The 9513 - Country Music Blog

According to myth and folklore, some 170 years ago, a hero was born with a hammer in his hand. John Henry was a mountain of a man who developed a specialty of driving railroad steel. When the railroad owner had the foreman bring a steam-powered hammer to do the work, John Henry challenged the owner [...]

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Hopefully you all got through yesterday without incident, because April 14 is the anniversary of some pretty awful events. Let’s check out some songs about it. 5. “Booth Shot Lincoln” – Uncle Earl The assassination at Ford’s Theatre occurred on the night of April 14, 1865, when President Lincoln and his wife were attending a [...]

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It seems like more people than ever are sporting tattoos; here are a few of my favorite country songs about ‘em (it must be said that an honorable mention goes to the opening lines of Lucinda Williams’ “Right in Time”). Are any of you sporting country music-themed ink? Show us your tats! 5. “Tattoo” – [...]

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Lullabies have been sung in many languages and music genres going all the way back to 1072, when they were first mentioned by a Turkish writer. And while most people immediately think of a loving and mellow tune sung to bring comfort and sleep to countless babies, country artists haven’t always been so light-hearted in [...]

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Today is Maryland Day, a celebration of the day back in 1634 that settlers first stepped foot onto what would become Maryland soil. Several country singers have paid tribute to various aspects of the state over the years; here are five of my favorite songs about the city of Baltimore. 5. “Baltimore Johnny” – The [...]

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This week’s Friday Five is inspired by a song that was mentioned in Ralph Stanley’s autobiography Man of Constant Sorrow: Cager Farler’s “There’ll Be No Hippies in Heaven.” (Really, Cager? Not even that longhaired dude in sandals?) So what else isn’t in heaven? Let’s find out. 5. “No Lawyers in Heaven” – Ray Stevens If [...]

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The song “Lost Highway” has a very special place in Hank Williams’ canon. Recorded shortly before his death in 1953, it remains one of his best and most worried songs, a bleak evocation of dark sin and bright redemption rendered in plainspoken poetry. That Williams died in the backseat of his car only makes the [...]

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This Friday Five feature on The 9513 is all about nobody. You know the one. Nobody in particular. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. That nobody. On the surface, you might think it might be difficult to find five songs about nobody. But in this case, nobody is a somebody and he’s had thousands of [...]

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There are several songs about acting in general—Merle Haggard’s “Bad Actor” and Buck Owens’ “Act Naturally”—are two that quickly come to mind, but today we’ll get a little more specific. 5. “Ashley Judd” – Charlie Sizemore This dryly humorous bluegrass tune is from Sizemore’s new album Heartache Looking for a Home. Her mother may be [...]

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This week’s Friday Five is inspired by a re-watching of the Keanu Reeves masterpiece Point Break; however, since there are no country songs about a gang of criminal surfers, we’ll just go with the bank robbing aspect. Here are my five favorite songs about bank robbers both real and fictional. Honorable Mention: Ty Herndon’s single [...]

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