On March 15th, Brothers Osborne posted the above picture of John Osborne drinking from his cowboy boot. The next day, Old Dominion posted a video on Instagram of lead singer, Matt Ramsey taking a tequila shot from the shoe he was wearing. After one post, I thought it was just a fluke thing that happened on stage, but with a second it was clear something odd was happening.
This past weekend was CMC Rocks festival in Ipswich, Australia, and it got quite a few country stars doing “shoeys.” According to what I can gather from the internet, a “shoey” is when someone drinks an alcoholic beverage from a shoe. No one can quite agree on where the practice originated or why Australians go crazy for it, but it is thought to be good luck. No matter the origin, it is clear that crowds egg artists on, until they give into the pressure and give the fans what they want, as seen in Old Dominion’s instagram video below. Many other country stars, including Brett Young, Luke Bryan, and Dustin Lynch, did just that. Luke Bryan even did the “shoey” from a fan’s boot, instead of his own.
With the ick factor being so high, I do not expect to see “shoeys” catch on here in New England, but it is clear that our stars will do just about anything to put on an amazing show and make the crowd happy. Many country artists are quick to call country music fans the best fans in the music industry, but we are so phenomenal because we have musicians that go above and beyond to perform for us.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgZmHKPHovP/?hl=en&taken-by=olddominionmusic
Main Photo: Brothers Osborne Instagram.