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Your Take: Visionary Collaborations
Collaboration between established artists has created some interesting and successful pairings throughout country music’s lifetime. Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, Alan Jackson and George Strait, and with the advent of technology, Alison Krauss & Keith Whitley, and Hank Williams and Bocephus. Last year, Raising […]
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New Porter Wagoner Collection is What a Compilation Should Be
For me, greatest hits and compilation albums serve two purposes: they provide an introduction to artists with whom I’m unfamiliar and they’re an affordable way to obtain the best tracks from artists who do not make good albums. We’ve discussed this at The 9513 and it appears that our readers value these collections […]
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The CMA Awards Continue to Snub the Hall of Fame Inductees
As has been previously reported, the induction of the newest members to the Country Music Hall of Fame will not be aired on the CMA Awards, nor are there plans to even mention them on the three hour broadcast, all under the guise that there isn’t time to do them justice. What a cop […]
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Has the Opry Lowered its Membership Standards?
Josh Turner is among my favorite contemporary radio artists and I cheered his invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry. It seemed to me that his induction was more or less inevitable after the success of Your Man and its descendent singles, but in the time leading up to and now succeeding his Opry invitation, […]
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Did Country Music Re-elect the President?
In the last installment of the Country Music Literature series, we examined the lyrical construction of country songs. The current article considers the political implications of country music and a Department of State official’s assertion that country music may have played an integral, perhaps even an essential, role in re-electing President Bush.
“In the course of […]Continue reading "Did Country Music Re-elect the President?"
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“The Imagined World of Country Music”
This is part two of my analysis of Maxine Grossman’s “Jesus, Mama and the Constraints on Salvific Love in Contemporary Country Music. Read part one here. Check back soon for the next installment of the series, in which I’ll feature a new article.
“All I can say about ‘We Shall be Free’ is that I […]
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Dissecting the Country Lyric: Finding the “Religious Space”
Despite the disdain that many members of the “intellectual elite” seem to exhibit toward country music, academia’s scholarly journals publish a surprising number of excellent articles that thoughtfully examine the art of country music and its cultural and social impact. Search of the most common electronic databases reveals hundreds of insightful gems from the most […]
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Who Will the Opry Induct Next?
It’s been over a year and a half since Dierks Bentley became the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, and since he joined two Opry members have died and others (like Stonewall Jackson) have had public rifts with the famous institution. While the Opry has had longer membership droughts, since 1990 the they […]
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Your Take: How Big Of A Role Do Looks Play In Signing Artists?
Country Weekly is holding their Country’s Sexiest Man poll again this year. Last year’s winner was Keith Urban. You can choose one name from a list and vote, or add a name if it doesn’t appear on the list.
“And don’t worry, guys—the vote for Country’s Most Beautiful Woman is coming up soon.”
You can go […]Continue reading "Your Take: How Big Of A Role Do Looks Play In Signing Artists?"
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Your Take: Why Haven’t Greatest Hits Albums Become Obsolete?
If an artist was successful enough to be able to release a greatest hits album, then said artist has probably amassed a pretty big group of fans, who have undoubtedly bought one or more of the artist’s albums. The greatest hits album most likely pulls some songs from those previous albums, so if a fan […]
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LeAnn Rimes - “What I Cannot Change” When LeAnn Rimes enters a recording studio, she carries with her the most impressive instrument in the room.
Kellie Pickler - “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” Coming from Kellie Pickler, it’s like a rich man telling the beggar that his soul is rich and that’s better than all the money in the world.
Lee Ann Womack - “Last Call” It’s not her strongest song, but it’s well written with a good performance, and despite the dull internal conflict, it’s rife with emotional depth.
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.
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
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
- CRAIG R.: Jim that is an excellent point....
- Jim Malec: I think Toby is one of the better recording artists in country music--but like s...
- Brian: Toby once made the comment that he was the "Barry Bonds of songwriting." After "...
- CRAIG R.: I must confess that Toby Keith has really not impressed me that much since " H...
- John Maglite: I agree. If you don't agree with D16, you are clearly naieve....
- D16: Telly, How can yoube so naieve. This is a great song...
- Sam G.: Didn't know there was going to be so many promising releases coming up in the ne...
- CF: Nice review. Imma check it out....
- Telly: I love, love, love Toby Keith, but that song is really bad. Just horribly bad. ...
- Kelly: "Watch what you say to someone with nothing, it's almost like having it all" ...
