Things That Threaten My Sanity: Regionalism Local and regional music scenes are great. There's a lot to be said for communities of artists, promoters, and fans forming support systems to enable success outside of the mass mainstream model that so often squelches the independence of its stars. Or forming support systems to help catapult local/regional acts to that national level so that they can have their independence squelched (if that's what they want). In his excellent Red Dirt: The Power … [Read more...]

Things That Threaten My Sanity: Country Music Gossip Sites Roger Miller once sang that "it takes all kinds to make a world." Since Roger Miller is sort of my spiritual guru, I try to keep those words in mind as I encounter things and people I don't understand. But sometimes it's too much. Even though I generally avoid visiting country gossip sites, their very existence bugs me. Who are these people demanding the latest pictures of Taylor Swift shopping and Kenny Chesney being bald as soon … [Read more...]

Things That Threaten My Sanity: Reviews That Aren't I don't claim to be the greatest reviewer in the world. I've only been doing it a few months and wouldn't necessarily call it my strong suit. But one thing I think I do have going for me is that I always start from a reasonable understanding of what a review is (though where I'll end up is anyone's guess). That's not much, but it's something. Many of the reviews I read around the internet and, to a lesser extent, in print publications … [Read more...]

Things That Threaten My Sanity: People Who Go Indie and Start Sucking Losing a major label record deal can be a mixed blessing. The heartbreak that accompanies the deferred dream of stardom is often balanced by the hope of finding greater artistic freedom outside the confines of the big label machinery. After recovering from the initial disappointment of being dropped, many artists go on to record some of their most honest and vital work. That's what happened with Jamey Johnson, whose 2006 … [Read more...]

Things That Threaten My Sanity: Station Call Letters in SongsWhen a singer sends every radio station a personalized version of his* current single with that station's call letters not-so-subtly slipped into the lyrics, it always makes me cringe. Sure, it might give the artist a slight competitive edge, but it's also like a confession that the song probably can't compete on its own merits: it needs to resort to flattery. And seriously, why should the station be flattered? The singer probably … [Read more...]

Things That Threaten My Sanity: Album Release Overkill From a marketing standpoint, maybe there's no such thing as album release overkill. Doing everything within your power to get people excited about your artist's new music makes good business sense. From a consumer standpoint, however, there is definitely the possibility of being overwhelmed or put off by too much promotion. When an artist's promotional team starts piling gimmick upon gimmick, it can sometimes seem more like pushy … [Read more...]