Ray Price Recovering From Surgery; Luke Bryan Premiers Video; Speculation On New Tim McGraw Music
- Ray Price is currently recovering from his surgery on June 23rd to remove precancerous polyps from his colon.
- In this week’s Quotable Country, C.M. Wilcox highlighted the following exchange between Bryan Adams and Jason Adlean from their recent CMT Crossroads episode:
Bryan Adams: You guys are a full-on rock band. There’s nothing country about what’s going on onstage. The only thing country is maybe the song titles: “Johnny Cash,” “She’s Country.”
Jason Aldean: Well, I think the fact that I wear a cowboy hat probably helps us get away with it. - The New York Times has album reviews of Brad Paisley’s American Saturday Night and Levon Helms‘ Electric Dirt, courtesy of Ben Ratliff and Jon Pareles. Both albums are due out tomorrow (June 30).
- Amazon has the exclusive premier of Luke Bryan’s video for “Do I.” After watching it twice, I’m still not sure I understand exactly what’s going on. (via Country Music Tattle Tale)
- Hazel Smith thinks Sunny Sweeney (MySpace) is Americana and namechecked Ashley Ray (MySpace) in an article about blondes.
- An uncredited article on American Country Countdown attempted to draw parallels between Michael Jackson and Hank Williams…
- Ray Stevens told The Tennessean’s Cindy Watts that these days he can be found filming We Ain’t Dead Yet, a sitcom set in a retirement home for entertainers, which he described as “Hee Haw with a plot.
- Bluegrass pioneer Bill Harrell, who contributed greatly to the growth of bluegrass in the Washington, D.C. area, passed away last week. His funeral is being held today.
- Kyle McCraw commented on the new self-titled Larry Jon Wilson album for Country Music Pride.
- Deborah Evans Price notes that Tracy Lawrence’s new album, The Rock, is his first Christian album and reflects the latest chapter in his life.
- Curb Records announced that they’ll ship “It’s A Business Doing Pleasure With You,” a new Tim McGraw single, to radio on Tuesday. His new album, rumored to be titled Southern Voice, is expected to be released before Christmas, but don’t hold your breath. It’s been delayed several times already, which has caused McGraw to express frustration in the past. The first time I heard the actual song “Southern Voice” was in late ‘07 at the first and only Big State Festival. The album was supposed to be released soon after that, but here we are, almost two years later and the release date still in speculation. (via NashvilleGab)
- Chris Neal reviewed albums from Charlie Robison, Elvis Costello and Ray Charles with ratings ranging from three-and-a-half to five stars.
- McCoury Music Club is now offering live show downloads from The Del McCoury Band to non-subscribers. Prices range from $10-$15. (via The Bluegrass Blog)
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2 Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URI for this postAugust 10, 2009
[...] There are a couple of blonde gals now signed at Universal South Records. One is Bailey Brown and the other is Ashley Ray. I don’t know these girls. I’ve never even seen their picture. ● – – That much is obvious from the fact that Ashley Ray is a brunette, Hazel. (Brody beat me to this one.) [...]
September 10, 2009
[...] like Kid Rock and Jason Aldean (to whom rocker Bryan Adams infamously told “You guys are a full-on rock band. There’s nothing country about what’s going on onstage. The only thing country is maybe the [...]
17 Comments
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June 29, 2009 at 11:03 am Permalink
I’m looking forward to Ray Stevens’ new show.
June 29, 2009 at 11:13 am Permalink
I watched the Aldea/Adams episode and I laughed out loud when I heard that. their forced chemistry was quite uncomfortable to watch during the surprisingly long dialogue segments.
Also, thanks Hazel, what an astute observation to say that Emily West is blonde and that the girl from Jypsi is sometimes blonde, and that you have no clue what Bomshel sound like…did Hazel’s great granddaughter write that column?
June 29, 2009 at 12:10 pm Permalink
Brody, will Southern Voice” be worth the wait?
June 29, 2009 at 12:16 pm Permalink
Jason Aldean is as “country” as Bryan Adams is “rock”.
June 29, 2009 at 1:38 pm Permalink
Another cerebral and thought-provoking article from Hazel Smith …
June 29, 2009 at 1:53 pm Permalink
Hazel just made Ryan Adams cry.
June 29, 2009 at 2:40 pm Permalink
My Bill Harrell tidbit…. I was a doing a solo gig in a bar in Maryland about 15 years ago, when this old man bought me a drink and told me to keep my chin up and not be bummed out by the sparse crowd.
I didn’t know the man but he asked me to stop by the place next weekend to check him out as he and his band were gonna be doing a couple sets.
As I pulled up that night, I was stunned by the sight of a full sized tour bus out front of this run-down honkytonk…it was then I learned his name was Bill Harrell as it was painted up and down the side of the bus.
Well, the joint was packed and the old man made my night when out of the blue, he called me up to do a few songs with him and his band. I was stunned. It’s something I’ll never forget. That’s just the kind of guy Bill was.
Bill, you made a difference, my friend. The world’s a better place…
June 29, 2009 at 2:46 pm Permalink
Brad Paisley’s album is pretty solid. I really dig the next single (“Welcome to the Future”).
Bryan White was the “country” half of that CMT Crossroads.
June 29, 2009 at 3:10 pm Permalink
I’ve never loved Bryan Adams as much as I do today!
June 29, 2009 at 3:42 pm Permalink
@Leeann – It wasn’t particularly memorable considering I don’t remember much about it besides lists of Southern names like Faulkner, so I guess I’ll have to wait for it to be released before I pass final judgment.
June 29, 2009 at 3:55 pm Permalink
1. Ryan Adams won’t read Hazel’s article because it doesn’t mention Ryan Adams.
2. I think she may have pissed Sunny off–I mean “She’s a cute girl.” Is there anything more insulting and dismissive?
June 29, 2009 at 4:29 pm Permalink
I watched the Luke Bryan video. First, never have anyone better looking than yourself in a video. But I have to admit I like this vocal performance. I think it shows the first real promise that Luke Bryan has something more to offer. The song isn’t great but he seems to put 110% into it. And gives his man-boy self another meaning and some mature thoughts.
I think – as usual with a music video( we can thank Michael Jackson for that!)- the video tries to add a side to the song that doesn’t really fit. What would be wrong with just watching him sing. You don’t need a video plot if the song already has a plot.
June 29, 2009 at 5:06 pm Permalink
Stormy, you are right! Hazel obviously should have described Sunny as a “cute woman” instead. (lol) And by the way Sunny is not a person to mess with! A friend who attended an evening club show by Sunny during Fan Fair witnessed Sunny firing one of her band members about three songs into her set and kicking him off the stage! I guess he was drunk and Sunny has zero tolerance for such unprofessional behavior. Go Sunny!
June 29, 2009 at 8:10 pm Permalink
I love the “Do I” video! It’s awesome! If you want an explanation, basically the woman is cheating on her husband (Luke). She tells the “Other Man” that she’s done and he leaves. Her husband, Luke, comes back to her at the end (hence the wedding rings) and they are going to try to work on their relationship…
June 29, 2009 at 9:21 pm Permalink
I love Luke’s video!! I really think it is perfect for his song! There is so much emotion!
June 30, 2009 at 10:59 am Permalink
I’m sorry to hear the people on this blog disliked the Bryan Adams/Jason Aldean Crossroads…usually when people here dislike something it gets very successful so I’m afraid all the negative comments on Jason Aldean/Bryan Adams means we’ll have to hear about/see this on cmt more and perhaps (God help us) they might release it to dvd. I think Jason Aldean is another one of those new artists on the scene that should already fade away into much deserved obscurity.
June 30, 2009 at 11:00 am Permalink
^^I meant to say richly-deserved obscurity..has a much nicer sound when said or written.
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