This is The Reaction You Make When …

When you’re listening to a country song and a snap track kicks in.
When you’re listening to a country song and the singer starts rapping.
When somebody tells you Dan + Shay is their favorite country act.
When a chick or dude that you’re really really into tells you they’re a massive Sam Hunt fan.
When somebody says “Turnpike who?”
When a cover band breaks into “Wagon Wheel.”
When you’re speed walking through the grocery store because your significant other forgot one stupid thing you absolutely need for your holiday weekend boat party, and you hear that shitty Walker Hayes Applebee’s song come on the store’s speakers.
You’re browsing through one of the most badass country music festival lineups you’ve ever seen, and then you see Diplo’s name.
Someone tells you Florida Georgia Line’s getting back together.
When you hear that Dustin Lynch is a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
When you realize Clint Black and Dwight Yoakam aren’t in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
When you’re just trying to take a squirt at a Morgan Wallen concert, and a cat fight comes to your port-o-john.
PORTA POTTY WAR pic.twitter.com/LcjRrDaPXv
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 31, 2023
September 3, 2023 @ 7:41 am
When SCM shuts down the comments section…
September 3, 2023 @ 10:56 am
When you’re fragile, read a “problematic” comment, and you can’t convince Trig to memory hole it.
September 3, 2023 @ 6:27 pm
The look when people actually talk about country music on a country music site.
September 3, 2023 @ 8:01 am
Dan + Shay are good, actually
September 3, 2023 @ 12:53 pm
Are you sure you’re on the right website?
September 3, 2023 @ 10:36 pm
They are now releasing real country music.
Check out their newest releases. New album out in 2 weeks.
Trig will have positive things to say about it , im sure
September 4, 2023 @ 5:44 am
I listened to a couple of tracks. One — “Always Gonna Be” — sounds a lot better than anything I’ve ever heard from them. It’s even got a dobro on it! Unfortunately, the other one, “Save Me the Trouble,” is the one sent to radio. It’s tolerable radio fluff, as opposed to their usual intolerable radio fluff.
All this doesn’t make them “good, actually,” at least not as performers of country music as we know it. But at least I now know they have the potential of getting something on country radio that won’t get me pushing the preset buttons.
September 6, 2023 @ 5:21 am
You’ve been hit on the head.
September 3, 2023 @ 8:37 am
FGL is getting back together? I hope not!
September 3, 2023 @ 9:24 am
When someone tells me I can’t be both a liberal (or even a Democrat) and a fan of real country music.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:29 pm
When Isbell says there are no good conservative songwriters
September 4, 2023 @ 3:25 pm
Oh the conversation I have had as a queer about liking country music and being in a liberal bastion.
On the plus side anytime I ever engage in this conversation 100% I end up proving the other party does in fact like country music, and quite a bit of it. I start with Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Dwight Yoakum and go from there… NEVER FAILS.
Just goes to show people are so stuck in the preconceived notions in their head they don’t take a moment to breathe and think.
September 3, 2023 @ 9:35 am
I actually don’t mind hick-hop, but I don’t consider it country music. I have both Cowboy Troy and Colt Ford in my music collection, but they’re in the rap section, not the country section.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:06 am
This. I actually think there’s a place for country rap, the problem is and has always been that a lot of those performers try to call it “country music” with no other qualifiers. Cowboy Troy has always called his stuff Hick Hop, to my knowledge, and I want to say he owns the trademark for the name (if my memory is correct). He came in through the country music door and tried to play the game, but he also tried to do it his own way and carve out his own niche. He doesn’t get any respect or credit because his version of “bucking the establishment” was the opposite of what traditionalists want, even though his music has always been less mainstream than even stuff like Sturgill and Colter Wall. To be fair to people who dislike his music, a lot of it is kinda weird and dissonant, so I’m not saying he’s some sort of genius. Myself, I probably like only a handful of country songs with rap in them, so it’s very much not in my wheelhouse. But he does his own thing and is honest about it, which he doesn’t get any credit for. Meanwhile, a lot of independent country acts who are basically just tribute bands to days gone by get all the praise for being “brave” and “progressive” and “sticking it to the major labels.”
September 4, 2023 @ 5:53 pm
“Rap” is NOT “music,” It does NOT fit the definition of such.
September 4, 2023 @ 11:07 pm
Yes, and your “opinions” are NOT “facts,” they don’t fit the definition of such. Still, let’s say you’re able to whip out some description to support your preexisting biases; I could easily drum up about 100 different “definitions” of what music is to support any counterargument. And I’m not even a fan of rap for the most part.
Either way, your little comment doesn’t have Jack or shit to do with my point, so thanks for wasting everybody’s time?
September 5, 2023 @ 11:17 am
Sorry to burst your bubble, but that is a FACT that I stated. Facts are not “opinions.” “Rap” is not now, nor will it ever be “music,” no matter how much you long for it to be. Rap has no melody and no harmony, which are FUNDAMENTAL requirements for “music.” A good example to prove this fact would be some guy beating on a snare drum on the street corner. That is NOT music, for the reasons stated above. And I don’t take personally your heated response to the fact I stated. I understand that virtually all people who like rap noise have very poor impulse control, so, in all likelihood, you couldn’t help it. Have a nice day. By the way, when was the last time you attended a concert by a symphony orchestra?
September 5, 2023 @ 1:22 pm
To “burst my bubble” a few different things would have to happen:
1. I would have to care about your opinions, which I don’t.
2. I would have to have asked for your opinions, which I didn’t.
3. You would have to delineate properly between your opinions and facts, which you haven’t, and no amount of restating the same thing over and over will change that, even if you try to MAKE A POINT using CAPS to try and DRIVE IT HOME. Opinions are biased, facts are not, and you couldn’t broadcast your bias more clearly if you had a neon sign strapped to your forehead.
Much of the rap I’ve been forced to listen to has both melody and harmony, often with layers of both, especially in choruses. Sure, there are certainly songs that lack both of those, but are you really going to make the argument that a drum track isn’t music before it has string instruments or vocals laid over it? That’s fascinating, I’ve never seen that opinion before, whether it be in a music theory class or when talking with people I know that play in or conduct orchestras. At its most basic, music is the relationship between rhythm and timbre, and how the timing relates to those two things. Different percussion instruments have different tones and create different notes, and different notes form the basis of harmony and melody. That’s how music can start with just a percussion line and then morph or evolve into something else, whether that be in the writing stage or during a performance. Yes, harmony and melody are ultimately important parts of any composition, but asserting that rap has neither across the board just shows that you’ve never listened to much rap. It’s also presenting a false pretense, in that rap only consists of percussion in your mind and nothing else. That’s okay, I haven’t listened to much jazz. But I possess enough self-awareness to refrain from making broad statements about it when I’m completely inexperienced.
“And I don’t take personally your heated response to the fact I stated.”
That’s nice, but totally irrelevant to the conversation. See #1 above. Come to think of it, you’ve yet to say anything relevant to my original comment that nobody asked you to reply to. There’s nothing “heated” about me pointing out that you have not attributed anything that has Jack or shit to do with my original comment, and you still haven’t.
“I understand that virtually all people who like rap noise have very poor impulse control, so, in all likelihood, you couldn’t help it.”
I actually mentioned in my original comment that I’m not a big fan of rap overall. I like a song here and there, but for the most part I’ve just had to listen to it over the years in certain places. Also, you responded to said original comment of your own volition with a non sequitur and are now making broad claims about me whilst clearly not having comprehended my original comment. Instead, you’re just using it as a springboard for your own agenda. Right, you’re a barometer of impulse control.
“Have a nice day. By the way, when was the last time you attended a concert by a symphony orchestra?”
Maybe you need some coaching if you’re going to keep leaving comments. Firstly, you want to end with “Have a nice day,” as that is a definitive statement that is intended to finish the conversation. When you immediately follow up with a question (rhetorical or not), it reopens the same conversation you ended, encouraging more replies. So if you want to end with a question, you need to take out the statement that’s intended to end the comment entirely, or at least add a postscript designation so it doesn’t derail your grammar.
I’d say the last symphony orchestra concert I attended was a 30th anniversary screening of Jurassic Park where the music was played live. It was a lovely confluence elements, and it was fascinating to watch the conductor work in tandem with the film to make sure his timing was exactly right. Clearly, they had practiced quite a lot and I appreciated their efforts immensely. And while it was technically film music and not pure classical, many of John Williams’ scores are clearly inspired by (and sometimes borrow cues from) classical works.
September 6, 2023 @ 7:20 am
Wow! Your defense of rap noise is every bit as persuasive as, say, the tribunal-appointed attorneys at Nuremberg whose task was to defend the Nazis. But, in a strange way, you are to be admired for your Pollyannish outlook. Why, I’ll bet that if you observed a nuclear explosion over Nashville your reaction would be, “Man! Look at that beautiful mushroom cloud!”
September 6, 2023 @ 7:31 am
No more comments on this thread. Move on.
September 6, 2023 @ 5:22 am
100%, Tex.
No instruments + no actual singing = garbage noise.
September 6, 2023 @ 7:12 am
You are correct. Noise, noise, and more noise.
September 3, 2023 @ 10:01 am
When someone mixes up pedal steel and banjo.
When someone says their favorite Zach Bryan song is that one about fried chicken.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:52 am
Never heard of him…
September 3, 2023 @ 10:27 am
When your best friends in the world tell you they went to the most fantastic country music festival and you HAVE to come next year. And you look at the lineup to find Dan and Shay, Old Dominion and Chase Rice as the previous headliners. True story. What do I do????
September 3, 2023 @ 10:53 am
Teach them what good music sounds like.
Or get new friends.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:22 am
Get new friends?
September 3, 2023 @ 11:41 am
The new Chase Rice album not too bad and the song Oklahoma feat Southall is pretty darn good.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:49 am
Side note – attending the Georgia Country Music Fest north of Atlanta this weekend. For being the first year of this festival it has been surprisingly great – minimal time between bands and they have started on the dot per schedule. Not overly crowded, easily walkable between stages, free parking, and insanely great sound. Yesterday was Randy, Ashley, and Jinks on the main stage. Today is Muscadine, Jamey, and Turnpike. Support acts have been stellar. The turnout for Wyatt Flores at 4 pm in the hot sun was wall-to-wall and he has a shit hot band. Highly recommend this fest. And yes, looking for new friends here….
September 3, 2023 @ 11:56 am
Wyatt Flores is massive and the festivals have no clue what they’re doing booking him in the opening slot. It’s similar to what we saw last year with Zach Bryan. They’ll learn.
September 3, 2023 @ 12:09 pm
Are these acts not booked and slotted 9-12 months in advance?
Zach was slotted, then American Heartbreak came out, followed by record number of people for early slot (maybe record numbers even without America Heartbreak?)
At Country Jam they had Lainey Wilson at the 5 PM slot ahead of Chris Jansen which blew my mind. The only explanation was that she was booked when she began her big takeoff and then they stick to the lineup based on booking costs. You’d think the festivals would adjust the lineup as artist popularity ebbs.
September 3, 2023 @ 12:16 pm
The artists are usually booked 6-9 months in advance, but the slotting usually doesn’t happen until later. You’re right though, festivals often slot performers solely based off of what they agreed to pay them, and where they were when they were booked, but this is a bad system. It’s not fair to the artists that are surging, and it’s not fair to the artists forced to play after them to a smaller crowd. You want to momentum to build through the day.
Gonna see Wyatt Flores in a couple of weeks at Born & Raised Fest. He’s playing the opening slot at the pre-party, two slots before The Damn Quails. Makes no sense. But they’ll figure it out.
September 4, 2023 @ 7:17 am
Having played some small festivals there can be other reasons for odd time slotting. Bands can request slots to play before or after bands they share equipment or members with, or in our case once, we needed to be in another town the following morning and needed to play and get on the road so we requested an earlier than normal slot.
September 3, 2023 @ 10:47 am
When the opening act says “let me sing a Chris Stapleton song for y’all” then proceeds to sing Tennessee Whiskey.
True story. No respect for DAC or George Jones.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:10 am
That sounds more like ignorance than a lack of respect. If someone were to open up with “Hurt by Johnny Cash”, would you feel the same for Nine Inch Nails?
September 3, 2023 @ 1:13 pm
I sure would
September 3, 2023 @ 11:50 am
‘Tim McGraw writes a lot of good songs too’
September 4, 2023 @ 7:13 pm
When someone forget to mention Dean Dillon, the songwriter in their rant.
September 3, 2023 @ 10:47 am
Morgan Wallen and Pittsburgh for anyone curious. Not exactly shocking, huh?
September 7, 2023 @ 12:13 am
thanks paige. i was wondering if there was anyone who wasn’t going full on ADHD on what started this thread. here’s the bottom line…hey look! a squirell!
fuckin’ meow!! epic squabble.
hey trig- was this an experiment to see how long it took for this to go off the rails? answer? instantly.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:32 am
When someone says they’d rather listen to a country checklist song than a song about how some fricking bird sings.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:44 am
When ‘boyfriend country’ is the new hot garbage and Parmalee just released a song called ‘Boyfriend’ (It’s worse than you can imagine)
September 3, 2023 @ 12:17 pm
???? That poor girl. The two fighting actually ended up in the port-a-john with her. I couldn’t imagine opening up the door and a fight just falls into you on top of a toilet.
September 3, 2023 @ 1:37 pm
When you realize your likeness’s been featured in one of Trigger’s funnies.
September 3, 2023 @ 2:01 pm
When someone tells you they actually, legitimately, genuinely like Morgan Wallen.
September 3, 2023 @ 2:30 pm
When country artists release music videos about homosexual coal miners
September 3, 2023 @ 5:49 pm
I’d rather watch gay coal miners than Big and Rich.
September 3, 2023 @ 9:01 pm
Funny thing is gay coal miners probably all love BDE (sorry BDE, not trying to mock you, just genuinely unsure if BDE are your initials or if it stands for, um, something else).
September 6, 2023 @ 9:30 am
He can release a coal miner orgy video for all I care but he’s been resting his laurels on Purgatory for damn near 10 years. Time to do something else good
September 7, 2023 @ 12:14 am
now that’s funny!!
September 3, 2023 @ 2:30 pm
The Turnpike one is more of an opportunity IMO, but the rest of these hurt bad.
September 3, 2023 @ 3:10 pm
As someone who has used outhouses for work over the past 30 years, this would actually be a welcome break of the monotony.
September 3, 2023 @ 3:23 pm
Big fan of Dwight Yoakam but perfectly fine waiting a few more years if that’s what it takes for him to get into the CMHOF. Then they can just induct Lee Ann Womack and shut down the whole modern artist category indefinitely.
September 3, 2023 @ 3:33 pm
When you’re camping with a big group all weekend and someone puts on the worst “country” music you’ve ever heard of. Some jackass named hardy. Wtf.
September 3, 2023 @ 5:51 pm
That’s what happens when you go camping with a big group.
September 3, 2023 @ 3:36 pm
When you tell someone you like country music and they say, “Me, too! I love Luke Bryan!”
September 3, 2023 @ 4:06 pm
I turned a bunch of college friends onto country music. While we were still in college one of them (real pompous nerd) said he didn’t like Waylon Jennings because of his voice. He finally changed his mind years later.
About 15 years later he was visiting and asked to stay at my place. He came over, left his stuff, and we and some other friends went out. We stayed out much later than I would have liked but I was kinda stuck since he was staying with me. Finally we start back to my place and he says he’s going to stay at my other friends place which was better (it was).
He’d recently asked me for recommendations for “kick ass” country music and I had recommended Johnny Paycheck. As we get to my apartment he tells me Johnny Paycheck isn’t that good.
Haven’t seen or spoken to him since.
September 3, 2023 @ 4:57 pm
When you realize there is no official album review for Jeremy Pinnell’s most recent album entitled “Goodbye LA” even though you are aware that it rips in an incredibly pleasing and consistent manner
September 3, 2023 @ 5:16 pm
I might be a little slow to catch the ball, but is this Jeremy?
September 4, 2023 @ 4:51 am
No. It is a tired running gag.
September 4, 2023 @ 7:20 am
I never tire of it.
September 3, 2023 @ 5:22 pm
When you’re Diplo using the unserviced crapper at Burning Man.
September 3, 2023 @ 6:08 pm
When another good artist says they are going to add horns on the next album.
September 3, 2023 @ 10:28 pm
I actually love Old Crow’s “Wagon Wheel.”
September 4, 2023 @ 3:11 am
when you spend you hard earned money to see Morgan Wallen just to find out his mullett is gone.
September 4, 2023 @ 8:26 am
That is not even close to the worst thing that should happen if you spend your hard earned money to see Morgan Wallen. There’d also be the ridicule you should get from your friends. And enemies.
People need to quit spending money to see these no talent hacks. I’d rather hear the five minutes leading up to and including the fight at the porta-potty than endure 30 seconds of Wallen, mullet or no mullet.
September 4, 2023 @ 12:46 pm
When you’re new to the party and you realize Zac Brown, Zach Bryant, Luke Bryant and Luke Combs are different people… having been only recently schooled by your rock friends about Joe Perry, Steve Perry, Steven Tyler, Tyler Perry, Steve Walsh and Joe Walsh.
September 4, 2023 @ 4:04 pm
When someone says they love Outlaw country and then says they don’t know who David Allan Coe is. True story, more than once.
September 5, 2023 @ 4:36 am
When someone says Zach Bryan is overrated and all his songs sound the same.