Doctors Orders: We Need More Laughter

Country music has gotten way too serious! Humor is in the Country DNA, but where did it go? Remember Grandpa Jones, Stringbean, Ray Stevens and the great Minnie Pearl? Maybe more than the music itself, Music Row has misplaced its funny bone.

Last week at the Country Radio Seminar, radio was told to get on TikTok, because that is where your audience is and you need to be there. This week, Dan + Shay answered some Tokers and did their own drunk version of “Tequila.” You had to see and hear their take. Then I saw Brad Paisley shoot an apple off the head of a snowman with his bow and arrow.

TikTok is like a potato chip, you can’t just watch one video! You watch a bunch and you will smile at the stupidity of some, and laugh and share some of the others. It’s a rabbit hole like YouTube can be. Artists and radio people need to be connecting with TikTok, or at least talking about what they saw.

Then there is Blake Shelton. “The Voice” is back on Monday night, March 1st. Per usual, they did a promo video to get the word out. This year the Blake/Nick Jonas storyline goes into a dream video where the judges all put on their ’80s disco clothes and perform that decade’s guilty pleasure, “Together Forever” by Rick Astley. Blake wears an oversized suit and bobs his head in a very abnormal Blake way. I laughed, and watched the video maybe three times. Blake is getting funnier. Was that his body dancing of digital trickery?

Radio morning shows used to be funny. Humor on late night seems thin. “SNL” may be the last stop for comedy and satire, and jabs are their best attempt at funny. But sometimes they are funny.

The second shot of Pfizer is now in my arm! Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine is arriving, and Walmart and other mass appeal stores will begin giving the shot. Hopefully, radio will do its masterful job and promote getting the shot. It’s our best, and maybe only, hope of getting out of this mess. The silver bullet if there is to be one.

Billy Bob’s in Texas is doing shows and Ole Red in Nashville is doing a Josh Turner livestream with a socially distanced audience. Daylight is peeking through the end of that dark road, maybe.

The Academy of Country Music Awards nominee announcements are out, and they will have to work very hard to get the excitement meter to register. Most seem to be award show weary. Having no audience for these shows is deadly!

Morgan Wallen’s ban has not dulled his success in the least. That should be more scary to radio than to Morgan. This cancel chapter needs to be resolved in some way. The apology tour or whatever is needed, but the hottest star in music in 2021 is Morgan Wallen … for better or for worse. This situation needs a resolution.

Tiger Woods is a survivor. He will be on a golf course before year’s end, if he wants to. His back and now his leg are huge obstacles, but he will be determined. Ashley Judd is recovering for a horrible leg injury, too. Anyone want to bet against these two? I would not advise it.

Homework assignment: Rediscover humor … It will be good for everyone!