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Country Music Hall of Fame Scores Lester Flatt’s Guitar
Vince Gill and Marty Stuart at the Country Music Hall of Fame on February 13. Photo by Marilu White
Valentine’s Day came a day early for the Country Music Hall of Fame when Marty Stuart and Connie Smith donated memorabilia from their personal collection. Among the most famous of the gifts was Lester Flatt’s guitar.
Other major […]Continue reading "Country Music Hall of Fame Scores Lester Flatt’s Guitar"
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Songwriting Is What Dolly Loves The Most
Edd Hurt talked with Dolly Parton about Porter Wagoner, her new album, and her legacy for a piece in American Songwriter. She says throughout her career songwriting is what she has enjoyed the most.
Have you ever thought about making a record similar to Porter’s Wagonmaster or Charlie Louvin’s last record, using an outside producer to […] -
Writer’s Guild and Grammys Reach Interim Agreement
The Writer’s Guild of America came to an agreement with the producers of the Grammy telecast to allow writer’s to work on the show.
Martie McGuire of the Dixie Chicks is expecting her third daughter with husband Gareth. (Thanks Peter)
Production on a straight-to-DVD comedy starring Bill Engvall begins today. Engvall owns a small town bait shop […]Continue reading "Writer’s Guild and Grammys Reach Interim Agreement"
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The Best Country Songs of 2007
First off, Happy New Year to everyone. To start the new year off, we’ve compiled a list of the best songs from 2007. The staff had a lengthy discussion about which songs should be available for nomination for such a list and we decided that a song had to be an original recording on an […]
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Kenny Chesney Produced Willie Album Hits Shelves In January
Songs like Johnny Cash’s “Hurt”, Martina McBride’s “Independence Day”, and George Strait’s “Amarillo by Morning” chartered considerably lower than other songs from these artists’ catalogs, but are sometimes considered signature songs; even over higher charting singles. With that in mind, Country Universe wants to know: What is the definition of a hit?
Sarah Borges, Lucinda Williams, […]Continue reading "Kenny Chesney Produced Willie Album Hits Shelves In January"
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Charlie Daniels Invited To Join The Grand Ole Opry
Less than a month after officially inducting Josh Turner, the Grand Ole Opry surprised Charlie Daniels by extending an invitation to make him the newest member of the Opry family. While he was hosting his annual Christmas For Kids benefit at the Ryman Auditorium, Martina McBride walked on stage with a small gift box […]
Continue reading "Charlie Daniels Invited To Join The Grand Ole Opry"
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Patty Loveless Gears Up For Her Third Trip On the Santa Train
Gary Allan has no balls, as illustrated by his latest album — Living Hard — and just so you know, Ronnie Dunn and John Anderson are merely average Nashville singers, too. I wish I was just making this stuff up, folks.
Tours featuring two mega-stars are in. First it was Kenny Chesney and LeAnn Rimes, then […]Continue reading "Patty Loveless Gears Up For Her Third Trip On the Santa Train"
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Patty Griffin Scores Two Awards At AMAs
Merle Haggard’s latest album, The Bluegrass Sessions, “was produced by a bluegrass musician with bluegrass musicians, recorded at a bluegrass studio, released on a bluegrass label, racked under bluegrass in record stores, aired on bluegrass radio, covered by the bluegrass press, and it’s currently in it’s fourth consecutive week at # 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass […]
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Merle Haggard Debuts At Number 1 On Bluegrass Charts
The Politico has a great “story behind the song” type feature about how “For These Times” was written and eventually ended up on Martina McBride’s latest album, Waking Up Laughing. Inspiration is everywhere.
It begins in Pittsburgh on election night 2006. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), losing to Democrat Robert P. Casey Jr. by a wide margin, […]Continue reading "Merle Haggard Debuts At Number 1 On Bluegrass Charts"
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“Singer Nelson Begins Prison Term…”
Our readers seem to be just as excited as I am about Ashton Shepherd. Chet Flippo shares that enthuiasm and tells a pretty cool story:
She was “discovered” a few weeks ago at an Alabama fair at a Lorrie Morgan concert.
As I heard it, the opening act had to cancel, and so the promoter invited people […]
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Forgotten Artists: Bradley Kincaid In a manner similar to Alan Lomax, William Bradley “The Kentucky Mountain Boy” Kincaid was one of the great American musicologists and collectors of American folk, country and parlor songs.
Forgotten Artists: Goldie Hill Had Carl Smith and Goldie Hill been born 30 or 40 years later, they might have been like Faith Hill and Tim McGraw–the dominant married couple in country music.
Miranda Lambert - “More Like Her” This kind of material, as opposed to her tough-chick-done-wrong romps like “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “Gunpowder and Lead,” is where her real promise lies
Joey Rory - “Cheater, Cheater” It’s actually downright frivolous, but that just makes it all the more fun. And really, are you allowed to say “ho” on country radio?
Josh Gracin - “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” Despite initial marketing that touted the album as deep and personal, “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” is anything but deep or personal.
Josh Turner - "Everything Is Fine" Turner is the rare example of an artist who records material that’s both quality and trademark.
Darryl Worley - "Tequila On Ice" A groovy mid-tempo that sways, a refreshing reprieve from the exhausting pace of a format that clamors for loud music and swelling choruses.
Blake Shelton - "She Wouldn't Be Gone" It’s all about nailing the melody rather than providing a legitimate interpretation that accentuates the lyrical content, although Shelton does do a pretty good job of injecting what limited emotion he can.
Don’t look now, but Darius Rucker, lead singer of 90s rock group Hootie & The Blowfish, has a country hit on his hands. What you probably haven’t heard is that Rucker is the first black artist to chart a single in the country top 20 since Charley Pride last did it in 1988.
News that former Sugarland member and co-founder Kristen Hall is suing her ex-mates, to the tune of $1.5 million, goes a long way towards providing a bit of context regarding the Atlanta singer/songwriter’s sudden departure from the group.
In Memory of Don Helms (1927 - 2008) Helms dated back to a time when an excellent four or five piece band and a good singer were all that were needed to make great country music. No drums, no light shows, no production tricks in the recording studio–just good music.Current Discussion
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