Bust Out The Vinyl and Sleeveface Your Favorite Artists
- Sleeveface.com is a website gaining in popularity, and deservedly so as the illusions created can be quite entertaining. The term sleeveface is defined as “one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion.” Basically a person holds a sleeve of a vinyl disc featuring an artist’s face or body part in front of their own face or corresponding body part to make it appear that they’re actually the person on the cover. It’s easier to understand if you see examples and browsing through the Sleeveface Flickr group I came across a couple of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kenny Rogers‘ sleevefaces. Obviously, some are better executed than others. Here’s a couple of covers I’d like to see sleevefaced: Bitter Tears and Rubber Room. What are some more good ones?
- New York Times writer Kelefa Sanneh was puzzled by Carrie Underwood’s opening performance, she felt like Underwood was trying too hard on some songs and it showed in her awkward stage banter. She says Keith Urban’s “assured headlining performance looked even better compared to Ms. Underwood’s uneven one.”
- Valentine’s Day spurred the songwriting career of Don Schlitz, who wrote: Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” Randy Travis’ “On The Other Hand” and “Forever And Ever, Amen,” and Keith Whitley’s “When You Say Nothing At All.” Tom Roland tells the story.
- CMT opened their first retail store, CMT Loot, at the Nashville airport.
- Sara Evans is holding an auction on her website in an effort to raise relief funds for those hit by tornadoes in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi. Items up for bid include the autographed top and dress that she wore in her music video for “As If.”
- The two-disc DVD The Best Of The Johnny Cash TV Show has been certified platinum for shipments of more than 100,000 copies.
- To create artistically compelling music is not one of the reasons that rapper T-Pain mentioned for wanting to record a duet with Toby Keith.
Asked why Keith is on his list, T-Pain said, “He’s just different, man. He sells a lot of records.” Laughing, he adds, “He’s rich! I just want to be friends with him, I guess. That would be great!”
- Stephen Holden says the best moment of Lari White’s new “Love Letters” show is when she performs the set’s purest country song, “Box of Love Letters From Old Mexico.” Ms. White performed in the “Ring of Fire” musical and produced Toby Keith’s White Trash With Money album.
- Behind the scenes look at the Willie Nelson video “You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore” from Bad Boy Mowers. (via the #1 Willie resource, Still Is Still Moving)
- Yahoo! Music has an exclusive in-studio performance of Ryan Bingham performing “Southside of Heaven” and a video interview.
- Based on Chet Flippo’s review of Good Time, Alan Jackson’s forthcoming album, country fans won’t be let down.
In some ways, Jackson has become the Ernest Hemingway of country music. In writing, that is. Not necessarily in lifestyle. At Hemingway’s best, he told stories very simply, getting directly to the point. He knew his subject inside out, whether it was bullfighting or deep-sea fishing and could brilliantly tell a vivid story about it in as few words as needed. Similarly, Jackson, has staked out his turf and can write and sing about it in a simple and direct style.
- Ricky Skaggs, LeAnn Rimes, and Martina McBride are among the nominees for 39th Annual GMA Dove Awards, also known as gospel music’s biggest night.
- Bobby Braddock: “I’ve been following the Roger Clemens controversy, and I’m beginning to wonder, will songwriters someday have to give back the awards they received for songs they wrote when they were high?”
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Alan Jackson // Bobby Braddock // Carrie Underwood // Don Schlitz // Johnny Cash // Keith Urban // Keith Whitley // Kenny Rogers // Lari White // LeAnn Rimes // Martina McBride // Randy Travis // Ricky Skaggs // Ryan Bingham // Sara Evans // Toby Keith // Willie Nelson
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February 15, 2008 at 12:10 pm Permalink
I think the Alan Jackson to Hemingway comparison is the first time I’ve actually seen an artist to Hemingway comparison that actually works. Most of the time, the correlation goes something like “such and such artist is good, Hemingway was good, such and such artist is like Hemingway.”
February 15, 2008 at 7:35 pm Permalink
The review of Lari White’s show was interesting and totally consistent with what I’ve seen and heard from Lari over the years. She is a happy, bubbly gal with a pure voice that just doesn’t have a lot of oomph behind it, which is not exactly suited to the songs she performs in this new show. I think Shelby Lynne or Wynonna Judd would likely be better suited to the material. I give Lari an “A” for effort for her “Blue Eyed Soul” album, but the actual music just wasn’t that listenable.
My favorite performance from Lari was actually one of her only big screen acting jobs. Lari played the artistic metal sculpturing welder that Tom Hanks delivers the final Fed-Ex package to at the end of Cast Away. After dropping off this package, that was with him from the time of the plane crash and his stint on the desert island, he delivers it to complete his mission. He drops it off and only meets Lari when she climbs out of her pick-up truck on the road out from her farmhouse. She was perfectly typecast as all she had to act like was herself….
February 15, 2008 at 11:22 pm Permalink
I’m not generally a fan of Keith Urban’s music (it just doesn’t do anything for me), but he sounds like he’s awesome in concert - always glowing reviews from people who sound like they generally don’t know his music or aren’t’ big fans. If I didn’t have to sit through Carrie, I might consider buying a ticket. He’s got such an affable personality, he’s hard not to like. That’s a shame that the fans didn’t stick around, but given that they are Carrie fans, they are probably young girls out on a school night.
February 16, 2008 at 10:56 am Permalink
Ryan Bingham is the real deal. I’m glade he’s getting the recognition he deserves (like my top of 2007 list!)
February 19, 2008 at 6:25 pm Permalink
ol Braddock had to be high to write, I Wanna Talk About Me.
“Wanna talk about number 1 oh my, me, my, let’s all go get high…..”
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