Live Blogging Country Radio, Part VIII
When I started doing these live blogs, I was still listening to country radio semi-regularly. Since then, I’ve become so disheartened by the stuff they’re playing that I’ve learned to stick to my own music collection most of the time, save for occasional excursions outward for the purposes of education and review (running this blog means I have to sort of know what’s happening out there, if only to better make fun of it). So these half hours are my way of checking in on what I’m missing by being such an incurable music snob. Enjoy.
- 10:02 AM: We’re going with a different station this time. There are two in my area.
- 10:03 AM: Right now it’s “Wave on Wave” by Pat Green.
- 10:03 AM: The song that introduced me (and a lot of other people) to Pat Green. Always liked this one.
- 10:04 AM: I saw him open for someone else once and found his constant calls for people to cheer louder and get up out of their seats annoying.
- 10:04 AM: We’ll do it ourselves if we’re into you, fella. You just focus on putting on a good show.
- 10:05 AM: Now it’s “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum.
- 10:05 AM: I don’t enjoy Kelley’s voice as much here as I usually do, but Hillary Scott sounds better.
- 10:07 AM: Still, “I May Hate Myself in the Morning” did this much better. I think there’s something about the stone-country sound that suits the theme better than the pop style of Lady Antebellum.
- 10:08 AM: (Still refuse to call them Lady A, by the way.)
- 10:08 AM: Oh no. It’s “Where I’m From” by Jason Michael Carroll.
- 10:09 AM: I thought we were done with this song.
- 10:09 AM: This will have to make Billboard’s year-end most played list. I’ve heard it far too often.
- 10:09 AM: I don’t even want to talk about it anymore, so instead…
- 10:10 AM: … I got nothing.
- 10:10 AM: The brother has cancer!
- 10:11 AM: I’m glad Chris Young’s single has done so well. Hope they choose a strong follow-up.
- 10:12 AM: (I wonder if reiterating that I don’t like “The Man I Want to Be” and “Twenty One Candles” will bring the Chris Young fans over in droves again. Really, “I wanna be a strong man/An admit-when-I-was-wrong man”? Did my cat write those lyrics?)
- 10:12 AM: They mercifully cut off the very end of the Carroll song.
- 10:12 AM: Now it’s “Yes!” by Chad Brock.
- 10:13 AM: He reads Country California, you know. He also threatens to beat people (who may or may not be former president Bill Clinton) up in the comments. It’s good fun.
- 10:14 AM: Not to take anything away from Brock, but it’s easy to imagine this being a hit in just about anyone’s hands. It’s that sort of song.
- 10:15 AM: I need to find me a woman who only answers in the affirmative.
- 10:16 AM: “Cowboy Casanova” by Carrie Underwood. I thought it was a Shania song at first.
- 10:17 AM: Beneath the layers of production, I think this is actually more country than many of Underwood’s other recordings. And the vocal shows some personality, which is an improvement.
- 10:19 AM: Now there’s talking.
- 10:20 AM: Bomshel and Brady Seals appearing near here soon. Sorry, should be BOMSHEL.
- 10:21 AM: They’re doing a contest where you can win an autographed Tim McGraw guitar. I wonder if that’s just a guitar autographed by Tim or a guitar that he has actually pretended to play onstage.
- 10:22 AM: Ad for declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
- 10:23 AM: That’ll bring you right down from your “Cowboy Casanova” high, won’t it?
- 10:24 AM: Get a better night’s sleep with Advil PM.
- 10:24 AM: Macy’s is having a Columbus Day sale.
- 10:24 AM: When’s Columbus Day?
- 10:25 AM: Oh! It’s today.
- 10:25 AM: Wow, I’m out of the loop.
- 10:25 AM: Now it’s Toby Keith with “Wish I Didn’t Know Now”
- 10:26 AM: ’90s Toby was pretty cool, before he got all boastful with “How Do You Like Me Now”
- 10:27 AM: So I guess “Wish I Didn’t Know Now” sort of summarizes my feelings about Toby’s career.
- 10:28 AM: What’s this song?
- 10:29 AM: … still not sure.
- 10:29 AM: “That’s what women love about country livin’”
- 10:30 AM: Had to Google it. Apparently it’s by Williams Riley.
- 10:30 AM: Whoever/whatever that is.
- 10:30 AM: This song does not inspire me to investigate further.
- 10:31 AM: Well, that was dumb.
- 10:31 AM: Next up…
- 10:32 AM: Dierks Bentley with “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes”
- 10:32 AM: My time is just about up. Dierks Bentley makes me yawn.
- 10:33 AM: Well, that’s it for me. Now I remember why I usually stick with CDs.
- 10:33 AM: CMW out.
Prefer email? Nothing wrong with that!
Nice one, CM. I don’t need to listen to the radio now!
I like ‘Need You Now’ more than I should probably, but I find myself drawn to the melody every time I hear it.
I missed the Chad Brock Fake News and the ensuing comments – thanks for bringing that back to our attention. It was a hoot to read.
cant w8 to try it on my business
The business applications of live blogging country radio are surprisingly few.
You are a brave man C.M. to wade through the sonic cesspool of Top 40 Airhead Country Radio just for our benefit.
Just the thought of tuning in makes me a bit nauseous these days…
I’m trying to calculate the odds of you randomly turning on the radio and coming across a Chad Brock song. It’s gotta be higher than being struck by lightning while buying a winning lottery ticket.
CM,
That “Country Livin’” song isn’t all that bad, at least it’s a different take of the ‘I love country music’ and directly says that living in the country is for the country girls, not for big green tractors, lol.
Yeah, the only Toby I can stomach is 90s Toby. I also checked out of mild fandom when “How Do You Like Me Now” hit the airwaves.