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Album Review: Hayes Carll - Trouble In Mind
Far too much of the country music coming out today is “successful” in achieving a very limited aim; to be enjoyable by leaning heavily on pop-rock conventions while using the lyrics to vaguely define the emotional point of the song and to provide just enough of a hook for folks to sing to. […]
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Album Review: Kathy Mattea - Coal
Kathy Mattea’s recently released album, Coal, is a superb concept album centered around coal and it’s effect on the people who depend upon it for their livelihood. She’s taken a collection of songs that stood well on their own when released previously and molded them into her greater thematic vision to tell the story […]
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Album Review: Josh Gracin - We Weren’t Crazy
Four long years after the release of his self-titled debut, Josh Gracin returns with We Weren’t Crazy, a full-throttle, balls-to-the-wall effort that, despite its obsession with tempo, reads as the most sincere country effort yet from an American Idol alumnus.
The album avoids all of the song-traps that artistically doom so many of its contemporaries, […]Continue reading "Album Review: Josh Gracin - We Weren’t Crazy"
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March ‘08 Album Review Wrap-Up
Carlene Carter - Stronger
Born the daughter of June Carter and Carl Smith and step-daughter to Johnny Cash made Carlene Carter an heir to a rich line of country music nobility, but that doesn’t mean you’ll finder her latest album dripping with steel guitars, fiddles, and hillbilly twang. Stronger is at times beautiful and poignant, […] -
Album Review: James Otto - Sunset Man
James Otto has garnered a few mentions on The 9513 thus far, including making Jim Malec’s list of Artists to Watch in 2008, but even so, his name may not be familiar. Hopefully that will change with the release of his sophomore album, Sunset Man, featuring John Rich and Otto as producers, with Jay […]
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Album Review: George Strait - Troubadour
George Strait has a knack for choosing the right songs, which has helped him remain a constant on the charts over the past twenty seven years, so it’s hard not to jump on his bandwagon and praise everything he does. His twenty-fifth studio album, Troubadour, no doubt contains some strong singles and has him […]
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Album Review: Justin Townes Earle - “The Good Life”
Justin Townes Earle has given us an interesting, compelling album that sways and strides like a young, charming wino; The Good Life contains moments of picturesque reflection, moments of intense focus, and moments of grinning exuberance–all of which are informed and intensified by the sense of candor that accompanies that fourth glass of wine […]
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Album Review: Alan Jackson - Good Time
In 71 minutes, Alan Jackson’s latest album, Good Time, takes us back four years, to the last batch of his traditional variety of country music, What I Do. It’s good to have him back.
That’s not to say the years since 2004 have been fruitless. Precious Memories, a sentimental collection of hymns, and Like Red […] -
February ‘08 Album Review Wrap-Up
Blue Highway - Through the Window of a Train
If Dierks Bentley ever makes a bluegrass album, and I suspect that he will, it would sound a lot like this. The Dierksache may not much resemble Tim Stafford’s high lonesome, but Through the Window of a Train finds this veteran bluegrass group crooning a self-penned set […] -
Album Review: Joe Ely & Joel Guzman - Live Cactus!
Interstate 10 spans from coast to coast, but perhaps the most lonesome stretch belongs to West Texas. Aside from occasional wildlife sightings and a windmill farm it’s a desolate view–not what one would refer to as a scenic route, but it’s the fastest means of travel from one destination to the next.
One could even […]Continue reading "Album Review: Joe Ely & Joel Guzman - Live Cactus!"
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Carrie Underwood - “Just a Dream” “Just a Dream” is not perfect. In fact, it’s deeply, deeply broken. But the single is a great vocal performance of a risky song
Toby Keith - “She Never Cried In Front Of Me” Apart from the shifts in perspective and changes in tense, the major problem with this song is that the lyric fleshes out too many irrelevant details.
Brad Paisley - “Waitin’ On a Woman” Bizarrely, it took a song written by someone other than Brad Paisley for radio to hear what the Paisley style can truly accomplish.
LeAnn Rimes - “What I Cannot Change” When LeAnn Rimes enters a recording studio, she carries with her the most impressive instrument in the room.
Randy Travis - “Dig Two Graves” The combination of song and Travis’ performance together are an example of what makes country music truly exceptional.
Pat Green - “Let Me” The song itself owns Pat Green and he gets lost somewhere in the melody.
Merle Haggard at the Ryman Auditorium: Of the Haggard classics, “Silver Wings,” “The Way I Am” and crowd-favorite “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” were performed with confident ease while “Kern River” was sung with inspired tenderness and “Back to Earth,” from 2007’s Last of the Breed, contained more than a trace of Willie’s nasally twang. 
One of an emerging wave of artists empowered by decreasing production costs and a rapidly changing distribution landscape, Kelleigh Bannen has taken a do-it-yourself approach to her debut album, Radio Skies.
The two-time Dancing With The Stars champion, Julianne Hough, recently took some time to answer questions for The 9513 in this exclusive interview.
After cutting ties with Warner Bros. Records, Ray Scott decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and form Jethropolitan Records, a place where he can get back to the blood and guts of what he terms “real country music,” the kind of stuff you don’t hear on radio anymore.
Catch up on Nashville Star through Matt C.'s live blog. Episode I | Episode II | Episode III | Episode IV | Episode V
Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music by Dana Jennings When Jennings addresses modern country in the final chapter, he leaves you with the impression that it just can’t tap into the primal psyche the same way the classics that served as his nursery rhymes did.Current Discussion
- bresenolouie: In this haunting tale of the young widow, she is confused about the sudden tragi...
- Julie: I'm only an occasional reader of this site, and I'm beginning to see why. This ...
- bresenolouie: Chris N. is perfectly right!!! This is a universal situation - the "REALITY IN ...
- Dustin: JMO: Matt, just wait for this video to come to help you understand, its ok to ad...
- Stormy: Well then,revenge first and investigation later. The song has a huge poblem wit...
- Brady Vercher: Nice try, but I didn't suggest the song wasn't about vengeance. My willful inter...
- Chris N.: Yeah! It’s just like how the Europeans learned to speak the Native Americans...
- JR: I love this song! Where can I get a copy to balst from my speakers as I drive th...
- Stormy: How does one interpret the song to be about something other than vengance?...
- Sarah: I don't care what anyone says the song "Back that thang up" is AWESOME!! Justi...
