And that should read, “One could be forgiven for wondering if someone who would write things like what Alison Bonaguro writes here had a mind at all.”

“since my gut reaction to this song was a good one, I think I’d better add it to my one-off playlist and keep it handy in case anyone ever accuses me of having a one-track mind.”

One-track mind? One could be forgiven for thinking someone who would write things like what Alison Bonaguro writes here had a mind at all.

Well, I can actually answer that question for you because I play the fiddle for Rascal Flatts. Twin fiddles are found during the solo section of “Love You Outloud”. During our show, however, I play the lead fiddle part & our guitarist, Joe Don Rooney, plays the twin part along with me. You certainly won’t find twin fiddles in every Rascal Flatts song, but the same could be said for most of today’s modern artists.

There is lots of fiddle in most of Rascal Flatts’ music. I know this because I’m the fiddler, lol. I’ve been fiddling for 31 years now. I am the 1985-88, 1995 Louisiana fiddling champion. In other words, I am insanely addicted to fiddling! It is my passion in life. I’ve been fiddling for Rascal Flatts for over 8 years now and I can tell you this- If the fiddle wasn’t existent in Rascal Flatts’ music, then I would have never taken the job to fiddle for them in the first place. For that matter, I wouldn’t have been offered the job years ago. Plus if there were no fiddle, and Rascal Flatts was still willing to pay me for not fiddling, then I would have left them long ago because I’d be bored to death.

Our show lasts 90 minutes on average. During that show I play the fiddle on almost every song. I play acoustic guitar on two songs and mandolin on only one. The rest is fiddle. LOTS of fiddle.

Now about the song, “Unstoppable”. There are two versions. I play fiddle on the original version. There is also steel guitar on the original. The steel is in most of the other songs as well. Anyway, there is a second version of “Unstoppable” with no the fiddle and steel. This particular version is for pop radio. This kind of stuff happens all the time. It really comes down to what the radio stations are willing to play. In the past, we’ve had to replace electric guitar solos with fiddle so that the country stations would play it. It also goes the other way too though. We’ve had fiddle & steel either removed or replaced with electric guitar so that pop stations would be willing to play it on the radio. The entire music industry works entirely differently than it did years ago.

I could go on and on about all of that stuff, but I’ve already typed quite a lot. God bless you all!

-John Jeansonne

My editorial (erroneously referred to as a review by the commenter) was considered “unimaginative” because although Gokey used to sing gospel and has positive messages in his songs, “country is a place where faith can be talked about” and so Gokey is now country.

Here, again, is the pertinent excerpt:

And not country enough? Wake up and smell the coffee. Country is a place where faith can be talked about.

The commenter is right that country is a place where faith can be talked about, but talking about faith cannot possibly be what makes Gokey “country enough,” as the context of the comment implies, because faith is not a defining or unique feature of country music. In fact, it’s a feature that country music shares with gospel music. So if we base Gokey’s countryness on professions of faith, we’re saying that country and gospel music are, for all intents and purposes, interchangeable.

The songs you cite aren’t country because they mention faith; they’re country because they engage in a musical and cultural tradition called country music. And they happen to involve faith, an undeniable part of that tradition, but not the whole substance of it.

My argument – which was based on the album, not any deep-seated hatred for the singer – was that Gokey doesn’t understand, and perhaps doesn’t even want to understand, that tradition. That’s what my ears are telling me. But I can’t blame the guy for giving country a shot, given that there’s more money to be made here than in what you call the “Christian music ghetto.”

Taking your first quote –
{someone posted this here} Wow, quite the unimaginative review. I guess its easy to say he’s ‘Christian singer” because he used to sing Gospel and has positive messages on some songs. And not country enough? Wake up and smell the coffee. Country is a place where faith can be talked about. ●
{and you claim it means this?}- – Country music is… Interchangeable with gospel music.

It’s seems to be easy to see what you want to see when you don’t like a particular artist as intensely as you seem to dislike Gokey.

How does someone saying faith can be talked about in country music mean “country music is interchangeable with gospel music?” Just looking at the charts this month, there have been any number of songs with faith references in them much stronger than most of what’s on Gokey’s CD. Just a sampling from the current charts without even taking note of the obvious classic country songs that would support your poster’s case.
Chris Young – The Man I Want to Be
Lee Ann Womack – There is a God
Toby Keith – Crying for You
Carrie Underwood – Temporary Home
and I suppose you could throw in Pray for You, lol.

Whatever happens with Gokey’s music, there should still be plenty of room on the charts for songs about cheatin’ lovers, beer, whiskey, and corn. And even if you get your apparent wish and Gokey goes away (not likely from what I see now, but you never know I suppose), there will be plenty of other country music artists & songwriters supported by heavy-hitting Nashville country music labels who don’t know that they are supposed to hustle themselves off into the “Christian” music ghetto if they want to mention their faith in their music.

But really; if the Darlins girls don’t want to be classy they don’t have to be. If they’re low class and honest about it, hey keep on keeping on, I don’t see why people should have a problem with it. I wouldn’t call Jamey Johnson a class act either, but I love him. I have a bigger problem with the Carrie Underwood’s and her press machines that somehow make songs like Before he cheats and ‘last name’ fit into good role modeling and wholesomeness. Its those people that you gotta watch out for.