When Brandon Rhyder popped off a comment last Saturday night at Texas Mardi Gras about Kevin Fowler signing with Disney, I had a couple of thoughts …. Like: IS THAT TRUE??? WTF??? A record deal?? And the most important – HOW can that be true and me not know???? I mean, Hello!
But in fact, once it was actually time for Kevin Fowler to come out, he was announced as "Lyric Street Recording Artist Kevin Fowler." Okay, so no denying it…. Now I needed to get my mind around it.
When I hear the words "Lyric Street" my mind automatically goes to one place…. Rascal Flatts. Now whether you love or hate Rascal Flatts, you would still have to agree with me on a couple of things… First, that Rascal Flatts and Kevin Fowlers are different enough to find themselves pictured together under the term "polar opposites" in the dictionary… and secondly that RF is musically a far cry from the sounds of Texas.
I asked myself what on earth could have been the motivation behind this Union? For Kevin it had to be the attraction of attaining that next level of success. Every artist has that dream of hearing themselves on the radio, and while you may hear Kevin in Texas and randomly on occasion in Oklahoma, there has been no true national radio success. One has to look no further than then official Lyric Street press releases to confirm these thoughts. Lyric Street says they stand poised to bring Kevin's unique brand of Country Music to the mainstream radio audience. (I'm paraphrasing of course) It's appealing for the artist, it has to be. 
I am hopeful for Kevin's sake that he can pull it off. That he can maintain the essence of what makes him awesome in the face of the Nashville Machine. But the reality is that few do. We all know, I'm a huge fan of Pat Green, who has been chasing mainstream success for some years now and has achieved some measure of it. Pat was and is super popular in Texas, and he's pretty articulate and gets pretty defensive when accused of being a "sellout" – and I have listened intently to every argument in favor of signing with the big label, and they make good sense in theory – but even Pat and RCA have had a recent parting of the ways. (in my mind, I like to think of it as Pat telling them to take their label and shove it…).
I'm not suggesting it can't be done. If the right "fit" is made. I sooo wished, right from the beginning that Pat had signed w/ almost anyone other than RCA (and now I'm going to throw Lyric Street) and with any luck I'll get to see how he does with the next folks to come along. Jack Ingram has found a good fit with Big Machine Records. What about Cross Canadian and Universal South? Well, I think cross has managed to maintain their sound, but I think if you listen to Cody at all you'd hear him saying it's not been a perfect fit either.
So… it will be an interesting ride. Can Lyric Street propel Kevin to the top of the mainstreet charts? I actually think they can, they certainly have the money & the clout. I just don't know that they will. Will Kevin remain "Kevin"?
The more Texas Country Artists that emerge with all their talents, the more likely they are to slowly take over the Nashville machine. Pat has said that change can be most efficiently effected only from the inside….
Interesting times my friend… interesting times…
Until then…. Carry on…
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