Losing the phone, it Breaking, being Stolen, or just that voice in the back of your mind always worrying about the worst happening to your precious work????? Come on man !!!!!
September 30, 2015 @ 2:31 pm
The thing is, if this was George Strait or Alan Jackson no one would question them.
September 30, 2015 @ 10:57 pm
The thing is, this wouldn’t happen to George Strait or Alan Jackson.