Blaine Larsen Joins New Treehouse Records; George Strait To Open Cedar Park Center

I dont really know where to post this so just pretend I’m Rick and this is a random tidbit. :-)

From the Tennessean:

Show staffers and crew have been sworn to secrecy about the opening segment, but country and pop queen Swift and host Bill Engvall were in plain sight Monday shooting a portion of it at the Sommet Center. On Sunday backstage at the CMA Music Festival, Swift confirmed reports that rapper T-Pain would play some part in her appearance on tonight’s show.

Hey Juli, how about a Sarah Jarosz vs. Rhonda Vincent new release shoot out? (lol)

Rick, both are solid releases, but if I had to pick only one, my money’s on Jarosz…Kenny Ingram’s departure from RV & The Rage is definitely felt on this new record, IMO. Aaron McDaris is certainly no slouch, but Ingram was really something else. I do dig the cover of “Stop the World (And Let Me Off)” and the closing track “When I Travel My Last Mile” is a great track, too.

I meant to say “I’ve heard of hers.”

Very happy to hear about Blaine. I have enjoyed both of his albums, ESPECIALLY his very underated second album. He has a nice country voice, and I hope he sticks to his more traditional sound.

Haven’t read the article, but if 50% don’t have home internet access it’s kinda hard to blame declining sales on piracy, isn’t it?

I thought the same thing about piracy, but I haven’t read the report yet. Piracy and changing music consumption behavior have fueled theories about the decline of the industry, but this revelation (if accurate) seems to challenge them.

It’d be interesting to see the ages of these consumers, if they have access to the internet anywhere aside from home, and what kind of country music they prefer.

And I’m not sure how it actually poses a marketing challenge. It seems like something they would have figured out in the early 90s and before. It does seem to pose a challenge to actually getting a product to these consumers considering the dwindling floor space dedicated to music at retail locations.

If anything, I’d think this information would pose more of a threat to independent artists who aren’t likely to be able to get their products in stores.

Nashville has been using internet piracy as a scapegoat for many years. I remember hearing anti-piracy tirades from artists whose work I would have been stunned to discover had ever been “stolen.”

Good Thing Going, while a decent enough contemporary bluegrass album, just hasn’t held up for me on repeated listenings, especially when compared to the vitality of Ragin’ Live, or even All American Bluegrass Girl (I don’t have the liner notes for this one, but if IIRC Charlie Cushman contributed a fair amount of banjo there). Of course, the comparative weakness of these last two studio albums can’t all be chalked up to Ingram’s absence, but I think he’s definitely missed (people probably said the same thing when Tom Adams/Michael Cleveland/Audie Blaylock/etc. left the band, but RV was still releasing high caliber bluegrass albums such as One Step Ahead around this time).

Granted, I haven’t seen McDaris perform with The Rage live, nor have I seen Ingram play with Larry Stephenson, so perhaps this personnel change sounds better in person than on CD, but so far Destination Life just doesn’t hold its own among the rest of the Vincent discography. And as for those three of 12 tracks on Good Thing Going, well, a little Kenny Ingram is better than none.

YMMV, as always.