Jason Boland & The Stragglers -- Hard Times Are Relative [REACTION/RATING]

[@frankscarborough1428]

What a heart wrenching song and he has a beautiful voice.

[@SmallBatchNetwork]

For my Money this is the best country song written in the last 10 years or so. Jason Boland is grossly underrated & is a treasure to those of us here in the Oklahoma/Texas Area. Great Video Don & thanks for the shoutout.

[@davidemswiler4351]

Great comment...I agree.

[@tupelohoney622]

Wow! What a voice with immaculate control.

[@motarded4214]

Jason Boland is under-rated for sure. Have you heard Zane Williams tho?

[@mikehare3266]

Boland is the man

[@ramseydaugherty61]

I've been seeing this dude live for the past 20 years, great seeing him get such honest praise! Of course Jason wrote this song.

[@christineems8754]

Well deserved of your rating. Jason Boland has been commonplace on our playlists, but this song had me driving all blurry-eyed to work! Just wow!

[@TheGarretdeas]

Jason is as real as they come when it comes to artistry and profound lyricism in a song. This song really hits home when it comes to the travails and hopes of family life. The title of the song is typically clever "Hard Times Are Relative" with the operative word being "Relative". A song will often stand or fall on it's own merits when presented in a stripped down fashion and this one passes by a very big country mile. Kudos to Jason and his name is definitely one to watch for the future. A spot on review/rating yet again, Don, and keep rockin' that country

[@RockN2Country]

@TheGerretdeas Thank you for the comments and kind thoughts, as always. And how about the second-highest rating of the 800+ videos I've reacted to?

[@TheGarretdeas]

@@RockN2Country As near perfect as it gets, Don, and there is a profundity there that is very rare. I totally agree with your point concerning traditional country's lyrical ability to get to the roots of human experience & emotions. Indeed Rock or Nashville country in contrast can come at you head on without allowing the listener to absorb the words.

[@lilbeaupeep3719]

Ty for reacting to this. Never heard him before. His voice is old school. LOVE HIM!!!

[@frankw1458]

Could not click fast enough!!! I have been waiting for someone to react to this song and luckily it couldn't had been from a better reactor. Someone who actually listens and feels the lyrics.

[@aarontippett169]

Glad you found him and glad i found this channell. I have been fan of this group and friends since 90s. You keep reacting to Boland, Cody Canada, Stoney Larue and friends and Ill keep promoting you. Thank you!

[@cowtowncustoms2110]

Some of my favorites too!

[@Caperhere]

What a well crafted, fantastic story song. Thanks to the person who requested it, and to you for playing it. Very satisfying.

[@davidemswiler4351]

"Within the song it's about siblings and carrying on family lineage and how that goes broader than just a name. The inspiration for that song is kind of 'Where do you start out things?' My wife and brother-in-law, they're seven years apart. My sister is six years older than me. It's just that dynamic of that other parent you had growing up, having a sibling that took care of a lot of things." "We go take to tape and don't use ProTools or any of the computer environments. The way music's produced now, nobody gets it. It's just sad. I would rather hear an imperfection than hear something I knew was completely false or flown in or computer-fixed and digitally perfect. Yeah, it takes so much longer, and people still hear our stuff now and are like, 'Oh, that doesn't sound that good.' But as long as we like the mix and it feels real to us, that's what we want." -- Jason Boland

[@EdKirkpatrick10]

Thanks for introducing me to this fellow

[@jeffcoon9588]

This song should be on the radio it's not here in oklahoma anyway. The best story i have heard in a song in a long time.

[@tallokie67]

Great video, but you mentioned OU... lol FYI, they started while at OSU and were part of making Stillwater the home of Red Dirt. They've had some ups and downs over the past couple decades, but I've always enjoyed them live as long as Jason was sober/clean enough to play. I would also recommend Proud Souls or Comal County Blue.

[@huckaby0177]

I was going to say pretty much the same thing, he has a lot of good music, and that Era of "red dirt" when he started was so good. Finally got to see William Clark Green live this last weekend, he is another great artist thats underrated. @rockn2country you did one of his songs way back she likes the Beatles. Would like to hear your reaction to still think about you.

[@notabot3375]

Proud Souls is amazing. So is the rest of the Pearl Snaps album, I believe it’s one of the best debut albums ever, by anybody.

[@JodyJaques]

Go Pokes!

[@Rocker1983]

Awesome!

[@MrsOldTractorGarage]

This is a song that you feel all the way down in your soul. Wow. Another song that tells a great story is I Wanna be in the Cavalry (reprise) by Corb Lund. I hope you do a reaction to it!

[@RockN2Country]

@Katie Titus I've done a few of Carb's songs, and will get to more down the road, no doubt. Welcome aboard the channel!

[@MrsOldTractorGarage]

@@RockN2Country thanks! I'm slowly working through all the videos during my commute and loving it!

[@hollyalida6070]

Finally back to commenting on this song. I would be hesitant to listening to this in a group, since a tear or a choke is so often associated with fragility or weakness. And this song is too beautiful to bear even a trace of dishonesty. So, outside of a campfire burned down to embers on a really dark night, this should be treasured rather than shared.

[@tobyerickson6344]

Love Jason Boland, he’s got a ton of amazing good music! Possibly one of the best song writers out there. Rancho Alto is top 5 favorite albums of all time. But, I think it’s bout time you do a new reaction to Corb Lund. He just dropped a new album called Agricultural Tragic and I think you’d enjoy either Old Men or It’s Raining Horses!

[@justinlopez145]

Check out max stalling the pilla song

[@RandyforRoyals]

I only have one Jason Boland record in my collection but I will need to get more. A great heart-wrenching song.

[@GaOutlawVinyl]

I love Jason Boland but I’m not familiar with this song. It’s amazing. My favorite song of his is The Backsliders Blues.

[@jacobalegria2323]

Gear and Dust is another hidden gem!

[@hollyalida6070]

I'm going to have to touch back with comments.. Throat too tight and eyes to wet right now..

[@aarontippett169]

just some info for some new to the red dirt scene. Jason Boland Cody Canada from CCR and Stoney Larue all lived together at 18 in OK

[@scottandal]

That’s living! Do what you have to do.

[@jjkwolek6087]

Hey! I found your channel off of your Brantley Gilbert reactions (i searched up Brantley Gilbert reaction on KZbin) and i was wondering if you could do a reaction to his song "saving amy" its sooo beautiful and emotional, it's my favorite song of his

[@MusicByJesse]

Have you ever heard Colter Wall’s tune “The Devil Wears A Suit And Tie?” Check it out!

[@dansigurdson]

morning Don reminds me of song written a man i knew when i was a kid Kerry Regan ( my cabin on the fraser ) HAKAD

[@aarontippett169]

try another underrated band Midnight River Choir playing Circles

[@gabadboy2987]

Please do a reaction to ABBY by Travis Denning