Willie Jones Blends Country-Trap With Classic Banjo-Picking on “Trainwreck” (premiere)

Willie Jones stands at the crossroads between country music’s past, present, and future. The perennial genre has enjoyed further pop and R&B crossovers leaning in from the last decade onward, but it arguably wasn’t until Lil Nas X renovated its soundscape with “Old Town Road” that a full-on subcategory of country music was born. Informed by the country-trap of today alongside the wily fraying of classic Appalachian banjo, Jones’ “Trainwreck” contributes towards driving the direction of mainstream country forward by such novel means. Inundated by a whopping synthetic bass beat, playful electric guitar riffs, and the aforementioned banjo-picking alike, the slinky breakup tune sounds something like a summertime hit.

On “Trainwreck”, Jones tells PopMatters, “‘Trainwreck’ is a collaboration I did with producer Mark Batson (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Nas) and Justin Ebach (Dustin Lynch, Brett Young), two really talented writers and producers from two completely different worlds, but we came together for the love of music. This is my first heartbreak song and listening back to it, I can still remember the pain I was going through. We can all relate to seeing your girl/guy with another man/woman, but it sent me down a spiral that affected all different parts of my life. Don’t let the lighthearted banjo pluckin’ fool you; this song is very real and deep.”