Grammys to Honor Gene Autry and Brenda Lee with Lifetime Achievement Award

The digital download sales numbers are interesting. The basic truth is people will typically buy music they have heard and like and how and where they hear it is the controlling factor. Radio and TV are the primary initial contact sources for most people and unless new music gets exposure there the average music buyer will never know it exists. Sometimes I will purchase unknown but interesting sounding CDs while skimming through the racks at a music outlet but its a whole different ballgame with downloads.

Danielle Peck’s new album isn’t getting much publicity to put it mildly. I think Whitney Duncan’s new digital EP release is getting a much bigger promotional pitch even though Danielle is a far more established artist. Hmmm…..

I’m looking forward to Danielle Peck’s new stuff… I thought her last album was pretty good, and I really like her voice. Hopefully she continues where that one left off.

Off Topic Random Tidbits: Here’s a new Alison Bonaguro blog at CMT.com that amazes me by its vapidity:

“Mark Chesnutt Picks On Taylor Swift! OMG!”

“When your career’s not skyrocketing quite the way you planned, you have two choices. You can go with the flow and hope to ride the coattails of change, or you can sound off about sticking to your roots, no matter how bitter it makes you seem. Mark Chesnutt, 45, chose the latter when he told the Salt Lake Tribune that popular country music has turned away from classic country. And of Taylor Swift, he said, “Nothing against her, but Taylor Swift is not traditional.” The singer best known for some biggies in the ’90s also admitted that “Nashville is signing the youngest kids they can, leaving a void in traditional country music,” and that to find his albums in a store, “You just have to dig behind the Kenny Chesney albums.” I always liked Chesnutt, but now that he’s taken to badmouthing other country artists, it may be a little too late and he may be a little too wrong.”

Rick’s comment: Have I missed something here? Where is the bitterness and mean spiritedness Alison is referring to? Mark’s comments are just plain common sense and yes Alison, as shocking as it may be to you, Taylor Swift is not a traditional country artist! Does Alison take anything short of fangirl praise for Taylor Swift to be some sort of attack? I don’t call it AirHead Country for nothing as I’m describing the mindset of many of its devotees as well as the shallow and mediocre music it embraces. Sheesh….

totally agree…Mark was not being bitter…he was stating a fact that true country music fans understand….he has nothing against her…it just sucks that we can’t hear country music on the radio anymore…wonder how old Allison is…probably got into country music around the time Garth starting singing Billy Joel songs….

I’m thinking now that Alison pulled one over on us and threw up a red herring just to stir up controversy over nothing. Well either that or she really is a bit of an airhead…..

wow. Dudley is my hero.

I thought Country Standard Time’s list was pretty good, but the Alan Jackson album at number one, especially, seemed out of place. I mean, that album was okay, I guess, but I even liked their honorable mentions better than it.

re: Alison Bonaguro – her blog is a waste of time to read

This years Grammy Lifetime Achievement honorees are all deserving and long overdue:

Blind Boys of Alabama – terrific gospel group
Four Tops – lead singer Levi Stubbs was the best voice in soul music
Hank Jones – brilliant jazz pianist – still performing in his mid-80s

Dean Martin and Tom Paxton both have tangential connections to country music. Martin recorded a number of country songs during the 1960s and 1970s. Two of Martin’s country recordings (”Gentle On my Mind” and “Not Enough Indians”) were major pop hits in Great Britain with Dean’s recording of “Gentle On My Mind” reaching #2). Tom Paxton was a brilliant folk artist whose “Last Thing On My Mind” was a major hit for the team of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton. Several of his earlier songs were recorded by various country artists.

Andrew L: Please stop merging Carrie with Taylor. They are NOT the same. Taylor is a pop singer, but Carrie is a country artist through and through. Carrie refuses to remix her songs to pop radio and is an authentic country artist, where as Taylor remixes every song to pop radio, and is about as country as Kanye West.

Allison Bonaguru is a huge superfan of Taylor Swift. She has an almost rabid admiration for her, and I have no idea why. She blogs about her almost everyday.

Mark Chestnut was right on the mark in what he said… and he should have said more. Taylor is a pop sellout who cares only about selling records. She used country music to propel her career, when it is obvious she only wanted to be a pop singer. If she could sing a note, that would be one thing, but she is horrendous.