The 9513 - Country Music Blog

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday break and didn’t miss us too much. Although Christmas is over, lists are not (as you’ll notice in the news), and neither is our Big Christmas Giveaway, so be sure to enter before the new year if you’d like to be one of the 25 lucky winners. The most [...]

Continue reading "Most Played Single of the Decade Belongs to Tim McGraw; Johnny Cash’s ‘American VI’ Rumored For February"

Gene Watson, Randy Travis, Pam Tillis, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price have all long been cast aside by country radio, but each of these incredible artists continued to produce great country music into the first decade of the 21st century…and each earned a place approaching the upper reaches of our countdown. Mixed in [...]

Continue reading "Top Country Albums of the Decade (#40-#31)"

The 2009 International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees are The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers and The Dillards. Tiffany, an ’80s pop star, told The Huntsville Times that she hopes to have a country project together by the end of the year. “I’ve had success after 20 years, and my fans have really been supportive of [...]

Continue reading "IBMA Announces Hall Inductees; CMA Music Fest To Air Monday; Cash’s “Sea of Heartbreak”"

Ken Tucker says George Strait‘s true precursors are gentleman crooners Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold, but he goes on to note that even those comparisons don’t quite fit: “Strait is his own man, ornery and independent in a quiet but firm way. Neither Reeves nor Arnold, for example, ever recorded a song about killing a [...]

Continue reading "The Best Video of All Time, Courtesy of Willie Nelson"

Brooks & Dunn are scheduled to release a 30-track hits compilation titled #1s … and then some on Sept. 8. The duo’s current single, “Indian Summer,” and “Honky Tonk Stomp” will be the only new material. Visit GAC for the complete track listing. Whitney Duncan goes skinny dippin’ in her new video for “Skinny Dippin’.” [...]

Continue reading "Brooks & Dunn Compile Hits; Holly Williams Schedules Opry Debut"

The Texas Commission on the Arts appointed Willie Nelson as the 2009 Texas State Musician. If any of you Kenny Chesney fans are looking to add “Out Last Night” to your collection, you’ll have to pony up the money for Greatest Hits II, even if you already own all the other songs. Or you could [...]

Continue reading "Willie Nelson Appointed 2009 Texas State Musician"

Shawn Sahm led the surviving members of the Texas Tornados, Augie Meyers and Flaco Jiminez, in a six-song romp at Antone’s last night that was part of a two-hour tribute show to his father, the late Doug Sahm. In addition to a documentary that’s being made about his father, Shaw Sahm also told the crowd [...]

Continue reading "New Texas Tornados Album Will Include Freddy Fender"

The CMA Board of Directors approved changes to redefine the procedures and categories for inclusion into the Country Music Hall of Fame, starting with the 2010 ballots. The new “Veterans Era” category will be for professionals who have been in the industry for more than 25 45 years and combines the former “Career Achieved National [...]

Continue reading "CMA Tweaks Hall of Fame Ballot Procedures and Categories"

Ladies and gentleman, your 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards nominees. (Visit the link for full list.) Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney | Brad Paisley | George Strait | Carrie Underwood | Keith Urban Top Male Vocalist Kenny Chesney | Toby Keith | Brad Paisley | George Strait | Keith Urban Top Female [...]

Continue reading "Brad Paisley and Heidi Newfield Dominate ACM Nominations"

A negative review motivated Brad Paisley to one-up his concert in Memphis: “The last time we played here in Memphis I got the worst review I think I’ve ever gotten. I remember it saying, among other things, that I was no Gene Watson,” Paisley said Thursday night to the crowd in Memphis. “I certainly agree [...]

Continue reading "Gene Watson Bids Farewell to Paisley Party"