The Taylor Sheridan effect stretches beyond his collection of Yellowstone shows.
In case you missed the news, Blake Shelton and Taylor Sheridan have teamed up to bring a fresh, new take on singing competition shows to television. It’s called The Road, and it’s basically done in a docu-follow format that follows headliner Keith Urban who’s looking to help find the next big star.
Those in the competition (12 hopeful country artists) travel with the headliner during their tour, performing as openers and trying to win over fanbases they perform in front of. The singers compete to secure a spot for the next tour stop, or in other terms, they’re always fighting to stay on tour as an opener.
If I didn’t do a good job explaining it there, here’s an official description of the uniquely approached series that began airing last month:
“‘The Road’ offers viewers a backstage pass into the gritty and unforgiving life of a touring artist. With exclusive access to the behind-the-scenes workings of the music industry, viewers will see what happens when some of the best up-and-coming performers pile into a tour bus and tackle a grueling schedule in pursuit of their dreams.”
Blake Shelton, who formerly worked on NBC’s The Voice (another popular singing competition series), and Taylor Sheridan serve as executive producers on the show from CBS (Lee Metzger and David Glasser are also included as EP’s). With Blake’s experience in music and as a critical part of what’s now a singing show competitor, and Sheridan’s stellar track record with writing and producing shows, it certainly seems like a match made in heaven.
And country music star Gretchen Wilson serves a very important role in the show as well. She’s the “Tour Manager,” and is very involved in the ongoings of the competition and the tour itself. When Cinema Blend talked to the “Redneck Woman” singer, she raved about Taylor Sheridan’s midas touch with The Road, and how his presence and guidance has brought a warmth to the series that other singing shows might not be able to replicate:
“I think that the unique thing about working with Taylor is just the beauty that he brings to what he touches. Everything that you watch, that he has been involved with, has got a warmth to it, like a colorization that you just don’t see anywhere else. It reminds you of real life.
I feel like that when he gets to a set, he treats it and he wants to see it the way that you would see it with your normal eye, rather than with all of this bright lighting and all of this almost sterile environment [that] it kind of feels like on a lot of TV shows and a lot of sets. He just brings this warmth and this realness and this just real comfortable sort of environment to what he’s involved in.”
And that’s what sets The Road apart from other singing competition programs.
Something has to, as competitive singing series have been a dime-a-dozen ever since the innovative American Idol aired in 2002. One could argue that the most recent evolution in competitive singing series was NBC’s The Voice, and even that format has become worn for the wear.
That’s why The Road has been intriguing to music fans thus far. And it sounds like CBS was smart with it… come up with a fresh, new idea and then just hand the reigns over to Taylor Sheridan. It’s hard to go wrong with Sheridan at the wheel.
