Hall Honorees Comment On Induction; Josh Thompson’s Polarizing Reception; Sarah Buxton Performs New Album Acoustically
- The Tennessean‘s Peter Cooper provided brief background info for each of the four new Country Hall of Fame inductees along with quotes from all but Don Williams, who chose not to be interviewed.
- Brad Paisley hurled a couple of good-natured jabs at the audience during a recent concert:
During the testosterone-fest, ‘I’m Still a Guy,’ he stopped before the last verse, declaring he was having a little trouble singing it in Los Angeles: “I see hair highlights and tanning cream and it’s not on the women.”
- Although he just released his debut album, Josh Thompson means different things to different people. Ken Tucker praises the album for NPR Music, while the blogger at Saving Country Music is less than thrilled with the results, labeling Thompson a “fake outlaw.” Writing for The Associated Press, Michael McCall falls somewhere in the middle; he recommends a couple of songs, but also acknowledges the posturing:
He stakes his ground on “Blame It on Waylon,” suggesting he learned his defiant attitude from the country music outlaws of the 1970s. Set to a slicked-up imitation of Waylon Jennings’ signature rhythm, the song finds Thompson boasting that he means every word he sings — while also saying he was born on a freight train.
Therein lays the problem: Thompson adopts a pose of the hard-partying backcountry rebel on songs like “Beer On The Table,” “You Ain’t Seen Country Yet,” and “Always Been Me,” but it sounds like posturing rather than real life. Instead of finding his own point of view, he relies on the same pickup truck, dirt-road, fishing-hole cliches used by so many young country singers.
- In a video posted to his MySpace blog, a graying Jason Boland previewed the song “Tulsa Time” from his upcoming live record.
- Luck Films posted a video of a long-grayed Billy Joe Shaver performing “Live Forever” at a concert last December. (via Still Is Still Moving)
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Here are a few releases that weren’t mentioned in yesterday’s roundup:
- In an effort to raise money for publicity and promotion of Cadillac Sky‘s new record Letters In the Deep (June 8), the band put together three different “box sets” that will allow fans to get the music a couple of months early. At $39, the bottom-tiered set consists of a pre-release copy of the CD, a high fidelity copy of the album on vinyl, an exclusive T shirt, an immediate link for two audio downloads, and an autographed poster.
- Tift Merritt‘s next record, See You On The Moon, will be released May 25.
- Country Universe’s Kevin J. Coyne directed attention to “Lipstick Promises,” an early ’90s hit for George Ducas.
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Music Fog: Will Kimbrough – “A Couple Hundred Miracles”
- Country California published it’s best edition of This Week In Country Music History yet.
1955 – The Wilburn Brothers record “I Wanna Wanna Wanna” – curiously, not written by Mel Tillis.
- Ryan Bingham likens performing to bull riding:
Bingham: When you’re standing on the back of one of those bucket chutes and they start loading those bulls up the alley and the horns are so wide that they have to turn their heads just to get through there. These big massive beasts rolling in there. It’s intense. You really have to focus and grit your teeth and go at it.
CNN: Much like being on stage, I’d imagine.
Bingham: Same thing. Big stages, lights, cameras. I always think about it — like standing on the back of the chute. Time to go big or go home, you know!
- Free Download: John Hiatt – “The Open Road”
- In an interview with The Boot, Sarah Buxton explained the chaos behind the song “Outside My Window.”
It’s just a bunch of nonsense, to be honest! With four songwriters in the room with four strong personalities — me, Victoria Shaw, Mark Hudson, Gary Burr — it was a trainwreck to begin with! I go, “Let’s write a song about this bird who just keeps banging into the living room window! What’s wrong with this bird? What’s it thinking?” That’s where it began, and we began thinking, “What if you see this outside your window? Maybe you see that outside your window?”
Be sure to visit Sarah Buxton‘s YouTube channel too. Working with Jedd Hughes, she recorded acoustic videos for all 11 songs on her new album.
- Ryan Bingham likens performing to bull riding:
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Billy Joe Shaver // Brad Paisley // Cadillac Sky // Don Williams // Gary Burr // George Ducas // Jason Boland // Jedd Hughes // John Hiatt // Josh Thompson // Mel Tillis // Ryan Bingham // Sarah Buxton // Steel Magnolia // Tift Merritt // Townes Van Zandt // Victoria Shaw // Waylon Jennings
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February 24, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Was Paisley wearing one of his pretty t-shirts with the frilly patterns on it when he mocked the SoCal metrosexuals?
February 24, 2010 at 12:53 pm
I am a big Waylon fan,but people seem to forget that he started out singing mostly folk and standard country fare.He didn’t become an “outlaw ” until the seventies.
You know for a real outlaw I think the Killer is a pretty good example.
But maybe you can’t define outlaw,but you know it when you see it.
February 24, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Also, he wouldn’t be able to see any “tanning cream,” but rather people with faux tans. And yes, his remarks are totally pot/kettle. Am I the only one who finds this guy’s songs and sense of humor to be generic and way over-rated?
February 24, 2010 at 12:56 pm
…if you didn’t believe in the climate change up to now – the widespread use of tanning cream in los angels might make you think again.
February 24, 2010 at 4:29 pm
@Kelly: “Was Paisley wearing one of his pretty t-shirts with the frilly patterns on it when he mocked the SoCal metrosexuals?”
Nope, he was wearing a T-shirt with the Batman logo on the front… which goes along with him being childish, I suppose
February 24, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Brad’s comment was cutesy and innocuous, just like most of his music…
I prefer faux outlaws on Top 40 AirHead country radio to all the pop-rock crap. Better a faux outlaw like Josh Thompson than no outlaws at all, although Jamey Johnson proves the real thing still exists and is mostly ignored by radio programmers.
“Lipstick Promises” is a good song. On the other hand George’s last name always sounded a bit too similar to “Doofus” for my tastes…
I really liked Will Kimbrough when he used to back and support Kim Richey at her concerts. Solo not so much.
Sarah Buxton’s songwriting sessions sound like a lot of fun. I’d love to see Sarah and Emily West together in the same room although the silliness / zaniness meter might go off its scale! (lol)
February 25, 2010 at 12:00 am
Kelly, those frilly patterns are called paisleys.
Ken Tucker made a good point in the NPR piece on Josh Thompson:
“Much like the hip-hop industry, authenticity — feigned or real — is important to impress upon the fans.”
Just like white suburban kids make up one of the biggest demographics of hip-hop listeners because they like to live vicariously in a culture they have no real exposure to, this new “Outlaw” music is trying to do the same thing, with bawdy talk, and arrogance.
What ever happened to trying to speak to people universally by reaching out to thinks inherent in the human condition?
February 25, 2010 at 12:47 am
What happened to traditional country music? Where are the Don Gibsons, Faron Youngs, Connie Smiths, and of course, where are the Tammy Wynettes and George Joneses of the next generation? All I see are pop-country crossover wannabes who are here today and gone in 6 months. They would be right at home on Top 40 radio or adult contemporary stations. They look raggedy and unkempt, like they don’t own a mirror or just don’t care what they look like. What happened to self-respect?
February 25, 2010 at 6:53 am
Boy, did somebody miss Tucker’s point in re authenticity.
February 25, 2010 at 8:54 am
@Jeff,
To answer your question about “What happened to traditional country music”?Please check out
Dale Watson
Justin Trevino
Miss Leslie and her Juke Jointers
Arty Hill and the long gone daddy’s
Roger Wallace
Amber Digby
Hayes Carll
Billy Don Burns
JB Beverly and the wayward difters.