The 9513 - Country Music Blog

Bonnaroo certainly could have done worse with its lineup, here’s a selection of the more country-leaning acts: John Fogerty, Zac Brown Band, John Prine, Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Miranda Lambert, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. Nathan Rabin summarizes Kris Kristofferson‘s inexcusably [...]

Continue reading "Bonnaroo Embraces Rootsy Musicians; Rare George Jones Songs Reissued; Luke Bryan Celebrates No. 1"

The dual-bill of George Strait and Reba McEntire sold out Tulsa’s 18,000 seat BOK Center in less than an hour. In the latest edition of Nashville or Bust, Nathan Rabin explores the music and influence of Kitty Wells: “Though Wells was rightly hailed as a pioneer who inspired multiple generations of female country singers, a [...]

Continue reading "Strait & McEntire Sell-Out Tulsa; Rabin Takes on Kitty Wells; Lady Antebellum and Patty Griffin Drop New Records"

While neither surprising nor necessarily unwarranted, the buzz surrounding Lady Antebellum is reaching deafening levels. They have become country’s first great hope for 2010, and Need You Now tries valiantly to live up to that mantle. Fittingly ambitious but only fitfully inspired, it’s a huge record that sounds expensive, slick, and strategized. With its Bon [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Lady Antebellum – Need You Now"

Songwriters: Cary Barlow, Hillary Lindsey and Shane Stevens. Country music’s group du jour Lady Antebellum blends post-teenage angst with ’70s soul-rock, riding the youth wave that’s washed over Music Row. While today’s pop radio relies often on empty boasts and ironic poses, the trio has lept onto the Top 40 charts by singing earnest, self-serious [...]

Continue reading "Lady Antebellum – “American Honey”"

Nominees for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in the country category are as follows: Best Female Country Vocal Performance “Dead Flowers” – Miranda Lambert “I Just Call You Mine” – Martina McBride “White Horse” – Taylor Swift “Just A Dream” – Carrie Underwood “Solitary Thinkin” – Lee Ann Womack Best Male Country Vocal Performance “All [...]

Continue reading "Grammy Nominees; Jack Cooke & Big Bill Lister Passed Away; Dixie Chick Lawsuit Dropped; CMA CEO Resigns"

I’m not convinced that Hillary Scott’s voice is one of music’s great instruments. Although she’s a capable singer, her tone and vocal character each strike me as unremarkable, smooth and sweet–and, at times, powerful–but lacking the variable and very tangible element which separates legends from hitmakers, that audible “something” that exists on a plane a [...]

Continue reading "Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”"

Jack Ingram on pressure and his approach to making music: Billboard: Do you feel more pressure now that you’re having more success? Ingram: I’m a father, there’s a business that has my name on it, there’s a lot of things going on that create that pressure, but I love it. There’s an element to making [...]

Continue reading "Jack Ingram’s Art; More Than 100 Arrested at Chesney Concert; Darius Rucker Free at the Opry"

Songwriters: Luke Bryan, Dave Haywood, and Charles Kelley If saying “I do” is the ultimate romantic gesture, then asking “Do I?” is its inverse—a romantic ultimatum. This new single from Luke Bryan’s upcoming sophomore album, Doin’ My Thing, concerns the gradual loss of passion in a relationship, culminating in a worried chorus that asks some [...]

Continue reading "Luke Bryan – “Do I”"