New Albums From Lyle Lovett And Joe Nichols Get Some Love
- Lots of activity on the Billboard album and single charts this week, although the top spots are still firmly locked up by Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney. Luke Bryan hopped to No. 2 on the album chart while George Strait’s tune “How ‘Bout The Cowgirls” springs from No. 35 to No. 26 in its second week. Edward Morris asks “Do you share my breathlessness?”
- Country Mike felt compelled to purchase the new Joe Nichols album at Best Buy for the three bonus tracks–acoustic versions of “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off”, “Brokenheartsville” and “I’ll Wait For You”. He says all three were worth it.
Still, he continues to improve. And he’s recording enough radio-friendly material to remain relevant to those folks (and to sell records). Hopefully, the traditional camp will begin to recognize him as one of its keepers of the flame.
- Saturday marked the last show of Union Station’s 2007 tour. Alison Krauss and the band played at Sommet Center, a hockey arena in Nashville, where the echoes bounced around the walls. Peter Cooper says the performance transcended the atmosphere and when the show was over everybody walked out into the night “and nobody felt sorry to have missed the sunset.”
- Hazel Smith has a lot to say about Garth Brooks in her “Hot Dish” column this week, and briefly mentions an excerpt from the current issue of Entertainment Weekly:
Brad Paisley talks about the influence Garth Brooks had on his young adulthood by making country cool. “All of a sudden, I was the kid at the party who knew how to play ‘Friends in Low Places,’” said Brad. “It was deliverance.”
- Joe Nichols and Lyle Lovett both get nods for their new CDs in the Critics’ Choice feature of the New York Times. Lovett’s It’s Not Big It’s Large is described as comingling country, blues, swing, and gospel while Kelefa Sanneh praises Nichols’ Real Things and asks “Wouldn’t it be a satisfying surprise if it turned out that this low-key singer had made the year’s best country album?”
- HickoryWind writer Stacy Chandler wants you to cross everything off your to-do list and focus on getting the Lovett album, not the basic CD, but the special CD/DVD deluxe version.
- Cindy Watts has the story of Jake Owen’s rise in country music up to this point. I find it amazing that the dude only started playing the guitar in 2000.
- You already know September 11th as the drop day for the 50 Cent, Kanye West, and Kenny Chesney albums, but country fans can also celebrate the release of Moot Davis’s sophomore effort. On Already Moved On Moot Davis sings authentic, unadulterated country music with two feet firmly planted in the lineage of honky-tonk legends past. Papa Hank would be proud. If you’re one of those people who like instant gratification, head on over to iTunes and download Already Moved On now.
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Martina McBride - “Ride” Catchy, but a little low on cogency–not to mention originality. And it essentially resolves into the same kind of positive “message song” that has defined so much of McBride’s recent work.
Richie McDonald - “How Do I Just Stop” So gloriously simple and unequivocally lackluster that people of every political persuasion should rejoice in the opportunity to come together and have a hearty laugh at its expense.
Donnie Vondra - “If I Didn’t Love You” Combinining a golden trifecta of country music—steel guitar, fiddle and a strong, twangy vocal—"If I Didn't Love You" pulls together a sweet, toe-tapping ditty reminiscent of Marty Raybon-era Shenandoah.
Lance Miller - “Bacon Frying” A charming country song that is beautiful for its simplicity, a musical remnant from a time when songwriters understood that often the best thing to do is just get out of the song’s way.
John Rich - “Another You” For a guy who is supposed to be a genius songwriter, John Rich sure does seem to be running out of ideas. 
George Ducas - “Walk Through This World” Ducas banks on the success of recent artists’ pleasantly bland lyrics and agreeable instrumentation for his first release with WhiteStar Nashville.
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Tagged In This Article
Alison Krauss // Garth Brooks // Jake Owen // Joe Nichols // Lyle Lovett // Moot Davis // Union Station
Current Discussion
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- scooter: I also listened to the clips and was also disappointed. I like the title track and thought this would be ...
- Rick: Wow, the article I have a link to above is even mentioned in Chet Flippo's brand new "Nashville Skyline" column ...
- CMW: This review pretty much confirms what I suspected from listening to the clips a few days ago: too many indistinct ...
- Razor X: Martina is capable of so much better than this. Her last album was a huge disappointment and based on this ...
- Trailer: I love the vocals and the band is pretty tight... it's the songs that are the liability to me. Nothing ...
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August 27, 2007 at 9:46 am Permalink
I’ll second Stacy Chandler’s urging to get the CD/DVD version of Lyle Lovett’s It’s Not Big It’s Large. The DVD gives some great backstory on songs, and the closing montage of old home movies set to “South Texas Girl” is so moving I called my wife back into the room to see it too.
August 27, 2007 at 11:02 am Permalink
The Sommet Center (formerly Gaylord Entertainment Center…who’d have thought that they could actually make the name worse?) is an absolutely horrendous music venue. It sucks even for stuff that’s blared out of amplifiers, so I can’t imagine how bad it must have been for the Krauss show. The venue was the sole reason that I did not purchase tickets. The Ryman is the logical and ideal venue for this show. Unfortunately, Krauss is a big draw in Nashville and there was a lot of hype surrounding this show, so ticket prices for the Ryman would have been very high and even then the show would’ve sold out rapidly.
August 27, 2007 at 11:10 pm Permalink
I’ve heard one cut of the album and it is amazing. The list of contributing musicians is a who’s who.
August 27, 2007 at 11:32 pm Permalink
I refuse to go the Sommet Center anymore, whatever they call it. It can make even the greatest artists sound like crap.
August 28, 2007 at 8:21 am Permalink
Get the Lovett album and never visit the Sommet Center when in Nashville. Check and check.
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