The 9513 - Country Music Blog

The story of how Josh Turner wrote his breakout hit “Long Black Train” is a humdinger of a tale. You probably already know it, but just bear with me for a paragraph or so while I recount it one more time for the unacquainted (or skip ahead, no worries). OK, here we go: Turner was [...]

Continue reading "Let’s Write That!"

On her first radio tour in two years, momentum has been interrupted by the monster winter storm that hit most of the lower 48 states. Country artist Star De Azlan got turned around in Philly, barely catching a flight, and came back home to Texas to wait it out–only to be affected once again by [...]

Continue reading "Star De Azlan: First and Foremost a Country Singer"

Warner Bros. Records recently released Original Songwriter Demos Vols. I and II, featuring 20 of country music’s recent greatest hits as the singers originally heard them. One of the demos is Jim “Moose” Brown’s version of “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” later recorded by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett. Brown, who wrote the song with Don [...]

Continue reading "The Story Behind “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”"

Warner Bros. Records recently released Original Songwriter Demos Vols. I and II, featuring 20 of country music’s recent greatest hits as the singers originally heard them. One of the demos is Gretchen Peters’ version of “Independence Day,” later recorded by Martina McBride. Peter’s talked with The 9513 about the song and its impact. The Songwriter [...]

Continue reading "The Story Behind “Independence Day”"

A few weeks ago I had the enormous pleasure of sharing the stage with two fantastic songwriters inside of a little bar in the downtown area of Bandera. This hill country hamlet in Texas is not much more than tiny speck on the map, as far as population goes. If map locations were demarcated by [...]

Continue reading "Scheduled Spontaneity"

No doubt Dean Brody is a gifted storyteller. The rising Canadian country music star proved his singing and songwriting readiness last year with three hit songs off his self-titled debut album on Broken Bow Records–all three broke the Top 10 at Canadian country radio. His smash “Brothers” peaked at #26 on the U.S. charts and [...]

Continue reading "Dean Brody: It’s Become Bigger Than Just Him"

Earlier this year, country singer Amber Digby teamed up with Justin Trevino to release a duet album brimming with old and soon-to-be classics. Titled Keeping Up Appearances, highlights include the Jack Greene-Jeannie Seely hit “Wish I Didn’t Have To Miss You,” Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty’s “Lead Me On” and “After The Fire Is Gone.” [...]

Continue reading "For Amber Digby, Country Music Is A Family Affair"

With no formal training besides a handful of guitar lessons at age 9 or 10, Miami native Raul Malo has gone on to become the vocal powerhouse front man of the Grammy Award-winning alternative country band The Mavericks and more recently has achieved well-deserved critical acclaim as a solo recording artist. His 2009 album, The [...]

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Radney Foster took the stage at a concert in Sacramento this past May and had a crowd watching. Normally, this wouldn’t be news. Foster has been touring small clubs and venues much of his career, entertaining crowds of hundreds- if not thousands- along the way. This one was different, however. Foster was one of sixteen [...]

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Without songwriters, we wouldn’t have any songs, but they hardly receive the recognition they deserve for the contributions they make. We have the greats that are obvious like Harlan Howard, Cindy Walker, and even Hank Williams that are hard to pass up–and they really aren’t all that lacking in the accolades–so let’s limit this to [...]

Continue reading "Songwriters: Who’s Your Favorite Unsung Hero?"