I’ve written before about how Craig Campbell never seems to get the respect he deserves.
But this is just taking the disrespect to a whole other level.
Obviously in the TikTok era that we’re living in, artists have a new platform to build followings and translate that into a career in music. And sometimes that can be a good thing.
It gives fans an opportunity to discover and interact directly with up and coming artists, and artists can get real-time feedback on what they’re doing.
TikTok can also introduce a whole new generation of fans to some of the old classics. In just the past year or so, Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy” and Brooks & Dunn’s “Neon Moon” have both gone mega-viral on the app, bringing the songs to the attention of people who may have never heard them before.
But one unfortunate side effect of this new trend is that often times when artists cover a song on TikTok, the new audience has no idea that it’s even a cover.
Just ask Craig Campbell.
One of the greatest country songs of the last decade, and one of Craig’s biggest hits, is the powerful “Outskirts of Heaven,” a song about wanting to live not in a mansion in heaven, but on the outskirts, on a farm just like he grew up on.
The song was written by Craig along with Dave Turnbull, and somehow only peaked at #24 on the Billboard charts when it was released back in 2016.
But it’s gained a new audience on TikTok thanks to Warren Zeiders, who posted his cover of the song (about a million times in various cringeworthy videos) and released a studio recording of the cover in 2021 featuring Craig Campbell himself.
Zeiders’ videos of his cover of the song have racked up millions of views and likes. And so many of those people were hearing the song for the first time, they thought it was a Warren Zeiders original.
Craig Campbell stopped by the DM Monday Podcast recently, and host Trey Lewis mentioned to Campbell that people on TikTok seemed to think it was actually a Warren Zeiders song. And Craig said it happens to him at shows too:
“Funny too that you bring it up about it being a Warren Zeiders song. Now people, when I get done at night I go back and kinda sign at the merch table, ‘Man, you sing that Warren Zeiders song pretty good.’
I’m like, ‘I know I do.’”
The disrespect…
What’s it going to take for people to finally give Craig Campbell the credit he deserves?
Here’s the ORIGINAL version of “Outskirts of Heaven,” in case you didn’t already know.