Help Lonestar Beer Pick A New Unofficial “National Anthem of Texas”

• Waylon Jennings and the Waymore Blues Band – Never Say Die
  “It only does a disservice to this legacy to proclaim Never Say Die as some kind of Holy Grail that it isn’t. Yet it is a fine performance by a musician who should and will be remembered as a legend.”
• Alan Jackson – 16 Biggest Hits
  “The only potential gripe regarding 16 Biggest Hits–and, obviously, this is the case with any best-of compilation–is the exclusions.”
• Porter Wagoner – Wagonmaster
  “Marty Stuart, Wagonmaster’s producer, keeps the sound slick and accommodating without pandering to the airbrushed finish of contemporary Nashvegas.”

We kept this list, in the words of Strait, pure country: No Wilco. No Flying Burrito Brothers. No Old 97’s. No alt-country–there’s a time and place for honoring those heroes, and this ain’t it.

They’ve yet to release the Top 20, but so far the list has a nice mix of songs from all different eras of country. (via Twang Nation)

At 3:30 a.m., Shaver was asleep in a motel room in Hendersonville, Tenn., when he was awakened by what he calls a visitation from Cash, a strong feeling that he was there with him.

“He told me to get my ass out of bed, to finish this song,” Shaver recalled. “I had been writing on that song for about a year, and I had to change it all, throw it all away.

Kevin Fowler made Texas Music Chart history this week with his new single, “Long Line of Losers,” which vaulted to #1 in just six weeks. That makes the song the fastest-growing Top 50 chart entry in the chart’s history.

I’ve linked to it before, but check out the song on his MySpace and let me know what you think. I can see its appeal, but I’m not a huge fan of the single. My particular beef is with the line “half outlaw, half boozer.”