'Stoned Cold Country' doc highlights Rolling Stones' influence on country's pop crossover

"Stoned Cold Country" — a documentary highlighting the intrinsic link between the Rolling Stones' six-decade legacy of blues-aided rock and country's linear tie to the blues and rock's energy extending into the present — has finally arrived.

Intriguingly enough, it's arrived right on time, too.

The film is currently available for purchase or rental.

2024 marks the first moment in a generation where the brightest-lit stages worldwide will experience a full year of country music's mainstream highlighted to its boldest expectation.

However, there's one person in the genre for whom country music is perpetually on its brightest and most spectacular stages:

"Stoned Cold Country" executive producer Robert Deaton.

Deaton has remained all along. Alongside four decades of television and video production work dating back to Loretta Lynn's 80s era Crisco commercials; dovetailing into music videos and now inclusive of the Country Music Association's CMA Fest and CMA Awards broadcasts, where the genre is headed is consistently.

Thus, for him, enlisting country superstars Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Eric Church, Steve Earle, Elle King, Marcus King, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris, Elvie Shane, Koe Wetzel, The War And Treaty, Lainey Wilson and Zac Brown Band to dive into the Stones' influence on their careers evolved into a unifying moment that foretells the genre's stage-ready and rock-defined path ahead.

Deaton describes filming the conversations and performances already recorded and released as March 2023's BMG-released "Stoned Cold Country" album as an "easy, but galvanizing" experience.

He describes the "raw, relaxed power" of rock in country music as a notion that, combined with the unique gifts of each artist featured, creates "unpolished perfection."

"Just like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were empowered spirits," Deaton said, "artists like Lainey Wilson or Ashley McBryde are also (similarly empowered) with that reckless, renegade spirit that makes you, in Lainey's case, move to Nashville and live in a trailer because you're so inspired to want to create music against any odds."

The previously listed group of artists could all agree on a shared love of the Rolling Stones' catalog in a genre currently best regarded for unprecedented breadth.

Cutting teeth in dive bars involves rote memorization of songs like "Satisfaction," "Tumbling Dice," or, in the case of Brooks & Dunn, playing "Honky Tonk Women" or Zac Brown Band's contribution to the film, "Paint it Black."

For acts like The Brothers Osborne and The War and Treaty, their collaboration on "It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)" highlights how mainstream country music's depth and diversity have finally reached a place where it is again able to mirror an era that existed in country, pop and rock five decades prior.

T.J. Osborne and Michael Trotter's low baritone vocals pair with Tanya Trotter's contralto and John Osborne's bluesy riffs in a live moment that feels elevated and liberating to the work of all involved parties as well as to the song itself.

"Once they (creatively) found each other," Deaton said, "the best performance rose to the top."

Moreover, in the documentary, Eric Church, in a rare moment, removes his signature aviator shades before launching into a ripping version of "Paint It Black" with his live band.

Deaton describes the moment as not so much Church tributing the Stones as it was him allowing the camera to get a deeper glimpse into his creative genius and the DNA behind his two decades of Nashville success.

That success has evolved from Church's award-winning acclaim to Lainey Wilson's current moment as the CMA's 2023 Entertainer of the Year.

Bluesy, Stones-style rock's importance in enriching her aesthetic and approach to the music upon which her recent star-making turn is built, is important.

"Empowering artists like Lainey (who sings "You Can't Always Get What You Want") by giving them access to The Stones' catalog in this way has been exciting," Deaton added.

"The Rolling Stones made precious, special songs universally considered some of the best of all time. Artists on this album captured the loose, joyous feel of the Stones' creativity. Because of that, across the board, I believe they all made (cover songs that were some of the best songs of their careers)."

The spirit on these records can't be pinpointed with words, Deaton added, recalling a statement made by Ronnie Dunn about the collection. "This just feels like the best Rolling Stones cover record.

"We created music without limitations or rules, guided by authenticity and trusting in outstanding artists' unique creative processes."

In a town where the perceptions that machines and systems govern access to success, the existence of "Stoned Cold Country" is a necessary counterbalance.

Growing more work within this creatively liberated space has inspired Deaton for the past two years since "Stoned Cold Country" wrapped filming and beyond.

"I've already worked on the next thing so many times since finishing ("Stoned Cold Country") he said. "However, its influence on me has found parts of everything else I've worked on.

"That influence, like me, refuses to sit still."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville documentary highlights Rolling Stones' influence on country