Buddy Miller Gets Cover Treatment From No Depression
- No Depression plans to enshrine Buddy Miller on the cover of their last issue.
- John Goodspeed gushes over the new George Strait album and says while Strait can nail a number of styles, “he really hammers western swing,” particularly the duet with Dean Dillon on “West Texas Town.” Robert Earl Keen shares writing credits with Dillon on that particular tune.
- Reba McEntire launched a collection of footwear under her brand name. She wanted shoes that would “flatter your feet, but also offer comfort and support.”
- Country Universe’s Kevin graded each of the American Idol contestants last night on their performances of Dolly Parton songs, and Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Slezak believes, with the exception of the two girls, that this is the most talented group of performers yet.
- Four years after his debut and two aborted album releases later Josh Gracin finally released his follow-up. Unfortunately, it probably wasn’t worth the wait. Michael McCall says Gracin is “without a clear direction or musical personality of his own,” “doesn’t do enough to establish a distinct vocal style of his own,” and relies “too much on empty wordplay and high-concept ideas with little relation to real life.” Read Gracin’s Q&A with Whitney Self to see what he’s been up to.
- CMT announced the presenters for the CMT Music Awards.
- Jake Owen didn’t make the transition from a guy who just liked girls to seeing the true beauty of a woman until he was on vacation spying on his girlfriend while she applied her sun tan lotion. At least I think that’s what he’s trying to say.
- Twang Nation brands Kathy Mattea’s Coal with 4 1/2 mud-flap ladies.
- Next week marks the release of Hayes Carll’s new album, Trouble In Mind. This Is Texas Music took the opportunity to revisit an audio interview with Carll in the midst of his 2005 release, Little Rock. Take a listen for a humorous story about Guy Clark and his “f’in laborious” songwriting process.
- Jamie O’Neal signed with 1720 Entertainment and plans to have a single out this summer.
- Most of our readers already know how Dale Watson feels about the current state of country music and his attempt to re-brand his sound as Ameripolitan, but here’s another article to echo his sentiments.
Part of the problem Watson has with the new so-called country singers is their lack of preparation. “A lot of these guys don’t even know the country standards, the songs you always heard and had to know,” Watson says, calling in from his Austin home. “You couldn’t get onstage anywhere in any honky-tonk and not know ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart,’ but some don’t.” Watson says most of the new country boys and girls who came along during the ’80s and ’90s had no roots — they just started doing country music a year before they had their record.
Watson also talks about Europe being his saving grace and hanging out with the country music respectin’ Johnny Knoxville.
- Kix Brooks partnered with a distributor to bring his wines to several different Nashville locations.
- In celebration of Emmylou Harris’s birthday and the interest of spreading her angelic music, share your favorite Harris song in the comment section.
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11 Comments
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April 2, 2008 at 9:53 am Permalink
No dollar today!
April 2, 2008 at 10:03 am Permalink
“Boulder to Birmingham”
“Easy From Now On”
April 2, 2008 at 10:54 am Permalink
The new Strait album is prime. Ya’ll better recognize with at least a 4 star review yo. I’m out.
April 2, 2008 at 2:26 pm Permalink
“Red Dirt Girl”
April 2, 2008 at 2:55 pm Permalink
“Together Again”
“Love Hurts” w/ Gram on the live record.
“Plane Crash at Los Gatos Canyon”
April 2, 2008 at 4:00 pm Permalink
I actually enjoyed Josh Gracin’s new CD quite a bit. The only weird part for me is that he and Chris Cagle both recorded “I Don’t Want to Live” on their new CDs, yet neither of them even wrote the song.
April 2, 2008 at 6:57 pm Permalink
I actually thought the new Strait album was a step down from his last one. Still very good, but not as good as “It Just Comes Natural”. I do love the song “Troubador” though, really, really good.
April 2, 2008 at 7:01 pm Permalink
I haven’t actually heard the new Strait album yet. But I worry that I won’t like it as much as “It Just Comes Natural” either, since that’s the first Strait album that I thoroughly enjoyed in quite awhile.
April 2, 2008 at 7:14 pm Permalink
“Boulder to Birmingham”
“For No One”
“I Dug Up A Diamond”
April 2, 2008 at 8:15 pm Permalink
The new Strait is mostly different from the last one because it’s 16 minutes shorter. Otherwise, pretty much the usual degree of excellence.
April 3, 2008 at 8:42 am Permalink
“I Don’t Wanna Talk About It Now”
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