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Jerrod Niemann – “One More Drinking Song”
Nobody can accuse Jerrod Niemann of false advertising: “One More Drinking Song” is exactly what its title promises, and not a scosh more. Although it’s a bit tempting to reward anything country-sounding in light of the debacle that was last Wednesday’s CMA Awards show, the truth is that if the neotrad generica represented by Niemann’s [...]
Continue reading "Jerrod Niemann – “One More Drinking Song”"
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Album Review: Steve Wariner – My Tribute To Chet Atkins
The new Chet Atkins tribute album is brought to you by Steve Wariner, c.g.p.
The acronym stands for “certified guitar player,” a designation given by Atkins to a select few musicians who he felt made significant contributions to the world of guitar–Wariner was one of only four to receive this honor (the others were Jerry Reed, [...]Continue reading "Album Review: Steve Wariner – My Tribute To Chet Atkins"
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Chris Young – “The Man I Want To Be”
Songwriters: Brett James & Tim Nichols.
Chris Young’s self-titled first album suffered from an acute case of Underwooditis: a great voice, but not-so-great material. While the dozens of Nashville Star viewers may have bought the record, the subsequent radio play just wasn’t enough to make him a household name. His second album has been much better [...] -
Margaret Durante – “Use Somebody”
Songwriter: Anthony Caleb Followill
When a new artist releases a cover song as his or her first single–especially a cover of a non-country song–there are two ways it could flesh out.
A cover song comes with a built-in audience, or at least an “Oh-that-sounds-familiar” audience. And those 20-some extra seconds a familiar tune may buy can make [...] -
Hank Williams Jr. and The Grascals – “All The Roads”
Songwriter: Hank Williams Jr.
The Grascals are no strangers to the rowdy side of country music, having covered Waylon Jennings’ “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line” on their last album, Keep On Walkin’. Even so, their collaboration with Hank Williams, Jr. on his new single, “All the Roads,” is a pleasant surprise. Not only is it [...]Continue reading "Hank Williams Jr. and The Grascals – “All The Roads”"
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Joe Nichols – “Gimmie That Girl”
Songwriters: Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip.
When an artist capable of transcendent moments like “An Old Friend of Mine” and the note-perfect rendering of Dement-via-Haggard heartbreaker “No Time to Cry” that graces Revelation sets out to have a radio hit, it’s usually pretty obvious. That’s the curse of being an adept interpreter of weighty material: [...] -
James House – “I Love You Man”
Songwriters: Don Cook, James House, Curly Putnam and Rafe Van Hoy.
“Written by committee” is a standard put-down for jumbled songs so chock-full of cliches without any sort of concentrated focus that it’s easy to imagine a room full of songwriters throwing proverbial darts at a lyrical dartboard in search of easily digestible, commercially viable [...] -
Gwen Sebastian – “Hard Rain”
Songwriters: Jason Jones & Brett Jones.
One of country music’s greatest strengths is its realism. All the joys, sorrows and experiences of life are presented right there, on country radio, in a manner to which everyone can relate. For example, everyone I know who’s from a small, backwoods hick town constantly waxes poetic about general [...] -
Lee Ann Womack – “There Is A God”
Songwriters: Christopher DuBois & Ashley Gorley.
Exactly one year ago, Lee Ann Womack released a collection of whiskey-and-heartbreak laced neo-traditional country music that included songs about bars, dying relationships and domestic abuse. That collection, titled Call Me Crazy, was masterfully sung, beautifully recorded, splendidly arranged, wonderfully written, and, of course, a complete commercial failure.
Maybe a major [...] -
Toby Keith – “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)”
Songwriter: Toby Keith
Before his life was cut short by cancer at age 44, Wayman Tisdale had made a name for himself in two pretty diverse fields: professional basketball and jazz. He’d also been a long-time friend of Toby Keith, who sang a song on Tisdale’s last album and wrote this song days after Tisdale’s death [...]Continue reading "Toby Keith – “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)”"
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