Before Cody Jinks was a country singer, he was in a metal band. Before he was in a metal band, he was the choreographer for Color Me Badd
Charlie Daniels has voted Green Party in the last 6 Presidential elections; He just pretends to be a hardcore Republican so as not to alienate his fans
Carrie Underwood became a vegetarian after seeing Blake Shelton eat a pork chop sandwich one time
Tyler Childers' carpet doesn't match the drapes
When Shooter Jennings gets angry, Misty has to tranquilize him lest he stomp his foot deeply into the floor and tear himself in two
Lin-Manuel Miranda is adapting a rap version of Pure Country for Broadway
Listening to Old Dominion’s “Written In The Sand” can be used against you in a court of law if you are accused of sexual misconduct
CMT will broadcast the Americana Honors and Awards November 28th, at 3:00 a.m. between a rerun of Full House and a Flex Seal infomercial
Kelsea Ballerini gets so mad about Farce the Music's constant Barbie doll jokes that she kicks her little plastic dog across the glittery pink living room
There’s a 99% chance Lucero is better than your favorite band
Shooter Jennings came up with the idea for D.R.U.N.K. When he had trouble finding words to rhyme with Z.I.M.A.
Kane Brown fans actually have pretty low levels of meth addiction because "you never get high on your own supply"
Y’all should've been more specific when asking for more women on country radio because now we have Lindsay Ell
Tyler Childers is so good that Wheeler Walker Jr can introduce him and keep it PG
You can judge any album by how many tracks are “featuring” another artist
Turning on country radio and hearing Sam Hunt gives me the same feeling that Gary Levox gets when he takes a bite of ice cream and realizes it’s sugar free
Eric Church is on his way to your house right now to take all your AR-15's, teach your children about the 27 genders, and sign your wife up for the Communist party
It takes a lot of time, patience, and mistakes to realize who you are as a man. From the way we get knocked down, to what we do next when the dust settles, all of those moments matter, they say something about us, what stock we’re built from.
Throughout Shooter Jennings career, he’s made it a point always to turn left when his peers go right, to duck and dodge, when everyone else is out there trying to sing a little ditty to sell a few Dodges. He’s a man you cannot put a label on, because the minute you try, he’ll outwit you and drop a surprise you never saw coming.
On his latest record, Shooter, Jennings has done it again. He’s made the album no one expected, except this time, some ghosts are lingering of a different variety. Shooter isn’t a record Jennings could have made when I first met him almost ten years ago, instead, that Shooter Jennings was channeling his inner Trent Reznor, he was finding new and beautiful ways to fuck with anyone who thought they knew him.
On Black Ribbons, Shooter Jennings wrote a concept record that has flashes of brilliance that hit harder today than we could have foreseen at the time. The fact that that album lies dormant in a lot of rock and roll minds is a crime, but hopefully, history will be on Jennings side, and he’ll get the credit he deserves.
Following that record, Jennings stayed close to country, writing records like Family Man or The Other Life, which are strong genre records, but they still had a flavor of angst, a shadowy, “can I crank up the gain a little here”, or “can I try this concept on them” there. Straight ahead country records, they were not. While solid, that era of Jennings career wasn’t his most pure; it was a time of growth and personal observation, which in the greater catalog, we can see the direct impact of.
On Shooter though, everything feels different. There’s no way, the guy who wrote Black Ribbons could have sat down and written “Born to Git Down” – Shooter is a portrait into a man who’s come to terms with his abilities, goals, and what he’s after. You can’t write a bunch of feel-good tunes that go hard with the beers, without a sense of purpose, and humility, otherwise, it comes off contrived and douchey, AKA most of the garbage pop country radio pedals.
Collectively, Shooter is Jennings best record. It’s fun, it’s loud, and it’s carefree. There’s elements of boogie-woogie, Motown, pure rock and roll, and a lot of heart. “Do You Love Texas” should be a new Lone Star anthem given it’s unabashed, bold, and in your face, which are all things Texans love. My new hobby is to pull the song up on a TouchTunes jukebox, and then watch people walk up to see the track, and immediately put it on their phones.
“Denim & Diamonds” calls back to Hank Jr’s “Outlaw Woman” a solid beer tune, good for the dark bar, and those drinks you have alone when the day’s been just a little too long for small talk.
I appreciate and applaud Shooter Jennings for reaching inside of himself and owning his legacy and his past. I hope the world around him, and the country radio program managers take a risk and add a few of the tunes off Shooter, if anything, as an effort to save their souls, because Shooter is fun, it’s reckless, and it’s pure country music that is without false pretense. If you can’t kick up your heels to “D.R.U.N.K,” you need to take those boots right off the dance floor, mate.
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Shooter is available everywhere you ingest fine music.
I'm greatly displeased with Trailer's suggestion for my newest musical review. It seems he is possibly "trolling" me, as the kids say these days. I could pull a Carl Outlaw and not even listen to this song and the review would probably be the same, but unlike Mr. Outlaw, I have a set of ethics (and I know how to spell), and if Trailer wants me to listen to this surely sinful presentation, then I will follow through. Lord, protect my soul as I delve into this den of evil.
Surprisingly, this song, "D.R.U.N.K.," is actually about being drunk on the love of Jesus. Nah, I'm kidding. It's about being a sorry, lazy drunkard who is falling further away from the Lord's light. While this "outlaw" country is better on the ears than the vapid garbage that country radio plays, it is just as much a friend of the devil.
I have discussed the evils of strong drink on many occasions, so I'm going to touch upon an even more despicable subject. Sloth. That right there is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, my friends!
Mr. Shooter says he's not even going to put on pants or do anything of substance on this fine day. The visual there is already disgusting. Who wants to see this scruffy man wandering around his front porch in his tighty whiteys with a "Tall Boy" in one hand and a marywanner joint in the other?
God has given us each day to put our hands and minds to work. To till the soil of the earth, to help others, to be a good steward of time. Mr. Jennings would rather cast this time into the void of Hell! For shame!
Proverbs 20:4 says "The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing." Receive the Word, Shooter Jennings! Don't come around my door begging for anything later on when you are broke and stumbling around in disgrace!
And for them that listen upon this vile "artwork," Mr. Shooter is a stumbling block, causing them to think it's okay to plop their own pasty buttocks on the couch all day, drinking the High Life and watching The View. I shudder at the thought!
Flee from this sin! Run from the sluggard! Race away from the drunken bum! Keep your distance from a pot-head burnout! My son-in-law's best friend is one of these "Legalize It" losers and he can't even keep a job at the Dollar General because of his laziness (and the Yee Yee face tattoo ain't helping either).
In summary, this song is evil and bad and gets a big bold-type:
Some would imagine that the fan-friendly, honest Americana music scene would not be as likely to contain divas and d-bags as the more mainstream genres of music. However, thanks to critic and hipster love for the buzzworthy genre, things have changed of late. This groundswell has slowly created a context wherein all manner of unlikely aspirants are more apt to let their jerk flag fly. Here are some of the genre's most egregious offenders.
10. Brent Cobb
"Forgets" to invite cousin Dave to family functions
Band members only allowed to speak to him by text message
9. Rhiannon Giddens
Borrows band members' phones and logs out of everything
Once put a fan who accidentally called her 'Rihanna' in a triangle choke submission hold
8. Amanda Shires
Wouldn't speak to husband, Jason, for a month when he opposed the name "Taco Lucinda" for their daughter
Performed an entire show of Rob Thomas covers when one crowd was smaller than anticipated
7. Rob Baird
Always eats the middle cinnamon roll out of the pan first
Spends hours a day leaving 1 star iTunes reviews on other Americana artists
Will only autograph thongs
6. Shooter Jennings
Puffs, doesn't pass
Got a secret tip and sold all his Bitcoin to Marilyn Manson just before Bitcoin crashed
Plans to do an all-EDM tour later this year
5. Ward Davis
Secretly bullies Cody Jinks
Still says "Dilly Dilly!"
Keeps telling everybody new music is coming "soon" but it never does
4. Holly Williams
First person to ingest a Tide Pod on video
Can only name 3 Hank Sr. songs
Drives 10 mph below speed limit in left lane
3. Drew Kennedy
Never cleans stations in the gym after using them
Doesn't wash out the sink after beard grooming
Tour rider includes "organic kale candy" and "fitted hemp Phillies cap"
2. Courtney Patton
Spreads rumors about Jamie Lin Wilson on Snapchat
Tells dirty jokes at funerals
Vapes dill pickle flavor at songwriting sessions
1. Paul Thorn
Does the old "replace the vodka with water" trick on his tour bus