Brett James Named Songwriter of the Year; Justin Townes Earl Gets Mixed Reviews — Jamey Johnson, Not So Much
- At last night’s ASCAP country music awards ceremony, songwriter Brett James took home his second ASCAP songwriter of the year honor for helping write five of the organization’s most performed songs of the past year. Songwriter Josh Kear won for the second time as well. His win came in the song of the year category for his part in writing the Lady Antebellum hit “Need You Now.” Artist/songwriter of the year went to Dierks Bentley and the global impact award went to Jessi Alexander for “The Climb.” The Tennessean published a full list of ASCAP’s most-performed songs.
- AP entertainment writer Chris Talbott on Justin Townes Earle:
With his third album, “Harlem River Blues,” the son of Steve Earle should finally be free of the shadows cast by that past and his father’s legendary career. The album’s 11 tracks capitalize on the promise Earle showed on his previous releases, “Midnight At The Movies” and “The Good Life,” and push him to a new level.
- Saving Country Music isn’t quite as sold on Earle’s new direction.
- Austin Music Source’s Peter Mongillo is in Talbott’s boat, rating Harlem River Blues an A- effort.
- Rolling Stone has more new music from Kenny Chesney. The song, “You and Tequila,” is a duet with Grace Potter and appears on the upcoming album Hemingway’s Whiskey. And while it’s not a studio version, CMT has video of Chesney performing the song “Coastal” from the same album. (via MusicRow)
- The Guitar Song earned a perfect four out of four stars from the Pop & Hiss’ Ann Powers: “Johnson may masquerade as a throwback but what he really aims for is timelessness, and he usually hits his mark.”
- For next month’s Bridge School Benefit, T Bone Burnett is putting together a band that includes Ralph Stanley, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Leon Russell, Neko Case, and actor Jeff Bridges.
- The Texas Music Matters song of the day is actually a live medley of “Long Black Veil” and “Train of Love” performed by The Band’s Rick Danko way back in 1993.
- The Record’s Jacob Ganz called the biggest independent record store in the world — the Hollywood branch of Amoeba Music — to see which brand new releases, out of a selected 16, the store was carrying. The store stocked all 16, but the interesting part is how many were stocked. Exact numbers weren’t given, but Jamey Johnson‘s The Guitar Song (the only country record among the bunch) was the only album with fewer than 30 copies ordered.
- Billy Currington‘s video for “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer” is the iTunes free download of the week. (iTunes)
- That Nashville Sound’s Ken Morton Jr. credits “My Old Man” with being the strongest track on the new Joey+Rory record, Album Number Two.
- Jerrod Niemann vouches for Jamey Johnson‘s intelligence:
“He is one of the smartest individuals I’ve ever met in my life,” Niemann said. “He probably attempts to hide that sometimes, but he is always thinking ahead. He’s very intelligent. You’re not going to put one past him. He always looks at things from a different angle.”
- Zac Brown Band‘s new album You Get What You Give is available for streaming a week early on Rhapsody. (via reader comment)
- USA Today’s Brian Mansfield reports that more than a third of music sales take place in the last two months of the year, which explains the reason for all the mainstream releases in the coming months: Zac Brown Band, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Taylor Swift, and the list goes on. But what about artists still trying to gain a foothold–like Steel Magnolia? The duo’s debut was pushed back to a January release because Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta “didn’t want to put them in a place where they’d be buried alive.”
- Watch the new video for Kevin Fowler‘s song “Pound Sign (#?*!).”
- In a Q&A with Diablo magazines’ Pete Crooks, the Eagles’ Don Henley revealed that his next solo record will be a collection of country songs — originals and covers.
- The Boot recapped a few of the highlights from The Judds‘ interview with Oprah.
- Monkey See’s Linda Holmes torched Taylor Swift and Kanye West for their self-involved performances at the VMAs:
Primarily, they both suffer from a bizarre disorder where what is supposedly intended as a gesture of generosity toward someone else inevitably spins out into a celebration of self. For him, this meant complaining about the pain of being a guy who can’t stop acting like a jerk, and for her, it meant blowing up a moment of probably intoxicated rudeness into a major moral failing, just so that she could dramatically offer absolution.
- Fake Jamey Johnson returns to Country California.
- The deluxe version of Joey+Rory‘s Album Number Two on iTunes includes two bonus songs: “You Ain’t Woman Enough” and “Marcy Jo’s Mealhouse Restaurant.” (iTunes)
-
Here’s the official video for Caitlin Rose‘s “Shanghai Cigarettes.” (via American Songwriter)
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to subscribe to our feed or receive updates via email.
Columns
- Barry Mazor's "Scanning the Countryside"
- Chris Neal's "Belly of the Beast"
- Drew Kennedy's Column
- On the Road
Categories
Sponsors
Tagged In This Article
Alan Jackson // Billy Currington // Brett James // Caitlin Rose // Darius Rucker // Dierks Bentley // Don Henley // Eagles // Elton John // Elvis Costello // Jamey Johnson // Jeff Bridges // Jerrod Niemann // Jessi Alexander // Joey+Rory // Justin Townes Earle // Kanye West // Keith Urban // Kenny Chesney // Kevin Fowler // Lady Antebellum // Leon Russell // Neko Case // Ralph Stanley // Rascal Flatts // Reba McEntire // Scott Borchetta // Steel Magnolia // Steve Earle // Sugarland // Taylor Swift // The Eagles // The Judds // Zac Brown // Zac Brown Band
Current Discussion
- Jack Hanford: For those who are interested, there is a new 90-minute documentary video about Tompall & the Glaser Brothers on DVD ...
- joe morris: how come nobody mentions his fan club which started 1950 and was called the " the penny pushers " which ...
- jane: I'm reading this article in 2013 and I've yet to hear anything from the album played on the radio.....
- Catwandy: I guess Matt C. is eating his well-deserved crow 'bout now. Critics....gotta love 'em , bless their little hearts.
- Ed McClendon: Saw the brothers in Greeley CO on the occasion of Tompall's 50th birthday. The show wasn't well promoted and there ...
- Roby Fox: I'm sure no one else will know, or even care about this little tidbit of trivia. "Keep Your Change" was ...
- kate wonders: Roni Stoneman is still on Hee Haw every Sunday night on RFD channel.
- Marsha Blades: Tommy, You were so kind to me during a tough time in my life and I don't think I ever ...
- Leona Jones: I seen Chris at the Grand Ole Opry last week.. First time I have heard of him.. He rocked the ...
- Sonicjar Music: Agree with Lucas, But one thing is certain, for a song to come to existence, so many things have to ...
7 Comments
RSS for comments on this post
September 15, 2010 at 11:40 am
Dale Watson will be a featured guest on tonight’s edition of “Music City Roots” along with four acts I’ve never heard of. If your computer and internet connection don’t work with the video stream on the MCR website, the audio feed is also carried on WSM.
Link: http://www.musiccityroots.com/
Congratulations to Brett James. Its nice to see a songwriter who’s music I respect win something in Nashville! Go Brett! I’m also glad to see Mrs. Jon Randall, ie Jessi Alexander, scored big with the Miley Cyrus song “The Climb”.
Amoeba Records on Sunset Blvd. does not cater to that many fans of country music as the surrounding area is not a country music type of demographic. They do carry a very wide variety of country music CD titles and have the best selection in the Los Angeles area by quite a margin. Why stock a lot of Jamey’s new CD when folks can buy one in their nearby Best Buy or Target and not have to put up with the huge parking hassles that are always part and parcel of the Amoeba experience.
Speaking of Steel Magnolia, they will be doing a “showcase” performance at LA’s “The Mint” club next Tuesday, with James McMurtry there the following night. I just might try to catch the Steel Magnolia show out of curiosity.
Link: http://www.themintla.com/calendar/view/2010/9#15
September 15, 2010 at 11:42 am
Saving Country Music isn’t quite as sold on Earle’s new direction.
Boy, there’s a surprise.
September 15, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Actually, I would characterize my review as mixed, as I gave Justin Townes credit for great production and arrangement and capable songwriting, with most of my criticisms based self-admittedly on taste.
September 15, 2010 at 12:57 pm
I tried to check out the Caitlin Rose video, but Google flags americansongwriter.com as a “Reported Attack Site!” (exclamation mark theirs)
September 15, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I got the same error this morning, Dave. Is the video embed not showing up for you?
September 15, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I have been listening to Jamey Johnson’s new recording all day long- My God it’s so great! He makes all the others look like fakes. Real,honest, hard,witty and smart. Can’t say that about Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, or Eric Church. Only Elizabeth Cook’s CD is equal. I wish country music was like this all the time.
September 15, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Brody: Video embed didn’t show up at home, but it does at work. Maybe a Firefox/IE issue.