How to Support Musicians

What Is Luke Bryan Doing in This Photo?

Maybe….

Breaking in his first pair of regular fit jeans for men

Pondering the meaning of a three syllable word someone said to him

Being outstanding in his field

Proving his country authenticity as a $12 million dollar home looms in the background

Wondering what it would be like to hunt open ground like this rather than land with a cage around it

Wishing one of the workers would come show him how to hook up this plow

Wondering if maybe he should evolve his music towards a more mature and organic sound then laughing uncontrollably after the photo was taken

Being sad that Jason Aldean hangs around Donald Trump more than him lately

Being disappointed that he didn’t bring back the neckbeard like Wallen brought back the mullet

Being thankful that Joe Rogan didn’t ask him any difficult questions

Decompressing after a hard day of reading mean comments about him online

Hiding out from the Bey Hive

Thinking about how disappointed the extended family will be when they all get unsold Mind of a Country Boy vinyl this Christmas

Hoping his testicles will finally re-descend after years of skinny jeans

What Your Favorite Country Summer Song Says About You

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Dierks Bentley - Somewhere on a Beach

You hated bro-country, but can make an exception on this song because Dierks is your guy. You talk yourself into Dierks being above all that because he plays bluegrass sometimes. You’ve reached the age you’re starting to get all the “I got injured by sleeping wrong” memes. 

Little Big Town - Pontoon

You’re not really a big music listener. You just like this one because you think “motorboatin’” is funny. Usually, you’re listening to various Housewives of (whatever city) podcasts and texting while you cut people off in your Maxima.

Alan Jackson - Summertime Blues

You couldn’t think of anything else, so the first one with “summer” in the title that popped into your head was your answer. Not that it’s a bad song, it’s just that “Chattahoochee” was right there. You spend most of your free time rewatching The Pacific War in Color.

Kenny Chesney - No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem

You’re fifty-two, recently divorced, and having the time of your life. You own Chesney’s entire discography but love the hits the most. You’ve seen him live 23 times and secretly think he’d love you if you could just meet him. You’ve ended friendships over “he might be gay” jokes. 

Aaron Lewis - Endless Summer

Your endless summer includes calling people gay online, drinking approximately 700 Bud heavies in your back yard, and trying to get your son into “real country music” like Aaron, Upchurch, and Buddy Brown. 

Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville

You are a basic ass bitch. 

Beyoncé - Texas Hold ‘Em

Your endless summer includes threatening to move out of the country if Trump wins, drinking approximately 200 Titos & cranberry with the girls, and visiting multiple doctors to try to get on Ozempic even though you don’t really need it. 

Sam Hunt - Body Like a Back Road

You never received affection from your dad as a kid. You tried being an influencer but spend too much time embroiled in drama with ex-boyfriends to ever put out any content besides a couple of yoga pants thirst traps. You have a degree in something that could make you six figures a year but still work at the tanning salon in your hometown.

Travis Tritt - The Girl’s Gone Wild

Just kidding. There is no such person in the world that would name this song as a favorite anything. 

Morgan Wallen ft. FGL - Up Down

You don’t get offended by Farce the Music memes because you don’t understand them. You have never voted. You were ahead of the curve and made a low rider out of your $72K truck before your state outlawed squatting them. Your dad says if you’re not taking summer school, you gotta get a job to cover your online gambling addiction. He’s tired of covering for you, Dylan. 

Favorite Albums of 2024: First Half Report

The top 4 remains unchanged from the first quarter report, but there are big shakeups down the list.

1. The Droptines - s/t

2. Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood

3. Jonathan Peyton - Nothing Here’s The Same

4. Sierra Ferrell - Trail of Flowers

5. John Moreland - Visitor

6. Shane Smith & The Saints - Norther

7. Taylor Hunnicutt - Alabama Sound

8. Josh Meloy - Where You Came From

9. Zach Top - Cold Beer & Country Music

10. Sarah Jarosz - Polaroid Lovers

11-20

11. Blackberry Smoke - Be Right Here

12. Wyatt Flores - Half Life

13. Kelsey Waldon - There’s Always a Song

14. Swamp Dogg - Blackgrass

15. Jesse Daniel - Countin’ the Miles

16. Old Heavy Hands - Small Fires

17. Taylor McCall - Mellow War

18. Kimmi Bitter - Old School

19. Red Shahan - Loose Funky Texas Junky

20. Lost Dog Street Band - Survived

- - - - - - -

More 2024 releases I really like:

Willi Carlisle - Critterland

The Secret Sisters - Mind, Man, Medicine

The Mavericks - Moon & Stars

Adeem the Artist - Anniversary 

Rob Leines - Headcase

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes - I Built a World

Blaine Bailey - Home

The Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards

Stephanie Lambring - Good Mother

Amigo the Devil - Yours Until the War is Over

Cody Jinks - Change the Game

Emily Nenni - Drive & Cry

The Avett Brothers - s/t

Charley Crockett - $10 Cowboy

Pearl Jam - Dark Matter

Katie Pruitt - Mantras

Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well

The Montvales - Born Strangers

Lizzie No - Halfsies

Ellis Bullard - Honky Tonk Ain’t Noise Pollution

Mery Steel - She’s Back!

Willie Nelson - The Border

JJ Grey & Mofro - Olustee

Kim Richey - Every New Beginning

Sam Morrow - On the Ride Here

Jordan Lee King - By and By

Casper McWade - Something for the Pain

and there are many many more, Rich :)

The Worst Country Songs of 2023

 

Top Albums Every Year of Farce the Music's Existence

 It's almost Year-End List season, (The 2023 albums list should be ready later in December) so it's time for a recap of which albums topped our lists in past years. 

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No links, no summaries, no pretty album covers, just lists.

Who knows? Maybe you'll see something you've been forgetting to check out.

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2022

1. Kaitlin Butts - What Else Can She Do

2. 49 Winchester - Fortune Favors the Bold

3. Vandoliers - s/t

4. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

5. Ben Chapman - Make the Night Better

6. Ian Noe - River Fools & Mountain Saints

7. Aaron Raitiere - Single Wide Dreamer

8. The Wilder Blue - s/t

9. Mike Marks & The Resurrectors - Feel Like Going Home

10. Michaela Anne - Oh to Be That Free

11. Gabe Lee - The Hometown Kid

12. Joshua Hedley - Neon Blue

13. Wade Bowen - Somewhere Between the Secret & the Truth

14. Arlo McKinley - This Mess We’re In

15. Adeem the Artist - White Trash Revelry

16. Kelsey Waldon - No Regular Dog

17. Amanda Shires - Take it Like a Man

18. Tami Neilson - Kingmaker

19. Band of Horses - Things are Great

20. Plains - I Walked With You a Ways

2021

1. Morgan Wade - Reckless

2. Charles Wesley Godwin - How the Mighty Fall

3. James McMurtry - The Horses and the Hounds

4. Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming

5. Mike & The Moonpies - One to Grow On

6. Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days

7. Billy Strings - Renewal

8. Jesse Daniel - Beyond These Walls

9. Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood & Juanita

10. Emily Scott Robinson - American Siren

11. Margo Cilker - Pohorylle

12. The Steel Woods - All of Your Stones

13. Jason Boland and the Stragglers - The Light Saw Me

14. Olivia Rodrigo - Sour

15. Mac Leaphart - Music City

16. Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

17. John R. Miller - Depreciated

18. TK & The Holy Know Nothings - The Incredible Heat Machine

19. Langhorne Slim - Strawberry Mansion

20. Cole Chaney - Mercy

2020

1. American Aquarium - Lamentations

2. The Wilder Blue - Hill Country

3. Tennessee Jet - The Country

4. Zephaniah Ohora - Listening to the Music

5. Chris Stapleton - Starting Over

6. Ward Davis - Black Cats & Crows

7. Ruthie Collins - Cold Comfort

8. Futurebirds - Teamwork

9. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Reunions

10. Tami Neilson - Chickaboom!

11. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. I

12. Run the Jewels - RTJ4

13. Waylon Payne - Blue Eyes, The Harlot…

14. Arlo McKinley - Die Midwestern

15. Jaime Wyatt - Neon Cross

16. Ashley McBryde - Never Will

17. Jesse Daniel - Rollin’ On

18. Margo Price - That’s How Rumors Get Started

19. Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath

20. Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom

2019

1. Vandoliers - Forever

2. Ian Noe - Between the Country

3. Tyler Childers - Country Squire

4. Charles Wesley Godwin - Seneca

5. Mike & The Moonpies - Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold

6. Kelsey Waldon - White Noise / White Lines

7. Jade Bird - s/t

8. Jason Hawk Harris - Love and the Dark

9. Dalton Domino - Songs From the Exile

10. Whiskey Myers - s/t

11. Molly Tuttle - When You’re Ready

12. Cody Jinks - The Wanting

13. Sturgill Simpson - Sound and Fury

14. Black Pumas - s/t

15. The Highwomen - s/t

16. Caroline Spence - Mint Condition

17. Emily Scott Robinson - Traveling Mercies

18. (Tie) Tom Russell - October in the Railroad Earth

18. (Tie) Left Lane Cruiser - Shake and Bake

20. Hayes Carll - What It Is

2018

1. Lucero - Among the Ghosts

2. Jamie Lin Wilson - Jumping Over Rocks

3. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You

4. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

5. Cody Jinks - Lifers

6. Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox

7. American Aquarium - Things Change

8. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star

9. Whitey Morgan & the .78s - Hard Times & White Lines

10. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk

11. Shooter Jennings - Shooter

12. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers - Years

13. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon

14. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere

15. Caleb Caudle - Crushed Coins

16. John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness

17. Great Peacock - Gran Pavo Real

18. Blackberry Smoke - Find a Light

19. Sleep - The Sciences

20. High on Fire - Electric Messiah

2017

1. Tyler Childers - Purgatory

2. Turnpike Troubadours - A Long Way From Your Heart

3. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound

4. Colter Wall - s/t

5. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 2

6. Gregg Allman - Southern Blood

7. Jason Eady - s/t

8. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv

9. Shinyribs - I Got Your Medicine

10. Travis Meadows - First Cigarette

11. The Steel Woods - Straw in the Wind

12. J.D. McPherson - Undivided Heart & Soul

13. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 1

14. Zephaniah OHora - This Highway

15. Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw

16. Lee Ann Womack - The Lonely, The Lonesome and The Gone

17. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Youth Detention

18. Hellbound Glory - Pinball

19. Lillie Mae - Forever and Then Some

20. Margo Price - All American Made

2016

1. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth

2. Cody Jinks - I'm Not the Devil

3. Lori McKenna - The Bird and the Rifle

4. Brent Cobb - Shine On Rainy Day

5. Austin Lucas - Between the Moon and the Midwest

6. Justin Wells - Dawn in the Distance

7. Flatland Cavalry - Humble Folks 

8. Drive-by Truckers - American Band

9. Blackberry Smoke - Like an Arrow

10. Caleb Caudle - Carolina Ghost

11. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here…

12. (tie) Jeff Shepherd & the Jailhouse Poets - s/t

12. (tie) The Sword - Low Country

14. Luke Bell - s/t

15. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial

16. Brandy Clark - Big Day in a Small Town

17. Elizabeth Cook - Exodus of Venus

18. Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - Bomber Heights

19. Arliss Nancy - Greater Divides

20. Quaker City Night Hawks - El Astronauta

2015

 (2015 was the first year we did a staff-voted list)

1. Turnpike Troubadours - s/t

2. James McMurtry - Complicated Game

3. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free

4. Chris Stapleton - Traveller

5. Whitey Morgan - Sonic Ranch

6. American Aquarium - Wolves 

7. The Yawpers - American Man

8. Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffian's Misfortune

9. John Moreland - High on Tulsa Heat

10. Jonathan Tyler - Holy Smokes

11. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (tie)

William Clark Green - Ringling Road (tie)

Jason Boland and the Stragglers - Squelch (tie)

2014

1. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

2. The War on Drugs - Lost In the Dream

3. Adam Faucett - Blind Water Finds Blind Water

4. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers

5. Old 97's - Most Messed Up

6. Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else

7. Run the Jewels - RTJ2

8. Kelsey Waldon - The Goldmine

9. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

10. Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'

11. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Dereconstructed

12. Stoney Larue - Aviator

13. Tami Neilson - Dynamite!

14. Cory Branan - The No-Hit Wonder

15. Fire Mountain - All Dies Down

16. St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Half the City

17. Don Williams - Reflections

18. Matt Woods - With Love From Brushy Mountain

 19. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives - Saturday Night/Sunday Morning

20. Jimbo Mathus - Dark Night of the Soul

2013

1. John Moreland - In the Throes

2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

3. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain

4. Arliss Nancy - Wild American Runners

5. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener

6. Run the Jewels - RTJ

7. Brandy Clark - 12 Stories

8. Austin Lucas - Stay Reckless

9. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes and Angels

10. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose

11. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

12. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park

13. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life

14. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork

15. Ha Ha Tonka - Lessons

16. Son Volt - Honky Tonk

17. Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You

18. Possessed by Paul James - There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely

19. Vince Gill and Paul Franklin - Bakersfield

20. Todd Farrell Jr. and the Dirty Birds - All Our Heroes Live in Vans

2012

1. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - There is a Bomb in Gilead

2. Marty Stuart - Nashville, Vol. 1 Tear The Woodpile Down

3. Chris Knight - Little Victories

4. The Pollies - Where the Lies Begin

5. Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street

6. The Departed - Adventus

7. Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears

8. Uncle Lucius - And You Are Me

9. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, M.A.A.D. City

10. The Trishas - High, Wide and Handsome

11. John D. Hale Band - More Than I Can Handle

12. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music

13. Lindi Ortega - Cigarettes & Truckstops

14. Shooter Jennings - Family Man

15. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls

16. Arliss Nancy - Simple Machines

17. Darrell Scott - Long Ride Home

18. Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven

19. Matt King - Apples and Orphans

20. Lucero - Women and Work

2011

1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch

2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest

3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods

4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO

5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha

6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs

7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade

8. The Black Keys - El Camino

9. Adele - 21

10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival

11. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World

12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog

13. Stoney Larue - Velvet

14. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea

15. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire

16. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels

17. Wilco - The Whole Love

18. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous

19. Mastodon - The Hunter

20. Will Hoge - Number Seven

2010

1. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song

2. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer

3. Two Cow Garage - Sweet Saint Me

4. Austin Collins & The Rainbirds - Wrong Control

5. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

6. Joe Pug - Messenger

7. Trampled by Turtles - Palomino

8. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights

9. Rodney Hayden - Tavern of Poets

10. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way

11. Paul Thorn - Pimps and Preachers

12. Truth & Salvage Co. - s/t

13. Dirty Sweet - American Spiritual

14. The Black Crowes - Croweology

15. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms

16. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

17. Randy Houser - They Call Me Cadillac

18. Hellbound Glory - Old Highs and New Lows

19. The Black Keys - Brothers

20. Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do

2009

1. Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day

2. Ben Nichols - Last Pale Light in the West

3. Buddy and Julie Miller - Written in Chalk

4. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine

5. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park

6. BettySoo - Heat Sin Water Skin

7. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Let the Lead Fly

8. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels

9. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'em What Your Name Is

10. Drew Kennedy - An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel

11. The Black Crowes - Before the Frost...Until the Freeze

12. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies

13. Son Volt - American Central Dust

14. The Devil Makes Three - Do Wrong Right

15. Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away

16. Joshua James - Build Me This

17. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane

18. Miranda Lambert - Revolution

19. Krizz Kaliko - Genius

20. Mastodon - Crack the Skye

2008 

1. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

2. Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song

3. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones

4. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers

5. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind

6. Sun Kil Moon - April

7. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

8. The Felice Brothers - s/t

9. Two Cow Garage - Speaking in Cursive

10. Fleet Foxes - s/t

11. NQ Arbuckle - XOK

12. Blitzen Trapper - Furr

13. Chris Knight - Heart of Stone

14. Metallica - Death Magnetic

15. Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof

16. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

17. Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life

18. Bruce Robison - The New World

19. The Steeldrivers - s/t

20. Drag The River - You Can't Live This Way