The 9513 - Country Music Blog

It’s official: John Rich will be on the upcoming season of Celebrity Apprentice. Austin Music Source’s Michael Corcoran on Friday night’s George Strait/Reba McEntire/Lee Ann Womack show, which set a record for the Erwin Center: Though this seemed like a double headlined show on paper, Strait and his aptly named Ace In the Hole Band, [...]

Continue reading "John Rich Makes ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Cast; The Steel Wheels Ask Fans For Help; Eric Brace/Peter Cooper Produce Tom T. Hall Tribute"

The New York Times‘ Jon Caramanica says Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton‘s wins represented a disruption to the Nashville pecking order that was so blatant at last year’s CMAs. Our Country has some backstage reactions from the artists. EW.com’s Ken Tucker says Gwyneth Paltrow performed as well as, if not better, than a few of [...]

Continue reading "Miranda Lambert & Blake Shelton Win Big at CMA Awards, Brad Paisley Too; Hank Jr. Enters Whiskey Business"

The Songwriter Agency opened in Nashville with the specific goal of booking hit songwriters into a variety of mainstream venues. Full roster here. The official count for Taylor Swift‘s first week of sales for Speak Now is 1,047,000 copies. Only 16 other albums have sold a million in a week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking [...]

Continue reading "The Songwriter Agency Opens in Nashville; Hall of Fame Adds Items to Hank Williams Family Exhibit; Dierks Bentley’s New Video"

Goodnight Lane marks Colin Gilmore’s first album in about five years, but it’s hard to say that he hasn’t been keeping himself busy in the interim. Between touring on his own and opening for the likes of Alejandro Escovedo, Mason Jennings and The Flatlanders (featuring his dad, Jimmie Dale Gilmore), Gilmore spent the last year [...]

Continue reading "Colin Gilmore: Hello, Goodnight Lane"

By default judgement, Taylor Swift won a trademark case last week against 16 of 24 individuals who were selling counterfeit merchandise during her tour. The original case was filed in May of 2009. Nashville Scene’s 2010 Best of Nashville lists are out. The writer’s picks from the music section include Elizabeth Cook, Chely Wright, Jamey [...]

Continue reading "Taylor Swift Wins Trademark Case; Kenny Chesney Debuts at No. 1; Guy Clark Tribute in the Works"

Using data from radio airplay and album sales, Billboard ranked the top 25 country artists of the past 25 years. New releases for the week of June 8, 2010 include: Cadillac Sky – Letters in the Deep Amazon | iTunes | MySpace Clay Walker – She Won’t Be Lonely Long Amazon | iTunes | MySpace [...]

Continue reading "Billboard Ranks Top 25 Country Artists; New Releases; Marty Stuart Honors Jimmie Rodgers"

Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, and Reba McEntire are among the acts announced to perform at the ACM Awards, along with Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Trace Adkins and Blake Shelton. It’s time for another edition of photoshopped albums covers from Farce the Music. Peter Cooper tackles songwriting, and more specifically co-writing, [...]

Continue reading "ACM Awards Performers Announced; Peter Cooper On Co-Writing; Free Court Yard Hounds"

There was a ton of country music released in February, a great deal of which never found its way onto the pages of The 9513. Here are abbreviated album reviews of last month’s under-the-radar music. Lightning From The North – .357 String Band The third release from this scrappy Milwaukee quartet is bursting at the [...]

Continue reading "Short Album Reviews Of February’s New Country Music"

Here’s 20 of country music’s best hotel and motel songs. Apologies for excluding Neal McCoy’s “Hillbilly Rap.” Honorable Mentions: Cadillac Sky – “Motel Morning” David Houston – “No Tell Motel” Eagles – “Hotel California” Gene Watson – “Love in the Hot Afternoon” Guy Clark – “Lone Star Hotel” Jack Ingram & Jerry Jeff Walker – [...]

Continue reading "20 Songs About Hotels and Motels"

Lady Antebellum became the first act to reach platinum status in 2010 with its release of Need You Now. Country California Fake News: Radio professionals from across the nation are converging on Nashville this week for Country Radio Seminar (CRS), an annual gathering that gives them the chance to rub elbows with the next generation [...]

Continue reading "Lady Antebellum Hits Platinum; CRS Wrap-Ups; Ronnie Dunn Loves His Car"