Benjamin Tod Revisits His Busking Days On Broadway – “A Lot Has Changed In 15 Years, But Not My Feelings On Country Music, Authenticity & Music Row”

Revisiting a moment from his past.

Benjamin Tod has been outspoken over the past few weeks on his thoughts regarding the current state of country music. Tod has never been a person who shied away from sharing his honest thoughts online; however, this recent string of posts was sparked by the feud between Charley Crockett and Gavin Adcock.

The back and forth between the two artists began when Charley took to social media and unleashed an epic rant on the state of country music, targeting “bro country,” while more or less defending Beyoncé against critics who accused the pop star of invading country music. Crockett pointed out that the biggest star in country music, Morgan Wallen, makes pop music too, and Morgan also admitted that he doesn’t listen to much country music.

The statement from Crockett also seemingly called out Gavin Adcock, who was the most recent artist to go on a rant about Beyoncé. Adcock was quick to call out Crockett for his statement, taking personal shots at his appearance and the origins of his career, calling him a “cosplay cowboy.”

“Somebody needs to tell the “act” that has let out (the cover) of James town ferry 6 times he should just work on letting out quality original music. I got more cowsh-t under my pinky than you have seen your whole f—in life. Hank sr called and asked about the cosplay cowboy.”

The shots from Adcock did not stop there, with him digging up and sharing a video about Charley’s days busking in New York City, a far cry from the country stylings that you see from Charley today. The effort to discredit his current catalog was a flop, given that he has always been very transparent about it, elaborating on it during a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. 

The back and forth seems to calm down now, but in the heat of it, Benjamin Tod chimed in early, charging his concerns about artists like Adcock exploiting drama for more attention, calling it “not good for our industry.”

“Arguing ideas is one thing. I have no issue whatsoever with that… Just lambasting and attacking someone as revered as Charley over a difference of opinion is outrageous. Outrageous. This argument and lashing out is the line, period. Charley is 15 years older than you. He’s been dedicated to the troubadour tradition for two decades. It’s beyond the pale [of disrespect], especially for just giving an opinion about something that you rightfully gave an opinion about. I don’t agree with it.”

Tod would then go on to note how he sees Adcock’s argument of country being commodified and commercialized since Garth Brooks’ rise to fame in the 1990s. He’d then turn his argument back on Adcock, saying that he had not released a song that would have made the country charts before 1995. Tod would end his video by saying:

“Regardless, we’ve got to stop glorifying aggression and conflict. There are people who have earned authority in this community, and we must hold reverence for them. So, that’s my position. Take it or leave it. Cheers.”

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Though he stated that he shared his peace on the Crockett-Adcock controversy, Tod wasn’t done taking aim at the state of country music. After taking to Instagram over the weekend and posting a reel with the caption, “PISS ON BRO COUNTRY,” he came out firing today with another post using the same title.

In the caption of the video, Tod took aim at “spoiled little boys playing pop music with southern drawls,” clearly a shot at Morgan Wallen, before name-dropping the “Last Night” singer later in the caption:

“It’s been a few years of peace between the roots movement and the commercialized side of the industry. I myself can say this has been a moment of reflection for my purpose here. I will not yield the culture of country music to people who don’t listen to it and don’t know it’s history. I will not convene with these spoiled little boys playing pop music with southern drawls. There is a lot more at stake here than anything money can buy you. It’s time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Waylon wouldn’t piss on you or your girlfriend, Morgan, if you were on fire. He’d probably piss on bro country, though.”

In response to a comment simply reading, “Morgan Wallen,” Tod didn’t mince his words, replying back:

“…is an embarrassment.”

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In a more recent post, Tod shared that his thoughts on the state of country music have not changed over the last decade. To prove this, he shared footage from 15 years ago when he was busking on Broadway and was in the throes of addiction. I’m sure that part of this video is hard for Tod to revisit, and he admits as such given that he’s changed his life completely and gotten sober, but his message about preserving tradition and authenticity still rings true:

“A lot has changed in 15 years, but not my feelings on country music, authenticity, and Music Row.

I don’t like this video and never have. To be frank, I have never watched it except for this cut One Trick Pony Media made. I weigh about a buck thirty, strung out on black tar, and have a voice anyone could hate. What I’m standing for in this moment is the same thing I stand for now.

That day we set up on the 3rd block of Lower Broad in Nashville, TN like I had done a thousand times before. A film crew descended on the same black for a CMT reality show. Harassed us and threatened us to move and at one point even tried to bribed us. Metro police showed up shortly after and did everything but arrest me, but Ashley Mae, Daisy, and I wouldn’t budge. I remember we made $150 that day which was a great haul for us back then. This time period was the real beginning of the decline of lower broad into a yuppie tourist attraction. Now they’ve expanded the sidewalks, kicked the buskers out, and allow anyone with money to act with impunity.

A lot has changed in Nashville as well over the last decade and a half, but the same people are still trying to destroy history for the sole intent of exploiting it. If they can get you to believe that anything is country music and the puppets are actually rebels, they can destroy any challenge to their system.

I don’t care what is listed as country on the music charts, because the charts were never made for real country music. I do care what we hold in collective consciousness, though, because the tradition and history of this music is, in my opinion, the greatest story in music history. From Scott Irish balladry, the African banjo, the delta bluesmen, and the cowboy songs of the west, this history matters because it is a people’s history of struggle. It’s the downtrodden songs of the working class and those forgotten about in society. We can’t forget that or yield to the corruption of music row. POBC.”

In the video, you can hear Tod preaching to the camera crew with country singer and songwriter, Wynn Varble, about how real country musicians were made walking the beaten path and were not made on Music Row.

“Real American culture starts right here on the streets. Not in f*****, not on Music Row, in someone’s f***** pocketbook. What do you know? What do you know? What do you know about Hank Williams’ life? He did it tramping and walking the Earth, with nothing. What do you know? You don’t know s**t about it. Take your f***** cowboy hat and get the f*** out of Nashville.”

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Country music has changed wildly over the last 20 years, some changes good, some bad.

But at the core of Tod’s point, I think it goes back perfectly to a statement that Ashley McBryde made with the release of her single “Ain’t Enough Cowboy Songs.” McBryde shared that when she came to Nashville, she had to play any and every show to create fans and have human interactions that showcased her personality offstage to keep those fans. While that way of “making it” has been put out to pasture like a good horse, if we lose the roots of that, the world of country music is in trouble.

“If we lose the touchstone, the songs that made you want to write songs. We are in trouble. If you think about our job now, I think about the songs that made us want to make music, who made us the songwriters we are. The Kristofferson songs we heard. The Townes Van Zandt that we heard. The Van Morrison that we heard. The Janis Joplin that we heard. 

We are all just the sum of every song that we’ve ever heard and every movie that we’ve ever seen. I’m so happy for the things that created me. And then when I look at who’s coming up and who’s coming to town, and I listen to the songs that are responsible for shaping them… I’m not saying they are bad songs; I’m saying they are farther from their own touchstone.” 

The tradition of country music has to remain at the focal point of the industry, and we can’t lose sight of those touchstones.

Here’s more from that interaction between Tod and Varble.

The post Benjamin Tod Revisits His Busking Days On Broadway – “A Lot Has Changed In 15 Years, But Not My Feelings On Country Music, Authenticity & Music Row” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.