Hey everyone, I sent this mailer earlier this week. Here's the latest....
Coming to you from Ontario Canada. Art work, merchandise and press coverage is set up around my latest recording, "Lost in Kentucky". But I'm writing to tell you I am not ready to release the recording on March 3rd. I'm not yet convinced that we have done the very best with the material on this EP (Extended Play) and I love the material so much that I'm not putting it out into the world when I feel this way.
So, the March 3rd show at The Music Box Supper Club in Cleveland won't be a release concert but it will be a great show. I apologize for the change but rather than rush I want to give this a little more attention and offer you something that is top notch that you'll be thrilled to listen to. Back to Nashville I go to get things right. I won't set a release date until I'm sure the mixes are exactly what I want them to be. I hate waiting, but I know better than to compromise here.
That being said, please DO join me and the band on March 3rd at The Music Box! As always, discounted tickets are available exclusively to you, mailing list members. Click on the link: Discount tickets here (To receive discounts like this and more, sign up for my mailing list at www.anneedechant.com).
I'll return to Cleveland at the end of this month to rehearse with the band, make an appearance on Fox 8 in the Morning (TV is one of the few things that can get me up before 8am) on March 2, and then begin a month full of live performances. Just visit www.anneedechant.com and you can see what's on the calendar. I'm looking forward to seeing you.
And now to Sturgill Simpson's Beef with the Country Music Industry....
Saturday, Jan. 27th, I sat up watching Saturday Night Live. Will Ferrell was hosting and Chris Stapleton was the musical guest. I always like to see what Will Ferrell might do and I was really interested in hearing Chris live. So I listened as Mr. Stapleton started to kick some ass, then turned to the guy on stage with him and gave him a verse...a whole verse to play and sing. That man was Sturgill Simpson. Sturgill was in the news in 2016 and again in November of last year because Sturgill has a beef with the Country Music Association. Simply put, he doesn't like what's being played on country radio and he has issue with the Merle Haggard Spirit Award created in 2016. Here's what he posted:
“If the ACM wants to actually celebrate the legacy and music of Merle Haggard, they should drop all the formulaic cannon fodder bull—- they’ve been pumping down rural America’s throat for the last 30 years along with all the high school pageantry, meat parade award show bull—- and start dedicating their programs to more actual Country Music,”
Simpson won a Grammy last year for Best Country Album and was nominated for Album of the year (Adele's "25" won). But he was not invited to the CMAs. So he took himself and his guitar to Bridgestone arena and busked outside.
"While he was outside, Simpson had a sign that read 'I don’t take requests but I take questions about anything you want to talk about because fascism sucks.' That just might be a dig at the CMA Awards media guidelines released last week, which stated reporters could be kicked out if they asked country singers about sensitive topics such as the Las Vegas tragedy, gun control or politics. After intense backlash, the CMA apologized and lifted the restrictions." -Washington Post
A note, Sturgill posted about the Merle Haggard Spirit Award before its first recipient, Miranda Lambert, was announced. He had this to say about that:
"Shortly after I initially posted this it was announced that Miranda Lambert would be the award recipient," Simpson wrote. (As with most Facebook and social-media posts, Simpson was not concerned with punctuation and we have left his original thoughts intact.) "Before people start chasing clickbait by putting words in my mouth I feel the need to clarify that I was not aware of this at the time of my original post and my words were in no way directed at her. I know that Merle liked and respected her so it's good to see there is at least some blue sky in all of this. I don't know Miranda nor have I ever met her but something tells me that in her heart, she knows I'm dead on."
Merle and Miranda
Simpson is largely ignored by mainstream Nashville in spite of having a #1 Album, "A Sailors Guide to Earth", on the Billboard Charts. It's a wonderful record but not what you hear on country radio...much deeper and musically more like classic country and I think much more sophisticated. Here's a link to his song/video, "All Around You". I love it.
I was so happy to see Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson on TV last Saturday. They are fantastic live performers: no tracks, no monkey business, just raw talent. I am pleased that Sturgill spoke out about the state of country music. I agree with him and am hoping there will be a turn around from most of what we are currently hearing. Mr. Stapleton's rise to fame may be a forecast.
Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson, Saturday Night Live
I wonder if you're tired of women being described as "pretty little" things with "tiny hands" and of it seeming like people have nothing better to do and no greater, more meaningful story than standing around a bon fire with some "Crown" in a plastic cup followed by a "pretty little thing" with "hips like honey so thick and sweet" getting wasted and hanging out in the pick up. Don't get me wrong I love a good party and I think a party song can be great but that's not all there is. People have more to talk about and women are so much more than the portrayal of them in today's country lyrics.
Mr. Simpson contends that he and artists like Jason Isbell have succeeded without the support of the music industry and will continue to do so....
That's the power of the people at work and it makes me hopeful that people want more than what's being fed to them on the radio. It's also why I can survive as an artist. I receive a tiny tiny bit of radio play but I have you. I have you to come to my shows, buy my music and share my music with others.
So until there's a change, we carry on.
I hope to see tons of you in March. If you haven't seen a show, now's the time! I will keep you updated on what's going on with the new recording. Be assured those of you who generously donated money to the making of this recording, that I am making sure that money is well spent and leading to a record we can both be proud of. Thank you for your patience.
I wish you a great weekend and I wish athletes from around the world a wonderful XXIII Olympic Winter Games!
Anne E.