This simply means he makes country music and happens to believe in God.
It’s an important distinction because when he released his latest song in August, “If Daddy Didn’t Have a Truck,” he got a notification on TikTok pertaining to its “sensitive” religious content.
Mr. Webb, 35, was trying to promote his new song on said mega platform when the message popped up: “Not Delivering.”
The notification explained:
He said he still cannot place ads on the post with his new song.
“I’ve been chewing on this for a minute now, and I’d like to put it out there,” he is heard saying in his car before going on to read said notification.
He afterward told his followers:
The song “If Daddy Didn’t Have a Truck” expresses who he is, and he subsequently fell in love with it for that reason. Speaking to The Epoch Times, Mr. Webb told what that means to him as a country singer and a Christian.
“All it’s really saying is, I wouldn’t be who I am if mama didn’t have a Bible and daddy didn’t have a truck,” the artist said. He vocalized some of the lyrics to flesh out the idea:
Mr. Webb’s life began in a tiny town, then of only 800 people, called Ridge Spring in South Carolina, where his mom led a choir in a Baptist church, and his dad played in a Southern band. Mr. Webb first headlined with his dad’s band at a local poultry festival at age 12.
“We weren’t playing what was on the radio at the time,” he told us, adding that they instead preferred the music of the Nolan Brothers, George Jones, Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings, and other Southern rock classics.
Years later, after graduating from Clemson University, he took his singing career to the next stage in 2014 by moving to Nashville.
“My strategy was to save up as much money as I could and figure out how to move there,” he said. “I didn’t want to move there and be broke and have to get a job. I wanted to be a full-time songwriter.”
Mr. Webb then came full circle by returning to headline at the very same poultry festival, having become a seasoned and modestly successful Nashville country singer. More than anything else, though, he’s a Christian—the Baptist church was his life.
“I’m not saying I’ve been hurt by this [censorship], but I am worried about it for my daughter, who’s 4 years old,” he said. The song has now been viewed millions of times, he said, exceeding in downloads all of his other songs over the last several years combined.
“I couldn’t imagine growing up with all these platforms, Instagram, TikTok, all this stuff to influence my life,” he said. “I’m at an age, I’m pretty grounded and know who I am—I’m not going to change much.
“But, man, when you’re in middle school or high school, you’re still figuring out who you are; these platforms are starting to try to control what you see.”
He said, “It’s going to make a big impact on our future generations. ... That’s what really scares me, I think it struck a nerve with a lot of people.”
The vast majority of the thousands of comments the singer has received in response to his post echoed his sentiment—some were outraged, some saddened—while a handful were negative or called him out, he said.
Moving back to North Carolina, the country music artist now walks a fine line. On one hand, it’s his job to attract more listeners; on the other, he wants to truthfully express who he is through his music.
When asked if he would stop singing lyrics with Christian content, he answered, “Absolutely not.”
Meanwhile, he’s “tried to stay out of politics,” he told us. “I don’t think of myself as extreme right or left or any of that.
“Just, you know, a Christian. I love taking care of my family.”
