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Taylor Swift To Record A Duet, Goes Double-Platinum, And Almost 18
- Sugar Hill Records is offering a few Christmas songs from their ‘93 release, Sugar Plums, for download on their MySpace page. If you haven’t registered yet, check out our Christmas playlist and register to win a Christmas album.
- A new site, called Ceehive, for people to run creative contests is running a contest to give away a guitar signed by Luke Bryan. How do you enter? Just submit a picture of a “morning after” situation like the one in “All My Friends Say.” Those could get pretty ugly real fast like.
- Andy Whitman talks about the soundtrack to the upcoming movie Walk Hard over on his blog at Paste Magazine, which he says is loosely based on the life of Johnny Cash.
Sure, it’s funny. But all of these songs are almost – almost – thoroughly believable. If you don’t listen closely, you’d swear you’ve heard them all before. And that’s the nature of the best parody. Walk Hard cuts uncomfortably close to the bone. You won’t know whether to laugh or to squirm. And that’s what will keep you coming back for more.
- The latest Taylor Swift news comes from her blog over at MySpace. She says she’s searching for material from her next album and she will be recording a duet with Colbie Caillat. Oh, and she’ll be turning 18 in a week for anyone interested. And to top it all off, her album has gone double-platinum.
I don’t think I’m supposed to be excited over the news about the duet, but she sure does know how to promote herself within her demographic. With all of her success from her online promotion, why haven’t the majority of labels and artists embraced blogs yet?
- Speaking of blogs, Drew Kennedy updated his to fill everyone in on his tour with Josh Grider through the southeastern U.S. He says, “Ruston is one of the few places in America where you can get beaten up for wearing a New Mexico State hat.” That’s useful information.
- The Lost Highway published their review of Trace Adkins’ latest greatest hits album and pondered whether or not it was just a cash grab after releasing his previous greatest hits package only three studio albums ago.
- Raul Malo plans to release an album of original material in 2008.
- The Eagles had a short Q&A session with CMT Insider:
“I think this album is coming out exactly the right time in history,” says Don Henley, about the Eagles’ new CD, Long Road Out of Eden. “We’ve been through what I think is really a bad period in music, going back to the ’90s and up through the turn of the century and even the past four or five years. I think music is starting to get better again now. I think people are starting to come to their senses a little bit in terms of what is good and lasting and what is not.”
- Garth Brooks says he’s not a numbers man and doesn’t pay attention to the figures “’cause if you get your head in the numbers, then you start believing this stuff.” I don’t particularly believe that for one second, but hey, 100 percent of the money from his concerts in LA are going to the victims of the fires in California. I wonder if that’s 100 percent of every penny made, or 100 percent of profits?
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In Memory of Don Helms (1927 - 2008) Helms dated back to a time when an excellent four or five piece band and a good singer were all that were needed to make great country music. No drums, no light shows, no production tricks in the recording studio–just good music.
Don’t look now, but Darius Rucker, lead singer of 90s rock group Hootie & The Blowfish, has a country hit on his hands. What you probably haven’t heard is that Rucker is the first black artist to chart a single in the country top 20 since Charley Pride last did it in 1988.
News that former Sugarland member and co-founder Kristen Hall is suing her ex-mates, to the tune of $1.5 million, goes a long way towards providing a bit of context regarding the Atlanta singer/songwriter’s sudden departure from the group.
Josh Gracin - “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” Despite initial marketing that touted the album as deep and personal, “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” is anything but deep or personal.
Josh Turner - "Everything Is Fine" Turner is the rare example of an artist who records material that’s both quality and trademark.
Darryl Worley - "Tequila On Ice" A groovy mid-tempo that sways, a refreshing reprieve from the exhausting pace of a format that clamors for loud music and swelling choruses.
Blake Shelton - "She Wouldn't Be Gone" It’s all about nailing the melody rather than providing a legitimate interpretation that accentuates the lyrical content, although Shelton does do a pretty good job of injecting what limited emotion he can.
Forgotten Artist: David Rogers David Rogers (1936-1993) is proof of the adage that it’s great to be on a major label, but only if the label is truly behind you.
Forgotten Artist: Charley Pride For the ’70s, Billboard has Charley listed as its third ranking singles artist behind only Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard. 
In this exclusive interview with The 9513, the Show Dog Records trio talks about growing up around Waylon and Jessi Colter, and about how those experiences have helped shaped their music as they set off on their own country music journey.
One of an emerging wave of artists empowered by decreasing production costs and a rapidly changing distribution landscape, Kelleigh Bannen has taken a do-it-yourself approach to her debut album, Radio Skies.Tagged In This Article
Christmas // Contest // Drew Kennedy // Garth Brooks // Josh Grider // Luke Bryan // Raul Malo // Taylor Swift // Trace Adkins
Current Discussion
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6 Comments
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December 6, 2007 at 9:44 am Permalink
Thanks, as always, for the shout out.
December 6, 2007 at 1:34 pm Permalink
I have it on good authority that Taylor is almost halfway to 3X platinum right now. That girl is taking off like a rocket.
December 6, 2007 at 4:21 pm Permalink
Wow, its gotten to the point where the Eagles are the advocates of lasting, good music?
also, I’d be interested to hear, outside of their album, what other popular music has signaled to them that people’s tastes are coming around to good, lasting music.
Oh that Garth Brooks. Who is he trying to fool? A. I’d bet dollars to donuts that he knows all his sales figures to the nearest thousand, and B. Since when does Garth Brooks not believe his own hype?
that’s not to say he doesn’t seem like a nice and a genuine guy, but come on now.
December 6, 2007 at 7:07 pm Permalink
With regard to Henley’s comments about music for the past few years, I understand his point. I’m no old fart stuck in a past era and I enjoy changes in music. Yet I can’t believe the crap on a lot of hip-hop and rap CDs. At best, there is one track worth publishing and it’s often a collaboration between two or more people working in a studio. The rest is usually crap, crap, crap. I mean crap. Same thing for some of the country music coming out lately. I know what Henley’s saying.
December 6, 2007 at 8:17 pm Permalink
I agree with you, but he’s saying that things were crap, but that now things are coming around.
I assume that he feels the success of his new album signals good taste, but what other music could he be referring to?
December 6, 2007 at 8:48 pm Permalink
Maybe Don Henley is thinking about the new Eagles ringtone featuring T-Pain. ;)
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