Shots fired.
Texas singer and songwriter Rich O’Toole released his latest single, “Low Hanging Fruit,” and he’s taking a shot at the Nashville machine – and the seemingly endless stream of generic flash-in-the-pan artists it loves to make famous.
“You got a Gibson and a stylish hat
You’re coverin’ Childers but you’re singing flat
All your buddies, they lie to you
And they tell you you sound like something new”
And the song also takes aim at one recent trend in country music that drives me crazy: TikTok.
Now, don’t get me wrong, TikTok is a great way for new artists to get their music out there to a broad and overwhelmingly young audience.
But far too often these days it seems like we’re seeing one of two things from country artists on TikTok: Either labels sign these singers who have one song that they post over and over until that one song has enough views that somebody on Music Row thinks they can make money off of it.
Or, labels will sign a new artist and then push them to make cringey TikToks that are completely out of their character until they become nothing more than a caricature of the artist they hoped to be when they moved to Nashville.
And Rich sums it up perfectly:
“You sold your soul for a record deal
And made a TikTok for curb appeal
You’re shakin’ hands at the meet and greet
While your manager’s countin’ your money behind the scenes”
Speaking about the song, Rich said that it’s not necessarily a shot at Nashville, but at the people who move here to chase the country music dream no matter what the cost, even if it means changing who you are as an artist:
“I’m not hating on Nashville. I love Nashville. I’m just calling out the dudes that move up there just to be famous. It gets old.”
Right there with you, Rich.
And if you like the song, Rich talked more about making it in country music when you’re not a part of the “machine” during his appearance on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast.
