The Office Characters as Country/Americana Fans

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: August '23

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk denotes a song  where the good attributes and the bad are dead even.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-10) overall which is a 4 point drop from May (the previous time we did this chart). The best song (by a hair over Hailey Whiters) is Luke Combs’ monster hit cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” The worst is Parmalee's "Girl in Mine" for the second time in a row, narrowly beating out Luke Bryan’s insipid “But I Got a Beer in My Hand.” I don’t really see any particular trends besides it being summer, always a celebration of cliches on country radio. 

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

Farce the Music's Top 36 Songs of 2022

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 1. Kaitlin Butts - Blood

2. Adeem the Artist - Middle of a Heart

3. Jamestown Revival - Young Man

4. Plains - I Walked With You a Ways

5. Drew Kennedy - Peace and Quiet

6. Michaela Anne - Oh to Be That Free Again

7. 49 Winchester - Russell County Line

8. Big Thief - Certainty

9. Bonnie Raitt - Just Like That

10. Arlo McKinley - Stealing Dark from the Night Sky

11. Jason Scott & The High Heat - Suffering Eyes

12. Madeline Edwards - Port City

13. Kendell Marvel - Dyin' Isn't Cheap

14. Aaron Raitiere - Everybody Else

15. Ray Wylie Hubbard ft. Lzzy Hale & John 5 - Naturally Wild

16. Miko Marks & The Resurrectors - This Time

17. Ian Noe - Road May Flood/It's a Heartache

18. Pusha T - Rock N Roll

19. Hailey Whitters - College Town

20. Gabe Lee - Wide Open

21. Tami Neilson & Willie Nelson - Beyond the Stars

22. Randall King - Around Forever

23. The Wilder Blue - Feelin' the Miles

24. Band of Horses - In the Hard Times

25. Ashley McBryde/Caylee Hammack/Brandy Clark - Bonfire at Tina's

26-35 not ranked

Ben Chapman & Channing Wilson - Things People Say

American Aquarium - Just Close Enough

Zoe Cummins & Gabe Lee - Common Law

Bri Bagwell - Old Together

King Margo - Wildfire

Vandoliers - Before the Fall

Wade Bowen - Burning Both Ends of the Bar

Julie Roberts - When You Wake Up (in the Bed You Made)

John Fullbright - Social Skills

Charley Crockett - Trinity River

Sunny Sweeney ft. Vince Gill - Married Alone

Mainstream Country Wasn't All Bad This Year

 

The Country Chart in My Perfect World

This is the kind of variety country radio would have in my perfect world. 

They aren’t ranked based only on how much I like the songs, but a combination 

of how long the singles have been out + how much I like them. 

20 Favorite Songs of 2022 So Far

Favorite Songs of 2022: Mid-year Report

1. Kaitlin Butts  - Blood

2. Jamestown Revival - Young Man

3. Drew Kennedy - Peace and Quiet

4. Big Thief - Certainty

5. Ray Wylie Hubbard ft. Lzzy Hale, John 5 - Naturally Wild

6. Aaron Raitiere - Everybody Else

7. Jason Scott & The High Heat - Suffering Eyes

8. Bonnie Raitt - Just Like That

9. Ian Noe - Road May Flood / It’s a Heartache

10. Pusha T - Rock N Roll

Next 10 (in no particular order)

Hailey Whitters - College Town

Band of Horses - In the Hard Times

Madeline Edwards - Port City

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway ft. Billy Strings - Dooley’s Farm

49 Winchester - Russell County Line

The Wilder Blue - Feelin’ The Miles

Ben Chapman & Channing Wilson - Things People Say

Arlo McKinley - Stealing Dark from the Night Sky

American Aquarium - Just Close Enough

Tami Nelson ft. Willie Nelson - Beyond the Stars

20 Favorite Albums of 2022: 1/3 Report

(Trailer's top 20 so far - Year end list will be staff voted)

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1. Kaitlin Butts - What Else Can She Do

2. Ben Chapman - Make the Night Better

3. Joshua Hedley - Neon Blue

4. Ian Noe - River Fools & Mountain Saints

5. The Wilder Blue - s/t

6. Jason Scott and the High Heat - Castle Rock

7. Band of Horses - Things Are Great

8. Pusha T - It’s Almost Dry

9. Hailey Whitters - Raised

10. Yelawolf / Shooter Jennings - Sometimes Y

11. Sarah Shook and the Disarmers - Nightroamer

12. The Whitmore Sisters - Ghost Stories

13. Jamestown Revival - Young Man

14. Tony Logue - Jericho

15. William Clark Green - Baker Hotel

16. Brent Cobb - And Now Turn to Page…

17. Ray Wylie Hubbard - Co-Starring Too

18. Pinegrove - 11:11

19. Lost Dog Street Band - Glory

20. Alma Russ - Fool’s Gold

Album Review / Hailey Whitters / Raised

By Megan Bledsoe

When we think of country music and the places from which it is inspired, what comes to mind? Is it the Georgia clay and the Southern stars which have been made such clichés by mainstream artists? Is it Appalachia, whose creeks and coal mines have been brought to life in recent years by the likes of Charles Wesley Godwin and Tyler Childers? Maybe it’s the wild emptiness of west Texas and Oklahoma romanticized by so many names in the Texas and Red Dirt scenes, or even the deserts and canyons depicted by artists like Alice Wallace and Marty Stuart who are striving to keep the “western” part of country and western music alive. But most of us would overlook the Midwest, a place just as “country” as any of the others but often ignored by mainstream and independent artists alike. Hailey Whitters has arrived to rectify this, making a case that the cornfields and sod farms of Iowa can be just as country, and just as romantic, as the mountains of Kentucky and the endless skies of the West.

Whitters' love letter to her hometown of Shueyville, Iowa, and to the Midwesterners who often find themselves left out by even the genre of American music meant to tell the stories of rural people, takes the form of the loosely conceptual album Raised. Raised remains "loosely" conceptual because all of these songs can stand on their own, but taken as an album, they paint a beautiful picture of small-town Midwestern living. Whitters takes the tropes of checklist country and bro country and turns them into thoughtful, nostalgic pieces of commentary on growing up, leaving home, and eventually longing to come back and to embrace a simpler way of life. In the hands of other artists, cornfields and moonlight are the settings for hookups and parties, but in Hailey Whitters' hands, "In a Field Somewhere" illustrates the backdrop for life lessons and marriage proposals. "Boys Back Home" could easily veer into listastic territory celebrating tough guys who drink beer and hang out on tailgates, but instead, Whitters delivers a song about the men who will pull you "out of a ditch or a bar," the ones that helped her to become the person she is today. And a title like "Beer Tastes Better" might give you pause until you hear Whitters' account of catching up with an old friend and recognize the comfort she feels in her hometown, the same comfort so many of us experience when surrounded by the people and places that made us who we are.

Similarly to turning lyrical clichés into meaningful expressions of art, Hailey Whitters also takes a modern country pop sound and expertly demonstrates how the style can be respectful to both country and pop. The songs are built around catchy hooks and infectious melodies, and the album is not without electronic elements. But there are also heavy doses of fiddle and steel all over this record. It's not traditional, but it's the kind of album that pushes the genre forward while still proudly embracing country's roots. It's the type of record we should be recommending to younger listeners to get them properly interested in our beloved country music, the sort of album that showcases the value of pop country for the survival of the  genre, if only it is done right.

Hailey Whitters has achieved several significant accomplishments with the recording and releasing of Raised. Firstly, she has captured the beauty of a land so often forgotten and reminded us that, as she says on "Middle of America," even the most ordinary places are "still something to some folks." Secondly, she has proven that even the most worn-out clichés of mainstream country music can be given new life when they are placed in capable songwriters' hands. She has produced an excellent case for the fact that pop country is not inherently bad and that it can even be artful and inspire something as cinematic as a concept album. Lastly, though the record was made to celebrate the people and places of the Midwest, Hailey Whitters has spoken to us all, delivering a timeless album that perfectly captures the beauty of small towns all across America, the burning desire that so many of us have to leave those little map dots, and the sense of home and belonging which only comes from returning. 

Raised is available now everywhere you stream or purchase music.

New Video / Hailey Whitters / "Everything She Ain't"

New Video / Hailey Whitters / "Fillin' My Cup"

Best Songs of 2020 Spotlight / Hailey Whitters / "Janice at the Hotel Bar"

New Video / Hailey Whitters / "Janice at the Hotel Bar"

From her album The Dream.

Favorite Songs of 2019: #11-36

Favorite Songs of 2019

#11-36 (Not in any particular order)

(List by Trailer)

Randy Rogers Band - Anchors Away

Vandoliers - Sixteen Years

Tyler Ramsey - Evening Country

Liz Brasher - Blood of the Lamb

Emily Scott Robinson - Borrowed Rooms and Old Wood Floors

Jon Pardi - Just Like Old Times

Frankie Lee - Speakeasy


Whiskey Myers - Gasoline

Reba McEntire - No U in Oklahoma

Kylie Rae Harris - Twenty Years From Now

Joshua Ray Walker - Keep

Hailey Whitters - Ten Year Town

Kelsey Waldon - Kentucky, 1988

Danny Brown - Dirty Laundry

Brent Cobb & Jade Bird - Feet Off the Ground

Dee White - Tell the World I Do

Kalyn Fay - Good Company

Austin Meade - Mountain Past

Lillie Mae - You’ve Got Other Girls For That

Kendell Marvel - Musta Kept It For Himself

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Giannis

Sturgill Simpson - Make Art Not Friends

George Strait - Some Nights

Jason Hawk Harris - Blessed Interruption

Caroline Spence - Who’s Gonna Make My Mistakes

Tool - Pneuma

New Video / Hailey Whitters / "The Days"

New Video / Hailey Whitters / "Ten Year Town"

Win Our Big Music Stash!

Over the past few years, particularly the last 2, we've built up quite a stash of CDs and other merchandise sent to us by bands and singers. I need to clear some of this stuff out, so I'm giving away a big ol' stash box.

So how can you win it? Just be funny. Since memes are the quickest way to get a joke across, that's one possibility. Make a meme and send it to us; easy as that. *United States only*

You can email it to farcethemusic@gmail.com 

or you can DM it to me on Twitter @Farcethemusic (let us know if we need to follow you) 

or you can message it on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/farcethemusic. 

We'll also accept Top 10 Lists, parody lyrics, parody songs, funny Photoshop edits, song reviews (funny or serious), and literally anything else you want to write or create, even just a funny tweet if you make sure I see it, that's related to music (particularly country and Americana). Please don't post anything directly on our Facebook page or Tweet it publicly. We'd rather the material stay private until (and if) we post it on FTM.

There's no limit on entries. The best wins, so quality is certainly more welcome than quantity,  but I don't care how many things you send. Be the funniest, the most insightful, the most clever, the best review writer… whatever. Anything you send may be posted on Farce the Music.

I (Trailer) and another member of the staff or two will judge entries. Winner gets the whole box of stuff (detailed below). There may be other prizes awarded as well, if we get a lot of good stuff. Contest starts now. Send your entry by midnight, Friday, August 26th. Now get to work!

Special thanks to these bands and artists for last-minute help filling up the box!

Wrinkle Neck Mules

Mayeux & Broussard

The Britt Lloyd Band

Taylor Alexander

Grady Spencer & The Work

Here's the Prize Stash:

Unopened CDs
Jonathan Tyler - Holy Smokes
Bart Crow - Dandelion
Wrinkle Neck Mules - I Never Thought it Would Go This Far
Taylor Alexander - Real Good at Saying Goodbye
The Britt Lloyd Band - Unlabeled
The Britt Lloyd Band - The Ink
Dub Miller - The Midnight Ambassador
Dub Miller - Lost/Live
Cyrus James - Dreamers of the Day
Cyrus James - Molly and the Devil
Grady Spencer and The Work - The Line Between
Mayeux and Broussard - High Times & Good Rhymes

Lightly used CDs (ripped once and returned to package)
Will Hoge -Small Town Dreams
Wade Bowen - s/t
Chris Roberts - The Way West
The Excavators - s/t
The Mastersons - Good Luck Charm
Hailey Cole - Illusions
Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen - Hold My Beer, Vol. 1
The Surreal McCoys - The Howl and the Growl
Hailey Whitters - Black Sheep
Texas Renegade - Surviving the Flood

2 Wrinkle Neck Mules t-shirts (Different designs: 1 large, 1 xl)

Koozies
Angaleena Presley
Grady Spencer & the Work
The Damn Quails
Charlie Worsham

Mayeux & Broussard Sticker
Wrinkle Meck Mules Sticker

New Video: Hailey Whitters - One More Hell

Get More: 

FTM's Top 20 Songs of 2015

20. Jonathan Tyler (with Nikki Lane) - To Love is to Fly

19. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - S.O.B.

18. Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta

17. Jamie Lin Wilson - Seven Year Drought

16. Allison Moorer - If I Were Stronger

15. John Moreland - White Flag

14. Darrell Scott - Thanksgiving 1985

13. Benton Leachman - Lonely

12. Ray Wylie Hubbard - Stone Blind Horses

11. Anderson East - What a Woman Wants to Hear

10. Chris Stapleton - Fire Away

9. Father John Misty - The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt.

8. Ashley Monroe - Bombshell

7. Whitey Morgan - Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue

6. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Beehive

5. Hailey Whitters - Low All Afternoon

4. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen - El Dorado

3. The Honeycutters - Me Oh My

2. Baroness - Chlorine & Wine

1. Turnpike Troubadours - The Bird Hunters

Best Songs of 2015 Spotlight: Hailey Whitters - Low All Afternoon

You Should Hear This: Hailey Whitters - "Late Bloomer"

Here's Hailey Whitters with "Late Bloomer" from her exceptional new album Black Sheep.
Highly RIYL: Lee Ann Womack, The Dixie Chicks, Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe.