While the new CBS singing competition, The Road, will take 12 aspiring artists on tour with Keith Urban, the contestants will also get help from stars like Blake Shelton and Gretchen Wilson. For Wilson, she will appear on the show as the road manager. Hoping to give the contestants a glimpse of what life on the road is like, Wilson recently discussed the current state of country music and how many of the male stars are too “timid.”
Promoting her new show, Wilson stopped by Taste of Country Nights to discuss all things country music with Evan Paul. During their conversation, the hitmaker was asked about today’s country music. Not holding back, she admitted, “Well…I see that more on the male side than the female side, actually. It just seems like more men are timid nowadays than the women are. It’s just where we are at in our world.”
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Gretchen Wilson Urges Men To “Speak Up”
According to Wilson, men seemed to “be standing around, asking for permission.” Diving deeper into her statement, she didn’t shy away from what she thought was the source of the change. “I’m not afraid to say it, we have kinda squashed the male demographic as a whole anyway. If I had a son, I’d be afraid right now in today’s world.”
Knowing that the world was rapidly changing, Wilson urged men to show grit. “Speak up, be a man, flirt, do your thing.”
With Wilson promising that fans always know when a country singer is faking their persona, she knew that “everybody has always wanted to be a cowboy.” But wanting and doing are two different things. “I mean, come on, that doesn’t mean you get to be one. You have to know how to saddle up a horse.”
Not calling out any singer by name, Wilson made it clear that authenticity still matters in country music. “Some of these kids just got mommy and daddy’s money and they put together a little story that they wish were true.”
Not remotely afraid to share the truth, don’t miss Wilson on the season premiere of The Road, airing on CBS on October 19th, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
(Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for CBS)
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