The 9513 - Country Music Blog

Taylor Swift made her debut in London last night to a sold-out crowd and The 9513 forum member SamB was there to catch all the action.
She did most of the hits (no Tim McGraw, which was odd), and some stuff off the new album, including Change, which I loved, and Love Story, which she said [...]

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Buddy Harman, dubbed the father of modern country drumming by Eddie Stubbs, passed away yesterday evening at the age of 79 from congestive heart failure.
A native Nashvillian born Murrey Mizell Harman Jr., Mr. Harman played drums on more than 18,000 recordings, including Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman,” Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” Tammy [...]

Continue reading "Country Music Loses The Beat With the Passing of Buddy Harman"

John Maglite claims the deck is already stacked against Caitlin & Will, the winners of CMT’s Can You Duet, due to the meteoric rise of Lady Antebellum.
In any case, for Caitlin & Will, what should matter most about Lady Antebellum is that they recently released their second single. “Lookin’ for a Good Time” is different [...]

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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"

Howard Stern’s response to the allegations that Dolly Parton is contemplating a lawsuit: “I can’t even imagine someone thinking they have an actionable case, but bring it on.”
Last month I called attention to the story behind Marty Robbins‘ epic western ballad “El Paso,” where the hero’s love for a woman named Felina becomes his downfall. [...]

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The New York Times profiles Alan Jackson and considers his place in country music.
There’s no question that Mr. Jackson is a country kingpin, respected even by the impatient young singers who complain that the country industry relies too heavily on proven hit makers like him. But outside the world of country music, Mr. Jackson is [...]

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Rumor has it that Jessica Simpson is in talks with Dolly Parton about doing a duet on her new album. (via ggcolumn)
In an exclusive interview with Country Hound, Dierks Bentley claims his band is the best at Halo 3, beating both Miranda Lambert’s and the Cross Canadian Ragweed bands. And, in another Q&A with Peter [...]

Continue reading "New Jessica Simspon Album to Feature Dolly Parton"

First off, Happy New Year to everyone. To start the new year off, we’ve compiled a list of the best songs from 2007. The staff had a lengthy discussion about which songs should be available for nomination for such a list and we decided that a song had to be an original recording on an [...]

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There was a scary moment at last night’s WSM Listener Appreciation concert starring new Hall of Fame members Vince Gill and Mel Tillis. While talking to the crowd, Tillis fell off the Ryman Auditorium stage and into the first row of the audience. Both Tillis and an elderly female fan claimed to be okay after [...]

Continue reading "Walk The Line Voted Number One Music Biopic"

War. It is the central issue of contemporary American political debate. It is also an unfortunate and deeply personal part of the American culture. War affects the way we see our place in the world, our duty to our nation, and our role within our communities. It can bond families in solidarity and it can [...]

Continue reading "20 Top War and Soldier Songs"