Gloriana Means Harmony – The 9513’s Exclusive Interview

Having seen them do an acoustic show live (well, with an electric guitar) I can vouch for the musical talent in Gloriana. Tom reminded me of Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum in both the talent and charisma factors and is the anchor member of the band in my opinion. Former MTV reality show star and pop star wannabe Cheyenne Kimball is the other stand out member due to her instrumental talent. Their energetic pop-rock country sound is infectious and the rock tinged production suits todays market to a tee. I’m just glad they do like real country music and hope to share it with Taylor Swift’s fan base through their debut album! (lol) I wish them luck…

this is a low point for the 9513. Pandering hits home, hard.

I’ll be in the bathroom…puking.

I was cleaning house one day and as usual had my country station on playing in the background. A song was playing when I stopped and took a listen then thought..”What is that doing on a country station?” It was as pop as pop could get and that was my first exposure to Gloriana’s “Wild at Heart”.

Can I get this CD in a box of Froot Loops as a Disney promotion?

That would be a lethal sugar overdose, don’t you think?

Sometimes subtlety is better than aggression. Sometimes questions are more revealing when you don’t press too hard. I think this interview is one of the more revealing that I’ve done.

You don’t ask Gloriana the same questions you ask John Rich.

Oh, just stop being sooooo jealous!!!!!

I absolutely adore Gloriana! They are so talented and hard working! They enjoy what they are doing so much and it really shows in their performances!

Is it unwise for a new act to go for a debut single that targets (or panders to) Top 40 country radio and succeeds? When I saw Gloriana perform the only song in their set I really didn’t care for was “Wild At Heart” as it just sounds so formulaic and manufactured, a sort of “corporate pop-rock country” sound. The other songs were much less bombastic and their more “country” numbers were quite good! Behind all that gloss, and the rock production, and pretty faces is a talented group that is not completely artificial. I guess I’m out numbered here….

I’m not content to pass judgment on this band until I hear an album. The three other tracks on their digital EP tell a completely different story from their debut single and are seemingly much less measured and formulaic.

Then again, I guess I am the younger and ill educated demographic that they are catering to so I shall hang my head in shame.

I don’t care for the group’s debut single and it doesn’t sound like they target me one bit, but I think it’s a good interview. And pandering? Hardly.

They were pretty evasive on talking about traditional vs. pop, and while quick to pay lip service to tradition, they didn’t name a single traditional artist, while admitting to targeting Taylor Swift’s audience, which seems to be pretty revealing.

It’s a little more difficult to ask compelling questions of a new act that only has one single out. There’s not a whole lot to talk about.

Cheyenne Kimball is the new George Jones.

Matt C:I wouldn’t call it pandering, but this is definitely a cut below the typical Jim Malec interview. This is what I would expect from Roughstock.

So Roughstock panders? How exactly?

Is our interview with Gloriana pandering?

@SW
Very true. Alabama sounds fantastic and is country. Or an (even though not country) Eagles CD. Their harmonies are RIDICULOUSLY good. It’s like falling into heaven when you listen to those Eagles masterpieces. They’re not songs, they’re masterpieces.

I’m not impressed with Gloriana one bit and I also thought they were playing lip-service to tradition. I was a little surprised to see this interview because I didn’t think that the average 9513 reader was any more interested in reading about them than I am.

That being said, what purpose would it have served for Jim to go into the interview and start browbeating them? It doesn’t seem like a very professional thing to do.

Jim,

This is exactly the approach any website that wants readership should do, at least in their chosen area of focus, for people to criticize you, or me or any other website for not doing so is lunacy in my mind.

I wholeheartedly disagree with Lucas that Cheyenne Kimball is the new George Jones! It’s quite obvious that she is indeed the new Tammy Wynette instead…

I’m surprised. I actually thought they came off alright here. Quite inoffensive, but I didn’t expect them to have much provocative to say in the first place – as others have said, they’re still very new.

And I don’t feel like an artist should to name-drop a traditional artist for their music to reflect traditional influences, assuming some of it actually does (I’ve only heard two songs from them and neither did, so I have no idea). It’s natural they would mention targeting Taylor’s fanbase; that’s their tour, and if they do actually expose some kids to more traditional music, that’s great. I don’t know, I guess I’m just giving them the benefit of the doubt on that stuff until I hear some more music.

Last thing, to pick up something others have mentioned: I frankly prefer a less confrontational interview style most of the time anyway. There is a way to address the elephant in the room without coming across as pompous or rude, and I think this interview demonstrates that well. Jim was pretty frank with them and did ask some revealing questions, but it was done in good taste, to where people of differing perspectives can read this and make up their own minds about what the artists said. I like that. I prefer interviews to sound like conversations, not interrogations.

The only reason I was skeptical about their traditional country influences claim is because they name dropped the current artists, but seemed to sidestep naming any specific traditional artists that they liked. Perhaps it was only scattered thoughts and they just didn’t think to mention any, but I’m not sure. In the end, I don’t care if they’re influenced by traditional country, but I don’t want to think that they’re just saying it in order to please people. I can swallow honesty on that matter much easier than fronting. Of course, I agree that it may be assuming a lot, but it’s hard not to read between the lines, especially since that’s what we’re supposed to be doing with this interview, I guess?

“Last thing, to pick up something others have mentioned: I frankly prefer a less confrontational interview style most of the time anyway. There is a way to address the elephant in the room without coming across as pompous or rude, and I think this interview demonstrates that well. Jim was pretty frank with them and did ask some revealing questions, but it was done in good taste, to where people of differing perspectives can read this and make up their own minds about what the artists said. I like that. I prefer interviews to sound like conversations, not interrogations.”

Couldn’t agree more.

Well, I checked out clips of theirs on Amazon and I can give them a little benefit of the doubt now. This song, from their EP, is pretty rootsy, anyway. The others are pretty pop or rock though.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002AED3Y4/ref=dm_dp_trk4?ie=UTF8&qid=1245986646&sr=102-6

My take on the interview – which has been completely not spoken about by me due to my sarcastic comments, ha…

I personally didn’t think they came across poorly. Just a normal interview. They didn’t say anything that made me go “Ooooh, those losers.” Although I do think the Taylor Swift comment made it sound like they’re trying to tap into a market, but that was probably just poor phrasing.

I don’t want to see people harassed in interviews unless they’ve done some sort of actual crime. Country radio was leaning away from country long before we heard the name Gloriana.

There are plenty of users that don’t comment but read the site, THAT’S A FACT JACK. (Ut oh, here comes a real country song being stuck in my head)

Ooh ooh, me! =) I do

Exactly. I rest my case.

I’m with Stormy here. I have always thought that was such a vague, lame cop-out. I assume the artist was speaking on a very broad level, but that is the problem with such a perspective, it doesnt really answer the question to a point that the answer being given matters at all due to its generic and vague nature. Also, good Country music often tells a story, yes, but just because a song tells a story that doesnt make it good, which to me is more important than what genre it allegedly belongs to.

I think when people talk about country being a storytelling medium they mean the songs often have a narrative, which other styles of music usually don’t. A lot of rap used to be narrative-driven, but you hardly hear that anymore.

There are a lot of narrative driven songs in other genres–heck I loved the story of Take A Walk on the Wild Side LONG before I understood anything else about it.

The problem with saying something like “Country music is about storytelling” or “Country music emphasizes the vocals” or “Country music is about the soul” is that it implies a superiority about country music that is not true and is usually especially not true of the artist making the statement. All of these things are true of all genres. What makes country music different is the way the music sounds, and if you don’t get that–if you don’t pull the roots of your sound up through that–then you are never going to sound country.

Why we can’t we say this one song is pop without listening to the their other songs?

Sorry, but covering a country act on a country music blog isn’t “pandering.” I’ll bet I’m not the only person who values The9513 precisely because it covers the entire waterfront, even if I’ll bet that I’m also not the only person who would like to see it do so a little more even-handedly. The subject matter isn’t the problem here, as far as I’m concerned; rather, it’s the lack of substance to the interview. Surely there are other ways to approach interviewing musicians besides being confrontational or “interrogation”-like on the one hand, and shallow or obsequious on the other. And if they’re musicians, asking them about music is always revealing, whether they’re 10 years old or 80, been together 10 minutes or 10 years.

Maybe my goal here wasn’t to find out about the musicianship at the heart of Gloriana’s new record, but to give our readers a broad introduction to a group they probably haven’t heard much about before.

People are interested in getting to know a band like this: How did they meet? What are their views on music in general? How do they see their future?

Asking specific questions about the band’s music, at this point and for a general audience is, in my judgment, pointless. Few of the readers have heard any of that band’s music yet, anyway.

It makes little sense to ask questions about a body of musical work that, as far as the readership is concerned, doesn’t exist.

I thought you were writing for The9513, not Country Weekly.

Actually, I’ve written for both.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a “gee whiz, how did you guys meet the most recent member to join? Where did that name come from? What’s your favorite color?” approach for some publications, but I would presume that The9513 readers especially would be interested in hearing something about their music more than the answer to puffball questions like “did you know you had a hit?”

You and Matt seem to be the only people who didn’t find this interview interesting. Anyway, we have a wide and varied audience.

And your confusion of talking about the music on their album – which, BTW, you asked several questions about, making your last two paragraphs kind of stupid – with talking about their music just underlines that you’re not getting it. They gave you a lot of openings, and not only did you only manage to use one with your question about the difference between pop and country, but you failed to do any kind of follow-up to a not very responsive reply.

There’s no confusion. You may be confused, Jon, but there’s no confusion on my part. I asked some general questions about their upcoming record and some general questions about their musical outlook, and I think our readers took away a pretty good understand of what they are going for. I’m sorry that your intense interest in the musical stylings of Gloriana was not fulfilled. I’m sure, however, being the brilliant and widely read music journalist that you are, you’ll be able to contact someone and interview them yourself. Good luck, and I hope you get all the answers to your questions.

Do you really think that readers learned anything very useful about Gloriana from that interview?

Yes.

I already said that I don’t agree with the notion that running this interview was “pandering” or with the idea that there’s something wrong or even inappropriate about covering the group on this blog, but the fact that so many people have expressed some kind of disappointment with respect to this interview suggests that it falls short in some key respects

Laughable. Read the comments. Clearly, more people have a problem with the act than the interview.

And in my opinion, they have to do with the lack of real content. And no, I don’t think it’s worse than an awful lot of other interviews – or articles based on interviews – that get published, but if you’re going to holler about how important music criticism is, Jim, and how valuable a role critics play, then your work needs to live up to the standards implied by those sentiments. And in my opinion this interview doesn’t.

And here we come to the crux of the matter, Jon’s never ending quest to humble me, teach me a lesson and remind me that he’s got years and years of journalism experience. Thank you, Jon. Duly noted.

Jim- if you ignore JW it’s a win-win. your blood pressure goes down and, eventually, he goes away cos no one wants to play his ridiculous game. I’ve had LOTS of experience in this matter trust me.

I don’t know why I bother, either. I was doing so good for so long!

I think it’s because I actually do respect the man’s work, and always think I’m going to be able to reason with him.

That’s Understandable. I know we have disagreements at times but I have always respected the work you do here (and other places) and, believe me, I have always appreciated whatever links I received either for my old blog or at Roughstock.

I actually look forward to Jim and Jon locking horns. Do you think we can set up a regular feature along these lines? Maybe call it the 15th Round?

What you do to me Jon goes beyond criticism. It is obsession.

Anyway, saying that you want to teach me a lesson isn’t really a personal attack, is it? Get over it, man.

Sure, “Wild at Heart” does sound a little too pop, but so what? If I go outside and ask someone who Gloriana is I guarentee you nobody will know. If I lived in a place where country music was popular Im sure i would find somebody alot easier who knows who they are. So this means that its people who listen to country music, not pop or rock, who are enjoying and buying their music. Bottom line is that they’re talented musicians who have other songs besides their debut single that are more “country,” and they deserve their success. Its not like they’re like miley cyrus or something.

No doubt there will be more to come. After all, McDonald’s does more business than does Outback, Carrabas or Morton’s

I have the CD released by Cheyenne – the kindest desciption I can give to it is “Faux Country”.
Ditto for this band

Paul,

That Cheyenne CD wasn’t even marketed as a country album by Sony Music.

Has Gloriana produced anything that has sold?

As I’ve said many times, any time you see the word “amazing” used to describe a musical act, it is a dead giveaway that the writer is clueless

Kelly: This is a good thing–it means we don’t have to like Gloriana because they aren’t selling.

Sam – I agree, for now they are “selling”, and I never said anything to the contrary. Regardless, that has absolutely nothing to do with Lynn’s “point” regarding the negativity and critical nature of bloggers who simply dont care for a particular artist. Besides pointing out stats that anyone can find on-line, what is your point specifically, are you angry that someone has the nerve to suggest that Gloriana may not be that big of a deal?

Sam: Oh good, now I can go back to not liking Gloriana because they are boring.

well here’s my ten cents, not that anyone actually cares. i’m a gloriana fan, but i’m happy to admit that wild at heart doesn’t sound particularly country. though the lyrics are in my opinion country lyrics. example: “Down the backroads, long hot summer, couple kids running loose and wild.” Not exactly something Johnny Cash would sing, but not something Beyonce or Katy Perry would sing either. They have more “country sounding” songs on the EP, mainly “You Said.” I thought the interview was well-written and interesting. Like the author said, the purpose of an interview like this one is to give the general public an idea of what a band is like. And that was accomplished quite well. I personally would have been turned off of the site and author if he had tried to embarrass and demolish the band in the interview. They are all young kids, Cheyenne isn’t even 19 yet; that would have been mean. All that to say- good job. i liked it. people need to be less negative, there’s too much good in the world to cling onto one negative thing.