Album Spotlight: Whiskey Myers: Mud

Mud is the perfect title for Whiskey Myers' fourth album release. Mud is dirty, it's gritty, it's grimy, it's greasy and it's swampy. So, yeah, it's muddy. Mud is not slick and polished, it's not saccharine and glossy, it's not good times and parties. It is real and raw and hard times and making do and living in the good times.

Although honing their skills on the Texas Red Dirt scene, Whiskey Myers is not a country band. They are a Southern rock/hard rock band with country leanings. They recently wrapped up the Carnival of Madness tour with Shinedown, Halestorm and Black Stone Cherry. They are another entry into my "Rock Ain't Dead" campaign.

The torch of Southern Rock is in good hands with Whiskey Myers, who, along with Blackberry Smoke, have re-lit it and have it burning brighter than it has since the early 80s. Just as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Charlie Daniels, The Allman Brothers, etc. all had their own unique sound within Southern Rock, Whiskey Myers borrows heavily from the pioneers while still sounding uniquely Whiskey Myers.

Produced by Dave Cobb, as was the previous album Early Morning Shakes, Mud seems to have Whiskey Myers and Dave Cobb hitting  the sweet spot together. Mud is, in my opinion, the best Whiskey Myers album yet, edging out 2011's Firewater by a slim margin.

The album closes with "Good Ole Days", a collaboration by Cody Cannon with Brent Cobb. It's a fun acoustic song, but what got me was the baseball allegiances revealing themselves in the final verse.

Here are couple songs that show the diversity of the album, "Mud" and "Stone".

Album Spotlight: Dorothy: ROCKISDEAD

Dorothy's new album ROCKISDEAD is a sweaty, sultry siren wearing snakeskin cowboy boots emerging from a swamp covered in scraps of metal and pieces of rock, blues oozing from the pores and dripping from the fingertips.

Unpack that image.

Dorothy is a band. But Dorothy is also vocalist and leader Dorothy Martin. She has surrounded herself with a very competent band to create Dorothy.

The sarcastically titled ROCKISDEAD is very much a rock album. But it's so much more than that. It's blues, soul, rock, metal and country (yeah, country, Martin's favorite female vocalist is Dolly and Martin can yodel, though she doesn't on this album). It's messy. It's real. I love albums like that. Genre-bending without pandering to anything.

How this California band got East Texas/Louisiana swamp into their music is a mystery to me, but it works.

I always post a video/song to give the readers a sense of what the band is like. I still will for Dorothy, but you really need to listen to the whole album because one song does not encapsulate what they are all about.

Here is "After Midnight" from the album ROCKISDEAD:

Artist Spotlight: Kara Clark

If you like any combination of Saraya, Cinderella, Miranda Lambert, Molly Hatchet, Halestorm, Whiskey Myers, 4 Non Blondes, Lita Ford and Alice Cooper, then I have the artist for you. And if you have to google or youtube any of the artists mentioned, thank me later and you're welcome.

Her name is Kara Clark and she will kick your ass. Musically, that is. And maybe physically. I don't know.

I have known this for a long time, but it's really become apparent while writing this blog: I don't really like a genre of music as much as I like a style of music. It needs to have real instruments played by real people. It needs to be gritty, dirty, swampy; not too slick, not too polished.

There should be more of Kara Clark here. But in the interim, enjoy this from her 2013 self titled album:



You can purchase music, including her new EP at and hear new music at KaraClark.com.

My Top Ten Albums of 2015

At this point, I'm sure everyone has been inundated with top whatever lists for any and everything. Mine is about...music. Imagine that. My list is different than any other list you've read. That doesn't make it better (or worse), right or wrong, just different.

Music is subjective and personal. To me there are only two types of music: music I like and music I don't. And just because I don't like it, doesn't mean it's not good, just not to my taste. Conversely, just because I like it doesn't necessarily mean it's good. I'll be the first to admit that I like a lot of crap.

If you've read this blog before, thank you, and you know that I'm not genre-specific. That would make things so much easier. You also know that I am mainstream-phobic, so there are not going to be any mega hits on my list.

This is by no means a "Best of" list. It is not a comprehensive list. I'm sure there are several albums that were released in 2015 that would make my list had I heard them. These are the albums that I have listened to numerous times. Albums I would and have listened to again and again. Music that has resonated with me. Music that I will be listening to in 2016 and beyond.

I listen to albums, not songs. I'm not immune to making playlists of songs, but I'm happier when I can put on an album and listen from start to finish without having to skip songs. That's what my list is about.

Here is my top ten with my favorite song from the album (where available, where not, just a song from the album). Links in artist's names are to my posts explaining my picks. Other links are obvious.

10) Brandy Zdan - Brandy Zdan

Website    Twitter      Amazon

9) Delta Rae - After It All

Website     Twitter     Amazon

8) Chaser Eight - Chaser Eight

Website     Twitter     Amazon

7) William Clark Green - Ringling Road

Website   Twitter   Amazon

6) Houndmouth - Little Neon Limelight

Website    Twitter    Amazon 

5) Halestorm - Into The Wildlife

Website   Twitter   Amazon

4) Elle King - Love Stuff

Website   Twitter    Amazon

3) Chris Stapleton - Traveller

Website   Twitter    Amazon

2) Blackberry Smoke - Holding All The Roses

Website  Twitter    Amazon

1) Black Star Riders - The Killer Instinct

Website   Twitter   Amazon

Hope something there resonates with you. If not, oh well, it's my list. Here's to a fantastic 2016.

Number Five Album of the Year

I will post a full top 10 list at the end. In the meantime, I am going to explore each record in my top 10 and why I selected them. Again, this is not a "Best of". It is the albums that I've heard and resonated with me personally. There is some really good stuff out there that doesn't make my list because, well, it's my list. There's a lot of stuff I haven't even heard. Maybe you'll like some of it.

I'm not a music critic. I'm a music fan. I'm a huge Halestorm fan. For me to put Into The Wild Life at number five speaks to how good music was in 2015.

Halestorm's self-titled first full length record was pretty much straight up hard rock. 2012's The Strange Case of...  was a lot more of the same, but there were glimpses of different sides to the band.

While Into The Wild Life does not disappoint if you want your hard rock, there is more nuance and diversity to everything. It seems as though all of the influences over the years come through in this record, but not in a nostalgic way, but in a new and fresh way.

With Halestorm, heavy rock will always be their base. That's who they are, unapologetically. When listening to the album, I hear Michael Jackson, country, industrial, classic rock, rhythm and blues, heavy metal and funk. And when I listen to the record again, I'll hear something else.

Here's the joy in listening to the record, the next song is not going to sound like the last. For some people that may be a turn off. For me, that's magical. I love the unexpected, especially if it's good.

Album Spotlight: Plastic Rhino: Recondition

I was provided the opportunity to get a pre-realease listen to Plastic Rhino's upcoming record Recondition. The album reinforces my notion that rock is definitely not dead.

The duo of lead vocalist Atara Gottschalk and guitarist Jack Glazer bring their own brand of multi-decade influenced rock to life on Recondition.

Great riffs, strong vocals, heavy with a sense of melody. What's not to like? Oh, and I didn't even mention the pop sensibilities and punk tendencies.

The lead single,  "Big Man Baby", is a straight up rocker. If this is the first time you've heard Atara's raspy, passionate vocal stylings, you're in for a treat. From there. no drop off in quality. Tasty guitar, kick ass vocals, great songs.

The album closer, "The Ballad Of The Rhino" shows a softer side of Plastic Rhino, up until 3:50 mark when it turns into a full blown rocker. That kind of diversity is much appreciated. To me, the record compares very favorably to Halestorm and Chaser Eight. That's not bad company.

The record drops October 13. It's good. Check it out.

In the meantime here's the lyric video for the lead track on Recondition , "Big Man Baby":

Hard Rock Playlist 1

This is by no means an original idea, but I thought I'd make a hard rock playlist. Not the ultimate hard rock playlist, just a hard rock playlist. That is why I called it "Hard Rock Playlist 1". This is my first and maybe last or maybe the first of many.

Spotify, for me, is the easiest way to make a playlist (and yes, I pay for premium) so I am limited to what is available on that service.

Now let me take you through the process.

1. I wanted it to come in between and hour and an hour and half. 16 songs seems to be a pretty good number, but between 14 and 18 would have worked.
2. I tried to make it semi-cohesive from one song to the next, like listening to an album.
3. I wanted to hit as many decades as possible from the '70's until now (think I did that, although I'm not sure about 2000-2009).
4. I wanted to run the gamut on the fringes of what I consider hard rock (subjective, I know).
5. I wanted it to be something you could put on in your car and drive for an hour and not want to skip anything (again success will be subjective).
6. I didn't want the songs to be obvious.

So here is the playlist with comments. The Spotify link is at the bottom.

1) "Overture/The Temples of Syrinx"  - Rush
I went with this because it is one of the best opening salvos of any record I know. "Overture" sets the mood and then "The Temples of Syrinx" just smashes the listener in the face.

2) "Queen of the Reich" - Queensryche
This continues the full frontal assault from Queensryche's debut EP. Most may know them from "Silent Lucidity" or the Operation:Mindcrime stuff, but before that Queensryche sounded much more like Iron Maiden.

3) "Legend of the Spaceborne Killer" - Crobot
This is the first song from a newer/current band in my attempt to dispel the myth that rock is dead. It's got a vibe that could have fit in '70's but doesn't sound dated. Just a good hard rock song.

4) "Rocket Queen" - Guns N' Roses
From Appetite For Destruction, one of the best hard rock albums ever, this is not an obvious choice. The hits have been overplayed, so I went with an album cut which is one of the best on the record.

5) "Gypsy Road" - Cinderella
Cinderella is one of the best bluesy hard rock bands to come out of the '80's and it's kind of a shame that they got lumped in with the "hair metal" moniker. While I think some of their slower blusier stuff better exemplifies them as a band, this song fits the vibe of this playlist.

6) "Wicked" - Million Dollar Reload
Hailing from Ireland, Million Dollar Reload is another current band with a new record due out in 2015. They would feel right at home among the '80's L.A. sleaze rock scene. Good song with a good hook.

7) "Apocalyptic" - Halestorm
More ammunition to dispel the rock is dead myth, this from the 2015 record Into the Wild Life. If you read this blog regularly, you know my affinity for Lzzy Hale and Halestorm.

8) "Two Minutes to Midnight" - Iron Maiden
Because it's Iron Maiden and you can never go wrong with Iron Maiden when talking about hard rock.

9) "Highway Star" - Deep Purple
The second of three songs from the '70's. Deep Purple was so influential on hard rock artists from the '80's up until today, I had to include them. "Highway Star" keeps the motor running on this playlist.

10) "Slide It In" - Whitesnake
While, again, this is not an obvious choice, this is from the album that preceded Whitesnake's 1987 record that catapulted them (and Tawny Kitaen) to the top of American consciousness.

11) "Rusty Cage" - Soundgarden
I never considered Soundgarden to be a grunge band. To me they were always more hard rock, as this song proves. There has never been any "yarling" in Chris Cornell's vocals and the instrumentation on this track is almost, almost thrash.

12) "Fire Woman" - The Cult
I don't know where The Cult falls in the grand scheme of genres, but "Fire Woman" is an excellent hard rock song.

13) "Heartless" - Heart
Again, if you read this blog at all, you know I love chicks that rock. And nobody did more to break ground for future generations of chick rockers than Ann and Nancy Wilson (apologies to Pat Benatar, but Ann & Nancy were first). While there are more obvious choices, this song fits the playlist.

14) "Rock Me Like The Devil" - Crucified Barbara
This, my first hard rock playlist, may be a little heavy on the female rockers, I think they get overlooked a lot of the time. Crucified Barbara is an all female current Swedish quartet who rock.

15) "I Hate Myself For Loving You" - Joan Jett
Because Joan Jett. That is all. Carry on.

16) "You Can't Stop Rock 'N" Roll" - Twisted Sister
What better song to end on. Rock is not dead.

Check out the Spotify playlist if you're at all intrigued.

April 2015: A Good Month For Music

Since I've been digging for new music a couple of years now, I don't remember a month where more good music has come out than April 2015.

Here are six albums you don't want to miss, if you like good music.

Halestorm: Into The Wild Life

Delta Rae: After It All

William Clark Green: Ringling Road

Ray Wylie Hubbard: The Ruffians Misfortune

Will Hoge: Small Town Dreams

Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen: Hold My Beer, Vol. 1

Album Spotlight: Halestorm: Into The Wild Life

I will admit it. I am enthralled with Lzzy Hale. My daughter said I was a fan girl. OK. But I prefer fan boy.

But I'm not a blind follower. Of anyone. I may love an artist and have all of their previous work, but if the new stuff is not up to par, I'm gonna call it out.

The new Halestorm record, Into The Wild Life, exceeded any expectations I had.

Is every song for everybody? Nope. Is there something there for everyone? I say yes.

It seems as though all of the influences over the years come through in this record, but not in a nostalgic way, but in a new and fresh way.

With Halestorm, heavy rock will always be their base. That's who they are, unapologetically. I don't know what their influences are, but when listening to the album, I hear Michael Jackson, country, industrial, classic rock, rhythm and blues, heavy metal and funk. And when I listen to the record again, I'll hear something else.

Here's the joy in listening to the record, the next song is not going to sound like the last. For some people that may be a turn off. For me, that's magical. I love the unexpected, especially if it's good.

I will offer this caveat, if you're easily offended, skip this. It ain't for everyone, but if you're a real music fan, check it out.

Here's the vid for "Apocolyptic".



And today, it may change tomorrow, but this may be favorite song on the record, "Bad Girls World".

Little Big Town, Halestorm and "Girl Crush"

Updated 5/15/15:

If you haven't heard, apparently some country radio stations are relegating Little Big Town's most recent single "Girl Crush" to low rotation. The reason? Listeners have been calling in complaining about the stations pushing a lesbian agenda. There is only anecdotal evidence of this as far as I can tell.

There are scads of these reports all over the internet. I'm not going to link, just Google it. You're reading this, you have access.

If you listen to the song, it's about jealousy and has nothing whatsoever to do with lesbianism. But according to some reports, those complaining don't care to even entertain that conversation.

Then came the reports that this controversy was all over blown. That there really weren't many complaints being logged.

Whatever. I'm just using this controversy non-controversy controversy as an excuse to post another Halestorm video.

Halesorm's Lzzy Hale got in on the action a few days ago with these tweets:

Why you should listen to song lyrics. ;) #IGotAGirlCrush #littlebigtown http://t.co/Roc0G8gcbv
— Lzzy Hale (@LZZYHALE) March 26, 2015

#ISupportLittleBigTown #IGotAGirlCrush

— Lzzy Hale (@LZZYHALE) March 26, 2015

Halestorm opened on several dates of Eric Church's tour and Lzzy made appearances with Church on a couple of awards showing playing and singing with him on "That's Damn Rock and Roll". Also residing and recording in Nashville, Halestorm are no strangers to country music.

Here is the Little Big Town lyric video of "Girl Crush". Not much can be misinterpreted unless you really try.



And this was just posted to YouTube today or last night if you're in Europe (3/28/15) from Halestorm's show in Germany. Halestorm covered "Girl Crush" for the first time. Lzzy didn't offer any explanation to the German audience other it was a song they liked. It was recorded on someone's mobile device, I suppose, so the audio is not stellar, but I've heard much worse.



And now Halestorm played an acoustic rendition of the song on SiriusXM recorded here:

What I'm Loving Wednesday

February is almost over and I had to get out of my singer/songwriter melancholy funk. Not that I don't enjoy that, it just seemed to be encompassing my music. So I go back to when music was fun. A little Sunset Strip 80s rock. This comes from RATT's Dancing Undercover album, which I think is their best and by far most underrated record.



The next song was recommended to me specifically from one of my tweeps. (I love twitter). A band out of California called Walking Tall. Since hearing this song, I have delved into more of their music. Good stuff. County tinged Southern Rock with a hint of 80s pop. What's not to like.



I don't know where the new Kid Rock fits into today's musical landscape. I had the chance to listen to his latest record ,First Kiss, all the way through today. There is no "Bawitdaba" or "Cowboy" on it. It's very reflective and nostalgic. I wouldn't say it's great, but every tune is catchy. If this is what he decides to do, I'm all for it. Here's the title track from the album. It reminds me of a cross between Bryan Adams and .38 Special. Whatever, it's better than anything played on mainstream radio. My 14-year-old daughter, who used to love country, but got bored with all the sameness, digs this song.



I know a lot of people won't get this, but I'm in love with Lzzy Hale's voice. From their upcoming album, here is Halestorm with "Mayhem".



The last thing I'll leave you with is Chelle Rose. I can't believe I haven't heard of her before. Expressing that sentiment on twitter, she tweeted back that we find music at the right time in our lives. I can't argue with that. Swampy and sultry, she's good.

Working Women's Wednesday: Lzzy Hale

I originally had this one pegged for Metal Monday, but then dropped the ball on getting it posted. But it works here. The new Halestorm song "Apocalyptic".

Saraya: When the Blackbird Sings

Sometimes stuff gets missed for whatever reason. The second album by the band Saraya was missed by me and apparently 99.99% of the world's population. And that's a shame.

Saraya was a hard rock band named after lead singer Sandi Saraya and had couple of minor hits from their self-titled debut that came out in 1989. I bought the cassette (yeah, I'm that old) for the first album based off "Love Has Taken It's Toll", which I still love. Great hard rock song.



The rest of the record, along with the other single "Back To The Bullet" was even more pop metal than this song and not near as good. One good song, I thought. Therefore, I kind of forgot about the band.

Saraya's second album, When The Blackbird Sings, was released in 1992. Classic case of bad timing. Nirvana and the Seattle grunge movement was in full force. This fantastic record fell through the cracks, and that's unfortunate.

This record is over 25 years old and I just heard it for the first time a few days ago. And I must say, it's one of the best hard rock albums, cover to cover, I've heard in a long time. Sounds fresh and not dated. If you like Lita Ford, Queensryche, Whitesnake, Badlands and Halestorm, then you just might find something here for you.

Unfortunately there are no videos, but here's a youtube audio of what I think is a great representation of the entire album.

What I'm Looking Forward To Musically in 2015

There might be some really cool music coming out in 2015. There is going to be some surprisingly good stuff. There are going to be some duds.

Whatever happens, there is going to be some really good stuff that nobody knows about.

Here is what I'm looking forward to in 2015. Some may not live up to what I expect, but there will be plenty more to take their places if it doesn't live up.

Halestorm is counting down to the release of their third album. If it is anywhere near as good as The Strange Case of.... it will not disappoint.

Blackberry Smoke is another band with another album in the can and Holding All the Roses is another release that I'm looking forward to. If you're a fan of Southern Rock, Blackberry Smoke is your band. Along with Whiskey Myers, they are doing it right.

I don't know any details, but Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are poised to release an album in 2015. Kind of eclectic, they rock. I have high hopes for this one.

This one I am most excited about. Richie Sambora and Orianthi are going to release an album together. Check out each of their solo work and then search youtube for some live collaborations. I'll admit, this one may let me down the most if it isn't great. But I'm optimistic.

When it's all said and done at the end of 2015, none of these may have resonated with me. But I'm hopeful that they will. If not, there will be something else that comes out of the woodwork. It always does.

CMT Music Awards:Eric Church and Lzzy Hale: That's Damn Rock & Roll

Image from heavy.com

I wrote about the Eric Church and Halestorm pairing before. I though it was an interesting, maybe even good, idea. Although that had to do with Halestorm opening for Church on his current tour.

At the CMT Music Awards this idea went a bit further when Church performed with Halestorm frontwoman and leader Lzzy Hale on Church's song "That's Damn Rock & Roll".

And it was damn rock & roll. Nope, wasn't country, but that ship left port a long time ago. The best country performance was put in by LeaAnn Womack and Kacey Musgraves in their Alan Jackson tribute. But I digress.

Full disclosure here. I'm a big fan of Halestorm and Lzzy Hale's vocals specifically. While Church is a good enough vocalist in his own right, he could never bring to that song what Hale did: soaring, powerhouse, straight up rock vocals.

Right now what I'm most disappointed about is that the Halestorm leg of Church's tour gets no closer than 13 hours away from me.



And if the YouTube video gets taken down, here's a link to their performance at the CMT Awards.

TheCheapSeats on Twitter.

Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Genre Bending

If you read this blog at all, you know I don't really deal in negativity. Especially when it comes to my music posts. I like to feature good stuff that I've found. But what happened at the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night bears comment.

I'm talking about the Carrie Underwood/Miranda Lambert 70's Aerosmith/bad anthem mashup. It was, quite frankly, poor execution of a less-than-mediocre song. "Something Bad", it was. Don't believe me? Here's some video proof. Judge for yourself.



Don't get me wrong. I like both Carrie and Miranda. I'm just disappointed that this is what they came up with in collaboration. It's beneath both of them.

But that brings me to a bigger subject. This is a rock song. At least what I grew up knowing as rock. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with that. In fact 70's, 80's and 90's style rock and pop has been co-opted by country music. For me that's a good thing. I like that kind of music.

But on the flip side, there seems to be no room for what is considered traditional country. And that's a shame. I was watching the top 20 on GAC or CMT (can't remember which) this past weekend, and there was not one song that even resembled traditional country. Most of the songs would be in heavy rotation on MTV or VH1 a few years ago.

Right now, there's no room for rock in pop, and no room for traditional country in country. I don't know where it goes from here, but some think that there may be a split in country music, which makes sense to me.

Eric Church is taking hard rock Grammy winners Halestorm out on tour with him for a few dates. That pairing makes more sense to me the than Dwight Yoakam, who will be on the whole tour. Since we're talking about Halestorm and Carrie Underwood, a couple of songs they recorded are practically interchangeable.

Eric Church, Dwight Yoakam and......Halestorm?

I'm not a huge Eric Church fan. However, I don't dislike his music. In fact, some of it I quite like.

Eric Church has released tour dates, along with opening acts/special guests. It is interesting enough that the entire tour will be with Dwight Yoakam. Props to the Eric Church camp on this pairing. But what is even more curious is the opening special guests.

Part of the tour will feature Brandy Clark. She deserves it. Very talented. Traditional-like country. Female artist. (And we could discuss the dearth of female artists on country music radio all day, but not here, not now).

Part of the tour will include the Brothers Osborne. I'm not familiar with them, but from what I've read, they are good.

The last leg of the tour intrigues me the most. The special guest/opening act is Halestorm. If you're not familiar with Halestorm, they won the most recent Grammy for Hard Rock/Heavy Metal (although cool for them, the Grammy's are clueless). Here's a sample of their music.





Before the total wasteland that country music became in 2013 and early 2014 with all the auto-tuned, vapid, hick-hop bro-country, devoid of anything of substance or female voices, country was much closer to classic rock and 80's hair metal than anything else.

I actually think this is a good pairing and would love to attend a show, if for nothing else than to judge the reaction.

Chicks That Rock: Lizzy Hale, Halestorm

With "Chicks That Rock" we've covered old school with Heart, middle school with Grace Pottter, so now it's time to go new school.

I present Lizzy Hale and Halestorm.  Along with brother Arejay Hale on drums, Joe Hottinger on guitar and Josh Smith on bass, Halestorm's 2nd full length album The Strange Case of..... is probably the most listenable hard rock albums from start to finish since Appetite for Destruction.

It runs the gamut form full throttle rockers like "Freak Like Me" to tender ballads like "Break In". But throughout it all, Lzzy Hale's voice shines.

The Dallas Cowboys: The World Has Ended (or not)

In the age of social media, it is almost as entertaining on facebook and Twitter as watching the actual games. Did we say "almost"? Many times it is more entertaining.

We are long time fans of the Dallas Cowboys. Some have given up. We have too much blue and silver in the veins to do that. But our happiness does not depend on them.

One facebook friend effectively "divorced" himself from the Cowboys after the debacle in Chicago. However, he was back for a reconciliation a week later, saying he couldn't stay away from the misery. Which gives us a good reason to link the following video (Any chance we get to promote good music.......)

So there's that. Another said it is hard being a Cowboys fan right now. Another posted pics of Tom Landry, Clint Murchison, Gil Brandt, Roger Staubach, "Doomsday", etc. Longing for the "good ol' days". 

Twitter was a maelstrom of activity. Blame Tony Romo, the defense, Jason Garrett, Monte Kiffin, injuries Bill Calahan, Ron Washington. All had a hand in it. OK, maybe not Wash, but he gets blamed for everything else.

We root for the Cowboys each and every week. Hoping they win. But now that's not even that important. Do something to entertain us. On that coun,t they rarely disappoint. Go blow for blow with Peyton Manning and Denver? Check. Improbable fourth quarter comeback? Check. Inconceivable second half collapse? Check. Check. And check.

The defense is beyond horrible. The play calling is not much better. Romo will be Romo. Watch the games. Watch Twitter. Watch facebook. The best reality series out there.

We don't get depressed, angry or despondent after another Cowboy collapse. We turn to social media and smile. Because we just don't take it that seriously.

Are We Moving Towards One Macro-Genre of Music?

Update: We have recently become aware of a website that we really enjoy reading. As a bonus this article was a little over 2 years ahead of us coming to this conclusion, though through different means.

Here in the Cheap Seats, we are fans of good music.  Or at least our definition of good music.  You know the premise, we can't explain it, but know it when we hear it.

With the exception of rap, we are generally not opposed to any type of music, so long as it appeals to us.

Country? Check.
Pop? Check.
Rock? Check.
And on and on.

Which brings us to this.  Why are we still putting music into a specific genre?  That only limits the audience.  If you take a look at the music you like, surely there is some common vein that runs through all of it.  Even if your tastes are eclectic.

Let us explain.

We are going to post two songs below.  One belongs to a current country music darling, one to a an up-and-coming hard rock/heavy metal act.  With a few tweaks in production and instrumentation without changing the integrity of either song, just changing the artists name would move the song from one genre to the other.

To get the full effect of what we are talking about, we'll give you a step-by-step on how we arrived at our conclusion.  First listen to the Carrie Underwood song "Good Girl".  Preferably with you eyes closed.  Just concentrate on the music. Ignore the video.

Now that you have that song on your brain, which is in fact a rock song, listen to the following Halestorm song "I Miss the Misery", again just listening, the images tend to convolute the mind.

While listening, imagine Carrie Underwood singing.  The guitars pulled back in the mix. Some keyboard layers.  A thinner drum mix.  And we can hear places where a banjo would be apropos.

Now go back and listen to the Carrie Underwood song while thinking about more up front guitars, a heavier drum sound and more bottom end.

We think slight adjustments in the instrumentation and production could make the songs practically interchangeable.  Put "I Miss the Misery" on a Carrie Underwood album and suddenly it's a country song.  Let Halestorm record "Good Girl" and it's a hard rock song.