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Gone Country Reconsidered

February 24th 2008 in Americana, Television, alt.country

So I blogged on the CMT reality Program Gone Country hosted by John Rich (of Big & Rich fame) without seeing one episode and trashed it (see Gone Stupid.) Well I sat down this weekend and watched three epoides in a row and have to say, It’s not as bad as I suspected it might be.

The participants, Carnie Wilson, Maureen “Marcia Brady” McCormick, Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider , Sisqo of “Thong Song” fame, Julio Iglesias Jr., “American Idol” runner-up Diana DeGarmo and Boston bad boy Bobby Brown, seem genuinely sincere in wanting to succeed in writing a decent country song and living a country lifestyle. That is if living includes wearing high-dollar be-spangled Manual suits, wearing huge fur coats (as John Rich does) and living in a swanky “rustic” Nashville nation. The other thing I was struck by is the absence of viciousness that runs through most reality programs, Except for Bobby Browns hygiene the show plays it pretty clean.

I still think John Rich is a tool that writes schlock meanwhile laughing all the way to the bank., but the man understands the mechanics of Nashville like few do and he seems to be the right PT Barnum for this circus.

I just can’t wait for Dee Snider to kick all their butts with a gem of a tune.

6 comments to...
“Gone Country Reconsidered”

Imagine A World Where Alan Jackson Is A Nashville Clone -- The 9513
wrote on February 25th, 2008

[...] watching three episodes of Gone Country, Twang Nation’s Baron Lane comes to the conclusion that it’s not as bad as he suspected it might [...]

Lester
wrote on February 26th, 2008

dee isn’t going to win. Diana won. She’s already living in Nashville and recording a cd.

Baron Lane
wrote on February 26th, 2008

Diane! The American Idol runner-up? Geez, that anticlimactic!

Blake
wrote on February 27th, 2008

Well I tell you what… John Rich is the biggest tool in world…. no wait… his gay sidebick Big Homo is… but anyway… I started to watch the 1st episode but when John came down from the heavens of Nashville in his homocopter with fur and sunglasses (at 8pm in the evening) I instantly got turned off. I have much respect for Dee and have heard tons of interviews with him on Howard Stern, but I can’t watch this show. It’s as bad as when they had Cowboy Troy co-host that Nashville American Idol show… Maybe its because I am TIRED of reality TV or maybe it’s that I hate that John Rich sold out long ago when he left Lonestar (back when they were good and didnt talk about daddy daycare) but I can’t watch it. They should have had Hank III, Slackeye Slim, and Hank Cash on the show… and at the end of the season have all those guys tell Nashville to eat a big ol ____!

Baron Lane
wrote on February 28th, 2008

I hear ya Blake. I was never aware of early Lonestar back before Rich was fired from the band so I only know him from Big and Rich. Most people think of “success” in music as success in any other business. $$$$ Alas I will always consider him a Vanilla Ice of Country (sorry Van Winkle.)

Linda
wrote on February 28th, 2008

I might have to watch an episode now. I completely agreed with your first review, but like you, I had never seen one of the shows. I thought it would be like that city-folks-visit-a-dude-ranch-show; know the one I mean? But I never watched that one, either.

Dale Watson Resheduled New York Dates

It’s finally time ladies and gentlemen. The man, Dale Watson, has made good on his rescheduled dates and will be at the Rodeo Bar tomorrow night (2/23) at 11pm and at Hill Country Barbecue the next night, Sunday (2/24)

Right after appearing live an MTV’S 24 hour Jackass Takeover that is.

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The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will present an intimate, behind-the-scenes portrait of a great American musical dynasty in Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy, Co-Presented by SunTrust and Ford Motor Company, a more than 5,000-square-foot exhibition opening on Friday, March 28, 2008, and closing on December 31, 2009.

“The Williams family story may seem familiar,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “However, this exhibit will take the visitor inside the family to revisit the life and impact of Hank [...]

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