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Scanning The Countryside: What Artists Want From CDs—Still
By now, there’s not a recording artist, country or otherwise, who hasn’t heard that we’re in a new era — fundamentally, a singles era. They’ve all heard how CD album chart leaders are topping those charts with lower sales figures than anyone can remember. And they’ve all heard horror stories (as have followers of The [...]
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Joe Diffie Releases Cookbook; New Streams from Carrie Rodriguez and Hot Club of Cowtown
Add Joe Diffie to the list of country stars who have released cookbooks in recent years. Carrie Rodriguez teamed up with Romantica’s Ben Kyle for a collection of six classic country songs and two originals. The project, titled We Still Love Our Country, is scheduled for a Feb. 1 release, but it can be ordered/downloaded [...]
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Friday Five: Bah Humbug
“Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not. The Grinch hated Christmas — the whole Christmas season. Oh, please don’t ask why, no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. It could be that his [...]
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Eddie Montgomery Confirms Cancer Diagnoses; Trace Adkins To Host American Country Awards
Solemn news from Eddie Montgomery: “Yes, rumors have started,” said Eddie in a statement. ”And the truth is I have recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I will be undergoing surgery to remove the cancerous tumor in December. I will be back in January ready to rock for all the fans! Please keep my family [...]
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Friday Five: Dwight Duets
Dwight Yoakam will celebrate his 54th birthday on Saturday. You could celebrate by squeezing into the tightest jeans in your closet, watching some of the movies in which he’s appeared, or chowing down on some frozen foods from Bakersfield Biscuits (not advised if you actually want to fit into those jeans). Me, I’m going to [...]
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Partial List of CMA Awards Nominees Announced Today; Coming Soon: Rounder Records & Trace Adkins Retrospectives
A portion of the final nominees for the CMA Awards were announced today, with plans to announce the rest tomorrow. Miranda Lambert and her songs got nominated two times in three different categories, Lady Antebellum received four nods, while Easton Corbin and the Zac Brown Band each pulled in three. Capitol Nashville plans to release [...]
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Scanning the Countryside: On Writing About Country
I’ve been listening to country music–not just hearing it in the background, but, as well as I know how, listening to it–for close to 45 years, and writing about it in various public places, off and on, for about 35. The publications and online outlets that have chosen to publish what I’ve reported and observed [...]
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Peach Pickers In High Demand; Butch Hancock Closes Out ‘Iconic Years’ At Cactus Cafe; Bad ‘Carrie-Oke’
The trio of Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, and Ben Hayslip has quickly become a hot commodity in the country music songwriting realm. All three being from Georgia, they’ve embraced their newfound collective notoriety and dubbed themselves the Peach Pickers. The three friends scored their first hit as a songwriting trio in 2008 with Brooks & [...]
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Friday Fifteen: The Beatles Covers
Here’s a little dose of Beatlemania. Today’s Friday Five is three times larger than normal, but several covers still got left off, including Steve Earle’s “I’m Looking Through You” and the David Grisman Quintet’s version of “Because.” What’s your favorite Beatles cover? 15. “Paperback Writer” – Floyd Cramer Back in the day, Cramer used to [...]
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Friday Five: Who’s Gonna…
5. “Who’s Gonna Build Your Wall” – Tom Russell Here Russell contemplates the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and asks what would happen should “Uncle Sam [send] the illegals” home: “Who’s gonna mow your lawn?/Who’s gonna cook your Mexican food/When your Mexican maid is gone?” Russell sings that he “ain’t got no [...]
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- Jack Hanford: For those who are interested, there is a new 90-minute documentary video about Tompall & the Glaser Brothers on DVD ...
- joe morris: how come nobody mentions his fan club which started 1950 and was called the " the penny pushers " which ...
- jane: I'm reading this article in 2013 and I've yet to hear anything from the album played on the radio.....
- Catwandy: I guess Matt C. is eating his well-deserved crow 'bout now. Critics....gotta love 'em , bless their little hearts.
- Ed McClendon: Saw the brothers in Greeley CO on the occasion of Tompall's 50th birthday. The show wasn't well promoted and there ...
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