The Saving Country Music 2023 Album of the Year

To see the full nominees for Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year, CLICK HERE. To see the more expansive Essential Albums List, CLICK HERE.
2023 is one of those years when the competition for Album of the Year is so fierce, the only fair way to adjudicate the matter is to count down the top contenders, all of whom could have won it outright on another year.
4. Amanda Fields – What, When and Without

Devastating you with slow waltz-timed songs exquisitely produced and written, carried forward on conscientious and deliberate instrumentation, and delicately but confidently delivered by the immediately mesmerizing voice of Amanda Fields, all of this conspires to make What, When and Without feel immediately essential.
It leaves little or nothing to scrutinize. Every note feels so carefully and correctly placed, and intentional. Even if it may not appeal to your sensibilities, it’s hard to not appreciate what has been accomplished here. What, When and Without is also one of those releases that runs the risk of getting lost in the shuffle of the crush of new music these days. But for those that happen upon it and open their hearts to it, they’ll be more than happy with what they have found. (read review)
3. Charles Wesley Godwin – Family Ties

Charles Wesley Godwin already won the Saving Country Music Album of the Year for his 2021 release How The Might Fall. Coming in 3rd here is less a commentary on Family Ties, and more a commentary on the competition he faced this year. No doubt, the album remains a landmark release, and it’s likely Godwin will be besting most or all competition every time he releases an album for years to come barring some unforeseen stumble. He’s one of the top singers and songwriters of our time.
Brilliantly written, lovingly produced, and passionately performed, Family Ties is a testament to the ties that bind one to this world. This overarching theme is established in the title track where Godwin conveys both a weight of obligation, and a devout sense of purpose to be right by his family in his words and his deeds every day.
In a time when it seems like everyone wants to tear at the fabric of society and bulldoze everything established in favor of some new version of life, Godwin makes a simple plea for stability and family, which in this moment might be one of the most radical proclamations one can forward. (read review)
2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes

Weathervanes is unquestionably the Americana Album of the Year, and perhaps the Rock Album of the Year as well. It will also go down as not only one of the best albums of 2023 irrespective of genre, but one of the best albums of the decade. It has reestablished Jason Isbell as a dominant force in American songwriting.
But this is the Saving COUNTRY Music Album of the Year, not the Americana one. And though Song of the Year that Jason Isbell won for “King of Oklahoma” takes genre into consideration secondary to the writing, Album of the Year does not. That doesn’t mean an Americana album couldn’t win. But in a year when you have another incredible entry to contend with, the push goes to the country title. (read review)
Saving Country Music’s 2023 Album of the Year
Gabe Lee – Drink The River

For the Gabe Lee initiates who climbed on board after the release of his 2019 debut album farmland or shortly thereafter, deserved recognition commensurate with his incredible talent has been a long time coming.
There may not be a more glaring example of the inequities prevalent in the country music industry than the overlooking of Gabe Lee. Why this guy wasn’t getting gobbled up by the talent buyers of every independent festival around the country, and on the tip of everyone’s tongue as one of the best and most talented of our era feels like a borderline scandal. In fairness though, quite a few critics have been caterwauling about him for quite some time.
For Gabe Lee to finally break out, he’d have to do the impossible. He’d have to stand on his head, or drink the river. And so that’s what he did, releasing an album that is so undeniably spectacular and resonant, no force of nature could hold it back. Now even Barack Obama is touting Gabe on his yearly playlist.
Drink The River is a shiver-inducing, spectacularly sung and written tour de force that substantiates all your suspicions that this Nashville native is a signature songwriter of this generation. It’s a rare feeling you get when you stumble upon a songwriter that makes you feel things from music that you thought had long since gone dormant after your days of adolescence and young adulthood—a songwriter that is singular in their perspective during an era when it feels like everything sounds the same and it’s all been said.
Drink The River is flattered by the production and arrangement brought to bear with it, and it might be Gabe’s best musical accompaniment yet. It is distinctly a country and acoustic album, inspired by bluegrass for sure, but also with appearances by steel guitar, and more refined where the song is always the center of attention.
Little did we know that Lee still had more headroom to grow as a songwriter, and more soul to uncover through his arresting voice. The refinement evidenced in these compositions, the further exploration and application of melody, along with singing the bloody hell out of these songs results in something of a stature that not even many Gabe Lee advocates were anticipating.
Gabe Lee is one of those songwriters, and Drink The River is one of those albums where you want to shout to the rooftops and tell the world about it because of the richness to be found, and the value to be gained. You know damn well that only some will listen to you, no matter how emphatic you are, because that’s the way life and art work.
But when you find something magnificent, you want to share it, because listening to Gabe Lee makes you appreciate all of life more. It makes you want to be a better person, to yourself and others. That is what the music of Gabe Lee brings out in you, transcending the mere value of art and entertainment. And today, that is too rare to take lightly.
January 2, 2024 @ 11:28 am
Great album from a lovely person. Couldn’t have picked better.
January 2, 2024 @ 11:32 am
This was the right pick, straight money from top to bottom. Congratulations Mr. Gabe Lee!
January 2, 2024 @ 11:35 am
100% agree, its an amazing album.
And no gimmicks, just top quality writing through to top quality production. It totally should be a viral success.
January 2, 2024 @ 11:47 am
Great choice. I think all of his albums merit the kind of attention Drink the River is getting, and I’m glad to see it’s finally happening with this one.
January 2, 2024 @ 11:57 am
So much music, so little time. That’s the good thing about the slow new release schedule in January and February, I can revisit Drink The River and What, When and Without and give them some more deserved spins.
That miserable, jealous peach, Jo Marie, from @the_amp_music recently took to social media to start the hashtag #NOTSAVINGANYTHING to disclaim Trig’s ability to break artists (“Stop letting Kyle convince you that he breaks out artists”).
I look at my top 20 albums from this year (and yours) and over half the albums come directly from Trig’s reviews. The ground swell of Joe Stamm Band fans in the comment sections this year was a direct response to Trig’s work and I’ve read probably 50 year end lists and haven’t seen Gabe Lee or Amanda Fields on any.
Trig breaks artists and was saving country music long before it was en vogue to write about independent country artists and champion their success.
Trig was country when country wasn’t cool.
My top 20 Albums of 2023:
1. Dark Black Coal – Logan Halstead
2. True Stories and Flat Out Lies – Tim Goodin
3. Rustin’ in the Rain – Tyler Childers
4. Long Hill to Climb – Wolfpen Branch
5. Family Ties – Charles Wesley Godwin
6. Zach Bryan – Zach Bryan
7. Mighty Poplar – Mighty Poplar
8. On Your Time – The Steel Woods
9. The Crumbs – Tony Logue
10. Fallacies and Four-Letter Words – Ritch Henderson
11. Wild Man – Joe Stamm Band
12. Life Lessons – Wyatt Flores
13. No God in Juarez – Dallas Moore
14. Higher – Chris Stapleton
15. Western White Pines – Colby Acuff
16. Altitude – Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
17. Stray Dogs & Homegrown Calamities – Erik Dylan
18. I Don’t Know a Thing About Love – Willie Nelson
19. Weathervanes – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
20. A Cat in The Rain – Turnpike Troubadours
January 2, 2024 @ 1:14 pm
Nice list (for the Sausage Fest)!!
January 2, 2024 @ 1:33 pm
I know. I took to 25 albums which would have included Bella White and Mamma Coal, but thought it was disingenuous to change the rules just to include a female artist.
Growing up, female country artists out numbered male country artists in my cassette cases 3 to 1. It a Patty Loveless, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Reba, Kathy Mattea, Kelly Willis, Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood to every George Strait and Alan Jackson. But, it’s been trending the opposite way for a decade. I think overall for whatever reason it was a really down year for female country artists. Hopefully, a Pistol Annies album in 2024 will reverse the trend.
January 2, 2024 @ 8:24 pm
I was literally coming here to say something about a sausage fest!
January 3, 2024 @ 5:28 am
The sausage fest comments are so petty and trite. The person likes what they like. Someone is supposed to change a list or what music they enjoyed most to meet some quota? Absolutely absurd.
January 2, 2024 @ 1:29 pm
Not really into women I see.
January 2, 2024 @ 1:39 pm
I’m in to woman country artists and like I responded to Happy Dan, if i took my list to 25, it would have included Bella White and Mamma Coal, but I cut it off at 20.
I’ll give Amanda Fields more spins this week.
January 2, 2024 @ 1:41 pm
Wow. What does that person who started that anti-SCM hashtag think he or she will gain from this sort of act? Feels like someone is carrying a very negative, petty attitude and needs to have a look at themselves and go try to find some balance.
I’m not going to reward that negativity by looking anything that links to it up.
I am more of an Indie/Alternative music fan than a Country fan, but I do enjoy many artists a ton. I landed here sometime round 2014 after I had first heard Sturgill and this was the site I was led to when I tried to find out more. I have since been introduced to dozens of artists I cherish and I recheck regularly, so every year a few new faves are added to the list. I can say that my record collection / hard drive would be missing a significant chunk without this website’s input.
So – Thanks Kyle! May you have a great 2024.
Btw my fave 2023 record, as an Indie nerd, is Grian Chattan’s solo album “Chaos For The Fly”. He’s the singer in Fontaines DC, who in my opinion have been the best band of the last decade. Not Country at all though.
The EP by Brigitte Calls Me Baby (produced by Dave Cobb, so there is some Country connection here if you will) is flawless from start to finish and would be my number one, but since it’s only five tracks, well, it’s not an album.
January 2, 2024 @ 2:21 pm
Ever since I started Saving Country Music, there has been a cottage industry of folks who’ve attempted to use my name to nab attention for themselves, especially due to how social media algorithms reward negativity. Often it is folks who are not working professionally as journalists or bloggers, but want to, and somehow feel like the attention I garner is unworthy.
I do not know who Jo Marie is, but I feel like if we’re here to help support independent artists, attacking each other and other outlets that are supporting independent artists is not the way to do that. Let’s focus our energies on supporting the music. Sometimes I disagree with the opinions of other outlets and voice that. But anyone else who is supporting independent music, I’m not here to get in their way.
Also, “Breaking artists” is not really something that I brag about or anything. I don’t know that I’ve mentioned that I “break artists” at any time in 2023. Have I broken some artists? Sure. Sturgill Simpson and his manager Marc Dottre are on record saying that I helped break Sturgill Simpson. I probably have helped to break a dozen or more artists that may have not had careers without my support.
But there are also artists that I have touted heavily that I feel are still not getting the attention and support they deserve, most notably Gabe Lee, but also Mike and the Moonpies and others. If there was a magic wand I could wave to make them superstars, I would have already done that.
Breaking an artist takes so many complex and nuanced variables, and nobody knows the formula. The media can play a big role, and a smartly placed review or feature can sometimes light the spark. But sometimes the media isn’t involved at all. We’re all just trying to do what we can to steer folks in the right direction. Sometimes it’s effective, sometimes it results in a huge break, and sometimes it passes like a fart in the wind. You just get up the next day, and try to make a difference in a career that deserves it.
January 2, 2024 @ 11:58 am
I saw Gabe Lee at two tiny venues near me this year. One was a devoted performance space and the other was a bar. And the audience was mostly people with, “nothing better to do”. I live in the Bay Area of CA and we have a country crowd but they were not at his shows.
I am so rarely been to a live show where you can feel a performer gentle grab an audience from the first song and have them won over by the second song. People dropped their chatter and tuned in.
Also this was the show were I really took in what it means to “do the road”. I was doing the math with ticket prices around $20 the venues cut, then split between band members, plus their van being broken into on the first night…
I mean they made enough money to MAYBE get to the next gig and get the next meal. It was sobering to see. Taylor Swift NEVER had to work these kinds of rooms or do this kind of touring. And really emphasized what it means to, “live for the music”.
I gained a new respect for any musician hustling such circuits trying to eek out a living in music.
January 2, 2024 @ 12:09 pm
Excellent choice, the album is great top to bottom and definitely my highlight of last year. His other albums are up there with ‘Drink the River’ in terms of quality as well, great to see he’s getting the attention he deserves
January 2, 2024 @ 12:11 pm
I have a feeling Family Ties would be your #1 if Cue Country Roads wasn’t on the album
January 2, 2024 @ 2:23 pm
Ha!
Think that song is a little silly, but it’s not a bad enough apple to spoil the bunch. It just was a really strong year for nominees. Everyone mentioned here probably should have won it. But only one could.
January 3, 2024 @ 7:42 am
I get the sense that Cue Country Roads was made solely for WVU gameday/hype videos. Probably better as a standalone release, but for what it is…I’ve heard far worse!
January 3, 2024 @ 10:46 am
It absolutely was, and I like it. I was just joking because I remember what Trigger said about it in the album review
January 3, 2024 @ 10:49 am
Saw Godwin and his band live not too long ago and they launched with “Cue Country Roads”. Not the way I expected the show to start but it rocked hard and got everybody hyped. Set the tone for the whole show which was absolutely stellar – one of the best I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot.
Godwin heavily leans mellow/serious on his albums, which doesn’t always make for an engaging live performance. I think it suits Godwin well to have a bunch of these kinds of fist-pumping bangers, however “corny” some think they are, in his repertoire.
January 2, 2024 @ 12:33 pm
I’m old scholl. Listen to an album from beginning to end almost all the time if I can. And Drink the River is the best album for sure that was released last year that fulfills that for me. And curious about something. Do you ever include live albums on the essential albums list? Cause if you do the Nicholas Jamerson album should have been on there. Have always liked his studio stuff but this album just takes it to another level. Kind of reminds me of back in the day and J Geils. Early studio stuff was good but then they released Blow your Face out and the whole game changed. Kind of hoping this album does that for him while knowing of course it probably won’t.
January 2, 2024 @ 2:25 pm
There are a couple of live albums on the Essential Albums list this year from Joshua Ray Walker and Mike and the Moonpies. Live albums can be hard to resonate with original ones, but a good one can really stand out. Just now seeing the Nicholas Jamerson one. I’ll check it out.
January 2, 2024 @ 12:46 pm
Couldn’t agree with this one more. Gabe deserves everything he has coming to him.
January 2, 2024 @ 1:52 pm
I like Gabe Lee. Love his voice. Country, yes. A bit of folk. Nice sound!
January 2, 2024 @ 2:02 pm
Glad to see Gabe getting the attention he deserves. “Drink the River” and The Pink Stones “You Know Who” are my co-albums of the year in the country realm.
Other top favorites:
Esther Rose “Safe to Run”
Benjamin Dakota Rogers’ ‘Paint Horse’
Amanda Fields “What, When and Without”
Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives “Altitude”
Non – Country Albums
Sleep Token “ Take Me Back to Eden”
Lucero “ Should’ve Learned by Now”
Spidergawd “VII”
Metal Albums
Enforced “War Remains” The new Slayer
Sulfuric Hatred “Sulfuric Hatred” Debut album; brutal
Megaton Sword “Might & Power” Epic trad metal from Switzerland
Wayfarer “American Gothic” Old West themed blackened metal – awesome!
January 2, 2024 @ 2:32 pm
Forgot to add Margo Cilker! “Valley Of Heart’s Delight” was probably my third favorite country record of 23!
January 2, 2024 @ 6:04 pm
LONG LIVE LUCERO
January 2, 2024 @ 10:27 pm
I just discovered Take Me Back to Eden. A truly remarkable album.
My favorite metal record of 2023 is probably Anno 1696 (Insomnium). 2023 was a melodeath kind of year. Hell, even Trivium dropped a killer cover of “Implore the Darken Sky.”
January 3, 2024 @ 9:13 am
Right on. ????
January 2, 2024 @ 2:07 pm
For me it was between Gabe Lee and Brent Cobb so no complaints here!
January 2, 2024 @ 2:13 pm
That was the right choice. It was the best record of the year in my opinion, without question. And yeah he is a hell of a nice guy too. Well deserved.
January 2, 2024 @ 2:34 pm
My choice was the Marty Stuart album Altitude, but can’t argue with this pick.
January 2, 2024 @ 2:46 pm
HELL YEAH GABEY BOY!
jpr
January 2, 2024 @ 2:47 pm
Off-topic slightly, but what about cover song of the year?
Mine would be ‘The Jealous Kind’ by CWG and Evangelina by Colter Wall.
January 2, 2024 @ 3:18 pm
Yes, but no one beats Hoyt.
January 3, 2024 @ 7:39 am
My top two would have to be:
“Three Marlenas” – Mike and the Moonpies
“Miss Ater” – Brent Cobb
January 3, 2024 @ 9:23 am
Miss Ater is so good
January 2, 2024 @ 3:15 pm
I knew “it” was a “long shot”, but it would “have” been nice “to” see Chris Stapleton’s “new” album.
January 2, 2024 @ 3:28 pm
Love the choice! Learned of Gabe several years ago thanks to SCM.
Not that anyone cares but these are a few that I listened to a lot, which is not exactly the same as the best: Cat In the Rain (Turnpike), Valley of Hearts Delight (Margo Cilker),, The Crumbs (Tony Logue), Twenty on High (Drayton Farley), Family Ties (CWG), Weathervanes (Isbell), Among Other Things (Bella White), My Kind of Country (Jesse Daniel) and Rustin In the Rain (Childers).
My non-country delight was Tim (Let It Be Edition) by the Replacements. Their crazy, drunken shows, their appearance on Saturday Night Live (and then getting banned from ever appearing again) and Paul Westerberg’s great song writing got me through much of the 80’s and early 90’s. Every show I saw was memorable. The Bastards of the Young MTV video was iconic by just showing a pulsating speaker as a way to push against their label making them do a video. Not too many bands have a song about them (By Tommy Womack), a movie (Color Me Obsessed), and multitude of books. (Sorry for this side trip.)
Cheers to a great 2024!
January 2, 2024 @ 4:01 pm
Nailed all 3 year end choices, IMO.
Gabe’s last two releases have been undeniable. Absolutely nothing better than falling down a Gabe Lee rabbit hole on a Sunday morning with breakfast on the stove and coffee brewing. Had a lot of those mornings in 2023. While a little on the short side, it still manages to feel about perfect in runtime, and contains one of the best Skynyrd covers I’ve ever heard.
Between “deserving it” and someone who needs the extra signal boost, you really couldn’t have chosen a better album or artist this year.
January 2, 2024 @ 4:19 pm
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never listened to Gabe Lee.
Excuse me while I go listen to every song he has on Spotify and pretend like I’ve been “in the know” the entire time.
CWG’s album was the top pick for me, so Gabe should really be something special.
Thanks for all you do, Trig!
Cheers to another year of Saving Country Music.
January 2, 2024 @ 8:21 pm
This is a fantastic album, and it’s hard to argue with this pick. Also, it’s nice to see recognition going to a guy who deserves it and doesn’t get enough of it. That said, it feels like Marty Stuart has been screwed over twice, by virtue of releasing albums in years where there were so many other great ones. I think both Way out West and Altitude could have won AOTY in most any other year. He’s supposed to have another album to go with Way out West and Altitude; maybe the third time will be the charm.
P.S. I am glad that Isbell did not win; Weathervanes has enough recognition as it is and is not the country Album of the Year. He absolutely deserved to win Song of the Year, though, excellent choice there!
January 2, 2024 @ 8:47 pm
Agree 100%.
I’m curious to know how his run of shows went in Sweden.
January 3, 2024 @ 12:40 pm
RJay,
I manage and produce Gabe. Plus he’s on our label, Torrez Music Group.
I occasionally travel with him and was lucky to be able to tag along on the entire run of the Swedish Tour and can report that we had an excellent time getting to know that true music lovers of the country. We did 13 shows in 17 days and the fine folks of Rootsy Music that we partnered with to put the run together made it easy for us.
The folks came to the shows (most were packed or sold out) and supported Gabe by buying up all of the CDs and Vinyl Records we were able to take across the pond.
It was our first time going to Sweden and we can honestly say with passion that it won’t be the last. We had a blast and we’re already planning a return visit.
p.s. – we never figured out their parking app systems. So we have several parking tickets that remain unpaid. I promise we tried!! So I hope we don’t end up in jail there on our return. 🙂
Thanks for supporting Gabe but also for supporting indie music!
Alex Torrez
Torrez Music Group
January 3, 2024 @ 1:18 pm
The Swedish music culture is intense. The amount of great bands to come out of that country is incredible. I was lucky enough to see In Solitude before they broke up, and seeing Hallas in a small music venue recently on their first east coast tour was a dream come true.
January 4, 2024 @ 8:01 am
Wow, Alex thanks for that interesting info. So what you’re telling us, if I’m hearing you correctly, is that many of our beloved independent artists here that have a tough time drawing 30-100 people outside of their home market can do solid business across the pond? Only if they have the whole promoter/tour itinerary thing dialed in? Like Bear said above, and I’m sure we’re not the only ones that go to a show of one of our favorites and run the numbers in our head, seeing no way to possibly break even on the road across the states. If you don’t mind me asking, I’m curious as to what size venues he was booked in?
January 4, 2024 @ 12:48 pm
I hope to see Gabe Lee in Colorado sometime in 2024!
January 3, 2024 @ 3:01 am
Excellent choice. It’s also my aoty in a very competitive year. Congrats!
January 3, 2024 @ 5:25 am
Beautiful album. Great selection.
January 3, 2024 @ 6:32 am
Really well deserving award.
January 3, 2024 @ 6:46 am
every so often the wife and I will have a Sunday morning brunch party at our house. I put his music on in the background to create ambiance. He makes good music for that, or if I need to unwind on my drive home from a stressful day at work. it’s not life changing, but it’s good music. not album of the year good, but good.
January 3, 2024 @ 7:05 am
Drink The River wouldn’t be my personal choice for the top album of 2023. I thought Hometown Kid was a better album and deserving last year though. That said, I did enjoy this album and gave it several spins, and Gabe Lee is deserving of the attention this will bring him.
Congratulations to Gabe.
January 3, 2024 @ 7:20 am
Good list, all deserving to be on it. I understand why Gabe Lee hasn’t blown up though. Drink the River is as well-written as any album in 2023, but there aren’t any real standouts to me. It just kind of…meanders along.
I’m a little surprised not to see any mentions of The Golden Crystal Kingdom. Could be due to a later release, or maybe it’s my own personal taste, but it was easily my favorite album of the year.
January 3, 2024 @ 7:53 am
Drink the River was as good a choice as any in a year with plenty of solid music, but no true standouts. Brent Cobb’s Southern Star would probably be my top choice.
The album that I spun the most this year was from a new-to-me artist, Nat Myers, who opened for Vincent Neil Emerson and blew the crowd away with some incredible old-style country blues. Absolutely worth seeking out, with exceptional energy and vocals.
January 3, 2024 @ 8:10 am
Nat myers. Wow. Thanks for the suggestion.
January 3, 2024 @ 8:07 am
In past years, the comment section typically argue over your pick right Trig? This year seems unanimously in support of your choice.
January 3, 2024 @ 8:57 am
…different opinions make a market.
January 3, 2024 @ 9:00 am
This year all my end-of-year picks pretty much fell in line with what people were voting for in the comments. That was the case for Single of the Year and Song of the Year. Album of the Year was pretty much neck and neck with “Weathervanes,” but Gabe was definitely one of the top vote getters. This is a decision that I try to allow readers to weigh upon too. On Facebook there’s a bunch of folks screaming that the Turnpike Troubadours got screwed, but that album received a lot of mixed reviews and wasn’t even officially nominated.
January 3, 2024 @ 10:18 pm
Turnpike is my favorite, and I have nothing invested in Gabe Lee, but his album was better IMO. I saw he’s playing on ACL soon. I hope between this and that performance, he has his breakout soon.
January 3, 2024 @ 10:31 am
And yet in past years I have pretty much completely agreed with Trigger, but this time I’m scratching my head. There does seem to be a consensus in the comment section, which makes it a little creepy. It seems some of the more dissenting voices have bowed out at this point….
January 3, 2024 @ 11:16 pm
I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s more a symptom of Gabe Lee not being an especially polarizing performer like some many of this era’s top performers are. Folks that come around here really like him, and the ones who don’t, they don’t really have a negative feeling about him. They may just not connect with his music.
January 4, 2024 @ 7:01 am
Completely agree, Trigger. Loved this album. Most spins of the year.
January 4, 2024 @ 9:01 am
I was referring to all the best of picks this year, but failed to clarity that. Agree about Gabe as a person, seems like a good guy. AOTY though…
January 3, 2024 @ 8:55 am
…fun fact, a year ago the swiss singer/songwriter bob spring, dropped gabe lee’s name at his “acoustic nights” gig back then, even though it came out a little backhanded – a great artist that doesn’t get the attention deserved (either) – it was meant well as could be. guess, things have changed for gabe lee since then a little. nice straight forward shoutout for him this time here at scm. fine selection overall with a somewhat surprising – but not undeserved – winner. this amanda fields album is such a gem, isn’t it.
January 3, 2024 @ 9:01 am
It’s too late for this year’s lists, but I do humbly hope you’ll give Dori Freeman’s latest a spotlight soon. First heard of her at this website and I think her latest is her best which is saying something!
January 4, 2024 @ 9:34 am
JB,
This here what you wrote is key!
{Only if they have the whole promoter/tour itinerary thing dialed in}
I guess its possible to go over and try it out on your own but that’s probably a bigger risk money wise than doing here in the states. Also please understand that we started working on this 3 week run starting about 8-10 months out. There’s a lot of work that goes into setting up a run like we did.
Most of that falls on the promoter but we still have to get ready to go over and be ready to not just put on a great show but also be prepared for what comes along especially with hauling CDs and Vinyls across.
These items become very heavy in bulk so we were limited with what we could take over which ultimately cut into our profits. I’m not even bringing up marketing and promotion! That’s another conversation.
Most venues that we hit were 75 -100 cap rooms.
The expense for Gabe was air travel, food, rental car and some lodging.
We were lucky that some folks allowed us to stay overnight at no cost to us.
At the end of the run Gabe probably broke even on the actual tour run after expenses but he profited from his merch enough for it to make sense.
I covered my own cost. I went over for the experience but also to help with driving between gigs, setting up and selling merch plus also doing boots on the ground marketing & networking for us to learn from by just asking fans how they heard of Gabe and his music and how we as a label-management company can make that search easier for them. At TMG it’s basically all hands on deck. We’re a 2 person operation so We step in and help where ever we are needed. No egos here.
The real trick is going back consistently. Gabe and I really feel like we made some great friends and new fans and could go back several more times and do it on a consistent level to ultimately create profitable runs for him in the future.
Gabe said it best recently. He said isn’t it crazy how one night I’m playing the sold out Grand Ole Opry on the same night I made The Obama Best Music List and the next night I’m singing for 20 folks.
The bottom line I guess for all of us at this level is that every night can be a crap shoot. Some nights we profit, some nights we break even and some nights we lose money. It’s not easy and it’s not for everyone.
It’s a grind…and we won’t be stopping anytime soon.
I hope this helps your curiosity.
Cheers!
A.T.
January 4, 2024 @ 11:42 am
Appreciate you stopping by and lifting the curtain like that for us, Alex. Great insight to part of the business that most never get to see.
Cheers to the continued climb in 2024!
January 4, 2024 @ 7:37 pm
Thanks Alex, excellent answer! Gabe is a lucky man to have you and your team and congrats to both of you!
January 9, 2024 @ 9:18 am
I’m too old to buy merchandise and have gone all digital with music. I wish Gabe had a place on his website to donate funds to support his career.
Trigger reviewed an album from Daniel Donato recently. Since I wanted to support his career I checked his website and they had a donate link which I was able to utilize.
Please consider doing this.
January 11, 2024 @ 3:25 pm
That’s a great idea and I know for a fact that many of our favorites are leaving money on the table because of no donation link. At 63, I’ll never be too old to buy a T-shirt even though some I just wear knockin around the house and others I wear proudly for support.
January 5, 2024 @ 9:22 pm
Solid work. He reminds me of Paul Simon.