Song Review – Terri Clark’s “Young As We Are Tonight”
It’s fair to question whether the latest single from Terri Clark is even worth paying attention to, or criticizing. Her relevance south of the Canadian border hasn’t been felt in over 10 years aside from hosting a radio show via Cumulus, even though the Canadian broadcast rules have helped extend her career and allowed Clark to sustain in her native land well beyond her American lifespan. Her numerous Top 5 hits stateside in the 90’s do make her an interesting character if she wanted to come back and make waves as a resurgent traditionalist. But that’s not what’s going on with her latest single “Young As We Are Tonight.” It’s about as far from resurgent traditionalism as possible.
A few years ago Terri Clark tried to spearhead a movement she was calling “#BraCountry.” Obviously a take on Bro-Country, the idea was to be more inclusive to women on radio and such by giving them their own movement. “I’m starting a movement called ‘Bra Country’….to compete with all of this ‘Bro Country’….c’mon girls !!!,” Terri said in January of 2014. This was also around the last time Terri Clark was releasing new singles. We thought Clark meant for BraCountry to be an alternative to Bro-Country, not to be a way to emulate it. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s going on with “Young As We Are Tonight.”
Not since Keith Urban have we witnessed an artist trying so transparently to defy their age, and grasp for radio relevancy. “Young As We Are Tonight” is just bad all around, from the writing to the production. Clark and her defenders will make the point that if you actually listen to the lyrics, they’re explaining how you will never be as young as the moment you’re living in right here, right now, which can be an important lesson to heed regardless of your age. That might be true, but when paired with the production and the delivery of the song, the attempts at assuring us this is anything but a desperate reach for a younger audience ring hollow.
“Young As We Are Tonight” will not go anywhere—at least not in the United States—which again begs the question of why we’re even concerned with it. But there arguably isn’t a better example of what an older country artists should not do later in their career. Even if “Young As We Are Tonight” is a rousing radio success (which it won’t be), it will be at the expense of the legacy Terri Clark has built for herself with fans that frankly veer older.
Recently we’ve seen this move by aging artists more and more. Joe Diffie released the godawful “I Got This” that went absolutely nowhere. David Lee Murphy thought he would have a huge resurgence in his career by landing a #1 hit with Kenny Chesney in “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” But when his new record No Zip Code was released, it sold only 2,600 copies. Even if you do land a big radio hit, it’s often at the price of losing your established fans who can turn their back on you, while fickle younger fans move onto the next song from Kane Brown and don’t give you a second thought.
Terri Clark has put together a fine country music career, both as a performer and as a radio personality. Why risk that good will by releasing a single like this? Clark has probably earned enough cred not to be rude about it, but this is clearly not the right path moving forward for her, or any older artist. When you mention Terri Clark, many people think of her older hits like “Better Things to Do” and “Suddenly Single.” She was like a female version of Dwight Yoakam, with her hat pulled down too low, tight jeans, and a cool attitude. So radio lost favor with her, just like it did with Dwight. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, and radio is not the institution it once was.
Don’t change your style to stay relevant on a format that’s losing relevancy itself. Be yourself, for better or worse. That’s actually what were seeing from mainstream artists lately like Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, even Blake Shelton and Kenny Chesney, and it’s working for them.
Radio may not always be there for you, but your fans will be if you don’t let them down. It’s probably not worth proclaiming “Young As We Are Tonight” as a death sentence for the Terri Clark legacy, because it may not even receive enough attention to be considered as such. But it certainly is a misstep, and one that should be avoided by all older artists in the future.
Be yourself, radio be damned.
1 3/4 Guns DOWN (2/10)
September 7, 2018 @ 8:32 am
Oh Terri..
September 7, 2018 @ 8:52 am
I’m a TC fan …or WAS a fan .
This is a forgettable , generic track with really NO redeeming features ..a one-note rap where I can barely keep up with how congested it is lyrically . In fact , I’m out of breath just trying to listen to it . Its relentless in its mile a minute phrasing with NO attempt to create any musical dynamic .
Love Terri’s voice …always did. But she seems to be just one more REAL singer selling out to mind-numbing trend …..she isn’t challenged by the song , she isn’t passionate about the ‘message ‘ . The only ones challenged by this one are the listeners . How long can you stand it before putting in your 2004 Joe Nichols CD ?
September 7, 2018 @ 9:26 am
100% agreed — this gal was one of my favorites for a long time (I have all her previous albums except for 2014’s ‘Some Songs’), but yeah, aside from her vocals there’s really nothing to distinguish this track from so much other generic bro-/pop-country crap. :p
September 7, 2018 @ 10:39 am
I’m so bored and tired of every mainstream artist sounding so desperate . desperate to please a market that couldn’t care less about the integrity of the music ….a market that couldn’t care less about the inferior songwriting ….about the lack of vision and originality and substance …..its just so pathetic on so many levels that these ‘artists’ have stooped to that level . why don’t they just find a career where what they do makes a difference . or AT LEAST something which would most certainly be more rewarding than singing generic nursery rhymes to a demographic so blase and ill-informed .
September 9, 2018 @ 11:40 am
That last one she did with Dallas Smith is no better really either. But as you said it’s just pathetic on so many levels… Hopefully Dallas doesn’t come on here and give me shit like Tebey did
September 10, 2018 @ 8:47 am
When Dallas hit the scene , I thought he was a bright light musically . Not trad country…but lyrically fresh and a welcomed presence . Now even his stuff his has gone downhill……pandering rap-informed noise . He’s the Canadian Easton Corbin story . They got to him .
September 7, 2018 @ 9:04 am
Sorry Terri. We have ”better things to do”.
September 7, 2018 @ 9:42 am
It’s not AS terrible as I thought it would be after reading the review. That said I would never listen to this. It could be used on a commercial or something like that, but sitting down to listen to music and putting this on?
Conversely, someone that just gets more badass every year, and has gone the completely opposite direction, would be Lucinda Williams.
September 7, 2018 @ 9:58 am
She is so much better than this! Can I say how much I instantly get turned off as soon as I hear that drum machine beat…I’m assuming that is what I’m hearing.
September 7, 2018 @ 10:16 am
That immediately-recognizable electronic drum beat is an instant deal killer with many true country fans. It’s the anthesis of what they want to hear. You can make a fresh-sounding, contemporary country track without using it. In fact artists like Chesney, Blake Shelton, and Dierks have gone away from it because it’s so polarizing. In 2015, it was all the rage in the mainstream. Now ironically it just sounds dated.
September 7, 2018 @ 11:39 am
Thats one of the things with electronic music in general. Sub-genres and styles come and go really quick, and to some people, that is cool. And if being “fresh” and having your finger on the pulse, albeit for a short period of time, is your thing, then so be it. But if you have any intention of making something that is more timeless, as country music can and really should be, chasing any electronic fad will have a very near future expiry date. And that’s a downside, in ADDITION to the fact that it sounds desperate and generic in the first place.
September 7, 2018 @ 3:58 pm
……..wait a few years til we listen back on this ” Imma leave you ” shit ,,,and ” Girl ….girl everything ” …..and the handclaps ……those incessant totally ridiculous , over- used , completely unnecessary fake software -generated over-compressed handclaps…….not to even get into the obligatory ” whoa whoa whoa ” nonsense EVERYBODY and his not-so-talented brother used on EVERY SONG IN EVERY GENRE . I think its known as the ‘millennial whoop ‘ in the business . …. Jesus ….so comical and so sad at the same time .
September 7, 2018 @ 1:04 pm
Yeah, that’s true with pop music too. I listened to some of the EDM-style big pop hits from as recently as 2012, and they already sound super-dated. Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” (the chorus especially), Pitbull/Chris Brown’s “International Love,” and Enrique Iglesias’s “I Like It” for example…that particular dance/EDM “sound” was *everywhere* in pop in 2010-12. It sounded super-hot at the time but now it just sounds strangely dated.
That said, I’m missing the pop era back then with songs like “Poker Face” and “Mr. Saxobeat.” Will probably be a few more years of the current trap-rap trend before another “pop era” arrives again.
Country *and* pop fan here, haha.
September 10, 2018 @ 3:08 pm
It kills Steve Earle’s “Tennessee Blues” which should be a great song.
September 7, 2018 @ 10:01 am
100% agree.
“Young As We Are Tonight” sounds like all the other canadian “country” singles right now.
A couple of songs on the new Terri Clark album are ok: “Cowboys In This Town” or “Bloody Mary Morning”. But there is a lot of trend chasing & trying-to-stay-relevant stuff too.
Raising The Bar – 13 Tracks (incl. a duet with Drake White) – 09/14
The Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame released an album called Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame: Then & Now, Vol.1 today.
Current stars sing together with former/older stars like Jess Moskaluke & Michelle Wright (“Take It Like A Man” was a #1 in Canada in 1992 for Michelle Wright).
A good example for the current state of canadian “country” music is the new Tim Hicks album (New Tattoo). 12 crappy, loud, over-produced 80’s rock songs.
September 7, 2018 @ 10:30 am
”A good example for the current state of canadian “country” music is the new Tim Hicks album (New Tattoo). 12 crappy, loud, over-produced 80’s rock songs.”
……so derivative , uninspired , no authenticity about this stuff whatsoever …pandering , boring , cliched ‘rock’ for a generation that wasn’t around when rock WAS ROCK !…… pickup truck advertiser’s background music ….so NOT country …SO un-original …SO trend-chasing ( and out -of-date trends ) …..and NOTHING about it identifies it as Canadian except for the way it tries to emulate bad AMERICAN ‘country ‘…. and we’re not even good at THAT , for Gods sake !
September 7, 2018 @ 1:01 pm
albert
I agree. Being canadian myself, I had to suffer Tim Hicks music during the Calgary Stampede. Nothing worth listening.
September 7, 2018 @ 9:22 pm
Thank goodness other Canadian country music fans see the industry in our country for what it is currently – garbage. There are very few bright spots in it right now, and we’re stuck with likes of shitty artists such as the abysmal Dean Brody (a poor man’s Brad Paisley, with his gimmick songs), Doc Walker, Emerson Drive, and guys like George Canyon.
I like Terri Clark, but she’s not an artist whose recent output is interesting or even good. This latest song is awful.
September 8, 2018 @ 5:57 am
Hi Canuck!
I agree that the music quality is not as good as it could be.
From what I heard, I am not impressed by Dean Brody right now but I used to like his earlier songs. Trail in Life is a great one. Bounty is a great western song. His 2012 album was really good in my opinion: storytelling with great instrumental. I haven’t listened to his newer album but “bring down the house” is very pop country.
September 8, 2018 @ 9:07 am
I think many of these artists are writing their own stuff and its just not cutting it . Yeah yea …radio plays it cuz they are pretty – much forced to by law here in Canada ..but this is NOT good material .
Dean Brody may be a terrific , hardworking guy but as a writer/singer I have have never been moved by his songs or his vocal performances . Just not a country vocalist Granted his material may be a notch above many of the others but just no soul , to my ear .
And Johnny Reid – a ‘country artist ‘???? C’mon …
I think mainstream female country artists here are REALLY grasping at straws for material . Some GREAT voices but no artistic vision whatsoever and NO idea , seemingly , what a GREAT song is . They all seem to be chasing that American commercial country radio idea of what a female country singer should sound like ( ???? ) . VERY generic with NO style or authenticity . Very artist-centric in terms of singing ability……..but always at the expense of the song . The song is just NOT there ….particularly melodically .
Yeah …as sad as things are with American ‘ country ‘ radio its that much worse here in Canada as we continue to chase that skewed American model .
September 10, 2018 @ 6:05 am
I’ve grown away from Dean Brody and I’m certainly not thrilled by his music anymore but you’d be silly not to call Cattleman’s Gun an incredible song. That’s bone chilling, story-telling at its finest.
September 7, 2018 @ 10:09 am
What is with this obsession to stay young anyway? I’ve never understood it. Like I’m 22, I’m pretty young. It’s not as great as the middle-age folks hype it up to be.
September 7, 2018 @ 11:18 am
Tell that to Luke Bryan. PLEASE tell that to Luke Bryan. I’m begging.
September 7, 2018 @ 1:46 pm
I hear ya. I’m 37, and I think being young (teens and 20s) is kinda overrated due to the stress of going to school, social acceptance, starting your career, finances, failed relationships, etc. I think when people hit 40+ they tend to remember the fun times “back then” and forget the bad stuff.
As far as the entertainment biz though, I think it’s all about advertisers…advertisers covet that 18-39 demographic (especially females since they do 70% of the consumer spending) to get them hooked at a young age on their products so they’ll be users for life (once folks hit their 40s and 50s they’re pretty set in their ways on which brand names they prefer and buy). And young entertainers, or at least entertainers who *look and act* young, are what appeal to that 18-39 demo the most. So once you lose the “youth” as an “artist,” you’re outta the game in the vast majority of cases.
September 7, 2018 @ 10:25 am
As soon as I heard that opening drum track I rolled my eyes.
September 7, 2018 @ 10:50 am
I’m still going to listen to it.
And that David Lee Murphy album is as fun if not more fun than the Ashley McBryde album that everyone, including me, seems to love.
September 7, 2018 @ 12:52 pm
Hey, suit yourself. If you like it, you like it.
But the David Lee Murphy album has sold 5,000 records, which I’m not sure qualifies as “everyone.” The Ashley McBryde album has sold 25,000 album, and without a #1 single.
September 8, 2018 @ 12:44 am
Girl Going Nowhere is a masterpiece that everyone who i played it to has asked to ‘share the playlist’ and I had to explain what an album is and that playlists don’t exist in my world.
September 7, 2018 @ 11:13 am
Keith Urban has no credibility left. Terri Clark had some credibility prior to this song. I don’t understand why she would put something like this.
September 7, 2018 @ 12:33 pm
I love this song!!! We live in a world where we are judged by age! How many have said or thought ..” oh she is too old to where that” or why doesn’t she act her age?” I could go on and on but this song to me , is about living your life to the fullest and be as young or old as you want to be!!! I love this song Terri…Inwill be blasting this one on my radio!!!!!
September 7, 2018 @ 12:57 pm
I don’t think that basic message is what people are objecting to…
Nothing wrong with being young at heart or appreciating youthfulness. Here’s a an example from Lori McKenna of that being expressed, IMO, in a way that doesn’t sound like a pandering commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KKjmQKFpQk
September 7, 2018 @ 12:53 pm
With a voice as good as Terri’s, all you really need and want is one acoustic guitar.
September 7, 2018 @ 1:06 pm
Indeed, one of my favorite Terri Clark songs is the acoustic demo version of “Gypsy Boots” on “The Long Way Home”.
September 7, 2018 @ 1:03 pm
7 seconds in, had to turn it off. That fake electronic garbage is an instant deal breaker.
Heartbreakingly disappointing. Turn in your boots. Hand over your hat. You’re not country anymore.
September 7, 2018 @ 1:12 pm
More accuratly, “be yourself, radio will follow”. As a radio station owner, I’d love for some of these older artists to make music that got them noticed in the first place. I’ll put Terri’s single in rotation for a little while. But it will be gone before Halloween from my airwaves.
September 7, 2018 @ 1:28 pm
I’d highly recommend anyone to check out Terri’s “Country Gold” podcast if you have the chance. It airs the uncut interviews that are featured on the radio show. Lots of good gems from mainstream acts and acts that were popular in the 80s and 90s. Interviews with Mary Chapin Carpenter and KT Oslin were recent favorites of mine. They share stories from the road, reflections, etc. Terri is the perfect fit as host, too.
September 7, 2018 @ 3:01 pm
I haven’t heard a ton of stuff from Terri Clark on the radio, but some that I have heard has been good. That’s what frustrating about this single. I feel like she knows better, and having a position in radio, she could push better stuff, or with her whole “BraCountry” thing, push more women since everyone’s up in arms about it. Instead, we get this. Florida Georgia Line doesn’t know any better. Terri Clark does.
September 7, 2018 @ 4:07 pm
nailed it on all counts Trigger .
when you know better and have done better , forcing this shit on us is more than just unforgivable. its an insult and a disrespect to our intelligence .
its not like there’s a dearth of GREAT songs screaming to be recorded……..
September 7, 2018 @ 4:09 pm
This is happening more and more with aging artists. Its quite sad really. For the most part none of these late career moves by artists dont sway me away from their past accomplishments. Its quite obvious there best years are behind them. Its funny i read this article when i was surfing the web and one of my favorite alt rock bands as a teenager is apparently foraying into country. That band is Lit, everybody knows “My Own Worst Enemy” but its crazy what qualifies as country these days. Whose next i wonder, lol, at least some of their tracks did feature some steel. Some of the tracks werent half bad honestly.
September 7, 2018 @ 5:25 pm
As we all know, it’s not unique to country music… look at Madonna and Mariah Carey, two women who were once trendsetters and at the top of their game and have over the past decade or so become followers instead of leaders with their music. They insist on trying to appeal to teenagers with “trendy” music when most teens consider them “over the hill” – just like the nerdy dad who tries to act “hip”. The audiences they are trying to target can see right through it.
Terri is already at a disadvantage trying to get airplay by virtue of being a woman. But as Trigger pointed out, audiences typically don’t accept this type of thing even from male performers.
September 7, 2018 @ 5:23 pm
I don’t know that I ever would have suggested Terri Clark was a female Dwight Yoakam. If that is what you are looking for, Heather Myles is the way to go.
September 7, 2018 @ 8:28 pm
What the hell ever happened to her?
September 7, 2018 @ 6:30 pm
Speaking of disappointing releases (though off topic), has anyone purchased the new William Elliott Whitmore album? I was really looking forward to this but not at all thrilled with it. Definitely not his best work. Just my opinion…
September 7, 2018 @ 6:46 pm
Take it easy. Terri Clark has a right to cut a record in the current style and see if it does anything for her. I’m not going to buy it. But then, I’ve never bought anything that Terri Clark has put out.
BTW, old country artists a lot more important than Terri Clark have cut all kinds of slop and it has not affected their legacies. Remember Dolly Parton and “Romeo” (with Billy Ray Cyrus)?
September 7, 2018 @ 7:52 pm
I think the difference between ‘Romeo’ and songs like this is that in 1993 it was not an all hands on deck situation to save country music. Now that is not the case and we need the old hands to help preserve the genre’s integrity, not subvert it.
September 7, 2018 @ 8:14 pm
Who said she doesn’t have the right?
September 7, 2018 @ 9:39 pm
Sad that the woman who gave us great songs like “Now That I Found You,” “Everytime I Cry,” “No Fear,” “If I Were You,” and many others (including some really good album cuts) is now recording stuff like this. This is just another bland, modern pop “country” song that people who only think they like country music will crank up for a while and then quickly forget about it as they move on to the next forgettable modern “country” song. Oh, and I just cannot stand anything with those fake sounding drums like the ones heard in the intro. As mentioned by Trigger and others, that sound seems tired and dated now. That said, I still love Terri’s 90’s and early 00’s music, and still wish her radio career in the U.S. did not end so abruptly in the mid-late 00’s.
September 8, 2018 @ 12:53 am
Love me some Terri Clark and everything she does. Wish she was my wife 🙂
September 8, 2018 @ 10:33 am
I don’t think it’s necessarily that bad, and while it may be a low point for Clark, it’s nowhere near as disappointing as the new Carrie Underwood single, “End Up With You”, which is just a straight up pop track. I wasn’t crazy about “Cry Pretty”, and “Love Wins” felt like a course correction, as sappy as it is at times. But “End Up With You” goes beyond being a crossover, it’s just pop, and not very good pop, either. At this point the new Underwood album is starting to feel like an FGL release, where I have to sort through a lot of disposable pop/crossover songs to find the couple of tracks that remind me of why I liked them to begin with.
September 8, 2018 @ 1:30 pm
It comes off as a last ditch effort but I’m going to give her pass. I’ve heard worse from the women who are considered top tier in country.
September 9, 2018 @ 12:50 am
Trig on Wednesday… we need more strong women on the radio, something needs done.
Also Trig, two days later… man this aging woman has a single that doesn’t deserve the light of day. Let me write a bad review so everyone knows a great 90s female hitmaker can’t try something new.
I love ya and I love this site, but don’t play both sides… you’re either helping or you’re not.
September 9, 2018 @ 7:39 am
So you want more bad corporate country as long as it’s done by a female?
September 9, 2018 @ 9:34 am
Think I will stick up for Terry a little bit.
Nothing wrong with this tune. And how is it a “style change” for Terry Clark? sounds like her other tunes that I’ve heard.
I like it. Got some melody, good playing, good singing. Well recorded.
It’s not a Joni Mitchell tune, but so what.
Also, it’s annoying seeing other Canadians so eager to dump on one of our own that have had some success.
September 9, 2018 @ 3:06 pm
I’m an American, and I will dump on Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, and Sam Hunt all day. This isn’t dumping on Canadians, or even Terri Clark. Went out of the way to say her contributions to country music on both sides of the border have been good, and important. I’m dumping on this song which is an unfortunate pandering for radio play, and beneath what we’ve come to expect from Clark.
BTW, Saving Country Music is a huge supporter of Canadian country music, and goes out of the way to promote it down here in the States. This is just a bad song, no matter the country of origin. That’s my opinion.
September 10, 2018 @ 7:05 am
Yes, this site does support and promote Canadian country music very well. And It’s appreciated.
I don’t have a problem with your criticism of Terry Clark’s latest tune either although I do not agree with it.
I was referring to my fellow Canucks, who might want to give her a bit of slack, out of a sense of sticking up for a fellow Canadian.
September 9, 2018 @ 5:12 pm
Mark….I don’t think we Canadians are ‘dumping’ on Canadian music so much as just dumping on BAD music and unfortunately Canadian mainstream ‘country ‘ acts are making some bad music right alongside all of the American bad country music we dump on . We aren’t necessarily singling out Terri Clark and in fact , most of us commenting are fans of hers . I think what we’re doing is calling it the way we see it . Yes I’m a Canadian …but personally speaking I would not give a song or a performance a pass simply because it may be Canadian . Partly because I respect my own experience AND good music ….but also because I don’t agree with the’ forced airplay’ regulations here that give a pass to material that just doesn’t cut it . Its like the trophy we give first graders for just showing up at the baseball tournament . Why should the govn’t dictate our music options to us when those options most certainly DO NOT preserve or display Canadian culture in ANY way but rather mimic another country’s pop culture ??
September 9, 2018 @ 9:07 pm
Sad that you have to explain that…
September 10, 2018 @ 7:10 am
way off topic, but since you brought it up…
If we didn’t have Canadian content rules we would not have had any International Canadian music stars.
There is no chance radio stations would have played Canadian bands, and singers in the sixties, without those rules. They were buried by American acts till that happened.
This is why our National music awards are named for the man that brought in the Canadian content rules.
September 10, 2018 @ 9:05 am
yes …perhaps true Mark . BUT that was back in the time when CANADIAN culture was still uniquely Canadian and was trying to establish and represent that fact TO Canadians and the world . The industry has since totally exploited that rationale and that ‘ subsidy ‘ and now Canadian country AND POP music is trying to chase American trend to get airplay and exposure and generate $$$$ . No one wants to risk being UNIQUE …much less being UNIQUELY Canadian in country music in these times …at least not commercially speaking .
And so this CRTC law has completely backfired , IMO . We dredge up whoever owns an acoustic guitar and sign them if they sound American and can be marketed to kids IN AMERICA . If it was working AS IT SHOULD BE there would be guidelines in place to ensure that the subsidized ‘product’ accurately represented and promoted something uniquely Canadian .
September 9, 2018 @ 9:58 pm
VIEWING THIS MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
this should give folks some idea of what we’re talkin about when we rag on Canadian ” country music ” . This would be embarrassing if we took it seriously . Remember ….THIS IS ********** GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED/FUNDED/PROMOTED as Canadian CULTURE !!! WTF WTF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGkBvwQfYqM
September 10, 2018 @ 8:20 am
Holy shit Albert why did you do that to us!! More importantly, why did the CCMAs do that to you Canadians? That was a turd sandwich on moldy bread with a rotten milk chaser!!
September 10, 2018 @ 8:39 am
Right ..? This is what were trying to say .Canadian mainstream ‘country’ music is in the shitter artistically. That whole awards show was a pseudo rock n roll ( disney -style ) circus . Not a memorable song , much less performance , in the whole thing . Generic after -school TV for kids . Keith Urban was the ” American ” guest ( we always have to have a BIG American mainstream presence to worship ) and his song may have been the MOST forgettable of the evening.
This from the country who gave the world Leonard Cohen , Gordon Lightfoot , Joni Mitchell etc..arguably some of the greatest songwriters to ever record ANYWHERE. I hope folks here better understand why Canadian Country fans are so disappointed and frustrated with the state of things here…..the pandering …the fluff …..the absence of ANYTHING real in mainstream .Just a giant commercial JOKE !
September 11, 2018 @ 7:24 am
Hahaha…just…wow.
Government is bad enough managing the things that it arguably should manage….but music?
Case in point.
September 10, 2018 @ 9:12 am
I saw her at Seven Peaks the other weekend… she was absolutely awful live.
September 10, 2018 @ 4:12 pm
I watched that on Dish and I didn’t think she sounded good. I was thinking it was the sound people trying to get it right for tv or something cause she was the first one of the fest they showed live. I guess she was just bad then lol
Lucie Silvas sounded great though.
September 10, 2018 @ 11:10 pm
her songs are always keyed too high for her ……she has always had difficulty with her range live
September 10, 2018 @ 1:36 pm
Terri Clark and this song = “Easy on the eyes, hard on the Ears”
September 12, 2018 @ 9:16 am
“Be yourself, radio be damned.” Strong advice.
It’s one thing to take your music in another direction, but fans can always tell if it’s real or just a sell-out attempt for a hit. It’s great for new songs to lead to new fans, but you’re right that a misstep can cost you the loyalty of existing fans, not to mention a weak single can keep new listeners from checking out your earlier recordings.
With the current business model being artists make most of their money performing, I think it’s more important than ever to play to your strengths. There’s a local venue that features a mix of established and up-and-coming national country acts, and the ones from the 90s are more likely to fill it up. My point being, someone like Mark Chesnutt hasn’t had a radio hit in a long time but still makes records that sound like himself, and many fans are still willing to buy tickets to see him.
Besides, isn’t “not being played on country radio” kind of a badge of honor anyway these days?
September 12, 2018 @ 9:56 am
”Besides, isn’t “not being played on country radio” kind of a badge of honor anyway these days?”
this is a great statement , Ryan . it tells REAL fans of REAL country music everything they need to know about finding it .
its very interesting how things have done a complete 180 as mainstream became more pop fluff . it used to be that radio was the only source …the only exposure that mattered . now it appears that radio has been left to the ‘ barkers and the coloured balloons ‘…the hucksters trying to sell anything and everything to the most gullible and/or the most impressionable amongst us .
indeed , some of the most popular and authentic acts around right now have achieved enormous fan bases in spite of radio , not because of it . and I’m not talking about streaming , which seems to me very similar to radio …..I’m talking about touring , word of mouth , selling your music YOUR way ..websites , brokers , at gigs etc…
”Besides, isn’t “not being played on country radio” kind of a badge of honor anyway these days?”……….this should be a bumper sticker or a T-shirt .
September 13, 2018 @ 5:12 pm
I haven’t been a Terri Clark fan in the past, so was going to bypass this feature. I’m glad I didn’t, and gave this song a listen. Very different take from most on here, and the Review, as I liked it a lot. I’m not an expert on what is ‘Country Music’ and can’t disagree if it’s not, and that more was expected from her based on past music. But I found it ‘easy to listen to’ and enjoyable, and liked the lyrics.
This isn’t a ‘fashion’ or ‘clothes’ site but it’s hard not to notice just how Different she looks than some women in ‘Country Music’ today. Still rocking the hat, and the rest of her attire seems to go with what one would expect from an Artist who calls themselves ‘Country’. The hat isn’t for everyone, even the guys who dress ‘country’ don’t all wear one, but it is nice to see a female Country Artist not look more like what a ‘Pop Star’ is expected to look like.
Trigger—maybe you didn’t see it but I wrote out 3 questions to you last nite on section of ‘Cry Pretty’ tanks at country radio.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:59 pm
I’m sure’s doing it for the money or some producer, tons of talented artist have made questionable choices in the name of the dollar.
Let’s run her out on the T-Swift train over one discretion.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:00 pm
*not.
November 1, 2018 @ 8:36 am
I love terri’s new song! I hope she puts out more great music! I love Terri Clark!
January 22, 2019 @ 11:10 am
STOP WEINING MS.TERRI CLARK IS A AWESOME SINGER IF YOU DONT LIKE IT EVERYRADIO HAS A VOLUME BUTTON OG IT GET A LIFE