The 9513 - Country Music Blog

• News on John Michael Montgomery’s website says the country singer has checked himself into rehab for substance abuse and canceled all appearances for the next 30 days.
  

  “I will be disappearing for a while to try and defeat the demons that have stripped me of my energy of life and good health for so many years now. I assure you that however long it may take, I’m gonna fight to the end and come out stronger.”

• The release date for the new Sugarland CD–the duo’s third studio effort–has been moved up from September to July 22nd. The disc also now has a name: Love On The Inside.
• Cindy Watts has a brief Q&A with Tom Douglas–the songwriter behind Tim McGraw’s “My Little Girl” and Martina McBride’s “God’s Will” and “Love’s the Only House”–about his current projects. He recently released a DVD about songwriting titled Songs & Short Stories and will release a children’s book later this year that he co-wrote with Tim McGraw.
• This Is Texas Music says Eleven Hundred Springs was born to play dancehall music.
• Check out the music player on Galleywinter to hear the new Country Jam album from Eleven Hundred Springs in its full glory.
• During Carrie Underwood’s Opry induction on Saturday Garth Brooks told her that she’ll be rained with awards, but “nothing will last as long or be more important than this award right here tonight. Congratulations.” If you missed it on TV, watch the induction on YouTube along with her performances of “Last Name” and Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.”
• Ashley Monroe posted another video on her MySpace blog, this time the song is “Some People Call it Love.”
• Dierks Bentley takes top honors in the 25 worst pre-fame jobs countdown.
  

  During a summer working at Arizona’s Lake Powell, Bentley had to clean 250-gallon portable toilets from the returning rental houseboats. “It usually had a week’s worth of ’stuff’ in there from the 10 to 12 houseboat guests,” he says. Once, the old machine used to empty the toilets backfired, sending the hose and all the stuff straight up into the air. “I tried to outrun the rain,” he says. “Got nailed.”

• Mike Severson posted video of Adam Gregory performing “Down the Road From Me” at a radio station in Houston after a week long tour.
• After picking up the guitar for his part as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, Joaquin Phoenix “found that he had quite a lot of demons inside himself,” said Tim Burgess, who is helping the actor cut an album of his own material. However, Burgess doesn’t know if the album will ever see the light of day since Phoenix seems to be taking his time.
  

  “All the tracks…were brilliant,” says Burgess. “But I think he just kept scrapping everything or redoing everything. I’m sad to say that I think it’s one of those records that may never come out, to be honest with you.”

• Not expecting much, the ninebullets.net blogger gave Justin Townes Earle’s The Good Life a courtesy listen and came away prescribing it as essential listening…and better than anything his daddy ever put out.
• Listen to some Justin Townes Earle live session cuts on the HearYa Indie Music Blog. Good stuff. (via Twang Nation)

Morgan’s first single for BNA (after abruptly leaving Broken Bow earlier this year), “Love Remembers” is a slickly-produced radio track destined to impact the Country charts like no Morgan single before it. From top to bottom, this is not only a hit, but a gigantic, smash hit. It will undoubtedly be one of the handful of songs that defines the summer format, playing out from the exposed speakers of open pick-up doors and ringing, tinny, from compact beach-blanket boom boxes.

In a move that stands to pay huge dividends, Morgan has here abandoned the sometimes quirky, often twangy nature of his music, instead offering what sits as a startling departure from songs like “Redneck Yacht Club” and “International Harvester.”

“Love Remembers” is full of vibrant, colorful imagery (”The taste of cotton candy lip gloss on the lips of a long kiss“) that is nonetheless, at times, disjointed–it is a song less concerned with telling a story in sequence than it is with creating an aesthetic. The concept that “Love Remembers,” as illustrated by various lyrical examples, is far more important here than any specific scenario in the lyric.

The result is a song that sounds really cool–until you start thinking about what it actually means.

In addition to being a song that floats around the edges of various visual motifs (summer, rain), “Love Remembers” copies whole pages from the Rascal Flatts playbook, offering up the kind of crescendoing and over-sung pop-country that the public en masse so readily consumes.

What Morgan set out to do–produce a mega-hit and re-position himself as a top-tier radio contender–he has done not only effectivley but superbly.

But it is still exceptionally disappointing to hear him succumb to the temptations of the format.

Craig Morgan - “Love Remembers”

Songwriter: Ashton Shepherd

“Sounds So Good,” Ashton Shepherd’s second single and the title track of her debut album, is best compared to the Randy Travis standard, “Deeper than the Holler.” Both songs address the dominant radio theme of the day – undying love in Travis’s classic and country living in Shepherd’s single – in the laundry list form that has become familiar to contemporary radio listeners. Neither employs narrative structure, recoloration, lyrical reveals or even complex imagery. In the hands of many writers and most singers, these choices make for bland and forgettable radio singles or album filler, but Randy Travis and Ashton Shepherd are not most singer-songwriters.

Sincerity courses and pulsates through this song. Just as Travis described love in the only words that a country boy understands, Shepherd lovingly sings her life’s soundtrack in a voice imbued with honest, lived experiences. It’s difficult to hear where Shepherd’s life experiences end and her exceptional vocal ability begins: I don’t doubt that Ashton has pulled more than one beer out of a slushly, makeshift cooler, but her Alabama drawl makes every bent syllable even easier to believe. When this vocal is overrlaid on Buddy Cannon’s Telecaster-rich production it sounds like a country record and, appropriately, just sounds so good.

Listen: Ashton Shepherd - “Sounds So Good”

After seeing her perform at the Stagecoach Music Festival, I was lucky enough to interview up-and-coming country singer Star De Azlan and chat with her about her upcoming record, her influences, and her plans as an artist.

Our readers were big fans of your first single “She’s Pretty,” can you give us any information on when the album is coming out?

We’re aiming for the end of this year or the beginning of next year. We have another single coming out, so we’re going to see how that does and base it around that.”

Is the second song on your myspace, “Like a Rose,” going to be your next single?

Not necessarily, we don’t know yet

Your live set is pretty diverse, featuring traditional country, Mexican music, and contemporary “rockin” country, do you know what the vibe of the album is going to be yet? Is it going to pretty much reflect the live set?

It’ll have some of the rocking contemporary stuff, pretty much like you said, it’ll be a mix of everything. We’re going to have a Spanish language song or two on there too.

Obviously you’re not the first artist to bridge the gap between Mexican and Country music, how do you think the two kinds of music are related?

I think that country music is very rootsy and almost kind of soulful and it tells a story. Spanish music, if you’re familiar with it much, does the same thing, it’s very rootsy and it tells a story.

Do you anticipate bringing more fans of Mexican music to country music, more fans of country music to Mexican music, or both?

It’s tough to say right now, but we’re hoping to do both. We’d like to expand the audience and the amount of listeners for both kinds of music

Who are some Mexican artists that you’d recommend for our readers to check out?

I would say, my favorite is Juan Gabriel because he’s an awesome songwriter. He has like 4000 songs that he’s written. You can’t go to a concert and hear his whole song list because he has so many. I’d start with him.

What’s one more thing that you’d like our readers to know about you and what you’re doing?

I would just want them to know that we’re out here and we really hope to touch everybody with our music and that they really appreciate the country sound and that they grow to love us as much as we love them.

There you have it folks. You can read my review of Star’s performance at Stagecoach over in the Stagecoach Festival Day One recap, and check out The 9513’s review of the single “She’s Pretty,” where you can also listen to the track.

• As remarkable as Eddy Arnold’s country music career was, Chet Flippo says, “his lasting legacy will be that he made the world safe for country pop music.” Flippo also pulled a snippet from a CMT interview where Arnold recalled one of the first times he recognized the split between pop and hillbilly music.
• Peter Cooper says goodbye to Eddy Arnold by remembering his life and career, and Bill Friskics-Warren says intimacy was his calling card and “at the heart of Arnold’s appeal was his lustrous, purling singing voice.”
• Danielle “Bella” Romeo is a 17 year-old high school sophomore who suffers from a rare disorder that causes her to endure a rainbow of seizures. Chris Cagle was introduced to Bella at a benefit concert late last year and just recently escorted the high schooler to the prom in Victoria, TX.
• Former oil roughneck Trace Adkins wrote and recorded a song called “Black Gold” for an upcoming TV series by the same name. The show will follow three crews around West Texas on their quest to discover oil.
• Galleywinter has yet another fantastic edition of 20 Questions. This time their musical guest of honor is Matt Hillyer, lead singer of the Dallas-based band Eleven Hundred Springs.
  

  GW: What do you see as the main difference between the music you’re making and the stuff you hear on mainstream radio?

  Matt: We’re trying desperately to get back to the heart and soul of country music. You’ve got to get the blues back in to it. That heartfelt feeling that rings true for everyone. We’re trying to keep the formula simple in hopes it will be classic…or at least pay tribute to something classic.

• Adam Hood’s Different Groove album was released a year ago and to mark the occasion Little Dog Records released an acoustic version of Different Groove through their download store.
• Visit WSM Online to listen to Justin Towne’s Earle’s Opry debut from 5/2. While you’re there, peruse the archives for a lot of other great country music.
• Owen Roberts has a Q&A with Andy Friedman, who has become a fixture in the Brooklyn country music scene with his band the Other Failures.
• Thirty-five years ago a record label broke up the band Mudcrutch. Half the band, including bass player Tom Petty, went on to form The Heartbreakers. You could say that they had some success. Recently Tom Petty wanted to get that original band back together and record an album. Their self-titled debut was released on April 29th and Hickory Wind’s Sean Moore describes it as “a sunny, sometimes spirited slice of country-rock.”
• Jennifer Hanson’s full-lenghth album titled Thankful will be released as a digital exclusive on June 3rd.
• Detroit Free Press has a five question Q&A with Trisha Yearwood in which she describes something she calls the “Emmylou factor.”
  

  I’m such a fan (of Emmylou Harris), and she is a great lady and she represents musical integrity. We don’t live in a world where that’s treasured that much. I’ve had that thought of: “I want to record this song. I think it’s a big hit, but it’s really kind of cheesy — should I record it or not?”

  And I’ve thought that if I ran into Emmylou Harris on the street and it was a big hit, would she say “That’s really awesome” or cross to the other side of the street?

• Check out Yallwire.com for their newest internet reality series, The Long Road to Nashville. The cameras follow Jonalee White for 20 episodes as she tries to make it in the country music industry. She travels to events like CRS, SXSW, Key West Songwriters’ Festival and the CMA Music Festival and conducts interviews with other notable country singers. There’s currently an introductory video and two episodes online.

The Stagecoach Musical Festival was a three day event that, on a grand scale, showcased what country music is today. It’s estimated that over the three day period 150,000 people showed up. I arrived on Friday with very little idea of what to expect.

As I walked into the festival, The Randy Rogers Band was playing the Mane Stage (get it?) but I didn’t have the time to catch their deal because Shooter Jennings was playing over at the Palomino Stage (the cool stage).

He really surprised me. Despite being one of the early acts at the festival, he wasn’t phoning it in. My opinion on him had always sort of been, “well, it’s alright I guess, but it’s not really country.” But, when he hit a big 70’s rock chord and the bass player played one of those Hank Jr. bass licks, his act really came alive, and for the first time I “got it.” Though the outlaw influences are recognizable, that’s not what’s really moving about his act; it’s rock and roll baby, it’s super cool to jam out to, and it really suited the festival atmosphere. Compared to much of what was to come, Shooter’s brand of “Hank Jr. and Waylon music minus the hillbilly and with the 70’s soul-rock turned up to the max” was a more than welcomed addition to the festival.

After catching Shooter it was off to catch Star De Azlan’s set. Star’s first single “She’s Pretty”, was one of the most traditional songs to hit mainstream radio in a while and I was more than excited to see her act. Would it be overall as traditional as “She’s Pretty?” Would she sound good live? Would she sing in Spanish and English? Will she be my new favorite? To make a long story short: No, yes, yes, and no. The set was full of her own material, which, outside of “She’s Pretty,” finds her trying to carve out a Gretchen Wilson meets Taylor Swift sort of niche. Songs like “What You See Is What You Get,” which features lines like “don’t send an invitation if you don’t want to party,” and “I like me a cowboy,” which is as over the top as it sounds, don’t do her any favors.

On the other hand, when she sang Mexican music, covered Freddy Fender, or performed her own “She’s Pretty,” she was completely engaging and really stood out as a great act.

It seems to me that due to her talent, her beauty, and her heritage, that Star can actually make quality country music marketable, which could ensure a long and prosperous career for her. The success of “She’s Pretty,” though limited, showed that radio in big markets will come to her party. I think that pandering, and thus eliminating what differentiates her, would be a big mistake, but we’ll see what path she decides to go down. You can read more about her plans for the future in the interview she was kind enough to grant me; it’ll be published in the next couple of days.

Next I decided to make my first real trip to the Mane Stage to catch Trisha Yearwood. First, let me say that seeing a country music act on the main stage of a big festival is really bizarre. I’m used to catching acts in honky-tonks, dive bars, music clubs, or even the occasional casino, so seeing a sea of people camped out (for what seemed like miles) in front of a stage to watch an artist perform tame radio hits via enormous video screens really tripped me out.

Trisha really is a great singer; her set consisted of tunes like “Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love,” “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl),” “Perfect Love” and “The Song Remembers When,” and she performed them all expertly. The songs sounded like the record, which I guess they are supposed to. The people sang along, and a good time was had by all.

Some fans up front hollered for Garth Brooks, and Trisha had some cute banter and responded, “Thank you so much for asking about my husband, nobody ever does.” All and all though, I’ll disagree with the masses on this one and say that though Trisha sang well, and all the songs are sort of “good,” this was boring. Everyone there seemed to be having a good time, (read: it was a nice day and they recognized Trisha as a famous person) but I can’t imagine that even one of the thousands upon thousands of people watching her was amazed or felt more alive for having seen her perform. This would not be the last time I felt this way about a Mane Stage act.

Next up I decided to take a risk and check out Mike Ness back at the Palomino stage. It was a long walk. Seriously, so far away. But, ultimately, well worth it.

Mike was like the antithesis of Trisha Yearwood. Both of them were taking country music and “updating it.” Trisha by pulling it towards the center and using adult contemporary pop songwriting conventions, and Mike by adding a hard edged punk-rock aesthetic to traditional songs and sounds, but Mike’s take was better. I know, folks are going to tell me that it’s subjective and it wasn’t that Mike was better, it’s only that I liked Mike better. They’ll say that I’m inclined towards punk rock and prejudiced against “mainstream” country. I’ll disagree with those people. I have no allegiance to either artist, but Mike was better at doing the things that country music, or even live music in general, is supposed to do. His audience was more engaged, his songs hit emotions more sincerely, the musicianship was more compelling and exciting, and his music honored the tradition in a truer way (country music is, after all, a traditional music).

Being able to compare artists like Trisha Yearwood and Mike Ness in close quarters was probably the best part of the huge festival, and in this case, I can say that Mike Ness handily blew Trisha Yearwood out of the water. He was the biggest surprise of the festival and in my top three favorites. He’s an unlikely steward of the country music tradition, but that’s what he proved himself to be. He is on the road with Jesse Dayton right now. Don’t miss it.

On my way out I caught Michelle Branch and John Fogerty. Michelle Branch didn’t grab my attention, but John Fogerty was rad. It’s not country in any way really, so I don’t have much to say about it, but John Fogerty is not to be trifled with as far as rock and roll goes. Man oh man, he was stoked to be there, and made a believer out of me.

Well, that wraps up day one for me. Check back for the rest of my “reporting” on the strangest country music experience of my life, The Stagecoach Music Festival!

• Country Music Hall of Famer Eddy Arnold passed away early this morning at age 89.
  

  Before Garth Brooks came along, Arnold was easily country music’s biggest record-seller. Sales of his discs from the mid-1940s to the present, in every recorded medium from 78s to CDs, have topped 80 million. Along the way, Arnold became a key figure in “urbanizing” country music — smoothing it out, opening it to influences from the wider world of pop music — a trend you could almost guess by knowing that his early musical favorites were Vernon Dalhart, Gene Autry, Gene Austin, and Bing Crosby. The list of those he influenced is headed by Marty Robbins and Jim Reeves.

• For a limited time you can listen to Eleven Hundred Springs‘ new release, Country Jam, on iLike. And, next Monday, founding members Matt Hilyer & Steve Berg will login to Galleywinter for a listening party and live chat.
• Carrie Underwood and her high octane vocals didn’t disappoint the sold-out United Spirit Arena last night in Lubbock. She opened with “Flat On The Floor” and encored with Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City,” making five wardrobe changes in between. The crowd favorite was the hometown Texas Tech jersey.
• After releasing his debut on Warner, Ray Scott decided to release the follow-up on his own label, Jethropolitan Records. Physical CDs will only be available from his website and concerts, but the ten track digital album will be available later this month.
• Several Willie Nelson podcasts have been added to the Legacy Recordings podcast blog, including four new “True Outlaw Stories.” (via Still Is Still Moving)
• Hayes Carll talks about his singing voice and affinity for what Jewly Hight calls rougher songs:
  

  “The gist is that I have a really strong Southern drawl and I sound intoxicated,” he says. “When I’m singing about those things, maybe those are more believable than if I was singing about the deficit or something. I wouldn’t believe ‘The Pilgrim’ if Mariah Carey was singing it, but when Kris Kristofferson sings it I’m like, ‘Fuck yeah.’ ”

• According the commenters reactions, Carrie Underwood’s spot at No. 59 on Country Universe’s “100 Greatest Women” list hasn’t been the only controversial placement thus far, but it has certainly drawn out passionate opponents and proponents.
• Dierks Bentley made an appearance on the Toyota Concert Series on the TODAY show yesterday morning to talk about his new greatest hits album and perform a couple of songs, “Sweet & Wild” and “Trying To Stop Your Leaving.” The lady singing harmony with Dierks on “Sweet & Wild” is the lovely Sarah Buxton, who posted about the event in her MySpace blog.
• This Is Texas Music blogger Patrick, Austin Chronicle’s Jim Caligiuri, and Austin Music Source writer John T. Davis each have their own accounts of the Guy Clark, Joe Ely, John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett concert at the Paramount Theater on Monday and Tuesday.
• Julie Roberts posted a couple of new songs to her MySpace.
• Lady Antebellum vocalist Hillary Scott is excited about the new wave in country music, the wave that’s all about songwriters.
  

  “Taylor Swift has come and just exploded. You have James Otto, who’s worked so hard. There’s Ashton Shepherd. We say we’re songwriters first. We love to perform — that’s a big part of who we are — but this is the time of the songwriter. And that’s beautiful to me. There’s nothing more rewarding than being part of creating a song. It’s a really cool thing, and it’s what people are gravitating toward. I’m really excited about the next five or 10 years of country music.”

• The AT&T Blue Room has an exclusive interview with James Otto. He dishes on his musical roots, when country music became cool to him and performing in the Navy. He follows the interview up with performances of “Just Got Started Lovin’ You,” “You Don’t Act Like My Woman” and “These Are The Good Ole Days.”
• Honoring individuals who have been at the forefront in the development of country music, the Academy of Country Music awarded the The Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award to Brenda Lee, the Oak Ridge Boys and the late Conway Twitty and Porter Wagoner. And, Bill Anderson and the late Fred Rose will become recipients of the organization’s newest award, the Poet’s Award, honoring songwriters for outstanding musical and lyrical contributions to country music. Check out CMT for the list of musician, industry, and radio awards. Additionally, Garth Brooks will receive the inaugural Crystal Milestone Award for his sales achievements.

Donning a brace on his right foot, Guy Clark limped across stage with the aid of crutches and a thunderous applause on Monday night at the Paramount Theater. Joe Ely, John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett followed close behind and sat in the same order. The gentlemen two seats to my right diligently jotted down notes while the man two rows in front of me, and no more than fifty feet from the dimly lit stage, hoisted his binoculars to get a closer peek at the quartet of songwriters. Fumes of mixed drinks filled the air.

Guy Clark announced that they would not be working from a set list, they had no agendas, no political preference, and no fear before working his way into “L.A. Freeway.” And, for the next two hours they captivated the audience with perfectly-timed stage banter, well-oiled stories, and songs pulled from several decades of their illustrious careers.

Lyle Lovett pointed out that Clark was a smoker and that he was sometimes allowed to smoke on stage–despite smoking bans in the various cities where they perform–if the cigarette was referred to as a prop. On cue, Clark lit up and took a puff to which Lovett drolled “nobody looks cooler smoking a cigarette than Guy Clark.”

The long, tall Texan provided high points to the night with a moving version of “South Texas Girl” and an encore of “Step Inside This House,” the first song Guy Clark wrote. He never recorded the song, but Lovett learned it from other song writers on the circuit of clubs he played in Houston. Clark matched the intensity with “Out in the Parking Lot,” a song so rich in imagery Joe Ely said he could almost see the dust rising off the stage, and an encore of “Dublin Blues.” He rounded out his set with the poignant “Stuff That Works,” “Magdalene” and “Hollywood.”

Of the four tunesmiths, I know the least about Hiatt, but he stretched his vocals for “Have A Little Faith In Me,” and in the process claimed at least one more convert. He was equally memorable on songs like “Thunderbird” and “Lipstick Sunset.” Ely soared on “All Just to Get To You” and “All That You Need,” toned down the intensity for “Slow You Down” and punched up the humor with “I’m Gonna Strangle You Shorty” and “If I Could Teach My Chihuahua To Sing.” Both he and Hiatt added frequent bluesy guitar solos to the others’ songs, creating an air of spontaneity to the show.

If there was one unifying theme, it was that nothing stands above the song–not the album, not radio or singles, and not even the performer. The song itself has the ability to transcend time and Monday played out like a tribute to the song writing craft from some of its most skilled practitioners.

And to illustrate a point, the fearless foursome traded verses and harmonized on Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” to bring the night to a fitting close.

Songwriters: Darius Rucker and Clay Mills.

Aside from being one of the 90s’ top artists, Hootie & The Blowfish lead singer Darius Rucker, who helped the band sell over 16 millions copies of Cracked Rear View (1994), is a South Carolina native who cites Buck Owens as one of his top musical influences, referenced Nanci Griffith in the song “Drowning,” and is a Mandolin/Banjo/Dobro playing freak who sounds, frankly, more genuinely country than much of the current batch of “soul” influenced male vocalists hitting the scene in recent months.

So clear you mind, if you can, of any memory of Rucker’s performance as a “Big Rock Candy Mountain” parody-singing cowboy in the infamous 2005 Burger King AD where we all learned that “French fires grow like weeds,” and try to give the guy a fair shake.

He deserves it.

In fact, it’s almost frightening to hear how well he executes the hallmarks of contemporary country on this first single for Capitol Nashville, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” a track which finds Rucker unexpectedly comfortable in what can be described as, in many ways, a prototypical Top 40 Country single.

Rucker’s delivery seems more at ease on this country record than on much of his previous work–he has here abandoned his penchant for over-singing certain phrases and runs, instead finding a voice that is commanding and fluid while not unnecessarily overpowering.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about this track, however, is the fact that unlike so many artists in Nashville these days, Rucker shows incredible poise from a production standpoint, avoiding the ultra-compressed and pointlessly thick-layered production schemes that abound on country radio. “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” is smartly spaced and sufficiently sparce, with well-timed fiddles and steel guitars that neither undermine their own importance within the mix nor overstate the idea that this is a country song.

Rucker also demonstrates here his mastery of songwriting craft–he and Mills do everything right in constructing a tune that is hooky as hell while, still attempting to tap into the true emotion that is wondering “what if.”

Unfortunately, that attempt fails resoundingly, and Rucker’s and Mills’ masterful craftsmanship is the song’s greatest weakness.

“Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” is one of those songs that’s too good for it’s own good. It’s like going to a country craft show in search of something unique, something with character, something (perhaps) technically imperfect but constructed with love by human hands (rather than by a machine), only to find that all of the vendors are selling items nearly identical to those available at Wal-Mart.

This song feels machine-made, and so, even though Rucker’s vocals are dripping with emotion, the final product lands somewhere between sufficient and unsatisfying, unable to effectively call upon the guttural sense of pain that often rises concurrently with regret.

There are many reasons to love this record, and there are many reasons to be excited about Darius Rucker’s music in the future. So I award this single a thumbs-up–but with reservations. I have no doubt that Rucker is committed to success in country music, but let’s hope that he fights the urge to pander to a format that could use a good dose of the emotional resonance of a song like Hootie’s “Let Her Cry.”

Darius Rucker - “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”

Songwriter: Alan Jackson

I’ve long thought that the preponderance of “list songs” on modern country radio is a consequence of the co-writing epidemic and the general talentlessness of too many Nashville hit-makers. Leave it to Alan Jackson, one of the genre’s greatest singer-songwriters, to shatter my assumptions by recording Good Time, an album composed entirely of self-written list songs. There are no co-writers on Good Time and no educated country fan can question Mr. Jackson’s songwriting chops, so I’m left to conclude that the list song is no longer a bystander but a bona fide commercial juggernaut that has caught even a future hall of famer, stalwart traditionalist and radio superstar in its wake.

Appropriately, the title track epitomizes the approach and shortcomings of Good Time. The song itself is deceiving because Jackson’s vocal performance is classy and genuine and the arrangement tuned perfectly to feel-good, up-tempo country. I can’t criticize “Good Time” in the same way that I could the latest Bucky Covington single, and that reality make the song at least listenable. But missing from “Good Time” is the kind of sentiment that characterized “Small Town Southern Man” and might allow the listener to conclude that Jackson employed the list format as an artistic choice rather than a lyrical sine qua non. The use of this crutch in a hit single is rare for Mr. Jackson, and we can only hope that the rest of radio’s few remaining traditionalists won’t catch the same disease.

Listen: Alan Jackson - “Good Time”