Tyler Farr Would Like To Smack Jody Rosen Upside The Head
Hypothetically he does, or at least metaphorically. But depending on Tyler Farr’s proficiency at internet research (which I’m guessing is pretty sub-par) and his proximity to the Big Apple where New Yorker culture writer Jody Rosen—who coined the term “Bro-Country”—makes his bed, Farr will probably just have to settle for sending verbal daggers out towards Rosen in The Arizona Republic.
“Whoever invented that term, I’d like to smack him upside the head,” Tyler Farr flapped in the recent interview when the term “Bro-Country” was brought up. “I live in Chapel Hill, Tenn., which has the largest tractor pull in the South, and there’s not a lot more that you do on the weekends than drink and party. And I write what I know about.”
Yes like,
Gonna drive like hell through your neighborhood
Park this Silverado on your front lawn
Crank up a little Hank, sit on the hood and drink
I’m about to get my pissed off on”
“I’m gonna aim my headlights into your bedroom windows
Throw empty beer cans at both of your shadows
I didn’t come here to start a fight, but I’m up for anything tonight
You know you broke the wrong heart baby, and drove me redneck crazy”
“Nah, he can’t amount to much by the look of that little truck
Well he won’t be getting any sleep tonight”
That’s the pride of Chapel Hill, TN talking there, folks. Fair to say Tyler Farr didn’t actually write the song “Redneck Crazy” where the aforementioned lyrics come from, he just sold over a million copies of it and made it into his biggest single ever. “It’s literally as simple as hearing a song and saying, ‘Can I feel that? Do I know anything about that?’ ‘Yes, I do?’ ‘OK, I’m gonna record that,'” Tyler told The Arizona Republic.
If you needed any more signs that Bro-Country is dead, it’s that any time the term is mentioned in the presence of any of these Bro-Country perpetrators, they turn ballistic. It’s uncanny how they all react the same way every time. First, they profess not knowing what it is, and refuse to give any credence to the term. “I mean, whatever. I have no clue what it is,” was Tyler Farr’s response. Thomas Rhett had a similar response recently. Florida Georgia Line regularly bristles when Bro-Country is brought up, and say they don’t know what it means.
The second thing they say is they’re simply writing what they know about. “So I am gonna have songs that have partying and hot girls and pickup trucks,” Tyler Farr says. “There’s only so much you can write about. If I don’t know anything about vacuums, I’m not gonna be a vacuum salesman. It’s as simple as that.” This is the exact response Dallas Davidson gives.
These artists have made tons of money on Bro-Country, and they’re not happy to see it go away, and apparently a lack of self-awareness is their only psychological defense to coming to grips with what’s transpiring. They know the criticism is catching on, and they’re beginning to hear it from label executives and managers as well. So instead of rationalizing through what’s happening, Tyler Farr, like the rest of Bro-Country’s biggest perpetrators, decide to get their “pissed off on.”
September 24, 2014 @ 8:43 am
I will admit, I have a hard time trying to define bro country. I feel like it is used when someone wants to label something as bad, no matter the lyrics. I guess I could understand them not knowing what exactly makes it bro country when the term is used so loosley.
September 24, 2014 @ 9:04 am
There is no doubt some people use the term simply to label country music they don’t like. At the same time, if I made my living off of country music, and somebody was calling me something and it was being criticized heavily in the media and society and it might affect my livelihood, I would make it my business to sit down in front of a computer for 30 minutes to figure it all out to at least be informed. The problem is, I think some of these artists truly believe that Bro-Country will be around forever. They have no clue about the cyclical nature of trends and taste, and they probably haven’t even pondered that they will get old as time passes either, and there will be younger artists looking to take their place. To Tyler Farr, the only alternative to writing about whipping beer cans at your ex-girlfriend’s window is singing about vacuum cleaners. It all comes back to the lack of self-awareness.
September 24, 2014 @ 3:12 pm
Preach it sir!
September 24, 2014 @ 3:54 pm
“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description […], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it…” Potter Stewart
September 27, 2014 @ 4:01 am
That’s a great way to put it, Cole.
September 24, 2014 @ 8:44 am
You know, it takes some creativity and imagination to make songs that aren’t cliche. But these guys are probably not the brightest anyway, so it’s hard to expect much from them.
September 24, 2014 @ 8:46 am
This is getting awesome, similar to the end of disco! It’s very hard not to smile with all these tards grasping at straws trying not to be asociated with Bro-Country! Tee Hee Hee!
September 24, 2014 @ 8:52 am
I’d really like to know which songs are bro-country and which ones are not so I will be able to have a legitimate discussion about it. Are some “kinda” bro? Are some “full fledged” bro? Who makes the ultimate decision? Just some questions I have…
September 24, 2014 @ 8:59 am
there’s been a slew of Wikipedia edits re-naming lots of things as Bro-Country
September 24, 2014 @ 8:53 am
Well first of all, Farr grew up in Kansas City; so the lifestyle in Chapel Hill, Tennessee is new to him anyway. If he wants to write about what he knows, he should be writing about city streets, taxi cabs, malt liquor, and night clubs; not dirt roads, trucks, beer, and pastures.
What a dumb, fake asshole. I’d like to knock his punk ass upside the jawbone.
September 24, 2014 @ 4:36 pm
That’s pretty tough talk from behind a keyboard, online tough guy.
September 25, 2014 @ 5:31 am
Oh really Tom? I didn’t think it was all that tough. I thought it was approximately as tough as singing a song about throwing beer cans at your girlfriend’s house because she’s humping a guy with a smaller truck than you.
Now what would’ve been really tough, is if I’d’ve said something along the lines of:
“I’m flying to Nashville tomorrow, to find Tyler Farr and beat his ass and then shit down his throat”!
Or: “If I ever see Tyler Farr walking down the street, I’m gonna stomp a mud hole in his ass, and knock every one of his teeth out”!
Now THOSE are tough comments Tom.
Do you see the difference in the toughness level of my comment versus these two hypothetical comments Tom? I simply stated something that I’d like to do, as opposed to making an actual threat.
But really Tom, I’m not a fan of “online tough guy” either. I was just typing while my blood was still boiling from reading the article, and said a little more than I would normally say. And I guess several people share my sentiments, based on the number of likes.
September 24, 2014 @ 4:50 pm
He actually grew up in Garden City, Mo. Which is very small, so he’s probably telling the truth about not having shit to do besides party and drink. Not a huge fan of Tyler, but I’m from KC myself and there’s far more trucks and pastures than taxi cabs.
September 25, 2014 @ 6:02 am
Nope. You’re wrong John. He was born in Garden City, and grew up in Kansas City. And I’ve been to KC hundreds of times when I was a truck driver, and I saw taxis everywhere, and the only pastures I saw were way outside the city. My point is, his whole personality is fake.
September 24, 2014 @ 9:01 am
His first album as a whole was very poor but I don’t have nearly as much of a problem with “Redneck Crazy” as many people in this community seem to. In fact, if an alt-country artist wrote it, I bet some people here would accept it as a clever heartbreak song.
Furthermore, his new track “A Guy walks into a bar” is very very strong. I’m personally going to choose to put my bro bashing energy to use elsewhere toward more malicious offenders.
September 27, 2014 @ 7:06 am
Well, of course it would have been accepted as an alt-country song. Then again, it’d have been written much better, too.
I don’t think it’s meant to portray what it in fact portrays, but words are some of the most dangerous things on our planet, and we care about that because he put it on a medium to America’s dumbest fanbase (the bro-country folks, not all country listeners).
September 24, 2014 @ 9:04 am
As someone from a very small town where there’s nothing to do but party… my town is full of alcholics.
September 24, 2014 @ 6:40 pm
Yes, and cities are filled with sobriety because of the proliferation of civic activities.
There’s no more of a concentration of beer drinkers or alcoholics geographically than anywhere else. In fact a lot of the rural towns in the deep South are run by Baptists and drinking is a lot less common. That’s also where the highest concentration of dry counties are.
September 24, 2014 @ 10:20 pm
Public drinking, maybe. I grew up in a dry county run by hardcore Southern Baptists, but every weekend half the town would cross the state line to load up on cheap beer or go drinking at the bars the next county over.
September 25, 2014 @ 7:59 am
I’ve always found it strange that mainstream country music these days never mentions dry counties. The last single I remember mentioning them was “Beer Run” by Garth Brooks and George Jones.
For a genre that obsesses over the rural south and alcohol, you would think they would mention dry counties on occasion. I lived for a while in a dry county in Kentucky and many of the bordering counties were also dry and had populations of less than 12,000. It didn’t really stop people from drinking if they wanted to but I remember a lot of adults kind of condemned alcohol, usually for religious reasons. So when I think back to living in that county, the unusual alcohol culture is one thing that I remember.
I suppose the reason they never mention dry counties is because most country listeners don’t know what one is.
September 25, 2014 @ 9:20 am
You’re right Richie. I grew up in a dry county in Arkansas. The reality is that most of these guys didn’t grow up rurally, and some of them aren’t even from the South.
September 25, 2014 @ 10:28 am
Mountain Sprout has a really fun song about dry counties. It’s kind of their signature song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBsEoG3Ah7A
September 27, 2014 @ 8:53 am
Miranda Lambert, “Dry Town”
September 24, 2014 @ 9:22 am
I dont think it would get a different response if an alt.country singer wrote it. The song was criticized based on contents rather than the singer’s association
September 24, 2014 @ 9:31 am
Redneck crazy was actually written for a girl to sing.
September 24, 2014 @ 9:56 am
Tyler Hubbard must have been too busy
September 24, 2014 @ 9:44 am
What jumps out at me here is his line that in small towns all there is to do is drink and party. This is the notion that “country” singers have been peddling for the last several years, rather than the genre’s prior focus on the virtues of small town life. Their lyrics may not be directly eroding rural and small-town culture but they sure aren’t helping.
September 24, 2014 @ 6:44 pm
It’s a pretty bleak picture and a shallow observance of the rural American experience to say that all there is to do is drink. Country music grew out of rural communities coming together to entertain each other.
September 24, 2014 @ 10:11 am
It’s hard to believe this guy is actually a classically trained Opera singer, eh?
September 24, 2014 @ 10:22 am
No kidding. I couldn’t believe that when I read it somewhere a while back. I guess that two-packs-a-day voice is a put on, kind of like Gilbert’s Batman voice.
September 24, 2014 @ 6:07 pm
What the…?
Are y’all serious?
September 24, 2014 @ 7:44 pm
Yep! Take a look for yourself: http://www.cmt.com/news/cmt-offstage/1716697/tyler-farr-from-opera-to-george-jones-to-redneck-crazy.jhtml
September 24, 2014 @ 10:24 am
When these artists constantly say “I write only what I know” and then turn around and write “bro country” songs, I always think how shallow and unstimulating their lives must be. I would find it a little more respectable if they just said “I like to party so I sing about partying” because that, at least makes them seem marginally less simple minded.
September 24, 2014 @ 10:58 am
I think all these bro-country songs are all about the same party. And the songwriters were all at this party. Which should tell you just how boring the party would be.
September 24, 2014 @ 11:21 am
I grew up in a small town myself and if drinking and partying are all they know, that’s on them. Maybe write something about the history of your area or even (gasp!) expand your horizons instead of being so proud that you choose to confine yourself to a very small bubble of limited experiences.
September 24, 2014 @ 11:23 am
“…they turn ballistic. It”™s uncanny how they all react the same way every time. First, they profess not knowing what it is, and refuse to give any credence to the term. “I mean, whatever. I have no clue what it is,” was Tyler Farr”™s response.”
Ha! It’s like calling hipsters, hipsters here in Portland. “What? No these glasses are real – really! And, no I drink PBR because I think it tastes good…” 😀
September 24, 2014 @ 8:17 pm
Jason Aldean in the current Billboard cover story:
Let’s get one thing clear: Jason Aldean is not your bro.
“This whole bro-country thing, whoever coined that ridiculous phrase, it’s about beer or trucks or whatever,” says the 37-year-old singer, agitation creeping into his otherwise laconic Georgia accent as he gets started up on the topic. “Yeah, we’ve had some songs that talk about that stuff. But that’s also what we really grew up doing. A lot of us grew up in these little towns where there wasn’t a whole lot to do, and we were entertaining ourselves. I can’t sing you a song about being a stockbroker on Wall Street, because I don’t even know where the hell Wall Street’s at.”
September 25, 2014 @ 2:02 pm
“I can”™t sing you a song about being a stockbroker on Wall Street, because I don”™t even know where the hell Wall Street”™s at.”
Did Jason Aldean just basically admit he’s a huge dip shit?
September 27, 2014 @ 7:12 am
Most artists making the best country music grew up in small towns too, so try another excuse bros. Wall St. is more country than this new synthesized overproduced pop.
September 24, 2014 @ 11:27 am
‘When these artists constantly say “I write only what I know” and then turn around and write “bro country” songs, I always think how shallow and unstimulating their lives must be. I would find it a little more respectable if they just said “I like to party so I sing about partying” because that, at least makes them seem marginally less simple minded’.
Exactly, Aaron . Simple-minded but worst that that …disinterested in exploring , experiencing or observing anything beyond their current station in life . How tragic is THAT scenario ? And how many times can you hear that in songs before you are depressed yourself ?
ON the other hand ….
Had the pleasure and privilege of attending Alan Jackson’s concert here in Vancouver Canada last night .Flawless in every respect INCLUDING the song subjects and themes ….from the obligatory Jackson tear -jerkers( YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOVE ME ANYMORE ) to party songs ( GOODTIME ) to reflective themes ( REMEMBER WHEN )…songs about family ( DRIVE ,SMALL TOWN SOUTHERN MAN ) …songs about place ( WHERE I COME FROM , LITTLE BITTY ) and on and on and on . Yup …the man has lived and explored it all and as a writer of most of these songs , he knows where-of he speaks and man does a crowd FEEL and RESPOND to THAT authenticity .
Interestingly , I’d estimate that over half of the 6000 in attendance were 25-ish or perhaps younger ….yet they could sing every chorus and DID to even Alan’s oldest gems …DON’T ROCK THE JUKEBOX , MERCURY BLUES , HERE IN THE REAL WORLD . This was beyond a doubt one of THE best concerts I’ve attended in my 62 years and as you might imagine I’ve been to hundreds. It was all about the lyrics , the vibe and delivering FOR the people who came to see and hear this legend ….young and old . Alan gave us background on various songs , took time to autograph hats , CD’s , pics , T-shirts FROM THE STAGE during the show and never missed a cue musically or a note vocally . The guy blew us away . You could count the number of ‘masters’ still working in the genre on a couple of fingers , I’d guess . But you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand WHY they ARE masters and whey they are still delivering after 25 years and more . AJ is all about the heart of this music …not to mention introducing and showcasing each band member individually in solo spots ( Yes SOLO spots ) throughout the evening . These guys are the best of the best from steel player , to piano player , mandolin , acoustic and electric guitars and superb back-up vocalists . Long live REAL Country music .
September 24, 2014 @ 12:05 pm
I saw Alan in New Hampshire this year and I was one of maybe 10 people under 30 years old. Crowd sat down for most of the show. It was still a hell of a show and he sounded awesome (great concert) but there weren’t any young people. Could’ve just been the demographic though who knows
September 24, 2014 @ 1:19 pm
I think it’s just different demographics. I think in Canada we hardly get top country acts and it’s kind of a big deal when singers like Alan Jackson tour here. From my experience anyway. I know a lot of country music fans my age (20s) who go to every single country concert that comes to Canada be it Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Alan Jackson, or Reba.
September 24, 2014 @ 4:24 pm
I hear ya Tim . I was surprised as hell at the youthful turnout but as Dana suggests …perhaps its an appreciation for a big act like that . Nevertheless …the fact that these ‘kids’ knew the lyrics and were up dancing on those songs was pretty impressive . Jackson has done well in Canada over the years .He’s on a seven city Canadian tour at the moment . I think a big part of that is not only HIS songs but the fact that Canadian country fans still get a healthy dose of trad country from even the up and coming acts. The opening act “ONE MORE GIRL” an excellent local duo , included an Emmy-Lou Harris classic – Las Vegas- in their set and KILLED it .
September 24, 2014 @ 12:10 pm
I can’t stand when everyone always says this kinda stuff. I’ve been listening to a lot of Jason Aldean’s older stuff lately… Songs like “The Truth”, “Asphalt Cowboy”, “Why”, “Even if I wanted to” are all fantastic. (Yea I guess he had Hicktown and some other cliche ones then too).
Point is, with the exception of the new guys, they’ve all recorded and even sent to radio way better songs lyrically. And now they claim all they know is the check-list type songs.
In terms of the new guys, they act as if they’ve never had an emotion once in their lives and they can only sing about weekend parties
September 24, 2014 @ 2:03 pm
I’ve always been confused as to why adult country singers insist that they can only write about their high school years. Their defense is always, “I grew up in a small town, this is all I know.” Does that mean you’ve learned nothing in the past 8 years of your life? When you moved to Nashville, the big city, did you not learn anything new or see people living a different lifestyle? Did you really stop learning and experiencing life after age 18?
September 24, 2014 @ 2:51 pm
I grew up in San Diego, then the sticks of N. California through high school. But, because of these weird-ass things we had laying around called books, I was also able to “know” about things like other countries and people that didn’t live on my block. I somehow magically know about Paris – I could write a song about it.
I know that book learning shit is a bit old fashioned, but please guys – pick up a damn Kindle and learn something.
September 24, 2014 @ 4:46 pm
brocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountrybrocountry…
September 24, 2014 @ 5:42 pm
suckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssuckssucks
September 24, 2014 @ 6:03 pm
Chapel Hill, Tennessee is a nice little town. It actually contains a State park, a top notch golf course, a tiny “downtown” area, a few little local restaurants, and things like that. It’s pretty much your prototypical small town in rural America. I didn’t know Tyler Farr lived there, though last time I passed through I did see an enraged man throwing empty beer cans on a woman’s lawn, but I just assumed that was an escaped mental patient.
I’m sure some folks in small towns feel that drinking and partying is the only way to stave off boredom, but plenty of people in big, sprawling cities spent their weekends doing the same. In my experience, people who want to go crazy and get wasted will always find a reason / excuse to do it.
Anyway, what guys like Tyler Farr and Dallas Davidson can’t seem to grasp is that the content of one’s daily life should have no correlation with the actual quality of one’s music. Writing and singing about what you know is perfectly fine, but the bottom line is that people simply want to hear good songs. Johnny Cash for example grew up in extreme poverty in a tiny colony in rural Arkansas, an experience which shaped his life and worldview. But he had something to *say* in his music. Truly creative artists can always find interesting stories to tell regardless of the context in which they find themselves.
September 24, 2014 @ 6:17 pm
I’d also like to point out that many authors have written entire novels about small town life.
There’s just no excuse for crappy songs. If you honestly know you have nothing to say, then stop soliciting the world’s attention.
September 24, 2014 @ 6:21 pm
AMEN, Applejack !
September 24, 2014 @ 7:20 pm
My biggest problem with Tyler Farr should be that he’s a dumbass, but the truth is that he’s got a ton of vocal talent that he’s choosing not to use, and employing a technique that could eventually destroy what talent he’d nurtured, through the years. Like Brantley Gilbert (another artist with a stunningly good natural singing voice), Farr employs the growl-singing technique, which makes it nearly impossible to employ any kind of range. Tyler Farr, like Gilbert, is actually a phenomenal singer when he really sings. He sounds like Vince Gill. I wish he’d just roll with that instead of this absurd cheese grater on vocal chords style he’s using.
September 24, 2014 @ 10:08 pm
I would never guess he’s a great singer since he sounds about average and sometimes bad and rapping. Can anyone post a video of him singing with great vocals?
September 27, 2014 @ 7:00 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6m5XGHLM9c
The chorus of this song should get the job done. His voice changes, completely. It’s like he forces that growl out during the verse and then just lets it fly in the chorus.
September 27, 2014 @ 8:13 am
That’s better but not phenomenal. Why not sing like this on his albums and why overproduce them? Why do bro-country if it’s not the real Tyler Farr? Waste of talent and maybe sales.
September 24, 2014 @ 9:59 pm
“Whoever invented that term, I”™d like to smack him upside the head,”
And what about whoever “invented” (or sold country out to pop) that dumb crappy “music” that appeals to bros (the frat party crowd) and deserves a dumb, funny name like bro-country? The music is so bad we just have to laugh about it and the name. And it’s funny to see the bros deny and try to play off like they aren’t and are better than bro-country and try to stop people from using the term. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
“there”™s not a lot more that you do on the weekends than drink and party”
What about the rest of the week?
I’ve never thought of Redneck Crazy as bro-country because it’s not a party or party hookup song with generic copycat checklist lyrics. It does have a little of the synthesized pop beat used in many bro-country songs and some of the vocals are very flat, rough and annoying. But the lyrics make it a cheating/breakup/revenge song and it shares 2 writers with Before He Cheats, a much better cheating/revenge song. Redneck Crazy and the video are kinda creepy but it’s not really bro-country. Tyler’s album does have other songs that are like “Chicks, Trucks, and Beer” and “Makes You Wanna Drink” and he’s even rapping like bros do http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dwrQu3e2Mc
September 24, 2014 @ 10:55 pm
For me, it’s not even so much that “Redneck Crazy” is decidedly “bro” as much as it is decidedly bad. It’s just a bad song, with a bad message. It’s a song about a childish pussket who loses his girl and throws a tantrum.
That’s not something to be applauded.
But, I do think THAT is where it ventures into bro territory. It’s not Bro because it’s about partying … it’s Bro because it’s what Bro’s do, and it typifies a particularly douchetastic Bro response to a situation.
I’m just glad I know this song is sung by Tyler Farr, because between him, Brantley Gilbert and Kip Moore, I’m having a hard time figuring out which poorly-pulled-off Springsteen-whisper-singing-impersonation guy is on the radio.
yeahcomeon
September 25, 2014 @ 4:21 am
I’m curious as to what people on the site think of Kip. Any thoughts?
September 25, 2014 @ 4:29 am
Oh please Tyler Farr. I live in a “small town”, although it is not all rural, and there is a big city nearby. However, not everyone there drinks and parties on the weekend. People go to parties that don’t involve drinking (unlike what Bro Country artists and writers think). It is natural for people to lash out at people attacking what they are a part of.
As for redneck crazy, I know that people in small towns don’t always go to the lengths that the character goes to. Real men grow up, accept reality and move on. That really is a cowardly act. I really wish that the other man would smash his window and car with a big huge rock.
September 25, 2014 @ 6:02 pm
Thought you would enjoy this Chase. Somebody else felt the same way about redneck crazy. http://youtu.be/ddvik8zjC18
September 25, 2014 @ 6:51 pm
After reading Tyler’s comments I think to myself….Where the hell is Varg Vikernes when you REALLY need him!!!???!!!
September 27, 2014 @ 6:53 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMsWDolqR74
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/26/country-music-aldean-florida-georgia-line-review/
Burn
October 20, 2014 @ 2:41 pm
I find it hypocritical that he’s upset with Jody Rosen for inventing the term bro-country and yet Tyler is singing about stalking an ex-girlfriend and committing assault against her by tossing beer cans in her direction. Very mature and grown-up of him. This trend will die out quickly. Look at the whole “nü-metal” trend in the late 90s/early 00s. That died out within a few years. I’m positive that the same will happen with bro-country.
As for Tyler Farr and the majority of these so-called “men” making this generic horseshit, none of them cansing their way out of a paper bag. It’s sad when you have pop acts like Lorde and Meghan Trainor putting out material with greater substance and offering a positive message to boot. Trigger, you may get a ton of flak from people for speaking your mind, but someone has to, especially against this wannabe R&B/EDM crap posing as country music. I’m gonna go check out someone of those artists you gave solid reviews of. ANYTHING is better than bro country!!!
March 31, 2015 @ 3:25 pm
If its “bro-country” then why do so many women like these artists?
Whatever its fun party music. I don’t hear people labeling Kendrick Lamar/Lil Wayne as Bro-Rap. Music is music. Opinions are just like a** h*les every “journalist” has one and they all smell like crap.
Keep playing kick ass music and most of us will keep on buying it!