Tom's Country View

"What makes a song a banger? The most important is the hook, that sticks in your head, after you hear the song just once. In addition it will also have a solid beat, that you can't help but move to. And recognizability is also key." (DJ Rinehart / deepinthemix.com, July 23 2023)

"That’s what good music does, it puts into words and melodies what people maybe can’t say on their own. But, when they hear the right song, they feel understood. I think that’s really important." (Zach Top / americansongwriter.com, April 5, 2024)

"If I sing about opioid addiction, there’s not ever going to be a time where I’m going to tell you it was a good experience, because it never was even when I thought it was. I’ve always been one of those kind of guys that tell you about it, but you have to choose your own path. I just hope that it helps one person that is where I was at." (Bryan Martin / upncountry.com, March 14, 2023)

"We wear holes in all our highways until they keep us up at night. Eyes wide open, dreaming 'til the darkness turns to light. And we run from those who love us, yet their prayers continue on and we'll pass up a sure thing just to gamble on a song." (Desperado Troubadours / Mark Miller, Cody Jinks, Thomas James McFarland)

"BREAKING NEWS: New York journalist discovers new genre of music called "country" due to the release of Beyonce's new record "Cowboy Carter"." (Colby Acuff / X [former Twitter], March 30, 2024)

"We can't wait to work with you, but that song you're giving to Jason Aldean, that's going to be your debut single. You need to ask for it back." (Barry Weiss [CEO for RECORDS] / billboard.com, 5. Jänner 2024)

"[In the 90s] country music had to sound a certain way and had to look a certain way. If people weren't wearing a cowboy hat you might as well pack it up and go back home. And now, what it is, what does it look like, how do you describe it? It is so many different varieties. And we have clearly seen that this has helped us." (John Osborne / BBC, The Country Show with Bob Harris, March 11, 2024)

"That’s blood and hair in that picture from castrating bulls and giving them shots that day. We didn’t stage any of that. We got started at 5:00 a.m. and worked all day and he ended up getting some incredible photos while we were working." (Cody Johnson / Billboard.com,  October 13, 2023)

"The gentle ballad “I Hope You Do” is a letter to himself as a child that begins with a voice recording of him as a six-year-old. Like all of Summerville, it bears the subtle imprint of his wife. 'She told me, 'When you get down on yourself, just understand that that kid is who you're living for. You’re trying to make that kid proud.'" (chasebryant.com/bio / January 2024)

"What makes a song a banger? The most important is the hook, that sticks in your head, after you hear the song just once. In addition it will also have a solid beat, that you can't help but move to. And recognizability is also key." (DJ Rinehart / deepinthemix.com, July 23 2023)

" It’s tempting, as an artist trying to make a name for himself, to lean into what is working in the industry - to chase the trends I hear on the radio and try to change my sound and my style to better ‘fit in’ to the Nashville game." (Matt Jordan / facebook.com, February 15, 2024)

"Everybody wanna know, where did all the cowboys go? Musta been the whiskey, maybe it was all the Marlboros. But it ain't none of that, that laid 'em all low, yeah, believe me, I know." (Killed The Cowboy / Jordan Reynolds, Anderson East, Devin Dawson)

"The idea that graves should always be 6 feet deep has been around for a long time. There is no agreement about where this idea came from. For some it comes from London in 1665, where the Lord Mayor ordered that all "graves shall be at least 6-foot deep" under the presumption that doing so would prevent the spread of the Black Death." (Chris Raymong / verywellhealth.com, 14. Oktober 2023)

"I wrote [this song] after my wife left me. Genesis had done a tour that was far too long. ...  I wrote the lyrics spontaneously. I’m not quite sure what the song is about, but there’s a lot of anger, a lot of despair and a lot of frustration. ... Nobody knows what the song is about, and I kind of like the mystery." (Phil Collins / rollingstone.com, February 29, 2016)

"... and then The Mocking Bird & The Crow, the one song where it transitions, he's playing the first half of that song and then he just walks off stage, gets to an SUV, rockstars over to the Roxy and then starts the Crow-portion. It's just gonna be epic." (Tracker Johnson, Manager Big Loud Records / via YouTube, January 12, 2024)

"Horses evolved in the Americas around four million years ago, but by about 10,000 years ago, they had mostly disappeared from the fossil record. Spanish settlers likely first brought horses back to the Americas in 1519, when Hernán Cortés arrived on the continent in Mexico. [Subsequently], Indigenous peoples then transported horses north along trade networks."   (Will Sullivan / www.smithsonianmag.com, April 3, 2023)

"' World on Fire' is a series that shows us just what humanity is capable of — both good and evil — and reminds us that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it." (Jace Lacob / www.pbs.org, September 17, 2023)

"There’s something poetic about a 39-year-old man winning new artist of the year. I don’t know where you’re at in your life or what you’re going through, but I want to tell you to keep going, baby. I want to tell you, success is on the other side." (Jelly Roll /  CMA Awards, November 8, 2023)