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Jamey Johnson Joins Willie Nelson and Kenny Chesney In Farm Aid Lineup
Jamey Johnson is joining Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews for the Farm Aid music festival in New England on Sept. 20. Maybe this will end up being the first step towards a Jamey Johnson and Willie Nelson studio collaboration. Or maybe I’ll just keep on dreaming my dreams.
Keeping with […]Continue reading "Jamey Johnson Joins Willie Nelson and Kenny Chesney In Farm Aid Lineup"
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Hee Haw Reruns Coming to TV In September
The comedy show “Hee Haw” featuring performances from country music stars is being resuscitated. The RFD-TV cable channel will begin airing reruns of the Roy Clark and Buck Owens co-hosted show on September 7th.
Peter Cooper has a nice article on Don Helms:
In performance, he would treat audiences to instrumental versions of songs by Williams, […] -
Sugarland Drops Miley For First Chart-Topper On Billboard 200
Sugarland’s sales saw a 45% decline, but it was still enough to take the top spot from Miley Cyrus on the Billboard 200 chart.
Leave it to Jamey Johnson to turn the often humorous Photocrap blog serious.
Jamey Johnson makes another appearance on Unplugged at Studio 330 next week, but for now you can go check out […]Continue reading "Sugarland Drops Miley For First Chart-Topper On Billboard 200"
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Forgotten Artists: Charley Pride
While he’s not exactly forgotten, it’s been a nineteen years since Charley Pride received much airplay on Country Radio–which seems unbelievable considering the dominant force he was on the charts. For the ’70s, Billboard has Charley listed as its third ranking singles artist behind only Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard. Pride also shows up as […]
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Kenny Chesney Most Played Artist In First Half of 2008
The list of artists with the most airplay from the first half of 2008 is topped by Kenny Chesney, with Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts rounding out the top five.
After more than a decade with Epic Records, Patty Loveless is going indie with the September 9th release of Sleepless Nights–her […]Continue reading "Kenny Chesney Most Played Artist In First Half of 2008"
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Kristy Lee Cook Hooks Up With Arista Nashville; Single Due In August
American Idol’s Kristy Lee Cook scored a record deal with 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville. Her first single, “15 Minutes of Shame,” will hit radio on August 11 and her full album is due out sometime this fall. Last month, in his article proclaiming country music as American Idol’s uncomfortable bedfellow, Matt predicted that she’d be signed […]
Continue reading "Kristy Lee Cook Hooks Up With Arista Nashville; Single Due In August"
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The Statler Brothers and Tom T. Hall Enshrined In Hall of Fame
The first song ever recorded by The Statler Brothers was a tune by the name of “The Ballad of Billy Christian,” written by Tom T. Hall. In that regard, it was only fitting that both were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame at the Ford Theater on Sunday night.
Last week Rick drew our […]Continue reading "The Statler Brothers and Tom T. Hall Enshrined In Hall of Fame"
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House Recognizes Toby Keith For Commitment to Military
Oklahoma congressman Tom Cole introduced a resolution to the House of Representatives to recognize Toby Keith’s commitment to the U.S. military. Keith has made six USO trips to visit troops on the front lines.
As we enter into the second half of 2008 Craig Shelburne takes a look back at 10 albums from the first half […]Continue reading "House Recognizes Toby Keith For Commitment to Military"
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Loretta’s Songwriters HoF Performance Sparked Impromptu Encore
Lee Ann Womack kicked off the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony last Thursday with a note-perfect rendition of Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” and Blake Shelton performed a countrier-than-the-original version of Albert Hammond’s “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before,” but Jim Allen says nothing compared to Lynn’s performance of her own “Coal […]
Continue reading "Loretta’s Songwriters HoF Performance Sparked Impromptu Encore"
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Snoop Dogg Contemplates Doing Grass of the Blue Variety
Inspired by his recent appearance at the CMT Music Awards, Snoop Dogg supposedly wants to record a bluegrass album, you know, because he’s been smoking so much green grass. Quick, somebody shoot me.
Unhappy with Montgomery Gentry’s sales figures on their previous album, Joe Galante urged the duo to toughen up their sound. So that’s what […]Continue reading "Snoop Dogg Contemplates Doing Grass of the Blue Variety"
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Forgotten Artists: Bradley Kincaid In a manner similar to Alan Lomax, William Bradley “The Kentucky Mountain Boy” Kincaid was one of the great American musicologists and collectors of American folk, country and parlor songs.
Forgotten Artists: Goldie Hill Had Carl Smith and Goldie Hill been born 30 or 40 years later, they might have been like Faith Hill and Tim McGraw–the dominant married couple in country music.
Miranda Lambert - “More Like Her” This kind of material, as opposed to her tough-chick-done-wrong romps like “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “Gunpowder and Lead,” is where her real promise lies
Joey Rory - “Cheater, Cheater” It’s actually downright frivolous, but that just makes it all the more fun. And really, are you allowed to say “ho” on country radio?
Josh Gracin - “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” Despite initial marketing that touted the album as deep and personal, “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” is anything but deep or personal.
Josh Turner - "Everything Is Fine" Turner is the rare example of an artist who records material that’s both quality and trademark.
Darryl Worley - "Tequila On Ice" A groovy mid-tempo that sways, a refreshing reprieve from the exhausting pace of a format that clamors for loud music and swelling choruses.
Blake Shelton - "She Wouldn't Be Gone" It’s all about nailing the melody rather than providing a legitimate interpretation that accentuates the lyrical content, although Shelton does do a pretty good job of injecting what limited emotion he can.
Don’t look now, but Darius Rucker, lead singer of 90s rock group Hootie & The Blowfish, has a country hit on his hands. What you probably haven’t heard is that Rucker is the first black artist to chart a single in the country top 20 since Charley Pride last did it in 1988.
News that former Sugarland member and co-founder Kristen Hall is suing her ex-mates, to the tune of $1.5 million, goes a long way towards providing a bit of context regarding the Atlanta singer/songwriter’s sudden departure from the group.
In Memory of Don Helms (1927 - 2008) Helms dated back to a time when an excellent four or five piece band and a good singer were all that were needed to make great country music. No drums, no light shows, no production tricks in the recording studio–just good music.Current Discussion
- Marc: John Rich, Gretchen Wilson and Cowboy Troy were, as usual, awful. I used to like...
- Rick: Thanks for the links to the tunes by Elizabeth Cook and Sarah Buxton, two of my ...
- jana: That Susan Gibson album is pretty awesome....
- Rick: My favorite three cuts on "Heartbreakers Hall of Fame" are "Here Lately", "Laven...
- Rick: Just a comment regarding the old Davis Sisters song "I Forgot More Than You'll E...
- dallas: Peter.every concert we have been too .have been sell outs.that has to say somet...
- dallas: Kenny Chesney.he sells out all his concert.so he must have a real big fan base i...
- Courtney: Is she aiming to be hard to understand? Most of the words I don't understand. Bu...
- J MacAulay: I think he should release "The longer the waiting" as his next single as there i...
- dallas: Rascal Flatts is the best band in country music....
