Country Music Accounts For A Fourth Of Radio’s Top 100 Songs
- CMT has a new blog up where multiple authors are posting, one of which is Sunny Sweeney. She’s already written about two of my favorite Texas guys in Adam Hood and Jason Boland and the Stragglers. She said people kept asking her if she only listens to old country, and she did until recently when she heard Hood:
This Adam Hood guy hit me like a brick. His voice is seriously sexy and he’s a hell of a songwriter. He has a song called “Varnado” about a little town that he has to go to and leave his girl. It is catchy, catchy, catchy, catchy. Don’t be surprised if you start hearing me singing it at my shows.
In the other entry Sweeney claims that The Bourbon Legend from Jason Boland and the Stragglers is her new favorite CD. I think she has good taste and this is going to be an interesting blog to keep track of.
- Check out Craig Shelburne’s list of 10 Indie CDs You Might Have Missed.
- If you’ve been following the news roundups lately, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been linking to Still Is Still Moving quite a bit as she details her encounters with Willie Nelson. Up until now Willie mentioned on a radio station that he reads her blog, she got to call in and talk to him, and now she finally got to sit on his tour bus and meet him.
- The Tennessean has an article about the events leading up to Porter Wagoner’s Wagonmaster album and about the album itself, but you get a better sense of the kind of man that Wagoner is from one of the comments that a reader left:
When I was a very young child, I was at the lake and got an enormous splinter in my foot on the boat dock. I was screaming in pain and a man walked up and took the splinter out of my foot. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but after he left, my parents told me it was Porter Wagner. I’ve never forgotten that day and I’ve been a fan ever since. If Mr. Wagner reads this and remembers that day, THANK YOU. I still frequent that lake and that dock (Sligo).
- If you’re a big fan of country music, you might want to check out RolandNote.com. CMT has a good write up describing what RolandNote is.
- If you’ve never heard the name Ricky Traywick, don’t feel too bad, because I hadn’t either until now. Take Country Back pulled an old article about Ricky and reposted it with song samples at the bottom.
“My dad was always a big country music fan, so we grew up listening to a lot of the old stuff. Hank Williams and Patsy Cline were probably his favorites.” Ricky recalls. But listening to music wasn’t the only influence he and his brother had. “Actually, my dad took us to guitar lessons together. Afterwards, we would go home and “jam” in the den, learning from each other. We would take turns playing lead and rhythm, always trying to out play each other.”
His brother is Randy Travis.
- So far in 2007, country music has accounted for 24% of radio’s Top 100 songs. Unfortunately, country hasn’t faired as well against other genres when it comes to sales.
- Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood headlined a show for Live Earth on Saturday near the White House. Do you think Garth will ever completely come out of retirement?
- Like Bruce Robison, Marcus Hummon is a little known artist who’s work is mined by those in the spotlight, including: Tim McGraw, Doug Stone, and Rascal Flatts. The Lost Highway has a great article on the singer/songwriter.
- The soundtrack to a new indie film sports a number of Texas artists. The film, Coyote Funeral, is about two brothers making their way across Texas on foot. “Whether or not Casey and Dustin make it to El Paso will depend less on braving the elements than surviving each other.” Sounds like it could be interesting.
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Adam Hood // Garth Brooks // Jason Boland and the Stragglers // Marcus Hummon // Porter Wagoner // Randy Travis // Ricky Traywick // Sunny Sweeney // Tricia Yearwood // Willie Nelson
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In this exclusive interview for The 9513, Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook talks about life with the band, as well as A Place to Land, the group’s current album, which has charted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart on two separate occasions
Honeyhoney isn’t country. That’s what lead singer Suzanne Santo, one half of the Venice, California, duo will tell you. But the sultry-voiced Santo and her musical partner Ben Jaffe have together created a sound that if not technically country, nonetheless boasts considerably country undertones.
In an attempt to discover and highlight the best music every month, We'll be publishing a list of the best songs released throughout that period. Here's Brady Vercher's picks for September.
Toby Keith - “God Love Her” Solid, though neither life-changing nor earth-moving; “God Love Her” fits well beside Keith’s better material, an uptempo romp that, for better or worse, has no intention of even pretending to be your grandpa’s country music.
Hank Williams III - “Six Pack of Beer” It’s hard not to love “Six Pack of Beer” for its style—Williams remains one of the most unique artists of his generation, and the musicianship and arrangements utilized on his records can elicit truly euphoric reactions.
Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally - “Down The Road” There is a somberness in Chesney’s delivery that perfectly matches McAnally’s; this understated vocal performance is his best in years.
Jason Michael Carroll - “Where I’m From” In a format already oversaturated with songs about celebrating rural roots, “Where I’m From” begins a step behind and never catches up.
Emerson Drive - "Belongs To You" It's a song as well-constructed as could be expected (considering that it is made up almost entirely of clichés), but which nonetheless feels like an exercise in mediocrity.
Becky Schlegel - "Jenny" It's a study in interpretation and supportive arrangement that maximize the emotional significance of the lyric, reflecting artistry without becoming inaccessible.
For 23 year-old Jeannie C. Riley, the top of the mountain was reached in August 1968, when “Harper Valley PTA” jumped from No. 81 to No. 1 on the Billboard (all-genres) Singles Chart.







6 Comments
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July 9, 2007 at 10:53 am Permalink
Thanks for the shout out!
July 10, 2007 at 4:35 am Permalink
Trisha Yearwood’s public appearances are way too few and far between these days. Good to see her again.
July 10, 2007 at 10:37 am Permalink
Yeah, Brody, how cool is that that I got to go on Willie’s bus and meet him! It was so much fun. When I walked on the bus (after stepping aside for David Letterman, who had been on the bus talking to Willie), he just looked up and smiled with that sweet Willie Nelson twinkle in his eye, and grabbed my hand and pulled me down beside him. Then he was talking to those Montana ranchers about Farm Aid, the 2007 Farm Bill, etc., and I could just sit there and relax and watch him in profile. Then they left and we got to talk abit. He said he goes to my site every morning to see where he’s been the night before! I knew it was time for him to go on stage for all those fans chanting his name, and I went back out. Then he came on stage, and looked down and saw me and gave me the sweetest smile of recognition.
Well, now I guess I can stop blogging about Willie, huh? I got to meet the man. :)
I will post more pictures from earlier picnics. Lots of nudity in the ’70’s! Times have changed, although there is still one or two women who will flash him at the shows. That’s usually because Poodie is off stage encouraging the ladies to do that. :)
July 10, 2007 at 10:58 am Permalink
Tell us what we really want to know: did you blaze one up with him?
July 10, 2007 at 11:07 am Permalink
You can’t stop blogging about Willie lest he may forget where he was the night before!
July 10, 2007 at 12:27 pm Permalink
I know, I know, everyone asks me that! No, didn’t get to burn one with him this time, but I hope there’s a next time! The bus smelled great, though. :)
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