Country Music Writers Remember Eddy Arnold
- As remarkable as Eddy Arnold’s country music career was, Chet Flippo says, “his lasting legacy will be that he made the world safe for country pop music.” Flippo also pulled a snippet from a CMT interview where Arnold recalled one of the first times he recognized the split between pop and hillbilly music.
- Peter Cooper says goodbye to Eddy Arnold by remembering his life and career, and Bill Friskics-Warren says intimacy was his calling card and “at the heart of Arnold’s appeal was his lustrous, purling singing voice.”
- Danielle “Bella” Romeo is a 17 year-old high school sophomore who suffers from a rare disorder that causes her to endure a rainbow of seizures. Chris Cagle was introduced to Bella at a benefit concert late last year and just recently escorted the high schooler to the prom in Victoria, TX.
- Former oil roughneck Trace Adkins wrote and recorded a song called “Black Gold” for an upcoming TV series by the same name. The show will follow three crews around West Texas on their quest to discover oil.
- Galleywinter has yet another fantastic edition of 20 Questions. This time their musical guest of honor is Matt Hillyer, lead singer of the Dallas-based band Eleven Hundred Springs.
GW: What do you see as the main difference between the music you’re making and the stuff you hear on mainstream radio?
Matt: We’re trying desperately to get back to the heart and soul of country music. You’ve got to get the blues back in to it. That heartfelt feeling that rings true for everyone. We’re trying to keep the formula simple in hopes it will be classic…or at least pay tribute to something classic.
- Adam Hood’s Different Groove album was released a year ago and to mark the occasion Little Dog Records released an acoustic version of Different Groove through their download store.
- Visit WSM Online to listen to Justin Towne’s Earle’s Opry debut from 5/2. While you’re there, peruse the archives for a lot of other great country music.
- Owen Roberts has a Q&A with Andy Friedman, who has become a fixture in the Brooklyn country music scene with his band the Other Failures.
- Thirty-five years ago a record label broke up the band Mudcrutch. Half the band, including bass player Tom Petty, went on to form The Heartbreakers. You could say that they had some success. Recently Tom Petty wanted to get that original band back together and record an album. Their self-titled debut was released on April 29th and Hickory Wind’s Sean Moore describes it as “a sunny, sometimes spirited slice of country-rock.”
- Jennifer Hanson’s full-lenghth album titled Thankful will be released as a digital exclusive on June 3rd.
- Detroit Free Press has a five question Q&A with Trisha Yearwood in which she describes something she calls the “Emmylou factor.”
I’m such a fan (of Emmylou Harris), and she is a great lady and she represents musical integrity. We don’t live in a world where that’s treasured that much. I’ve had that thought of: “I want to record this song. I think it’s a big hit, but it’s really kind of cheesy — should I record it or not?”
And I’ve thought that if I ran into Emmylou Harris on the street and it was a big hit, would she say “That’s really awesome” or cross to the other side of the street?
- Check out Yallwire.com for their newest internet reality series, The Long Road to Nashville. The cameras follow Jonalee White for 20 episodes as she tries to make it in the country music industry. She travels to events like CRS, SXSW, Key West Songwriters’ Festival and the CMA Music Festival and conducts interviews with other notable country singers. There’s currently an introductory video and two episodes online.
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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.Tagged In This Article
Adam Hood // Andy Friedman // Chris Cagle // Eddy Arnold // Eleven Hundred Springs // Jennifer Hanson // Jonalee White // Mudcrutch // Trace Adkins // Trisha Yearwood // WSM
Current Discussion
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May 9, 2008 at 11:40 am Permalink
Speaking of “Black Gold”, the Earl Scruggs band performed “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” at Stagecoach. You know the lyric “Up through the ground came a bubbling crude, you know, black gold, texas tea…) (lol)
I heard Justin Townes Earle’s Opry debut live on WSM online and was suitably impressed. His style struck me as a unique combination of a lot of influences, most of them traditional and historical. I’d also like to mention that recent GAC broadcasts of “Opry Live” featured Ashton Shepherd and Emily West with each artist performing two songs and getting an interview with Nan Kelly. Other artists featured on those episodes included The Infamous Stringdusters and The Steeldrivers (who were joined by Charlie Daniels for one song). Great stuff!!!!!!
May 9, 2008 at 9:14 pm Permalink
Is Universal South just releasing Jennifer Hanson’s album to fulfill their contract or something. It’s very unlike a major label to release something without a radio hit, even if it’s a digital release.
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