Johnny Bush Writes About Honky Tonks And James McMurtry Visits NPR
- Ten months ago a cocktail waitress accused Hank Williams, Jr. of yelling obscenities and choking her at a hotel. Those charges were dropped over the weekend. The District Attorney says that they didn’t feel like they had a case they could prove and the accuser, Holly Hornbeak, still says that the case was not driven by money.
- About.com has a detailed breakdown of last week’s Nashville Star. Basically all you need to know is that Joshua Stevens was voted off. Even though I haven’t kept up with the show I’m glad that guy didn’t win.
- Johnny Bush has been celebrating the release of his new book, “Whiskey River.”
It’s full of stories, some funny, some not, about Bush; his peers, including Willie Nelson; his old boss, Ray Price; musicians galore; record label honchos and others. It also includes words about things such as Bush’s womanizing and his battle to regain his voice.
“It’s too late now to have second thoughts about the book,” he said. “But it’s the truth. I tried to be honest, and I didn’t sugarcoat a thing.”
- Sara Evans alleges that her husband won’t proceed with their divorce until she agrees to fire her attorney, clear his name in public, and agree to a joint custody arrangement.
Hollins Sr., who is handling the case with his son, John Hollins Jr., has been one of the most prominent divorce attorneys in Nashville for several decades. He also represented Alice Zimmerman, Lee Ann Womack and Trisha Yearwood in their divorces. He is currently representing Mary Jane Williams, the wife of Hank Williams Jr., in her divorce.
There are a lot of accusations flying around in this case, if nothing else it makes for an interesting read.
- Scott Simon from NPR sat down with James McMurtry to talk about his latest album, Childish Things, and listen to McMurtry play a couple of songs from the album.
Long before the album was released, McMurtry offered “We Can’t Make it Here” as a free online download, just before the 2004 election.
“It instantly got more attention than anything I’d done on a CD in 10 years,” he says. “I was completely surprised by the power of the Internet.”
- Tom Murray, a freelance writer for the Edmonton Journal, reviewed a recent Rascal Flatts concert. Here’s a few excerpts:
They’re the future of country music, the dagger in Merle Haggard’s heart, and Saturday night Rascal Flatts played to what seemed like five million people at Rexall Place.
…
And heroes they are — just not country music heroes. No matter how many banjos and violins they trotted out, it wasn’t the music of George Jones, Hank William, hell, even Randy Travis that we were experiencing — but then that was hardly the point, was it?
…
Choosing an Eagles song about the spiritual malaise of LA in the ’70s might seem like an odd choice, even an unintentionally ironic one, but that’s what makes these guys geniuses.
…
This is the band of the moment, the rulers of the Billboard Top Ten, and they practically reek of success.
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Tagged In This Article
Hank Williams Jr. // James McMurtry // Johnny Bush // Nashville Star // Rascal Flatts // Sara Evans
Current Discussion
- Brady Vercher: Adkins is differentiating between discussing politics in an environment where he considers it ok to do so (his book, a ...
- Leeann Ward: PS. I don't like Hank Jr. though! Am I not a country fan? I agree with Razor X that there's ...
- Kelly: Matt C - You dont think that the 4 albums that make up The American Recordings, had a tremendous impact ...
- Sam G.: That Raconteurs' track may be the coolest thing I've heard all year. Brendon Benson sounded very like John Cowan of ...
- Leeann Ward: Ben, I like all of those people that you mention, but like Garth too. I agree with Jim in ...
- Hollerin' Ben: "Also, I agree with what Jim said. If you don’t like Garth, or don’t consider him a true country artist, ...
- Razor X: "Also, I agree with what Jim said. If you don’t like Garth, or don’t consider him a true country artist, ...
- Nashville4U: Yeah I posted the Trace Adkins thing on our website too but I thought it was funny how hypocritical he ...
- Mike Parker: Just okay for me. Like the idea, but a lot of it doesn't sound like anything I've heard brothers ...
- Matt C.: I've said this (in some form) before, but I'll reiterate it. For me, the American Recordings, while excellent, don't change ...
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February 26, 2007 at 3:05 pm Permalink
Joshua Stevens should have been gone a long time ago, though it was tough to say goodbye to him last week, when he had an emotional reunion with his birth mother and gave his best performance of the competition.
Can someone with a higher SAT verbal score than mine tell me what’s going on with that Rascal Flatts review? With lines like “great, great music, easily the equal of Billy Ray Cyrus” I can only hope that it’s a work of sarcasm.
February 26, 2007 at 3:44 pm Permalink
Beats me. Either this guy really loves his Rascal Flatts or he was trying to see what he could slip past the editor at the Edmonton Journal. Unfortunately, I think he’s just a really big fan.
March 29, 2007 at 3:05 pm Permalink
It’s sarcasm, guys - the editors certainly got it that night. It’s admittedly hard to tell with just snippets in front of you, but I’m kind of astonished that the blogger couldn’t tell.
March 29, 2007 at 3:07 pm Permalink
Just pulled one of the other quotes off as an example:
“Rascal Flatts skinned the song alive and wore the flesh like a jacket…”
March 29, 2007 at 3:15 pm Permalink
My apologies. Some lines appeared to be sarcasm, and other times it almost sounded like you were genuinely praising the band. I kept waiting for a turn in tone, but it never came.
March 30, 2007 at 2:55 pm Permalink
Sarcasm is the hardest thing to pull off - when deployed subtly - as I’m finding more and more these days. It also doesn’t often show up in daily papers so much, which is why I’m getting a bit of a backlash. You weren’t the only person wondering whether I was taking the piss - I just found another board where a bit of a debate had also taken place after the review ran.
This is a warning to me about why I really shouldn’t google my name when I’m bored - it’s sometimes wise to remain ignorant of what people are saying about you. I’m sure Rascal Flatts learned that lesson a long time ago.
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