What kind of show do they put on? Thinking of going to see them becuase I want to see Joey & Rory open.

Saw them at ACL, they were great.

Never seen them, but the only way I can imagine them being good is if they did exclusively cover songs. Dude should stop trying to be a writer.

ya man, that Grammy winner needs to stop writing so much...

If you haven't seen this band in concert, then do yourself a favor and find when it is coming near you and catch it. they put on an absolutely great concert. they are there to do nothing but please the crowd. they play til the venue makes them stop. and they play some great covers and some great originals. it was one of the most fun concerts I have been to. They just seem like real guys, not this hollywood/nashville egomaniacs that take up most of the airwaves. You will not be sorry for going to see them, I assure you that.

That is if you like their type music. But they jam it the whole time.

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ya man, that Grammy winner needs to stop writing so much...

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Zac Brown won a Grammy?!

Wow.

Not that I put much stock in Grammys anyway, but wow.

I've yet to hear anything out of Zac Brown than just more shallow, par-for-the-course "country" music that sounds fun on the radio for teenage girls to sing with but has no substance whatsoever.

But, but, but.....he likes his steak chicken fried and cold beer on a Friday night. That's deep, man.

maybe you should listen to more than one song

He's a good writer and they are a good band.

How deep do you want him to be worm??? Most of the most acclaimed songs in history are total crap, if you're looking for meaning.

I've listened to 4 or 5 songs and I haven't heard anything too strong from him. Not really an indictment of him alone, as the stuff making the rotation these days is generally pretty weak from a writing standpoint. People like catchy tunes over meaningful lyrics. I get that. But, this guy's first two major songs sound like they were written by a computer program after inputing a few points to hit on. Honestly, that first song, I thought it was a parody the first time I heard it. It sounds like it was written with the expressed intent to get as many spins as possible. Cold and emotionless, but if I put it to a catchy tune, no one will listen anyway. I'm not asking for anything deep. Just something original.

Reminds me of the Blues Traveler song where he flat out says, "It doesn't matter what I say, as long as I sing with inflection."

And I realize there is a long line of highly regarded songs that have no deep meaning. But, atleast they were original.

[This message has been edited by Worm01 (edited 2/14/2010 8:28p).]

Do some people not like chicken fried steak & Beer?

I guess I prefer a catchy tune. Truthfully, I pretty much ignore the words of the song, even if I'm able to recite it by memory.

Nothing wrong with wanting strong lyrics though, if that's what you like in music.

Chicken fried steak is one of my favorite foods, Agnzona, so this song was particularly distressing to me.

My opinion is similar to Worm's. Too much of the music played on country radio is like "good ol' boy Mad Libs": start with some references to country living, add in some patriotism, reference being proud to be a redneck in some way, make at least one reference to Jesus/church, and you've got yourself a hit country song.

I'm not saying that all novelty songs are bad, nor am I saying that catchy tunes are bad. I enjoy both. But for me to have much respect for a country artist or a writer, he's got to show me more than just novelties that are fun to sing with. Craig Morgan is a classic example. Every one of his hits has been some variation of the "good ol' boy Mad Libs" mentioned above.

Willie Nelson sang "On the Road Again" but he also did "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "Night Life." George Jones did "Lovebug" but he also did "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Faron Young did "If You Ain't Lovin', You Ain't Livin" but he also did "Four in the Morning."

Not too long ago I was listening to XM and heard Porter Wagoner singing "A Satisfied Mind." That's the epitome of what used to be on country radio but now is far too deep and thoughtful to get airplay.

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Too much of the music played on country radio is like "good ol' boy Mad Libs": start with some references to country living, add in some patriotism, reference being proud to be a redneck in some way, make at least one reference to Jesus/church, and you've got yourself a hit country song.

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Exactly. But, you forgot about Blue Jeans and "my woman". A lot of songs use one or two of these themes as the hook. But, this guy managed to squeeze everyone of them into the CHORUS. Kind of impressive in a sad way. That sums up my angst for Zac Brown.

David Alen Cole already laid out the criteria for the perfect country song.

And none of the mentioned have mama or trains in them.

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David Alen Cole

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Is this Nat King Cole's long lost stepbrother?

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David Alen Cole

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There are people that don't think the Grammy's are a joke?

some people just set out to hate everything. Good job.

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TexAgs' posters just set out to hate everything. Good job.

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fify

I don't hate everything, I just take my country music music, and the definition of good country music, very seriously.

do you like beethoven or mozart?

They didn't even turn in lyrics!

j/k

Nice, TennAg.

Admittedly, my taste runs heavily towards story songs like Charlie Robison's "Lights of Loving County."

There's a place for both.

e.g. Avatar vs. Citizen Kane

One is considered by some the best movie of all time. So is the other.

One has a great screenplay, the other has a crap screenplay. But many people will have a high opinion of both films...

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some people just set out to hate everything. Good job.

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What else do I hate?

TennAg: Bad comparison.

Faron Young vs. Zac Brown is not equal to Citizen Kane vs. Avatar.

A better comparison might be Citizen Kane vs. Weekend at Bernie's.

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I've listened to 4 or 5 songs and I haven't heard anything too strong from him.

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I imagine you have listened to Chicken Fried, Toes, and Whatever It Is. All very catchy and fun songs but you apparently want something deep enough to make you cry so try and listen to their album its really great stuff... songs like Highway 20 Ride or Free...woo wee

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My opinion is similar to Worm's. Too much of the music played on country radio is like "good ol' boy Mad Libs": start with some references to country living, add in some patriotism, reference being proud to be a redneck in some way, make at least one reference to Jesus/church, and you've got yourself a hit country song.

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They arent standard cookie cutter country. They are Georgia country.

Ok, but my question is, if the 3 songs that have been mass released don't encourage me, why would I actively seek out and listen to his other stuff?

And again, I'm not asking for something that will "make me cry" or is deeply profound. I just want something that doesn't sound like it was written by Microsoft Word. I don't think that's too much to ask. There are plenty of songs that I do not personally like, but I can atleast respect the artist who wrote it. Based on Chicken Fried and Toes, I can't respect the fact that he wrote them. I put them in the same league as Kenny Chesney's "You Had Me at Hello". A 3rd grader could have written that song. But, as much as I dislike his songs like that, Kenny Chesney has had several really, really good songs as well. He didn't write any of them, but I don't care. They're still good songs. I'd rather listen to good songs by people who didn't write them, than listen to crappy songs by the people who did.

Free
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xwq3X0CTjc

Hwy 20 Ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk84qx8x21U

different kind of fine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd8SNcZIgpI

junkyard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfExsCYW4ZE



[This message has been edited by shalackin (edited 2/16/2010 10:13a).]

Listening to those, the "Highway 20 Ride" song is pretty good. "Free" is ok, I guess. Nothing too earth shattering and the beginning rips off a Randy Rogers song. Also, it's too slow. Just because a song is slow doesn't mean it's good. If they sped it up, I might like it better. "Differnt Kind of Fine" is a good, fun song. I can alteast respect all three of those. But to be fair, I'm listening to them expecting not to like them. If those were the first three songs of his I'd heard, I may have a different opinion of him than I do. But, they weren't, and the songs that introduced me to him have a major case of the suck, so it will take a lot to change that opinion.

Besides, this is all just my opinion. I understand people like him, and I can even see how they may be fun to see live. I was just postulating that from a writing standpoint, I had not seen anything that would make we want to find out more about him.

Check out Colder Weather too. They play it live but its not on their debut album.

I understand their "catchy" tunes didn't draw you in, but had Hwy 20 Ride or Free or Colder Weather been their first few singles they wouldn't be popular like they are. Those songs were the hook, enabling them to put out songs like the above mentioned.

Colder Weather
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipqfH59QiVI&feature=related

you guys are acting like country music writing is usually good

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Those songs were the hook, enabling them to put out songs like the above mentioned.

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I know. That's what depresses me abot the current state of the Music Industry. I remember reading an interview with Mark Chesnut one time about how he hated most of the music that people knew him for, but it was a way to sell albums which contained music he did like. Sad. Also sad that guys like Jack Ingram had to start singing fluff before he could find real success. Just the state of the industry.

And don't think it's any different for other genres.

Speaking of, Mark Chesnutt is incredibly talented. Saw him perform at the opry one time and he blew me away and I usually don't care for that genre of music too much.


[This message has been edited by TennAg (edited 2/16/2010 6:02p).]