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Ronnie Dunn – “Bleed Red”
Songwriters: Tommy Lee James and Andrew Dorff Well, you can’t accuse him of lacking ambition. For his first official solo single in 27 years, Ronnie Dunn has recorded an epic monster of a song, so awash in generality and bursting with conciliatory sentiment that it practically begs to be played at the climax of a [...]
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Friday Five: Clowns
Are you a coulrophobic country music fan? You might want to skip this week’s Friday Five, because it’s got a miniature car’s worth of sad, often drunk, clowns. 6. “Heart of a Clown” – Gene Watson If ol’ Gene had the heart of a clown, he’d be able to keep a smile on his face [...]
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AMA Announces Top Americana Albums; Easton Corbin Named Top New Country Artist
The Americana Music Association announced the top 100 Americana albums of 2010, the results of which is based on airplay. Various Artists, Crazy Heart Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / New West Rosanne Cash, The List / Manhattan John Hiatt, The Open Road / New West Carolina Chocolate Drops, Genuine Negro Jig / Nonesuch Ray Wylie [...]
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The C Word
There is country radio, and then there is Country Radio. When I first began covering the business a decade ago, I was at first annoyed to see the way that radio insiders insisted on referring to their milieu as “Country Radio” in every casual mention (see here)—but I eventually became grateful for the useful distinction. [...]
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Merle Haggard Praised at Kennedy Center Honors; Songs From Hank, Willie, & Bob Wills Added to GRAMMY Hall of Fame
Merle Haggard was among the honorees praised during Sunday night’s Kennedy Center Honors gala. The Recording Academy announced inductees for the 2011 GRAMMY Hall of Fame, an institution set up to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old. Songs in the country category include: “Lovesick Blues” by [...]
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Jane Seymour Believes Son is Channeling Johnny Cash; CMA Presenters Announced; Stream Jamey Johnson
Actress Jane Seymour believes her 14-year-old son Johnny is channeling the spirit of his godfather, Johnny Cash. UPDATE (11:38 am): Sugarland’s The Incredible Machine topped the Billboard 200 albums chart this week with 203,000 copies sold. Back in 1981, Johnny Cash and Ray Charles recorded a duet on the Kris Kristofferson song “Why Me Lord,” [...]
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Randy Houser – “A Man Like Me”
Songwriters: Jameson Clark, Danny Green and Randy Houser On Randy Houser’s new single “A Man Like Me,” the second off his sophomore album They Call Me Cadillac, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to also call him Conway Twitty. A delightful steel intro paves the way for a steady and surprisingly refined vocal performance [...]
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Revisited: Who the Country Music Hall of Fame Should Induct Next
Since my September 2008 article, Charlie McCoy, Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark, Don Williams, Billy Sherrill, Ferlin Husky and Jimmy Dean have been elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. As I noted, for decades the Country Music Hall of Fame was caught in the position where many deserving performers died before their turn for [...]
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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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It’s Good to Be Blake Shelton These Days
Between Blake Shelton’s upcoming nuptials with country music’s critical darling, Miranda Lambert, and his recent number one title-track single, “All About Tonight,” off of his number one album, all things are pointing up. For Shelton, the climb to stardom has been a slow journey. He spent several years cutting his teeth in Nashville, went through [...]
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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 ...
- Roby Fox: I'm sure no one else will know, or even care about this little tidbit of trivia. "Keep Your Change" was ...
- kate wonders: Roni Stoneman is still on Hee Haw every Sunday night on RFD channel.
- Marsha Blades: Tommy, You were so kind to me during a tough time in my life and I don't think I ever ...
- Leona Jones: I seen Chris at the Grand Ole Opry last week.. First time I have heard of him.. He rocked the ...
- Sonicjar Music: Agree with Lucas, But one thing is certain, for a song to come to existence, so many things have to ...
