The 9513 - Country Music Blog

Editor’s Note: The following transcript contains explicit language. “There’s a fuckload of squirrels out there!” exclaims a surprised Todd Snider out of nowhere. He’s speaking to The 9513 from his home in East Nashville, which is apparently under siege “They’re having a meeting. Holy shit, here they come! Get help!” This is the sort of [...]

Continue reading "Under Attack By Squirrels: Interview with Todd Snider"

On April 12, Alison Krauss will release a new album with Union Station titled Paper Airplane. Zac Brown isn’t sure why music has to be categorized: “I don’t know why everybody wants to put everything in a box. It’s almost like profiling.” If you want to define the Zac Brown Band musically, you’d be better [...]

Continue reading "Alison Krauss Schedules New Album; ‘Garden & Gun’ Covers Bluegrass; Lost Highway Celebrates 10 Years"

Say yes to booty with these five songs about pirates. 5. “The Pirate Queen” – Alison Brown This jazzy instrumental track sounds pretty laid back for a character as rough-edged as a pirate queen. But Brown’s banjo picking (and the work of her fellow musicians on the record) is flawless and a pleasure to listen [...]

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Warner Bros. Records recently released Original Songwriter Demos Vols. I and II, featuring 20 of country music’s recent greatest hits as the singers originally heard them. One of the demos is Jim “Moose” Brown’s version of “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” later recorded by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett. Brown, who wrote the song with Don [...]

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Did Miley someone insult Taylor Swift? Oh no she didn’t! No, really…she didn’t. — Jim What kind of writing style does George Strait use? The Dean Dillon style. — Sam Strait country delivered strait from the heart, strait to you. Puns are also encouraged. — CMW What is Jaron’s last name? Andthelongroadtolove. Most people assume [...]

Continue reading "April 2010 Mailbag: Did Miley Someone Insult Taylor Swift?"

Last.fm has put together a list of the Top 1000 artists for 2009. Artists tagged as country take up… eight spots. By way of comparison, “pop” has 121 artists, “folk” has 80 and “melodic death metal” has 26. Last.fm’s Top 8 Country artists of the year are, by order of where they ranked in the [...]

Continue reading "The 9513 Last.fm Chart Update (12-13-09)"

You know that new George Strait record due out in August? Ken Tucker says it will blow your mind. Recorded at Jimmy Buffett’s Shrimp Boat Studios in Key West, Fla., the album includes a song that Strait sings entirely in Spanish, “El Rey,” which is a Mexican standard and was a giant mariachi hit for [...]

Continue reading "Just Call Him Señor George Strait; Miranda Lambert Shares Studio Footage"

Ah, there’s the George Strait push that I was expecting last week. Twenty-six people in The 9513 group decided to give King George a listen, making him the top artist of the week by a pretty large margin. Johnny Cash and Dwight Yoakam were the closest, with 21 listeners apiece. Kenny Chesney, who’d been largely [...]

Continue reading "The 9513 Last.fm Chart Update (6-07-09)"

One thing to keep in mind when looking at Last.fm charts and statistics is that the listener base tends to skew indie. According to the site, the most popular artists in the U.S. tagged as “country” are: Neko Case, Ryan Adams, The Avett Brothers, Nickel Creek, Old Crow Medicine Show, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Carrie [...]

Continue reading "The 9513 Last.fm Chart Update (5-17-09)"

I saved reviews of the week’s two best releases for last. Martina McBride, Waking Up Laughing I had low expectations for this project after hearing “Anyway,” the over-produced and over-sung lead single, but Martina’s efforts as a producer have now generated two consecutive worthwhile albums. Indeed, on much of the album, Martina sounds like the [...]

Continue reading "Album Reviews: Martina McBride and “Live at Texas Stadium”"