It's inevitable that up and coming artists, in any genre, will be compared to those who've gone before them. Right now, Easton Corbin is that person in country music; from the first time he hit radio airwaves, he's been compared to George Strait.
While most artists enjoy themselves being compared to well known singers, Corbin has never been happy being identified with Strait; I never really understood that, until now.
This morning I heard a song on KUPL called "Hello, Goodbye". I came in on the chorus of the song, and my first thought was, "that sounds like Vince Gill". Listening to the rest of the song, I realized it wasn't Vince; though I did have to look up who the artist was. As it turns out, it's newcomer, Tyler Farr.
Tyler is one of the artists I missed seeing in the Bing Lounge. I did go to YouTube and listen to Farr doing "Hello, Goodbye", during that performance; to me he still has that Vince Gill sound.
When I first heard Farr on the radio, a light went off in my head. I think I finally get why Easton Corbin doesn't like being compared to George Strait. Though Corbin has his own sound and style, as a newcomer, being compared to an icon like Strait can be daunting.
People expect him to do as well as Strait, right from the start, rather than giving him the chance to evolve on his own. I especially realized this when I thought Farr sounded like Vince Gill. I had put this new artist in the shoes of an icon, because I thought he sounded like Gill. When enough people do comparisons like that, an artist will most likely be held to those expectations.
I still feel Easton Corbin should be proud to be named in the same company as George Strait; though now I understand why it also frustrates him.
In another blog I mentioned how I don’t like “cookie cutter” voices.Those artists who are so generic you can’t tell one from the other.They could be interchangeable on any song played on the radio, and I doubt anyone would know the difference.
I also said how I like voices that stand out. The minute you hear a song, even if you’ve never heard it before, you instantly know who’s singing.To me, that makes the music on the radio much more interesting.It adds flavor to what would otherwise be bland and boring.
Then there are the newer artists who’ve come on the scene lately.It seems there are quite a few that sound like other, established artists.The person most people think of first is Easton Corbin.
Easton has always been compared to George Strait; which he doesn’t like.In some ways, I understand why he resents the comparison.He’s a new artist who wants to make his career based on his own merits.Yet, he keeps being compared to George Strait; those are big shoes to fill, especially as a new artist.
On the other hand, in this case, I see it as a compliment to Easton also.To me, George Strait seems to have a wide range of styles he plays off of.So, if people are comparing Easton Corbin to George Strait, which style?If it’s all of them, I see that as a good thing. It’s worked for George, why wouldn’t it work for Easton?I’m not sure there will ever be another George Strait, but there are worse artists Easton Corbin could be compared to.
Awhile back KUPL was playing a song, “If I Run”, by the Harters.Until I looked the song up, I would have sworn it was Steel Magnolia.Even though both acts are new to country music, Steel Magnolia is known a bit more than the Harters.The nice exception to thinking the Harters and Steel Magnolia sound alike is, neither have that cookie cutter sound.
Then there’s Joey+Rory.I’d heard music by them before, most notably, “Cheater, Cheater”.They’re another duo without a generic sound.However, the first few times I heard the song, “That’s Important to Me”, I thought the Judds had put out new music.The song has the Judds “feel” to it, and Joey’s voice, (on this song at least), sounds like the Judds. I like that this song has that “familiar” sound to it; yet Joey+Rory still have their own style and sound.
On the subject of of acts sounding like others, but only on some songs, there’s the Dirt Drifters.Every time I would hear “Something Better” on the radio, I thought it was Toby Keith.I wondered why Toby had two songs out at the same time. When I found out it was the Dirt Drifters, and that they were going to be in Portland, I HAD to see them.I wanted to know firsthand whether all their songs sounded like Toby Keith, or just that one.I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Dirt Drifters are a very talented band, with their own distinct sound.They did say that others had thought their first single sounded like Toby Keith, and they were okay with that.They took it as a compliment that people wanted to find out more about them, because of the comparison.
On a slightly different path of voice comparisons, there’s Glen Templeton.This new country artist definitely has his own style and sound, and is great at what he does.At one point in time though, Glen was the star in the traveling play about Conway Twitty’s life.He had been personally chosen by Twitty’s family for the role, because he sounded so much like Conway.
Right now, KUPL is playing a song by Bradley Gaskin called, “Mr. Bartender”.The first time I heard it, I instantly thought of Travis Tritt in his early days.Yet, while the song reminds me of Tritt, Gaskin actually does hold his own, with his own sound, on the song.
And then there’s this year’s American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery.McCreery definitely has his own style and voice, as evidenced by his single, “I Love You This Big”.While on Idol though, his “signature” song was Josh Turner’s “Your Man”.Scotty was a dead ringer for Josh Turner; which was especially noticeable when Turner showed up to sing the song with Scotty at McCreery’s homecoming concert for American Idol.
I think there will always be comparisons of groups and artists in all genres of music.Whether it’s someone like Easton Corbin, who has that “voice” all the time; or it’s a band, like the Dirt Drifters, who just happen on one song to sound like another artist, the comparisons will always be there.
Likewise, whether, like Corbin, artists resent the comparison, or like the Dirt Drifters, embrace it; there will always be both as long as there’s music in the world.
