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Just Another King Following in the Footsteps of the First
Drew L. Wilson is a writer, photographer and documentary filmmaker who’s work has appeared in Stream Side, Water World, PBS and over 20 other environmental and engineering magazines. He is currently working on a documentary about Bob Wills to premier at Tulsa’s Historic Circle Cinema, as well as a screenplay with Merle Haggard on Bob [...]
Continue reading "Just Another King Following in the Footsteps of the First"
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20 Songs About Hobos
Springtime is here, the economy is in the toilet, you just lost your job (and John Rich is probably going to write a song about it)–doesn’t it just make you want to pack a bandanna on a stick and head out of town on the next freight train? It sure sounds romantic: seeing the country, [...]
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Your Take: Male Artists Vs. Female Artists
In a genre of music dominated by songs covering the trials and tribulations of love, it’s easy to fall into the trap of He Said/She Said.
I’m not talking about the latest high school drama from Taylor or Miley, or two-sided accounts of where love went wrong–although songs like Lee Ann Womack’s “Last Call” and [...]Continue reading "Your Take: Male Artists Vs. Female Artists"
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Your Take: Decades of Country Music
In Jim’s interview a few weeks back with former front man of The Mavericks Raul Malo, the singer had an interesting game for country listeners to play in their cars:
Here’s an experiment for you if you wanna try this out just for fun one day. If you have satellite radio, put on the 40s station [...] -
Your Take: Corporate Control of Concert Prices
The first day of spring kicks off next Friday, and with warmer weather comes exciting announcements of summer country concert tours. We’re pretty concert-happy around here as well, as we’re sponsoring the New American Voices Tour with Rodney Hayden and Drew Kennedy.
Before television and the Internet, the concert experience was the only way to get [...]Continue reading "Your Take: Corporate Control of Concert Prices"
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Your Take: What Do Your Musical Tastes Say About You?
In yesterday’s news roundup, Brody listed some of the more interesting statistics published in the Country Music Association’s study on country music audience demographics. There were some interesting numbers on people who consider themselves “countryphiles,” as well as the genre’s love/hate relationship with digital downloads.
The nugget I found to be the most intriguing, however, [...]Continue reading "Your Take: What Do Your Musical Tastes Say About You?"
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Your Take: Country Music Tragedies
Almost exactly 50 years ago on February 3, 1959, a plane crash in Iowa killed three rock and roll pioneers. The Day the Music Died, as it was coined in Don McLean’s “American Pie,” marked the loss of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson (who wrote George Jones’ first No. 1 [...]
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Your Take: What Is Country Music?
In movies, country music is flashy Nudie suits, thick accents and troubled childhoods. In Nashville, it’s barrooms, cash cows and demo tapes by the dozen. In pop music circles, it’s hokey, old-fashioned and the quintessential line “I like all music…but country.”
Country music can arguably be all (or none) of these things, but they still don’t [...] -
Rucker Proves That Sometimes, The Best Marketing Is No Marketing At All
Don’t look now, but Darius Rucker, lead singer of 90s rock group Hootie & The Blowfish, has a country hit on his hands. “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” currently sits at number 14 on Billboard’s country singles chart and continues to pick up spins. What you probably haven’t heard is that Rucker [...]
Continue reading "Rucker Proves That Sometimes, The Best Marketing Is No Marketing At All"
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Lee Ann Womack – “Last Call”
Songwriters: Erin Enderlin and Shane McAnally
Lee Ann Womack’s latest single, “Last Call,” about the conflict a woman goes through when ending an unfulfilling relationship is a good song, although it does suffer from a few problems. The production of the verses give the song a haunting feeling that sets it up for an internal [...]
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As much as we love girl singers, we love songs about girl singers even more. Here's just a few of the many tribute songs out there.
Step away from the river and up to a jukebox, because heartbreak is only temporary, but a good song about drowning yourself—like a diamond—lasts forever.
Who sings like dead flowers? Find out the answer to that question and many more in June's mailbag.
What do you think about music labels "testing the waters" with a single before providing access to an artist's entire album? 
What country artist, young or old, would you recommend as a must-listen artist to a newcomer on his/her journey through country music, and what would your essential song picks be?
Miranda Lambert - "Dead Flowers" "Dead Flowers" marks the maturation of a phenomenally talented but still budding songwriter into a full-fledged artistic powerhouse.
Taylor Hicks - "Seven Mile Breakdown" Hicks has soul, but this record doesn't. It's a disappointing entry from one of American Idol's least disappointing attempt-a-crossover artists.
For episode four, we feature a couple of acts who have been helped along the way by winning talent competitions. Darryl Lee Rush was the inaugural victor of the Shiner Rising Star Contest and Caitlin & Will were victorious on last summer's Can You Duet from CMT. Current Discussion
- Hubba: I have to say, I like it... (I can't believe I just said that)
- Lucas: I changed my mind again... it really is a masterpiece. Playfully cheesy in a lot of country songs is on purpose ...
- madonna: I'm not a huge fan of Nickelback and Chad Kroeger but I really like this song a lot. The lyrics ...
- Stormy: But there's still no excuse to leave off Blame Canada.
- Stormy: Dear Teenage fanbots: Things you do not want to mention in your post because they will send you elder readers into ...
- beth: well here's my ten cents, not that anyone actually cares. i'm a gloriana fan, but i'm happy to admit that ...
- Lucas: I may have exaggerated a tad, but how much I love this song can't be explained with my heart - ...
- Megan: Yall totally suck! This songs rocks harder than Picture to burn bc most girls that I know TEAR a pic ...
- Timmy: Wouldn't say it was a lyrical masterpiece, but its a fun song to listen to. Its catchy and funny, something ...
- Juli: "Lumberjack" and the RCKY would have been included, but alas, Eric Idle isn't Canadian and I'm not quite sure of ...
