Why drinking is king in country music, even for sober artists – Variety

Booze is as much an element of the country music scene as boots and side roads, and a recent article in the Washington Post examined this connection and the influence of alcohol on Nashville, which some call "a drunk city". with a problem of music. "

According to the country's musicians interviewed, having the appearance of using alcohol as a pleasure or drowning penalties is a major factor to be considered" authentic "in the scene of Nashville: It's a survival of the time of Hank Williams, an idol of the country who died at the age of 29 from a heart attack after a lifetime of abuse As the Post points out, this vision led to the death of several country music stars.

"I thought everyone had to drink to be in this business" declared country singer Keith Whitley the age of 33 in 1989. "Lefty [Frizzell] drank, Hank drank, George Jones was still drinking, and I had to do it. It's like that. You could not put that soul into your singing if you were not about three leaves in the wind. "

However, alcohol also plays a key role in attracting branded sponsorship dollars to the Nashville music industry." When writer Emily Yahr asked Florida Georgia Line about the relationship of their music with Alcohol and the name of Fireball in their hit "Round Here", Tyler Hubbard, a member of GFL, said: "We have tried to find out how this has benefited them. they said it was pretty drastic. It made us feel good. But also, it made us think, why not start our own brand? "

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He added: "We like to have a good time, but maybe drink a little less than in the past, as our director says, if you party like a man at night, you have to work like a man. man in the morning. "

This led the group to wear a brand of peach-pecan whiskey, and they are not alone.As Yahr wrote, the companies even go as far as sponsoring artists who write on the dark side of alcohol, like Trey Smith and Jennifer Fiedler, whose single "Hey Whiskey", a song about breaking a relationship due to alcoholism, has prompted an approval from Rebecca Creek Distillery.

At the same time, Nashville is home to many who are in recovery, and songwriters claim that grabbing some beers is common after – or during – a session. It can make life difficult for people who do not drink.

Yahr points out that Keith Urba n, Brantley Gilbert and Tim McGraw are examples of artists who speak of sobriety, even though alcohol often appears their songs (Brad Paisley, who does not drink, wrote "Alcohol", which reached the number four on the Billboard charts Hot Country Songs and peaked at number 28 on the whole Hot 100).

Ray Scott is an example of an artist who feared the pressure of his fans after he stopped drinking and became sober. Yahr wrote: "Initially, he was worried that fans would be disappointed to learn that he was not drinking."

"Some fans can build you to be what they think they are, and some of those songs paint an image of who I was," Scott said. "I've been happy that people take it for what it is – it's just fun music; I do not have to live the role."

L & rsquo; The country music industry is as closely tied to the distillery and brewery industry as it can be, and it will not change anytime soon, according to Yahr. No doubt the public appreciates this, "she writes." And as Nashville continues to see signs of the dollar (a CMA study this spring found that country music consumers are spending more on alcohol ), the artists will continue to sing about it. "