Bill Anderson Recognized as ‘Poet & Prophet’; Robert Earl Keen, “If You Don’t Like George Strait, You Don’t Know [Very Much]“
- Jimmy Buffet and the Zac Brown Band are booked for the next CMT Crossroads.
- Charles Kelley, one-third of Lady Antebellum, as an older brother by the name of Josh Kelley who has made a name for himself as a pop singer-songwriter. Convinced by Charles to switch formats, the elder Kelley hopes to release a soul-flavored country music debut next year. He told EW.com, “Country is where I’m going to live out the rest of my career.”
- @joenichols: “Merle Haggard sang me a song that he wanted me to record over the phone today. How cool is that?”
- Robert Earl Keen told Paste magazine what records he’s listening to and loving.
- In his most recent blog post, Tom Russell explains his affinity for Johnny Cash.
How important is Johnny Cash to our culture? His face should be carved in granite next to Mount Rushmore, along with Hank Williams and Crazy Horse. He is our Black Moses. His voice defines an honesty which cuts to the heart of how human beings love and hate and hurt. That voice was not so much “beautiful,” as it was raw and truth-filled and in your face, with real poetic news that needed to be heard, swallowed, spit out and heard again.
- Owen Temple named five records that inspire him for Sounds Country. (P.S. That’s my favorite Jerry Jeff Walker record, in case you care.)
- Leave a comment about your favorite holiday snack at Country California for a chance to win a copy of Sugarland’s new holiday album, Gold and Green.
- Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson will be honored on December 12 as part of the Museum’s quarterly programming series Poets and Prophets: Legendary Country Songwriters.
- Listen to Tom Russell perform “Guadalupe” live in KUT’s studio 1A.
- Lyle Lovett relays the story behind “It’s Rock and Roll,” a song on his latest album co-written with Robert Earl Keen:
“There was a theater group at A&M; I know that sounds like an oxymoron,” Lovett said, laughing again. “In 1980, they were doing a spoof play, a rock opera, and asked us for a song. That’s where ‘It’s Rock and Roll’ came from. I pitched it for that ‘Dewey Cox’ movie, but they didn’t use it. But I found the demo tape and I used it.”
- Harper Simon (MySpace), the son of Paul Simon, is a self-professed “hippie country” fan and The Columbus Dispatch describes his recently-released, self-titled debut album as “a folky, country-tinged style heavy with acoustic and slide guitars.” (via That Nashville Sound)
- An upcoming reissue of a 1978 television special titled Country’s Greatest Stars Live: Volume 1 and 2 will feature nearly seven hours of performances and behind-the-scenes footage of stars like Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, and many more at the Grand Ole Opry House.
- Austin City Limits posted a video interview with Ray Benson and Willie Nelson about their collaboration earlier this year on Willie and the Wheel.
- Paste magazine’s Cory Alberston just wants a cohesive record for Christmas, unfortunately Sugarland’s Gold and Green is not it:
As with Sugarland’s previous studio efforts, lead singer Jennifer Nettles suffers from a vocal identity crisis on the duo’s new holiday-themed Gold and Green. [...] Here, such shifts seem contrived, robbing Nettles of any relatable authenticity. What little sincerity the set has comes from Kristian Bush singing lead [...]
- Listen to A.A. Bondy cover the Hank Williams classic “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” live in the KUT’s studio.
- Test your country music knowledge with Chet Flippo’s brief quiz.
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Music Fog: Madison Violet – “Crying”
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A.A. Bondy // Bill Anderson // Charles Kelley // Country Music Hall of Fame // Dolly Parton // George Strait // Grand Ole Opry // Hank Williams // Harper Simon // Jennifer Nettles // Jerry Jeff Walker // Jimmy Buffet // Johnny Cash // Josh Kelley // Kristian Bush // Lady Antebellum // Loretta Lynn // Lyle Lovett // Madison Violet // Merle Haggard // Owen Temple // Ray Benson // Robert Earl Keen // Sugarland // Tammy Wynette // Tom Russell // Willie and the Wheel // Willie Nelson // Zac Brown Band
Current Discussion
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- Dan Milliken: "If you mean the figurative “voice” of the narrator, I don’t see anything in the lyric that justifies that description, ...
- Michelle: Andrew, you got to see TWO huge names in country music, so I could definitely justify paying $100 per ticket. ...
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November 20, 2009 at 11:23 am Permalink
Josh Kelley: “Country is where I’m going to live out the rest of my career.” I wonder if he’ll have more conviction about this than “country artist” Jessica Simpson did?
November 20, 2009 at 11:24 am Permalink
Where did Paste magazine get its name?
November 20, 2009 at 11:42 am Permalink
Another quote from Josh Kelley: “There’s gonna be a lot of upbeat songs on this album, because at the end of the day, people wanna shake it.”
Oh boy, I can’t wait.
November 20, 2009 at 12:09 pm Permalink
How did Chesney miss out on that Jimmy Buffet Crossroads gig?
November 20, 2009 at 12:12 pm Permalink
“Country is where I’m going to live out the rest of my career.”
Translation: “I couldn’t make it in the pop world.”
November 20, 2009 at 12:18 pm Permalink
Actually,
I’ve long thought that Josh Kelley fit in the country world, at least since he’s been around in 2003/2004. He’s never been that ‘next John Mayer’ that Hollywood (Disney) tried to turn him into. He did have a good career going in ‘pop music’ and didn’t need to be ‘country.’ Cynically speaking, sure he is ‘crossing over’ but it’s not as if what he was doing was all that different from what is played on country radio these days. I’d actually say his “Backwoods” album can attest to that:
http://www.amazon.com/BackWoods/dp/B002NPFRY4
November 20, 2009 at 12:30 pm Permalink
it’s not as if what he was doing was all that different from what is played on country radio these days …
Now, there’s a perfect reason not to listen to his music.
November 20, 2009 at 12:35 pm Permalink
I’m happy to welcome Josh into future farcings. I’ve never been a fan (mostly because he went to Ole Miss) and his climb onto the country bandwagon only provides more fodder!
November 20, 2009 at 1:19 pm Permalink
Josh Kelly IS married to Katherine Heigel, so that should give him a lot of boozey, heartbreak material. Of course, it will likely not be award callibur.
November 20, 2009 at 1:34 pm Permalink
“A girl can get a lot of heat these days by going country.”
~ Jenna Maroney
November 20, 2009 at 1:40 pm Permalink
Margaritaville followed by Toes: PRICELESS!
November 20, 2009 at 3:21 pm Permalink
“Now, there’s a perfect reason not to listen to his music.”
Ha!
I mean, I’ll welcome anyone to country music who demonstrates an interest in actually recording something kinda like country music, even if their attempt isn’t a complete success quality-wise (’sup, Ben Kweller). But the acts who “go country” with the same general sound just because it seems more market-friendly hurt my soul. I probably should be a hardened cynic by now, but I still get taken aback by the total crassness of it.
November 20, 2009 at 3:22 pm Permalink
I honestly don’t think Josh Kelley is being crass about it at all. I suspect it’s more inline with what Darius is doing actually.
November 20, 2009 at 3:32 pm Permalink
“A girl can get a lot of heat these days by going country.”
“That’s a deal braker ladies…”
November 20, 2009 at 3:36 pm Permalink
Kelly is that a “30 Rock” reference?
November 20, 2009 at 3:38 pm Permalink
oh yeah…
November 20, 2009 at 4:02 pm Permalink
I honestly don’t think Josh Kelley is being crass about it at all. I suspect it’s more inline with what Darius is doing actually.
What bugs me about this is he isn’t saying that he’s always loved country music and that he’s always wanted to cut a country album. He’s switching to country because his brother talked him into it.
November 20, 2009 at 4:36 pm Permalink
Maybe his brother did talk him into it but what’s to say he hasn’t ‘always loved’ and ‘wanted’ to do a country record. Perhaps he thought that he couldn’t after being a pop/rock guy.
November 20, 2009 at 4:52 pm Permalink
I was trying to figure out why Madison Violet seemed familiar and remembered I had purchased a CD titled “Caravan” from two gals named “MadViolet” awhile back. Their music on the CD was all about as sleepy as the live track on Music Fog and I gave it away. Lisa MacIssac, the brunette singing harmony vocals, is quite the fiddle player in the Cape Breton, Nova Scotia tradition. Lisa also has an amazing resemblance to Brodie Jenkins of “The Jenkins” family band. I know! Lisa should join up with Kacey and Brodie as one of The Black Cherries! (lol)
Mainstream country had become primarily a pop-rock oriented realm dominated currently by Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Rascal Flatts. It is not surprising that new (to country) artists like Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, and Gloriana do well in such an environment. Charles Kelley is a good match for the contemporary country scene and at least he is very talented. You can’t stop “progress”…
November 20, 2009 at 7:56 pm Permalink
You can’t stop “progress”…
We can if we try hard enough.
November 20, 2009 at 10:54 pm Permalink
“You can’t stop “progress”…
We can if we try hard enough.
Um, no. Not that I think “progress” is a good way to describe what happens with music (or any other art form), but whatever you want to call it, it’s inevitable. You might want to consult with the “moldy figs” who thought they could jazz restricted to Dixieland and swing, Razor – though you’ll probably have to hold a seance to do it.
November 20, 2009 at 11:00 pm Permalink
Change may be inevitable but we aren’t required to support it and if enough people boycott it, it doesn’t last very long. Ask Jessica Simpson.
November 20, 2009 at 11:05 pm Permalink
Josh Kelley will be fine.
At the very least it means Katherine Heigl may show up on country award shows regularly. I see no problem with that scenario
November 20, 2009 at 11:08 pm Permalink
Maybe his brother did talk him into it but what’s to say he hasn’t ‘always loved’ and ‘wanted’ to do a country record.
Then why didn’t he say so?
November 20, 2009 at 11:29 pm Permalink
Jon: The problem is that the progressive country music is now being called Americana. And why is it that those poeple who defend playing Hootie and the Blowfish and calling it country as progress the same poeple who get their knickers twisted when someone like Wanda Jackson or Loretta Lynn does something honestly progressive by recording with Jack White.
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