The 9513 - Country Music Blog

Songwriters: Jamey Johnson and Rivers Rutherford On his latest single, a Southern rock kernel of truth, Jamey Johnson bows down to the ample power of heartache. The Alabama native gives a mischievous performance that fits perfectly with the song’s miserable sentiment: “I’m a heartache hungry and huntin’, someone I can eat alive.” The Guitar Song, [...]

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Songwriters: BC Jean and Toby Gad As an artist with an impressive 30-year run in country music, it’s no wonder Reba McEntire knows how to stay hip. In 1994′s “Why Haven’t I Heard From You,” the singer was on the cutting edge of mobile technology, praising the wonders of phones carried in “your briefcase, on [...]

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Songwriters: Tommy Lee James and Andrew Dorff Well, you can’t accuse him of lacking ambition. For his first official solo single in 27 years, Ronnie Dunn has recorded an epic monster of a song, so awash in generality and bursting with conciliatory sentiment that it practically begs to be played at the climax of a [...]

Continue reading "Ronnie Dunn – “Bleed Red”"

Songwriters: Rivers Rutherford, Annie Tate and Sam Tate Perhaps the biggest surprise among the Grammy nominations in the country field was the presence of “I’d Love to Be Your Last,” the sparse ballad that serves as a pleasant coda for Gretchen Wilson’s latest album, I Got Your Country Here. On a project filled with boisterous [...]

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Songwriters: Steve Robson and Jason Sellers “I Won’t Let Go” could be a vow of marital devotion or a promise to protect a baby daughter through her childhood years. Perhaps it’s a helping hand extended to a friend, or maybe the whole thing is written from the vantage point of God addressing a member of [...]

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Songwriters: Aaron Henningsen, Brian Henningsen and Clara Henningsen Coming off the forgettable “Hip to My Heart” and sleeper hit “If I Die Young,” The Band Perry’s Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry have managed to combine uneven output with small flashes of brilliance, showing just enough lyrical leg to keep radio and critics alike interested. For [...]

Continue reading "The Band Perry – “You Lie”"

On David Bradley’s “Hard Time Movin’ On,” a down-and-out, depressed man succumbs to his busted heart in the middle of the night. Against his better judgment, he calls his ex to confide the misery he’s been mired in since her departure. A comforting voice is the only cure in these dark hours, pride be damned. [...]

Continue reading "David Bradley featuring Rodney Crowell – “Hard Time Movin’ On”"

Have you ever thought to yourself that country radio needs more porno music? You know, like the cheesy, ’70s-style “bow chicka bow wow” that signifies impending sexytime? Trace Adkins’ new single—at #55 on the charts and climbing—is the song for you. It starts out promising, with a cool, plunky banjo intro and some country-rock guitars, [...]

Continue reading "Trace Adkins – “Brown Chicken Brown Cow”"

Of all the late-twentieth-century alterna-pop artists to go country in the early twentieth century – Bon Jovi, Jewel, Darius, Kid Rock, that guy from Better Than Ezra – the least likely convert has to be Aaron Lewis, the stubble-headed singer for mook-rock also-rans Staind. You may remember them from their aggressively introspective radio ballads, “So [...]

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Songwriters: Ben Glover, Joe Leathers and Rachel Thibodeau Curb artist Steve Holy’s last album was released back in 2006; five years can seem a lifetime, an agonizing, career-challenging lull for a star in the music business. To his credit, his latest single “Love Don’t Run” showcases a voice with newfound maturity, and a lyric with [...]

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