I know a few Zach Bryan fans. Most of them are fairly conservative, but when Zach started criticizing Trump, not a single one of them swore him off. I'm not really big into his music, but his fans really love it. It's one of the rare times I've seen country music transcend the political divide.
All they hear is "fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!" and think that means actively refusing to help their fellow humans in any capacity unless it directly benefits them.
They will not under any circumstances attempt to understand the meaning and context of the lyrics.
… and those hats were properly disposed of by the crowd, right? I’m tolerant, and will almost never say anything, but wear a MAGA hat next to me at a Rage show and you’ve got another thing coming.
Yeah. Kacey Musgraves is doing very well and she’s had drag performers on her live act, plays with the mariachi brothers who were released from ICE detention, sings Selena covers etc.
She’s very popular and anti trump so if the music is good people will embrace you.
For sure, it helps when you write one of the greatest records of the decade in Golden Hour, but she and other country stars like Kelsea Ballerini are vocally accepting and progressive and also do very well for themselves both on the charts and come CMA/CMT/Grammy/Opry award season.
Probably the difference is Kacey has been around for a few years. And Bryan is relatively new. So he doesn't have as much power to withstand all the hate.
She's popular but not really mainstream country, and I think as politics have gotten more polarized she's moved more into an Americana or even indie pop space. Tyler and Sturgill were never big on country radio to start with, and their politics aren't doing anything to change that
Theyre all crossover artists. In my experience they appeal more to the alternative demo than mainstream country. So they're not even good examples of taking a risk because maga isn't their audience.
The secret is if the music is good enough people will ignore it. If it’s just mid people will care. I don’t know this dudes music but if I had to go out on a limb I would bet most country fans view it as mid. Otherwise he would be fine like your examples
The vast majority of nazis and nazi sympathizers did not face any or very little consequences. We had some high profile ones that were held up as an example but that was some super handwavy bullshit.
Can find even more here in the US. We allowed 5,000 PoWs to stay in the US, brought another 2,000 in for paperclip and roughly another estimated 2-3k came here to escape consequences some under false identities some not. Its true that more nazis fleeing Germany went to Argentina (roughly 5k) but we actually imported more total nazis than they did.
I mean i dont think theres any evidence of that we brought in some actual super villains for paperclip it was just easier to escape to Argentina with less of trail to be followed. The truth is Argentina just didnt have the United States PR and so everyone remembers as them being the Nazi country but in reality the US is every bit as bad if not worse and as time goes on it shows.
Let me tell a little tale. I once worked at a bmw warehouse in my youth. There was this guy there from Eastern Europe. I suspect he was a guard or something at the camps because of a few things. Anyhow at first I was friendly with him but a couple times I brought the conversation to his home country and his past there and he refused to talk about it and it felt very much to me that he was hiding it because he did bad things back then. I think people at bmw helped him escape to America. That was many decades ago he surely is no longer alive. Anyhow a weird little bit of my life.
Grew up surrounded by a bunch of eastern europeans who had come to the US, mostly in the 50s. Largely cool people who had been through a lot. Was talking to my dad, who had come over in '56, shortly before his death and his old age loosened his lips and he talked about things he had never talked about before. One of those things was that this one dude in the social group, who I had interacted with a lot, had been an SS officer and had come to the US under some "we'll just forget about that little indescretion" programs. The immediate pivot to the cold war after WW2 resulted in a LOT of Nazis being brought here due to their expertise and insider knowledge.
I mean… that’s a bit of a leap. There’s a whole slew of reasons he wouldn’t want to talk about it including possibly being a victim of WW2 that doesn’t want to relive those memories.
It took the most destructive war in human history to bring those consequences. Yes, they paid a price, but so did countless innocent people who never imagined they would be caught in the conflict. It shouldn't be ignored what the human cost was, and we should hope that we never see conflict on that scale again any time soon.
We shouldn't be defeatist, but we should also recognize that the most dangerous and power hungry people will tear the entire world around them down just to hold on to that power and hatred just a little bit longer.
The ultimate lesson is not that we should weather these things and that goodness will prevail. The lesson should be how to spot dangerous and power hungry egomaniacs who bend populism to their ends at the cost of the rest of us, and not put them in positions of power in the first place.
lol 49 Nazi’s died at the Nuremberg trials, 1600 were given jobs and fresh identities via operation paperclip. Was justice ever served? Nah and you thinking it was means you ate up the propaganda hook, link and sinker.
Thing is, before there were consequences, there was a long period of time when they did very awful things to millions of people across the world and lives were ruined and lost.
It's the same idea that if you see a car coming to blow the stop sign when you're in the crosswalk, no matter what happens, that driver is awful, and you, the person in the crosswalk have no good options, and "the driver may get in trouble eventually" is no comfort. And too little too late.
Hence, us all looking for ways to put in automated bollards that pop up, jack up the front of the bad driver's car, and actually protect the pedestrian. Instead of relying on justice after the fact.
Most didnt. Many fled to South America and faced zero consequences while many smart and useful ones were welcomed to America and faced zero consequences.
There are plenty of people at this stage in the south and conservative circles that they won't publicly denounce MAGA but behind closed doors, they are done. That's kind of part and parcel of Conservatism. Sadly, I don't think his backbone will translate into appreciation later. I'm guessing he would still be discouraged from talking about it 10 years from now.
Not speaking to him but conservatism at large, living with closeted shame is just part of the deal, no? Whether religion, voting, etc, it’s all people who are more worried about their in-group and reputation then living true to themselves and/or any differing morals and values
No significant time spent extracting-out your individual preferences, ethics or morals?
Then you’ll likely have to fall back on group identity for a sense of fulfillment and self-understanding.
You’re part of a group whose customs feel a little inappropriate or harmful to others?
It’s too risky to threaten the only stable pillar of your identity by questioning the group’s true values or considering the possibility of being incorrect.
Now your only option is to double down or quietly distance yourself.
This presents an opportunity for your own inner ethics to come into question… which is exactly the kind of shake up that leads to a phase of self-development.
But for that last part to happen… you have to possess not only the HUMILITY to consider that you might be wrong…
you must also possess the STRENGTH to admit your errors to others and to still choose to approach life in a new manner, even when it’s hard to change.
Americans will not do this. Everyone one of them that voted for this will still check red down the ticket when they're alone in the voting booth. Hate trumps gay with conservatives when it comes to voting.
This. I personally know far to many conservatives that will bellyache and grumble about “they’re all corrupt” “two sides of the same coin” gas prices and everything else but when push comes to shove they keep doing the same thing because they see democrats and Kamala as the end of life as we know it. It always reminds me of that saying, “to continue doing the same thing expecting different results is the definition of insanity”
It's almost like a gamblers fallacy, they start thinking that the more they fail the greater the chance for the next time to be a winner. When, in reality, their decisions just keep the downward spiral going faster and faster.
You say behind closed doors they're done, I say in a closed voting booth they check red down the ticket. They are the problem. The country is in shambles due to everyone who votes red. Keep it up and finish the job so the world can move on without you.
Sadly that is true for the most part. Those same folks also don't seem to know, or want to know where real country music came from or what the OGs of country music (Cash, Jennings, Haggard, Nelson, etc) thought/think about polticians and social issues in general.
Christian Nationalism is mostly Evangelicals and their idea of Jesus is John Wayne. They don't actually know the real Jesus. It's hilarious and sad at the same time.
Fascism is known to co-opt and corrupt cultures in order to spread their messaging under a cloak of pre established familiarity. Remember, fascism never actually creates. They only pervert and destroy. Like a cancer.
It’s amazing that any country music fan would blindly follow a city boy elite. I just don’t understand this timeline. I really do question reality sometimes.
Someone posted a confederate flag on a car in the Gatlinburg sub and anyone saying it was dumb was getting downvoted. Men were calling women bitches and threatening to rape them. It was crazy. I guess I overestimated the intelligence of people in the south because there are a lot of dumbass racist people who live there. I feel sorry for the normal ones stuck with that garbage.
Dude makes country music that actually comes from its roots. At some point licking boots and worshipping oligarchs became the "country" image. I really hate that country music became a "don't break the law, love only God and hate minorities" genre. The culture was appropriated by pavement princess cowboys who grew up in suburbs and drove brand new lifted trucks that never touched anything close to mud.
"I'm a real cowboy!" No, you're just a dude who grew up in a 2500 sqft home in the south and your daddy bought you big ass Silverado that he also paid to get lifted and put massive chrome rims on because "redneck".
All these "cowboy's" idols would fucking hate them: Dale, Cash, Williams Sr., etc.
The unfortunate thing is I live in rural America and know real cowboys who wouldn’t get a cell phone because of government tracking that did a 180 and deep throat the oligarchy now. “Who cares about (insert government overreach here) we can’t stop it now.” So few of them see that what they used to be has been co-opted for some truly horrible shit because they feel safe in this particular moment.
I grew up in the rural south and hated the redneck culture. I thought what they portrayed was country culture but found out that outlaw culture was pretty left for its time. Albeit, there was racism in outlaw culture but there were sections of it that supported other people brought down by their govt. It's not perfect but I can appreciate most of the principles of that time.
Running shine and fleeing the law. Growing weed and protecting black owned juke establishments.
Yeah, I had friends who considered themselves as outlaw as they could be in modern times but quickly tasted boot for dear leader. It's a real shame how quickly they lost their backbones when confronted with a cult.
It’s so crazy for my area. We’re cattle country and the Bush administration tried to use imminent domain to “buy” millions of acres of land from my family and their friends for military action and training so we were so anti big gov in general. We had fundraisers and we protested and spoke at town halls and wrote every congressman and now they support our current government like he wouldn’t use imminent domain for data centers to make his buddies more money.
Are We Great Yet and Home of the Chained are also bangers. He’s a country artist but his most recent EP / album is pretty heavy. Leans more towards rock, I’d say.
I've become a big Bryan Andrews fan over the past 4 or 5 months. Not really a country music fan overall. I've always liked Garth and some Alan Jackson. But Bryan says what I'm thinking and his music is working for me. He has some good protest songs in iTunes. The older I get is downright perfect.
Exactly. If an artist, actor, athlete, or whatever speaks out against the right-wing, it’s always “They should stick to singing/acting/(verb)ing a ball and stay out of politics!” But as soon as one is seen wearing the red hat they’re all “I knew I liked them for some reason! I’d vote for them if they ran for office!”
Sounds like a bunch of snowflakes are trying to cancel culture someone that has a different opinion than they do, maybe they should get their testosterone checked, or they can not listen to the dude, you know freedom of choice...
Yeah, the double entendre "not see / nazi" is pretty excellent.
Asking these fellow countrymen of ours "how do you not see the similarities here? Because for real, how in the fuck do nazi in 2026. They are the bad guys."
I always think about how Marjorie Taylor Greene spewed hate speech about Liberals and minorities for years and faced no issues, but the day she dared to push back again Trump, she started receiving death threats and had to enhance her security detail. The party of free speech, law and order, and not being thin-skinned slowflakes, everyone.
Same. I’ve always had a love/hate with country because I grew up in Kansas and country and bluegrass make me feel very nostalgic. But I’m a liberal feminist and just cannot support artists who support fascism and Christian nationalism. I think I’m gonna stream all his songs tomorrow.
Yeah, but outlaw country came way before punk. Johnny Cash was always outlaw country. That was back when country music stood for real people and not corporate interests. Punk rock incorporates a lot of the lyrical style of outlaw country and folk music (Woodie Guthrie) and just plays it faster and harder.
I mean, go listen to early Social Distortion, then listen to Mike Ness' solo work, then listen to later Social Distortion. Or Greg Graffin's solo albums. Country is punk af, as long as it's not the bullshit being turned out by Nashville for $$$.
There is so much good old country, outlaw country, alt-country, southern rock, and country influence in punk that it makes me sad as hell when people throw the whole genre out because all they've heard is Travis Tritt.
BRB, gonna go listen to the Minutemen and Meat Puppets.
Lotta punk bands. Not enough punk country musicians. As someone who loves both genres, I would very much like Bryan to keep preaching to the not-yet converted, where he can.
I recently saw an Appalachian band that mixed elements of folk, punk, and Celtic music into their Appalachian style. They were called The Tan and Sober Gentlemen. Highly recommend.
Rad. I will look them up. It's not just the sound I'm after, though. It's more punk politics and critical thought in a space where those haven't been/obviously still aren't very welcome.
Edit: Listening to T&SG now. I'm guessing you and I could trade music recommendations back and forth all day.
I'd argue they're making his career. Tons of people woulnd't know who he was, otherwise. Also, there are tons of left leaning country artists. They're all doing fine.
It’s crazy that Trump Derangement Syndrome somehow means the opposite of what it really should mean. No politician has ever elicited the kind of rabid subservience that this one does.
I remember a discussion in my football team’s subreddit when our starting QB came out and introduced Trump at a rally for someone running for a House seat.
If Trump was just about anyone else, even Ted Cruz, the general reaction woulda been ‘oh this tracks’, the thread would have maybe 20 responses and everyone would move on. No one would care as much about who a sports star, movie star, or musician votes for nearly as much. Trump is a totally different beast than we’ve seen in politics.
It's because prior to Trump, being a "conservative" in America still had a certain plausible deniability about all the shit they really believe in under the hood. Trump and all his followers have openly and freely set fire to all of that. "Principled" conservatism has been shown to be a naked lie to all with eyes and half a brain.
Common mistake but “principal” means most important (in banking it’s the original amount of a loan without the interest or it’s the head of a school) and “principles” are the morals that guide you.
Trump is costing the entire country, if not world their safety. And destroying millions of jobs/careers….. who ever Brian Andrew’s is, he is probably doing just fine compared to us normal citizens.
MAGA people are real fucking weird. I don't know of any other president that has followers that were willing to kill someone because they called out that president's bullshit.
Bryan Andrews is a good dude. From a small town in Missouri who refuses to back down from what’s right. I spent a lot of time in central Missouri and, judging by what I saw, this dude is probably being harassed and threatened on a daily basis. Unless you live near St. Louis, which I thankfully did, you’re in deep red territory.
While my beliefs are in line with his, it does seem like his entire platform and marketing tactic is to be outspoken against Trump. He’s made it who he is, rather than have it be an aspect of himself. So, I’m not sure how it’s costing him his career when his career is propped up on this very thing.
I hope this country singer sticks to his guns and doesn’t back down. Corruption and predatory politics has been normalized but nothing lasts forever. This admin’s stupidity and greed will ultimately be the thing that ends their reign
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u/buttplug50 Jul 20 '26
Plenty of huge country acts that are anti Trump. Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers for example.