Zach Bryan, now under fire from the MAGA right because he has a new song, “Bad News,” calling out ICE, played Charlottesville back in 2023, back when he was still doing arena shows in venues like JPJ.
He’s since graduated to football stadiums, which he’s been routinely selling out – he just played for 112,000 people at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor a couple of weeks ago.
MAGA seems to think it can threaten Bryan into renouncing his song about how “ICE gonna come bust down your door” by saying they won’t go to his shows anymore.
OK.
“Who knows, maybe there’s a large ‘anti-law enforcement’ wing of the country music fanbase. We’ll soon find out,” John Rich, of Big & Rich, a three-time Donald Trump endorser, wrote online.
This John Rich guy, incidentally, featured the cons from the Fox News show “The Five” on one song, “Shut Up About Politics,” and did another one he called “Progress” in which the point was to bash progressives.
It’s OK for John Rich – who was also vocal during the dumb Bud Light boycott of 2023 – to be political, in other words, but Zach Bryan, eight-year U.S. Navy veteran, kid, you’d better mind your p’s and q’s.
To Rich’s question, is there an “anti-law enforcement” wing in the country music fanbase?
Well, let’s wait and see if Willie Nelson records a commercial spot for ICE.
Willie’s 92, and he’s still out playing shows – he just had a gig at Farm Aid 40 a couple of weeks back.
Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, all outspoken Democrats, are all doing OK, by most counts.
Luke Combs, like Zach Bryan, sells out football stadiums.
Folks know this, and those who care enough to either attend or not attend a concert because of the artist’s political leanings have already been making those calls.
Jelly Roll had a show at JPJ earlier this year, and we skipped it, because Mr. Roll revealed himself to be a Trumper, which is his right – and it’s mine to not give a Trumper money for a night of entertainment.
I lament that my favorite country band, Florida Georgia Line, is no more because Tyler Hubbard (Democrat) and Brian Kelley (Trumper) could no longer see eye-to-eye.
I’m iffy these days on Luke Bryan after he invited Ron DeSantis to a show a few years ago.
A lot of folks don’t care, and many more pretend not to care – until somebody like Zach Bryan comes along and puts it in their face.
Didn’t wake up dead or in jail
Some out-of-town boys been giving us hell
I got some bad news
I woke up missing you
My friends are all degenerates, but they’re all I’ve got
The generational story of dropping the plot
I heard the cops came
Cocky motherfuckers, ain’t they?
And ICE is gonna come bust down your door
Try to build a house no one builds no more
But I got a telephone
Kids are all scared and all alone
The bars stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling
The middlе fingers rising, and it won’t stop showing
Got some bad news
Thе fading of the red, white and blue
Him singing that is going to make some people uncomfortable – but that’s the point.
The average country music fan who is made uncomfortable by being forced to confront the reality of what is going on to other people doesn’t understand how lucky they are that they don’t have to live in constant fear of “cocky motherfucks” coming to “bust down your door.”
There but for the grace of God go thee, whether you realize it or not.
Zach Bryan is just doing his job.