The Garth Brooks Comeback Beset with Stops & Starts
Garth Brooks is back, and there’s no denying it when you poke around country music and see his face and name everywhere. But his triumphant return has been one of the most curious cases of missed dates, canceled engagements, and other symptoms of mismanagement from a man whose modus operendi is one of being on top of everything with the precision of one of the most well-oiled marketing teams in music.
The first sign of trouble was with his five Ireland concerts scheduled for late July. This was supposed to be Garth’s big comeback moment that would send the world buzzing in anticipation of a world tour and new music. Millions of dollars were spent on a custom-made stage and multimedia presentation that were manufactured specifically for the Croke Park crowd and venue. It was then crated up on 19 semi-trailers and put on a freight ship to Ireland. But it was all for naught when the local council decided to only grant permits for three of the five Garth shows. Garth could have still moved forward with the three approved performances, but put his foot down, saying five or none. And none it was, as both Garth and the local promoters to a bath in red ink in the debacle that became a heated national debate throughout Ireland with bad blood still roiling over the matter.
In the midst of the Ireland fiasco, Garth Brooks let it be known through his website that there would be a big announcement on 7/7. Garth has a history with the number ‘7’ and one of the themes of his comeback has been, “The 7’s are aligning.” However on 7/7 we didn’t get a big announcement. Instead we got the announcement of another announcement and press conference that would be held on July 10th. The July 10th press conference did go down as planned, and did establish some important benchmarks of the Garth comeback and answered some questions about what fans could expect, but it did not answer any specifics about when the Garth Brooks world tour would commence, or when we could expect new music from the entertainer specifically.
Even at the July 10th press conference, Garth went into it unsure himself if and when a new single would be released. There were somewhat awkward exchanges between Garth and label representatives in the crowd about what should be said, but it still seemed like we could expect a new Garth Brooks single soon.
Then later in the week of the July 10th press conference, rumors began to swirl that a new Garth Brooks single would be released in less than two weeks. This was confirmed when the country radio trade periodical Country Aircheck ran an ad in their July 14th issue from RCA Nashville telling fans to expect “New music coming next week.”
But next week came, and there was no new Garth. Instead we got word of a delay, and when the next issue of Country Aircheck came out on Monday, July 21st, the ad now stated, “New music coming soon.”
Then reports came out that we could be expecting a new Garth Brooks single on Monday, 7/28. But apparently there’s a chance there has been yet another delay, and one that could take the release of the new Garth Brooks single all the way into September. Multiple radio programers, including Bree at KJ97, Scott Clements, and The Ant Man at 102.5 KNIX say to not expect new Garth until September. Saving Country Music placed a call to RCA Nashville to try to confirm when the single will be released and why there was a delay, but no comment was given. According to Windmills Country, the single delay has to do with wanting to set up Garth’s online digital store. The digital store with Garth’s music finally being made available digitally is another thing fans have been promised, but the dates have come and passed with no sign.
The above ads in Country Aircheck are not cheap, and the questions surrounding the new Garth single seem to hint to a deeper communication disconnect in the Garth Brooks camp.
In the end, Garth Brooks will probably be fine. He will sell out whatever stadium he books, and his new album will be a blockbuster. But he can’t take fans and the public for granted. He’s been gone as a full time musician for 13 years, and he’s re-entering mainstream country in a time where social networking and digital music rule the day, and everything he says and does will be set in stone and spread across the internet in mere moments. The world is not going to bend to the will of Garth Brooks, though as we saw in Ireland, Garth will try. Garth has got to prove his worth to an entire new generation, and there’s probably nobody more aware of this than Garth. But the beginning of his triumphant return has not been pretty, and has to be better if he wants to do make music at a level he’s “never seen before.”
July 24, 2014 @ 8:25 am
If this was a smooth running operation they should have had a single ready to go at midnight on the night of that big press conference. For major acts nowadays the release of the first single from a new album is a big event and they may have lost a little bit of that.
Sure he will do well concert wise but this concerns me as far as the new music is concerned.
July 24, 2014 @ 8:27 am
Perfect timing for this…
I’ve heard The Call the last 2 days on WUSN’s HD2 channel.Was wondering if it was the new release until I looked it up to find it was from about 8 months ago. Priming the audience for the new single? Whatever, I really liked this duet with Ms.Yearwood.
July 24, 2014 @ 8:28 am
The delay is due to the digital store on Garth’s official site not being ready. It’s a huge undertaking since Garth is working outside of Itunes, even more so if Garth wants to accommodate international fans (I assume he wants to avoid more headlines about international fans being shut out after the Ireland fiasco). Even if the technical side is worked out so that the site can handle domestic and foreign transactions and the inevitable high traffic when the site 1st launches, there is also a long list of foreign and international laws and licensing issues to be navigated along with domestic laws and licensing. Yes, they’ve had plenty of time to work this stuff out, but it’s not surprising that it may not have worked out as quickly as Team Garth had hoped.
As for why this would delay the single, Garth naturally would prefer to use the inevitable traffic that comes with the launch of his digital store to help promote and sell his new music. So it makes sense that the delay in launching the digital store would delay the release of his single.
July 24, 2014 @ 8:40 am
That may all be true but it’s still a bad sign that he doesn’t have this thing ready to go before the big press conference.
Delays and missed goals lend to the impression of a shoddy unorganized operation.
Again I’m mostly talking about the new music which is a far, far riskier proposition than the concert tour.
July 24, 2014 @ 8:48 am
The digital store is another thing we were promised, and wasn’t delivered upon. I have no doubt all the things Garth is trying to do are big undertakings, but why tell people dates, and why spend money on advertising if you’re not ready? At this point, pretty much every single thing we have seen from the Garth Brooks camp so far with the comeback has been either delayed or canceled. It’s deflating.
July 24, 2014 @ 9:00 am
I agree about this not giving a great impression of how the Garth ship is being run – I guess they had to have the presser since the 1st on sale date for the tour is 7/25, but they should’ve had everything else lined up too. It’s far from ideal from a marketing POV – I’m sure all parties involved wanted to leverage the publicity from what will be an instant sellout of Garth’s 1st show on his world tour. As somebody who’s at least as interested in the business side of this as the music side (for now, since we haven’t heard a note of new music), this can’t be the kind of buzz Garth wanted to accompany his comeback.
He’ll probably paper over it with some homespun explanation that these are the costs of a guy trying to do it his own way and look out for his fans everywhere in a complicated world. But consumers are used to a higher grade of professionalism and even if Garth is Garth (+team) instead of some giant impersonal corporation, there’s only so much leeway they will extend.
After I was told about the reason, I did a little research. Turns out this is not the 1st time Garth hasn’t made a deadline. Check out this snide little article talking about how Garth was supposed to release a new album to coincide with his big 1997 Central Park concert, on August 7th. The album in question, Sevens, wound up streeting on 11/25/1997, 3 1/2 months later than intended.
July 24, 2014 @ 12:06 pm
I am in no way a tech expert so I imagine setting up this digital store independently is probably a big task but that is why they should of had this thing up and running before making any announcements.
One of the worst things a business can do is overpromise and under deliver.
July 24, 2014 @ 12:52 pm
I’m starting to think that Garth might be the one throwing out dates (like the “sevens aligning”) but the actual team is the party that’s holding things up for whatever reason. Garth almost certainly isn’t the one on the ground, so to speak, but it seems like he would have a better line of communication with his team than he’s been showing.
July 24, 2014 @ 9:24 am
What a mess.
July 24, 2014 @ 10:39 am
I put the over/under at three (bet the under) albums of new music before the inevitable “Garth & Friends” album…pairing him with artists of today to make him relevant to a younger audience. Those of us around for the first round of “all things Garth” have the hits, and mostly uninterested in what his sound will be now.
July 24, 2014 @ 11:10 am
I think its probably already been written. I can see it now, the lead single a duet with Jason Aldean called “Bitchez Get Naz-t in the Back of my Bronco.”
July 24, 2014 @ 1:27 pm
(Featuring Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa & Cole Swindell) 😉
July 24, 2014 @ 12:48 pm
Haha. You underestimate things. I’m guessing you are like mid 30’s?
So you may not realize the staying power of a guy as big as Elvis.
There is nothing to suggest that Garth can’t put out better music than he ever did. There is so much quality music out there that isn’t being recorded by mainstream artists because they need to fit the mold. Garth doesn’t. Garth makes the mold. He will record some crushing tunes and the landscape will change. Aldean, Shelton, Bryan…you will be left way behind, as record labels follow Garth’s lead and find artists that can carry a tune and sell a quality song. Not some dork in a costume with a cold beer sign on stage.
I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but many folks on this site have no idea what an artist like Garth can do. He won’t chart a hit or two. He won’t speak out against a label for a few months. He will change the compass and landscape of the genre. Nobody else living today in country music can do that. Also, you need to understand, the landscape will change for the benefit of artists like Sturgill Simpson, Whitey Morgan, Jason Eady. You might think they are far more genuine than Garth, and they well may be, but the type of music they all do, is much more similar than you think.
Garth had a history of bringing on opening acts that were nobodies. Think if Sturgill got a shot a opening for Garth? Or any other little known, but great, artist.
July 24, 2014 @ 11:28 am
I realize this is very old news, but will someone briefly remind me what Garth’s problem with iTunes is again?
Is he against the sale of individual tracks? Does he want to charge more than $9.99 for his albums? Or is it just a general control issue?
July 24, 2014 @ 11:51 am
Yes, and yes.
I don’t blame him for that though. More artists should put their foot down with iTunes, Spotify, etc.
July 24, 2014 @ 12:57 pm
I don’t know, an infinitely reproducible digital copy of art is not valuable. Good distribution and organization of digital content is valuable, and that is what iTunes and Spotify and others provide.
The performance (the concert) is the actual art, and that is valuable, which is why people are willing to pay $$$ for a concert ticket. Demanding a bunch of money and control over a digital copy seems petty to me, but it is certainly within the rights of the artist.
July 24, 2014 @ 2:47 pm
Respectfully disagree with you putting iTunes in the Spotify bucket. As I understand it, and I’m certainly open to correction, a song played on radio means a royalty to the artist and the songwriter. A song or album purchased on iTunes or Amazon pays a real percentage to the artist only. A song or album streamed on Spotify pays a cent or fraction thereof to the artist… So that a song could be streamed a million times and the artist might make a couple thousand dollars.
I purchased my Isbell, Simpson, Luke Bell, Petunia, Clark, Pickler, Sisters, and First Aid Kit albums on iTunes precisely as to not screw the artists.
Tell me that wasn’t in vain?
(And it’s a shame the writers get screwed there, but you can’t tell me it isn’t easily solved by the artist giving the writer a piece of the iTunes purchased song/album.)
July 24, 2014 @ 2:59 pm
Yeah, I didn’t mean to put iTunes and Spotify in the same bucket, though I certainly understand how it can be taken that way. Obviously the payouts for the two formats are completely different, iTunes being much more favorable. My main point was that when artists release their music to these formats, it is iTunes and Spotify who call the shots, not the artist. Garth didn’t want people cherry picking his albums, because he released them to be cohesive expressions (or at least he says), and I don’t think that is an unreasonable request. If people could download the album only, he would have been on iTunes years ago. But iTunes was scared if they gave preferential treatment to an artist, other artists would demand it too. It should be the artist’s choice what they do with their art.
July 24, 2014 @ 3:04 pm
Agree with you on artists prerogative, and putting the foot down on singles purchases.
Glad also I had the basics right. I don’t want to have to go shopping for physical copies!
July 24, 2014 @ 12:00 pm
The last thing Garth Brooks needs at this point is to have his unprecedented comeback look more like a “Chinese Democracy” in the eyes of the press, and to be compared to Axl Rose.
The cancellation of the 7/7 announcement due to the cargo ship situation was understandable. But why did they delay the launch of the lead single this week? Were they afraid of competing directly with Jason Aldean?
Brooks would have vanquished Aldean in a digital single launch duel. I am absolutely confident of that. Yet, in demurring to perhaps September, it proves a glaring sign of weakness among Brook’s management.
July 24, 2014 @ 12:40 pm
I read this a couple times and am having trouble finding where Garth has not kept his word?
1. Ireland. He said 5 shows. They said 3. He said 5 or none. They said 3, he said none.
2. He said something will come out 7/7. Something did”¦a press conf. set for 7/10.
3. 7/10- press conf. happened.
4. The release of a new single seemed to be conjured up from other media outlets.
I think this is more a matter of media or sites like this trying to tear something down before they even know what is building. Standard in todays world, but seriously, Garth Brooks come back will be the biggest thing in country since….Garth Brooks in the 90’s.
July 24, 2014 @ 2:15 pm
Never said Garth didn’t “keep his word.”
“The release of a new single seemed to be conjured up from other media outlets.”
Not true. Program directors all across the country got word of the single release dates, and then RCA Nashville took out a specific, full-page ad out in Country Aircheck supporting the news that a single was going to be released LAST week.
Again, I don’t think we need to sound a red alarm here, but this behavior is quite curious.
July 25, 2014 @ 9:35 am
Yes RCA did put out the ad…. not GARTH… 😉
So as of now, Garth has not said anything that has not happened.
July 24, 2014 @ 12:57 pm
I don’t think anything Garth does will be compared with the Chinese Democracy debacle. For one thing, I bet he hasn’t been sitting on many if any of these tunes since he retired (he’s had too many box sets and compilations since then). Secondly, he’s not as much of a jerk or prude as Axl Rose is. Thirdly, one assumes that he may not necessarily go with the single retailer release format this time around. It seems like he’d want to open up his sales with all of the possible outlets so as to maintain the momentum. (However, that last point is highly debatable as he’s done so in the past and AC/DC did it very well in 2008 with Black Ice at Walmart, coincidentally the same year that Chinese Democracy was released by the Axl Rose Band exclusively to Best Buy stores).
July 24, 2014 @ 1:07 pm
If you set aside the ridiculous amount of time it took Axl to release Chinese Democracy, his incredible narcissism, mania, and a revolving lineup of players, it is actually a pretty good album with some good songs. The thing that killed it for fans was that if you even paid moderate attention to message boards, etc. you had heard every single song on the album years before it was released. I had clean tracks of nearly every song two years before the album came out. Rose and his management kept saying not to pay attention to the leaks because they were nothing like what the track was going to be like on the album. As it turned out, they were almost exactly like the tracks on the album.
July 24, 2014 @ 1:24 pm
For the record, I agree more than disagree here.
“Chinese Democracy” was at times a little uneven and the sequencing was a bit off, but the musicianship and passion put into many of the tracks was a big plus for me. If anything, it had more eclectic touch-ups than most standard commercial rock albums (I could hear influences of Brian Wilson and the Pixies buried in there among others).
Was it over the top? Well, absolutely! Was it superfluous at points? Duh! But, that’s the point. When it comes to rock and roll, grandiosity is almost always better than understatement. And he turned out an imperfect and superfluous, but nonetheless enjoyable and energetic effort, that is unfortunately overshadowed by the disastrous PR preceding and surrounding it.
July 24, 2014 @ 2:34 pm
I thought it was a bit overproduced, myself. Again, I can’t really give an opinion on it without bias for personal reasons, but that is something that struck me from the get-go. It seemed more pretentious than grandiose, both of which go hand-in-hand but are not the same. Grandiose implies that it succeeded at what it set out to do; many, many GNR fans would argue the direct opposite, and that has nothing to do with the PR storm. Recall, the album was mostly appraised with positive reviews from journalistic outlets but most fans were reviled by it.
July 24, 2014 @ 2:30 pm
I wasn’t speaking to the quality of the music, just Axl Rose’s well-documented personality excesses, the fact that he alienated every original member of the band and took fourteen years to issue an album with 50 minutes of music. As for the music itself, I didn’t think it was horrible but it sure as hell wasn’t anything to compare to Appetite For Destruction. It’s funny, because when you really think about it, for a band as popular and storied as GNR they only have one objectively good album; the rest come down to personal taste. As for Chinese Democracy itself, I’m unfortunately biased due to have listened to it mostly during an extremely difficult time in my life. As such, I can’t help but have those feelings resurface when I hear the music, so giving an honest opinion of it is not within my ability and likely never will be. I will say, though, that you are the first GNR fan I’ve ever (read: ever) talked to that doesn’t absolutely hate the album. While the leaked tracks are certainly an understandable reason for disappointment, from my end it seems to be more disappointment with the music itself than how it was ultimately made available.
The problem, I think, with this band is that after their debut and the following EP, Axl Rose started thinking the sleazy blues rock band he was fronting was a successor to the Beatles. None of the band’s “arty” material has been received with open arms by the entirety of their fanbase and save for a few singles almost none of it seems to click. With Chinese Democracy it was more of this misguided attempt at creating something “timeless” and it didn’t help matters that it took so long to get out. Also further compounding the situation is the fact that many fans harbor understandable bad blood against Rose for his treatment of the original band members, and I truly believe their presence on previous albums is what caused them to be better received than C.D., not quality. I can’t tell you how many Slash fans are only interested GNR’s output because he was in the band. I even had one person ask me if the man played on the new album and once I told him that Slash was absent, he completely lost interest to the point of telling me not to play any of the songs for him at any time. Ever. That’s some loyalty right there. And if you pay attention to, say, YouTube comments on songs like “November Rain,” most of them are simply about how awesome the guitar solo is, not how “great” a song it is.
July 24, 2014 @ 1:17 pm
I wasn’t intending the comparison from a personality or lack of settled material standpoint, but rather a botched planning and budgetary one.
Any way you skin this, these delays are embarrassing for someone of Brooks’ caliber. After all, Brooks is widely recognized as just as much a skilled businessman as he is a recording artist. Ask most listeners who are familiar enough with Guns ‘N Roses which ten nouns or adjectives best describe Axl Rose, and I certainly doubt “businessman” would be among them.
And, make no mistake: Brooks’ return to national, if not international, prominence will be one of the most expensive comebacks in history. If the descriptions of his live set design and the seventeen cargo ships required to assemble every detail are any indicator, this will quite certainly rank among the top five most expensive tours of all-time………..perhaps only trailing U2’s “360” tour. Obviously the “Chinese Democracy” comparison doesn’t hold water when it comes to the amount of time and money spent in recording sessions (most of Brooks’ sessions probably require no more than three cuts to put a song to tape)………..but when it comes to the accompanying tour, Brooks’ tour will blow that of Guns ‘N Roses (Axl Rose) out of the water in terms of expenses. And he has already lost at least several million right out of the gate with the cancelled Irish gigs.
July 24, 2014 @ 2:39 pm
“Ask most listeners who are familiar enough with Guns ”˜N Roses which ten nouns or adjectives best describe Axl Rose, and I certainly doubt “businessman” would be among them.”
This made me laugh 🙂 . If we’re being technical though, it would probably apply. I’m not sure how familiar you are with the band’s history, but he weaseled the rights to the band, it’s name and entire brand from all of the original members, relegating them to session musicians for hire. As such, he’s free to do what he wants with the GNR enterprise, as he has been doing for almost 20 years now. He never has to make another album or single live appearance again; having five band members’ cut of royalties is enough to guarantee that, much less when added to what he’s no doubt already amassed in his career. Call me crazy but that sounds like a pretty good business man to me, “good” being relative, of course. He’s nothing more than a snake in reality.
July 24, 2014 @ 2:52 pm
We can agree it’s hard to root for Rose when he often seems so arrogant and rude to his fans (i.e. perennially showing up on stage late, cancelling gigs abruptly after a few songs, etc.)
I for one don’t and have never liked jokes that aim at a person’s figure, but at least from what I’ve gathered Axl Rose has been getting most attention as of late for his weight gain (and all the fat joke memes that has inspired) and that vocal study than anything regarding his music. So where Axl Rose used to be regarded as more of a rock icon, he now seems to have been demoted in the eyes of the general public as a pop cultural punching bag.
July 24, 2014 @ 2:45 pm
As for Brooks, my theory is that he’s out-of-sync with his team. He strikes me as a bit of an idealist; notice how he favors those release dates based around sevens and the fact that he wanted all of his fans to be able to attend those Irish concerts, so he said all or none. I feel like he wants a lot of things at certain points that may not be feasible from a PR standpoint. For instance, if he wakes up tomorrow and wants to release a single next Monday, he might go tell the press that he plans to do so. Once he talks with the people that would actually handle that operation, however, he hits a roadblock. Again, that’s my theory and it may not be accurate. But it’s the only thing I can think of to apply to someone who has shown himself to be business savvy in the past. Heck, maybe he’s just rusty? He’s been out of the game so long that he may not be in the groove of how things work in the modern music industry.
July 25, 2014 @ 10:45 am
I have a different feeling about the Ireland concerts. I think he said all or none because he was certain they would be greedy enough for the revenue from 3 shows to cave. He lost a huge amount of goodwill in Ireland with that move. He could so easily have said I respect the residents concerns, thank you for giving me three, but I need to do two more – when can I do those. He would have had them in a nanosecond.
July 24, 2014 @ 12:25 pm
It’s all looking rather embarrassing on him.
Stay retired, it suits ya.
July 24, 2014 @ 2:59 pm
I think it’s smart to delay this until after Labor Day. Let the Summer/Beachin’ songs run their course, wait until vacations are over and people are back at work/kids at school, and then release a single that’ll grab everyone’s attention. An old saying in advertising and politics is to never release a product in the Summer…people just aren’t paying attention.
And maybe, being the smart business man and all,he acquiesced to smarter heads.
Shouldn’t be big deal unless we make it so.
July 24, 2014 @ 5:48 pm
I think the album is done , the song is done , the tour is booked and everything is in limbo while Garth gets down to his fighting weight . I think Garth and Vince Gill have been hitting too many drive-thru-s and Garth wants to be sure the harness can hold him this time around by staying out of Trisha’s kitchen and running a few laps before those earth-shattering press conferences . ( If I can’t do 5 shows I’m not doing ANY . I’m taking my ball and bat and going home. WTF …? No ego here )
July 25, 2014 @ 9:59 am
LMAO!! Actually Garth & Trisha have been LOSING WEIGHT for some time!
They have an Olympic size pool at their house in Oklahoma and using it constantly for weight loss. (along with Trisha’s healthy cooking.)
July 25, 2014 @ 6:57 pm
Well ….of course Garth would have an OLYMPIC-sized swimming pool .
July 24, 2014 @ 6:00 pm
I firmly believe he just didn’t want to conte pond with the Aldean stuff this week, OR RCA tried to get an every hour deal from clear channel and they said no.
July 24, 2014 @ 7:33 pm
I hope, whenever the new single is released, that it is more “Much Too Young”, “Two of a Kind” or “Wild Horses” country Garth and less “The Dance”, “Shameless”, “Standing Outside the Fire” arena-rock Garth. Garth’s new single, if written and produced to decidedly country, has a chance to stop the genre’s downward spiral. If it is just sappy, I want to save the world or arena-rock Garth, that will do absolutely nothing to help country music. Country music needs the return of country Garth Brooks, not the hat act that he became later in his career.
July 24, 2014 @ 7:56 pm
Hi, even though this item was some what negative towards Garth, I agree 100% with what you said. I think though once the tour starts and the new album is released, Garth fans including myself will be more happy with the album and tour. Its been 13 years, heres hoping the wait is worth it.
July 24, 2014 @ 8:22 pm
If Garth Brooks releases his single in September you that there will be a race between 2 country artists that will battle for the number one spot but however it is possible his new single could hit number 1 because the last time he hit number 1 on the country charts was when he released “More than a Memory” off his Ultimate hits album from 2007 and his second song “Workin’ for a Livin” ft. Huey Lewis hit the charts at 20 and “Midnight Sun” also peaked at number 20. Also it could be a cover, or new one, or even a duet with someone like Trisha Yearwood because or some new artist or classic artist. One thing for sure though, he will only sing with Trisha Yearwood because in his bio of facts he said if he wants to record a duet love song it will be with her only unlike some females like Taylor Swift. In an interview Taylor said she’d like to sing a song with him but it’s doubtful but if it was something like Garth and Trisha singing and Taylor playing guitar or some instrument she will still do it
July 24, 2014 @ 11:35 pm
“In an interview Taylor said she”™d like to sing a song with him”
Now THAT would be a song that I would be truly excited about!
July 25, 2014 @ 11:19 am
It would be really cool and if that would happen and also he would have a crossover for the first time in ages since his big major hits like “Friend in Low Places” & “Ain’t Going down (’til the sun Comes up)” but come to think of it I think you’re right that is a 100% chance of that happening but we’ll just have to wait and find out and see
July 24, 2014 @ 9:44 pm
No matter the delays and glitches in the business manner of things, and all the rumblings that go with it,
I reckon, THE MUSIC will speak for itself , and me too !!
July 24, 2014 @ 10:18 pm
Say what? How did TayTay get mixed up with Garth’s comeback.
July 25, 2014 @ 11:23 am
Oh I was researching on Garth Brooks one night and researching Taylor Swift so in other words I saw a fact about Taylor Swift mentioning Garth if that helps out.
July 24, 2014 @ 10:55 pm
The delays are unfortunate. But once he gets everything together; the single out, tour booked, etc. No one will remember or care.
July 25, 2014 @ 12:14 am
The starts and stops are surprising and out of character, considering how well put together his career was back in the 1990s. I’m still cautiously optimistic that he’ll get the act together.
It could be worse. Shania’s “comeback” attempt has had many more starts and stops (thank goodness).
July 25, 2014 @ 5:12 am
She is nothing without Mutt. Here is hoping she doesn’t pull out all the stops!
July 25, 2014 @ 11:19 pm
Adrian, I’m just curious about what you think about this Shania song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2k-gv6xNE
Personally, I do not like it that much, but I do think that it is much more country than today’s mainstream country.
July 27, 2014 @ 11:11 am
Eric, I’ve heard “Any Man of Mine” many times before and I don’t care for it at all. The instrumentation is more country influenced than today’s pop country, but the theme and subject matter are not. I find marketing driven songs that push the gender button to be very annoying. Unfortunately, gender identity politics is a very effective way for female singers to build huge fan bases and sell millions of albums (I’d say Madonna, Shania, and Taylor are the biggest examples of this).
The typical playbook for using country music as a stepping stone to pop is to start out by recording songs that fit sonically into the mainstream of country radio at the time, then quickly shift in a pop direction once an artist has a commercial breakthrough album. The mainstream of country radio was much more country when Shania released “The Woman in Me” in 1995, than when Taylor released her first album, so the fiddle in “Any Man of Mine” reflected that. The song also has unmistakable rock influences that sound like precursors to much of today’s country rock. I thought “No One Needs to Know” was her least pop influenced song, among her major radio hits.
July 25, 2014 @ 10:29 am
5 shows in Chicago and they are adding more – looks like it will be 8.
July 25, 2014 @ 10:54 am
Nope…it’s 10 shows in Chicago.
July 25, 2014 @ 10:56 am
…and he’s doing 5 shows in 3 days, something he refused to do in Ireland. Evening not matinee, but still not cool.
July 25, 2014 @ 1:05 pm
I would think that selling 10 shows on the first go is a very good sign that he’s back in a big way. he did an interview this am on the Chicago station and basically said the Ireland debacle threw a spanner in the time line. I’m content to wait for new music.
July 25, 2014 @ 4:05 pm
I’m not overly concerned. After a 13-year break, I’m not surprised there’s a few snags along the way. Things will progress and move more smoothly.
July 26, 2014 @ 5:47 am
Folks are looking for any snag in this to be naysayers. Sold out 10 shows in one city and the tour will be 3 years long. I’m sure it will work itself out and fans will be there chomping at the bit whenever his digital store is up and running.
Garth BrooksThe Ticket Hog Blog
August 13, 2014 @ 11:05 am
[…] in Ireland to the constant pushing back of his new single. Â But, like the article that I read here, by Trigger, I believe Garth Brooks will land on his feet because he will deliver and sell out […]
September 4, 2014 @ 8:42 am
Yep, things are not the same as they were when Garth left. Seems the g team is playing catch up a bit. I suspect that will change.