Lance Miller – “The Beach”

I’ve been getting a lot of heat lately for my comments on the new Kenny Chesney single, but when a major label artist charges that “Waylon never sang about the beach”, can there be any doubt about who’s in the crosshairs?

Lance Miller, a finalist on the second season of Nashville Star, has proven with his first two singles that he deserves to be included with Miranda Lambert in the exclusive group of Nashville Star alumni who are making interesting music. Unfortunately, if the failure of “She Really Loves Me” is any indication, he’ll also join the much larger group of unsuccessful Nashville Star alumni. Releasing a single that’s a thinly-veiled slam of the genre’s biggest star shouldn’t help matters much, unless Miller hopes to attract publicity by igniting a feud.

However, it would be a mistake to view this release as solely or even primarily a complaint about Kenny Chesney. The fact is that many recent radio hits have featured themes that the core country demographic must have difficulty identifying with, and it’s about time that somebody reclaimed some turf. Unlike most other new artists, who invariably try to prove their redneck pedigree with a “country-fied” anthem that ironically features wailing guitars and shrieking vocals, Miller’s meta-analysis of the genre actually sounds country and utilizes imagery born from experience rather than cliches. How does that George Jones lyric go? “I wonder, who’s gonna fill their shoes…”

Listen: Lance Miller – “The Beach”