Big Kenny Donates To Charity To Celebrate His First No. 1
- Mario Tarradell has an article about Shanachie Records, the record label who signed Daryle Singletary, David Ball, and Confederate Railroad to record albums of old classics.
Why the sudden interest in country?
“We think there is a void in country music,” says Randall Grass, Shanachie’s general manager. “Country has become very pop-oriented and very youth-oriented in the last few years. It is one of the great streams of American music along with jazz. We thought there was a great hunger for traditional country music in its essence and not overly formalized.
- Ray Price talks to Bill Robertson about what it was like to play with Hank Williams. He says, “Fantastic. It was my biggest break. I got into the cotton patch early playing with Hank.” He also talks a little bit about the guys who came and went through his band and about a time that Willie Nelson shot one of his roosters.
- An article over at GAC says that when Josh Turner released “Me and God” it met some resistance from radio because of it’s inclusion of Ralph Stanley.
“We’ve had some stations say that ‘if Ralph Stanley’s on it, we’re not going to play it,’ and that infuriates me because he’s a national American icon, he’s a bluegrass legend. He and his brother Carter, the Stanley Brothers, were the first music that I ever heard, commercially, growing up. And he’s still around making great records, he’s still touring and still singing good as ever.”
Does anyone know why there was resistance to playing something with Ralph Stanley on it?
- In celebration of his first number one songwriting hit for “Last Dollar,” Big Kenny gave donations to three charities totaling $100,000. When he talked about Tim McGraw, Kenny had this to say:
“He heard our music before he even knew or had seen anything about what Big & Rich was,” he noted. “He took us out on tour with him based on a couple of songs a friend played him. … He immediately took us on tour — and he paid us. And that is unheard of in this town. And then after we went out on tour with him, he took us on another leg of the tour — and he paid us even more.”
His antics might be a little over the top sometimes, but everything I hear, read, and see about Big Kenny paint him as one of the most genuine and caring people in Nashville.
- When reading reviews of different shows you can always tell when the author is a true fan, such as the case with Sean Moores account of a Guy Clark and Slaid Cleaves show.
Clark’s emotional investment in his songs was apparent as he recited “The Randall Knife,” a reflection on the death of his father. Though years removed from the loss, he appeared to still be genuinely moved by the feelings that inspired him to write the song. The crowd seemed to sense it, too, and gave Clark the longest ovation of the night.
If you haven’t heard it yet, check out Guy Clark’s “Randall Knife” on the A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver live album. It’s one of the most emotional performances I’ve heard, it gets my adrenaline flowing every time. Another gut-wrenching performance from the same album is “Waco Moon” from Todd Snider.
- If you weren’t thinking about buying the upcoming Elizabeth Cook release, Balls, or Pam Tillis’s Rhinestoned, then you’ll probably want to after reading Edd Hurt’s reviews of both albums on Nashville Scene.
- Also from Nashville Scene is an excellent review of the recently released Standard Songs for Average People from John Prine and Mac Wiseman.
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4 Comments
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April 26, 2007 at 9:08 am Permalink
I’d imagine country radio was averse to playing a record featuring a 70-year-old who actually sounds like he’s 70.
April 26, 2007 at 9:25 am Permalink
I figured it was because he isn’t young, hip, and popular. Age has definitely taken its toll on his voice, though.
April 27, 2007 at 8:16 pm Permalink
About Ralph Stanley, I think it shocked the country radio that he won a Grammy for Top Male Vocalist a few years ago for ‘O Death’ but never received any airplay. It is so funny that radio wants to see what is “hot” at the moment, but what they don’t realize, there are so many young folks that attend Ralph Stanley’s shows. I’ve been fortunate enough to interview him in the past. He is highly respected in the bluegrass and in the country music community. Radio on the other hand was afraid to play someone older than the “hip” folks they are playing nonstop and it was a religious song. Josh Turner met resistance with “Long Black Train” but it didn’t stop his album from hitting Platinum and his second album to hit double platinum.
April 28, 2007 at 11:26 am Permalink
That must have been pretty cool to interview Ralph Stanley, Jessica. The only thing I’ve found shocking about Ralph Stanley, so far, is listening to “Little Mathie Grove” on his Ralph Stanley album. That song is crazy.
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