The Band Perry’s Big Fat Yellow Mistake
This was going to be The Band Perry’s big moment. Already established as a solid act in the industry with two successful album releases and three #1 singles, it was time to take this thing to the next level. And to do so, they were going to make the age old move for a country act: go pop.
So they saddled up with who else but a Swedish producer, just like Taylor Swift and so many others have done. Nadir Khayat, better known as RedOne, was brought on board, and the plan came together to release a blockbuster song that would take The Band Perry from a perrenial opening slot on some else’s tours to selling out arenas under their own marquee. Soon, the idea for “Live Forever” was launched.
Wide, sweeping, and anthemic, “Live Forever” appears to be about nothing and everything all at the same time. The point was to cast as wide a net as possible and reel in millions of listeners who would then constitute a new era for The Band Perry as a pop country act parenthetical to no one.
Part of what facilitated The Band Perry’s move was a deal Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta struck back in April of 2013 with pop producer Dr. Luke that allows Big Machine artists easier collaboration with pop songwriters and producers in the country space. The concern at the time was this deal would be the institutional tearing down of walls between country and pop, and that’s what we see come to life with The Band Perry’s “Live Forever” (though in fairness, it’s hard to know if the Dr. Luke deal directly influenced the song).
What is clear is “Live Forever” is the bridging of the country and pop worlds. On one side you have the three siblings of The Band Perry—Kimberley Perry, Reid Perry, and Neil Perry, and well-known country producer Dann Huff. On the other side you have two guys named Jakke Erixson and Karl-Ola Kjellhol—two exclusively pop songwriters, and well known pop producer RedOne. All are credited as songwriters, aside from Dann Huff, making this a perfect example of cross-genre behind-the-scenes song creation at its very root.
And then came the image consultants, and choreographers brought in to coach The Band Perry into making this transition to pop a full package. This wasn’t just about a song. This was about a complete and calculated image and audio overhaul that would launch The Band Perry into the stratosphere. And the Perry siblings were totally game, spreading their arms wide submissively, and allowing the experts to tell them how to dress, how to move, and what to say to optimize every single element to benefit the band at the point of sale.
The color yellow was picked to be the primary backdrop for the relaunch. The image of a diamond shaped like a heart was selected as a logo (even though that’s not the way a true heart-shaped diamond is cut), and everyone had visions of a blockbuster #1 single and sold out arena tours dancing in their heads. Maximizing the exposure, RedOne reached out to pop music ally Lady Gaga to tweet about the new single upon release, and The Band Perry launched the song with a big, nationally-televised performance on Good Morning America, complete with planted fans in the crowd holding signs proclaiming their love for a song the public hadn’t even heard yet. Then a big budget video for the song was released.
. . . and since then, “Live Forever” has flopped.
The song is the first ever single from The Band Perry not to crack the Top 20, aside from their tribute single to Glen Campbell. “Live Forever” didn’t even crack the Top 25. The best the could muster was #27 on the radio charts briefly before immediately beginning to give way. The single slipped to #32 last week, and this week to number #40, which in radio lingo means it’s “done.” So long to the huge breakout pop single, so long to the sold out arenas, and so much for super collaborations between pop and country resulting in massive hits, at least for now.
RedOne and the pop songwriters on the track will move on unscathed because they had nothing to lose, but for The Band Perry, the problems will linger, and will be multi-pronged. When you take such a leap of faith, and when you wholesale scratch everything you’ve done before for a new direction, you risk alienating your fan base, and leaving yourself in a musical no man’s land. If you go pop, it must work—it has to work—or you could end up in a career-ending malaise, especially if you’re an outfit like The Band Perry who doesn’t have any significant grassroots to their fan base to begin with.
READ: Giving The Band Perry’s New Single “Live Forever” Its Deserved Kick to the Nuts
The last time we saw a big conceptualized pop overhaul of a country outfit was in 2010 when Sugarland released their fourth album The Incredible Machine based around steampunk culture. The albums lead single “Stuck Like Glue” did well, but the album was heavily criticized, and the entire concept felt forced and more like marketing than authenticity. Fans saw right through it, just like they appear to be looking past “Live Forever.” The Incredible Machine ended up being the last album Sugarland released. The duo is currently on an indefinite hiatus as the both pursue solo projects.
The Band Perry now has a new album called Heart + Beat set for release on November 20th that is expected to include similar material to “Live Forever,” and the lead single has already fallen much shorter than expectations. It doesn’t mean The Band Perry can’t recover, either within the Heart + Beat release cycle, or in subsequent years. But just like Gary Allan, Eli Young Band, and other country artists who’ve attempted to remake their image in a more pop-oriented direction in 2015 in hopes of striking it big, The Band Perry must now fight an uphill battle to not just win the attention of the mainstream, but to re-connect with a core fan base who feels alienated by the new direction.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:06 am
That is the most god awful shade of yellow this side of Big Bird. Hell, even Big Bird would look at them and laugh. I don’t get what they were going for here. At most they look like either a early 00’s pop band or a Disney kid’s act.
It’s a stretch, but I actually think changing that shade of yellow would make the music more palatable to the fickle masses.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:11 am
The problem is that people could see right through the whole thing, and the color yellow was just a symbol of this. Even passive radio pop country fans have something in their brains that tells them they’re been sold a bill of goods. There at least has to be something real there to latch on to. As stupid as Florida Georgia Line is, they’re true to themselves, and that’s always going to resonate better than smoke and mirrors.
Kimberly Perry comes across as someone who wants to be a mega superstar at any and all costs.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:22 am
True. Image changes like this happen better over time, not like the band just woke up one day and everything was yellow. I think in a few years, The Band Perry will be seen as how not to transition from mainstream country to pop stardom.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:33 am
I like the last part of your comment… and I like it that it’s said by a guy. I’ve always thought Kimberly Perry is very fake and conceited, but always been called out when saying this, especially by men, saying I’m just jealous of her looks/talent. Right… the woman is not that pretty (she has a glam team 24/7, very average looking with no makeup) and she’s not that talented (listen to her singing live!!).
I think she needs her brothers because it’s obvious she’s not that great of a singer and without the third wheels she falls in a pool of average and can never stand out. I laugh when people say she should go solo… the Band Perry is flopping right now and it’s basically the Kimberly Perry Project, imagine if she was on own!
February 3, 2022 @ 12:47 pm
I like the old Band Perry. The new Band Perry, not so much. Switching from country to pop was a stupid career move. They are killing their career with their new sound and look. I want the old Band Perry back!
November 3, 2015 @ 9:06 am
I’m reading this as I listen to top 30 radio here. “If I die young” is currently playing. “Live forever” does nothing for me and glad it flopped. They can do better. How far they’ve even come from their first single “hip to my heart”
November 3, 2015 @ 9:08 am
Is it too late to delay the album and retool? Even if the single hadn’t flopped, sharing a release date with Adele won’t help the numbers at all.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:53 am
Ah, didn’t even think about sharing the Adele date. That’s going to make it REALLY tough for them. My guess is it’s probably too late to retool. I think if they had made that choice, it would have needed to happen a couple of weeks ago at the latest when they knew the single was stalling.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:16 am
I’m surprised they haven’t pushed the album release date back yet. Start over with another single after the first of the year and then release the album in February or March.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:17 am
I hate “Stuck Like Glue.”
I’m also very glad Sugarland went the way of Laser-disc, Microfiche, and Jimmy Hoffa. And I hope the Band Perry joins them shortly.
hopefully this is the beginning of the end for these Country Music body-snatchers.
And what is this with the art design? All I can think with that much yellow is “Over hill and mountain the banana buggies go.” And it probably appeals to the same audience.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:59 am
Sugarland I can agree with you (I’m assuming by body snatchers you mean non country artists making country music). They were really indie rock musician’s who struck gold making a “country” album. The Band Perry on the other hand is a real bonafide country music family that pretends to be pop. Those 3 siblings could back up any country music act young or old and hold their own with the best of the road bands.
November 3, 2015 @ 12:14 pm
I think TBP’s instrumental skills are absolutely dismal. They might be better players than Jason Aldean, but he couldn’t play his way into a paper bag. I think they have some decent harmonies, (although nothing to compare with Dailey and Vincent, or Reno and Smiley, or Nickel Creek) but they just aren’t great pickers. The “best of the road bands” would be the Strangers, the Buckaroos, the Jones Boys, and the Statesiders, and TBP doesn’t measure up to any of them.
The body snatchers thing was a classic movie reference, in which the “pods” would come to Earth and take over somebody’s body, thereby pretending to be them. In light of the number of sellouts in Country Music I see a lot of bodies getting taken over.
November 3, 2015 @ 1:42 pm
None of them are lead players. If that is your definition of skill then no, they are not. The bass player is very accomplished and the mando player does a fine job. Plus they are harmonizing the entire time and entertaining. When they do in-studio performances it’s just them. No other guy in the corner doing all the hard work. They’ve been at it since they were elementary school age and they made it the old fashioned way, many years of grinding it out in small bars and what not. I’m just saying they are real musicians and not just some creation of some “big machine” (pun intended).
November 3, 2015 @ 2:07 pm
The mando player is average by Country standards, and totally subpar by Bluegrass standards. BUT TBP are still better musicians than the bros, because even though they may only be a few halfsteps above garage band standards, the bros are below garage band standards.
And TBP don’t rely on Celebrity “gimmicks” like “The Voice” or being obnoxious in interviews, and they don’t weigh in much on the state of music or criticize their peers or their critics.
They let their music speak for itself. It doesn’t contribute much to conversation, but it speaks for itself.
November 3, 2015 @ 2:25 pm
I’m sorry but this is hilarious… because it’s pretty obvious that they’re either fake playing their instruments or barely playing live when they mix choreography in their live performances. Look no further than their recent performance on Ellen, it’s on YouTube. They weren’t even trying to pretend, all they cared about was doing the choreography and the instruments “played themselves”. There’s been people, actual musicians, calling out that the brothers were not really playing their instruments on many occasions, especially in live TV performances. Even if they can’t perform live on TV; for such “accomplished” musicians they could fake better, don’t you think?
I’m with Fuzzy… the brothers are garage band or below level musicians. I really doubt they could ever make it in the industry if it wasn’t for their sister, not even as tour musicians.
November 3, 2015 @ 2:42 pm
Joe: I was not attacking Kimberly Perry’s brothers, I used the term “bros” to describe the Bro Country nucleus of Aldean, Swindell, Chase Rice and FGL. Kimberly Perry’s brothers have a lot more talent than those guys. Aldean and Swindell are below garage band level, whereas Kimberly Perry’s brothers may be slightly above that level. and on the overtracking and not playing live thing, it may surprise you to learn than the Buckaroos mimed to prerecorded tracks for Hee Haw broadcasts, and should not be taken as wholly indicative of a person’s talent, even if it does usually coincide with having very little talent.
November 3, 2015 @ 3:03 pm
joe, yes they have been known to air guitar it on TV. Others do as well it’s just that The Band Perry does it very poorly. Now, that has absolutely nothing to do with their musical ability though. There is a ton of radio in-studio performances and other similar performances of them being recorded with a cell phone that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are pro players. Pro players does not mean flashy or fast picking. Pro players means doing the parts right, sitting in the pocket. finishing all your harmony lines perfectly. being comfortable. not over playing. sitting in the mix. That’s what being pro is. All those things are the exact opposite of a garage band. You could call up The Band Perry to back up someone on the Grammys on a day’s notice and they would pull it off no problem.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:29 am
The song is a mess and the outfits are a crime. I’m embarrassed for them. While I’ve never been a fan, they have talent. Put them in a studio with their own instruments and let them go at it. This industry is absolutely murdering art. (granted, I don’t know how much input they had.)
November 3, 2015 @ 9:35 am
I predicted it would flop, and am relieved it did.
Though their instances aren’t remotely as humiliating because they already have successful albums and preceding hits anchoring them, it appears both Sam Hunt’s “Breakup In A Small Town” (despite solid sales) and the Zac Brown Band’s “Beautiful Drug” are looking at low airplay peaks as well. Both tracks are limping right now, which is uncharacteristic for either entertainer.
This is a very encouraging sign of a growing backlash in the face of blatant turns to Mainstream Top 40 sensibilities. Granted Thomas Rhett’s “Die A Happy Man” is an outlier (which blatantly rips off Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”) but all in all, the pendulum is slowly shifting back to the desire for genre purity.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:49 am
We’ll see. I think “Beautiful Drug” will be a very big litmus test. Sam Hunt can at least blame single fatigue near the end of his album cycle. JUst like “Live Forever,” “Beautiful Drug” HAS to become a big hit.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:57 am
I wouldn’t say he has to blame janything just yet, we’ll have to see how it does. You can never underestimate the reach with him.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:57 am
And it won’t.
It’s interesting, because a picture surfaced on Diplo’s (EDM producer who co-drives the Jack U and Major Lazer projects) Twitter account yesterday of Zac Brown standing between him and Skrillex (famed dubstep-leaning producer) with the caption: “ZACK U”.
I do recall Zac Brown mentioning in a promotional video for “Beautiful Drug”, around the time their album was released, that they had a remix being produced by an unnamed producer. Maybe it’s Jack U?
Either way, if “Beautiful Drug” becomes a hit, it’s not going to begin through country radio. It would happen beyond the format. The funny thing is, I think Avicii’s “Broken Arrows” has a much better chance at becoming a breakout Top 40 hit and that is vastly more listenable.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:27 am
Ya I would be shocked to see Beautiful Drug do well on Country radio.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:55 am
I don’t think “Beautiful Drug” needs to be a huge hit… They have enough vastly different single material on the album to switch it up, and they have the huge grassroots following already in place.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:38 am
If they die young, I’ll bury them in yellow
November 3, 2015 @ 9:52 am
Great article. Another reason all of the acts involved in these projects right now are going to be in the same boat is because Pop music has gotten bigger in the last couple years after awhile of mediocracy while Country was seemingly becoming “cool”. With Taylor Swift entering the Pop world and becoming its driving force and music that as blown up everywhere by Bruno Mars, Sam Smith, Jason Derulo, Ed Sheeran, and the rise of EDM with DJ’s like Calvin Harris, Pop has taken its stake back and I think it backfires on what Nashville thought would be a chance to keep on rolling right into bigger markets.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:59 am
Breaking down barriers… That’s what Thomas Rhett said, bursting the preverbial bubble and all that. As Trigger keeps saying, the breaking down barriers heralds the monogenre, where all music sounds the thing. Who wants to only hear music that sounds the same? Not me! Variety is what makes music interesting! Why make everything pop? Country can’t possibly beat pop at its own game! They’re only making fans migrate to pop! Country would be much better off focusing on a different demographic. It should have its own niche.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:03 am
LOL.What’s up with the guitar foofs in the background synchronizing their moves with Kimberly.LOL.I really think they mistook their earlier success with automatic mainstream notoriety. Them straddling the fence ,has not worked out in their favour.Taylor Swift’s team worked really hard to make sure that everybody knew who she was before she went fully pop/Mainstream.Had Red been a flop ,she would be still be doing ”country”.Middle America on the other hand has no idea who the Band Perry is.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:28 am
Good point. They saw this as their big Taylor Swift moment, but they have about 10% of the name recognition as Taylor.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:06 am
What makes the video and song so ridiculous is the choreography that has the two brothers looking like they are convulsing in the background. And on top of that this is a pop song hands down trying to slither it’s way into country. And why are the brothers jumping up and down and head banging like they are playing heavy metal in a pop song? Get over yourselves, you’re not playing any difficult rifts, your just strumming chords.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:26 am
Every single move in that video is choreographed no different than a synchronized swimming routine. Every single thing is calculated. And even pop fans can see that. Crap like this would never hold up against Adele and Ed Sheeran. And in country, forget about it.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:51 am
Everything about the new TBP is staged as heck. I wonder if they have a script to work with.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:01 am
I’m not into pop, but I heard Adele’s “Hello” the other day, and I gotta say, I kinda liked it. It’s so much better written than any of the big $hits on country radio. I know Adele has incorporated country influences into records in the past. I don’t know if she’d ever want to make an actual country record, but it would probably be better than Justin Timberlake’s future album.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:21 am
I’ve said this before, but I genuinely believe Adele has much more a sure shot at influencing a full shift toward a renaissance of substance at country radio than even a vast majority of country entertainers and artists both in and outside the mainstream.
Think about it. “21” already bared some authentic country and gospel influences in the instrumentation on a number of tracks. Kelly Clarkson also mentioned in an interview earlier this year that “25” will feature more country influences and we also know though Adele had limited exposure to country music in her youth, she DID listen to a lot of American music in the gospel, blues and soul tradition (Ella Fitzgerald a leading one) and beginning while touring “19” has been listening to a lot more country.
Beyond that, though, we have to consider mainstream country’s obsession with winning over pop listeners by emulating them. When Adele’s newest hit is putting all other releases to shame commercially, without sacrificing integrity, how would you NOT want to seize that formula? The insane success of “Hello” can definitely inspire a broader turn to substance and emotional investment across many formats, including country.
November 3, 2015 @ 4:35 pm
Adele has also done a cover by The SteelDrivers.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:44 am
Who is managing them ?
November 3, 2015 @ 10:50 am
Redlight, they left Bob Doyle a while ago. The new management is aiming for the stars, but it ain’t working.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:49 am
When The Band Perry first came out I wrote them off. They air-guitared it on some award show (very poorly) and that was it for me. Then I saw them perform “Gentle on my Mind” for a Glen Campbell tribute (CMA’s maybe?) and was blown away. It was smooth, the harmonies where spot on. The brothers could actually play. After that I did some learning up on them and realized that they are the real deal. I think that’s what bothers some people like me and maybe trigger too. To see really good musicians that can actually do the real deal and they don’t. The Band Perry is ten times the musical force than some more “real” country acts but they never show it. Also, just FYI, it’s Dann Huff with two n’s and he’s a rock guitarist masquerading as a country producer.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:54 am
I agree. The talent is there but they seem to be obsessed with being pop superstars. They must be desperate to cross over and have more fame, there’s no other way to explain what they’re doing now.
November 3, 2015 @ 2:30 pm
I wrote off Florida Georgia Line when I first him them on the radio (against my will). I thought it was 1 guy back then. I thought Cruise was just another stupid fake country song, nothing special about it. I predicted it wouldn’t even make it to the top 10. Next thing I know, this pathetically average laundry list bullshit is considered the longest running #1 country song in history. I still don’t get what makes it different than any other stupid Bro-Country song.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:53 am
Unless they have a couple spades up their sleeve on this album they might have to come out and try to say they were pressured into changing and couldn’t be themselves if they want to have any shot at recovering.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:57 am
And put their label at the stake? No. They’ll say this was an experiment and the next album – I’ll bet it will be a lot more country than this one – is the real deal, H+B album was just for fun and next is true TBP. It’s funny because they are saying this new music and image is the authentic TBP… so it will be interesting when they discard this in two years or so.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:00 am
I feel sorry for the Band Perry.
They are actually quite good and talented young musicians. I liked their first two albums, the first one is the better of the two and is good. They managed to sound modern but retain some country elements to their music.
It is clear from their early interviews and the instruments that they play, that they do like country music and given full freedom I believe that they would produce melodic, modern music with a foundation in country instrumentation – much like Maddie and Tae.
Unfortunately when their big moment came, standing at the crossroads, having to chose the direction to take, they took the wrong one. This is the moment that they should have abandoned the pop make over and headed for a more rootsy sound – the sound that I believe is their true sound and is what they actually like.
If they had made the right choice, they would have been successful I believe. Unfortunately, having made the wrong decision, this could really damage their career. And the sad thing is that I don’t think this is the choice they would have made if they were left to their own devices.
This could have been their time to get really established and cement their place in country music. Instead they are now lost and have a long way to go to find their way back to where they were a couple of years ago…….
November 3, 2015 @ 11:08 am
Bigger , Bolder , Brighter, Brash-er ain’t the musical recipe this band should have been messing with .They’d carved out a nice little niche with album 1 and garnered a following they could have built on in a much more organic manner . And they likely would have were it not for the know-it-all label-meisters chasing pop $$$$$ . Now they’ve gambled all of their artistic cred to concoct the same crap everyone and his backward hat is trying to concoct rather than create an honest identity based on themselves , their influences and their ( albeit limited musical abilities . Labels need to hit the motherlode with an act or pack their panning plates and get outa the hills before the climate changes. Go big or go home….or go outa business . But an honest Artist ( capital A ) doesn’t need to cow tow to trends and tastes to the extent a label expects them to in order to develop a career . If an act is true to themselves first , knows what moves them musically and knows their limitations , they WILL find a following that understands and respects the sincerity of that approach . And in doing so, they can have a long , rewarding and significant career . No it may not be as successful a career financially as a TS or a Luke Bryan . But I’m certain it would be more rewarding and inspiring spiritually .
November 3, 2015 @ 11:13 am
Was The Band Perry not making enough money before they decided to do this? Wasn’t their career going along pretty damn good? They had #1 albums and #1 singles. Be grateful. Understand how unique that is. Instead they got dreams of coming in and filling the void left by Taylor Swift.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:27 am
Like you said, the problem with money is………..you want more of it.
The interesting thing about their “Pioneer” era is that, as well as all four singles performed at airplay, what is overlooked is how poorly the latter two singles (“Don’t Let Me Be Lonely”, “Chainsaw”) sold. The sales were absolutely pitiful for both, and the former ultimately fell just short of #1 because it was riding the coattails of two legitimate hits and also was a safe anthemic power ballad, while the latter scraped the Top Ten off of playing to the Miranda Lambert edge camp.
But the writing was already on the wall, and this group had to have known that. They just reacted and retooled in the worst way imaginable.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:33 am
Don’t even get me started on that conversation. Its never enough. Its a sickness. Zac Brown is the sickest of them all.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:49 am
As I always say, the problem with money is that you can always have more of it.
November 3, 2015 @ 12:11 pm
“Was The Band Perry not making enough money before they decided to do this? Wasn”™t their career going along pretty damn good? They had #1 albums and #1 singles. …”
AND most importantly for an artist who’s mission is to express themselves ..THEY HAD AN IDENTITY !
November 3, 2015 @ 7:43 pm
“Instead they got dreams of coming in and filling the void left by Taylor Swift.”
Speaking as a disaffected Taylor Swift fan, I don’t understand this theory. When Taylor Swift was in country, her songs consistently featured detailed storytelling and smooth melodies. Why would “Live Forever” appeal to the fans who enjoyed the classic Taylor Swift?
November 3, 2015 @ 8:08 pm
Taylor Swift was the version of country on the far side of the pop spectrum, which is where The Band Perry pointed their noses. Lyrical content is an entirely other discussion, and so is Taylor Swift in her own right.
November 3, 2015 @ 8:17 pm
But “pop” represents a wide range of sounds and lyrical styles. “Live Forever” is much closer to Carrie Underwood’s pop-country style (e.g. “Good Girl”) than to Taylor Swift.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:12 am
That logo looks like a stage from the old vector-based arcade game Tempest. http://www.cpcgamereviews.com/t/tempest.png
November 3, 2015 @ 11:15 am
god i hate that artist are making crappy music. the band perry had a good sound before and now they threw it away at an attempt to crossover, failing horribly in the process. and i just heard scotty mccreery’s new single “southern belle’ on the radio today. between this song and his last single Feelin’ It no doubt scotty is making some terrible choices as well.
i dont get these country artists anymore.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:20 am
I never trusted The Band Perry. They just seemed too pretty and manufactured from the beginning. Also, I don’t trust anyone who wears skinny jeans and rolled cuffs. HOWEVER, they weren’t terrible. They seemed to actually be able to play real instruments, and their sound was OK, kind of like a Shovels and Rope for the masses. So maybe there’s hope. Maybe they get hit over the head with this and then have a gee, shucks moment where they cop to being manipulated by the industry and they go back to doing what they did previously, only a little better. And boy #2 loses the topknot because unless you’re a Samauri or an Iroquois, that’s just weird.
November 3, 2015 @ 11:34 am
Oh my Lord !!! LOL look at this mess LOL !
https://instagram.com/mrjesscagle/
https://instagram.com/mrjesscagle/
November 3, 2015 @ 6:20 pm
“Oh my Lord !!! LOL look at this mess LOL ! ”
LOL is right , raggie ….that’s what this band will be doing when they look at this video two years from now .
To think this schtick is even remotely associated with ” country music ” is mind-boggling-ly insane
November 3, 2015 @ 11:42 am
Man this is definitely the bummer of the day, or even the year. TBP was never country country, but they satisfied what I was looking for in a band that leaned pop in the country genre. I loved the Glen Campbell remake.
In other, better news, Ward Thomas is freaking awesome. Thanks for the tip off Trig. The Good and the Right is golden. Absolutely love it
November 3, 2015 @ 11:52 am
I’m glad Ward Thomas really spoke to you. They really spoke to me too. And The Band Perry’s “Live Forever” I think proves why a band like Ward Thomas could be successful over here. As The Band Perry tries to (clumsily) move into the space vacated by Taylor Swift, a band like Ward Davis could move into the space vacated by The Band Perry.
November 3, 2015 @ 12:21 pm
Not to derail this thread but they do have an album that came out in March. Definitely still eligible for a review and year ends and such Trigger 🙂 (Although I know you have a lot of other stuff in the works)
November 3, 2015 @ 1:39 pm
The feature I did on them dubbed as an album review as well, with a grade. They’ll be considered for end-of-year awards as well.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-american-market-needs-ward-thomas-now
November 3, 2015 @ 2:27 pm
Ah, my apologies. I thought it was a grade of their overall artistic output and actions. My bad
November 3, 2015 @ 12:13 pm
Which Wich Yellow.
November 3, 2015 @ 1:35 pm
So bad. If you changed the yellow to red in those pictures you would have a Target commercial.
November 3, 2015 @ 1:39 pm
Oh how hard it will be to look past The Band Perry’s Urine Yellow Phase.
November 3, 2015 @ 2:34 pm
The one thing you always hear from the marketing world these days is the importance of being true to your “brand.”
This comes across as a total sell out. They are excising the core musical elements which made them slightly stand out, in order to be an incredibly generic pop act. And they are doing it in a way that makes them look downright foolish.
I realize I’m just stating what everyone else has already said, but it’s so obvious in this case. Even the YouTube comments are having none of it.
November 3, 2015 @ 2:40 pm
Also, surely I’m not the first person to notice the irony of a group who is best known for a song called “If I Die Young” turning around and doing a song about wanting to live forever.
Did Trigger already mention that in a previous article?
November 3, 2015 @ 3:51 pm
The one thing I like about You Tube is you can see the startups of some groups, which can be a blessing and/or a curse. And, with TBP you can find a lot of videos of when they did their first radio tours. They were unpolished image wise, but you could tell they were real musicians. And, I love the Oceanway sessions which is on You Tube too. Just stripped down bare acoustic playing and singing from this group. And, I also found one video on You Tube by them, when they started out and playing at Joe’s Bar in Chicago, where they were not in sync with their music and singing. So, with that one they were definitely using recorded tracks. But, for the most part, I have loved this band. Loved the first and second album’s for sure. However, with what they are doing image wise, dancing around like pop/hipsters, and not playing their instruments is very disheartening. Obviously not to just me, but to other TBP fans too. I just hope they are able to recover from this blunder and get on the right track.
November 3, 2015 @ 4:48 pm
How dumb is for The Band Perry to think they can reach Taylor Swift’s status? As I’ve seen, they were popular in country music and by doing generic pop using those awful clothes, they seem to look like nothing but sell-outs. Considering their song “If I Die Young” actually overshadowed the band itself, it isn’t really enough to hire some pop producers and ding #1 pop trio. Please.
Taylor Swift has reached for popularity and produced a solid brand. People love her and she loves to be popular. She paved her ways actually very slowly, knowing every single step. Taylor Swift was known as a country artist when she had her first VMA nomination, absolutely the same thing happened (and she made sure to say: I’m a country artist) in between the Kanye West fiasco.
November 3, 2015 @ 6:55 pm
Excellent article, Trig, particularly in your exploration of the risk country bands take when they attempt the pop crossover. Zach Brown Band is talented enough to survive its misguided venture into EDM embarrassment, should it prove unsuccessful (“Beautiful Drug” seems to be getting a good deal of radio play, to my horror), but The Band Perry never had the chops to establish itself as a band worth a fan’s commitment. Kimberly is a fox but her voice is more effortful than any on country radio, and her brothers look like dweebs. They should’ve stayed in the niche they carved for themselves in the market: fluff, meager twang, and occasional creep factor to make things edgy. Hopefully they’ve shot themselves terminally in the foot this go-round
November 3, 2015 @ 7:11 pm
I’ve kinda liked The Band Perry in the past. But this song is atrocious. The video and choreographed moves are ridiculous. It’s almost embarrassing to see them go in this direction. I consider myself a semi-fan but there’s not a chance in hell I will buy this new album. What a bunch of nonsense this song and video is.
November 3, 2015 @ 10:30 pm
I hope Band Perry would recover from this. Live Forever was a disaster and it flopped on radio and charts.
November 4, 2015 @ 11:54 am
All Your Life and Postcards From Paris are probably the only decent songs they’ve done.
November 4, 2015 @ 12:04 pm
And Gentle On My Mind too.
November 4, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
It seems even Scott doesn’t know what is going on?There doesn’t seem to be anyone really steering them
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Q:The Band Perry””out of the box, almost superstars with one single. What happened? What”™s the plan going forward?
A:The Band Perry are in a transition. They”™ve been touring for over five years. The third album is really taking shape. Our world moves so fast now””the race for relevancy, when you look at all the bands right now. They”™re redefining their sound and understanding the live show is where they live. How do they create the right music that is going to dominate radio and continue to really turbocharge their quest for being a hard-ticket headliner?
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I really can’t stand Scott .I truly think he is flying too close to the sun.
http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=296678
November 4, 2015 @ 2:33 pm
I was going to include this quote in the article but there really wasn’t an appropriate place for it.
Scott Borchetta tells us a lot here. It’s funny how some Big Machine acts are only expected to make a little profit for the label, and then they’re fine with them like The Cadillac Three or The Mavericks. But others are slated to be superstars, and if they don’t deliver, their in jeopardy of being dropped. The reason Scott Borchetta is talking about “the live show is where they live” and “hard-ticket headliner” is because they’re on a 360 record deal. Record labels don’t make money from albums anymore, so artists are expected to draw big live, and the label gets a piece of that revenue. If The Band Perry can’t become a major touring force, then they are worthless to Big Machine, and they’d rather invest in another band who may blow up to become one. That is what is really behind The Band Perry’s motivation to completely change their sound and image. They tried to become an arena band.
November 4, 2015 @ 2:56 pm
Interesting… really explains why they spend so much time on the road and never take a break from touring. Big Machine has probably invested too much in this band and are demanding more profit to pay the “debt”. The Band Perry might be under pressure to become A List and I think they’ll fail. Curious to see where Borchetta stands when the new music era is over and TBP has failed to achieve A List Arena Band status.
November 4, 2015 @ 3:35 pm
That makes sense Trigger,because the TBP did an interview where it was said that they wanted the songs to fit/ have an arena sound.I really don’t understand why the band truly thinks they would be capable of selling out an Arena.Scott needs to realise that he lucked out with Taylor .
November 4, 2015 @ 2:52 pm
now there’s a rumor the album will come out in 2016 because of a song with Nicki Minaj…. what the heck is going on with these people?!!
November 4, 2015 @ 3:32 pm
Trigger, are you sure about that 11/20 date? I cannot imagine Scott putting out their album on top of this kind of stiff. I would imagine they retool, get a solid country-ish hit under their belts, never speak of ‘the yellow year’ and come in May or Sept with album 3.
November 4, 2015 @ 3:36 pm
The 11/20 release date isn’t a rumor. It’s already been announced in press releases, confirmed, re-promoted many times. It’s a go unless they decide to change it at the 11th hour, which we’re already at. We’re days from albums being shipped to stores, if some haven’t gone out already.
November 4, 2015 @ 3:50 pm
it’s not a go… they’ve changed to 2016. It was confirmed via interview: http://www.news4jax.com/the-band-perry-talks-with-river-city-live/36206146
Nov 20 release date was never confirmed by the band or BMLG.
November 4, 2015 @ 4:09 pm
Okay well this is new news then. Good sleuthing. But I can tell you that mechanical and digital distributors were told the release was going to be November 20th. That information came out in early October. It is still on Hits Daily Double’s “New Releases” schedule:
http://hitsdailydouble.com/new_album_releases
People don’t pull these numbers out of their butt. They come from metadata and distribution channels directly filled by the labels. So if they’ve decided at the 11th hour here to stop the release and retool, then that’s the next phase of this story. I’ll look into it and report accordingly.
Thanks for the heads up.
November 4, 2015 @ 3:51 pm
The album will come out in 2016 because of a rumored collaboration with Nicki Minaj… they’ve confirmed this in interview http://www.news4jax.com/the-band-perry-talks-with-river-city-live/36206146
November 4, 2015 @ 3:52 pm
The album will come out in 2016 because of a rumored collaboration with Nicki Minaj… they’ve confirmed this in interview.
November 4, 2015 @ 6:04 pm
Thank you Joe for putting that interview up. But, when I listened to that interview they didn’t really say who the collaboration was with. They said they would announce that in about a week or so. I really do not hope it is Nicki Minaj. Seems like that is the rumor. Some other person on a Facebook page I was on was hinting towards Nicki, too. And, thanks for the update on the release information on TBP third album. Because, I haven’t found hardly anything at all on the web saying when they were going to release it.
November 5, 2015 @ 3:20 pm
I can’t stand The Band Perry. Every one of their songs is a Taylor Swift knock-off, and I’m not a great fan of Taylor, either!