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Blake Shelton’s Defiant Attitude; Rascal Flatts Pluses; Carolwood Records Folds
Blake Shelton on his more defiant attitude of late:
“One thing we’re doing that we probably haven’t done is showcase the … ‘I don’t give a (expletive) if you like it or not’ attitude,” Shelton says. “It’s puzzled me why country artists have to be so politically correct. I mean I’m not a politician. If I’m [...]Continue reading "Blake Shelton’s Defiant Attitude; Rascal Flatts Pluses; Carolwood Records Folds"
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Taylor Swift Times Ten Million; Johnny Cash’s ‘Strawberry Cake’; The Wildes’ Murder Ballad
Taylor Swift passed the 10 million mark for albums sold.
Juli Thanki on James Hand’s new album Shadow On the Ground:
Equal parts wry humor, frank honesty and gut-wrenching heartbreak, “Shadow on the Ground” is a reminder of how good country music can be, especially when it’s sung by a man who “always drinks, seldom thinks and [...] -
40 Truckin’ Songs
This September, The 9513 is saluting one of our favorite topics: truckin’. We had a list long as Route 66, but after much debate, narrowed it down to 40 artists and 40 songs.
Though there is a fair amount of women truck drivers, this list is Y chromosome heavy. You won’t find too many ballads on [...] -
Trace Adkins To Honor United 93 Passengers; Exclusive Miranda Lambert EP; Tribute to Silverstein
Trace Adkins is scheduled to perform the national anthem at this year’s ceremony honoring the passengers who died on United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.
Best Buy has an exclusive EP from Miranda Lambert today that includes “Dead Flowers” and three bonus tracks from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend that were offered by different retailers. [...] -
Miranda Lambert Learns the Art of Subtlety; Dang Dang Dang; Alan Jackson Likes Bologna
DETAILS magazine has a brief Q&A with Miranda Lambert.
Q: Is anyone at risk on your new album?
A: There’s a couple, but it’s subtler. I’ve moved from that crazy girl to someone a little wiser. I kill them a little more softly this time around.Don’t forget your free priority tickets to the Darius Rucker show on [...]
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Cindy Walker Willed Catalog to Hall of Fame; Tracy Lawrence Hospitalized
Tracy Lawrence was hospitalized on Tuesday for a respiratory infection. He was diagnosed with early signs of pneumonia.
The Star-Telegram’s Preston Jones is not fond of the latest from George Strait:
Whatever the case, too much of Twang feels like Strait, who produced the record with longtime collaborator Tony Brown, capitalizing on his present, increased visibility. The [...]Continue reading "Cindy Walker Willed Catalog to Hall of Fame; Tracy Lawrence Hospitalized"
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Friday Five: Songs Tenuously Related to Herman Melville
Break out the gifts and Fudgie the Whale ice cream cake: tomorrow is Herman Melville’s 190th birthday!
Melville may be the bane of anyone who’s ever taken a sophomore English class, but I’m kinda fond of the guy. Unfortunately there are very few country songs about nineteenth century whaling practices, mutiny, South Seas adventure, incest, fears [...]Continue reading "Friday Five: Songs Tenuously Related to Herman Melville"
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Forgotten Artists – The 1980s
Thus far, the thrust of the Forgotten Artists series has been artists whose salad days occurred before 1980. While Brady tells me that many of the articles have received a lot of hits, relatively few comments have been left. I suspect that this is because few of the readers actually recall the artists of whom [...]
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Great Country Songs from the 1970s, Pt. 8
Here are some more songs that I like; one song per artist, not necessarily his or her biggest hit. As always, I consider myself free to comment on other songs by the artist.
“Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” – Billy Joe “B.J.” Thomas (1975)
His biggest country hit reached #1 and also topped the [...]Continue reading "Great Country Songs from the 1970s, Pt. 8"
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Friday Five: S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G S-O-N-G-S
Country music is pretty straightforward: three chords and the truth, as they say. But sometimes, singers have to spell it out for us. Here’s a Friday Five that’s part country music playlist, part spelling bee.
5. “Tulsa” – Wayne Hancock
Tulsa is the town for Wayne the Train, so much so that he spells the town’s [...]
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- sam (sam): Why should we say, "You either like it or you don't. Just leave it at that?" I don't want to ...
- kevin w: I don't mind christian messages in songs, heck country has a tradition of christian messages in songs, along with the ...
- kevin w: "I grew up in the 1980’s when country was solidly blue collar democrat." Um, not exactly
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- Jon: Since this is basically just the flip side of Dan E.’s claim – he says it’s getting better, you say ...
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- Stormy: I grew up in the 1980's when country was solidly blue collar democrat.
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Is Dave Haywood going solo? This and many other of country music's most pressing questions answered in the September edition of The 9513's world famous Mailbag!
Caroline Herring likes to sing songs about life in the South. No, not exactly like Justin Moore and Jason Aldean...
The 9513's resident historian Paul W. Dennis sits down for a chat with country music legend Gene Watson.
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.
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?



