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Scanning the Countryside: Country—and All That Jazz
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"
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CMA Fest Announces Performers; Shaver & Nelson Release “Wacko From Waco” Duet; Gretchen Wilson’s Favorite Grammy Winners
The first round of announced performers for the CMA Music Festival includes Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Sheryl Crow, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton and Keith Urban. “On the Banks of the Ohio” illustrated. (via Fresh Signals) Northwest native Rachel Harrington plans to release her [...]
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Rascal Flatts – “I Won’t Let Go”
Songwriters: Steve Robson and Jason Sellers “I Won’t Let Go” could be a vow of marital devotion or a promise to protect a baby daughter through her childhood years. Perhaps it’s a helping hand extended to a friend, or maybe the whole thing is written from the vantage point of God addressing a member of [...]
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Where Are They Now: Mila Mason
As the daughter of a successful performing artist who regularly opened for the Commodores in Las Vegas and beyond, Mila Mason was born immersed in music, however, she was passionate about the songwriting part of the music business. In her late teens, her mother would pick up the family and move to Nashville in order [...]
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Little Jimmy Dickens Celebrates 90; Shania Twain Announces Engagement; Country Music Hall of Fame Plans Expansion
Little Jimmy Dickens turned 90 on Sunday. Shania Twain is engaged, and has been for a couple of months now, to Frédéric Thiébaud. She announced the engagement on her website this morning. Farce the Music Parody Album Covers: A Country Christmas 2010 Craig Havighurst has an article on NPR about the songwriting system in Nashville [...]
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Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer Perform Toegther; Country Stars Land Roles in New Civil War Mini-Series; Free Rodney Crowell
Up until this past fall, sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer have kept their musical lives separate. Recently though, they’ve performed several intimate shows together as part of what they’ve dubbed their Side By Side tour. NPR is streaming a collection of songs that they performed live in Studio 4A, including the song they open [...]
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The C Word
There is country radio, and then there is Country Radio. When I first began covering the business a decade ago, I was at first annoyed to see the way that radio insiders insisted on referring to their milieu as “Country Radio” in every casual mention (see here)—but I eventually became grateful for the useful distinction. [...]
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Carrie Underwood Records Song for ‘Narnia’ Movie; Norah Jones’ “Creepin’ In” with Dolly Parton; Carter’s Chord’s Christmas Collection
Carrie Underwood co-wrote a new song titled “There’s a Place For Us” for the upcoming film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Stream it, if you’d like, over at NashvilleGab. Am I still allowed to mention The Fabulous Ginn Sisters on a country blog? They mention a change in sound from [...]
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Brad Paisley Announces Next Single; Keith Urban Performs on Train; The Civil Wars’ New Video
Brad Paisley announced that the song he debuted at the CMA Awards, “This Is Country Music,” will be his next single. (via CMT) Dollywood was awarded the Liseberg Applause Award, the amusement park industry’s top theme park award, on Tuesday. “Of course, Walt Disney became successful because he had Mickey Mouse who has two big [...]
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Sugarland Settles Lawsuit with Founder Kristen Hall; Country Shows Expand; Anna Wilson Adds Jazz to Country Standards
Current Sugarland members Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush settled a lawsuit with the group’s founding member, Kristen Hall, who claims she was owed more than $14 million. Details of the settlement weren’t disclosed. NPR’s Meredith Ochs says the new Hank Williams box set The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings…Plus! challenges commonly held perceptions: Though it’s well-known [...]
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- Jack Hanford: For those who are interested, there is a new 90-minute documentary video about Tompall & the Glaser Brothers on DVD ...
- joe morris: how come nobody mentions his fan club which started 1950 and was called the " the penny pushers " which ...
- jane: I'm reading this article in 2013 and I've yet to hear anything from the album played on the radio.....
- Catwandy: I guess Matt C. is eating his well-deserved crow 'bout now. Critics....gotta love 'em , bless their little hearts.
- Ed McClendon: Saw the brothers in Greeley CO on the occasion of Tompall's 50th birthday. The show wasn't well promoted and there ...
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