Morgan Wallen must’ve just set a Guinness World Record for the amount of songs released on an album (36 songs on “One Thing At A Time”) and he broke Spotify’s streaming record with millions of streams after the album was released. It’s probably safe to assume there’s a song for everyone on this album but the one I wanted to listen to first features one of my favorite country singers, Eric Church.
Soon after I’d arrived in Nashville I got hired to be a production assistant for Eric Church’s first album photo shoot. He was a long-haired newby to country music, kind of like me except I had short hair. Because of that experience, not to mention he’s a heck of an entertainer, Eric’s been one of my favorite country artists for a long time.
Naturally, I wanted to listen to his guest spot on the new song from Morgan Wallen.
The song doesn’t stray from the stereotypical country music formula: God, alcohol, sob story, great woman, heartbreak, repeat. Throw in a loyal dog and you’d have the most country song ever recorded. While this song probably won’t win any awards, it’s a nice addition to country music after after Brad Paisley’s embarrassing new song. It’s also quite interesting that this track on the new album is strangely similar to a song by the same name by country artist Dillon Carmichael released a year ago but with none of the same songwriters.
Wallen’s song was written by Rocky Block, Jordan Dozzi, Larry Fleet, and Brett Tyler. Carmichael’s was written by country music powerhouses Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, and Jon Pardi. Yes, the same Jon Pardi that just released a new song and video for “Your Heart or Mine.” A very specific song title isn’t enough to create a legal case as far as royalties go. In the country music genre, it’s happened as recently as “Keys to the Country” by Chris Janson and “Keys to the Country” by Colt Ford. I wrote up a post about those songs here.
I’m not studied up enough to know if there are any legal conflicts between Wallen and Carmichael. I suspect there aren’t, though, because the last thing Wallen needs after his controversy a few years ago is another controversy… although his popularity only seems to rise the more he’s in the news. You’d think someone at his label would’ve quadruple checked for copyright infringement with his 36 new songs.
Going back to one of the writers of Carmichael’s “Man Made A Bar,” Jon Pardi; I’d say he and Morgan Wallen are two of the very few entertainers currently keeping country music afloat. They’ve both done a worthy job taking country music away from the ‘bro country’ type of songs that plagued the 2010s.
What are your thoughts on Wallen’s song? Chime in below and I’ll see you tomorrow…
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 
I just heard “Man Made a Bar” for the first time. I absolutely love it! So much so, that I looked it up on YouTube, so I could really hear the lyrics. Then I checked out the majority of Wallen’s new album. This young man will hang around in Nashville for as long as he chooses. He’s got excellent taste lyrically, no matter whom the lyrics were created by. He is at the top for good reason. I dig it. I was just curious who wrote the song and that’s how I arrived here. Just my feedback.
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