Anne Wilson – Songs About Whiskey and Smoking and Jesus

Who knew a song about whiskey could actually be a song about Jesus? I was not expecting to be so impressed when I clicked to watch Anne Wilson’s new video for “Songs About Whiskey.” I thought it would just be another country song about drinking, a bar, line dancing, or drinking and line dancing in a bar, but boy was I wrong. Well, sort of wrong. It turns out, it’s *kinda* about drinking, dancing, and a bar… but with a pretty major twist. Take a look then scroll down for more…

Her voice is so full, nothing subtle about it, right? I can’t decide if it’s the vibrato that I like so much or just the confidence and seasoned sound of her voice. The video was directed by TK McKamy who’s responsible for other country music videos like Thomas Rhett “Marry Me,” Mitchell Tenpenny “Anything She Says,” and Maddie & Tae “Girl In A Country Song,” just to name a few.

The song was written by  Matthew West, Jeff Pardo, Anne Wilson, and Lauren Hungate. I love the clever lyrics so I thought it would be fun to uncover some of the country songs Anne might be singing about. She belts out, Songs about Jack Daniels, songs about Jim Beam, one night regrets, neon and nicotine.

What might those songs be? How about Little Big Town’s “Wine, Beer, and Whiskey”…

You can’t mention a song about Jack Daniels without including Brad Paisley’s “Alcohol”…

The lyric about one night regrets made me immediately think of Lee Ann Womack’s “I May Hate Myself In The Morning”…

There are a handful of songs about neon-related things but let’s go way back to the 90s with Alan Jackson’s “Chasing That Neon Rainbow”…

Anne’s lyrics mention nicotine which is a little harder to track down specifically mentioned in a country song. Or any song. Let’s go with one of my favorite country artists, Eric Church “Smoke A Little Smoke.” But don’t smoke or vape, that’s bad for you.

I have a feeling I’ll be singing or humming “Songs About Whiskey” for the rest of the week and somehow it might count as worship? I haven’t quite figured that out yet. If you want to become the next fan of Anne Wilson’s, follow her on Instagram @AnneWilsonMusic and Twitter @AnneWilsonMusic.

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol’s Most Boring Episode – April 2024

It’s hard to write that last night’s episode might be the most boring in the show’s entire history but I can’t justify saying it any other way. At the very least, it’s the most forgettable episode of the season except to note that the people pulling the strings *might* be playing up Taylor Swift for a very specific reason. If you watched the show, you probably noticed Taylor’s influence throughout last night’s episode. Innnnnteresting….

Even my favorites (Jack and McKenna) didn’t have performances we’ll be talking about after a few days. In Jack’s rendition of “Blinding Lights,” fans still were able to hear his unique sound but that’s not even close to the genre where his vocals shine. So it was weird to have such a great singer sing a song that does nothing emotionally for the viewer.

McKenna did “Cardigan” by *ahem* Taylor Swift—- and it was fine. Her voice is raspy and pleasant. But the song is so melancholy until the final 10 or 15 seconds, it was hard to feel good about McKenna when the lyrics want us to feel bad. She did a good job of playing the part though; instead of smiling through the whole song, her facial expressions mostly matched the heartbreak or angst of the lyrics.

Another fan favorite, Emmy Russell. She sang “Lose You To Love Me” and her sweetness wasn’t highlighted because the song isn’t sweet. So as much as I enjoy her voice, this song wasn’t fun to listen to. Her voice usually conjures of feelings of peace and security, but this time it just wasn’t there.

The most entertaining performances were only because of how bad they were. Roman (who I predicted would go home a week or so ago) put his spin on Katy Perry’s “Roar” and it was more like something you’d hear at a family reunion from the uncle who used to be a back-up dinner cruise entertainer. That was my Simon Cowell impression. But seriously, it was abysmal. There, that’s my last Simon impression. Roman also didn’t do himself any favors when Katy asked what cologne he was wearing, why he smells so good, and he responded with, “I pray.” Awwwkward. Just tell them what fragrance it is! Not everything has to be tied back to church, faith, or God. It comes across as being too Heavenly-minded to do any earthly good.

Another Ben Stiller as White Goodman performance from Kayko and I can’t figure out how he’s still in this. The best way I can sum up Kayko’s performances is that he’s an actor playing the part of a singer. Such a weird vibe from him and I don’t see him lasting very much longer and there’s absolutely no way he wins it all.

Last year at this time, Iam was clearly in the lead with every performance and it was rather easy to see that. This season, there aren’t any standouts yet. With that said, I can see the winner being Abi, Jack, McKenna, or Emmy. Everyone else ought to go home already.

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol Does Rock, Two Contestants Roll Home, and My Inner Randy Jackson Comes Out!

It’s getting so hard to predict who will be eliminated but last night, I successfully picked the two singers who were sent home. Go me! Excuse me while I jinx myself by patting myself on the back.

The votes were tallied as the episode was airing, which can be a scary thing for the last singer, I imagine. But the last singer was Abi so who’s really worried about her getting eliminated? Answer: No one. She’s very good and seems to be in a battle with Emmy Russell for the top singer at this point in the season. But if there’s a top singer, there must be a bottom, too. After a commercial-breaks worth of deliberating, I picked Jordan and Nya for the following reasons:

  1. Jordan – He was a judge save the previous week which means he was already lacking support. He also doesn’t seem to connect with the audience, although he’s a fine singer. Lastly, as mentioned in a previous post, contestants from other countries don’t usually last in the live voting rounds.
  2. Nya – Also a judge save the previous week. She has a nice voice but doesn’t stand out. I think she and Jayna are/were too stylistically similar so voters were supporting one or the other, although it takes nothing away from either one to vote for both.

I appreciated the catalog of songs the contestants chose from — Rock and Roll Hall of Famers — and two songs connected to Elvis Presley, which were also the best two of the night. These guys ain’t nothing but hound dogs: The young Triston Harper performed “Heartbreak Hotel” and Jack Blocker did “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (originally by Bob Dylan).

Jack and McKenna are my top 2 now that Jennifer Jeffries is gone, and I’m really hoping Jack wins. McKenna performed one of my favorite songs, Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry.” I can hear Randy Jackson saying it wasn’t the best song choice for her but she worked it out. She’ll be safe for another week because of her previous performances and the fact that she had a visit to the hospital during the week of rehearsals and still came out sounding good is impressive. Also, a little tid bit from my high school years… I blasted “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” as I drove around town my senior year. But not Chicago’s version, I went with Az Yet’s take on it. There’s a twist you never saw coming.

As the episode progressed, it came down to three: Jordan, Nya, and Kayko. I thought America’s votes were a good example of getting it right… and it was Kayko surviving another day. His days are numbered, or should I say his hours are numbered? Tonight, elimations are dealt to Kayko and Jayna.

Thank ya, thank ya very much. You’re a wonderful audience.

-Out of the Wilderness

The Instacart Nail Salon Commercial – Worst Jingle on TV?

This has got to be one of the most annoying jingles on TV and streaming. It’s no wonder Instacart disabled comments (actually, they’ve disabled comments for all of their YouTube posts, which is probably something that worries the executives every morning when they wake up, drink their imported coffee, and drive their Porsches into work). If you haven’t seen this recent ad, I hope watching it doesn’t ruin your day…

I was sort of under the impression they’d quit it, just stop, when they aired the football game/ grocery store commercial back during the football season. Have you seen that one? Here’s a recap and warning, it’s probably worse than this nail salon version.

Is it that difficult to find good singers? I mean, they could just pick a few favorites from American Idol and hire them to star in these commercials. Heck, they could even use The Voice rejects and it would still be less irritating. I’m not alone in my hatred for these ads. Here’s a small sample from Reddit.

-Out of the Wilderness

Christianity is not this vile, I promise…

If you’re familiar with the uncomfortable situation between Mark Driscoll and John Lindell and you’re wondering if that’s what Christianity is, please as much as you have the power to do, forget everything about that situation (after you read this post, of course 🤪)! It’s embarrassing what’s going on between those two men. If you haven’t heard of their conflict, I’ll sum it up this way: At a men’s conference, a former stripper guy came up on stage to perform acrobatic stunts, including swallowing a sword and climbing a pole. That’s the gist of it. I’m assuming most normal men in attendance were asking, as the guy climbed the pole, “What is happening right now?”

Driscoll was a guest speaker at this men’s event and called out the act as evil and likened it to women performing at a strip club, in light of the acrobat guy being a former male stripper. Lindell, the pastor of the church that sponsored this men’s conference, took offense and then the two men were at odds. Gosh, nothing’s going to attract more people to faith in Jesus like two middle-aged men bickering about who’s right or wrong, right? And side note: whoever decided scheduling a former male stripper to do strippy-type things at a men’s conference… Excuse me guy, yes you… YOU’RE FIRED.

What this sword-swallowing performance has to do with Christianity or the ministry of Jesus is still a little foggy. But one thing is for sure: Two men on a holy power trip is just ugly. If this whole situation is what Christianity is, who would ever want to be be part of it?

Thank God for making a way to Heaven because if it were left up to humans, we’d screw it all up. I don’t know which of these guys has altruistic motives, if either do, but I’m pretty sure whatever they’re doing is not really the best way to present Jesus to people.

In a Bible study I’m part of during the week, the question was posed of how we’d present Christianity to someone who isn’t a Christian. Lots of good ideas, people coming from a place of honesty and humility. All I could think of in the moment (and I didn’t mention this in the group) was an old cologne commercial, one of my favorites of all time. I had no idea I could put Christianity and Bleu de Chanel in the same sentence, but here we are. My favorite line of the ad is this: “I’m not going to be the person I’m expected to be anymore.”

That’s part of what Christianity is to me. To society, culture, the world… we’re expected to want money, power, respect, a good paying job, wealth, influence, comfort, self-love, just to name a few. Jesus teaches the exact opposite so Christianity offers freedom from those pursuits (or at least freedom from the selfish ambition that compels those pursuits) and says we don’t have to be who the world/culture/society expects us to be anymore.

OK, now it’s time to forget all the silly stuff going on between Mark Driscoll and John Lindell.

-Out of the Wilderness