1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,920 Welcome to the album nerds podcast with your hosts, Andy, Don and Dude. 2 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:14,360 Howdy y'all. 3 00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:18,520 We're back again for another square dance. 4 00:00:18,980 --> 00:00:20,000 Got dude here. 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:21,480 Andy and Don are with me. 6 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:23,040 How you fellas doing? 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:24,680 Uh, doing good. 8 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:25,120 Doing good. 9 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,760 Just, uh, squeezing into my cowboy boots over here. 10 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,160 You don't wear socks with cowboy boots. 11 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:32,040 I didn't know that, but. 12 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,240 Oh no. 13 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:34,920 You got him. 14 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:36,840 No, I couldn't do that. 15 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:37,520 You wear socks. 16 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:38,800 I do. 17 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:40,520 Are they red cowboy boots? 18 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:41,480 Sparkly. 19 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:42,960 What are we talking about here? 20 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:43,720 Spurs? 21 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,080 They are snakeskin. 22 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:49,520 Snakeskin. 23 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:50,480 You're a vegetarian. 24 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:51,560 I didn't eat them. 25 00:00:51,560 --> 00:01:00,160 Don, uh, thankfully no one in the listening audience could see you, but I know you're 26 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,080 just wearing chaps and nothing else, but, uh, how you doing? 27 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:04,720 They're pleather. 28 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:05,240 There you go. 29 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,600 That sounds very comfortable. 30 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,240 I just got done mixing up a pitcher, a sweet tea. 31 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:11,880 There you go. 32 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:12,960 All right. 33 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:17,480 So this is the album nerds podcast and we love talking about albums. 34 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:18,640 We have a great show for you. 35 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,960 We're going to talk about three albums and you may have guessed they are in 36 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:26,160 a particular genre this week. 37 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,080 We're going to be answering a question talking about what we learned, but this 38 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,560 week it's all about today's country. 39 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:45,280 Country music originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States with its 40 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,040 earliest recordings coming in the 1920s. 41 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,200 Country music is primarily focused on working class Americans and blue collar 42 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:52,600 life. 43 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,320 Many sub genres have developed over the years, including bluegrass, 44 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:58,240 outlaw and bro country. 45 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,760 It is also fused with other genres, including pop rock, R and B and hip hop. 46 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,760 Today's country charts include names like Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, and Kelsey 47 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:09,480 Ballerini. 48 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:15,240 So today each of us will present a country album released since 2020. 49 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,960 Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, 50 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:18,040 yeah. 51 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:18,720 Here we are. 52 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:20,440 Modern day country. 53 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:26,440 It's kind of tough cause I am a country fan, but I tend to dig on the independent 54 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,480 country, the outlaw stuff, the Americana stuff. 55 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,040 But I did experiment with more of a pop country world. 56 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,000 So I listened, I started off with my normal stuff, the panhandlers that you 57 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,400 know, Tyler Childers, Zach Brian, his American Heartbreak that came out last 58 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:46,760 year, great album, but 33 songs. 59 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,680 I just didn't know if we could, if there was any way we could discuss that. 60 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:52,440 It's asking a lot. 61 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:53,080 Yeah. 62 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:54,760 On this show, boil it down. 63 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:55,840 Like, I don't know. 64 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:56,680 It was a lot. 65 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,160 So I'm happy with the path I took. 66 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,480 I had some fun in the pop country area as well. 67 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:03,360 So how'd you guys do? 68 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,840 Well, you know, I'm a, I'm a country dabbler a little bit less than the new 69 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,360 dude, but I do have the sub genres I enjoy. 70 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:14,040 Oh, Oh, Andy, you should be a country artist and you should be Andy the country 71 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:14,560 dabbler. 72 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:16,120 That could be your whole thing. 73 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:18,560 Just the dabblers. 74 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:19,080 I like that. 75 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:20,440 The dab, the dabblers. 76 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,360 Andy and the dabblers. 77 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:25,720 We got it. 78 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:28,160 There were a handful. 79 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,560 Actually, there was a lot of interesting stuff I came across. 80 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:32,200 I'll mention a couple here. 81 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,400 The Sturgill Simpson record that came out in a couple of years ago, the 82 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:37,640 ballad of Dude and Juanita. 83 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:39,200 I'm all concerned with the spelling. 84 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:41,040 D O O D. 85 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,000 Maybe that's just, maybe that's just the property. 86 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:44,840 It's just a proper name. 87 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:45,320 I'm not sure. 88 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:46,720 I think it's more of a phonetics spelling. 89 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:48,760 Maybe dude, dude. 90 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:50,200 Really good. 91 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,880 I can outlaw country epic story there. 92 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,640 Or I could have been digging on from this year from an artist by the name of 93 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:02,520 H C McIntyre, her album titled Every Acre kind of a singer songwriter, country 94 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:03,840 folk record there. 95 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:04,520 It's really good. 96 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,240 Um, one of the artists I got to give a shout out to, I was very impressed by 97 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,200 the uniqueness of the record is, uh, Adim the artist. 98 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:18,960 It's a non-binary individual from North Carolina record is entitled white trash 99 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:19,640 revelry. 100 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,960 It's very interesting perspective, just kind of growing up in that non-binary 101 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:24,720 community in the South. 102 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:27,880 Uh, I thought they did a really good job capturing that was something I had 103 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:28,840 never really heard before. 104 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:30,400 So, yeah, I listened to it too. 105 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:35,960 And it sounded like kind of, you know, country folk type stuff, but the subject 106 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:43,480 matter having dealt with being a pansexual and non-binary and then, you 107 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:48,560 know, perhaps the acceptance levels might be different in different parts of the 108 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:49,000 country. 109 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:50,920 So yeah, it was, it was an interesting lesson. 110 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,480 It's tough to be pansexual and the panhandle. 111 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:54,920 Oh God. 112 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:01,920 That's Texas. 113 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,040 Texas is a panhandle. 114 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:04,600 I don't know. 115 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:05,920 I think does Florida have one too? 116 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:07,720 I don't know if North Carolina has one. 117 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:13,200 Uh, North Carolina sort of, yeah, it's got a little handle. 118 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,520 Born in North Carolina and apparently in Knoxville, Tennessee now. 119 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:19,320 Oh my gosh. 120 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:24,000 Well, it would have been easy, I think, to, to do like a Chris Stapleton record or 121 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,000 Jason Isbell or something, but I did want to, you know, kind of check out the 122 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:29,800 stuff that's, that's on the charts right now. 123 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,640 So I listened to Luke Combs getting old, you know, which was, which was fine. 124 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:37,480 There's actually a cover of Tracy Chapman's fast car that you can hear on 125 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,840 country radio these days and he does a good job with it, but it would be hard to 126 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:41,800 butcher that song, I think. 127 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,240 Also listened to Al King, you know, she's another kind of one of those like outlaw 128 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,560 ladies, uh, she had an album called, uh, come and get your wife. 129 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,080 Also, you know, I've heard a lot about old dominion, uh, over the years. 130 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,320 So I listened to there's, um, time tequila and therapy, which was a good title, but 131 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,120 yeah, I didn't end up going with, with either of those three. 132 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,040 I went in a different direction. 133 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:03,640 All right. 134 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,480 Well, why don't we head over yonder and check out what we picked. 135 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,880 You chew, chew, choose me. 136 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,280 My dad put so much love into that guitar. 137 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:22,240 And you know, someday when he's dead and gone, I'll be able to pick up that 138 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:23,560 guitar and talk to him. 139 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:24,400 All right. 140 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,600 For my today's country selection, we were talking about Mr. 141 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:33,880 Billy strings and his 2022 record me and dad. 142 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:35,800 Let's play a little bit from the opening cut. 143 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:36,960 This is long journey home. 144 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:50,760 And this guy would have been awesome on he hawk. 145 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:51,360 Oh yeah. 146 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:52,640 Oh dude, he would have wrecked. 147 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:54,440 All right. 148 00:06:54,440 --> 00:07:00,480 So Billy strings born William Lee, apostle from Lansing, Michigan, Lansing, 149 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,400 Michigan, bluegrass in Lansing, Michigan. 150 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:06,520 What kind of graphs do they have there? 151 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:07,680 Uh, Maui, wowie. 152 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:11,760 All right. 153 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:16,880 So this record, me and dad is a collaboration with his stepfather, Terry 154 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:22,920 barber, Terry is the individual who raised Billy and also taught him how to play 155 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,600 guitar. The record is comprised primarily of traditional country and bluegrass 156 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:28,800 standards. 157 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,800 My three words to describe this record are string family rocks. 158 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,840 Can't imagine growing up in like such a talented musical family as this. 159 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:42,040 I mean, these two guys are just so proficient on the acoustic guitar and other string 160 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:42,840 instruments. 161 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,960 Uh, I know they're not biological family, but they do have something in common here. 162 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:47,840 That is pretty special. 163 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:49,520 No, I can't imagine that. 164 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:54,560 I mean, the only things I could have inherited are doing yard work and records 165 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:55,440 administration. 166 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,040 And I did not inherit those things. 167 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,200 Well, you know, those are evable skills as well. 168 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,320 Not lucky to make you a country music star. 169 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,080 There was not really any original material here. 170 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,920 I think what makes this record stand out for me is the collaboration and kind of 171 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:14,320 the give and take the back and forth between Billy and his, and his father here. 172 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,320 It's a nice, you can tell they've been playing together for a long time, you 173 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:18,160 know, probably decades. 174 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,160 At this point, and they have a good rapport between the two of them. 175 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:21,600 Yeah. 176 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,560 When we play another cut from the record, this is a bit of John Deere tractor. 177 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:30,880 Deere tractor in a half acre field. 178 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,880 I'm trying to power through. 179 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:37,240 Lovely harmonies on that one. 180 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:42,000 That track, John Deere tractor was written by Lawrence Allen Hammond, and that was 181 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,600 originally recorded by the Judds in 1984. 182 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:51,200 And then again in 1990, the three words I chose to describe the album are kick some 183 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:51,760 grass. 184 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:54,000 Yeah. 185 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,080 I mean, this is, you know, it's a, it's a celebration of, you know, blue grass and 186 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,320 you know, sort of your old timey, you know, country Western sounds. 187 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,400 And, you know, it's, it's easy for me to get behind that. 188 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:06,360 I really enjoy that stuff. 189 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:11,240 I was actually surprised by his voice when I actually saw what he looked like. 190 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,240 I was quite shocked because I was picturing like a John Popper from Blues Traveler or 191 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:15,440 something. 192 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:16,440 Big old guy. 193 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:17,480 Yeah. 194 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,480 Not just this kind of baby faced, you know, little guy. 195 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:23,760 But yeah, so I, you know, I love his voice. 196 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,840 There's a couple of tracks where his, where his stepfather sings that, that life to go 197 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,240 track, which is actually a George Jones original. 198 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,240 I think he did a really good job with that and their harmonies, you know, to together 199 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:37,520 just really work well. 200 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:42,920 When I read that he was like a prodigy or a young, you know, young phenom or something, 201 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:47,800 I, I kind of pictured that he played like banjo or something like that, because, you 202 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,720 know, in bluegrass, a lot of times the guitar is just sort of there. 203 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:55,320 You know, it's, it's providing the framework of the song, but it's not generally a place 204 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:57,000 where you're showing off virtuosity. 205 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,440 But if you really do listen to some of these tracks and some of the solos, you know, you 206 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:04,840 get it that, you know, that he's actually just a really good acoustic guitarist. 207 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:05,080 Yeah. 208 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,320 There's a couple instrumental tracks out here that I think the two of them back and 209 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:09,400 forth is impressive. 210 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,240 But I checked like frosty more and just like a three minute instrumental track towards 211 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:13,840 the end of the record. 212 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:18,600 It is crush it and just speed through it and make it incredibly fast, incredibly dexterity 213 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:19,800 is playing there. 214 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:21,120 And it's impressive to hear. 215 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:25,480 I'll probably end up saying this about all three of our records, but you know, it's a 216 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:30,440 celebration of the past, you know, and I feel like the best country that's out there is 217 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,280 always kind of looking backwards. 218 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,960 And I'm not sure what there is moving forward, you know, for, for country. 219 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:38,240 We'll talk more about that later. 220 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,720 Why don't we play another cut as stonewalls and steel bars. 221 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:59,760 So stonewalls and steel bars was written by Ray Pennington and Roy Markham was first 222 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,480 recorded and released by the Stanley brothers in 1963. 223 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:09,120 But these old timey country songwriters, it seems like they saw prison as being like a 224 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:10,280 real possibility. 225 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,640 Oh, dude, you gave it away. 226 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:17,040 I was going to get into like how this song is about prison because it's kind of, you 227 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:18,120 know, it was really deep. 228 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:19,680 Yeah, deep metaphor there. 229 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,840 God, you done fucked it up, man. 230 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:26,960 Whole thing is ruined. 231 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:27,320 Oops. 232 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:32,840 Yeah. So, uh, gray haired ward in deep Frisco Bay, we're talking Alcatraz, we talk in 233 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:33,680 San Quentin. 234 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:38,240 I mean, it sounds like the guys on death row, um, San Quentin would have been the place 235 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,280 for that, but, and, and I think in 63 Alcatraz closed. 236 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,440 In prison, uh, trivia over here, man. 237 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:45,920 Impressive. 238 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:46,440 Yeah. 239 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,320 Well, I dig deep, man. 240 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:54,600 So the three words I used to describe this album, uh, generic grass joke. 241 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:57,520 I'm just kidding. 242 00:11:57,520 --> 00:11:58,040 I'm just kidding. 243 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:04,240 The three words I used to describe this is generic strings joke, uh, or, or list Billy's 244 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,640 father's strings, you know, that, that little clip we played at the beginning with him 245 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:13,440 talking about his dad's guitar and the history in it and how he'll always feel him there. 246 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:18,320 That got me thinking about the, the, you know, the strings, the things that tie us 247 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:19,680 together as a family. 248 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:21,600 Whether we're blood related or not. 249 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:27,600 And then the, the, uh, Billy strings thing and just like his other worldly guitar playing 250 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:34,640 talent and to see that it was sparked by this guy, you know, I'm going to ask you, Andy, 251 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:39,600 Terry Barber, did he have a recording career or just, uh, played bluegrass with his buddies? 252 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:44,320 I think he was well known, at least in the area as being a bluegrass guitarist. 253 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,200 He was a very, very famous guitarist. 254 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,880 I don't know if he had a recording career as far as I could find any information on. 255 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:52,520 That was kind of the feeling I got. 256 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:58,720 So what was interesting to me was that although Billy has done plenty of bluegrass stuff 257 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:01,720 and he'd done rock and roll covers, he's done all sorts of stuff. 258 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:06,480 I love that they took traditional country songs and bluegrass eyes them. 259 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:07,480 Bluegrass them up. 260 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:07,760 Yeah. 261 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,240 You normally think bluegrass is just a part of country and it's its own thing. 262 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:12,640 Like I liked that. 263 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:13,200 I liked that. 264 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:17,400 Yeah. Interesting tidbit, man. I don't know if you knew, but he used to be in a metal 265 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,800 band or for a few years before he got into bluegrass. 266 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:21,360 Yes. 267 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:26,800 Which, uh, surprising when I've described Billy strings to people in the past, I have 268 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:28,720 said it's like it's bluegrass music. 269 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:33,360 If Metallica were playing it, he's a master of bluegrass. 270 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:34,800 He's pulling your string. 271 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:47,440 He's a master of bluegrass. He's pulling your string. 272 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:48,560 He's playing your strings. 273 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:51,680 He can do both. 274 00:13:54,960 --> 00:14:00,920 The, you know, the guitar solos and the structures of them and how they, one thing 275 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:06,400 leads into another thing and then back again, like, uh, but that's beside the point. 276 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:12,960 But this album really, I think holds significance because it's showcasing his 277 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:18,200 talents, but also preserving bluegrass, emphasizing family connections and kind 278 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:23,800 of prioritizing people in relationships and your roots over popularity or trying 279 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,520 to make a hit record type of thing. 280 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:27,720 Cause that's not what this was. 281 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:28,720 This is a passion project. 282 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:29,120 Yeah. 283 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:33,320 Yeah, his previous record, uh, home won a Grammy for him in 2021. 284 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,400 He has put out some original material since then, but I think this was kind of 285 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:41,160 like a good opportunity to look back and maybe give his, give his father some, 286 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,360 some of the spotlight as well and kind of highlight where he came from. 287 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,840 So I think, uh, at least for that, it does a very good job of, of highlighting the 288 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,640 past as, as they were saying, country music does so well. 289 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:51,680 All right. 290 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,320 So the album is me and dad by Billy strings. 291 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:56,960 It's available in all the usual places. 292 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:57,640 Check it out. 293 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,480 I'm good enough. I'm smart enough and dog gone at people like me. 294 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:06,600 If you're enjoying the show and we hope you are, do us a solid and leave a review 295 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,720 on Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast app. 296 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:10,920 Maybe we made you laugh. 297 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:15,320 Maybe we made you cry, or you discovered an album you enjoy leaving a review keeps 298 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,400 the show going and helps other music fans find us. 299 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,280 I'm Ashley McBride and we probably shouldn't tell you this, but this one time 300 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,360 six of us locked ourselves in a house for a few days, eight bottles of tequila. 301 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,800 And six people that are half out of their brain. 302 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:33,000 So is that the real world Memphis? 303 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:42,520 So the album from today's country that I chose is one from Ashley McBride. 304 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,960 It's called Ashley McBride presents Lindyville. 305 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:49,760 And we'll explain what that means in a second. 306 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:52,360 But first let's hear the closing cut. 307 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:57,360 This is called Lindyville. 308 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:11,880 So this is the third major label release by Ashley McBride, born in Waldron, Arkansas in 1983. 309 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,640 This is not a traditional solo album. 310 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:21,880 So basically, as I understand it, she and a group of her songwriting pals, which includes 311 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:27,760 Brandi Clark, Benji Davis, Connie Harrington, Nicolette Hayford, and Aaron Reitier. 312 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:30,320 I'm not sure if that's the correct pronunciation. 313 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:37,920 Anyway, so they stayed in a cabin for seven days and wrote songs about characters in a 314 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,320 fictional town called Lindyville. 315 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:45,440 And it's called Lindyville as a tribute to country songwriter, Dennis Lindy, who wrote 316 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:50,320 the famous Elvis track Burning Love, also wrote that chick song Goodbye Earl. 317 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:56,920 So, yeah, I guess one day Ashley McBride realized she had all these songs about characters. 318 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:02,200 And I guess she said to herself or to someone else, what if all these characters lived in 319 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:06,120 the same town? So this is basically a concept album. 320 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:12,000 Each song is about a different character and they're all performed by different singers. 321 00:17:12,120 --> 00:17:15,040 Hey, do you know if Lindyville is in Cornfield County? 322 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:17,560 Because that's where he took place. 323 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:19,840 I was actually thinking about who's the author. 324 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,520 Oh, is it Faulkner or something who has like that fictional county, like where all his 325 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:25,920 stories come from? Kind of reminded me of that. 326 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,080 Also reminded me of Neil Young did Greendale. 327 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:30,120 Do you guys remember that? 328 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:31,640 Yeah, same idea. 329 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,160 The three words I chose to describe the album are this American life. 330 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:41,200 So it is just sort of a slice of southern or Midwestern American life. 331 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:42,520 Doesn't even have to be those things, right? 332 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:48,000 If you drive around, you know, upstate New York, you know, it's pretty rural. 333 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,520 But yeah, you know, but it's like a lot of good country music. 334 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,920 You know, it is sort of telling that, you know, the stories of ordinary folk. 335 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,120 Anyway, let's let's hear another song. 336 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:12,480 This is Bonfire at Tina's. 337 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:17,280 So Bonfire at Tina's is towards the end of the album as well, where things get a little 338 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,200 more serious on the album. 339 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:25,680 I think some of the earlier songs are a little more comical in their sort of over the top. 340 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:26,680 Jesus, Jenny. 341 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:33,600 Yeah, to some degree, you know, how, you know, how country music has these sort of 342 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,320 cliches like cliches, whiskey and blah, blah, blah. 343 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:41,040 There's also the cliches of trailer park, white trash. 344 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:44,200 And I feel like that's where this takes place. 345 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:51,160 It's kind of, you know, small town and yes, but in a way where there was little to like 346 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:56,120 about the folks of Lindyville until towards the end of the album, like Bonfire at Tina's. 347 00:18:56,120 --> 00:19:04,040 I really like how it features this sort of this theme of all these women that don't get 348 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,160 along in this town that we've seen earlier in the album. 349 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,800 But they set aside their conflicts and support each other when everything else around them 350 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:17,240 is falling apart, that there's there's love for each other in this small town, you know, 351 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:19,880 besides all the drama that goes on early on. 352 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:24,440 So I really I liked that sentiment of it where it kind of tied things up a little bit. 353 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:29,960 The three words I used to describe this album, Southern Songwriting Theater. 354 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:31,560 It is theatrical. 355 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:37,800 There's those commercials for local businesses that I do think I mean, I love this album. 356 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,920 I am mad at myself for ignoring it. 357 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:42,120 I liked her first two. 358 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:46,760 This came out, I played it and I got confused and thought it was a playlist or something 359 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:48,760 because I was hearing other voices. 360 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:50,520 So I just kind of ignored it. 361 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:55,080 And when Don brought it up, I went back to it and then finally got a chance to understand 362 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:56,360 what the hell was going on. 363 00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:00,760 So don't give up if you're listening to this because you do hear different voices. 364 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,400 It's not a traditional third record. 365 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:09,080 It's odd that a major country label allowed this to come out with bad words in it and 366 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,000 untraditional feel. 367 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:11,800 But I love it. 368 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,920 I love that this signifies a potential shift in the music industry. 369 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,680 I mean, maybe there'll be more freedom to break away from traditional production norms 370 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,000 for country artists and explore a little. 371 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,480 It also reminded me of Pressure Machine by The Killers a little bit and Concept where 372 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,040 they were talking about small town life in Utah. 373 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:34,680 This is more of a hee hawified version of it, but it still talks about small town life 374 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:38,520 and has a theme and a concept and I dug that too. 375 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:44,200 Yeah, I also want to mention that the album was produced by John Osborne of the Brothers 376 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:45,240 Osborne. 377 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,320 In fact, I guess the other Osborne brother, I think there's only two, TJ Osborne actually 378 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:56,680 sings lead on that Playball song, which is about the groundskeeper Willie guy. 379 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,320 Anyway, okay, well, let's hear another one. 380 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:15,240 Here's Brenda, put your bra on. 381 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,640 Wow, Sporting Wood really got done there. 382 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,760 The parlance of our times. 383 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:30,880 I think that song nicely kind of sets the stage for what you expect in this town here. 384 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,440 My three words to describe this record are this is America too. 385 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,680 To some degree, I think maybe we overlook this side of American life a little bit more, 386 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:40,280 at least in my daily life. 387 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:45,400 We don't think about what's life like living in a trailer park and this record really gets 388 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:50,200 into all the nitty gritty and all the drama that is likely to ensue with the people living 389 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:51,200 there. 390 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:52,200 I really enjoyed it. 391 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,360 It's got a good sense of humor. 392 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:55,680 Really love the little commercials. 393 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,520 There's a great one for the Dandelion Diner. 394 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:06,280 It's high time for pod time at the Dandelion Diner. 395 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:07,280 I thought that was hilarious. 396 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,880 There's like half a dozen of those little sprinkled in throughout the record. 397 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:12,600 Yeah, I really, I liked it. 398 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:13,960 I thought that was a pretty charming record. 399 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:19,880 Not every track is a run for me, but I think the ones that work really well, like there's 400 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,920 a song called The Miss Connection section where it's kind of like a classified newspaper 401 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,720 sort of conversation happening in a grocery store sort of. 402 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:29,720 It's weird. 403 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:30,720 They're both married. 404 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:35,240 Yeah, they're looking to have an affair and it's just very, it's very real. 405 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:43,000 People are consciously making mistakes, but just to kind of short term gaps in their life 406 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,640 to fill in these shortcomings they have. 407 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:47,280 And I think it works really well. 408 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:52,480 You know, Bonfire Artinas I thought was also a really good kind of climax to the record 409 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,600 and I think that worked really well. 410 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:58,760 It's really one of the few moments where the music kind of comes through crescendo. 411 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,120 The rest of the record feels kind of flat, but I think that's intentional. 412 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:07,240 So yeah, overall I really liked it and I hope there is some sort of future for this kind 413 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:11,240 of collaborative, I don't even know what you would call this kind of style record, but 414 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,680 it's unique and I think it's much more interesting to dig into than just your traditional collection 415 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:16,680 of songs. 416 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:21,880 And I think the fact that it was done in a week or so, it touches that old way of making 417 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:28,160 records back in the 60s and 70s where bands would turn around three or four albums a year 418 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:34,480 sometimes and just catch that moment of creativity instead of years of development of the story 419 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:35,480 of Lindyville. 420 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,480 Can you imagine like how boring it would have been if they had had the time to like sanitize 421 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,520 it and make it all perfect? 422 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:47,280 But I love how these 30 minutes go by where you have, it's like a little telenovela and 423 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:48,720 it's just a really great listen. 424 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:52,440 It does kind of feel a little bit like a soap opera, I guess, when you say telenovela. 425 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:57,240 They're kind of like episode of trailer park days of our lives here. 426 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:03,400 Oh yeah, apparently Bride was working on her next solo album while she was doing this and 427 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:09,160 apparently she actually handed the record label both records and that one is, she's 428 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,120 already released a couple of singles from it. 429 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:18,200 I heard that it's called The Devil I Know and should be coming out in September of 2023. 430 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:19,880 So I'll have to look forward to that one. 431 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,600 I can't imagine it being as interesting as this, but we'll see. 432 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:23,600 We'll see. 433 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:30,240 Okay, so that was Ashley McBride Presents Lindyville. 434 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:35,880 Excuse me, I'd like to ask you a few questions. 435 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:41,400 First time for our most highly rated part of the show. 436 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,280 So this is when we ask ourselves a question. 437 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:48,800 So Marie Osmond famously said or saying, I'm a little bit country. 438 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:50,240 Wait, was it her or was it Donnie? 439 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:51,240 Who sings that line? 440 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:52,240 It was her. 441 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,880 Donnie would then jump in with, I'm a little bit rock and roll. 442 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:55,880 Oh, that's right. 443 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:56,880 Go back and forth. 444 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,520 Okay, so are you guys a little bit country and how so? 445 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:05,120 I think calling me a little bit country might be a bit of a stretch. 446 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:08,400 Not so much country in my life, though I do really love Southern food. 447 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,160 I must say if I could have any type of food for the rest of my life, I probably would 448 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,000 have some good Creole food to be my choice. 449 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:16,720 So I guess that's country. 450 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,000 Are you on any kind of cholesterol blockers? 451 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:20,000 Yeah, sure. 452 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:25,960 Not yet, but I'm sure if I keep going down this road, it's not far away. 453 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:27,680 Hush puppies all day long. 454 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,360 What are those potatoes? 455 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:31,360 What are hush puppies? 456 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:32,480 They're deep fried something. 457 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:33,480 It's dough. 458 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:34,480 Oh, okay. 459 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:35,480 Whatever it is, just fry it. 460 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,240 Isn't there like a shoe called a hush puppy too or something? 461 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,760 I believe there was a shoe brand called hush puppies. 462 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:42,760 Not as tasty. 463 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:44,000 They're not cowboy boots. 464 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:51,220 Yeah, so I'm from the Midwest, like the suburban type areas, however, so I don't know how country 465 00:25:51,220 --> 00:25:54,280 I really am, but I do drive a giant Ford truck. 466 00:25:54,280 --> 00:26:01,640 I wear Carhartt clothes and I guess the most country thing about me is that I wear giant 467 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:09,280 interchangeable belt buckles like the Cowboys on Yellowstone. 468 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:14,640 I started doing it a few years ago because I saw this belt buckle that was also a beer 469 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:21,200 bottle opener and I thought it'd be cool to open bottles of beer at my belt region. 470 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,520 So I got the belt. 471 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,880 Now I have a collection of like, I don't know, 10 different buckles and I change them out 472 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:29,920 and some of them are American flags. 473 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:30,920 One of them says, dude. 474 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:36,480 So you like take one out for the day like, oh, I'm feeling a little more American-y today. 475 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:41,080 I kind of stick with one most of the time and then every couple of weeks. 476 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:42,080 Special occasions. 477 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,120 But yeah, it's fun. 478 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:46,080 It's just fun to change out your belt buckles. 479 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:47,080 I don't know. 480 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:48,880 I think that every one should switch. 481 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:52,960 If you wear a belt, go get your Southern style belt, get a buckle. 482 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:54,800 There's tons of them on Amazon. 483 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:55,800 It's a lot of fun. 484 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:56,800 I didn't even know you could take out the buckle. 485 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,360 I thought that was a one unit. 486 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:01,800 There's snaps then so you can interchange them, they have these loops that you can hook 487 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:02,800 the buckle to. 488 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:04,220 That is pretty country, bro. 489 00:27:04,220 --> 00:27:07,000 The Album Nerds logo would be a good belt buckle. 490 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:08,000 Yeah. 491 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,000 There you go. 492 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:10,000 Get it done. 493 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,000 Diamond encrusted, please. 494 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:18,360 Well, I mean, there are aspects of country life that I gravitate towards. 495 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:22,840 I love driving in the middle of farmland and stuff like that. 496 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,640 I just think that's a really cool and peaceful experience. 497 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:31,100 I like to drink, which is often celebrated in country music. 498 00:27:31,100 --> 00:27:33,480 One thing I thought of was Coca-Cola. 499 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:40,400 I don't drink soda all that often because it's bad for me, but I just love a good Coke, 500 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:41,400 right? 501 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:47,040 Whether it's cold out of the can or off the tap. 502 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:48,040 Off the spigot. 503 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:49,920 Yeah, the spigot. 504 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:54,280 I just picture Coca-Cola being sort of like a Southern thing. 505 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,880 I think there's parts of the country that instead of saying soda or pop, they'll just 506 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,960 refer to anything as Coke. 507 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,320 That just feels old-timey country. 508 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:04,320 A Coca-Cola. 509 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,240 Say hello to my little friend. 510 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,320 Yeah, different kind of Coke. 511 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,280 There's some country music about that too. 512 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:11,280 Yeah. 513 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:12,280 Sure. 514 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:13,280 Okay. 515 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:14,880 Well, what makes you a bit country? 516 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:15,880 Let us know. 517 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:17,360 Come to the socials. 518 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:21,000 Also our Discord, AlbumNerds.com slash Discord. 519 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,000 Wild card, bitches. 520 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:24,000 Yeah. 521 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:31,760 So as I alluded to early in the show, I went with something a little more in the pop country 522 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:32,760 realm. 523 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:38,320 Going to talk about Laney Wilson and her fourth studio album, Bell Bottom Country, released 524 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,320 October 28th, 2022. 525 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:42,600 Why don't we start with the track Watermelon Moonshine? 526 00:28:42,600 --> 00:29:00,200 All right, so Watermelon Moonshine was written by Laney Wilson, Josh Keer, and Jordan Schmidt. 527 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,600 It explores the theme of young and reckless love. 528 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,560 Wilson describes the song as embodying the essence of country music and creating a timeless 529 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:14,680 story, but it's that nostalgia of first love, first time drunk, first time with some other 530 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:16,200 stuff. 531 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:23,400 I just love the Southern details in the song, like parking back by the kudzu vines and the 532 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,560 taste of the watermelon moonshine and all that. 533 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:32,880 Kudzu vines, for those that don't know, is an invasive plant that originally was used 534 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:40,240 for adornment and to keep soil erosion from happening, but it grows like a foot a day. 535 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:45,880 It's overtaken a lot of the wilderness of Louisiana and Tennessee and all that. 536 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,560 So I thought that was just a really nice little detail. 537 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:55,960 So Laney Wilson, Laney Denae Wilson, born May 19th, 1992, raised in Baskin, Louisiana, 538 00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:00,560 a town of like 200 people, farming father, school teacher, mother, been trying to be 539 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:05,880 a musician her entire life, moved to Nashville in 2011. 540 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:11,160 I guess she lived out of her car or van for a bit outside of a studio. 541 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:17,840 She played parties where she would dress up as Hannah Montana at kids birthday parties. 542 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,960 She would do a set as herself, do some of her own songs and then introduce Hannah Montana 543 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,640 just to try and make bank. 544 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:26,940 Yeah, she does look like her a little bit. 545 00:30:26,940 --> 00:30:31,640 Her style blends pop, Southern rock, contemporary country and classic country. 546 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:36,600 She's influenced by Dolly Parton and Leann Womack and has been really picking up steam 547 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:37,880 with this fourth album. 548 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:43,140 Joined the cast of Yellowstone in 2022 and her songs have been featured there. 549 00:30:43,140 --> 00:30:46,680 So she's really got ahead of steam going and I love to see it. 550 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:54,680 I think it's like she took the whiskey and all the typical bro country type tropes, trucks, 551 00:30:54,680 --> 00:31:02,040 daddy's boots, but she has made it her own and is women don't get played on country radio 552 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:03,040 much. 553 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,280 They're like 15% of what gets played. 554 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:09,440 And I think artists like her are going to pave the way to change that. 555 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:14,920 The three words I use to describe this album, promising, passionate country. 556 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:19,400 Not since the emergence of Miranda Lambert have we seen a woman's surface in mainstream 557 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:21,400 country with such promise. 558 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:26,280 And I am looking forward to seeing where this goes because I think she's going to be the 559 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,680 Reba of her generation. 560 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:32,760 Why don't we jump to the next track, Hold My Halo. 561 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:49,680 Yeah, the words to describe this record are different, sounds familiar. 562 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:54,960 I don't know, I feel like I've heard this record many times before, though not specifically 563 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:55,960 this record. 564 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:58,440 I guess I didn't dislike it overall. 565 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:02,280 I just am not a big fan of this pop country thing. 566 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:07,720 And I feel like she's, she's still this brand of being like this country hippie sort of 567 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:08,720 thing. 568 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:13,640 It's hillbilly hippie as she says on the second track where she's combining elements of rock, 569 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,480 a little bit rock, a little bit country, I guess. 570 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:17,480 Right? 571 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,360 I mean, that's kind of where she's coming at it. 572 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,400 Her producers is known for that too. 573 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:28,900 He does, Jay Joyce is known to kind of put a rock slant on at least some tracks on the 574 00:32:28,900 --> 00:32:30,280 country albums he produces. 575 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:31,520 So kind of follows. 576 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:36,120 Yeah, I believe he produced Ashley McBride's albums as well. 577 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:40,840 So is she not known as being sort of a, I mean, Bell Bottom Country, is that not her 578 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:41,840 moniker? 579 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:42,840 Or? 580 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:48,000 Oh, her moniker for Bell Bottom Country is that it's, it's basically express yourself, 581 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,800 be yourself kind of a idea, like adding some fun. 582 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:52,800 Some flair. 583 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:54,800 They flare out of Bell Bottom Country. 584 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:55,800 Yeah, that's true. 585 00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:01,400 But that's kind of the idea is, is the fun that can be had of being yourself. 586 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:06,040 And, you know, she does have this sort of, I don't know, brand at this point, but. 587 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:10,640 I felt like she, I felt like this record was trying to convince me of her brand. 588 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:15,700 Like every track was kind of coming back to that, that idea for me of kind of being someone 589 00:33:15,700 --> 00:33:17,200 different in this space. 590 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,480 Like I'm not like everybody else in this country pop space. 591 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,960 But I thought this record sounded very much like everything else I'd heard in the country 592 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:30,280 pop space and didn't really open any new doors for me or say anything I hadn't heard said 593 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,760 a thousand times before. 594 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:41,500 I think for me, and I feel the same generally about pop country, I feel like this is digging 595 00:33:41,500 --> 00:33:45,100 a little deeper and it's baby steps, you know? 596 00:33:45,100 --> 00:33:50,280 People like Chris Stapleton have made it okay for some of those rules to be broken, but 597 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:55,720 he still follows a lot of them, you know, all about whiskey and all that. 598 00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:02,720 So I think it's a step forward in getting back to a place where we were. 599 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:07,180 And I think Miranda Lambert helps with that as well, where it's pop country, but there's 600 00:34:07,180 --> 00:34:12,120 a little more substantive stuff and not all, some of the songs are just straight up get 601 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:13,120 drunk type of stuff. 602 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:14,120 Just want to have fun. 603 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:15,120 Yeah. 604 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:21,120 But then songs like Watermelon Moonshine and Heart Like a Truck and Add a Girl and those 605 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,920 boots make up for all of that in my mind. 606 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:24,920 Cool. 607 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:25,920 All right. 608 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,040 Why don't we listen to another song? 609 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,360 This one's called Weekend. 610 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:47,360 Yeah, my favorite moments on this album are the sad ones, you know, kind of the quieter 611 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:51,400 and sadder moments, which is again, shocking. 612 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:52,400 On brand. 613 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:53,400 On brand. 614 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:54,400 Yep. 615 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:57,360 You know what else is on brand, Don, is you're going to tell us the spelling of weekend. 616 00:34:57,360 --> 00:34:58,560 Oh, that's right. 617 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:02,720 Yeah, so it's Week, W-E-A-K. 618 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:07,240 What I love about songs like this, and it kind of reminds me of like when we listen 619 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:13,640 to the George Jones album, you know, there's just clever lyrics, clever turns of phrase 620 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:14,640 and stuff like that. 621 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:19,240 So, you know, she's singing about the weekend, but she's actually, you know, then talking 622 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:22,520 about the weekend of a heartache. 623 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:28,480 I don't know if it's something about her voice or something in these sadder songs. 624 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:29,720 What's the other one? 625 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:31,920 New Friends, which comes at the end. 626 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,800 Both of those songs really moved me when I listened to them. 627 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:39,800 I also liked she said something about putting on what she called her lipstick, the still 628 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:40,800 got it lipstick. 629 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:45,520 You know, she's getting ready to go out on the town and make some bad decisions. 630 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:50,880 Yeah, the neon bad decisions, which neon comes into play a lot with country music when they 631 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:57,560 talk about bars, but still a thoughtful recycling, which is kind of what we were talking about 632 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:02,600 with Andy, where I feel like that's what the strength of this is, is taking all that and 633 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:04,960 just leveling it up a little. 634 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:05,960 Yeah. 635 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:06,960 Yeah. 636 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:10,080 So it's, you know, it's an interesting album, you know, for me. 637 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:11,680 Well, I'll give you my three words. 638 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:14,400 I just said, you go girl. 639 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,440 Never say that again. 640 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:24,020 So you know, as Andy said, you know, I mean, she's not the first kind of rebel in the country 641 00:36:24,020 --> 00:36:28,480 music scene, but I think she does it well. 642 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,320 I think just the songs are good, particularly lyrically. 643 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:33,920 And I'm not sure if all the lyrics are hers. 644 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:39,680 I know she co-writes all of her songs, but yeah, I just love the lyrics, you know, to 645 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,560 a lot of these songs. 646 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:47,840 The thing that disappoints me, I think, is just sort of the packaging or the production 647 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:48,840 of the album. 648 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,680 You know, it's pop production. 649 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:55,520 I wish it sounded more like the Ashley McBride album. 650 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:57,600 I mean, there's elements of it. 651 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:02,120 The albums are similar in some way and I can't really articulate what the difference is, 652 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:09,040 but it just, it does feel very packaged and maybe it just needs a little more dirt, a 653 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,400 little dirt, sure, or some space. 654 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:13,400 Yeah. 655 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:20,520 I guess I'd like a treatment that was less modern and more kind of, you know, rootsy 656 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:21,520 sounding. 657 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:25,280 It was a bit long, so it lost me at times. 658 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,560 I think it should end with Wildflowers and Wild Horses. 659 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:29,880 That was actually one of my favorite tracks. 660 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:35,680 Actually, when it started, I thought it was going to be Ghost Riders in the Sky, but yeah, 661 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:36,800 that was a good track. 662 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:41,560 The cover of What's Up or What's Going On or whatever, I think she does a really good 663 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:45,640 job with it, but I'm not sure that it was necessary for the album. 664 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:49,440 Seems like a good one live, you know, that she could do. 665 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:50,440 Yeah. 666 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:56,280 She took a song that I've become bored with and made it much more interesting for me. 667 00:37:56,280 --> 00:38:01,160 I like the, I like the, the country-fied version of it and you know. 668 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:02,880 But I don't think she made it more interesting. 669 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,120 I think she made it more boring. 670 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:12,720 The original song is famously covered by everyone repeatedly for decades and this version would 671 00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:15,720 be, this is a second from the end of a throwaway album. 672 00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:16,720 Damn! 673 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:19,640 Sorry, that was a little harsh. 674 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,400 Oh Jesus. 675 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:24,240 Man. 676 00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:26,640 Looks like he just doesn't get it guys. 677 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:28,680 I have no idea what's going on. 678 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:33,040 I said, Hey, I agree. 679 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:37,920 Don doesn't need to be on the record and obviously Andy agrees with that as well. 680 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:40,320 Andy doesn't want any of the songs on the album. 681 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:46,000 But it didn't offend, it didn't offend me in any way, but yeah, Wildflowers and Wild 682 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:47,760 Horses would have been a nice closer. 683 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:54,200 The album is about 56 minutes and I would have been fine with it being 45 at the most 684 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:58,720 and I probably could have done without Me, You and Jesus personally. 685 00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:02,360 That was the one song, like there were songs on here that I didn't love initially, but 686 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:07,200 the more I listened, I found things to like about them and that one just didn't click 687 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:08,200 for me. 688 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:13,480 But otherwise I think it's a great pop country record and I wish Lainey great success and 689 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:20,080 hope that she takes this popularity and ability to maybe do whatever she wants and come up 690 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:22,720 with something interesting on the next record. 691 00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:26,320 So that was Lainey Wilson with Bell Bottom Country. 692 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:30,100 I think any country music fan will find something to love in this record. 693 00:39:30,100 --> 00:39:36,960 So I encourage you all to go check it out if you haven't heard it already. 694 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:44,920 Okay so we ventured down the road of today's country, the long dusty path or trail. 695 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:45,920 Did you guys learn anything? 696 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:52,480 We learned that Andy's a spiteful man and that he loves the Four Non-Blondes. 697 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,680 Linda Perry is a great songwriter, I need to make sure and say that. 698 00:39:55,680 --> 00:40:00,040 She wrote beautiful in every single- 699 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:01,040 Okay. 700 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,280 Got a long time without Don singing in this episode. 701 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:06,400 I don't know, I think country's in a good place. 702 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:07,800 I love how it looks back to the past. 703 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:10,840 I think it does that better than any other genre. 704 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:17,760 And I mean the pop sort of brand thing of what's going on in country music. 705 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:18,760 What's going on? 706 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:23,360 Because it's become so popular and such a mainstay of modern music. 707 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:29,560 I think it maybe to some degree is overtaken hip hop as these are the more popular genres 708 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:30,560 in America. 709 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:35,880 So I think that's not unexpected and obviously there's some value to that and some good things 710 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:36,880 in there to pick out. 711 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,440 There might be a few in far between, but there and there. 712 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:40,720 How about you, dude? 713 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:48,360 As I said earlier, I avoid pop country for the most part because it is so cookie cutter. 714 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:53,600 But listening to this album last year, I heard it and really liked it. 715 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:59,720 And I'm just glad that there are pop country albums I can find things to grab onto. 716 00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:03,840 Just because the tropes and cliches are there doesn't mean there isn't something great 717 00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:05,520 underneath it to enjoy. 718 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:11,440 So I will continue to be a little more open minded about it and listen to more of those 719 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:14,360 records instead of just immediately dismissing them. 720 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:21,680 And I'm not surprised that even the pop year album that dude chose, it still kind of has 721 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:24,320 like a rootsy vibe to it. 722 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:26,920 It is sort of a throwback. 723 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:34,480 But yeah, so I think country music just has this great legacy and I'm glad that modern 724 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:36,600 acts are embracing the past. 725 00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:39,800 But I do want to see where it can go. 726 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:45,240 There's the fusion of hip hop and country, like that stupid Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas 727 00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:47,520 X song, whoever that was. 728 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,520 So I don't know if there's anything there. 729 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:56,480 But I just wonder where you can go next with country. 730 00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:58,480 And that's one to grow on. 731 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:04,680 I'm your density. 732 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:08,960 I mean your destiny. 733 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:12,720 Next week on the show, we have something special for you. 734 00:42:12,720 --> 00:42:18,200 We're going to be looking back on a record that we reviewed about 100 episodes ago. 735 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:19,200 Before Dawn, BD. 736 00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:22,040 The Dark Days Before Dawn was part of the show. 737 00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:25,280 So we'll be looking at Marvin Gaye's classic album What's Going On. 738 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:28,320 So join us for that conversation next week. 739 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:29,320 What's going on? 740 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:30,320 Oh God. 741 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:31,320 Can't escape. 742 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:34,320 It's not that one. 743 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:35,920 Okay. 744 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:37,820 What's your favorite modern country album? 745 00:42:37,820 --> 00:42:38,960 What else are you listening to? 746 00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:39,960 Let us know. 747 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:43,520 Join fellow album nerds on discord at albumnerds.com slash discord. 748 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:48,640 You can also email us at podcast at albumnerds.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram at 749 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:50,180 albumnerds. 750 00:42:50,180 --> 00:42:53,000 Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast app. 751 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:58,480 And if you'd like to support the show, you can do so via PayPal at albumnerds.com slash 752 00:42:58,480 --> 00:42:59,480 support. 753 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:01,200 Thank you for joining us here on the album nerds podcast. 754 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:02,200 We'll catch you next time. 755 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:04,840 We'll be talking what's going on. 756 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:05,840 Don't do it. 757 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:06,840 He's trying. 758 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:07,840 I can feel it coming though. 759 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:08,840 Thanks for listening everybody. 760 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:09,840 We'll see you next week. 761 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:18,600 We'll finally get to the bottom of just what exactly is going on. 762 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:25,160 I'll come back now you hear and I said, Hey, that was good. 763 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:26,160 It's not supposed to be done. 764 00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:27,160 And I get real high. 765 00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:28,160 And I 766 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:52,320 Yeah,