Fiddle player, song writer, businessman.
I have toured as a fiddle player with Chris Cagle, Aaron Tippin, Trick Pony, Bo Bice, and others. I was a featured performer on the 2010 and 2011 seasons of American Idol. I was also featured in a hit music video by Trace Adkins, and also on the 2018 CMT awards show. In 2012 my original band Scarletta had a top 20 hit on country radio and a top 10 video on CMT. I have been an artist member of the Wes Cook Band since 2016 and manage business operations for the band.
My name is Nathan Stoops. I am the business representative for the Wes Cook Band and co-writer of the song “I Stand for the Flag.”
The idea for this song came last fall when the NFL flag/anthem protests were in full swing. The goal was to create a non political, patriotic approach to the topic, with messaging that would be a “love letter” to America…a song that would spark important conversations, create a fresh wave of patriotism, and help heal America.
After months of preparation and without the support of a record label, we released a music video on July 2nd. When we attempted to do a paid ad boost on Facebook, our request was denied because FB algorithms deemed the video to have “political content”. We fought back against this decision with the argument that Patriotism isn’t Political, and within 24 hours the censorship story had been picked up by FoxNews.com. That was quickly followed by stories on Drudge Report, Business Insider, Yahoo!, Daily Mail, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, and many others. On July 5th, the band had two interviews on Fox and Friends discussing the censorship story, and a live performance of “I Stand”. The music video went viral and accumulated over 1 million combined views across our social media platforms. As a result of those news stories, FB did reach out to us and after multiple conversations, the algorithm was changed and the words “I Stand for the Flag” are no longer considered political content.
Because the NFL anthem protests have started again in the pre season, the WCB sees this as an opportunity to inject the messaging of the song into the national conversation regarding respect for the Flag, respect for the national anthem, and patriotism as love of country above all other personal or political ideology. Lyrics from the song include:
“We’re all stitched together like the red white and blue…might be a little bit different, but we’re all the same too. We all need each other like an apple needs a pie…that’s just another day in this American life.
Don’t care if you’re black or white or who you love…I stand for the Flag and the Flag stands for all of us.”
Wes, myself, and the other band members feel strongly that our song would be instrumental in creating not only a “weapon” against those protesting our Flag, but equally to create a healing moment in America and an example of a better way, with lyrics like… “You ain’t gotta pick a side, you can love your fellow man and still have pride.”
I follow politics very closely and know that President Trump is on a mission to create a wave of patriotism in America, and has been pushing back strongly against any who protest the anthem or Flag. The WCB believes our song, mission, and personal beliefs are uniquely aligned with this White House messaging. We believe we would be very effective “citizen messengers” to support this component of President Trump’s America First agenda. To this end, we are offering our song and story to be used however it would best fit President Trump’s strategy.
One idea we have is for the WCB to release an open letter to the NFL after the first regular season game September 6th, asking any NFL players willing to have a conversation about the reasons for their protest, to meet us on a network “round table” discussion. Protest without solution is simply grandstanding, and the American people deserve better! The WCB wants our song to be the catalyst for a moment of national conversation, showing the country how difficult problems CAN be solved when everyone pulls for the same team. If we have White House support and the right media connections, we can accomplish this goal, and the end result would take the wind out of the sails of protest. A wave of patriotism would also serve to help conservative candidates in the midterm election, which is also of immense importance.
We would love the opportunity to connect with President Trump or a member of his family, to discuss how our song could be of service to the country!
Here is a link to the music video for “I Stand for the Flag,” and also our interview on Fox and Friends discussing the Facebook censorship story.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR3MzLMJP2Y
Interview: http://video.foxnews.com/v/5805667213001/?#sp=show-clips
Website: www.wescookband.com