When Will Country Music Finally Admit It Has A Drinking Problem?

When Will Country Finally Admit It Has A Drinking Problem?

Is it solely the one holding the bottle who has the problem or does the genre have a responsibility?

Nutso Urban (glorifying acholol??!) Multiple people had been treated for injuries and even more were arrested during a July 26th  Keith Urban alcohol-fueled concert in Massachusetts in the US over the weekend, with police blaming alcohol as the main cause of the chaos. Forty-six people were injured, including 22 people being admitted to hospital, while police estimate 50 people were taken into protective custody for alcohol related offences.

Things were so bad, which included ambulances from five surrounding communities. People were so drunk at the show .

Rolling Stone reported officials had to activate "a phase one EMS plan" with ambulances from five local areas were called upon to deal with the injured. “In total, Fire and EMS attended to 46 medicals resulting in 22 transports mostly alcohol-related,” Mansfield, Massachusetts Police Chief Ron Sellon and Fire Chief Neil Boldrighini said in a joint statement. Who knew a Keith Urban concert was such a good time?!!

Urban himself acknowledged the rowdy nature of the concert via a Twitter video, although he seemed to be unaware of the injuries or arrests. “What a great night tonight. It was killer. Gosh, up on the lawn tonight, that was nutso. It was so cool,” he said in the clip. The concert was part of Urban's current RAISE 'EM UP tour through the US.

On July 29th Billboard reports an 18-year-old Boston man has been arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl during the Keith Urban concert at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Mass., on July 26.

The teenage girl was was allegedly sexually assaulted on the lawn area of the venue while others watched and took videos with their cell phones, The Sun Chronicle reports.

The suspect, Sean Murphy, pleaded innocent to the rape and claims that the incident was consensual. His parents were reportedly expected to post the bail for his release, which is set at $10,000. He’s due back in court on Sept. 25.
Police say that Murphy and the girl met for the first time at the concert and began kissing near a concession stand before moving to the lawn area. An off-duty police officer intervened after seeing a large group of people surrounding them while taking videos and photos. Murphy was arrested shortly thereafter. According to police, both he and the girl were consuming alcohol during the concert, The Sun Chronicle reports.

In reply to this seedy story a country fan comments – “I've witnessed things at concerts recently that I wouldn't believe if I didn't see it with my own sober eyes!!! These kids are drunk out of their minds and have absolutely no ability to make a sound judgment. It's disgusting”!

Billboard Article
Published 28 July 2014
CLICK to ENLARGE

Drinking songs have been synonymous with country music for a very long time. Alan Jackson isn't exactly the first guy you think of when it comes to country's top party-hearty stars, but even the more mild-mannered country stars like to cut loose once in a while. Alan likes a "shot of tequila / Beer on tap / Sweet Southern woman sitting on my lap." Which sounds more like a great time!

In 2011 Toby Keith toasted the success of his viral No.1 hit "Red Solo Cup”. That iconic piece of hand-held plastic a staple of beaches, picnics and college parties finally got its due in the fun and light-hearted Keith single.:

“Now a red Solo cup is the best receptacle / For barbeques, tailgates, fairs and festivals / And you, sir, do not have a pair of testicles / If you prefer drinking from glass / A red Solo cup is cheap and disposable / In 14 years they are decomposable

Country rapper Colt Ford teamed up with Keith Urban for the song >> “She’s Like” on Ford's fifth album as Colt describing the female protagonist sings (?) : She's like a free round of drinks at my favorite bar/ She's a wide open road and later declares -

She keeps the party going all night long/ And if you know what I mean you can sing along.

Superstar and CMA Awards host Brad Paisley is a guy reported not to drink. Yet in his video for >> “Southern Comfort Zone” he raises a glass in a pub as 57 pints of beer are gulped down. His forthcoming album due Aug. 25th 2014 is titled MOONSHINE IN THE TRUNK. In the track >> “Crushin’ It” he sings “By this time Friday night,  I’ll be done with my third can”….“ You want a margarita, I’ll get tequila and ice”

Lady Antebellum’s latest radio single >> “Bartender” serves up the booze. Here lead singer Hillary Scott navigates the trenches of loneliness while mending a broken heart. She turns to good friends, the club and booze to help her forget Mr. What’s-His-Name.

“Tonight I’ll let a stranger pull me on the floor / Spin me round and let ‘em buy a couple more / But before he gets too far I’ll let ‘em down easy,” she sings  continuing “So pour that thing up to the top, I’m coming in hot”. With the key blurry drinking line:

“Hey bartender pour ‘em hot tonight / ‘Til the party and music and the truth collide / Bring it ‘til his memory fades away”

Award-winning country group Little Big Town premiered the music video for their latest country radio single, >> “Day Drinking.”

It features the foursome stuck on the Old Port Bridge, day drinking and lounging on the beach. It's about not wanting to wait until later or needing a reason to have some drinks, so the song's narrator suggests they do a little "day drinking” ending up at a beach where fun festivities commence while alcohol beverages are consumed.

In Joe Nichols' new romantic (?) video, >> "Yeah," the current 3-week No.1 on Billboard Country Airplay, the guy will say or do anything to get off with a hot leggy blonde girl who just stepped out of 4-wheeler pick and headed in his direction. As the drinks flow Nichols sings: "Whatever your drinkin', that's what I'm drinkin', girl you call in the shots tonight/ Whatever your thinkin' I'm thinkin'/ Tell me what yer got in mind so I can say YEAH YEAH

In Love and Theft’s new video for their single “Night That You'll Never Forget” the hot-rock-your-world country girls are seen to openly go with the flow:

When Will Country Admit It Has A Drinking Problem?
(by Jimmy Carter a well-known veteran TV, radio personality and now a columnist! His unique view of MUSIC ROW comes from years of producing local and national TV from Nashville)

He writes: A 22-year-old college student went to the July 19th 2014 Jason Aldean stadium show in Cleveland this week and drank himself to death. Homicide detectives found Cory Barron's Aldean ticket in his pants pocket when they found him dead at the city dump. A landfill worker discovered the body of 22-year-old Cory Barron at the Lorain County Landfill. Early statements from police say that Barron fell five stories through a trash chute after he wandered away from his family during the Jason Aldean concert. A friend of Barron's said he was extremely intoxicated when she last saw him, a police report said. Police arrested 35 people on alcohol-related charges at the Aldean concert Saturday, a press release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

It's an ugly story created by an "anything goes" partying policy a major Country shows around the country.

Let's go back to 2008: Boston, CBS TV

The Country music festival was marred by tragedy in 2008 when 20-year-old Debra Davis of Milton and her friend Alexa Latteo, 19, of Mansfield, were killed after the car Latteo was driving veered into a tree on Route 1 in Wrentham just after they left the venue...This was the beginning

... drink until you fall over all-day tailgating before a [Kenny] Chesney show ... No one make those kids drink and drive ... life goes on ...Fast-forward past hundreds, if not thousands, of  arrests at Country shows all over the county ... The crime list related in one way or another to booze is long. Moving to 2009 ... upsate NY Rochester News: William "Billy" Sutherland, 33, of Bradford, PA, was found dead in Sunshine Lake. It's a small body of water located within the parking areas of the theme park.Mr. Sutherland had attended the Toby Keith concert at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center with friends on Friday night.

A Cleveland newspaper reporter described this lovely scene: "A woman standing about five feet away from me was singing along with Miranda Lambert when she abruptly threw up all over herself and the man next to her. And just about no one else seemed to notice. They were too busy having the time of their lives. The NFL and most major colleges put the brakes on drinking years ago. Country is late to the party. No one suggest prohibition ... just some decent rules of engagement.

Trashathon’s

Anyone watch the news coverage of Luke Bryan's record breaking June 2014 Heinz Field Pittsburgh concert? Not much about Luke ... the focus: The fans again were pigs! said Jimmy Carter. The parking lot looked like a city landfill and CNN kept showing the fan who tried to walk but fell down planting his face to the street. 

Luke Bryan Clean Up

It was disgusting to read about the amount of trash country fans tossed into the Allegheny River. Kenny Chesney fans were actually worse the year before. Some even referred to the crowd as "Country Western" fans. Everyone must be proud.

darkhorseinstitute.com: Was Luke Bryan responsible for Fans Behavior in Pittsburgh?

Luke Bryan concert left a huge mess at the venue at Pittsburgh, Heinz field (where the Steelers play) . The parking lots were trashed and drunks stumbled into the show. At least 20 were cited for under age drinking outside the concert.

post-gazette.com Pittsburgh mayor calls for end of city 'trashing'…..Mayor Bill Peduto announced Sunday that the city will bill all parties responsible for the cost of cleaning up after

Luke Bryan
Tailgate Pittsburgh
(Click to enlarge)

Saturday's Luke Bryan country-western concert at Heinz Field on the North Shore. “Enough is enough,” Mr. Peduto said. “The continued trashing of our city has to stop.” The mayor said there is no reason that large events like the one Saturday should force city taxpayers to bear the burden for out-sized amounts of garbage removal and public safety response. More than 50,000 people attended the concert, many of whom began tailgating as early as 11 a.m. in preparation for the 6 p.m. event. Public safety officials responded to more than 300 incidents related to the concert. 

Police issued 37 non-traffic citations (20 for scalping; 10 for public urination; six for disorderly conduct; and one for public intoxication). Officers arrested seven people, broke up 15 fights and answered 154 calls to 911. City medics responded to 100 calls to 911 and transported 34 people to hospitals.

>> Watch the Pittisburgh Actions News video wtae.com/news/

How Pittsburgh prepared for the Jason Aldean fans who in Boston set a new record for beer sales!

Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line and Miranda Lambert drew tens of thousands of people to PNC Park a baseball park located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh (The fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates). But unlike what Luke Bryan fans left and Kenny Chesney fans left behind last summer, this time, the tailgate aftermath was dramatically different. It appears that new guidelines put into place ahead of Saturday’s July 26, 2014 country music concert had a mostly positive effect also that torrential downpours washed the party-goers away. However, there were once again citations for under age drinking and there were still 32 medical transports reported. Most of those were for intoxication. By comparison, there were 34 transports during June’s Luke Bryan concert at Heinz Field.

Are these events making Americans, their country and country music look bad?

Chesney Tailgate Trash in 2013

Not much has changed: Last Summer, Country Superstar Kenny "Have Another Beer" Chesney brought his Barefoot Nation  to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. That ended up in 30 tons of trash being left in the lots from tailgating, 49 arrests and 150 people were treated for various medical needs. Another 45 people were taken to medical facilities as well. Trouble also occured at other Chesney dates. 

• Is it the culture created by the music? Pittsburghers are pointing their fingers squarely at Country artists and fans.
• The shows have become more about drinking, partying and tailgating than the actual music. 
• Many are saying that limiting parking lot hours to 2 hours before the show would prohibit this .
• This isn’t just about Luke, Kenny or even country music, should any artist be responsible for fans behavior? So the question stands to be addressed. 
• Who is responsible: The Artist, the Promoter, the Venue or the Fans or a 4 way alcholic country mixture?
• Related post: Why Country Music Was Awful in 2013 >> Video

The number of drinking songs out right now is insane. "Party, Party, Party" that and soccer the only two reasons to live in 2014 wrote Jimmy Carter.

Example: It's Friday, work is done. Time to fire it up. Grab your girl, crank the stereo in your truck, and get your ass to the party. Playlist!:

Related Blog Post (2012) Should Country artists show more responsibility in the songs they sing and they way they act?

One Too Many Drinking Songs

One Too Many Drinking Songs

Links in RED

Should Country artists show more responsibility in the songs they sing and the way they act?

Drinking songs perhaps more so in the past are somewhat stereotypical in country music with subjects like drowning one’s relationship problems and adultery.

Take for example “Just A Drink Away” recorded by Ernest Tubb in 1969 and written by Bobby Lewis and Billy Parker when he “pours” out his feelings:             

See that girl at the bar/ She just took my house and car/ And the little ones that meant the world to me/She gets wilder day by day/Now she's just a drink away/ Just a drink away from anyone but me/ So step up to the bar/ Makes no difference who you are/ You'll be welcome just as long as she can see/ That she's tearing out my heart/ Like she planned it from the start/ She's just a drink away from anyone but me.

Fast forward to Darius Rucker’s “Whiskey & You” from his 2010 album CHARLESTON, SC 1966 in which he sings:

Always there/ When my world starts closing in/ Something to hold / No matter how long it's bee n/ Gets me high / Then knocks me to the ground/ Soothes my mind/ And then begins to break me down.....Whiskey and you/ Ain't nothing I can do/ But come crawling back to / Whiskey and you

Nashville's worst ongoing trend tend to be songs that consist almost entirely of "how country I am, I drive a truck and I drink plenty of beer and whiskey in bars and drink moonshine on a pickup truck and having a good time.

With the U.S. national debt set to pass the $15 trillion mark and the UK having now reached the £1 trillion mark perhaps this “Niagara Falls of debt” is enough to drive anyone to drink especially the politicians.

Last year in America a story ran about a 19-year-old with a fake ID nearly beaten to death at a Tim McGraw show near Boston and 60 underage drinkers got arrested at a N.Y. State Brad Paisley show. At Darien Lake someone was found dead in the nearby pond. A police chief in Mansfield, Mass. was quoted as saying “Country shows used to be easy. Now they are not. Big problems in the parking lots”

Drunk after drunk were taken out at a Jaso Aldean/ Brad Paisley show last year at Gillette Stadium.

For Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' tour the word is they have random drug-and-alcohol testing on the road for her crew as her tour will be strictly sober. Sources also said "All the dancers auditioning looked clean-cut as they wanted the right image to get the job." Yet who would imagine that even at Taylor Swift's shows there were arrests for underage drinking! Other reports have seeped across the pond regarding forty-four arrests at a Sawyer Brown lake party in Alabama with each arrest having a booze element surrounding it.

A year or more ago, a teen girl died after attending a Kenny Chesney tailgate bash near Boston. At some country tour stops the situation is apparently nearly out of control.

The heat = beer sales. So with temperatures rising over 100 in the hot American summer drunks in the parking lot before the show was becoming standard – “Just another American Saturday Night?”

After a Brad Paisley show on Saturday (July 23, 2011) he tweeted about the long list of drinkers and 14 other people arrested or cited for all kinds of disorderliness. "Quite a performance in Darien Lakes Saturday. We also played music," he tweeted, adding a link to the local newspaper's crime page with most of the names, ages and towns of all the people arrested.

People drink alcohol at concerts FACT but are they legally able too? There are a lot of young country fans in America but some pour vodka into their water bottles or smuggle beer under their miniskirts. They take the risk of getting into serious trouble and can spoil the day for other fans and it looks bad when they are “associated “ with ( like Football fans) and disappoint the artists they pay money to see.

Do Country Stars and the Industry set a Bad Example?

There are songs about booze and drink companies are sponsors so the money is important isn’t it?

Average Joe’s Entertainment’s Colt Ford launched his own signature liquor line in 2011, “Goodtime”, and aligned himself with the Georgia Distilling Company and United Distributors to produce Goodtime Moonshine (90 proof) and Goodtime.

Last year I watched an online Brad Paisley Soundcheck concert to promote his album THIS IS COUNTRY MUSIC. He could be seen taking a branded beer from probably someone planted in the audience showing the brand label clearly to the cameras.

When he came to the UK and played to a 17,000 crowd at London’s O2 Arena he encored (getting “stoned” you might say) with Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones and the help of Darius Rucker his hit crowd-pleasing song “Alcohol.” This was with bottles of branded alcohol being projected onto the large screens (see video). I therefore assume he ends his stateside shows with it too. -

Two times CMA Male Vocalist Blake Shelton loves his booze, and he doesn’t care who knows it! He hasn’t been bashful about his romance with alcohol. He is becoming just as famous for his drunken tweets as he is for his music. Blake tweets his “signature” “I’m so drunk…” messages and has said to CNN - “You know what? I drink alcohol and always will until I die and I don’t care if you like it or not.” Go ahead, tell ‘em how you really feel!” - I guess he’s honest!

In Blake’s song “Get Some” he sings – “ You get gas,You get beer,You get drunk,You get weird..... And everybody say, God Almighty it's Friday / Everybody get sideways to have a little fun/ Everybody's livin' “ .

The drinking spills over into 2012 on his current single “Drink On It” with its words - ’Let me buy another round /Girl I think you and I should just/ Drink on it /Put our heads together and think on it/ Maybe later on we can sleep on it/ But for right now/ Girl we just need to drink on it.

Do Dierks Bentley and his song / see video “Am I The Only One” influence the younger country demographic in America?

Am I the only one who wants to have fun tonight? / Is there anybody out there who wants to have a cold beer/ Kick it to the morning light/ If I have to raise hell all by myself/ I will but y'all, that ain't right/ It's time to get it on.

Jake Owen opens up on “Alone with You” with the lines: I don't see you laugh, you don't call me back but you kiss me when you're drunk / I don't know your friends, don't know where you've been why are you the one I want

Johnny Walker helps Justin Haigh walk the line in “ All My Best Friends Are Behind Bars”: Then a bartender showed me the secret to life, Was a smooth sippin whiskey and a handful of ice, And since then, it's all been downhill. Oh yeah, life is good

This year, Jerrod Niemann turned his successful ‘One More Drinkin’ Song’ into a mistletoe remix. In this gals and guys raise their red cups in a sing-a-long: But hey hey hey what's so wrong, with one more drinkin song, hold up your cups and sing along
to one more drinkin song ....and here's to bartenders tryin' to get paid while all of us are trying to get laid – Youtube

Yes the drinking songs continue to flow in 2012 as Eric Church scored his first #1 single last week with “Put A Drink In My Hand”. With its words: Boss man can shove that over time up his can, All I wanna do is put a drink in my hand, Fill it up I'll throw it down, I got a forty hour week worth of trouble to drown - He calls it "downright perfect as the theme song to a fun weekend” . I’m sure it will go down well on his 2012 arena tour, ERIC CHURCH: THE BLOOD, SWEAT & BEERS TOUR!

Drinkin’ songs weren’t just confined to male country artists last year , mother of two Ashton Shepherd let us know there’s nothing better than "Some beer on a boat on a Saturday,with a few good friends just floatin' away”

Grace Potter joined Kenny Chesney on CMA Song of the Year Nominee and current Grammy nominated "You and Tequila" written by Matraca Berg and Deana Carter with the songs protagonists admitting - Cause you and Tequila make me crazy/ Run like poison in my blood/ One more night could kill me, baby/ One is one too many, one more is never enough.

Sunny Sweeney’s single “Drinking Myself Single” depicted a woman who decides to have a night to herself, drinking, having affairs until she has eradicated her male lover , telling us: I'm gonna dress up, in my low-cut/ My tight blue jeans, I'm gonna stir somethin' up/ I'm gonna kiss all the boys 'til I kiss your memory goodbye/ Yeah, I'm a gonna drink myself single tonight/ A bottle of red, a bottle of white/ Which one will it be, I can't decide/ I guess I'll find out once I drink those bottles dry/ Yeah, I'm a gonna drink myself single tonight/I wanna find out what it's like/ to stagger in the house like you do every nigh.

Gwyneth Paltrow starred in the Country Strong soundtrack as a recovering alcoholic going through rehab. In real life Gwyneth who shot an advertisement for Martini back in 2003 last year told TV host Chelsea Handler she was 'a lush', and loved to drink. 'Do you drink regularly?' the talk show host asked. '”A lot, yeah,” she admitted. “Red wine is my favourite, but I’ll drink white, rosé... Guinness is my favourite beer. I like a dirty vodka martini. I’m just a lush, basically. 'Gwyneth Paltrow asking her former alcoholic friend, Robert Downey Jr, for tips about playing an alcoholic in her new movie Country Strong. She ended up hitting the bottle herself to get into character. “'You just get really drunk all the time. Which is awesome,” she told American television personality Rachael Ray.- 'At least I did anyway, it's not very professional. There's a Bloody Mary at 10am. and keep it going all day.'  [ Source - Daily Mail)

So are these songs merely harmless, reflecting on real life issues as country does?

Despite its grim subject matter, the country drinking song remains an institution, as integral to the fabric of the American nation as apple pie.

I guess Nashville songwriters will continue to pour out the drinkin' songs and the singers will keep on singin' em'.



Wild Shot Mezcal
(Toby Keith News)



This week Toby Keith sees his album CLANCY’S TAVERN back on top of the charts as his current viral hit single “Red Solo Cup.” was the most played jukebox song for this past 4 weeks. There are reports of empty shelves at retailers as consumers “prepare to party” by picking up the celebrated red cups whilst beverage distributors are doing their best to keep pace with demand.

Toby brought mescal (86.8 Proof); a cousin of Mexico's famous tequila, to America and it’s now available in 38 states and heralded in the beverage trade press. Toby told the Tennessean newspaper. "There is a void in the market place in getting this drink to the average person, so it seemed natural for me to start a business selling Toby Keith Mezcal"

Toby Keith Pours Wild Shot Mezcal - Video

So if America basks in another Keith Urban “Long Hot Summer” this year will the problem of under-age drinking just get worse and will it be seriously addressed by the country community?

The answer could well be - “Who cares”

Red solo cup, I fill you up, let’s have a party, let's have a party, I love you red solo cup, I lift you up, Proceed to party, proceed to PARTY!!!!!

100 Best Drinking Songs 

Spotify - Best Country Drinking Songs