After having the song “Angels In Waiting” land in the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart back in 2001, Tammy Cochran could easily be included as one of the many in Nashville who have used tragedy and heartbreak as the motivation for a hit song. Describing her experience watching her two older brothers, Shawn and Alan, live and eventually pass on from Cystic Fibrosis, the track was a personal and strangely inspirational snapshot of Cochran’s life. It would be one of six songs that Cochran would place on the charts between 2000 and 2002.

Fast forward seven years: With her brand new album 30 Something And Single, Cochran has again used a difficult story in her life–albeit this one with a happier ending–as inspiration in her songwriting. Several of the years between her hit singles and this new album were spent in a tumultuous and grueling adoption process that eventually ended up with the arrest and conviction of a Florida-based adoption facilitator who was assigned to handle Tammy’s case.

“I was just one of several victims of this facilitator. Unknown to me, she used an attorney that was banned by the U.S. Embassy. I sent my money to who I thought was a lawyer. Instead, it ended up being the housekeeper of the lawyer.” In an effort to contain the situation, Tammy recalls, “Just weeks away from bringing Shawn home, I was threatened that my adoption would stop if I went public with my story.”

Cochran never gave up and after a second push for adoption, she brought home a healthy baby boy. What resulted is a tune called “Half The World Away (Shawn’s Song),” a story written during the time in which she wasn’t sure that her adoption would ever go through.

She has written all but one of the songs on the new album and has included many additional stories drawn directly from her life. The one exception is her favorite classic, Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.” It takes her back to childhood when she and her brothers would sit around the record player listening to her parents play old country records. Now she plays the same music for her own son, named after those same brothers. It’s comforting to know that music remains the ties that bind for families like the Cochrans.

KEN MORTON, JR.: Before we touch upon the new album, tell me all about your high school band TC Country. Was that “big time” back in the day?

TAMMY COCHRAN: (Laughing) Oh boy. That was a band that did bars, Elks clubs, local fairs and stuff like that. It was a just your basic run-of-the-mill country band that would play anything that was on the charts at the time. It was fun, though!

KMJ: Let’s jump ahead to the brand new album. How would you describe 30 Something and Single?

TC: I describe it as something that is who I am and shows all aspects of my personality. It has some serious songs and some songs that are funny and tongue in cheek–which I haven’t been able to do thus far in my career. I’m really excited about folks hearing this side of me–the side that can make light of situations and look at things more fun.

KMJ: Who or what were some of your influences on this album’s sound?

TC: Greg Cole produced the project for me and I’ve known Greg for years. He’s done a ton of great work. He’s worked on projects for Darryl Singletary and a bunch of different acts. I met Greg when I first came to town and he knew my style and how I wanted this album to sound. So we sat down and talked about it making an amazing album of songs that are totally me. I wanted songs that were a sound that would represent me, production that would represent me. I wanted bouncy fun songs and serious songs, all that are pretty country. There’s a couple songs that are more on the contemporary country side, but for the most part, they’re all on the other side. A song like “30 Something And Single” is a traditional country ballad.

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Calling Julianne Hough talented and busy would be making understatements on both accounts. The ACM’s Top New Vocalist of the Year in 2009 is starring in two upcoming feature films, co-authoring the “Goddess Guide For Getting Closer” (sponsored by Venus), and releasing her very own work-out video in December, all while prepping her ever-so-important sophomore album.

Luckily, Hough was able to spend a few minutes catching up with The 9513 the day after the CMA Awards.

PIERCE GREENBERG: Big night last night, huh?

JULIANNE HOUGH: It was a good night. It was great—very fun. I’m really happy for Taylor. It was her night.

PG: Yeah, I know you and Taylor are pretty good friends. Did you get a chance to speak with her after the show?

JH: Not really because, obviously, she was doing press and stuff. I headed over to my label and she headed to her party. But we texted each other this morning and she’s super excited. We’re going to go to Tim McGraw’s premiere tonight so we’ll see each other there.

PG: I’ve always kind of wondered this about you and Taylor: Do you ever wonder about what it would be like to live the typical 20-year-old American lifestyle? Do you ever feel like you’re missing out on anything?

JH: Well, yeah, absolutely. I lived in London from when I was 10 to 15 and so I actually wanted to know what it was like to go to high school and have that experience when I was 15. I was not a typical 10-year-old or 15-year-old either, so I moved back and went to high school. It was great and I absolutely loved my experience there. But what I do now, and being 21 and being so blessed and so fortunate to do what I’m doing, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I love what I do.

PG: Last time we talked to you, I think it was about two years ago, and your album was just about to come out. How much have you grown as a person since then?

JH: Oh my goodness, (laughing). I am like two different people. That is just a whole different person. I grew so much just being out on the road and touring and being able to see what works and what doesn’t. And I’d never been in the studio before, so I learned so much who I was and how my voice is. Just being out on tour and singing songs every night, I grew.

With this new record I’m working on now, I’m writing a lot for it because I feel like I know exactly what I want now and what my fans like too. Just being able to write and feel like you’re a creative person is a huge deal. I’m real excited. Plus, just being out on the road, my voice is getting stronger and stronger and it will continue to get stronger, hopefully, until I’m 50. (laughing)

So I’m definitely excited about this new record and I’ve definitely grown massive amounts.

PG: I recall you saying in an interview a couple of years ago that you kind of quit the whole Dancing With the Stars thing because you wanted people to take you seriously as a singer. Do you think you’ve accomplished that or do you still feel like you have to prove yourself?

JH: I feel like I’ll always have something to prove just because that’s the type of person that I am. But honestly, I feel like everybody has welcomed me and has taken me seriously and have been so supportive. I guess it’s just doing your thing and not really trying. I think people can see through people who try too hard to prove something…rather than just being themselves. So, I feel like people have really accepted me and I’m very, very fortunate.

PG: In the mean time, it kind of seems like you have your hand in a few upcoming films—so have your priorities changed at all when it comes to the music?

JH: My priorities haven’t changed. My record and my music are always going to be my number one. I think that’s where my heart truly is. I love to act. I’ve been acting as long as I’ve been singing and dancing. So, with the films I’m doing, I get to sing in both and dance in both and then act, of course, in both. It’s just really fun to be able to be a part of these movies. I’m having a blast with them. They are absolutely phenomenal.

PG: Switching back to the music, is there any kind of timeline for the second album? Have you started that process?

JH: Yeah, we’re hoping that the new single will be out in the beginning of the year, end of January/beginning of February. Then, the album will be the summer—like, May. So, I’m really excited about it. Actually, I’m done now until January with anything else. I’m completely home here in Nashville focused on getting all the vocals on my record, so I’m super excited.

PG: What’s the biggest difference in making the album this time vs. making the first album?

JH: I think just the experience. Your first time around, you’re not really sure and you put your trust in a lot of people and you kind of doubt yourself. This time around, I really know exactly what I want and I’m not going to doubt myself.

I’m not going to try and be so perfect on everything—I’m just going to sing. I’m going to sing how I want to sing and sing how I sing live. I feel like my live shows definitely showcase who I am more than my first record. I’m going to just go do my thing.

PG: What do you hope to accomplish with the second album?

JH: The first record was great for what it was. It was very rushed and very light-hearted—there wasn’t a lot of depth to it, but it was great for what it was and showed my personality. This next one, I really want to get great songs. It’s all about the songs and I feel like there’s a lot inside me that I can do, but it starts with a song.

I feel like my songs, this time around, have a lot more meaning and they’re really true to who I am. And they’ve got the groove, with me being a dancer, I want to have some groove to everything. And it’ll have the country lyrics that everybody loves—the storytelling and the realness of everything. I really hope people will see a more mature—not edgier as in rock and roll, but edgier as in mature—side of me.

PG: You’ve teamed up with Venus to help co-author a book and provide tips to girls to help feel better about themselves. Could you talk about that and how it feels to be a role model for young girls out there?

JH: Well, that’s the thing. I feel like I hold a lot of responsibility to be role model, so I want to make sure that things that I say are actually true to what I believe in and that will hopefully help girls with their self-esteem and confidence. This Goddess Guide definitely does that as far as giving tips from beauty to health to fitness to your finances and dating. But it’s all about being that confident woman and making sure that you’re really happy with who you are.

There’s tips that I use for myself that I put in there as far as the fitness ones and dating ones. It’s fun, it’s young and it’s something that a lot of girls will find like “oh, man, I’ve never tried that, I’m going to try that this time.”

Of course, as far as the beauty goes, the Venus Embrace, for me, is one of my key things—not just for the summer, but all year long. Especially going into winter, when you’re skin is a lot dryer, the Venus Embrace keeps your legs so smooth and silky… well yeah, you’re such a guy, it feels weird talking to you about that. (laughing)

PG: No worries, we have females read The 9513, too.

JH: It’s just my tips. I’ve got a fitness DVD coming out December 15—that’s just like a work-out video. So, it’s fun! It’s all about being true and self confidence and being true to yourself.

Chalk Rodney Atkins’ up as one more Nashville overnight success story. That is, if nights are measured by decades.

Although he had never even played a guitar until well into high school, Rodney’s passion for music through his Tennessee Tech college days was clear to anyone who knew him. As he was working towards his psychology degree, he spent nights playing in bars and honky tonks and spent every free minute commuting to Nashville to do the same. Those Nashville appearances caught the eye of Curb Records, who signed the newcomer in 1997 and quickly released his first single, “In a Heartbeat.” It made it all the way up to number 74 on the Billboard charts, and would take five more years until radio heard another single from Atkins.

His next big push came in 2002 when he released his first album, Honesty. The first two singles off of the album flirted with the charts and it wasn’t until the third, “Honesty (Write Me a List)” that Atkins finally made it into the top 10. But a follow-up single from the album failed to perform.

But nearly ten years after being signed by Curb, things finally clicked for Atkins. With the 2006 release of “If You’re Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)” (the first single from his sophomore album) he scored his first #1.

Since then, he’s continued to score big hits with four additional (and consecutive) chart toppers, including “Watching You,” “These Are My People,” “Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy),” and “It’s America.”

The ACM award-winner for Top New Male Vocalist released a brand new album earlier this year that has spawned two hit singles, and his most recent release, “Chasin’ Girls,” is about to enter the charts. The 9513 had a chance to catch up with Atkins in person after an intimate California radio show at a local bar and grill for a quick interview.

KEN MORTON, JR.: There is a brand new brick building in Greenville, Tennessee, with your name on it, I hear.

RODNEY ATKINS: That was amazing. I didn’t know my name was going to be on the building. It’s on the children’s home that I was adopted from–the orphanage that my parents got me from. I was born in Knoxville, but that is where I ended up. I went through foster care and went through three sets of adopted parents before I wound up with my Mom and Dad. Our goal a few years back was to raise about a million dollars to update that place. It had been there since the 50s, and the building had gotten run down. We wound up raising over five million dollars and they built two new youth homes and a lot of new places there. When we went to the building dedication, they named one of the buildings The Rodney Atkins Youth Home. It’s truly unbelievable. Charles Hutchins, the gentleman that still works there, was the guy that placed me with my family. The whole thing was bigger than I ever dreamed it could be.

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All you young country singers who are looking to expand from country music into pop, movies, television and even book publishing, keep one thing in mind: Dolly did it first. Name any aspect of the entertainment industry, and Dolly Parton has probably been successful at it. Her latest venture is a CD/DVD live concert performance, Dolly: Live From London.

So, for this interview, I had two goals. One, to talk about the new album. And two, to get her laugh recorded for posterity. You know the one–that high-pitched, infectious squeal that can melt the coldest of hearts and brighten up the grayest of days. The Dolly laugh.

SAM GAZDZIAK: You’ve had a couple of live albums out before, but this is the first one that’s got the DVD with it. Why did you decide to put out a concert video?

DOLLY: We thought it was about time. We were really inspired after we did our European tour last year. In London, we worked at the O2 Arena, and the audience was just so great and the place was just so wonderful, and we had such good footage when we got home, we thought this was just too good to put in the archives and hold for another time. We edited it down, and we thought it would be a great idea, as you mentioned, to put the CD and the DVD in one package. That’s what we did, and we’re very excited about it, and we hope the fans are going to love it. We think they will.

SG: From a logistics standpoint, did having all these cameras around you pretty much everywhere you went cause any problems or issues?

DOLLY: No, we knew they were going to be documenting the whole tour as we usually do if we’re doing something really special. I think the audience was told up front they were going to be filmed, in case somebody was sitting next to somebody they weren’t supposed to. So we kind of told them that.

I’m used to cameras around me. I live my live in a fishbowl and in the spotlight, so that was all okay. We just had a great time doing it, and I think it shows. We got a lot of footage from the fans, so they didn’t mind it at all, they liked being part of something special. And we have a lot of interviews from a lot of my band and the crew, and I did a lot of talking within the body of the show. We kind of cut away so the fans have a little more insight as to what we think and how we live. We (taped) the rehearsals, that sort of thing. All in all, I think it’s a wonderful and enlightening, and entertaining look for the fans.

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Founded in the mid-90s in Ogden, Utah, Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband hope to be a two-hit radio wonder.

Comprised of Shupe (fiddle, guitar, ukulele, lead vocals), Roger Archibald (guitar, vocals), Ryan Tilby (bass guitar, vocals), Craig Miner (banjo, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, vocals), and Bart Olson (drums), the band’s music has been described as “a breathtaking blast of manic musical virtuosity.” It certainly is an eclectic mix of several acoustic musical genres, leaning heaviest on country and bluegrass.

When asked about how he describes his music, Shupe gets appropriately analytical: “It probably depends on who I’m talking to. When we look back at when we were answering that question when we were doing our big radio promotion tours, the best answer would have been the funniest answer: ‘We are the biggest country band–no one else sounds like we do so therefore no one in the country is more country.’ But the truth is labels are hard with us. What’s bluegrass? Sure, we have a banjo and a fiddle in our group, but are we bluegrass? No. It’s kind of bluegrassy, but at a bluegrass festival, they’d say, “no way.” We kind of sit somewhere between country, bluegrass, Dave Matthews Band, Barenaked Ladies with some humor mixed in the middle. When I describe my music to someone who has never heard of us, I use names like that because they know what I’m talking about. It’s an acoustic jam rock of bluegrass country.”

Then

After learning to play the fiddle at the tender age of five (in doing so, becoming a fifth generation family player), Shupe started his first band at ten and played in a variety of different bands in his teens and during college. Only one common theme ran throughout each group–they each came to an end when the broke up. From there, the concept of the Rubberband was born. “I decided that I was going to make a band that didn’t break up,” he recalls. The idea would be that the Rubberband would be elastic. That’s the best way to make a band not break-up.”

As Shupe began to shape his musical sound following college, he made friends throughout the community with the best musicians he could find. On gig nights, he brought in the players he needed depending on the venue and the crowd. On some nights, there could be two on stage or as many as five. And then one night, magic happened and the membership became permanent.

“I’m a band guy,” says Shupe. “I’m a big band fan. I like bands. Anyone that plays music knows the difference between a band and a hired gun situation. With a band, you get a cohesiveness that you don’t find any other way. And I’m not saying the other way is bad. I wouldn’t downplay how other artists play music. It’s just different. Anyone who has been in a band knows the moment it becomes a brotherhood. You look at a guy and just know what he’s going to do. There’s that moment when you just gel.”

They were producing a sound that was certainly unique to the band.

“Basically, in a nutshell, it’s acoustic instruments pushed to the limits of what they should be able to do. We do stuff more up-tempo than what people are used to. It is fiddle, guitar, drums, banjo and bass, but it’s got an almost punk beat to it. We love experimenting with different sounds.”

After signing with Capitol Records in 2005, the band released its debut major-label album, Dream Big, which produced a Top 25 hit on the Billboard Hot Country chart with the title track. The song was also picked as the theme song for NBC’s prime-time show “Three Wishes,” hosted by Amy Grant. Dream Big also featured a second release, “Banjo Boy” that failed to chart but did have a music video that was in heavy rotation on CMT.

“I would describe the Dream Big album as good music with a positive theme running through it,” says Shupe. “It’s got something for everyone. I know that’s a generic answer, but in this case, it applies. It’s got love songs, up songs and down songs. It has a theme that’s acoustic based and is music with a positive outlook. We experimented with some rapping-like lyrics on some songs. It has a lot of different elements like that.”

“That was a fun time. We enjoyed the ride–literally. We got to ride around in a big bus. We got to walk the red carpet. It was nice to see that side of things for awhile. We played nearly every festival alongside a lot of great acts and other great musicians. It’s kind of like everything you can imagine. You just show up and they’ve bought you lots of clothes. We got to travel all over the country, flying tons. For a while there, we were doing everything we could imagine.”

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Whitney Duncan didn’t say “I want to be a country music singer” with her very first words, but she might as well have. With a passion that belied her age, Whitney sang at school events, including multiple elementary and middle school graduations as well as finished as a medalist at a talent competition at Loretta Lynn’s ranch.

Country music was always her first love. She begged to go to the famed Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge in downtown Nashville and managed to get up on stage and play when she was barely a teenager. She began traveling to and from Nashville from her home in Scotts Hill, Tennessee, in high school, writing with some of Nashville’s best writers. By her senior year, she had landed a record deal. Almost immediately, Duncan landed a duet with country legend Kenny Rogers, but the first big record release still eluded her. In the meantime, she’d write and co-write cuts for Lee Ann Womack, Katie Arminger and Crystal Shawanda.

In 2007, Duncan participated in the USA Network show Nashville Star, and self-released her debut album. After placing on Nashville Star, she signed to Warner Bros. Records Nashville and the life of the recording star started in motion. Her first solo single, “When I Said I Would” tasted the charts at #48 but it is her third single, “Skinny Dippin’,” that is making its mark. It is in the Top 20 on the Music Row charts and just entered the Billboard Top 50. Meanwhile, the sexy video for the latest single has been a staple across the country music video stations.

KEN MORTON, JR.: Have you been given the key to the city from the mayor of Scotts Hill yet?

WHITNEY DUNCAN: I was. It was awesome. A few years ago, they did that. They had a little parade in town. This town has the nicest people and the coolest people ever.

KMJ: I understand it was your grandfather that introduced you to country music. Tell me about that influence.

WD: I could always hear him singing around the house, and he had such a great voice. But he would never perform in front of other people or anything. And he was always such a big fan of country music. He definitely introduced me to it–and Elvis. I would go to my grandparents’ house on the weekends a lot and I was a total Granddaddy’s girl. I would go and we would watch Elvis performances, movies and everything. I was obsessed with Elvis from age four. We would also constantly watch the Jerry Lee Lewis movie Great Balls Of Fire. Oh my gosh. We would watch that movie every single weekend. As a little girl, I could say the words to the movie before they came out of the actor’s mouths. When I found out that Dennis Quaid was not Jerry Lee Lewis, I think I cried.

When I finally saw the real Jerry Lee Lewis, I said, “That’s not Jerry Lee Lewis!” I had in my mind that Dennis Quaid was Jerry Lee Lewis. I was pretty heartbroken. Not to say that Jerry Lee Lewis isn’t good-looking or anything, but he is no Dennis Quaid. I would say that Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis–both of them–made me want to sing. My parents never played or anything but they both loved music and we always had it around the house and playing in the car. My dad didn’t like country too much. He would listen to the Rolling Stones, John Cougar Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton and all that stuff. My mom would listen to nothing but country. There would always be that battle. And of course, my mom always won. She loved Tanya Tucker, Tammy Wynette, Travis Tritt, Don Williams and all that stuff. I had a lot of different influences growing up in music.

KMJ: And just how early were you performing at the famed Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge?

WD: Too young! When I wanted to go somewhere, my parents were the best. I could talk them into anything. I always wanted to go Tootsies. And during the day, there’s lots of tourists and stuff in there. So I got to go up and play with the house band. I did “Stand By Your Man.” But I had to get out of there when it started to get dark and they started to serve alcohol. I think I was 10, 11 or 12.

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After just a few minutes of speaking with Eddie Montgomery, his passions are clear—his country and his music. Montgomery’s hardy, dry sense of humor seems like it was probably picked up in the small town Kentucky bar where his dad used to play guitar on Saturday nights.

It’s his 10th year as part of the duo Montgomery Gentry, and it’s been a successful one, to say the least. In May, the duo was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and, once again, Eddie and Troy are nominated for the CMA Vocal Duo of the Year Award.

In a decade, the duo has scored 14 Top 5 hits, sold millions of albums, and remains a major force on the road. But as Montgomery speaks about family, honky-tonks, growing up, and UK basketball—it’s hard to tell that he ever left Danville, Kentucky.

PEIRCE GREENBERG: Thursday night you guys did a show in Atlanta as part of a campaign to support the troops. What was that event like?

EDDIE MONTGOMERY: It was off the hook, man. First off, before we go any further, this is the greatest country in the world. We can dream as big as we want to in this great country and the reason why is all of the American heroes, past and present. I tell ya, if I can get on stage and just sing a little bit to give back for what they’re doing for all of us here in America, I’ll do it every chance I get.

We had a lot of service members that were there last night with their family, and that was great to see. Vault and Coca-Cola have not only helped the troops but all of their families and we just want to make sure that me and T get to do our part. Plus, Vault has all these postcards sent out that are pre-addressed and everything—you can pick them up at the Vault stand-ups in the store, which is us, and just write a small letter on it and we’ll make sure it gets to the heroes. I’ll tell you right now, especially with the holidays coming up, it’s great sometimes when you’re sitting in a foxhole for 24 hours a day and somebody brings you a postcard and they just tell you how much they appreciate it.

PG: What would you write on a postcard to the heroes?

EM: I’d definitely want to thank them for everything they’ve done for me, and also, they’re letting my kids dream as big as they want to dream, and I really appreciate that I know my kids can walk out and go to the store and not have to be subject to all the stuff that’s going on around the world. I would want to thank them and tell them how much we miss them over here. And we can’t wait. The bottom line is, when this war is done—and I wish it was done tomorrow—we’re going to throw a hell of a party for them when they come back home.

PG: Shifting gears a little bit, 2009 has been a big year for you and Troy, especially with the Opry Induction earlier this year. Were you guys expecting that at all?

EM: No. It was so unbelievable. It just freaked me out—what a surprise. You only dream that—that’s stuff you only hear about in fairy tales, man.

I was born and raised in a honky-tonk family. I make a joke about it all the time. Me and my brother—I call him John boy, most call him John Michael—we were born in a honky-tonk and we were raised in a honky-tonk. The joke was—my dad played guitar, my mom played drums, and the bartenders were our babysitters because honky-tonk musicians didn’t make a whole lot.

My dad believed in it so much—it was in his heart. As we were coming up, he’d listen to the Grand Ole Opry and I remember sitting out and listening to it as a kid on the radio on WSM. I remember he used to always talk about, whenever the awards show came on, no matter how many awards you get, you haven’t made it until you get to play in and become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. When that happens, then you know you’ve made it.

My dad’s hard work and his dream, it really paid off because it had me dreaming that whole time of playing the Opry and I never would have ever thought that I could be a member.

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In spite of the gloom and doom elsewhere, things are fairly optimistic at the Americana Music Association. The group’s annual Americana Music Festival in Nashville just drew around 11,000 people, plus an additional 4,000 attending non-sponsored but related events. Jed Hilly, the AMA’s executive director, states that the Americana music genre is the new model and has been for some time.

“The secret to the music business today is, if you don’t have the gumption to get in a van and drive from town to town, don’t get in the business,” he says. The typical Americana act, he says, is in the business for the long haul.

“They are not the artists who are waiting to see if they’re going to get a Top 20 hit before their album is released, which happens quite often, too often, to artists on Music Row,” he says. “Being a flash in the pan is not something that they’re looking for. A career making music is something that they think about. They’re not writing songs to fill Madison Square Garden, they’re writing songs that mean something to them, and I believe those are the songs that are going to remain with us.”

Prior to joining the AMA in 2007, Hilly had a long career with Sony Records in New York, helping to break artists like Pearl Jam and Oasis. While acknowledging the struggles of the music industry, he points to several bright spots in the Americana world, including the prevalence of the genre at major festivals and official recognition of the genre by the GRAMMY Awards.

What is Americana anyway?

As the executive director of the AMA, Hilly’s definition of Americana music carries some weight.

“Americana music is contemporary music that honors and/or derives from American roots music,” he says. While the statement is simple enough on paper, in practice it’s broad enough to include a huge variety of music. He likens it to jazz, which features diverse artists like Harry Connick Jr. to Miles Davis to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

“Americana is similar that way. From Solomon Burke to Mike Farris to Lyle Lovett to John Fogerty,” Hilly says. “There is a certain thread that weaves through the varying music that we call Americana that honors American roots music.”

Existing somewhere between country and rock, but with dashes of blues and other types of music thrown in for good measure, Americana music defies easy categorization, and it requires some alternative marketing to survive in a cookie-cutter music world. However, Hilly says that cookie-cutter status of the music industry has led to its current struggles.

“We’re so boxed in as a society, where it’s got to be this, or it’s got to be that,” he says. “We follow more of a model of ‘it’s got to sound great.’”

Hilly and the AMA try to rise the bar for the genre as a whole and raise awareness for this music, and Americana has enjoyed some mainstream recognition. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand album broke into the mainstream, thanks to Plant’s Led Zeppelin background and the album’s five GRAMMY Awards at this year’s show. Many of the major music festivals in the country, including Bonnaroo and South by Southwest, have Americana music at their foundation as well. Part of Hilly’s job is to give that music a home.

The AMA has been involved in its own festival, the Americana Music Festival and Conference, held this September in Nashville. The event has continued to grow over the years, with more and more events selling out. This year, the kick-off event was held at the Nashville Symphony and drew a sell-out crowd of 1,700 people. The event, “An Evening of Classical Americana,” paired Americana artists like Buddy Miller, Sam Bush, Alison Brown, Abigail Washburn and Jerry Douglas with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. The rest of the festival included performances by Marty Stuart, John Prine, Fogerty, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and dozens more, most of whom came and played for a whopping $150 honorarium.

“The breadth of artistry that came to our event this year was really impressive, and what makes it even more impressive is that they come for the love of the music and the community. I’m humbled by it,” he says.

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There’s no one else in country music quite like Kenny Alphin. Known for his top hat and showy, sometimes outrageous stage attire, the “Big” half of multi-Platinum duo Big & Rich is striking out on his own with a November 10th collection titled The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy, an album that explores themes of healing, forgiveness and purpose in “big picture” way. A Big Kenny way, that is.

Kenny’s songs are melodic and flowing, his lyrics poetic. In other words, they’re a perfect representation of the man himself, someone who, in the course of a conversation, is prone to change topics at a moment’s notice, recite a bit of poetry or break into song.

No, calling him a hippie wouldn’t be far off the mark. A fervent opponent of a method of coal mining that removes whole mountaintops, and a strong environmentalist, Kenny employed a bit of flower power for the packaging of Quiet Times…. Not only is the album’s packaging made from recycled material, it’s 100% compostable and can be planted—yes, planted. Supposedly, a selection of perennial wildflowers will begin to grow about 2-3 weeks after planting.

And, as you’ll see in our exclusive interview with him, he’s nothing if not a free spirit. But if there’s one thing that’s true about this colorful figure, it’s that no single label can accurately, fully describe him. “Call me a hippie, call me a farm boy, call me a construction worker, call me a humanitarian, call me a producer, call me a songwriter, call me a Virginian, call me an American, call me a child of the universe,” he says.

After all, he’s the kind of guy who will take three airplanes of supplies and support to Africa, the kind of guy who will go out of his way to help a talented musician get some time in the spotlight, the kind of guy who believes…

Well, maybe the best description is just, “the kind of guy who believes.”

JIM MALEC: Big Kenny, how’s it going man?

BIG KENNY: Jim Malec, how are you brother?

JM: Great, man. I hear from your publicist that you’ve been talking quite a bit today.

BK: I’ve been talking to a lot of folks today. It’s been a good opportunity to get out the good word about The Quiet Times Of A Rock And Roll Farm Boy.

JM: A few months ago I had the pleasure of speaking with your buddy John Rich. I asked him a question, and his answer was, “You’d have to ask Kenny.” So now I’m going to ask Kenny: What the hell does “Green green grass and a rubber Russian bimbo” mean?

BK:It just rhymed really good! (Laughing, Big Kenny begins reciting the lyrics as poetry).

Green green grass and a rubber Russian bimbo
No one’s got a name or a brain for the scarecrow
How can he believe what he sees on the TV
Nothing but extreme over-executed fantasy
Happy dancing feet down the street from the corner
Some may say he’s silly some may say that he’s a loner
How can you explain he’s got a name nobody knows it
Did anybody ever stop and offer him a Prozac

It was kinda just a really quick analogy of something I saw going on in the world at one time. There used to be this man near my apartment complex that was always kinda crossin’ the road and carryin’ an umbrella and wavin’ it. He was just always walkin’ around, you know? And I was just kinda thinking about, you know, did anybody ever stop and say to that guy, “Hello?” Or even ask him what his name was? And he was just, probably, if I had to guess, he was crazy and just happy. Happy to be there. So I was just writin’ something crazy and happy about that.

JM:That’s the thing about you Big Kenny–behind every song there is a great story just waiting to be told.

BK:There is a crazy story behind every song. There’s something that every one of them has meant to me personally, something about where they came from. And Quiet Times, you know, I called the album that because I was at a place in my life where, because of an injury and where I’d put myself, and because of what my desires were and where I’d come to—finding love and having a family in my world—I made myself take some time to be quiet, and reflect, and pray, and contemplate and write the notes to the stuff I really wanted to say in song. That way, I would end up with music that I was that passionate about and that it become important for me that everybody heard it.

I wanted to make that kind of music so I could say “I gotta go sing this stuff.” I wanted to feel like that for a long time. So I wrote a whole lot of songs. I had a whole lot of thoughts. I recorded a whole lot of music, ‘cause over three and a half years I finished up this studio in my back yard. And it’s just like my farm now; I can be home workin’ and my kids can come in and see me play and work and be with me. I can go have lunch with them, just like my dad did with me.

You can see all that in the video for “Long After I’m Gone.” You can see right where I was raised, and see my kids playin’ in the same grass where my daddy played with me. You’ll see more of that on some of the other things we did to go along with the album. We visualized the whole thing, the whole experience. We took all ten of the songs, and I put together a mish-mash and put ‘em in a sequence and I listened to it and visualized all 39 minutes and 25 seconds of it with my team here at Glowtown…

Glowtown. It’s yo town. It’s Glowtown records.

Nashville’s such a creative place, man. It’s a real beacon, a lighthouse of creativity here. And I hope I can do some stuff to inspire people to come and learn from all the talent that keeps pouring into this community. And then, maybe they’ll go out and spread some good music and good songs, you know, not only just here. We should take country music to every other country there is.

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Native Oklahoman Bryan White knows just enough about Dust Bowls to be an expert. After seventeen singles on Billboard’s Country Charts, a mantle full of country music awards, two platinum records and six number one singles including “Someone Else’s Star” (1995), “Rebecca Lynn” (1996), “So Much for Pretending” (1996) and “Sittin’ on Go” (1997), his music career came up dry.

For the last decade, White has toured intermittently, worked on several small projects and continued songwriting. But most of all, he’s taken some time to take stock of his life and delved headfirst into a family with his wife, actress Erika Page of One Life To Live.

“After a decade of building my career and being on the road so much, I was spent, mentally and physically,” he says. “I knew, I needed to get away and take some time to breathe and do some of the other things I had always dreamed of. I found my true identity, not only as an artist and a songwriter, but as a human being. I realize now that life is an incredible gift and it’s meant to be lived on purpose. Music is a gift and a great vehicle but it’s really about what happens beyond the music for me.”

But the music siren called again and White has answered her by completing and releasing his eighth studio album entitled Dustbowl Dreams last month. The title track could be one of the most autobiographical songs of 2009. As the “son of a son of an auctioneer,” White talks about things like pressing on and perseverance, losing his way, being bruised and cut and carrying on the dustbowl dreams of his family. In three minutes, White tells his ten year story. The song ends with an old clip of his grandfather being introduced as an auctioneer and then auctioning off some piece of farm life.

The 9513 had a chance to sit down with the singer/songwriter and talk about his new project and its inspiration.

KEN MORTON JR.: Why 2009 for Dustbowl Dreams?

BRYAN WHITE: That’s a really good question. For fear of going into way too long of a story, there’s just a lot of things that have gone on in my life in the last few years. 2000 was the last full-on record that I released–it was the Greatest Hits. And during that time, I was pretty spent. I was really worn out. I really dealt with the road well and handled it well, but I needed some time to grow up a little bit. I knew it was time for me to take a break. My label at the time went under. Asylum Records went under. The powers that be at Warner pulled the plug. And we all got flipped over to Warner, so I had all of that going on at the same time. I sort of dealt with some confidence things at the same time as well. The airplay went down. It’s a combination of things. All of those things happened, and I had wanted to get away anyways. So this just kind of prodded it a little more. I always dreamed of having a family and all of that. Several different elements came into pulling me in off of the road and it was an opportunity to say, “Hey, I need a break.” And this might have been God’s way of making me take a break. I spent some time away from it all, all the while maintaining some creativity. I’ve always been a writer. So I continued to write.

I was fortunate enough to have a couple cuts a year for other artists. And I did a small collection of dates each year. I wasn’t in a big hurry to do a new record. I felt like it was okay to just write and stay creative. I would know when the time was right to put another record together. There wasn’t a light bulb that went off in my head to start another record. I just started writing about what was going on in my life. I was just jotting down everything going on in my life and it wasn’t too long before I was writing some heavy subject matter. When I looked up from the paper, I realized that I had written some really good songs here. So I wanted to jump in and do this. I didn’t know where it was going to go, but I didn’t want to focus on looking too far ahead. I wanted to just do a real solid project that was representative of who I am now. Let’s just have fun. I took my time and dealt with the struggles in my life and learned a lot about myself. The reason it took so long was I was sorting out who I wanted to be in my life and doing a lot of soul-searching. Amidst that, I was writing about it. And soon I discovered that writing was a great collection for a record. That’s how it got started.

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