This Is How We Roll - The Wild "Legacy" of Bro-Country, Then and Now - A Video Essay
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2024
- In this special comment and video essay, we explore the past, present, and future of mainstream country's most contentious movement, including radio consolidation, systemic rot, class warfare, and so much bad rapping.
Script: www.spectrum-pulse.ca/blog/cl...
Resources:
Marissa R. Moss - 'Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be', Henry Holt & Co, 2022
Jody Rosen, 'Jody Rosen on the Rise of Bro-Country', Vulture, originally printed in New York Magazine, Aug 11, 2013, www.vulture.com/2013/08/rise-...
Rob Tannenbaum, 'Billboard Cover: Florida Georgia Line on Being ‘Professional Partiers,’ Haters and Hip-Hop', Billboard, Oct 10, 2014, www.billboard.com/music/music...
Steven Hyden, 'The Winners’ History of Rock and Roll, Part 3: Bon Jovi', Grantland, Jan 21, 2013, grantland.com/features/the-wi...
Simon Hattenstone, 'Steve Earle: 'My wife left me for a younger, skinnier, less talented singer'', The Guardian, Jun 14, 2017, www.theguardian.com/music/201...
Robert M. Brecht, 'Country Music Listeners Are Having a Moment', TSE Entertainment, tseentertainment.com/country-...
Vernell Hackett, 'New Statistics About Country Music Fans Revealed at Billboard Country Summit', Billboard, Jun 8, 2011, www.billboard.com/music/music...
Brandon Gaille, '46 Curious Country Music Demographics', Mar 9, 2016, brandongaille.com/46-curious-... (MAJOR CAUTION ON THIS SOURCE, not pleased with the due diligence and sampling methodology being used, citing it as it reflects general trends but should NOT be considered a primary source)
Beverly Keel, "Sexist 'tomato' barb launches food fight on Music Row", The Tennessean, May 29, 2015, www.tennessean.com/story/ente...
Cindy Watts, '3 years after 'Tomato-gate,' there are even fewer women on country radio", The Tennessean, Jun 10, 2018, www.tennessean.com/story/ente...
Alison Bonaguro, 'MEN ARE LETTUCE, WOMEN ARE TOMATOES?', CMT, May 27, 2015, www.cmt.com/news/7be2ul/men-a...
Katie Bain, 'Garth Brooks Talks Major Label Radio Dominance, How His Nashville Bar Will Serve ‘Every Brand Of Beer’ & Possible New Chris Gaines Music', Billboard, Jun 7, 2023, www.billboard.com/music/count...
Kyle Coroneos, 'DJ Bobby Bones Spent $13,000 Smearing Himself in a Bid for Sympathy', Saving Country Music, May 14, 2016, www.savingcountrymusic.com/dj...
Kyle Coroneos, 'Jason Aldean To Zac Brown “Nobody Gives A Shit What You Think"', Saving Country Music, Sept 18, 2023, www.savingcountrymusic.com/ja...
Drew Schwartz, 'Inside Country Radio's Hidden, Sexist Policies That Keep Female Artists Off the Air', VICE, Jan 17, 2020, www.vice.com/en/article/v74dn... (slightly misspoke in the video as 2021, when in reality it was 2020)
Sterling Whitaker, 'Brandy Clark Interview: Singer-Songwriter Talks New Album, Songwriting Success', The Boot, Oct 25, 2013, theboot.com/brandy-clark-inte...
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If you want to read the essay in text, or check out any additional reviews I've done so far, go to www.spectrum-pulse.ca for more. Otherwise, be sure to like and subscribe for more!
Thanks for watching!
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Spectrum Pulse, music, review, 2013, video essay, country, Nashville country, bro-country, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Brantley Gilbert, Colt Ford, bro-country video essay, Cruise, Play It Again, Boys Round Here, Sam Hunt, Body Like A Backroad, Taylor Swift, Days Of Gold, This Is How We Roll, Tomato-gate, Capitalism, Florida Georgia Line, Bobby Bones, Music Row
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#SpectrumPulse #videoessay #country - เพลง
Mark, how DARE you imply i forgot Rascal Flatts cover of Life is a Highway...
I was raised on that movie, I will never forget that rascal flatts cover. In my head it's the canonical version of the song, I was born well too late to hear the original on the radio.
I loved this cover I had it on my iPod.
@@henatatorplays i was scandalized when i learned it was a cover and not an original track
I can’t hate that song. Too much nostalgia
I remember when I was in middle school. My principal used to play this song every Friday at lunch. I think short of a lobotomy I will never forget this song 😂.
Growing up as a queer girl in the country I had the most complex relationship with bro country. On one hand, I longed for female voices in country music but also it gave me an excuse to sing along to sexually charged lyrics about women with no one batting an eye. On another note, Kacey Musgraves stole my young heart. I had the lyrics to "Follow Your Arrow" on my 7th grade binder. In fact, it was on this very channel over a decade I first heard of her.
See, that's a fascinating reading - I'd love to see a feminine queer look at the subgenre because for as male-coded as it can be, so much of it was placing attention on women rather than elevating its male stars (might be the big reason why so many of its lesser acts felt so disposable), and Maddie & Tae proved how easily the coding and gaze could be inverted.
Another queer girl who grew up having their music taste particularly formed by mark? LET’S GO LESBIANS!
Bro country is trash country.
Watching a Spectrum Pulse video essay?
*_Yeah that's my kinda night._*
- Luke Bryan, 2013
This essay was just incredible. The amount of thought & hard work you put into this really should be noticed to a bigger audience in Country, whether Nashville or Music Row would listen or not. Even outside of Country, the music industry has a problem, and more Indie acts in every genre deserve the platform they work hard for. If the industry got it in their heads to take notes, we could actually get more deserving artists on the charts.
Metalhead here. I DETEST bro-country but I like to learn, even about things I detest. This is extremely well done, thank you.
Mark you're a legend. I've been drowning in year-end work and have been sent this like 20 times by various people, but finally gotten to watch it today. Half-way through it now, and your thoroughness is truly admirable. This is an amazing piece of work. Happy holidays, dude!
this video feels like the natural culmination of the entire past decade of this channel's history and it is really something to witness
as another person who can relate to the feeling of being mostly alone on this platform in their in-depth coverage of a specific musical niche one might think would be a lot broader and more popular than it is, here's one going out to the possibility of this video going viral
It may sound blasphemous, to to paraphrase any super-villain, Country and Electronic music aren't all that different, in that there's more variety and quality below the surface. We just need in-house experts like you to talk about and we will listen.
That said, Country gets a lot of flack because it mainly sticks to its conservative values, speaks to a limited audience outside of North America and rarely improvises; when it does, we get hilariously bad results like Bro-Country.
Compare that to most Electronic genres who constantly try to innovate and improve their sound and the tech they use, not always sticking the landing and usually failing to be more that simple music to dance to, often if its a more mainstream grenre. There's a reason most of us think the likes of Tiësto and David Guetta are uncreative sell-outs. Country is not that different.
I discovered Kacy Musgraves from a metal head cook I worked with. He told me and some other girls who worked there that Blowin Smoke was the song that reminded him of us. He loved her… loooovveeedd her. This guy was such a typical metal head but he is a huge Kacy fan. It was the only girl singer he listened to. He told me she was one of the most talented songwriters he had ever heard.
She’s amazing, she got me into to several female country acts. Most of them you listed in your video about what else was going on during bro country.
Admittedly, Kacey is one of the few country singers (especially female) that I tolerate, mainly because of her attitude.
Compare that to Rae-Lynn who embodies every I hate about the genre. So glad you didn't bring her up, considering how different her brand of Country is.
I discovered Mount Moriah and Brandy Clark in 2016 from your thorough coverage of this un-critiqued scene & that ended up influencing my songwriting a lot, thanks, and this was an excellent watch too
As somebody who’s followed you and your criticisms/hatred of bro country for a decade, this video essay feels like it’s been a long time coming. While I may not be super into country, I’ve become more aware of different acts and expanded my horizons through watching your reviews of country albums on this channel and also on Billboard Breakdown. Honestly, I think your country reviews are some of my favorites of yours because your passion for the genre really shines through when the music is good, and your visceral rage radiates through the screen when it’s bad. I’ve really been enjoying these video essays, keep them coming.
35:20. I'm so glad you pointed out more of the parallels of glam rock and bro country. That influence is absolutely there once you get passed the twang and marketing.
Theis is like one of those things you don't realize you needed until it's here
WAS NOT EXPECTING TO HEAR THE NAME COLT FORD IN THIS VIDEO!!! Mark you're a legend!
It's videos like this that make me proud to be a fan of your channel. It's rare these days to see a video so comprehensive and insightful, on a process behind the scenes of the country industry that many - including myself - have only heard about in passing but never fully understood. The amount of thought, passion, and hard work on display here should not go overlooked. Fantastic video Mark, and keep up the great work!
Mark, as someone who has been a fan of yours since nearly the beginning of this channel, I have to say that this is arguably your best video to date. You do such a good job at explaining the problems that have existed in Nashville since the bro-country boom and how the decisions made afterwards by executives there systemically disenfranchise female country artists. This video feels like a culmination of commentary you have had about Nashville for over a decade now, and you should be really proud of how this video turned out.
I hope that this video reaches people outside of your core audience, but even if it doesn't, I hope you know that you have a lot of people who recognize the consistently thoughtful commentary you provide in these videos. Keep up the amazing work!
video going to make me HOLY WATER
(high on loving your writing accuracy, technical editing, and recording)
…man now I get why people don’t like that hook
Just wanted to say thanks for your coverage of country. You've single handedly introduced me to so much amazing country music.
Also shouts out to Mark for being the best Country Music reviewer ever
Holy hell, this is gonna be goooood.
Mark, I know you’re much softer on bro-country than most other (country) music critics. After hearing the uninspired dreck that is much of so-called “boyfriend country”, a part of me is oddly nostalgic for the time when horrible country music was at least catchy and had a smidgeon of a pulse.
Don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone…
Yeah, I'll take the better half of "bro-country" over the top five percentile of "boyfriend country" ANY day: because the latter lacks a pulse and also smacks as emotionally manipulative to me in a way more well-meaning "bro-country" doesn't.
One frustrating thing about the conversation about women in mainstream country is that they are given FAR NARROWER topics to sing about . For most of country music's comercial history, acceptable "female" repertoire was more conservative than acceptable male repertoire, and thus largely about romance, breakups, God/nostalgia/family maybe. Once in a while someone would do a revenge song or a folk murder ballad. I suspect that one reason it's hard to get mainstream fans to break the long industry trend and actually pay attention to women artists is that the song topics are often kinda boring. Those topics are even boring to me as a woman and a country singer who appreciates female country artists very much.
I imagine that all the fans who've been conditioned for decades to think of country music as consisting of stereotypical working class male singers, with female singers as an occasional variation, are all more likely to think that 'female is a genre'. Judging from what I see from young and old-ass guys on Reddit, they're also far more likely to see country women as doing it wrong (like complaints about artists being 'too pop' or 'too Americana' which get thrown at women far more often than at men)
This has finally been changing A LITTLE as mainstream country has recently trended a little closer to some of the sounds of the independent/underground scene. For example, the huge success of Ashley McBryde's more storytelling-focused country sound or the breakout of Morgan Wade thanks to a song about mental health are good examples of something other than that trend of "yet another woman singing about a breakup".
I moderate R/countrymusic (independent country focused) and one year we ran a thread, looking for songs by female artists that were about things OTHER than romance/breakups. The resulting playlist is on TH-cam under 'women sing about everything but romance' , and you might be able to find it on Reddit or if you can see my youtube profile's playlists. We had to dig pretty far into independent artists to fill out a playlist of 'non-romance/breakup/family' kinds of songs.
Interesting to have this view, as a man, I much prefer to have a woman's voice in my ears than a mans, and even the classic women in country have been absolutely epic and their stuff has held up better than most of the stuff put out by men (Connie, Tammy, Loretta, Dolly, Tanya, etc.) the same fantastic session musicians played on all of it anyhow. As far as now, it has been good to see Lainey Wilson and Hailey Whitters get some attention, pretty sad that the country world never got interested in Lindi Ortega though her and Sierra Ferrell and Brennan Leigh are natural outsiders. Don't Brandy Clark and Brandi Carlile keep winning awards for writing the best songs ever? Lori McKenna too. Although I guess, literally none of the women I mentioned have anything in common with Bro-Country, I don't agree that women song topics are boring, but certainly aren't much like the 'fucking in a truck with a beer bottle and a skunk' sorta songs.
@@erickent4248 The women who make it in either commercial or independent country are often better at their vocals because there are fewer opportunities so it's a more competitive field than what the guys face.
I do think they are usually better singers and are more likely to have more vocal training (I don't know how many small-time male country singers I know who whine about how they refuse to get voice lessons because that's for wimps and Ernest Tubb had a career so they should be able to replicate his success). Women have to work harder at it in this field than the men do and I think the result is that the ones who succeed are succeeding partly because they're the best singers among the competition..
My man just made a feature film
Great work!
This video was so educational. I’m new to the genre and experiencing it as both a student and a fan. So I definitely appreciate a long for essay like this, providing history and looking at the intricacies.
Bro country really was what opened the door for country music for me. There came a time where I realized that I had aged out of mainstream hip hop and that country was a little more aligned with my interests in my late 30s.
Fantastic and interesting video Mark! Great to have someone like yourself continually take the time out of your life to document this kind of material
I’ve been a constant viewer of yours since your Billboard Breakdowns were still on this channel, and I’ve got to say… this was your best video I’ve seen so far. I’d probably be considered less than a casual Country music fan because I don’t listen to Country radio at all and never have… BUT you made the topic interesting and approached it like a true labor of love. Great work, Mark 😁✌️
Mark this was so fucking good. As somebody who was there during your first special comment on bro country, this feels like a full circle moment and you’ve grown so much.
Absolutely fantastic work, Mark. Weirdly enough, it was your review of Billy Currington's 'We Are Tonight' that helped me find your channel so long ago, so this feels like a full circle moment in so many ways.
Edit: I'll say also that, along with being the only TH-camr around this time who covered country music, Mark was the only critic in general who covered it WELL, moving beyond simple measures of "this is good / this is bad" and really focusing on the bigger picture; those reviews of the era dive into some wildly interesting territory beyond the music itself!
So yeah, I think the reason I appreciate good music criticism is because of Mark ... and, well, bro-country. 😅
Getting a new Alexander Avila video on Taylor Swift, and then this video a day later is pretty awesome!
i love the part of that Steve Earle interview where he plugs Kendrick's "DAMN"
enjoyed your essay very much
if I'm not engaged with the discourse around contemporary country, what is the controversy around Sturgill Simpson you seemed to allude to?
I'm not a country fan and that might be as a result of not really exploring it. Yet I will definitely listen to Mark talk about it for hours. Great essay as always. Looking forward to more.
This was such a great video! As someone who isnt that well versed in the country genre this really put things into perspective i never quite connected. Glad to see the Kacey Musgraves love. Her and jason isbell were what really gatewayed me into the genre
As a Conservative Texan, I definitely see the downside to capitalism in this way, as well as the systemic way it has allowed the showrunners to consistently push women to the side. Your thoughts on this are very well expressed and I thank you for the exhaustive essay this must have been to write. It’s helped me better understand the state of music as it relates to the “real world” beyond just the songs. Been following you for a long time Mark, and you never disappoint. (Except for a few unexpectedly low scores here & there lol!) Just kidding. Great job man!
Long time in the making, and it shows. As someone who knows little-to-nothing about mainstream country (I live in a country where the genre is scarce at best), a lot of this video was very eye-opening about the trends and also what went on in the background. Incredibly enlightening.
I'm so ready for this
This is the essay I’ve felt coming since I first started watching your videos Mark, so excited for this
glad to see we have one more before the year closes!!!!! will add a larger overall comment once i've finished watching, for now adding timestamps and notes:
overall comment:
what this essay most reminded me of is more recent episodes of the jimquisition. i thought i was just going to catch on to it myself, but like you say in part eight; so much of this has been made up of things you've commented on before in various capacities, be it reviews, billboard breakdown, and more besides. and that weary tone is truly well-captured in this piece, even during earlier sections where the sheer amount of information in chronicling nashville's incestuous gallery of songwriters, performers and all those outside and in between is exhausting. fun to learn, and a fuckin excellent guide alone, but still exhausting hahaha!
to your point of country-as-folksong, i'd agree heartily. country music is decently popular in ireland; fitting given that when you stretch the DNA far back enough, some of what evolved into country are explicitly irish ideas, i.e the name and placement of the fiddle within the country band, some dances like jigs and others carrying their straightforward rhythms there as opposed to bringing in polyrhythmic stuff from various african diasporas, which instead supplied the melodic language of the blues. my boyfriend and i have generally different tastes, but my getting into country and showing him some has provided that shared ground between us. and i won't step around it, i do have to thank you for introducing me to such a wide tapestry of music that i spent my whole life dismissing because of america's 00s reputation. jason isbell, zach bryan, ian noe, adeem the artist, and so many others are not names i would have heard or appreciated without your work.
timestamps:
0:00 INTRO
2:50 PART ONE: WHAT IT IS
6:33 PART TWO: REMEMBER WHEN
18:16 PART THREE: THE "HIDDEN" ORIGINS OF BRO-COUNTRY
24:12 PART FOUR: BABY, YOU A SONG
32:26 PART FIVE: DAYS OF GOLD
47:34 PART SIX-A: BOTTOMS UP
57:46 PART SIX-B: REDNECK CRAZY
1:09:29 PART SEVEN: SAME TRAILER, DIFFERENT PARK
1:39:15 PART EIGHT: YOU SHOULD BE HERE
1:47:07 POST-SCRIPT / OUTRO
notes:
4:02 im so fucking glad someone around me also hates bo burnham, i thought inside was absolutely intolerable. to take a phrase from your fall out boy essay, more often than not it was wallowing in petty insouciance and utterly repulsive
8:54 jesus fucking christ even tho i was a baby in the 00s i knew that period was the death of the left, whether electoral or radical, but i did not think it was THIS bad
19:45 i retched hearing this clip, i haven't been exposed to something so nauseatingly american since i first found out that they make tea in a fuckin MICROWAVE
21:34 weeping that a man who was on southern family wrote a song called honky tonk badonkadonk, i can imagine the dude was cackling to himself
1:45:57 that tweet might honestly be the last truly fucking excellent tweet i've ever seen. never change, 30-50 feral hogs guy who decided to go into isbell's mentions
What a fascinating essay. I've never been a country listener and just put this on while I was working, feel motivated to check some out now. Great stuff
I’d love to see more video essays like this, truly ❤️ finally finished watching it over the span of a couple days
No bro country song will reach the greatness of Honky Tonk Badonkadonk. Nah, but Mark this was another incredible video essay. As someone getting big into all grounds of country, this was important to hear
These types of video essays are done so well! Always well researched and great at giving a new perspective then most of what else is out there. Very inspiring stuff Mark! Keep it up!
Damn I could not take my ears off of this video, great analysis and writing in this video. Can’t wait for the next one.
lovely job, mark, this was an amazing video and i really enjoyed it.
I am a long time viewer and your coverage of indie country has definitely made an impact on my listening habits! Thank you for making this and the work you put into it. Really enjoyed watching it!
Another quality video essay, keep up the good work!
Appreciate the work and care you put into this essay/video, it was excellent and insightful. I hope it reaches a wider audience and that Mayb more ppl will take more of that deep dive into country music that they might not have before
I've been waiting for this one. Excellent analysis.
And thank you so much for showing me Mama's Table because oh my God I couldn't hold back tears.
This is a really fascinating video mark, as always your writing is very sharp and your pacing is top-notch, but it gave me a lot of insight into Nashville and music row that I wasn't really aware of before, and I thank you for just such an engaging and interesting video
Just finished the video. This is incredible! I can't imagine the amount of work that had to go into making this. The nuance you have when discussing music and context surrounding it is frankly unmatched. If it's worth any consolation, I have you to thank for putting me onto some of my favorite indie country and country-adjacent artists (and a couple non country artists) right now. Lori McKenna, Emily Scott Robinson, Brandy Clark, Ian Noe & Adeem the Artist were all artists I first heard of and got into because of your reviews. I'm glad you love country music as much as you do!
Really great video! I'm not a huge country fan, but every time I watch this channel it gives me a few albums and artists to check out
wow! just finished and as someone who has rarely listened to country, this makes me wanna check out more of your indie country review
Excellent video essay, Mark! 🙂
There are a couple of other noteworthy events I'd like to point out which I feel will only further enrich this illustrated history. 😊
The first is that, although you did mention Toby Keith early on in this essay...............most specifically I believe his 2001 hit "I Wanna Talk About Me" was the spiritual predecessor of "Dirt Road Anthem". Granted it didn't have the drum machine nor the more digitized production sheen, but his "rap" delivery definitely set the stage for "Dirt Road Anthem" nearly a decade later: especially seeing it went platinum before the iTunes generation was ever a thing.
The second is a short-lived duo named Fast Ryde. I'd argue they are equally as relevant to bro-country's origins as Colt Ford in that they also had a minor-charting single in "The Thang" which was basically their attempt at another "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" and, had they waited just several more years to make their splash as FGL did, it's not that hard to imagine them being decidedly more successful. They ultimately disbanded, but another notable twist is that Jody Stevens would produce none other than Cole Swindell's breakout hit "Chillin' It": which, itself, sounds exactly like Fast Ryde.
this is going to be amazing and that list of sources is BEAUTIFUL.
You should make more video essay documentaries videos on music and popular culture in general like this!! Would look forward to seeing more of that from you!!
(P.S. would love to see you do a video essay documentary on the history of disco music tbh it is such an interesting story in pop music and popular culture and even sociopolitics in general tbh)
I didn't get to see this premiere, but this takes me back to your special comment on country music that I just rewatched. Still watching on
Great essay. You really tackled this in a thoughtful way.
You did a great job on this video!
This essay is fantastic! I can tell you put a lot of work into it
First time seeing your channel and I appreciate this comprehensive and nuanced take, I can tell it took a long time to write but you deliver it very naturally. We don't have country music stations over here so I only know the very surface of crossover radio hits, so it's fascinating to hear more about the background of how those hits became hits.
Your essays are always so great, thorough, and enjoyable; thanks for making them!
This was so interesting, thank you!
Fantastic video Mark! Even as someone who’s more interested in pop, rap, and r&b I was hooked the whole time. Definitely opened my eyes to a genre I haven’t thought of much before
Back when I was a teenager in 2014, watching your reviews helped me start paying more attention to music and even inspired me to review country music as well for a few years. Granted I was terrible at it since I was young and only had a terrible laptop camera, but still. You continue to do great work and this essay was no exception.
Speaking on Bottoms Up, there was one streamer who asked for people’s guilty pleasure songs to talk about and I linked this song because I used to like it (so I do have a soft spot for it) and I know it would be entertaining to see them roast it. Although it did feel weird afterwards when they were like “Who the fuck is this squid guy?” Lol
Although I honestly never liked "Bottoms Up" personally (and completely concur with Mark that his singing voice is one of THE worst in the sub-genre)..........much like with Florida Georgia Line, I respect him immensely for writing the vast majority of his material. And he seriously has some impressive chops as a songwriter when you do a deep dive into his deeper cuts in particular. 🙂
I still can't get over the fact that Dan Huff (yes, THAT Dan Huff who produced Rascal Flatts) produced most of Gilbert's most recognizable hits. I mean..................the same guy who produced all of Rascal Flatts' Christian rock-sounding fodder..................ALSO produced "Bottoms Up" and "The Weekend" by Brantley Gilbert! Wild stuff! @.@
really well researched and comprehensive piece, Mark. i've been a fan for years and i'm so glad to see you get the chance to make some of the video essays you've mentioned.
on a video-specific note, i see keith hill's comments and the apologism they represent as a scene-specific manifestation of a patriarchal dialogue feminist academia is quite familiar with. "it's not misogyny, it's just 'common sense'. and i suppose if someone needs to be blamed, it's women again!" i appreciate you taking that with as much disdain as it deserves.
Mark, this might be the best video you have put together. Bravo🎉🎉
Very thoughtful and well-researched video.
P.S.: I also unironically enjoy some bro-country songs. Here's a list of some sub-genre songs I genuinely still have a soft spot for: 😊
Florida Georgia Line: "Tip It Back", "Confession", "Hell Raisin' Heat Of The Summer" & "Round Here" (primarily because of the sunny, optimistic, pleasant production and carpe diem-evoking energy)
Jason Aldean: "Night Train" (I don't even know if this technically counts, but regardless if it does or not it has a descriptive quality among its writers and a sentimentality that elevates it)
Randy Houser: "How Country Feels" & "Runnin' Outta Moonlight" (both have feel-good, sunny, shimmering melodies blending with Houser's excellent vocals that I can't help but be endeared to and truly evoke that carpe diem feeling)
Frankie Ballard: All three singles from his hit album (Each one of them are just charming and are elevated equally by their sunny, carefree melodies as well as Ballard injecting a bit more self-awareness in "Young & Crazy" and easy-going likability in the other two)
Jake Owen: "Days Of Gold", "Ghost Town", "Life Of The Party" and "Drivin' All Night"
Luke Bryan: "Play It Again", "Love It Gone" & "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye"
Thomas Rhett: "Make Me Wanna" & "The Day You Stop Looking Back"
Blake Shelton: "Doin' What She Likes" (it's always been a guilty pleasure of mine, sue me! =) )
Brad Paisley: "4WP"
Billy Currington: "Don't It" (I like how chill the production and groove is)
Chris Young: "Lonely Eyes" & "Text Me Texas"
Dierks Bentley: "Drunk On A Plane" & "5-1-5-0"
Joe Nichols: "Sunny & 75"
*
Brad Paisley's 4WP is actually mocking bro-country. But, hey, I like that song too, especially it "featuring Brad Paisley." Lol
@@6oclocknewsat8 I know, but it's still bro-country by virtue because it all goes out leaning into its cliches.
@MACMAMI Plus, I believe the "featuring Brad Paisley" is a reference to the overuse of features in bro-country, especially singers and rappers who aren't labeled country.
@@MACMAMI and don't forget the precursor to bro-country "Honky-Tonk Badonkadonk" by Trace Adkins.
You did it, you made a bro-country playlist that I think I might actually unironically love. Putting this together on spotify for when I'm repainting my house after Xmas...
I grew up in Montana and was in college during the pre-bro country days and then a young adult into those years. I think it fully encompassed what my weekends were like. It was the perfect back drop for fishing, hunting and mudding. You don't want to think when you're out there. It's almost the perfect soundtrack to not use your brain, which is what we wanted during a lot of that time.
I was not a fan of any pop country when it first appeared. I thought Keith Urban's "where the sidewalk ends" was an affront to all the actual country artists I was used to listening to (George Straight, Garth Brooks etc) but I will admit there is something about standing around a bon fire drinking a beer while listening to any number of those hits. It's a very specific feeling that I often think about.
Wow, I just made it to the hour mark and I swear I was only watching for 5 minutes. Great essay Mark!
Never seen one of your videos before but this was really well done. Subbed.
Excellent video! 👍
Added info at 10:03: Garth was also in his retirement phase, taking time off to be a father to his 3 daughters, Taylor, August and Allie, as well as his 2005 proposal and marriage to his longtime girlfriend Trisha Yearwood.
I also think Kip Moore is very underrated, and it's crazy to think "Somethin' 'Bout a Truck" was his only #1 hit on country radio.
Amazing video man. Came up on my feed and watched through whole thing. Not to age myself, but I was only 6 in its major prime of bro country so I really didn't understand anything at all that was going on or being said. I was somewhat of raised up listening country but not like it was all my family listened to. That era is so nostalgic and some of it brings back memories. Other times it reminds me why I'm not the biggest country fan anymore and more listen to rap. It's hard to still like it and be reminded that this is probably the biggest reason for people to hate it, especially those around me. But man, just amazing breakdown on what went on and some of the major events in its lead up, which I had no clue about.
Fantastic video!
Great video essay.
thank you for all you do man
Incredible video, Mark. I understand why you’ve mostly shifted away from it but I always enjoy your long-format content. Any time I need a good laugh I go back to your “Southside” review. Looking forward to your work in 2024.
This video is like an extra chapter to where Ken Burns' excellent 2020 10-hour doc "Country Music" left off lol In that doc he also notes how the music from the southern US (with it's black and British Isles roots) was split into "country and western" and "race music" (which would become R&B). That's why personally "country music" for me is music by a musician from the southern US (or influenced by the type of music originating in the southern US) talking about their mama, their girl/boy troubles, their hometown whether that's Nelly or Beyonce or Tim McGraw or Florida Georgia Line or Flo Rida. In fact, you could plausibly do interpretations of a lot of those artist's songs to make them sound more "country" or more "hip hop."
I mean "Ride with Me" and "Just a Dream" by Nelly are country songs (and "The Club Can't Even Handle Me" is def bro country lol).
That documentary over the pandemic made me dive DEEP into a genre I'd never really known much about other than the basics, and have come to genuinely enjoy. Made me realize that Lil Nas X is a LOT less of an anomaly than he was made out to be when Old Town Road broke big.
This is the first video of yours I've seen and it was incredible! I loved hearing about this topic I personally know very little about from a dedicated, passionate expert.
Really great video and will be subscribing!
This has been one of the best videos this channel has seen in a very long time. Not that Mark hasn’t produced banger videos, but Billboard Breakdown just feels super repetitive and album reviews just don’t hit anymore for me. Excellent excellent video
This kept popping up in my feed so I gave it a watch and I'm glad I did. You gained a subscriber and a new fan.
Great essay
Incredible video
This video is incredible. As someone who’s been diving more into the indie country scene the past couple years, I feel like I now have such great context/understanding for how I wound up gravitating toward that sound. This video is superb
a two hour historical analysis of a music genre by a source i trust im so excited
This is devious, you know I am gonna watch some tonight and finish tomorrow
I watched the whole thing.
Thanks for the essay, I love learning about country music
What an amazing video
This was beyond well done. I learned a lot from this.
This essay was amazing
Great essay as a self styled historian and participating artist in the Texas country red dirt scene you nailed your analysis of our radio cultures development over the early 2000s and teens. If you get bored, give my debut album "bad trip" a spin and let me know what you think.
fantastic video.
This video is a masterpiece. You should be proud.
God, you know, I'm an Indian born and raised in Australia who enjoys all types of genres including rock, hip hop, soul, R&B, and I'm starting to really get into American country - might be the only Indian in the world who does lol and I know that if I wanted to be a country star in the US I'd have no chance - and I did not realise how complex and multi-layered the whole country music industry was. Did not realise that women had such a hard time in country music - I actually kinda prefer female country singers since they tend to have a more homely sound. This was a fascinating video essay. Well done.
i don't want to ask too much from you but you are way too articulate and observant and i would love to see more genre/cultural explorations of things like the 90s grunge takeover and the "death" of rock and roll, or maybe a look into something more niche like microgenres like vaporwave or underground scenes like industrial and synthwave. that would be super cool! it's ok if you don't though, these videos take time and unfortunately they don't get the attention they deserve so really do whatever you want. i hope you have a good day and thank you for the content.
i have pretty much no connection to country music but this video essay was fascinating. well done! - oh and i checked out that mentioned kacey musgrave album expecting i'd be indifferent to it like any other country music i've been exposed to past garth brooks. man, was i wrong. there's depth, lyrical & musical, and a real journey within the record. mind blown, horizon expanded! thx
Amazing work, Mark. Worthy of repeat watches so I can explore artists (I must agree, I like how easy bro-country can be when you're an extremely superficial country fan like myself). However, I must once again thank you for getting me into Pistol Annies (they fucking rule!) and Gabe Lee, which I consider the best country album of 2023 (and it's not even close!). Looking forward to more video essays 🥳
Jokes on you the Rascal Flatts Life is a Highway lives rent free in my head as an 8 year old NASCAR fan when the movie came out.
This is going to be interesting
This is just incredible.
This was fascinating. I'm not the target audience for country music (not straight, not conservative, male) and I never gave much country music a shot because I just found a lot of it bland, inauthentic, and of no substance. I can enjoy stuff that doesn't have substance (Dua Lipa) but I just found a lot of it bland. I enjoyed some of the bro country I heard, mainly because of some of the rock elements (alt is the main genre I listen to) and I enjoyed a lot of stuff Luke Combs put out. I didn't give country much time of day. Then I heard Something In The Orange in late summer 2022 and it became one of my top songs of the year. I found it authentic, well written, raw, emotional, and realized I didn't hate country music- I hated the commercialization of country music. The pedaling of certain ideas and things (the outdoors, being alone, etc.) that are supposed to be a disconnect from the speed of cities and our world today just feels wrong. And the longer I live in a big city, the more I miss the two year span of my life I lived way out in the Appalachian Mountains. I want to find more artists in the same vain as someone like Zach Bryan, but it's so tough when I'm trying to steer clear of most of the mainstream stuff to begin with, only for those artists to get big too. So I'd love some artist recommendations if you have them.
I also think a lot of the surge in popularity for these artists comes from an increased desire for authenticity among young people that has come as a counterculture to the social media era of making yourself look as good as possible.
friend, please look at the independent artists out there. There's a ton of queer country, but more importantly so much good country about almost every topic out there.
@@_s827 I just don't know what artists to start with.
I have a ton of independent artists on my channel's playlists - not sure if you can see my YT channel or not from just the comments. Some queer country stuff in there too. @@megaascension2748
take a look at the account that's commenting(below? Above?) about women singers and 'women's repertoire' below. They have tons of independent artists to explore @@megaascension2748