Aaron Watson Believes In The Good Ol’ Boy Business Model
- Aaron Watson talked to Lynne Margolis about where he got the nickname Honky-tonk Kid, how he got hooked up with Ray Benson and the relationship he has with him, and about how he separates time between the road and home. His upcoming album will have a John Mayer song, a Waylon song titled “Tulsa,” and “Barbed Wire Halo” from his gospel album of the same name. It’s well worth the read.
- Ashley Monroe is one of our readers’ favorites, and while she didn’t place in last weekend’s talent contest on A Prairie Home Companion, she does have four new songs up on her myspace, is playing a full concert at Nashville’s 3rd and Lindsley on March 25th, and has a CMT.com Studio330 Session that debuts on March 26th.
- Be sure to check out the Unplugged performance from Ashton Shepherd, too. You can read a portion of the interview she did here.
- The new Tim O’Brien album, Chameleon, features sixteen songs with only one acoustic instrument per song. Peter Cooper calls it the most soley Tim O’Brien out of his fifteen “solo” albums.
- Twang Nation pointed me toward the Full Throttle Garage–music in the raw from Lone Star artists in Lone Star 92.5’s studio. So basically, a Texas version of CMT’s Unplugged. There’s live performances from Ryan Bingham, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Steve Earle, Todd Snider, Billy Joe Shaver and more. (via Twang Nation)
- The Tennessean posted the ACM Awards nominees for the off-camera awards.
- Win one for Minnie Pearl! That’s sports columnist George Vecsey’s battle cry for Belmont, the team vying to beat Duke in the NCAA basketball tournament. He met the Belmont alum once and describes the kind of lady that she was.
Minnie Pearl was the comedian on “The Grand Ole Opry” and “Hee Haw,” the country bumpkin who greeted people with a shrill “How-DEE!” and wore a gingham outfit that could have been purchased only in a yard sale in Grinder’s Switch, the hamlet where she had lived as a child, near Centerville, Tenn.
- The Big O has 20 mp3s from a Willie Nelson performance with Wynton Marsalis last year at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. (via DC9 at Night)
- A fan posted the first twenty minutes of Eleven Hundred Springs’ performance at Texas Music Revolution a few days ago. Pretty cool stuff.
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Aaron Watson // ACM Awards // Ashley Monroe // Ashton Shepherd // Billy Joe Shaver // Grand Ole Opry // Ray Benson // Ray Wylie Hubbard // Ryan Bingham // Steve Earle // Tim O'Brien // Todd Snider // Willie Nelson
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March 20, 2008 at 11:06 am Permalink
Eleven Hundred Springs are always amazing live. Thanks for posting.
March 20, 2008 at 4:29 pm Permalink
Wow, so Aaron Watson’s audiences are 80% female? If he makes it out to Los Angeles I think I’d go just to look at the other audience members! (lol) Its great that artists like Aaron can earn a good living in Texas where the general population still appreciates many of the more traditional forms of country music that are forgotten elsewhere. If it weren’t for the Time Jumpers I’d guess Nashville would be without a Western Swing band in residence.
It was crazy that Ashley Monroe didn’t even finish in the Top 3 out of 6 competitors on Prairie Home Companion. Maybe she should have chosen “Hank’s Cadillac” as one of her songs? I hope that Garrison liked her enough to invite her back for future programs. At least “Good Time Charlie” Nagatani in Japan has invited her to fly over and play at one of his shows. Last year he invited Megan Mullins, so Charlie prefers talented and beautiful young female artists who specialize in traditional country. Can’t say I blame him……
Thanks for the link to the Ashton Shepherd interview over at CMT. That gal is absolutely genuine and transparent and what you see (and hear) is what you get. Ashton and Sarah Johns are about as close to modern day Loretta Lynn’s as you’ll find these days. She reminds me of the old Hag song “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am”…..
March 21, 2008 at 6:35 am Permalink
For those of us who have XM and like Ashton, look for her XM Drivers Class (i think it is called), where she does an interview where she discusses how the album came about, two acoustic songs, and picks her favorite song from the album - “The Pickin Shed” - I happened to be in the car for several hours yesterday and caught it and it was really good.
March 21, 2008 at 7:17 am Permalink
Dang!! I wish I got XM so I could hear that interview!!!
March 21, 2008 at 8:18 am Permalink
You might try and see if it is available somewhere on the internet. Because it is really good, talks about how her record deal came about, her know all her songs in her head, etc.
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