MuzikMafia: From the Local Nashville Scene to the National Mainstream

Chapter Six: 2005: The Second Wave

2005 the second wave By the end of 2004 the MuzikMafia had created a significant niche for itself in commercial country music and American popular culture. However, the this success represented only a portion of the community’s potential. Much to the delight of its fans and the music industry in general, the MuzikMafia began 2005 with several bangs. MuzikMafia TV, a six-part television series that CMT broadcast weekly from January 15 through February 19, 2005, was both a television documentary and a reality show. The series included behind-the-scenes footage of life on the road with the MuzikMafia interspersed with information on its history. Ivan Dudynsky of Live Animals Productions had approached the godfathers in late Chapter Six THE SECoND WAvE 130 summer 2004 with the idea of creating a television series on the MuzikMafia for CMT. He had already been slated to produce the CMT Outlaws, featuring Gretchen and Big & Rich and scheduled for taping on September 7. Live Animals Productions created MuzikMafia TV to document the community’s rise to national prominence. A significant portion of the show’s content focused on the Chevrolet American Revolution Tour. Although the series clearly emphasized the tour’s headliners Gretchen and Big & Rich, many episodes also contained segments featuring other artists, namely Jon, James, Troy, Dean, Max, Rachel, and Chance. Episode One provided a general overview of the MuzikMafia and the meaning behind its motto “Music without Prejudice.” Episode Two documented the community’s invitation to visit and perform with Willie Nelson in Austin, a discussion about bringing Chance on tour, and the drama that followed Gretchen’s winning the Top New Artist award over Kanye West at the American Music Awards. Episode Three featured Gretchen and her return home to sing the national anthem for a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game; Big & Rich recuperating in Deadwood, South Dakota; and Jon and his band recording his debut album in Woodstock, New York. The show’s producers included an even greater variety of themes in Episode Four. There were brief segments on James, Max, and Dean. In addition , the episode highlighted the MuzikMafia’s excursion to Fort Benning Army Base in Columbus, Georgia, to experience the ranger training course. MuzikMafia members acknowledged the toughness of the course and paid their respects to the armed services. The patriotic aspect of Episode Four resurfaced when Kenny led a concert audience in the singing of the national anthem. The episode also included the sentimental story of a sixteen-yearold cancer patient whom Big & Rich had invited on stage at a show on November 16 in Hidalgo, Texas. The episode concluded with Gretchen firing her lead guitarist and Dean’s quick preparations to fill the vacancy. Episode Five was more lighthearted than the others. The viewer was able to observe Jon preparing a new dressing room with tie-dyed blankets and Lava Lamps, the trials and tribulations of living on a tour bus, James’s problems with his hair, Kenny’s parents joining the tour with homemade baked goods, and James’s marriage proposal to his girlfriend on stage in Las Vegas. 131 THE SECoND WAvE The series concluded with Episode Six, which featured Troy and Gretchen. A brief discussion of Troy’s background as a shoe salesman for Foot Locker prepared the viewer for the significance of a later scene in which Troy received news of his record deal with Raybaw. The episode concluded with a feature on Gretchen and her winning the Horizon Award at the CMAs. In many ways, MuzikMafia TV was a double-edged sword for the community . On the one hand, the show introduced the next wave of artists— Jon, James, Troy, and Chance—whose careers would greatly benefit from the national television exposure. The series also confirmed Gretchen and Big & Rich’s significance to commercial country music. In addition, Max, Rachel, and Pino’s segments reinforced the idea of MuzikMafia as an artistic collective rather than just a few platinum-selling musicians. On the other hand, several members were displeased with the series’ shortcomings. For example, drummer Brian Barnett and guitarist Adam Shoenfeld appeared only infrequently and always in the context of their association with Big & Rich. Both Brian and Adam had played integral roles in the MuzikMafia since the Pub of Love. Moreover, Adam had been Kenny’s lead guitarist in luvjOi for two years prior to the MuzikMafia’s inception. In addition, the television series emphasized the more sensationalist...