James Scott Bullard Says: “No ‘More’ Country For Old Men”

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Bullard walks out on Americana/Country Music for good with a plethora of reasons and the cancel culture set in his crosshairs.

“Before I allow my art to be dictated and censored by a weak society,
I will shoot it in the fucking head and watch it bleed out…I created it, I’ll decide when it ends.” -James Scott Bullard

Even before Covid-19 ground life to a worldwide halt, there seemed to be a recent influx of artists turning their backs on the music industry in their prime and walking away to either pursue other endeavors, or for reasons only known to them.

This is nothing new, but due to the sad state of the music industry and the uncertainty of a post Corona world, it is now far more understandable than ever.

From Grammy-winners such as Lauryn Hill, who announce their retirement only to return sometime later, all the way to Hank III, (son of Hank Williams Jr. and grandson of the king himself; Hank Williams,) who, after a 6 year absence is still M.I.A. …and then of course there’s Alt.Country wunderkind, Ryan Adams, who was ‘cancelled’ last year.

And now Americana/Outlaw Country recording artist, James Scott Bullard has joined these fugitives and announced his own retreat from the industry that gave him a name.

James Scott Bullard is what one would refer to as ‘cult famous,’ which in lay terms means; though he is not world renowned, he is well-known enough so that anyone with any knowledge of that musical genre knows who he is.
Besides, it only takes one Google search to find out more than enough on Bullard to back his credibility.

So why walk away after recently having earned worldwide acclaim for his albums: “The Rise & Fall of James Scott Bullard,” “Box of Letters” and “Full Tilt Boogie” and a successful 2 & ½ year tour?

“It began with a health issue that sidelined me after two and a half years of touring, but my health was only the catalyst in my decision to leave this side of the business. says Bullard.

There was FAR more weighing on my mind long before my health became an issue, and I should probably clarify up front, I’m not leaving the ‘music business’ as a whole. I AM walking away from the ‘Americana’/’Country’ music genre. “

I was fortunate enough to see a good amount of moderate success with my career that very few artists get to see and I can’t thank my loyal following enough for their critical part in that. continues Bullard.
It’s very humbling to see an audience singing your words, or waiting in line after a show to get a photo or a signature. Awards, recognition, your songs on radio, your face in magazines, your videos on TV, your name next to people your heroes, playing on stages you only dreamt of playing, meeting people you only dreamt of meeting, going places you only dreamt of going.
It’s all very surreal to a small town Southern boy who just wanted to be in KISS when he grew up, and they are all memories I will cherish forever, but there’s no room for me here anymore.”

Here’s a ‘cliffs notes’ version of some the reasons Bullard gives for putting Country Music behind him, which he covers in a VERY in-depth and quite graphic tell-all blog coming to his website: http://www.jamesscottbullard.com

  • No money left in the industry due to technological theft.
  • Some of the people involved.
  • Being persona non grata.
  • The over-celebration of mediocrity.
  • Lack of originality/cloning.
  • Political correctness and censorship.

Bullard states quite firmly that his decision had noting to do with his personal team “My manager, the label, my booking agent, my PR were all beautiful wonderful people that delivered everything they promised and then some.”
He’s also eager to make sure up front that the words and views expressed in the forthcoming blog are his and his alone and in no way reflect anyone associated with him, past present or future.

Though his reasons are many, recent political issues seem to take the wheel in Bullard’s choice to leave, which is new for an artist who has never expressed an opinion on such things one way or the other.

“A true ‘Outlaw’ is simply a man who said no.” ~Unknown

“That’s all I’m doing.” states Bullard. “Saying: “no more.”

“I am officially leaving the ‘Americana’ genre and avowing my refusal to continue to be a part of any artform that just allows outside entities to come in and tell artists what they can and can’t create anymore. 
I refuse to be restrained by other people’s ideals or an overly sensitive generation gap.

I will not put my art in the hands of a public who lay in wait for artists to make a mistake so they can measure you by their insecure, autocratic ruler, and I absolutely will NOT walk a tightrope anymore just to please 50% of a demographic in an industry that’s dead anyway.” Bullard declares.

“The cancel culture is obviously censorship disguised as heroism from the “Hero Complex” generation.
But censorship has ALWAYS been disguised as something good, from banning Elvis’ hips for being too sexual to an all out war on gangsta rap for being a threat to society.

In reality it’s not that different than when Tipper Gore and the PMRC decided to slap the ‘Parental Advisory’ stickers on records they deemed offensive. 
All it did was ensure that kids were only going to seek out and buy those records.
I’m beginning to see the opportunity to capitalize on it. You can’t pay for that kind of publicity! Being cancelled is a new badge of honor. The ‘cancelers,’ like before, are just too stupid to see it.

I think from now on artists should, and eventually will start going out of their way to be offensive in order to get ‘cancelled.’  I know I certainly will.

And I am proud to announce that I’ve decided to go back to making metal music, where your fans back you 100%, flaws and all, don’t turn against you and forgive your faults, because they’re smart enough to separate the art from the artist, and they know the truth as Sir Mick Jagger spoke it: “It’s only rock & roll, but I like it.”

I started my new band, Saints of the South, right after Covid happened.
Metal was my first love, and more importantly I wanted to distance my self as far from what I had done in the past as I could.
Adding: If you’re into Down, Corrosion of Conformity, Black Label Society, High on Fire, and Southern sludge metal, you’re gonna LOVE it!

JAMES SCOTT BULLARD BY THE NUMBERS

  • In his career, Bullard received 12 award nominations and 7 wins for album and/or artist of the year, including Torch Awards, L.A. Critics Awards, the coveted Gram Parsons Legacy Award, which he won after the release of his 2nd solo album, and after the release of his last album: “Full Tilt Boogie,” in 2018, he ended up on 11 ‘best of the year’ lists.
  • Out of roughly 170 ‘alternative/outlaw country’ radio stations in the world, Bullard was picked up by 167 of them, charted 3 times in the Americana top 50 and once in the top 10.
  • Bullard’s last 2 (self-directed) music videos both hit over 100,000 views in less than 3 days and were picked up for play on DittyTV, the International Americana/Folk Music Television Station.
  • Bullard spent 2&½ years (between 2017/2019) on a headlining tour across the U.S. (also sharing the stage with the likes of The Steel Woods, TN. Jet and others) in some of the top venues to house the genre.
  • A documentary about Bullard titled: “I Thought I’d Be Dead By Now” is scheduled for release in the future and reveals some very candid and at times, graphic and unflattering moments.
    Also included are interviews with friends, family, fans (some of whom are so dedicated, they have his signature, logo or lyrics tattooed on their bodies) and Bullard offers his own personal insight on the demise of the music industry.
  • 2021 will see the release of Bullard’s final Country release: “Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy” which consists of all previously unreleased original tracks and 2 covers. 23 tracks were recorded in all and according to Bullard: “There are no bells and whistles, it’s just me, an acoustic guitar and my soul. That’s the way I started, so I felt like that’s the way it should end…A full circle.”
  • In 2019, Bullard was honored to be asked to be a contributor in a forthcoming book about legendary Waylon Jennings collaborator and songwriter, Billy Joe Shaver, penned by Courtney S. Lennon.
  • Along with being photographed by some great photographers in his career, Bullard’s cartoon likeness was immortalized by Disney artist Don Howard in 2019 for a ‘Country Legends Series.’ (You can buy a print on Howard’s Website @ donhoward.org/country-legends/)
  • After a 8 solo record career, 116 James Scott Bullard penned songs were published under ASCAP in 2018.
  • Bullard released his 90’s rock band, Crane, recordings on Spotify, iTunes, and every other streaming, download format in 2020. That was followed shortly by a private 21 year reunion jam for which there is video footage available online.
  • Bullard’s first book: “Dead Man”, a work of past poetry and writings, was published in 2020 and is now available through Amazon, Kindle and at Barnes & Noble starting at $5.99 with the majority of proceeds going to The Child Abuse Prevention Foundation, for which the book has already raised over $3,000.
  • After earning diplomas in Digital Photography, Editing, Cinematography, Film and television Directing, Bullard’s photography has won him 3 awards and the trailer for one of two horror films he is directing found it’s way into the finals of the Bitesize Film Festival.
  • Ever the overachiever, Bullard is also an Ordained Minister, which he says means: “I can marry you, bury you, give you your last rites or hear your confession.
    But do you really want to confess your sins to a guy like me? It’ll probably just turn into a pissing contest.”


    *Be on the lookout for Bullard’s final Americana album: “Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy” and his new band’s EP, (as yet untitled) both coming soon, and with talent and ambition like his, I personally cannot wait to get my hands on his new project!

Ryan Adams Releases ‘Big Colors’ to rave reviews and huge numbers despite the cancel culture.

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Ryan Adams has released another album, ‘Big Colors,’ the second of the trilogy he was supposed to release before the 2019 NY Times article, and once again it’s complete mediatic silence. Due to the Cancel Culture at large, like his last album, ‘Wednesdays,’ ‘Big Colors’ will be ignored by major publications, and at this point, his fans could not care less.

If they are listening to the new album or even buying it, they have passed the don’t-care-what-people-think test and they are genuinely listening for their own pleasure.

It’s just a shame that any article about Ryan Adams’ music will have the necessary mention of the ‘scandal,’ this unavoidable stain weighting over his head that unfortunately journalists will make his legacy despite the fact that he IS the Bob Dylan of this generation!

We live in times of such political correctness that anyone writing about Adams and not mentioning his bad behavior would immediately feel guilty and would even fear retaliation or cancelation. Sad.

Why are people still mad at him when Chris Brown, who beat the shit out of Rihanna, still gets reviewed by Pitchfork in 2020? It’s not as if Brown had apologized and changed his behavior, he was even wishing death on the members of Chvrches 2 years ago. XXXTentacion is another example, ‘He will be remembered mostly for the unusually cruel violence he committed on vulnerable people, particularly his ex-girlfriend, crimes for which he never expressed remorse,’ wrote the Guardian, but the rapper still got many reviews in Pitchfork. Then just today, Doja Cat released a song, ‘Need to Know’ which got reviewed everywhere including Rolling Stone, whereas the track was produced by the controversial Dr. Luke, who has been accused of abuse and sexual assault by Kesha.

Isn’t the music industry completely hypocritical? Are there other forces behind Ryan Adams’ cancelation?
Is he hated by the left for some secret reason?

Ryan Adams may be a jerk, but he’s still a Goddamned genius!
Needless to say, the history of rock & roll is paved with disastrous love triangles, and other incestuous affairs and any of these people could have claimed emotional abuse. I know you say, but that was then, nobody was even thinking about such a thing, but people were also suffering then too, right?.

The music industry has hidden people’s bad behavior for decades, because, let’s face it, if you take any rock star of the past, they were all problematic, ALL of them.
But now we have entered the era of virtue signaling and things have changed, but not for the best.
Now it’s just censorship of the person, not the music.

Music has been made by people misbehaving badly since it exists. It’s not an excuse for bad behavior, but it just baffles me how some get canceled and other ones are never touched.

If you don’t know, Adams was ‘canceled’ due to allegations by his his ex-wife Mandy Moore, and the darling du jour, Phoebe Bridgers that he was emotionally abusive and controlling. Bridgers’ recent success surely doesn’t help Ryan Adams’ redemption, on the contrary.
Have you noticed how she is everywhere these days? Singing back-up vocals on Lorde’s last single, presenting Joan Baez’s Kennedy Center Honors (why? Really why?), headlining one of the days of Pitchfork’s music festival, playing Shaky Knees 2021, appearing on Jackson Browne’s new video or on a Showtime series, the girl is everywhere and there is not a day without a new article about Bridgers. She has either the best manager in the world or excellent music connections or probably both. This has been going on for a while, I saw her years ago, benefitting from great opening slots when she was completely unknown. She rides her current success with an attitude on Twitter (she insulted David Crosby after he reacted to her guitar smashing on SNL), she embraces the current PC culture (she says she is bisexual and tweet about social justice) and people love that.
Good for her, it’s just rare to open for Bon Iver, Violent Femmes, Conor Oberst, The War on Drugs, The National with just one indie album under the belt, but Phoebe just did that.

It’s obvious that the success of Bridgers makes Ryan Adams’ path to redemption complicated or even impossible. Her fans will look at any attempt to paint Adams in a compassionate light as an outrage, and any mention of Adams in a Phoebe Bridgers article is only reinforcing their age difference when they dated and pointing to his emotionally abusive and controlling behavior.

However, everyone just forgets the earlier interviews. In this 2015 issue of the Diffuser, a grateful Phoebe said that Adams had compared her to Bob Dylan. In this issue of Exclaim! (published in January 2018) Bridgers declared the following when she said she had confronted him to the fact that he wanted to see a photo before working with her: ‘He’s a confusing person talking about that kind of stuff. I think that overall Ryan’s a good person, I can’t even remember what he said to me, he probably babbled at me, but he definitely listened. He let me talk.’

She and Ryan dated in 2014 and their relationship was over shortly after since she was linked to Marshall Vore in 2015. This means that she and Adams had already broken up for 4 years when she declared ‘He let me talk’ and ‘Nobody’s one thing. We had a great time on tour last year.’ But a year later, the story had completely changed. Don’t tell me Adams was controlling what she was saying in 2018, her career was already on the upswing, and don’t tell me she was afraid to say anything: a look at her Twitter feed shows this girl is not afraid of anyone. This doesn’t mean she is lying either, but the least we can say is that nuances were completely lacking in this infamous New York Times article. How could she have gone from a ‘I think that overall Ryan’s a good person,’ to a ‘he is an abuser’ narrative in just one year when the relationship had happened 5 years earlier? It’s just that everything about this girl seems a bit too calculated. Ryan Adams can still be an asshole and Phoebe Bridgers a talented but calculating social climber. Both can coexist, but not in the current culture that is throwing nuances through the window and exacerbating a simplistic vision of the world.

But separating the art from the artist is probably the wrong question, most people cannot do it, especially in 2021.
Nick Cave offered another perspective in one of his recent Red Hand Files: ‘I don’t think we can separate the art from the artist, nor should we need to. I think we can look at a piece of art as the transformed or redeemed aspect of an artist, and marvel at the miraculous journey that the work of art has taken to arrive at the better part of the artist’s nature,’ he wrote. ’That bad people make good art is a cause for hope. To be human is to transgress, of that, we can be sure, yet we all have the opportunity for redemption, to rise above the more lamentable parts of our nature, to do good in spite of ourselves, to make beauty from the unbeautiful, and to have the courage to present our better selves to the world.’ As usual. the entire thing is elegantly written, but the idea of art as transcendence looks like a foreign idea in a media world that doesn’t want to touch Ryan Adams’ new album.

I will listen to ‘Big Colors’ whatever people say, and I am not the only one. It sounds like an eclectic piece of music with big rockers, ‘80s-inspired pieces, and melancholic ballads: Ryan paints in bold colors while using his entire pallet and if you continue with the painting metaphor, remember that visual artists were no better than rock stars: Picasso treated the numerous women of his life like shit and disposable objects, Jackson Pollock was an abusive alcoholic and Paul Gauguin gave syphilis to his adolescent Tahitian lovers. Meanwhile, some of their respective paintings are among the most expensive ones in the world.

For years, people have tried to cancel Morrissey because of his offensive comments and his misguided support of the far-right ‘For Britain’ party. However, the tickets for Cruel World Fest, a festival headlined by Morrissey, went on sale this morning and the event sold out in just a few hours. What does this say about the public? What does it say about the supposed cancel culture? It simply shows that people will do whatever they want in the end. It simply says that Ryan Adams will continue to release music and people will listen.