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John Hiatt Joins Lofty Company With AMA Lifetime Achievement Award For Songwriting
The Americana Music Association announced yesterday that John Hiatt will receive their lifetime achievement award for songwriting, which will be presented to him during the Sept. 18 awards show at the Ryman Auditorium. Past winners include Willie Nelson, Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, Cowboy Jack Clement, John Prine and Billy Joe Shaver.
Aside from his forthcoming album, [...] -
Rodney Atkins - “Invisibly Shaken”
Songwriters: Rodney Atkins and Bill Kirsch
Rodney Atkins’ latest single from his blockbuster album If You’re Going Through Hell is the somber piano ballad “Invisibly Shaken,” which Atkins co-wrote with Bill Kirsch. It tells the tale of a guy who is pretending to be ok with a breakup, but is in fact, “invisibly shaken, quietly [...] -
More Performers Added To CMA Music Festival Lineup
A whole slew of performers were added to the lineup for the CMA Music Festival, including everybody’s favorite Celebrity Apprentice, Trace Adkins. The lineup also sees Randy Travis returning after a decade long absence.
Do Lyle Lovett and Australian pop singer Ben Lee look alike? Sixty-eight percent of the voters at Spinner see at least some [...]Continue reading "More Performers Added To CMA Music Festival Lineup"
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Tim McGraw Channels Inner Shel Silverstein for New Children’s Book
A new children’s book, My Little Girl, penned by Tim McGraw and singer-songwriter Tom Douglas will hit bookshelves in October, with a forward foreword from Faith Hill.
Hal Bogerd gushes over Peter Cooper’s newest album, Mission Door, claiming “if the year keeps going like this my 2008 top ten list is going to get pretty crowded.”
Trisha [...]Continue reading "Tim McGraw Channels Inner Shel Silverstein for New Children’s Book"
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Kenny Chesney Dominates ACM Awards Nominations
Kenny Chesney leads the 2008 ACM Awards nominations with 11 while Rodney Atkins pulled in six. Here’s a list.
Ricky Skaggs will be awarded a Berklee honorary doctorate of music on the Grand Ole Opry stage.
Skaggs’ virtuosity, his rich musicality, and his commitment to the deep roots of American music make him a deserving recipient of [...]Continue reading "Kenny Chesney Dominates ACM Awards Nominations"
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Your Essential Willie Nelson Songs
Michael Corcoran lists “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain” as the number one essential Willie Nelson song and asks, “Which Willie Nelson songs can you not live without?” It’s hard to argue with his list, but seeing as though it wasn’t included in the list of ten, I’d have to say the Townes Van Zandt [...]
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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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Stop the Scripted Encores, Already!
Mike Osegueda is tired of predictable and lame encores. He’s sick of the fake suspense and thinks the ticket buyers deserve a little unscripted magic. Make it a real encore.
Here’s a tip: If the lights don’t go up when the band leaves the stage, there’s gonna be an encore. Doesn’t matter how loud you squeal [...] -
Tim McGraw Set To Launch His Own Fragrance
File this one under the sketchy column, but apparently Beyonce is intent on recording a “country” album.
“She is a big fan of country music and thought that would be an interesting and exciting way to go.
“She tested the waters at the American Music Awards last weekend and she is up for it.”
And who is she [...]Continue reading "Tim McGraw Set To Launch His Own Fragrance"
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New Opry Theme Song From Brad Paisley To Debut Tomorrow Night
Not everyone who hears the new Bingham album is immediately hooked. Andrew Gilstrap rates the album a little above average, claiming “Mescalito is surprisingly devoid of edge.”
AMA board member Doyle Davis says that “Americana tends to favor lyricists,” and because of that sometimes the country-flavored acts get more emphasis even though the genre encompasses R&B, [...]Continue reading "New Opry Theme Song From Brad Paisley To Debut Tomorrow Night"
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In an attempt to discover and highlight the best music every month, We'll be publishing a list of the best songs released throughout that period. Here's Brady Vercher's picks for October.
For the second episode of The 9513 Country Music Podcast, your host Kelly Dearmore caught up with two seemingly different artists in Sarah Borges and Trent Willmon. Take a listen.
Free Music Downloads: If you’ve only recently come to country music, or have never delved past the genre’s surface and it’s most famous names, you may not have heard of Tom Russell. That’s a shame, and The 9513’s Free Music series is here to help set you down the right path.
Martina McBride - “Ride” Catchy, but a little low on cogency–not to mention originality. And it essentially resolves into the same kind of positive “message song” that has defined so much of McBride’s recent work.
Richie McDonald - “How Do I Just Stop” So gloriously simple and unequivocally lackluster that people of every political persuasion should rejoice in the opportunity to come together and have a hearty laugh at its expense.
Donnie Vondra - “If I Didn’t Love You” Combinining a golden trifecta of country music—steel guitar, fiddle and a strong, twangy vocal—"If I Didn't Love You" pulls together a sweet, toe-tapping ditty reminiscent of Marty Raybon-era Shenandoah.
Lance Miller - “Bacon Frying” A charming country song that is beautiful for its simplicity, a musical remnant from a time when songwriters understood that often the best thing to do is just get out of the song’s way.
John Rich - “Another You” For a guy who is supposed to be a genius songwriter, John Rich sure does seem to be running out of ideas. 
George Ducas - “Walk Through This World” Ducas banks on the success of recent artists’ pleasantly bland lyrics and agreeable instrumentation for his first release with WhiteStar Nashville.
In this exclusive interview for The 9513, Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook talks about life with the band, as well as A Place to Land, the group’s current album, which has charted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart on two separate occasions
Forgotten Artists: Cal Smith - When the Florida Sunshine Opry (Eustis, FL) booked its first “name” (non-local) act back in 1999, the act they chose was Cal Smith. No wonder, since Cal is an excellent singer, musician, storyteller and showman. | View more artists featured in Paul W. Dennis' recurring "Forgotten Artists" feature »
Current Discussion
- idlewildsouth: For quite the majority of the review there is more implication to Brad Paisleys arrogance towards his playing than there ...
- Peter: I kinda liked "Departure" cos the band sounds real good backing him up. And I'm not generally a fan of ...
- Jim Malec: I think Ben secretly has a crush on Aimee.
- Kelly: No "Ben Bashing" going on from me, I just recognized a certain venom that I thought only came out when ...
- Jim Malec: How is any of this an "attack" on Brad's character? Brady, I would say that there really are no positive ...
- idlewildsouth: This seems like more of an attack on Brad Paisleys character than it does his album. While ill admit there ...
- Brady Vercher: So is this to say there aren't any positive aspects to the album at all?
- Jim Malec: Considering that Ben once wrote an article praising the promise and impact of Taylor Swift, I don't think agenda is ...
- Drew: Well said... just a total waste of an album.
- Paula_W: I havent heard the record (nor will I) but I really really enjoyed reading this review. Whether the actual ...
