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Man, the news cycle is keeping you two busy! My take on the country music attention: there are so many cross-genre collaborations and genre-hopping artists that it’s pulling people into the genre. I don’t think it’s a personal nostalgic move as much as a marketing move designed to expand fan bases— a successful track record is proof. And it’s sad that country music is now associated with a political movement. But punk is apolitical if not anti political by definition. So not sure how that adaptation will shake out for punks.

Ingrid. Sigh. IMHO, her handlers should be fired. I know “all press is good press” in theory, but butchering the national anthem could be a career killer- and with good reason. Anyone remember Rosanne Barr’s cringe-worthy performance? I do hope Ingrid gets the help she needs and then finds a new team.

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I can't agree more with this. I've also said for a while now that pop-punk and rock music should really take note of how country music goes about their songwriting. There's a reason why country music is so popular and it's the storytelling in their songs that makes it so relatable to so many people. When you look at the lyrical content from the former genres (especially pop punk), most of the time it seems boring, lackluster, juvenile, and cheap. Sometimes you can't even figure out what they are really trying to say. That's not the case for country music. But all of that to say, it's nice to see these artists taking chances because I think that's exactly what the genre needs.

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