An email from my friend George (my new friend George, not my friend George of many decades) followed our discussion of Teddy Thompson and his new CD. George forwarded to me an article on Teddy. I was enjoying the piece until I read the following:
Teddy Thompson doesn’t mince words when talking about modern country music.
Teddy Thompson doesn’t mince words when talking about modern country music.
“It’s diabolically bad,” he says. “It’s literally the same song that could be produced for a bad pop record, except that it has Carrie Underwood on it and a pedal steel guitar. It’s appalling.”
I was really looking forward to buying and listening to the CD until I read this. Now I hope he chokes on his own ego. Really, by age 31 he should know that if your path to success has to include stepping on others then you aren’t much of an artist – or a human being. Maybe he should consider that he is knocking literally millions of music fans, some of whom might someday give him a listen. (And let’s face it, he is knocking AMERICAN music fans.) Will he not appreciate new listeners to his music if they have ever listened to Kenny Chesney or Reba?
Does he understand that the reason North Americans took to the English folk music that has ultimately spawned him was that they had been exposed to rockabilly-cum-country-cum pop from the likes of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, et al? And that the musicians who drove the U.S. folk movement came from the same mountains, valleys and small towns that now embrace the kind of county music he finds appalling? Can’t he figure out that C&W and the folk music that made his dad a beloved idol are from the same branch of the popular music tree? (Without the desire by American music fans to expand their tastes, his pop might today be playing on London Tube platforms for coins.)
I have sampled his new CD and frankly, Teddy isn’t the next Jimmy Martin or Ernest Tubb. He wouldn’t have been good enough to be a Buckaroo or even carry Buck’s guitar case. Would he have been “appalled” at the work of Jim Reeves, Charlie Pride, or Marty Robbins? They relied on the recording studio and moved country music into the mainstream. Maybe he should beg to open for someone like Marty Stuart, who works to keep true country music alive. Spend a year with someone who “gets it,” then complain.
Teddy, give a listen to the Robbie Fulks collection of 13 Hillbilly Giants. He didn’t go for easy covers or well-worn songs. He dug deep and did some serious work on capturing the feel of little-known, but well-crafted tunes. Robbie made them his own without knocking current artists. Fulks has issues with Nashville, but they have to do with the industry, not the talent.
So, Teddy, just play your music, do it well, and keep your smarmy opinions to yourself. And if you don’t like this, meet me behind the Ryman and I will be glad to kick your smug British ass.
I was really looking forward to buying and listening to the CD until I read this. Now I hope he chokes on his own ego. Really, by age 31 he should know that if your path to success has to include stepping on others then you aren’t much of an artist – or a human being. Maybe he should consider that he is knocking literally millions of music fans, some of whom might someday give him a listen. (And let’s face it, he is knocking AMERICAN music fans.) Will he not appreciate new listeners to his music if they have ever listened to Kenny Chesney or Reba?
Does he understand that the reason North Americans took to the English folk music that has ultimately spawned him was that they had been exposed to rockabilly-cum-country-cum pop from the likes of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, et al? And that the musicians who drove the U.S. folk movement came from the same mountains, valleys and small towns that now embrace the kind of county music he finds appalling? Can’t he figure out that C&W and the folk music that made his dad a beloved idol are from the same branch of the popular music tree? (Without the desire by American music fans to expand their tastes, his pop might today be playing on London Tube platforms for coins.)
I have sampled his new CD and frankly, Teddy isn’t the next Jimmy Martin or Ernest Tubb. He wouldn’t have been good enough to be a Buckaroo or even carry Buck’s guitar case. Would he have been “appalled” at the work of Jim Reeves, Charlie Pride, or Marty Robbins? They relied on the recording studio and moved country music into the mainstream. Maybe he should beg to open for someone like Marty Stuart, who works to keep true country music alive. Spend a year with someone who “gets it,” then complain.
Teddy, give a listen to the Robbie Fulks collection of 13 Hillbilly Giants. He didn’t go for easy covers or well-worn songs. He dug deep and did some serious work on capturing the feel of little-known, but well-crafted tunes. Robbie made them his own without knocking current artists. Fulks has issues with Nashville, but they have to do with the industry, not the talent.So, Teddy, just play your music, do it well, and keep your smarmy opinions to yourself. And if you don’t like this, meet me behind the Ryman and I will be glad to kick your smug British ass.
