-
Kristy Lee Cook Hooks Up With Arista Nashville; Single Due In August
American Idol’s Kristy Lee Cook scored a record deal with 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville. Her first single, “15 Minutes of Shame,” will hit radio on August 11 and her full album is due out sometime this fall. Last month, in his article proclaiming country music as American Idol’s uncomfortable bedfellow, Matt predicted that she’d be signed […]
Continue reading "Kristy Lee Cook Hooks Up With Arista Nashville; Single Due In August"
-
Your Take: A Line Of Impropriety?
I gave it a mention in the latest Kellie Pickler single review, and I’m sure it’s happened before, but no one seemed to pick up on it, so I’ll highlight it here. I’m not trying to call out the producer, but he’s been the one involved in the couple of instances that have recently […]
-
Country Musicians Should Totally Pick Up Where Van Halen Left Off
Today’s head-scratcher brought to you by Sugarland’s Kristian Bush: “There’s no reason that a lot of touring country musicians can’t pick up where Van Halen left off,” Bush said. “It’s just that they don’t want to.” (via ggcolumn)
The accolades for Jamey Johnson grow by the day.
Randy Lewis says when LeAnn Rimes performed “Blue” while opening […]Continue reading "Country Musicians Should Totally Pick Up Where Van Halen Left Off"
-
Howard Stern Responds To Dolly; Says Bring It On
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. […]Continue reading "Howard Stern Responds To Dolly; Says Bring It On"
-
Forbes Lists Toby Keith As Country Music’s Top Money Maker
Alan Jackson falls in at No. 10 on Forbes’ list of the top-earning country music stars, but Toby Keith takes the top spot with a cool $48 million in earnings over the last year.
Bob from the Lefsetz Letter has written an interesting piece on Tuesday night’s American Idol Top-2, in which he talks, specifically, about […]Continue reading "Forbes Lists Toby Keith As Country Music’s Top Money Maker"
-
43rd Annual ACM Awards Wrap-Up
Best performance: Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, “Make the World Go Away.” Carrie Underwood sounded awful in her show-opening performance of “Last Name” but has never sounded more beautiful than in this tribute to Eddy Arnold. Major award shows too often fail to even acknowledge the passing of exceptionally talented and influential legends, and […]
-
Dolly Parton Hurt By Howard Stern’s Tasteless Manipulation
Last week Howard Stern manipulated and re-edited sound clips from Dolly Parton quotes “to make it appear the singer was making racist and sexually explicit remarks about Kenny Rogers, Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Carson and others.” Kristin Whittlesey says it wasn’t mildly upsetting either, it was so filthy and nasty that it can’t even be paraphrased. […]
Continue reading "Dolly Parton Hurt By Howard Stern’s Tasteless Manipulation"
-
American Idol’s Uncomfortable Bedfellow
There are three finalists remaining on Fox’s American Idol, and tonight one more goes home. I don’t know David Cook, David Archuleta or Syesha Mercado from Adam, and I have no opinion about which contestant should or will win because my interest in this year’s competition began and ended with Kristy Lee Cook, the […]
-
Vote For the ACM Entertainer of the Year
You can now vote for Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, George Strait, or Keith Urban as the ACM Entertainer of the Year.
Jewel plans to hit the road with Brad Paisley on June 11, eight days after the release of her first country album, Perfectly Clear.
After his Nashville house burned down in 1970, a depressed […] -
Hacienda Brothers’ Chris Gaffney Succumbed to Liver Cancer
One of the roundups at the beginning of the month included the news that founding member and lead singer of the Hacienda Brothers Chris Gaffney was diagnosed with liver cancer. His insurance wasn’t going to cover all of the costs, so a benefit and a website were set up to help collect donation. In a […]
Continue reading "Hacienda Brothers’ Chris Gaffney Succumbed to Liver Cancer"
Popular Stuff
Sponsor
Carrie Underwood - “Just a Dream” “Just a Dream” is not perfect. In fact, it’s deeply, deeply broken. But the single is a great vocal performance of a risky song
Toby Keith - “She Never Cried In Front Of Me” Apart from the shifts in perspective and changes in tense, the major problem with this song is that the lyric fleshes out too many irrelevant details.
Brad Paisley - “Waitin’ On a Woman” Bizarrely, it took a song written by someone other than Brad Paisley for radio to hear what the Paisley style can truly accomplish.
LeAnn Rimes - “What I Cannot Change” When LeAnn Rimes enters a recording studio, she carries with her the most impressive instrument in the room.
Randy Travis - “Dig Two Graves” The combination of song and Travis’ performance together are an example of what makes country music truly exceptional.
Pat Green - “Let Me” The song itself owns Pat Green and he gets lost somewhere in the melody.
Merle Haggard at the Ryman Auditorium: Of the Haggard classics, “Silver Wings,” “The Way I Am” and crowd-favorite “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” were performed with confident ease while “Kern River” was sung with inspired tenderness and “Back to Earth,” from 2007’s Last of the Breed, contained more than a trace of Willie’s nasally twang. 
One of an emerging wave of artists empowered by decreasing production costs and a rapidly changing distribution landscape, Kelleigh Bannen has taken a do-it-yourself approach to her debut album, Radio Skies.
The two-time Dancing With The Stars champion, Julianne Hough, recently took some time to answer questions for The 9513 in this exclusive interview.
After cutting ties with Warner Bros. Records, Ray Scott decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and form Jethropolitan Records, a place where he can get back to the blood and guts of what he terms “real country music,” the kind of stuff you don’t hear on radio anymore.
Catch up on Nashville Star through Matt C.'s live blog. Episode I | Episode II | Episode III | Episode IV | Episode V
Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music by Dana Jennings When Jennings addresses modern country in the final chapter, he leaves you with the impression that it just can’t tap into the primal psyche the same way the classics that served as his nursery rhymes did.Current Discussion
- bresenolouie: In this haunting tale of the young widow, she is confused about the sudden tragi...
- Julie: I'm only an occasional reader of this site, and I'm beginning to see why. This ...
- bresenolouie: Chris N. is perfectly right!!! This is a universal situation - the "REALITY IN ...
- Dustin: JMO: Matt, just wait for this video to come to help you understand, its ok to ad...
- Stormy: Well then,revenge first and investigation later. The song has a huge poblem wit...
- Brady Vercher: Nice try, but I didn't suggest the song wasn't about vengeance. My willful inter...
- Chris N.: Yeah! It’s just like how the Europeans learned to speak the Native Americans...
- JR: I love this song! Where can I get a copy to balst from my speakers as I drive th...
- Stormy: How does one interpret the song to be about something other than vengance?...
- Sarah: I don't care what anyone says the song "Back that thang up" is AWESOME!! Justi...
