I think it’s safe to say that 2020 was a write-off for many of us. Myself included. And while I still have a LOT to catch up on to post, there have been a couple of things that have happened in our industry this week that should be acknowledged.

First and foremost, T.J Osborne of the Brothers Osborne “came out” as being gay. He is one of the few “out” artists we have in this industry. And certainly one of the only charted. It was met with love and acceptance from artists all over, showing that our genre has made a huge shift.

Then. It happened. Morgan Wallen. Morgan Wallen once AGAIN making a general ass of himself and using the N-word. Sigh. 

Cumulus was the first to send out the memo saying to pull him from their playlists. What ASTOUNDS me is, that morning, stations were Facebooking one another to see what they should do. Why is this a question? When The Chicks came out against Bush and said, “Shame on you!”, radio stations could not WAIT to pull their CD’s and burn them. Why are we questioning what we should be doing with Wallen, especially when it isn’t his first time doing stuff like this. 

His label has decided to suspend his contract, which I think is in his best interest. Let’s be honest, there is something going on that this kid needs help for. Get it for him.

With that, people started backing artists of Colour and artists in the LGBTQ+ community. One artist in particular people threw their support behind was Female Artist Mickey Guyton and her album “Bridges”, moving her up the charts OVERNIGHT! 

The real problem is this genre already carries this stigma of being redneck and racist. It’s 2021. The more Confederate Flags there are at festivals, the more people like Wallen we are tolerant of, the more that says we are ok with it. 

And we aren’t. 

There is no room for racism or sexism in this industry anymore. It’s been proven this week.

So, I guess either you’re in, or you’re in the way. Because this is the “NEW” country. It is diverse. It loves everyone. And it is FANTASTIC!

Here is Mickey Guyton’s “Black Like Me”. This song is an amazing example of her songwriting ability and the phenomenal texture of her voice. She is screaming up a couple of different charts…so check her out:

https://youtu.be/ZXKsmR44IP8