My take might catch some flak, but I think it’s the case with lots of these singers; so many country artists today lack a specific sound or even personality, so simply mashing two of them together randomly is a basic formula to score another easy hit.
I totally get this. I'm typing this as Grady goes down the list and I'm unable to tell most of the artists apart. It's just general non-gendered country-ish noise.
If this trend is why we got “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” then I’m alright with it. That was the best song to make it on country radio in years at the time.
One of my favorite duets is "Like We Never Loved at All" by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw got me into country. The story was so bittersweet and slightly tragic and is better because it's a duet.
Lauren Alaina’s problem is that her record label only pushed her collaborations. I never hear any of her recently released singles or songs from her latest album on the radio. Her label needed to push her own songs more
YES!!! Her song “it was me” is beautiful and has such a good melody. I wish they’d put more effort into solo songs and honestly point her into a more serious direction. Instead of the cookie cutter songs she normally sends to radio.
I think my favorite thing about your channel is that I'll be listening to country radio and notice something odd, but I can't quite figure out why it's odd and then within a week you've made a video about that thing. Thank you for making me not feel crazy
I think it’s also much easier now to make a duet without the two artists being in the same room. They can record individual vocals in completely separate studios. That was harder before the internet, or even in the early 2000’s.
Have you considered doing a video on the qualifying rounds of the American Song Contest? Two of the country artists went into the next round while another did pretty well in the jury vote. Could be interesting considering the people who are picking on the jury side are iHeartRadio media people for the most part. There’s 6 songs in total so it could be decent length?
One of the reasons I started listening to Flatland Cavalry was because William Clark Green was featured on their first album on "Coyote (The Ballad of Roy Johnson)"
Well done video. I’m totally with you on the overall sentiments 👏🏼. I recently heard a few industry insiders say that because of how Spotify now puts the song on both artists profile (which you mentioned) that there’s never been a better marketing / growth opportunity than Collabs, so in my opinion that’s all we need to know as to why it’s happening
Also, second verses are going away. They've become perfunctory (two bars, maybe) so they can get to that sweet, sweet radio-friendly chorus as quickly as possible.
The algorithm of my timeline and my anecdotal evidence of listening to the radio have aligned. I’ve noticed a lot of “feat.” or “with” lately… I think we live in a hypersonic age. Duets have been around forever. Heck I just heard this week George Strait and Willie’s duet which was literally about them wanting to sing together before it’s too late. Either way, we live in a fast era, so when someone else succeeds, it QUICKLY snowballs and everyone else wants in on the party.
The idealist in me really likes duets because it allows for two artists to connect their two creative energies together and create something new. However, that's almost certainly not what's going on here lol
Duets come and go in terms of popularity. Be nice to see more full duet albums like what use to happen pre90s. Loved the one Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen did a while back.
I don't know much of pre 90s country except for A+ classics. I think many of the duets do help the lesser known artist. Jordan Davis had a great song with 'Buy Dirt' - Luke did not add too much that single... But helped Jordan Davis sell more. I think the number duets Laure Alaina simply took much spotlight and unique identity. Hope her new label finds her some dynamite ballads.
I feel like another reason to for the increase in duets over the last year or two could have been the downtime artists had during COVID and not touring. They were probably interacting more outside of just touring and then writing more music together
Duets used to be a surprise. Every once in a while you would get one and you'd be excited to hear two of you favorite artists together like Brad Paisley and Alison Kraus or Tim McGraw and Jo Dee Messina. Now it's so common that the surprise factor that used to be is gone.
Loved the video Grady! I also noticed the same thing as you did with recent duets in country music. I really only like the duets that are actually telling a story, like “Remind Me” or “That Was Us” by Riley Green and Jessi Alexander. Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue!
Totally agree that it makes duets less special when there are so many. My favorites are the one's like "Does He Love You" with Reba/Linda Davis or even the new version with Dolly. The "necessary" ones as you said.
omg! I made a comment about duets in one of your previous videos and how its getting hard for me to keep up, but I still love them, and here we are now.... talking duets. Thank you for reviewing them!!
We have heard a few country artists over here on British pop radio like Florida Georgia line with Bebe rexha and Marin Morris with zed. They wouldn’t have been heard over here if they weren’t with pop artists.
I've heard alot that artists will share a song here and there when 2 significant artist want the same song. If it's unbalnaced the more popular of the 2 or the deepest pockets win lol! Great content! Happy Easter! 🐣🤙
I never even thought about how many there are right now but wow, that's a lot. I've loved the Swindell/Wilson song since I first heard it & it's my favorite duet since Remind Me.
SO glad you made a video about this!!! I've been noticing and thinking about this trend a lot lately. I think it really is just clout chasing at the end of the day.
The fact that "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)" is the first 2 female singer duet to hit #1 in almost 30 years is amazing. Congratulations, Elle and Miranda!! Another modern example of the story duet is the excellent "Highway Don't Care" by Tim McGraw & Taylor Swift, that features Keith Urban on guitar. The narrator is describing a woman who is driving home, when she hears a song on the radio ("I can't live without you/I can't live without you, baby", as sung by Taylor), in which Tim responds in the chorus, "The highway don't care if you're coming home/But I do, I do". I can see why this was Taylor's last #1 at country radio, before switching to pop; it's probably one of the best country singles to be released in the last decade.
@@christianreylumantao3578 "Somethin' Bad" peaked at #7 on the Country Airplay charts, but #1 on Hot Country Songs. I was referring to Elle and Miranda being #1 on the Country Airplay charts. Grady did mention "Remind Me" in the video.
yeah i've noticed that in the past they do that to get more listeners. a lot artists debut albums in the 90's had a duet with an established artist on there
Heck ya.. I tweeted you about this a couple weeks ago... I said with the giant influx of duets, could you do a video on that... But like.. A top 10 or so... Duets, not featuring... But, at least im seeing you aknowledge it.....
Yeah, I really only like a duet if two characters are needed to tell the story from multiple perspectives. Collabs are awesome if they're woven into the story being told, but I think they're done way too often.
There are some duets that are fine (i.e. some of the Waylon & Willie collabs.) But the best ones are ones that have actual interplay between the two characters!
I love harmonies and/or narrative back and forth between the two artists (Whiskey Lullaby and Think Of You come to mind immediately since I’ve been listening to them recently). I’m all for duets that have one or both of those elements, but I don’t understand when they have no harmonies and they don’t really have any narrative reason for the duet to exist.
Hey Grady! I was wondering if you could review Thomas Mac because i think you might really like him. Personally, i think he makes some funny and beautiful songs. For example, his song I Love My Truck is very funny and a song that is just flat out beautiful is Every Step. I think you might really like him :D
My theory is that Covid is the reason we currently have so many duets. All these artists basically went two years without touring or doing very little of it. Duets are usually tough to do since they usually got done after tours or during any tour break. Covid freed up everyone's schedule so artists took advantage and did projects they normally wouldn't have time for
I also believe the surge in male/female duets is a way for Country Radio and those behind the scenes to push back on the notion that Country Radio is male dominated. And, as your mentioned, there are a number of established male stars who are dueting with lesser known female artists who otherwise would not get any radio play. As long as they continue to introduce new recording acts, I am all for more duets.
I feel like the past few years in pop have also seen this more and more. Like the Pop Duo/Group awards keep going to collaborations between soloists instead of actual groups
I agree that having too many duets can water down the novelty of it. I got that way with all the collaborations in pop music when that really started occurring more and more years earlier. But I also think while a lot of duets are pointless, a few of them have been some of my favorite country hits.
I’m not sure if you’ve heard the new song “Once in a Blue Moon” by Triston Marez that features Jenna Paulette, but it definitely goes with this trend. I love Triston’s voice on that song
Spot on! Ashley Cooke released “never till now” as a solo single FIRST. THEN, only after she signed to Big Loud did they add Brett Young to it. I tend to go the more cynical route but I like all the different takes. I just wish these duets would be a mix between 2 lead singers singing on top of each other and just putting the 2nd artist in the background like Adele and Chris Stapleton. “Remind me” is how a duet should be.
People should check out the duet “first saw you” by Joe Stamm Band. It’s only got like 100k views but it’s up there with the top duets imho. It’s the most underrated song I’ve found in awhile.
The touring point was really good. Reminds me of Home Alone Tonight by Luke Bryan & Karen Fairchild. I loved that song at the time that he had LBT on tour with him, but the problem there is after that tour was over he cut that song from hit set list it didn’t become a staple (maybe because it didn’t become a huge hit) and then it just became awkward when he tried to bring the song back and have the crowd duet.
So far haven’t seen this comment but… I had the thought that it could be partly because we are coming out of 2 years of covid and people are just happy to be able to be with other people again and they realized how much they missed other people/artists and thought that the collab would just be fun
For the 80s and 90 Country Music fans out there... If you are not aware of it, the Bellamy Brothers and John Anderson recently did a song together. " No Country Music for Old Men". I may have almost cried.
I figured it’s about increasing ticket sales. Summer tours are possible this year in a way they haven’t been during the pandemic and people are anxious to go out to such large events again. Duets raise the profile of both artists with one radio hit, which will make people want to see them on tour.
If they fit to the topic of the song or are just fun, duets work as long as they aren’t forced. Btw what’s your opinion on the current The Wilder Blue Album?
Also it can lend legitimacy to an artist from the outside trying to make trap country. Old Town road is the best example of this where the song got zero attention til it became a duet with Billy Ray Cyrus
I personally think that the reason why there has been a male/female duet trend in the last two years is country radio's way of saying "we support women artists" because of the activism in Nashville to get more girls on the radio. Let's be real, it's more realistic for a girl to be in a top ten song if she duets with a guy that gets number one's instead of getting up there alone.
Country has always had a lot of collabs. We get a few big ones every year. In my opinion Covid made them spike for the last couple years. Think about all the touring country artists do and the number of festivals. I think this was their way of trying to find a new way to navigate and make money during a time that they were missing out on one of their biggest money makers.
That is something I have been noticing as well. It's a good point to have. Especially with radio. It's like Luke Combs for example. Radio wants to play his current single Doing this but the people want Forever after all because it's a wedding song. or even Luke and Brooks and Dunn's Brand New Man. Or even collabs from different genres. Luke Combs and Billy Strings. All good points and everything. It's very hard to decide on the radio. Maybe the radio should have a time slot built in. Called it. Playlist
My favorite duet is Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson don't you want to stay and Jason Aldean and Carrie underwood if I didn't love you and Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert drowns the whiskey
I'm glad that Lauren Alaina is leaving her label. Whatever they've been doing hasn't been working, but she's clearly talented, and if she's promoted properly, she could start gaining traction.
Something about "Miranda and Blake singing You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" instead of saying David Frizzell and Shelly West made my eye twitch for some reason.
I think the lockdowns and pandemics brought about a load of collaborations - not just in country. Every video was people reuniting after 20 years, or random celebrities singing together which would never have happened before. It forced us to connect when we probably wouldn’t have done before. Most country singers had access to a studio of some sort so they could release new music, but rather than doing it alone, another singer could do their bit without the two needing to be in the same studio. I believe the collab season will be over by next year once everyone’s albums are out and they go on tour. Obviously there will still be some, but I doubt they’ll be as prominent.
Most duets lately are just okay to me, with exceptions like flower shop by Earnest and Morgan Wallen. My issue with pop stars doing duets with country stars is that rather than actually sounding country they end up sounding way more pop like with Meant To Be by FGL F. BeBe Rexha(sp?). I think the recent spike in duets is probably due to Covid. After 2 years of this, duets are a great way to connect with other artists.
I think it's also because artists are constantly churning out so much material, having just solo songs out can feel saturated. Doing a collaboration breaks that monotony of solo-ism too, provides excitement and variation in style.
I think this is a side effect of the entire music industry at the moment. We're seeing it a lot in Pop, Rap, and even the new Pop Punk/Rock of MGK, Willow, etc. I don't mind it. There's been some amazing duets in all genres recently. P!nk and Chesney, Morgan Wallen and Ernest, Miranda Lambert and Elle King, MGK and blackbear, Taylor Swift and Ed Sherran, etc etc etc. For the most part, I think most songs that make radio are better or at least unaffected by the duet. Obviously there are some bad examples of that (looking at you Sean Mendes), but on average it's fine. And as long as it doesn't make me dislike the music, I'm fine with it. On another note, Brad Paisley has some amazing duets.
can you do a reaction to colby Acuff's song dying breed i highly recommend that song his voice is a little like tyler childers in my opinion, but his lyrics are like uncle lucius especially on If I Were The Devil
The GOAT was Alison Kraus and Brad Paisley singing “Whisky Lullaby,” but there’s way too many duets at the moment.
That song is one of those perfect duets that truly requires the collab it was made into.
My take might catch some flak, but I think it’s the case with lots of these singers; so many country artists today lack a specific sound or even personality, so simply mashing two of them together randomly is a basic formula to score another easy hit.
I totally get this. I'm typing this as Grady goes down the list and I'm unable to tell most of the artists apart. It's just general non-gendered country-ish noise.
Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker on “When the sun goes down” will always be an all-time classic duet
Brad & Carrie absolutely crush it in male/female duets! Will always have my heart! ♥
If this trend is why we got “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” then I’m alright with it. That was the best song to make it on country radio in years at the time.
One of my favorite examples of 'helps the story along' duets is "If You See Him/Her" by Reba and Brooks & Dunn. Love love love that song.
Also love this tune!!!
And I love the version of "Cowgirls Don't Cry" where she comes in on the chorus!
One of my favorite duets is "Like We Never Loved at All" by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw got me into country. The story was so bittersweet and slightly tragic and is better because it's a duet.
Tim and Faith duets will always be my favorite! Like We Never Loved at All and I Need You are so pretty and sincere
Lauren Alaina’s problem is that her record label only pushed her collaborations. I never hear any of her recently released singles or songs from her latest album on the radio. Her label needed to push her own songs more
YES!!! Her song “it was me” is beautiful and has such a good melody. I wish they’d put more effort into solo songs and honestly point her into a more serious direction. Instead of the cookie cutter songs she normally sends to radio.
Yup, agreed. Her most recent album sitting pretty on top of the world is great & it got no push.
I found ERNEST because of Morgan wallen, now “if you were whiskey” and “comfortable when I’m crazy” are my jams🙌🏻
I think my favorite thing about your channel is that I'll be listening to country radio and notice something odd, but I can't quite figure out why it's odd and then within a week you've made a video about that thing. Thank you for making me not feel crazy
I can't get enough of duets in Country music. I also enjoy other style music artist doing duets songs together.
I think it’s also much easier now to make a duet without the two artists being in the same room. They can record individual vocals in completely separate studios. That was harder before the internet, or even in the early 2000’s.
Johnny and June with Jackson is the ultimate duet
Have you considered doing a video on the qualifying rounds of the American Song Contest? Two of the country artists went into the next round while another did pretty well in the jury vote. Could be interesting considering the people who are picking on the jury side are iHeartRadio media people for the most part. There’s 6 songs in total so it could be decent length?
One of the reasons I started listening to Flatland Cavalry was because William Clark Green was featured on their first album on "Coyote (The Ballad of Roy Johnson)"
That song is absolutely awesome. One of my top songs overall
Thanks for reminding me about Remind Me. Love that song.
Well done video. I’m totally with you on the overall sentiments 👏🏼. I recently heard a few industry insiders say that because of how Spotify now puts the song on both artists profile (which you mentioned) that there’s never been a better marketing / growth opportunity than Collabs, so in my opinion that’s all we need to know as to why it’s happening
Also, second verses are going away. They've become perfunctory (two bars, maybe) so they can get to that sweet, sweet radio-friendly chorus as quickly as possible.
Honestly, i love the trend of duets. Me and my sister go hard car jamming!
The algorithm of my timeline and my anecdotal evidence of listening to the radio have aligned. I’ve noticed a lot of “feat.” or “with” lately… I think we live in a hypersonic age. Duets have been around forever. Heck I just heard this week George Strait and Willie’s duet which was literally about them wanting to sing together before it’s too late. Either way, we live in a fast era, so when someone else succeeds, it QUICKLY snowballs and everyone else wants in on the party.
The idealist in me really likes duets because it allows for two artists to connect their two creative energies together and create something new.
However, that's almost certainly not what's going on here lol
Duets come and go in terms of popularity. Be nice to see more full duet albums like what use to happen pre90s. Loved the one Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen did a while back.
I don't know much of pre 90s country except for A+ classics. I think many of the duets do help the lesser known artist. Jordan Davis had a great song with 'Buy Dirt' - Luke did not add too much that single... But helped Jordan Davis sell more. I think the number duets Laure Alaina simply took much spotlight and unique identity. Hope her new label finds her some dynamite ballads.
I feel like another reason to for the increase in duets over the last year or two could have been the downtime artists had during COVID and not touring. They were probably interacting more outside of just touring and then writing more music together
Duets used to be a surprise. Every once in a while you would get one and you'd be excited to hear two of you favorite artists together like Brad Paisley and Alison Kraus or Tim McGraw and Jo Dee Messina. Now it's so common that the surprise factor that used to be is gone.
So true!! I can so vividly remember when Whiskey Lullaby first came out and I was so shocked to hear those two together and how stunning that song is.
Loved the video Grady! I also noticed the same thing as you did with recent duets in country music. I really only like the duets that are actually telling a story, like “Remind Me” or “That Was Us” by Riley Green and Jessi Alexander. Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue!
Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd is one of the most beautiful duets I've heard in a long time.
In another’s eyes great song! Love that duet.
Totally agree that it makes duets less special when there are so many. My favorites are the one's like "Does He Love You" with Reba/Linda Davis or even the new version with Dolly. The "necessary" ones as you said.
Some duets makes sense, most feel like a quick launch to fame for some newer artists. If it's good, it's fine but otherwise just feels over done
omg! I made a comment about duets in one of your previous videos and how its getting hard for me to keep up, but I still love them, and here we are now.... talking duets. Thank you for reviewing them!!
I would love to hear "Never wanted to be that girl" covered by or dueted with Reba. Sounds like something she would sing
We have heard a few country artists over here on British pop radio like Florida Georgia line with Bebe rexha and Marin Morris with zed. They wouldn’t have been heard over here if they weren’t with pop artists.
When Charlie Puth got of I Hope it got a TON of airtime on pop stations. I think it really helped Gabby Barrett blow up and it’s not half bad
Literally almost all of the duets you mentioned in the video are on my playlist lol
I've heard alot that artists will share a song here and there when 2 significant artist want the same song. If it's unbalnaced the more popular of the 2 or the deepest pockets win lol! Great content! Happy Easter! 🐣🤙
I feel like the second reason was the main push behind the Brooks and Dunn “reboot” album. I loved the album. I love the original songs too.
I never even thought about how many there are right now but wow, that's a lot. I've loved the Swindell/Wilson song since I first heard it & it's my favorite duet since Remind Me.
Golden Rings and Pancho and Lefty and You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma (the original) are three of my favorite Country duets…
SO glad you made a video about this!!! I've been noticing and thinking about this trend a lot lately. I think it really is just clout chasing at the end of the day.
I think there's a difference in a duet and a collaboration
About 10 years ago, I used to tell everyone that country music needed more duets and listened to Remind Me a lot. Well...
So, it's *your* fault!! Lol
The fact that "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)" is the first 2 female singer duet to hit #1 in almost 30 years is amazing. Congratulations, Elle and Miranda!!
Another modern example of the story duet is the excellent "Highway Don't Care" by Tim McGraw & Taylor Swift, that features Keith Urban on guitar. The narrator is describing a woman who is driving home, when she hears a song on the radio ("I can't live without you/I can't live without you, baby", as sung by Taylor), in which Tim responds in the chorus, "The highway don't care if you're coming home/But I do, I do". I can see why this was Taylor's last #1 at country radio, before switching to pop; it's probably one of the best country singles to be released in the last decade.
What about Somethin Bad by Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood
And for stories on duets, Remind Me by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood
@@christianreylumantao3578 "Somethin' Bad" peaked at #7 on the Country Airplay charts, but #1 on Hot Country Songs. I was referring to Elle and Miranda being #1 on the Country Airplay charts. Grady did mention "Remind Me" in the video.
Another really great duet that helps tell the story is Easy by Rascal Flatts and Natasha Bedingfield.
Good video, yeah yeah whatever. GRADY! Thumbnail for this vid looks awesome! Good job dude
Adding two people to one song brings more buzz and attention to it for sure!
yeah i've noticed that in the past they do that to get more listeners. a lot artists debut albums in the 90's had a duet with an established artist on there
All solid points! I think can also be a tool to get female singers more air time on country radio.
Really enjoyed this video
How did you feel about Brooks and Dunn redoing all their old songs a couple years ago with the new wave of artists.
Heck ya.. I tweeted you about this a couple weeks ago... I said with the giant influx of duets, could you do a video on that... But like.. A top 10 or so... Duets, not featuring... But, at least im seeing you aknowledge it.....
I've been thinking about this topic too. I'm kind of over it
Yeah, I really only like a duet if two characters are needed to tell the story from multiple perspectives. Collabs are awesome if they're woven into the story being told, but I think they're done way too often.
There are some duets that are fine (i.e. some of the Waylon & Willie collabs.) But the best ones are ones that have actual interplay between the two characters!
@@garrettscroggs Willie and Waylons to me felt like 2 guys telling their halves of a story which is why theirs always worked so well.
I love harmonies and/or narrative back and forth between the two artists (Whiskey Lullaby and Think Of You come to mind immediately since I’ve been listening to them recently). I’m all for duets that have one or both of those elements, but I don’t understand when they have no harmonies and they don’t really have any narrative reason for the duet to exist.
Hey Grady! I was wondering if you could review Thomas Mac because i think you might really like him. Personally, i think he makes some funny and beautiful songs. For example, his song I Love My Truck is very funny and a song that is just flat out beautiful is Every Step. I think you might really like him :D
5 words one excellent duet: Long Legged Guitar Picking Man.
Party for two! Shania and Billy Currington or Shania and Mark McGrath. Both are great and fun 😀
My theory is that Covid is the reason we currently have so many duets. All these artists basically went two years without touring or doing very little of it. Duets are usually tough to do since they usually got done after tours or during any tour break. Covid freed up everyone's schedule so artists took advantage and did projects they normally wouldn't have time for
I also believe the surge in male/female duets is a way for Country Radio and those behind the scenes to push back on the notion that Country Radio is male dominated. And, as your mentioned, there are a number of established male stars who are dueting with lesser known female artists who otherwise would not get any radio play. As long as they continue to introduce new recording acts, I am all for more duets.
I feel like the past few years in pop have also seen this more and more. Like the Pop Duo/Group awards keep going to collaborations between soloists instead of actual groups
I agree that having too many duets can water down the novelty of it. I got that way with all the collaborations in pop music when that really started occurring more and more years earlier. But I also think while a lot of duets are pointless, a few of them have been some of my favorite country hits.
I’m not sure if you’ve heard the new song “Once in a Blue Moon” by Triston Marez that features Jenna Paulette, but it definitely goes with this trend. I love Triston’s voice on that song
Spot on! Ashley Cooke released “never till now” as a solo single FIRST. THEN, only after she signed to Big Loud did they add Brett Young to it. I tend to go the more cynical route but I like all the different takes. I just wish these duets would be a mix between 2 lead singers singing on top of each other and just putting the 2nd artist in the background like Adele and Chris Stapleton. “Remind me” is how a duet should be.
People should check out the duet “first saw you” by Joe Stamm Band. It’s only got like 100k views but it’s up there with the top duets imho. It’s the most underrated song I’ve found in awhile.
The touring point was really good. Reminds me of Home Alone Tonight by Luke Bryan & Karen Fairchild. I loved that song at the time that he had LBT on tour with him, but the problem there is after that tour was over he cut that song from hit set list it didn’t become a staple (maybe because it didn’t become a huge hit) and then it just became awkward when he tried to bring the song back and have the crowd duet.
So far haven’t seen this comment but… I had the thought that it could be partly because we are coming out of 2 years of covid and people are just happy to be able to be with other people again and they realized how much they missed other people/artists and thought that the collab would just be fun
My favorite duet songs are In Another’s Eyes,The Heart Won’t Lie,and The Truth About Men
For the 80s and 90 Country Music fans out there... If you are not aware of it, the Bellamy Brothers and John Anderson recently did a song together. " No Country Music for Old Men". I may have almost cried.
Shelly West and David Frizzell sing "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" originally. My preferred version!
I figured it’s about increasing ticket sales. Summer tours are possible this year in a way they haven’t been during the pandemic and people are anxious to go out to such large events again. Duets raise the profile of both artists with one radio hit, which will make people want to see them on tour.
For the most part I like duets. I really like when you have a brand new artist singing with a big name artist.
If they fit to the topic of the song or are just fun, duets work as long as they aren’t forced.
Btw what’s your opinion on the current The Wilder Blue Album?
Also it can lend legitimacy to an artist from the outside trying to make trap country. Old Town road is the best example of this where the song got zero attention til it became a duet with Billy Ray Cyrus
I personally think that the reason why there has been a male/female duet trend in the last two years is country radio's way of saying "we support women artists" because of the activism in Nashville to get more girls on the radio. Let's be real, it's more realistic for a girl to be in a top ten song if she duets with a guy that gets number one's instead of getting up there alone.
That's a great point
Also, I have a theory that two mega artists just hit each other up and go, hey do you feel like getting an easy run up the charts? Let's do a duet.
Country has always had a lot of collabs. We get a few big ones every year. In my opinion Covid made them spike for the last couple years. Think about all the touring country artists do and the number of festivals. I think this was their way of trying to find a new way to navigate and make money during a time that they were missing out on one of their biggest money makers.
i liked Thomas Rhett and Morris several years ago. Very catchy tune
Favorite duet is Justin Moore and Miranda Lambert’s “Old Habits”
That is something I have been noticing as well. It's a good point to have. Especially with radio. It's like Luke Combs for example. Radio wants to play his current single Doing this but the people want Forever after all because it's a wedding song. or even Luke and Brooks and Dunn's Brand New Man. Or even collabs from different genres. Luke Combs and Billy Strings. All good points and everything. It's very hard to decide on the radio. Maybe the radio should have a time slot built in. Called it. Playlist
At least we get more female voices in country this way.
My favorite duet is Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson don't you want to stay and Jason Aldean and Carrie underwood if I didn't love you and Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert drowns the whiskey
is happening in all genres, all the sucessfully songs are duets.Am 👀 it so much in pop as well.
Feels like it's following the trend in pop over the last decade or so, where features became really common.
I'm glad that Lauren Alaina is leaving her label.
Whatever they've been doing hasn't been working, but she's clearly talented, and if she's promoted properly, she could start gaining traction.
Lmao she just dropped like a 12 song album. She is mid at best.
Something about "Miranda and Blake singing You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" instead of saying David Frizzell and Shelly West made my eye twitch for some reason.
I think the lockdowns and pandemics brought about a load of collaborations - not just in country. Every video was people reuniting after 20 years, or random celebrities singing together which would never have happened before. It forced us to connect when we probably wouldn’t have done before. Most country singers had access to a studio of some sort so they could release new music, but rather than doing it alone, another singer could do their bit without the two needing to be in the same studio. I believe the collab season will be over by next year once everyone’s albums are out and they go on tour. Obviously there will still be some, but I doubt they’ll be as prominent.
Most duets lately are just okay to me, with exceptions like flower shop by Earnest and Morgan Wallen. My issue with pop stars doing duets with country stars is that rather than actually sounding country they end up sounding way more pop like with Meant To Be by FGL F. BeBe Rexha(sp?). I think the recent spike in duets is probably due to Covid. After 2 years of this, duets are a great way to connect with other artists.
I think it's also because artists are constantly churning out so much material, having just solo songs out can feel saturated. Doing a collaboration breaks that monotony of solo-ism too, provides excitement and variation in style.
Day like 22 of asking do a video on Randall kings album
Such a great album!!
I think this is a side effect of the entire music industry at the moment. We're seeing it a lot in Pop, Rap, and even the new Pop Punk/Rock of MGK, Willow, etc.
I don't mind it. There's been some amazing duets in all genres recently. P!nk and Chesney, Morgan Wallen and Ernest, Miranda Lambert and Elle King, MGK and blackbear, Taylor Swift and Ed Sherran, etc etc etc.
For the most part, I think most songs that make radio are better or at least unaffected by the duet. Obviously there are some bad examples of that (looking at you Sean Mendes), but on average it's fine. And as long as it doesn't make me dislike the music, I'm fine with it.
On another note, Brad Paisley has some amazing duets.
Justin Moore is next! He said he’s got a duet on the way from his podcast
I’m just curious on how you feel about Colt Ford doing so many duets/colabs? He uses a lot of artists to sing on his tracks for years?
You should check out Dustin Chapman’s new song family thing with American idol contestant Ryleigh Madison.
Check it out on Dustin Chapman’s channel.
I like most of the duets right now 🤷🏼♀️
Any thoughts on artist Ashley Cooke?
The reason, Carrie and Jason's duet happen, is because Jason wanted to do a duet with Carrie. And timing was perfect.
think about other genres: in rap especially fans clamor for collaborations.. i think country might be taking a page out of their book
can you do a reaction to colby Acuff's song dying breed i highly recommend that song his voice is a little like tyler childers in my opinion, but his lyrics are like uncle lucius especially on If I Were The Devil
It was actually on my year-end list of the best country songs that weren't singles!
@@GradySmith bettt I’m gonna watch that now!!!
can u do a review of jason aldeans electronic beat filled new album, whats happend to that guy
I think Grady would be happy to hear that everyone she knows is now Kenny chesney's newest single
What are your thoughts on the country world getting the midland and pardi duet??
Can you talk about Chris Ledoux?