The 9513 - Country Music Blog

What did Beyonce think after Kenya interrupted the awards?
She figured the country’s government must still be bitter that Taylor Swift is only bringing her tour to the West coast of Africa. — Karlie

What subgenre is Taylor Swift?
Moody electropunk jazzbilly thrash metal with operatic overtones. Or just pop-country. — CMW

When will I be loved by John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen?
Honey, pick one or the other. Let’s not get greedy. — Sam

That is one rootsy rock legend sandwich that I do not want to be a part of. — Pierce

How do you make your face look like a hobo?
Apply Jamey Johnson’s Beardification Serum (also used by Joaquin Phoenix) — Juli

Better not let Jamey Johnson’s beard hear you making fun of it, Juli. — Jim

What happened to Angela Hacker?
Not enough self-proclaimed Hacker-Backers lived up to their names. — Pierce

Like the other winners before her, she has entered the Nashville Star Witness Protection Program. — Ken

How old is Tyler Dean?
He wrote a song about Taylor Swift. The answer? Not very. — Pierce

Who did Kenny Chesney write “Better As a Memory” for?
His career. — Karlie

His hairline. — Sam

Disillusioned wives of pirates. — CMW

I think the correct term would be “disillusioned pirate wenches.” — Jim

Why is Johnny Cash important to our history?
So Jason Aldean could sing a song with his name in the title. Thank you for your service, Johnny. — Karlie

Because you can’t understand the subtle nuances of Jason Aldean’s song, “Johnny Cash,” without knowing the man. — Sam

He single-handedly killed the Reno tourism business by exposing the gritty undercurrent of thrill killing. — Ken

What kind of jeans does Luke Bryan wear?
All his friends say he likes Levi’s. — Karlie

I heard a Tim McGraw song that sounded like rock. What is the name of it?
This will be hard to narrow down. An easier question may be, “I heard a Tim McGraw song that sounded like country. What is the name of it?” — Karlie

What makes a great duet?
When one of the participants is Dolly Parton and the other isn’t Jimmy Wayne. — CMW

When two people who have a deep, undying affection for each other–think Tammy Wynette and George Jones, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner and Sammy Kershaw/Lorrie Morgan. — Ken

Why did they change the words on Jake Owens’ new song?
Wait, someone was paying attention to the words of “Eight Second Ride?” — Jim

Where was Keith Anderson on October 24?
Watching a Cowboys game, then performing with Tim Nichols and Jason Sellers at a charity event in Nashville. Dang, Carrie Underwood is right about Twitter being stalkerish. — CMW

Her black dress hit the floor?
I guess it must have, but my eyes never made it that far down. — Ken

How much does it cost to book Chris Young to sing?
One black dress. — Ken

Who are the people that sing “Amazing Grace” in the song “Where I’m From?”
One-dimensional figments of Jason Michael Carroll’s imagination. – CMW

How much did Lee Brice sell “More Than a Memory” for?
Garth Brooks has so much money that when he first heard the demo of “More Than a Memory,” he instructed Brice go inside his personal vault and leave with as much cash as could be stuffed into seven large canvas bags. — Jim

Why do you think Jimmie Rodgers is a country artist?
Who’s Jimmie Rodgers? — Justin Moore

Everyone knows that Jimmie Rodgers isn’t a country artist. Hell, he doesn’t even have an electric guitar in most of his songs! — Jim

What does it mean to dream of a headless man dressed in white?
You were probably viewing the macabre director’s cut of the “Waiting on a Woman” video before bed. — CMW

That’s what country folks do.
What is, “go tubing with preachers’ hot daughters,” Alex? — Juli

What is the meaning of “I’m Alive” by Kenny Chesney?
First off, the umbrella is obviously a metaphor for a smile. — CMW

Who wrote “Merry Christmas from the Family” by Robert Earl Keen?
Robert Earl Keen and his co-writer, 24 glasses of eggnog. — Sam

Is Kenny Chesney a nice guy?
Did Hazel Smith mention that she got a letter from him yesterday? — CMW

Didn’t Kenny already address the whole “nice guy” issue in his Playboy interview last year? — Jim

How much are old albums of Jeannie C. Riley worth?
About 8 bucks. But I hear they’re worth way more in Harper Valley. — Ken

When did Garth Brooks make more than a memory?
This month–Mr. Wynn’s gagillion dollars are worth way more than a memory. — Ken

Who are the two blonde country girl singers that harmonize?
The Coppolas, or BOMSHEL, or the tattered remnants of Cowboy Crush, or… — CMW

Achy Breaky Heart, original Mexican folk song?
Probably not. — CMW

How long did it take to go across the country in a stagecoach?
Ralph Stanley booked shows in New York and California two days apart earlier this month. — CMW

Was Taylor Swift on Canadian Idol?
Then-sixteen year old Taylor Swift first won over fans on the hugely popular television show Canadian Idol, when she wowed her peers and the judges alike with a deft pop-country take on “Too Bad” by the obscure Vancouver alternative pop band Doug and the Slugs. — Jim

No pun intended, but Dolly Parton cuts a striking figure in country music. Growing up destitute in the mountains of West Tennessee, she showed a strong musical talent as a child and cut her first record before she was a teenager. Since then, she has recorded frequently and adventurously, surveying a wide swath of American music that ranges from country and bluegrass to pop, soul, and gospel. Her music is as luxurious as her image, full of downhome details, spry vocal performances, and a surfeit of personality. She has songs that will make you cry, others that will make you smile, some that will (yes) get you laid, and many that will make you cringe. So, taken as a half-century whole, her long career as both a musician and an icon seems as large and as unwieldy as her–wait for it–‘60s beehive. More than even Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, or Porter Wagoner, Parton is an awkward fit for an easy, straightforward retrospective.

Dolly is not the first attempt to box Parton’s career, but it may be the best. It covers nearly half a century of successes and failures, making room for the big hits (“Jolene,” “9 to 5”) as well as previously unreleased obscurities (“Gonna Hurry (As Slow As I Can),” “Eugene Oregon”). Even at twelve years old, singing “Puppy Love,” she displays remarkable self-possession, delivering the throwaway pop ditty with surprising sass and confidence. She was Dolly even then, and she remained Dolly when she tried the pop circuit, when she was Wagoner’s effervescent sidekick, when she set off on her own, when she appeared in movies, and when she went bluegrass late in her career. She has always been ineffably Dolly: a one-woman genre.

Dolly hints at the full breadth of her range as well as her limitations. Even though she presented herself as happy-go-lucky, with a perky spirit that turned the trials of an impoverished upbringing into a goldmine of nostalgia, Parton slipped easily into sentimental kitsch, especially during her early twenties. “In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)” and “Coat of Many Colors” play into some of the sappiest clichés of country music, with nostalgic details painted on thick. “Jeannie’s Afraid of the Dark” foretells the swamp of cancer ballads that became obligatory among less ambitious acts this decade, and “What Will Baby Be” is a moralizing sap—one of the few times Parton comes across as a scold.

Perhaps these songs are simply dated—the product of bygone musical trends and values—but they suffer for their proximity to the tougher-minded material on Dolly. Ironically, Parton sounds most convincing and commanding when she’s writing and singing not about happiness, but about happiness denied. “Jolene” thrums with romantic distress, and the frailty of her vocals, coupled with the urgent minor key, only underscores the hopelessness of the situation she describes. Likewise, “I Will Always Love You” is both heartbroken and wistful, her spoken-word delivery on the verses conveying both vulnerability and steadfastness.

Dolly shows Parton to be an expert interpreter, fully inhabiting all of her songs and conveying a range of emotions. “Touch Your Woman” and “The Last One to Touch Me” understate an erotic thrill not often associated with country music of the era. And Parton is particularly devastating on “Down from Dover,” which turns her downhome reveries inside out and allows her girlish voice to sell a southern-gothic story of a deceptive lover and an unwanted pregnancy.

When Parton broke free of Wagoner’s influence in the late 1970s and established herself as a truly solo artist, she became much more adventurous both musically and professionally. She made compelling concessions to pop music with “You’re the Only One” (with its lovely George Harrison-style guitars) and the Donna Summer cover “Starting Over Again,” and appeared in movies like The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, 9 to 5, and Rhinestone, for which she recorded the award-winning soundtracks. Loosing herself from the strictures of the industry, she became a synthesizer of styles and sounds. “Islands in the Stream” was written by the Bee Gees, but it’s the chemistry between Parton and Kenny Rogers that has made it a staple of karaoke nights and wedding receptions. It’s a shame that her two Trio albums with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris are only mentioned in the liner notes and not represented on the tracklist, and her ‘90s and ‘00s are compressed into just a handful of tracks, despite the fact that albums like The Grass Is Blue and Halos & Horns garnered her a considerable Americana audience.

Despite its shortcomings, Dolly ultimately feels like so much more than the sum of its parts, just as Parton’s appeal and popularity transcend any one song, album, or trend. It’s much more satisfying than it should be, due not to any curatorial control the producers exerted over the tracklist, sequencing, or packaging, but to Parton’s sassily endearing and enduring persona, which can redeem even the weakest material. She shines through unmistakably on every note here.

• Nineteen-year-old Taylor Mitchell, who is described as a promising up-and-coming folk and country musician, was attacked by two coyotes on Tuesday while hiking alone in a national park in Canada. She died Wednesday morning from the resulting injuries. (MySpace)

• Farce the Music Top 10s:

  • Top 10 Things Garth Brooks Has Been Doing During His Retirement
  • Top 10 Country Song Remixes That Will Never Happen
• Rolling Stone posted video of Jamey Johnson covering Kris Kristofferson’s “Moment of Forever” in their studio.
• Watch Jason Isbell’s video for “Cigarettes and Wine” at CMT.
• Country Haiku:
  

  If you had told me
  I would do 200 posts
  I’d have laughed at you

• PopMatter’s Richard Elliott recommends the new Sam Bush album Circles Around Me to “hardcore bluegrass fans and to those desirous of a trip back to the progressive spirit of the 1970s.”
• Delbert McClinton on Nashville:
  

  “You know, Nashville’s a good place with a lot of good people, but I think a whole lot of what goes on in Nashville is bullshit. Just like everybody else does,” he says. “A lot of people don’t want to admit it, but the whole industry is driven by false conceptions, in my opinion. I’m not going to name names or give examples, but it all sounds like it came out of the Mike Curb School of Music.” [In the '90s, McClinton recorded for Curb Records, a label founded by Mike Curb.]

  [...]

  “Texas will always be what Texas is to me — which is where I learned it all and where I’ve got roots,” he says. “But I’m quite comfortable living here, you know. It’s a great town. But the best part about it is that I don’t have to go out and play all the games. … I’m in a position where I can say no to things.”

• Music Fog videos:
  • Elliott BROOD – “The Valley Town”
  • Sarah Jarosz – “Edge Of A Dream”
• Taylor Swift explains the reasoning behind releasing a platinum edition of Fearless.
• The National Association of Ticket Brokers is pulling its annual summer conference and trade show from Steve Wynn’s hotel because of what it calls “hypocritical and disrespectful” actions toward ticket brokers in regards to requirements enforced by Wynn to attend Garth Brooks‘ upcoming residency concerts.
  

  In an email statement to ticket buyers, Wynn admitted that the requirements were potentially difficult. “While we understand that this is an inconvenience, it is especially so for the unauthorized sellers. Our efforts, initiatives and communication with you may continue until such a point we are satisfied that all scalping activity has ceased.”

  (via NashvilleGab)

Road trip: Journey via automobile, often unplanned or impromptu.

An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel: Thinking man’s soundtrack for said road trip.

Another explanation, of course, could be “Third album by Texas transplant and wordsmith Drew Kennedy;” however, since Kennedy’s musical aesthetic defies mainstream country molds somewhere between Americana and indie singer/songwriter, definitions aren’t nearly as important to this record as directions.

East, west, north and south–“life on the road” songs are intrinsic to country music and its icons Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Jerry Reed, yet they remain tricky territory: For the average listener, a life spent sleeping on a speeding tour bus or a rumbling big rig in search of the next big break can be largely foreign terrain.

In that regard, Kennedy successfully brings an accessible twist to this common theme. As a loose concept album, its strengths lay in his ability to effectively craft uncontrived lyrics and organize them into two universally recognized aspects of meaningful travel: the journey and the destination.

While getting there may be half the fun, Kennedy both celebrates and laments his cases of rambling fever. On the straightforward, Pat Green-like “Miles From Anywhere,” he wails “But if I stop now/What if I miss out/On the one thing that turns it all around?” As a reflection of the monotony of going through the motions, the tune is a nice contrast to the emotion-fueled “Rolling Around in the Bed,” the only co-write (with Kent Agee) on the disc. As a standout song that contrasts the rattling of a man’s possessions in his truck bed with the images of his lover and another man, it follows a very different journey down the trail of an escape route.

While the bulk of the album is tied up in wandering, Kennedy skillfully carves out specific, tangible vignettes, including a hotel room in “Room #27,” a mechanic’s garage in the oddly philosophical “Headlights” and a window seat over a hopping cityscape in “Buzzing Like a Wire.” Other destinations are linked to geographical points—including “St. Abilene” and the haunting “Cincinnati”—that follow how relationships form and dissolve according to location and the ways those interactions, in turn, become a driving catalyst for change.

Kennedy plows through these songs by bending and twisting melodies in a way that makes ordinary words about ordinary subjects seem special. In the rare instances he turns on cruise control—love songs “Love and Rain” and “Songbird” seem out of place in the collection, although the latter showcases his best vocal performance of the album. Kennedy’s voice can skew nasally and sound occasionally out of place sans the honky-tonk heartache usually associated with the country and Texas music genres, but the emotion of “Songbird’s” descriptions come through fully on the chorus’ declaration “She don’t know why/Songbirds can’t help but to fly.”

The album was produced by Kennedy and Matt Powell, who also plays a host of instruments on the record. The pair is joined by drummer Matthew Briggs, Geoff Queen on steel and Stefano Intelisano on keys, who help to create a wide mix of sounds that mesh well without becoming predictable or sounding thrown-together. By the numbers, An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel clocks in at 11 songs, 50 minutes and 24 seconds —but then again, this is an album best measured in miles, not minutes.

Songwriter: Toby Keith

Before his life was cut short by cancer at age 44, Wayman Tisdale had made a name for himself in two pretty diverse fields: professional basketball and jazz. He’d also been a long-time friend of Toby Keith, who sang a song on Tisdale’s last album and wrote this song days after Tisdale’s death this past May.

Several of Tisdale’s friends and band mates are on the record, most notably Dave Koz on the saxophone. Appropriately enough, the song has a smooth jazz-meets-Nashville feel, though the sax tips the scales into easy listening. The real existential question this song presents is, “Can you write a song that’s too depressing even for country music?”

I realize that we’re talking about country music here, which has a long tradition of heartbreak, misery and sad times. There have been plenty of superlative songs about the death of a loved one–Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High On That Mountain” and Guy Clark’s “The Randall Knife,” to name a couple. Those songs take on death and loss frankly, but they have a cathartic moment, and the singer by the end has moved on to acceptance.

With “Cryin’ For Me,” we’re still solidly in the grief stage. The first thing we hear is Tisdale’s outgoing voice mail message, so the song starts off on a somber, slightly morbid note and ends with Keith still crying for himself over losing a cherished friend.

I like the personal touches in the song, where Keith mentions Tisdale’s left-handed bass playing and refers to him as “Superstar.” Maybe if the song were more about those personal touches and less about Keith crying for himself, it wouldn’t seem as dreary. Yes, Tisdale has only been gone for a few months, so the hurt is still understandably fresh. But right now, there are two songs about suicide being played on the radio, and neither of them are as depressing as this one.

Listen: Toby Keith – “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)”

• Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are scheduled to perform a free concert in downtown Nashville on Nov. 10, one day before the CMA Awards.
• Sounds Country commented on the new Bruce Robison single “Born to Roll,” which features Rodney Crowell and will be released on Robison’s next album From the Top. I can’t find a release date, but the album can be heard on Robison’s site. UPDATE: The album is available in the store section, so maybe it’s already been released?
• Alt-512 Music Musings posted a live recording of a newish Chris Wall song titled “Sad Old Cowboy.”
• Country California: Toby Keith Writing Script for She’s a Hottie Movie
• Caroline Herring’s new album, Golden Apples of the Sun, was digitally released through iTunes yesterday and CMT’s Craig Shelburne recommends one song in particular, the cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors.” Listen to the song on Herring’s website and check out the album’s companion EP, Silver Apples of the Moon.
• Vince Gill likes to hear himself on the radio.
• Free Download: Just in time for Halloween, Randy Kohrs is giving away a download of the song “The Ghost Of Jack McLine” from his forthcoming album Quicksand.
• Tom Russell reveals the secret to his longevity in an interview with Rod Ames:
  

  By staying away from any networking scene. Any kind of a deal like LA, New York, Austin, or Nashville, by trying to remain an outsider, and I have friends in all those places. But by not caving in to any category or networking scene like SXSW, or whatever, or Americana. All that stuff goes away. It doesn’t help you in any way. You know, you’ve got to find your own path, I think as a writer, and it’s very hard to do in this country, especially because the first thing they want to do is categorize you. What do you do? Country? Folk? Americana? What? And my stuff has always been outside those boundaries and living in a place like El Paso, way off the map, has allowed me to extend myself as a writer I think.

• Friends in high places: Jamey Johnson was among the attendees at Ivanka Trump’s wedding on Sunday.
• My Kind of Country: Will mainstream country eventually rediscover its roots, or will those who want more roots-oriented country have to look elsewhere? Is the genre splitting into mainstream and non-mainstream niches? And what exactly is mainstream, anyway?
• Stream Jason Eady’s entire When the Money’s All Gone album on iLike. My Kind of Country rated it an A- and it’s been one of my favorites of the year thus far.

• Watch Sara Watkins perform “Where Will You Be” for the Music Fog cameras.

Songwriters: Chad Kroeger and Nickelback.

Nobody was more excited than Bucky Covington when Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger showed up as a co-writer on the lead single to what will likely be Tim McGraw’s last album for Curb Records. “Nickelback is country, Nickelback is country!” Covington shouted as he dashed out into the streets, embracing strangers and swinging toddlers playfully around by the arms. One of his longest-held dreams had finally become reality.

Or at least that’s the impression you get from listening to the mustachioed American Idol alum’s nominally countrified cover of “Gotta Be Somebody,” a big rock hit for the critically-challenged Canadian quartet last year.

The fact that Nickelback isn’t country (sorry, Bucky) doesn’t rule out the possibility of a successful country version of “Gotta Be Somebody.” In fact, Kroeger’s writing actually lends itself fairly well to the format, as demonstrated by the convincing country barn-burner quality of “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You” and his own band’s good-humored “Rockstar,” which sounds like an uptown cousin to Paisley’s “Celebrity.” Combine those past works with the fact that Kroeger owns 604 Records, home to successful Canadian country acts Jessie Farrell, Aaron Pritchett, and George Canyon, and his country cred might actually be on firmer ground than southern rocker Covington’s.

Especially after you hear what Covington’s ham-fisted interpretive sense did to this song. And what someone did to his voice, assuming it wasn’t Bucky’s desire to sound like a robot with a dying power supply. Combined with the repetitive, looped quality of the melody and general loudness issues, the overprocessed vocal works against the very human essence of the lyrics. The words are all about emotional longing, but everything else sounds like the result of buttons pushed on a machine. Where’s the soul?

At the same time, it’s hard not to be a little impressed: Covington’s team has pulled off the improbable feat of sanding all the rough edges off of Nickelback–improbable because, really, who knew there were any to begin with? Alas, Kroeger’s performance sounds positively raw by comparison. You show ‘em, Bucky.

Listen: Bucky Covington – “Gotta Be Somebody”

Songwriters: Mark Narmore & Adam Wheeler.

As Roni Stoneman says, “When you’re hot, you’re hot. When you’re not, you can’t give it away.” Sad but true, and, unfortunately, that’s likely to be the fate of Buddy Jewell’s new single “Somebody Who Would Die For You.” Jewell is now 48 years old and hardly and example of the handsome hunks that Nashville favors promoting and country radio typically allots airtime to.

Jewell came to success with “”Help Pour out the Rain (Lacey’s Song)” on the heels of winning the first USA Network Nashville Star competition in 2003. That song and its follow up “Sweet Southern Comfort” both reached #3, but after that there were no more significant hits for the former professional demo singer, causing his label, Columbia, to drop him at the end of 2005.

After a lengthy hiatus, Jewell self-released “This Ain’t Mexico” in 2008, a song which saw no chart action.

In a perfect world, “Somebody Who Would Die For You” would restore Jewell to the top of the charts. The single breaks no new ground, but it is a well crafted and well produced country song that, thematically, reminds of the recent Tracy Lawrence hit “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” (Lawrence also recorded “Somebody Who Would Die For You” on his 2009 gospel album The Rock.)

Rock guitars are kept to a minimum here, with effective use of steel guitar and Jewell’s totally controlled vocal prominent throughout. The lyrics depict a number of scenes best described as random slices of life, but which taken as a whole they tell an effective and moving story–one that can be interpreted on both secular and religious planes. Add to that a catchy chorus, and you have a single that deserves to be a hit.

Listen: Buddy Jewell – “Somebody Who Would Die For You”

• Steel guitarist Robert D. Norred, who was a member of Hank Williams‘ Drifting Cowboys for a short period in the late ’40s, passed away on Sunday.

• New releases for the week of October 27, 2009 include:

  • Bart Crow Band – Heartworn Tragedy
    Amazon | iTunes | MySpace

  • Del McCoury Band – Family Circle
    Amazon | iTunes | MySpace

  • Dolly Parton – Dolly (Box set)
    Amazon | Sony Legacy | MySpace

  • Drew Kennedy – An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel
    Artist Website | MySpace

  • Joe Nichols – Old Things New
    Amazon | iTunes | MySpace

  • Kenny Rogers – The First 50 Years (Box set)
    Amazon | MySpace

  • Kenny Rogers – The Greatest Duets
    Amazon | MySpace

  • Lorrie Morgan – A Moment In Time
    Amazon ($3.99) | iTunes | MySpace

  • Matt Martindale – Big Sign
    Amazon | CD Universe | MySpace

  • Rosie Flores – Girl of the Century
    Amazon | iTunes | MySpace

  • Taylor Swift – Fearless: Platinum Edition
    Amazon | iTunes | MySpace

• Also released today is a free Lost Highway sampler titled T For Texas T From Tennessee which includes songs from Ryan Bingham, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Willie Nelson, and Hayes Carll.
• Bruce Robison is currently on tour with Robert Earl Keen and Todd Snider (read a review of the tour’s Alexandria stop) and has been keeping a tour diary on YouTube.
• Watch the first video from NewFound Road’s recent album Same Old Place at The Bluegrass Blog.
• If you’re looking to expand your Rosanne Cash catalog, Craig Shelburne recommends picking up The Wheel.
• Quotable Country – 10/26/09 Edition
• With Halloween quickly approaching, Jessica Cornett shared five songs to add to your haunting playlist.

• Current $5.00 downloads on Amazon:

  • The Avett Brothers – Emotionalism
  • George Strait – Twang
  • Randy Houser – Anything Goes
  • Those Darlins – Those Darlins
• A Truer Sound posted a radio recording of Wayne “The Train” Hancock from 1994 along with an unreleased demo that Hancock sent to radio stations and record companies before his first album release.
• Jimmy Wayne’s third album, Sara Smile, will be released Nov. 23.
• Watch Dolly Parton perform “Here You Come Again” from her forthcoming Dolly: Live From London DVD.
• The Gobblers Knob recommends C.A.F., the recent EP from Exebelle & Rusted Cavalcade. (MySpace)
  

  The opening track, “I Wont Love You to Death (But I’ll Love You to the Door)” is a honky-tonk number that has some serious sawdust on it’s heels. On certain tracks, specifically “Tomorrow I’m a Ghost”, the crying of the pedal steel of Kerry Hutcherson that opens the song is an indispensable table-setter while the homespun vocals of Phillip Heeson III warmly wrap around the mandolin that crawls into the tune.

• Starting next March, Crystal Shawanda will tour with Reba McEntire. (via That Nashville Sound)
• Country Haiku:
  

  For your convenience
  I have numbered my heartaches
  Also my troubles

• American Songwriter published an interview with Tim Easton on the subjects of his recording process and the Alaska bluegrass scene. Scroll to the bottom to listen to several live recordings.
• Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for a chance to win a new iPod Shuffle, courtesy of Whitney Duncan. Just re-tweet the appropriate message before Friday at 11:59 PM EST and you’ll be entered into the drawing.

The 9513 Group has grown to 127 members, but while our membership increases, the quality of our charts remains exemplary. You could take the Top 50 artists on these charts (minus Kelly Clarkson) and build a killer radio playlist with them. It’s split about 50-50 between mainstream country acts and the alt-country/country legends that make up part of the Americana genre. I don’t know if it’s ever been attempted, but if there was a radio station that played Steve Earle, I’d sit through the occasional Faith Hill song. Mainstream fans, what say you? Would you put up with a Hayes Carll song to hear Carrie or Reba? Has a station (outside of Texas, at least) ever tried this before?

Last.fm Top Artist

Miranda Lambert has finally been dethroned, with her 24 listeners putting her behind the dynamic duo of Patty Loveless and Johnny Cash, with 25 listeners each. Alan Jackson and George Strait had 23 to lead the way for the cowboy hat acts, and Toby Keith had 20 listeners to lead the way for the do-rag acts. That’s his best showing in some time, but it’s also proof that a new album release doesn’t guarantee you the #1 spot here. Tim McGraw, with 20 listeners as well, didn’t do any better. Sugarland, which takes a rare turn out of the Top 10 with 19 listeners at #11, may see some better returns on its holiday album as we get closer to Christmastime. Hayes Carll, Emmylou Harris and Justin Townes Earle lead the Americana artists with 14 listeners, sharing chart position with Waylon Jennings and Randy Travis. While Jason Aldean (14) has more listeners than Hank Williams (13), Williams thankfully has more listeners than Beyoncé (10).

Last.fm Top Album

Lambert’s not going to relinquish this chart as easily, though, as Revolution had 18 listeners to end up at #1. For good measure, Kerosene was #2 with 15. Fearless by Taylor Swift came in at #3 with 14, and McGraw’s Southern Voice was the first non-blond-female album on the charts with 13. The rest of the Top 10 has the usuals – Chicks, Sugarlands, Underwoods, etc. But Rattlin’ Bones by Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson make the Top 5 with 11 listeners, and Hayes Carll’s Trouble In Mind and Justin Townes Earle’s Midnight At The Movies are both in the Top 10 with 10. The Americana listeners are organizing! Loveless’ Mountain Soul II and Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose just fell short, with 9 listeners. Keith’s new American Ride CD was way down the list with 7 listeners, along with the likes of Lady GaGa and Katy Perry.

Last.fm Top Tracks

The cream of the Revolution crop is rising to the top, as the leading songs for the week are “The House That Built Me” (11) and “White Liar” (10). Josh Turner also had 10 people play “Why Don’t We Just Dance.” As far as McGraw’s “Southern Voice” goes, 8 people played it, and many more ignored it. Most of the other songs from the new album ended up with just 5 listeners. David Nail continues to hang around the Top 10 with “Red Light” (7 listeners), and Chris Young matched that with “Gettin’ You Home.” That’s Young’s best performance on The 9513’s tracks chart, so maybe it took him reaching #1 on Billboard before our group members decided to give him a listen. Up-and-comers Bomshel had 6 listeners for “Fight Like A Girl,” and Earle had the same number for “Poor Fool,” sizable numbers for songs that haven’t made it to the mainstream.

Billboard Singles

For the third straight week, there is a new #1 song, with Keith Urban’s “Only You Can Love Me This Way” taking the honors. “Toes” by Zac Brown Band creeps up ever closer, ending at #2. Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova” moves up to #5, making it the first ever Top 5 country song about vampires. Consider the lyrics: “He’s the devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes, and he only comes out at night.” Reports are her next single will be about werewolves, so look out for that. There wasn’t much movement elsewhere, as most songs stayed put or moved backwards a bit. It’s sad to see “Why” by Rascal Flatts moving up to #21 while “White Liar” moves back to #22, but it may be a one-week hiccup for Lambert. Strait enters into the Top 30 with “Twang,” while “Hillbilly Bone” by Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins (with the presumed approval of Adkins’ record label) was the big debut, entering the charts at #51. Montgomery Gentry’s “Long Line Of Losers,” fittingly, doesn’t make the Top 20, falling back five spots to #28.

Billboard Country Albums

The thought of Taylor Swift not having a #1 album sent fans out to purchase more copies, as Fearless returns to the top position. American Ride slips to #2 and ZBB’s dreams of a #1 album are reignited with a jump from #6 to #3. Rosanne Cash’s The List holds surprisingly steady at #5. Gold And Green from Sugarland was the best debut of the week, with a Christmas album entering the charts before Halloween at #12. For whatever reason, Love And Theft had a huge bump, with World Wide Open surging from #44 to #29. Kellie Pickler’s self-titled album also moved from #32 to #30, striking a blow for traditional, hardcore country music.

Americana Music Association Chart

It was #2 two weeks ago and #2 last week, and Band Of Heathens now have a #1 record with One Foot In The Ether. Its 374 spins were two more than The Rose Hotel from Robert Earl Keen, which moved from #3 to #2. Cash’s The List is doing well on this chart as well, moving up three to #3. It was the biggest gainer of any non-debut on the chart, gaining 44 spins this week to 349. Lyle Lovett debuted at #8 with Natural Forces. Stoll Vaughan’s The Weatherman shot into the Top 20, moving from #26 to #20 with 177 spins. Not so lucky was the Bottle Rockets‘ Lean Forward, which dropped from #14 to #23. Given their generally awesome live show, they’ll sell most of their records on the road, not through radio, but they deserved a little more support than a week in the Top 10.

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