ACM Awards Performers Announced; Peter Cooper On Co-Writing; Free Court Yard Hounds
- Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, and Reba McEntire are among the acts announced to perform at the ACM Awards, along with Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Trace Adkins and Blake Shelton.
- It’s time for another edition of photoshopped albums covers from Farce the Music.
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Peter Cooper tackles songwriting, and more specifically co-writing, in several articles for The Tennessean.
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In the first, he interviewed Odie Blackmon (the songwriter behind Lee Ann Womack‘s “I May Hate Myself In The Morning,” Gary Allan‘s “Nothing On But The Radio,” and George Strait‘s “She’ll Leave You With A Smile), who has a DVD out titled The Craft of Writing Hit Songs.
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Another interview, conducted through email, publisher and producer Frank Liddell questions the writing abilities and motives of some of the writers sitting in on the co-writing sessions taking place. And while co-writing seems to be the predominant method in Nashville these days, Lidell doesn’t believe it has done anything to improve the art or commerce of country music.
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In another article, Cooper covers co-writing exclusively, noting that the last time a No. 1 country song was written by someone other than the artist who sang it was way back in 2005, when Keith Urban took Rodney Crowell‘s “Making Memories Of Us” to the top.
And while the average number of songwriters on No. 1 Billboard country hits in 1961 was 1.12, in 2009 there were 2.53 writers per No. 1 country song. Four of last year’s Billboard No. 1s were written by four people apiece; many were written by three.
Further along in the article, songwriter Michael Kosser commented on the disconnect between the degree of craftsmanship and inspiration in today’s hit songs.
“That’s because when you have co-writers sitting down to write, their purpose is not to waste time. Their definition of ‘not wasting time’ is writing a song that can move their careers forward,” he said. “With a solo songwriter, there’s this piece of romance about getting your heart down on paper. That’s a different thing.”
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- Free Download: Amazon is giving away the mp3 and accompanying video to Court Yard Hounds‘ song “It Didn’t Make a Sound.”
- Country Haiku has no qualms with a little dirt:
There may be a bit
Of dust on this ol’ bottle
I will still drink it - Brad Paisley and friends celebrated the success of not one, but two No. 1s (“Welcome to the Future” and “American Saturday Night”) on Monday afternoon.
- The folks at The Bluegrass Blog are giving away five copies of the new Infamous Stringdusters record Things That Fly. Simply leave a comment about a thing that flies for a chance to win.
- Universal Music Group announced plans to place CDs in stores for $10 or less with the hope that the lower cost will be offset by increased sales.
- CMT has the new video for Brady Seals‘ “Been There, Drunk That.”
- Now that he’s back in Nashville part time, Larry Gatlin will frequently host the Grand Ole Opry’s Thursday night Opry Country Classics shows, which start tomorrow.
- Nathin Rabin covered k.d. lang and Dwight Yoakam in recent editions of his Nashville or Bust column.
- Music Fog: Joe Ely – “It’s A Little Like Love”
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ACM Awards // Blake Shelton // Brad Paisley // Brady Seals // Carrie Underwood // Dwight Yoakam // Frank Liddell // Gary Allan // George Strait // Infamous Stringdusters // Jason Aldean // Joe Ely // Keith Urban // Kenny Chesney // Lady Antebellum // Larry Gatlin // Lee Ann Womack // Michael Kosser // Odie Blackmon // Reba McEntire // Rodney Crowell // Tim McGraw // Trace Adkins
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March 8, 2010
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March 24, 2010 at 11:31 am
Larry Gatlin hosted most of last season’s Thursday Night Classic Country Opry shows, so this just continues that aspect. Larry is very high energy (ie a bit zany) and makes the shows even more fun to listen to than they already are! I’m glad they are back in season as the Tuesday and Thursday night Opry’s are the most interesting to listen to via WSM Online.
Trailer’s album covers are at their usual high level of hootiness. Where did he even get a picture of Star De Azlan that looks like an album cover? Curb has kept her pretty well hidden the last couple of years.
I appluad UMG’s retailing of their country CDs at $ 10 or less. Now if they coulld just put some music on them I like and really want to listen to repeatedly I’d be all set!
March 24, 2010 at 11:56 am
Kudos on Nathan Rabin for writing such an exhaustive piece on Dwight Yoakam. I didn’t know that Yoakam hasn’t released any original material since the late ’80s, so for Rabin to go to a record store and track down all four of his studio albums is a herculean effort.
March 24, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Sam,
I have to guess that you’re being sarcastic here…
March 24, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Looking forward to ACM Awards!! Great performers! Still surprised Jason Aldean didn’t get any nominations. Hope he sings the “The Truth” and Carrie Underwood sings “Temporary Home.”
March 24, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Thanks for the info btw
March 24, 2010 at 1:49 pm
A great interview by Liddell and very truthful.
March 24, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Interesting info on co-writing in the articles. All of this collaboration certainly hasn’t improved the quality of the songs, in my opinion.
March 24, 2010 at 4:06 pm
““Non-performing songwriters’ best chance of getting a cut now is by writing with an artist….” That’s pretty much the most important part to take away from those pieces.
March 24, 2010 at 7:34 pm
The Infamous Stringdusters CD give-away contest is actually a creative thinking competition! The members of the band will pick their 5 favorite descriptions of “things that fly” from the replies submitted. My entry had to do with the passage of the Senate version of Odumbocare by the House of Reptilian Life Forms (Democrats are the V Aliens!) last Sunday. If the band members are all Obamavoters, I’m doomed….
Opry Alert! Tomorrow night’s season opener of the Thursday Night Classic Country Opry will be a “Tribute To The Statler Brothers”. Artists scheduled to perform include: Dailey & Vincent, Jimmy Fortune, The Gatlin Brothers, Eric Heatherly (Is he still around?), Jan Howard, Charlie Louvin, and Wilson Fairchild (Who?). Should be a good’un, and I’m guessing the Cracker Barrel will be a primary sponsor! (lol)
March 25, 2010 at 10:49 am
Wilson Fairchild are Wil and Langdon Reid, Don and Harold’s boys. They used to perform as Grandstaff, but are now using their middle names as a group name.
March 25, 2010 at 11:11 am
Rick, yes Eric is still around and making music.
Why in the world would the Reids change from Grandstaff to Wilson Fairchild? I love their music, but not the new name.
March 26, 2010 at 2:20 am
I love the Court Yard Hounds track! I’m excited for that album.
March 26, 2010 at 9:02 am
Yes!!!! Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, and Reba McEntire and also Lady A… wow, I can’t wait to watch the award show!!! I wonder how T-Swift would be ending her vocal performance if she was one of the performers…