WTF is up with Taylor Swift? The girl CANNOT sing. Period. Not even close. I saw her on “Saturday Night Live” and she was so bad that it was truly embarrassing. Yet I like her records. Just shows the magic that Autotune can do for a mediocre singer.
Rascal Flatts once again annoyed me. They won Best Vocal Group for the seventh straight year, beating the record set by Alabama. Lead singer Gary LeVox mused “gee, now I think I know what Brooks & Dunn feel like”. Uh, Gary, you will NEVER be Kix Brooks OR Ronnie Dunn. Brooks & Dunn have had 40 singles on the Billboard charts, 20 of which reached #1. Rascall Flatts have had 23 singles chart, with nine hitting #1. Rascall Flatts are a smarmy, cheesy brand of country that just irritates the hell out of me. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, maybe it’s because I like a lot of “old time” country, but I’d rather hear George Strait than Sugarland. I’d rather hear Alabama than Rascall Flatts. I think there are artists (like Kenny Chesney) who started out writing great, heartfelt songs (“There Goes My Life”, “The Good Stuff”) and have caved to the “weekend warrior” country fans & started writing “let’s go to the bar & get drunk” songs (“Have Another Beer In Mexico”, or any of the last few Kenny singles). Artists like Brad Paisley straddle the line (I think he’s great, but that “Ticks” song, well, it just ticked me off…). While I realize that Keith Urban draws more people to his shows than Alan Jackson, how country is Keith? He’s a good looking guy, with an enormous (mostly female) following, but his songs could fit just as well on pop radio. (I’d love to see David Allan Coe open for Keith, just to see the looks on those ladies faces……)
With the music business in the current state that it’s in, I should be happy that Keith & Rascall Flatts are selling as many records as they do. I just like my country…with a little bit more country in it.
