Why I Take Issue With Luke Bryan's New Single, "That's My Kind of Night" (and Why It Pains Me To Write This)

I love Luke Bryan.  I really do.  Just last month I was in the front row of his Dirt Road Diaries tour, rocking out like crazy with no attempt to act like a sane human being and having way too good of a time.  A few days ago, I heard that he was releasing a new single and eagerly waited with my ear glued to the radio all day until they played it...and then something awful happened.  They played it. (you can listen to his much anticipated song, "That's My Kinda Night" here: http://www.directlyrics.com/new-song-luke-bryan-thatrsquos-my-kind-of-night-news.html)  Here's pretty much how it went down:

The Anticipation

It begins. Strong pop beat is not promising.

"I got that real good, feel good stuff"

Around the time the T-Pain reference came

Reflecting.

Now it's catchy, ok?  There's no denying it and that one phrase "catch us up a little catfish dinner" has been popping into my brain at totally random times so I can see why Luke or his manager or record label or whoever decides which songs are to be released to radio chose to put this one out.  I mean, let's be honest, these energetic songs with a popish beat about how great the country life is while a hot girl passes them another beer have been doing tremendously well these past few years, as has country rap.  Considering the success of Luke's previous singles, "Crash My Party", "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye", "Drunk on You", and "I Don't Want This Night To End", I guess it made sense to release another song where Luke kind of comes off as a weird mix between country boy and frat boy.  (Ok, this is getting harsh.  I do love Luke Bryan- I promise I do.  Just bear with me, here).

I think what upsets me the most about "That's My Kinda Night" is that I can't find any resemblance between the character in this song and the Luke Bryan we all fell in love with through songs like "Do I", "What Country Is", "Tackle Box", and "We Rode In Trucks".  Believe it or not, those last two songs are from an album called "I'll Stay Me"...  Oh the irony!

But do you want to know something that may shock you based on what I've said so far?  The rest of his new album, "Crash My Party" sounds pretty darn good.  "Dirt Road Diary" has been a crowd favorite for some time and the studio version sounds very promising.  So please don't walk away from this thinking that I believe Luke Bryan has completely morphed into an unrecognizable artist who is incapable of making genuinely good music anymore, because that couldn't be farther from the truth. He's still got a beautiful voice and a knack for songwriting that landed him a record deal within two months of moving to Nashville years ago.

If you'll allow me to now digress into a short rant about a lot of new country I would be much obliged.

It bothers me that all of these country singers with great CDs mostly full of heartfelt songs that tell great stories end up releasing cliché songs that we've all heard a million times.  In one of my favorite movies, Walk the Line, record producer, Sam Phillips, gives Johnny Cash one of the most beautiful and inspiring speeches ever:

 "If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing one song.  One song that people would remember before you're dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. You tellin' me that's the song you'd sing? That same Jimmy Davis tune we hear on the radio all day.... Or would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real. Somethin' you felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people."   

Look, I'm not saying every song on country radio needs to be as intense and deeply emotional as the kind of song Sam Phillips is asking for here and I know that sometimes you just need a fun party
song to dance to but when did it become expected of country singers to release a love/heartache song 50% of the time and a drinking/country-is-better-than-you song the other 50% percent?
           For example,  some of you may remember how much I love Tim McGraw's CD "Two Lanes of Freedom".  It's fantastic. In fact, there are only two songs on that album that I am not crazy about because I think they're pretty reminiscent to every other song on the radio.  Take a wild guess which ones those are.  If you said "Truck Yeah" and "Southern Girl"  you'd be right on the money.  Guess which songs off of his album have been released as singles.  Yeah... see what I'm saying?

Eric Church expresses my feelings way better than I ever could in his song "Lotta Boot Left to Fill".  Just listen to the opening lyrics:
                                           Get ups, Gimics,
                                           One hit wonders that don't stick.
                                           Pretty boys actin' tough,
                                           boy bands, give it up.
                                           And if it looks good on TV,
                                           it'll look good on a CD.
                                          Shape it up, trim it down.
                                          Who gives a damn about how it sounds?

Ok thank you for letting me get that off my chest. I obviously had a lot of feelings.  But listen, please don't think that I despise songs like "Cruise" or "Boys 'Round Here' just because they don't have much substance. In fact, most days I really love them and I'll be the first to yell "Chew tobacco, chew tobacco, chew tobacco-spit!" whenever the opportunity arises.  I just wish those in the music industry would find the courage to release a song that is new, original, and unique because I truly believe there's a hunger for that among country fans.  Anyone smart enough to capitalize on that hunger may just find a nice spot carved out for them in the long history of country music.  

Country Music's Favorite Couple: "Better in the Long Run" by Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert

This morning I woke up to my local country station and heard some super exciting news.  MIRANDA LAMBERT IS PREGNANT!  I shot up in bed and turned up the station only to hear them follow up this announcement by saying that there is some speculation over the legitimacy of these claims.  They then said that the true announcement should be 'Miranda Lambert might be pregnant'.

Well, dagum.

After a quick google search, I concluded that Miranda isn't pregnant, yet the mystery continued when I stopped into Target and saw Blake and Miranda smiling on a big old magazine with the caption "Baby Bliss" under their beautiful faces.

It seems like rumors of these two expecting a kid have been randomly showing up every other month since they got married and I really don't know what to believe this time round.  However, regardless of whether or not they're going to have a baby soon, I think everyone can agree that these two are perfect together in almost every way.  They look adorable together but even more importantly, they sound great together.

Awww

I have to say, I'm surprised by how few Blake/Miranda duets there are considering that they must have jam sessions, like, all the time.  Now, of course I'm not saying that they never sing together.  They'll sing background vocals on each other's songs, like Miranda does for Blake in his cover of "Home" and who could forget their great live performance of "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" way back in 2005.  But they've only officially recorded two duets in the studio and, unsurprisingly, they are fantastic!

They recorded "Draggin' The River" in 2010 (before they were married) for Blake's album "All About Tonight", a very light-hearted song that is slightly reminiscent to Johnny Cash and June Carter's playful duet,  "Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' Man".  But the real magic comes from their 2011 performance of "Better in the Long Run".  It's one of those songs that you want to listen to again as soon as you finish it the first time and their voices blend perfectly.  Surprisingly, neither Blake nor Miranda, two exceptional songwriters, didn't write the song.  It was actually written by Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum (yes, the attractive one) and Ashley Monroe of the Pistol Annies (ADD Moment:  I would LOVE to hear Charles and Ashely sing this song together) .  Regardless of who wrote it, Blake and Miranda make it their own and pour their hearts into this song.  Hmmm could this possibly be Miranda's next single??