The 9513 - Country Music Blog

Although I had listened to country music for many years and had occasionally been able to purchase a 45 rpm or two, the summer of 1968 was the first time I had a summer job and was able to purchase records on a regular basis. My place of work, the Beach Theater on Atlantic Avenue [...]

Continue reading "Country Heritage: Jack Greene"

For Sunny Sweeney, being a country music artist comes with some baggage… the good kind. Sweeney clearly believes that she holds a responsibility to the sound and music that inspired her as a child. Names such as Haggard, Lynn, and Parton are names she owes her own brief legacy to and wherever that career may [...]

Continue reading "Merle Haggard Is Pretty Much Sunny Sweeney’s Hero"

This week’s Friday Five is inspired by a re-watching of the Keanu Reeves masterpiece Point Break; however, since there are no country songs about a gang of criminal surfers, we’ll just go with the bank robbing aspect. Here are my five favorite songs about bank robbers both real and fictional. Honorable Mention: Ty Herndon’s single [...]

Continue reading "Friday Five: Bank Robbers"

There have always been some who see country music and jazz as opposite ends of the American music spectrum—one down home, emotionally straightforward and inclined towards the well-understood and safe; the other urban, sophisticated, even intellectual, and born to go off on unfettered, exploratory tangents. You could, of course, hear that opposition expressed by fans [...]

Continue reading "Scanning the Countryside: Country—and All That Jazz"

Yesterday on the blog, Juli pulled together a Friday Five centered around Valentine’s Day songs. And while the artists included ranged from Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard to the Old 97′s, all had their own take on the official (commercially, at least) day of love. 2010 was a good year for country music love stories, [...]

Continue reading "Your Take: Love at First Listen"

Whether you’re a fan of Valentine’s Day or think it’s a fake holiday perpetuated by greeting card companies, there’s a song or two for you on this list of my five favorite songs about February 14. 5. “Feb. 14” – Drive-By Truckers Is there a crueler rejection than “I want to be alone/Take your chocolates [...]

Continue reading "Friday Five: Valentine"

Songwriters: Jacob Lyda and Paul Overstreet For all the emphasis put on the importance of storytelling in country music, it’s easy to forget that the intangible, indescribable vibe of a song can take hold of a listener just as strongly as any heartfelt lines of hillbilly poetry. Powerful lyrics can make us think, remember and [...]

Continue reading "Jacob Lyda – “I’m Doing Alright”"

Universal Music Group is donating some 200,000 vintage master recordings to the Library of Congress for preservation and digitizing, the majority of which is out of print. UMG is holding on to the copyrights though, which will still allow the company to commercially release the best stuff once it’s cleaned up and sorted through. “Hopefully,” [...]

Continue reading "UMG Donates 200,000 Songs to Library of Congress; Gurf Morlix Covers Blaze Foley; Country Music Sales Down In 2010"

Here’s a briefer for the past couple of weeks: Shania Twain got married. So did Kellie Pickler. The Grascals’ Terry Eldredge got engaged. LeAnn Rimes got new boobs and engaged. The Shania and LeAnn stories seem to be the biggest, and of course there are other stories and links that were missed during my hiatus, [...]

Continue reading "George Jones, Charlie Louvin, & Ralph Stanley Hospitalized In the Past Week; Year End Lists; RIP Gary Claxton"

Hot Club of Cowtown plans to pay tribute to the music of Bob Wills with a new album, due out Feb. 1, titled What Makes Bob Holler. The Washington Post‘s Chris Richards profiled Merle Haggard. (via CMT) Elizabeth Cook, Taylor Swift, and Jamey Johnson got nods from Rolling Stone in its list for the best [...]

Continue reading "Hot Club of Cowtown to Release Bob Wills Tribute; Snoop Dogg Weighs In On Willie"