John Rich, a country music star, went to the top of the charts with a song criticising liberal “progress.” He did this by going around what he called the “machine” of the music industry. Rich began his career in Nashville at Opryland, USA, right after graduating high school many years ago. In 2002, he joined Big Kenny to form the country music duo Big & Rich.
Reporter John Solomon said that if the ground moved under Nashville, “it probably had something to do with country star John Rich, who is a bit of a rebel.” Rich is “unashamedly conservative and tired of woke record labels and group station owners,” so he “decided to bypass the traditional industry machinery” and release his song Progress on “two young free-speech social media platforms, Truth Social, which is owned by former President Donald Trump, and the Rumble video community.”
Within hours of Rich’s release, Progress shot to the top of the Apple iTunes song chart, beating out new releases by Billie Eilish, Lizzo, and Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill, all big hits. “Hello Patriots,” Rich wrote on Truth Social to let people know that they could download his new song. “This is my message to the dictators destroying our country: Put your progress where the sun doesn’t shine!”
The Washington Examiner says that the song’s lyrics directly challenge the views of liberals in several ways. “They say that putting the country together better will make it great,” Rich sings. “If that’s how things will be in the future, then you can put your Progress where the sun doesn’t shine.
According to Just the News, Rich said that while most country fans and artists have stayed true to the roots of country music and its values, the marketing and distribution machines have become increasingly woke. So, he thought that traditional radio station groups, record labels, and social media sites like Twitter would ignore or “shadowban” his new song and its conservative-friendly theme.
Rich said, “Here I am without a record label, a publisher, or a deal to market my music.” “It goes around the machine they built straight to the people.” The country musician also said that he released his new album the way he did because he trusted his own beliefs, which meant he didn’t use “woke” platforms. The idea to try Truth Social and Rumble as an experiment came up then.
John Rich, a country music singer, sings “Progress.” (Image from YouTube)
Rich talked about how he thought about putting out his new work. Rich said, “When I say that they are shutting down our voices, I’m talking about Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.” “And I thought, ‘You know what? I’m going to reach out to Truth Social and Rumble because they still allow free speech there,'” he said. “Why would I release this song on the same platforms I complain about in the lyrics?”
The rebellious singer hopes this will show other artists like himself that it is possible to be successful and stay true to yourself. Rich said, “I have no doubt that it is a way forward.” “It goes around the machine they built and straight to the people. It means that if you bring the right content and have people like Truth and Rumble who can get that message to your core audience, you can beat the machine set up to shut people like me down.
Rich said that he got the idea for the song after watching the country go into what he called an “absolute decline” for a long time. He said, “I’m seeing what I think is the destruction of our country on many different levels.” “And if you step back and look at it, you’ll see that most of it is done to us under the name “progress.” Like, “In the name of progress, we’ll make gas so expensive that you’ll have to buy an electric car.”
The former member of Big & Rich also had a hard time getting country radio stations to play his songs. He said, “This is what’s wrong with country radio.” “It’s not your radio station’s DJs. People at the top of the food chain run the companies that bought up 90% of our radio stations. Many of them don’t like it when people go against their “woke system.” John Rich seems successful because he sticks to his beliefs and values. Whether you agree with him or not, no one can say that he will sell his soul to the highest bidder.