Tag: country music

She’s a Spitfire!

It has been a long time since I left The Holler. Well…didn’t so much leave as it just got shut down. Life happens, you know? The little internet radio station that my best friend created brought so much joy to life! We played all kinds of music from around the world, but I’d say that the “specialty” so-to-speak was indie music. We played independently produced and promoted music mostly from the UK, but we had some American artists too. How fun it was to discover how popular country music is across the pond. I was genuinely shocked. But I tell ya, I have a couple of favorites that I’ll share another day.

Lately I have been thinking about getting a little station going again. It would be very small to start with, but the cards (literally) have really been telling me to not hold back and get back to the me that I used to be. For a moment I thought that doing so would be using TikTok to share videos but that just isn’t me. One, I’m not super comfortable in front of a camera, two, there is a 10 minute time limit on video, and three, it just isn’t trustworthy anymore-not that it ever was. Now that the ownership has changed…you can just tell it’s different. But I digress.

Music has always been something I love. Now I’m no musical encyclopedia by any means. I don’t know the names of all the Beatles albums. I don’t know all the words to every Tanya Tucker song. I just love music. It soothes the soul. It brings happiness. It’s calming. It can make you laugh, cry, cheer, and so much more. I mean come on, it can be damn sexy too! You know I’m right! There is a song for everyone and every circumstance in life. It was music and that little radio station in the holler that got me through one of the most stressful times in my life. I need that again. The music, not the stress.

Another musical interest that I have is singing competitions. I love them. It started with the last couple of episodes of American Idol – Season One. My coworker would ask me every week if I had watched until I finally tuned in to see Justin and Kelly duke it out for the very first title of American Idol. And we all know how that ended. LOL Season Two came around and the same coworker kept bugging me about the show and so I tuned in. I became obsessed with Ruben and Clay! I haven’t looked back since. Admittedly, there have been missed seasons but I watch as much as I can now. Fast forward to The Voice – Season Twenty-Four in 2023.

In Season Twenty-Four of The Voice the coaches were Niall Horan, Jon Legend, Gwen Stefani, and premiered Reba McIntyre as a full time coach. She had mentored a few times previously, but she finally got her own chair. I think at the time I was a bit more Team Niall than Team Reba. But that changed. Reba’s team was so good! My favorites were Ruby Leigh, Jacquie Roar, and Jordan Rainer – three incredibly powerful performers. Sadly, none of them got the top spot. That went to a gentleman named Huntley and it was well deserved. He has an amazing voice as well.

In the time after the season ended, I would see those three ladies from Team Reba while scrolling social media. Actually, I mostly saw Ruby and Jacquie. Now and then a post with Jordan would pop up with Reba. It always warms my heart to see the former contestants doing well…playing shows…and just plain having fun. That was the same year that I left the east coast for Oklahoma. Rent is just so expensive on either coast! The decision was made to buy a home instead of paying rent – so off we were. But as it does, just like before, life happens. I hadn’t really been following any of them – until recently.

I suppose I can blame it on the algorithm really. If you have spent any amount of time on TikTok, you know that the algorithm will do what the algorithm does based on what videos you watch. So up pops these videos that Jordan had posted and I start watching them. They start showing up daily now. She’s from Oklahoma, which I knew. I’m in Oklahoma. Oh look – she’s performing in OKC and other places. Wouldn’t that be cool to go to a show? I haven’t been to a concert of any sort in yeeeeeaaars. <- – That is me talking to myself. LOL

The search for music has now begun at this point. I see that there is a new album. Cool! Off to Spotify I go. Hmmmm….strange. I can’t find the new album, which, by the way, is called Outlaw Revival. So I do a little digging. Find some music on Spotify an I listened to them all. I am INSTANTLY hooked! More digging around and searching all of her socials like I’m some obsessed fangirl 😀 I found a post where she explains why this new album is not on Spotify. Initial reaction – disappointment. But when I take a moment to think about it, I understand 100%. The main complaint when we were on The Holler was that indie artists were getting screwed out of the money they deserved. Most online streaming platforms pay pitifully meek amounts of money to the artist. We play the album once and they may get 1/10th of a penny. So I get it.

A week or so goes by and I have to hear the album! I head over to https://www.jordanrainerofficial.com/ and make a purchase. And can I tell you something??? It was the best $30 purchase that I had made in a long time! Surprise – a couple of the songs that are still on Spotify are actually on the album. Very cool!

What I love is seeing this strong woman who has broken free of the patriarchal, stereotypical, role of a woman that men and religion force upon us. We are allowed to be strong, outspoken, and make our own decisions. We don’t need a man’s permission to be ourselves, or love who we love, and damn it we can express our opinions too!

{{{pause…deep breath}}} Goddam this album is fire! The progression of the songs is such an amazing representation of the journey she has been on for so many years.

So after listening to the album through a “few” times, I have a favorite. It may be a temporary favorite. We’ve all done it. New album. Many run throughs and that favorite can change a few times. But something about this song just hits. It made me cry. Be sure to listen for that little emotional “growl” near the end. Dayuum!

Here is the song “love like that.” You have to listen. And yes, that is supposed to be lower case. You’d know that if you bought the album.

So this is where I am right now. Emersed in new music from a future Grand Ole Opry inductee and waiting oh so patiently for the next album while hoping to be able to catch a show some time this year.

Hit up her website. Invest in an independent artist who has come from homelessness, working in an Oklahoma donut shop, to The Voice, and now living her dream in Nashville. We need to get this Spitfire to the Opry!

k

I get it now…

I think I owe an apology to The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks).

Nearly 20 years ago, I made the foolish choice to side with those who attempted to “cancel” The Chicks. That was likely the very first attempt in what would become the Cancel Culture, to get the public to turn against a group and attempt to erase all of their successes and make them disappear. Didn’t work. In fact, the situation they went through ultimately led to them having a critically acclaimed hit that won three Grammys and two nominations at the 2007 CMT Music Awards – I’m Not Ready to Make Nice.

The past several years have been extremely tense in the United States, politically speaking. It is clear where lines have been drawn with the two major political parties in this country. It’s scary. I never really used to follow any politics. I just went with the flow. I voted without doing my homework over the years, and it appears that I had not been the only one employing that technique. And it recently failed us. Big time.

Now, I am not trying to start a big political argument here with this post. So just bear with me please.

In 2003, our U.S. troops were in Iraq. It was a very tense political time then as well. Opinions about the war were being shared by everyone. It really should have come as no surprise to hear another celebrity speak up about their dislike for the war. I’m sure many celebrities supported it and many did not. So when Natalie Maines of The Chicks make a comment about it while on tour in London, it should have just been taken with a grain of salt, so to speak, as most comments are. But for whatever reason, her comment about being ashamed of where our President lived at the time (Texas, which is where The Chicks are from as well) blew the f&%# up!

The backlash that Natalie and the group experienced was harsh. Sadly, I must admit, that I was one that jumped on that bandwagon. My “boycott” of The Dixie Chicks was not nearly as harsh, but I agreed with those who stopped playing their music on the radio and the political commentators that probably said things like, “Celebrities should just shut up and be celebrities,” or things to that effect. I’m sure I even said things like, “If you don’t like it here in the U.S., then you can just leave.” Etc. Again, here I was just going with the flow and not really understanding it all. And btw – I never actually got rid of my Chicks cd and never actually stopped liking their music.

Fast forward to today. I’m still not as informed as I ought to be when it comes to politics, but I have made progress. I am much more informed. I have grown as a person. We all have the right to express our opinions, even celebrities. They are humans too and have to deal with all of the same shit us non-celebrity folks have to deal with. I understand where the group was coming from with their opinions of the President at that time. I have suffered through a presidency that I contributed to only to come to the same conclusion about that President as they did then.

Most importantly, I believe, is that I understand how important it is that we have the right to express our opinions about things without having to fear any potential consequences. Wishful thinking, I know. There is always going to be someone who will take issue with an opinion. We should also not fear being ourselves. Especially being a woman. I read a few things about the Chicks’ controversy from 2003 before writing this and was saddened to read about a male country star who walked out of one of their performances at an awards show because the performance apparently wasn’t country enough. That’s crazy!

I know this has gone from politics to freedom of expression to a touch on the marginalization of women. These are topics we could discuss for hours! But mainly I want to apologize to The Chicks for not taking the time to understand then, exactly how they were feeling and why.

I get it now.

k