The 9513 - Country Music Blog

The third major posthumous multi-artist tribute to Waylon Jennings is certainly the most youthful of the lot. In fact, about half the performers featured here had not yet made any significant mark on mainstream country music by 2003, the year that saw the release of both Dualtone’s singer-songwritery Lonesome, On’ry and Mean and RCA’s more [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Various Artists – The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Vol. 1"

You’d think that Hot Club of Cowtown would have recorded a Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys tribute album earlier in their twelve-year history, considering that they named their band in honor of Wills (and gypsy jazz pioneer Django Reinhardt’s Hot Club of France). Luckily, What Makes Bob Holler is a covers album that’s worth [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Hot Club of Cowtown – What Makes Bob Holler"

The title of Hayes Carll’s fourth and best album is a reference to the military acronym that stands for “Kiss My Ass Guys, You’re on Your Own,” and a pair of tracks weave personal narratives into political statements. The title cut, with rapid fire verses a la REM’s “It’s the End of the World As [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Hayes Carll – KMAG YOYO"

Blaze Foley is probably remembered more today for the songs that were written about him (“Blaze’s Blues” by Townes Van Zandt and “Drunken Angel” by Lucinda Williams) than the ones written by him. John Prine, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson have covered his songs, but Foley, who was shot to death in 1989 at the [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Gurf Morlix – Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream"

The class of freshman traditionalists who eagerly took to the airwaves around the turn of the millennium is now graduating to hits collection status, with Joe Nichols’ simply-titled Greatest Hits hot on the heels of November collections from Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton. The Nichols collection is the skimpiest of the lot, clocking in at [...]

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Despite being considerably shorter than the anticipated full-length sophomore release, this uncreatively titled collection actually contains more of Sweeney’s own songwriting than Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame, the 2006 record that first set fans and critics abuzz about the prodigiously talented Texan. In fact, Sweeney has cowritten every one of these five tracks—and that’s mostly for [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Sunny Sweeney – Sunny Sweeney EP"

Lori McKenna, 42, scored her big break in 2005 when she landed cuts on albums from Nashville starlets Faith Hill and Sara Evans. The next year Warner Bros. Records signed her to a recording contract and she appeared with Hill on an episode of Oprah. It was all heady stuff for the Stoughton, Mass. native, [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Lori McKenna – Lorraine"

One of the best elements of a Grascals album is their choice in covers, which have included their own versions of songs made famous by Jennings, Jones, and Haggard–just to name a few. The sextet’s blend of bluegrass and classic country makes them one of the most entertaining, most consistent bands in roots music. The [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: The Grascals – The Grascals & Friends"

Steel Magnolia, a duo formed by Meghan Linsey and beau Joshua Scott Jones, first gained attention on the second season of CMT’s Can You Duet, and that exposure has worked wonders for their confidence. Stripped of the rookie jitters, they’re a considerable presence on stage and share that same exuberance on this self-titled debut. Steel [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Steel Magnolia – Steel Magnolia"

Yes, this was supposed to be Sevens. I’ve been making my way chronologically through Garth Brooks’ catalog, listening to each album for the very first time, wrestling with each one as both a separate work and a piece of a larger catalog, and ultimately trying to measure the distance I’ve come since my teenage self [...]

Continue reading "Christmas Jeer: Garth Brooks’ Beyond the Season and The Magic of Christmas"