Traditionalist Hudson Westbrook Makes Wrong Turn with Marshmello

It was less than a year ago that we were praising young up-and-coming West Texas country artist Hudson Westbrook as one of the names responsible for the surging popularity of traditional country. In the wake of Hudson’s 2024 self-titled EP, the opinion was shared, “If you have any reservations about declaring that the country music revolution is in full force, an assessment of Hudson Westbrook will sell you on the idea fast.”

And the praise didn’t stop there. “[Westbrook] reminds you a lot of an early Parker McCollum: handsome, honest, squared away, and someone you expect to be singing buzzy, radio-centric tracks over 808-beats. You’re pleasantly surprised when instead you hear songs featuring fiddle and steel guitar, and writing that doesn’t look to pander to anyone, and instead speaks honestly about the joys and struggles of love and distance.”

What a difference a major label deal can make. Signing with River House Artists / Warner Music Nashville in June, this resulted in Hudson’s debut album Texas Forever where he started to take a significantly more contemporary/mainstream turn, even if songs from that original EP, and a few other quality new cuts were included. Hudson’s biggest song “House Again” is a great example of a quality contemporary country song with traditional leanings.

But all of that feels like the distant past since someone thought the best strategy to get the already extremely popular and quickly growing Westbrook on even more of a winning path was to drop him in a collaboration with the terrible EDM DJ and producer Marshmellow. I don’t think Hank done it this way.

Yes, “Better Man Than Me” is one of those songs and collaborations that can sully the sentiment on an artist’s entire career henceforth. What does someone like Hudson Westbrook—whose upside potential was already astronomical—think he’s going to gain with this? He’s losing his grassroots fans in Texas and beyond for a silly, sellout collab that doesn’t even feel like it’s headed anywhere significant.

“Better Man Than Me” includes eight songwriters, none of whom is Westbrook, and six producers. This was a Music Row monstrosity they had sitting on a shelf. Then the plugged in Hudson to sing on top of a manufactured “hit.” With programmed drums and Auto-tuned vocals throughout, it’s a meaningless, vapid effort that is so corrosive, it potentially spoils the guy’s entire catalog.

Is this being hyperbolic? Perhaps. But when you’ve built the foundation for your career off of keeping it country and giving hope to traditional country fans, it feels like you’ve broken the social contract with them when you release a song with a guy with a marshmallow on his head. Save this mess for the Kane Brown’s of the country world.

Will this collaboration also create some new fans for Westbrook among pop listeners and Marshmello fans? Maybe. But they won’t make up for those strong, grassroots, traditional country fans who ride or die with their favorite artists, travel two counties over to see them, buy a T-shirt and vinyl copy at the show, and tell all their friends about them. They’re there for you 20 years down the road when the hits have dried up.

You might gain a short-term burst of virality singing with Mr. Marshmallow. But the real question is, what do you lose in the long-term?