Many people hate awards season in all forms of music because they sense politics are afoot. Oftentimes, the narratives around an artist's career, how a single and an album performs have more to do with who wins. It's not always a mark of whether or not the artist's music is even that much greater than their contemporaries. Occasionally, we'll get lucky when the two intersect. Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts argues that country music shouldn't brutally snub Morgan Wallen the way they do. He fits all of their criteria.
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Recently, Gary LeVox hops on the Try That in a Small Town podcast for an interview. There, he discusses a variety of different topics, his journey in Rascal Flatts, his side ventures, and particularly how he's feeling about awards season. The hosts of the show lament how Morgan Wallen doesn't run away with all the awards despite outselling his peers. LeVox agrees with that. "It's so unfair," he sighs. "You know how the show business thing goes, but to me, just being an honest person, if you've got the biggest single, you should win Single of the Year. If you sold more albums than anybody, you should win Album of the Year."
Rascal Flatts Lead Singer Stands By Morgan Wallen Ahead of Awards Season
Then, the group discusses how Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts The Most" lost out to Brad Paisley that year. Unsurprisingly, Gary places the blame on industry politics, power plays, and where the money lies. "Like in anything where there's money to be made or power to be had, there's politics at play. People think that the award goes to the most deserving, and that's just not how it is," LeVox explains.
There's absolutely zero doubt that there's politics in play behind the scenes. That's just the nature of the business. Does it make sense in your journey in comparison to someone else to win? Sometimes, these institutions get it wrong. But with all due respect, talking numbers as to why you should win is one of the dumber arguments the Rascal Flatts lead singer could make. For starters, his argument leads to a lot of foul play and sales manipulation, making these shows even faker. Additionally, someone selling a lot of records will never be an indication of quality. Frankly, a lot of people have shallow, or even just bad, taste. If this is a popularity contest, we've lost sight of the prestige completely.
