Gretchen Wilson is a new Nashville artist. She's not really new, just newly signed and promoted. She is part of the "music mafia" of music row who struggled, played the clubs, and wrote music with newcomers Big and Rich, and others, while she waited for her golden opportunity.
She finally got it. Sony Nashville gave it to her, and man, are they glad they did.
Her first single, Redneck Woman, which appeared on CMT (country music television) and at country radio was a blockbuster. Of course, with her music writing ability, Sony wasn't gambling the house. But she doesn't fit the mold. She will never be a diva like Faith, Shania, or even Martina McBride.
She has a little of the "trashy" thing goin' on, a Tanya Tucker 20 years later.
But anyone who can write lyrics like:
I'm a redneck woman
I ain't no high class broad
I'm just a product of my raising
I say, 'hey y'all' and 'yee-haw'
And I keep my Christmas lights on
On my front porch all year long...
and then can diss Victoria's Secret with a wink and soft voice...is ok in my book. She has a powerful, right on the money voice, a special talent for writing lyrics that people can identify with, and on stage is a ball of fire. She takes command and makes everyone want to keep their Christmas lights up all year long.
She is the Nashville enigma which hits on all cylinders. I suspect as the years move along, the Bonnie Raitt, Melissa Etheridge, and even Janis Joplin fans will embrace her. She is a unique and edgy voice and writer, in a cloud of generic music out of Nashville, which, while pretty, bores to tears.
It will be interesting to watch and see if she is bright passion that burns fast, or is around a long, long time. I'm betting on the tenure....
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Mark Saleski
i agree claire. i happened to get this cd the same day as the latest Loretta Lynn (review here).
it'll be interesting to see if the industry (or the fans) will stick with her for her next recording go-round.
2 - Mark Saleski
good gawd, another case of a conservative and a liberal agreeing on something.
what's the world comin' to?!
3 - Claire
Art is art....there are no political labels....thank god. I have found a discerning liberal who still appreciates art...who'da thought it?
claire
4 - bob2112
OK Claire, I understand you're in Texas but since when has 'Redneck' been a positive label? Redneck in most circles is representaive of KKK, incest, chewing tobacco, & doughnuts on the lawn, to name a few. Not to mention how insensitive it is to glorify the term associated with a lynchmob! Mississippi Burning Sheriff cover-up, etc.
I suppose Gretchen is waiting for her Grand Dragon sugar daddy to get back from from the rally where they barbcued a pregnant darkie for letting herself get gangraped by his good ol' boys & actually having one of their bastards. We cain't have that!
5 - bob2112
Art is art, but redneck is redneck.
6 - Claire
Bob, listen to the music. Since when did "labels" mean anything"? the music speaks for itself.
Claire
7 - Mark Saleski
cripes, it's just 'redneck' as in trailer-trash, not-high fallutin' gal.
lighten up, francis.
8 - Mark Saleski
plus, "When It Rains" is a great drinkin' song.
9 - Claire
Its a great song rain or shine. Thank you Mark :) Talent is not dependent on weather, on labels, or on society's view of what a woman is or should be. She kicks ass. And I love her.
Claire
10 - Mark Saleski
any woman who sings "when it rains, i pour" is ok in my book.
11 - Claire
Context. Mark. context....:)
Claire
12 - bob2112
Man, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
One man's cow turd is another man's fertilizer, for sure!
13 - bob2112
Oh yeah Mark, Trailer-trash? Cool? What are talkin' about?
14 - bob2112
I love music. I went to 2004 Farm Aid in Auburn, WA two weeks ago. I saw John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Neil Young & Steve Earle. Don't tell me it's cool to be a redneck. I supported family farmers being destroyed by Montsano Corporate Factory Farms backed by Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, the FDA director,(former CEO) & the Secretary of Agriculture. Along with Montsano, ADM, Kraft, & the like, these creeps put 300+ family farms out of business every month. I will not accept all this Bush Administration backed, conflicts of interest, boogie-woogieing to 'Redneck Girl' as the 'Kool Aid' flows freely down my throat!
Gretchen is capitalizing on the market the Dixie Chicks opened when they took their lives back to raise their kids in peace.
15 - Mark Saleski
gees, i bet you're a laugh riot at parties.
16 - bob2112
Thanks, Mark. I will take that as a compliment.
17 - andy marsh
lighten up francis...I LOVE IT!!!
18 - bob2112
Watch out, Andy. You still haven't guess where I live. I'll give you one more hint: USS Missouri. C'mon Navy guy, you have to know this one.
No lightening up when it comes to the positive spin 'Redneck' is getting these days. Swallowing an elephant would be easier to do. No pun intended.(Though that's pretty good one)
19 - andy marsh
well...you said WA St. so I would have to guess either Bremerton or Everett...
I was in Long Beach when thye bought her out of mouthballs in 85 and I know she was home ported there afterwards...she's in Pearl Harbor now...
20 - Claire
Bob, Gretchen is capitalizing on NOTHING. She is unlike the Dixie Chicks, she is unlike any Nashville artist, and she isn't trying to be something she isn't.
She was a bartender at 14, has tried to be a singer/songwriter for many years.
Whats with the dissing of the word "Redneck"...it isn't like saying someone is a communist or a pedophile...sheesh...
Claire
21 - Claire
mark is right...any woman who can sing when it rains, I pour is a good thing...:)
Discerning people, and the misguided...so funny when they get together...its like watching a British comedy :)
Claire
22 - bob2112
Bartending at 14? Better call the cops! If that bar is still open they should be checkin' ID's & make sure no child prostiution ring developed over the years. Sounds pretty freaky to me!
I really hate pop-country crap. I don't like the Dixie Chicks music, or Shania Twain's. Gretchen is in that market. I had the unfortunate privledge of seeing a piece on her on CMT when that Redneck Girl came out.
Give me some dusty road, harvest moon, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams country & western any day of the week!
23 - Lono
hmmm - I heard something about her on NPR and was curious. Plus, she's hot. Plus, I have some respect for Claire's taste... so I am downloading it right now (that's right, I said it! I am downloading it from Kazaa lite as we speak - who's gonna stop me?).
So, give me about 20 minutes (dial up) and I'll pitch my two cents. Should say this ahead of time though, barring Willie or Johnny Cash > country music sucks.
24 - Lono
I have been hearing about this song for too long. So, I finally went out and bought the single (er... burned it off Kazaa lite). Even NPR did a piece on her, about what a revolutionary rule breaker she was... and a breath of fresh air to country music bla bla bla.
Sorry, I found it terrible. It is a populist piece of country formula. This track is bound for a Ford truck commercial, at best. I would hardly call this a breakthrough. Someone recently compared it to the absolutely amazing 'Van Lear Rose' by Loretta Lynn. Big mistake, and if I find that person I am going to call him a name and run!
the lyrics: not rulebreaking. Instead, they play on a precious stereotype of what 'regular folk' she is. Wow, she uses words like y'all and ain't - what a rulebreaker! To say these lyrics are trite would be demeaning to the entire catalogue of Bon Jovi. To me, this song defines why country music sucks so bad. I'd quote some lyrics for you, but it would be a precious waste of letters and spaces.
Jeesh, I put my good name out there as a renegade music pirate for this? Ms. Wilson owes me back three minutes of my life. I've got to be at work in the morning, but y'all have made me so I had to rebutt this silliness post haste*.
* I learned that phrase from Monty Burns, and am trying to use it in conversation. How did I do?
25 - Claire
Ya did great, Lono *laughing and laughing....I'm sorry you don't like the song, but then there are many which I don't like too, and thats why the labels are in business...We all like different things. Don't get me wrong...I don't hold her out to be Celine Dion...but she is a clever and excellent songwriter/artist...and her single appealed to enough people to shoot it to No. 1 on the Country Billboard charts for quite a few weeks...so somebody is listening!
You never waste time when you broaden your perspective (even if you hate it)...knowledge is power :)
Thank you for listening to it...I'll try to make it up to you in the next one...lolol
Claire :)