The Dixie Bee-Liners Plan Bluegrass Concept Album for Fall
- The Dixie Bee-Liners expect to release their third album in fall of 2009. Brandi Hart says the album, titled Susanville, will be the first of several bluegrass concept albums the band has been planning.
- Peter Cooper talked with Steve Martin about his new banjo album, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo:
“Writing lyrics was the one thing I’d been afraid of, my whole life,” he said. “I wrote ‘King Tut,’ but that’s a comedy song and so it was different. Finally, I got clued into something. Pete Wernick told me, ‘When Earl plays backup, he just follows the syllables of the singer.’ I thought, ‘I wonder if you can do that in reverse?’ That gave me the insight to start. I followed the ’syllables’ of the music, and suddenly I could write lyrics.”
- American Songwriter’s readers weighed in with their top breakup songs, and out of the top 20, two spots belonged to Johnny Cash and Dwight Yoakam for “Delia’s Gone” and “Intentional Heartache.”
- When discussing his new trucker album with Cindy Watts, Aaron Tippin said you can expect more themed albums from him, including a gospel album, an aviation-themed record, and a big band album:
“I’m a big Dean Martin fan,” Tippin says. “So there’ll be plenty of Dean, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett. I probably ought to hunt down some Harry Connick Jr., and we’re big fans of Michael Buble. It’s not that I feel like I’m going to turn that world upside-down, but it would be a lot of fun!”
- The Americana Music Association announced the line-up for their Live at the Bluebird concert series that’ll run from February 19 to March 26. Stephanie Chapman, Jim Lauderdale, Sam Bush, Nanci Griffith, Mary Gauthier, Elizabeth Cook, Darrell Scott, and Foster & Lloyd are scheduled to perform.
- Ray Benson and Eddie Rivers of Asleep at the Wheel joined Garrison Keillor on A Prarier Home Companion.
- Recommended Listening: My Kind of Country’s Razor X recently discovered the debut album, Still Your Fool, by The Dixons and gave it an A+.
- Twang Nation posted a short introduction to Larry Jon Wilson, a man who Kristofferson said “can break your heart with a voice like a cannon ball.”
- And while you’re at Twang Nation, you can get your Neko Case fix with links to an extensive New York Times interview and a feature at Paste Magazine.
- Joey Martin and Rory Feek talked to the Tennessean about the early death of “Cheater, Cheater” and the growth of their album every week, while a Sugar Hill Records executive explains the reason for their success.
- The newest single to find itself in the sights of Farce the Music’s .99 review is Jessica Harp’s “Boy Like Me.”
- Rich Kienzle briefly covered parts of Eddy Arnold’s career over at No Depression.
- The man masquerading as Kenny Rogers plans on recording a duet with Dolly Parton on his next project. And, apparently, after 50 years in the music business, he’ll be able to record the songs he wants.
- Roughstock’s Matt Bjorke ponders: Good “I’m Proud I’m From The Country” Songs Where Art Thou? Et tu, Bruté?
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23 Comments
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February 16, 2009 at 11:02 am Permalink
Here’s another link, re: Kellie Pickler needs to stop with the body “improvements.”
http://perezhilton.com/2009-02-15-holy-hell
February 16, 2009 at 11:31 am Permalink
So Kenny Rogers thinks his new music will be commercially viable? Well, I know he has a better chance of getting radio airplay than Aaron Tippin and his future “aviation themed” and “big band” records. Um, yeah. Whatever Aaron. Strange choices for the former gimmick song king… or anyone for that matter.
Keith Urban’s “You’ll Think of Me” also made the list of best breakup songs.
I enjoyed the Roughstock/Matt Bjorke piece. In particular, this very true quote:
“… aside from the fact that these songs are repetitive and bad writing, last time I checked, most of the country music listening community cannot relate to songs about tractors or farming or even being from the country, because they aren’t and never were.”
February 16, 2009 at 12:01 pm Permalink
Kellie Pickler is idolizing Dolly Parton a little too much with that
February 16, 2009 at 12:09 pm Permalink
Brady,
Thanks for the comment. When I spoke with Collin Raye, he mentioned the glut of those songs which I’d already been thinking so I posted that article while using the Marcus Hummon song as an example of a GOOD ‘from the country’ song.
February 16, 2009 at 12:42 pm Permalink
What a hypocrite. Kellie Pickler preaches to girls about how beautiful they are yet she needs to make corrections to her own image?
February 16, 2009 at 12:50 pm Permalink
The prospect of Aaron Tippin doing a big band album is a scary thought indeed.
February 16, 2009 at 12:52 pm Permalink
Re: Kellie Pickler. That photo can’t possibly be real. Can it???
February 16, 2009 at 1:11 pm Permalink
“The prospect of Aaron Tippin doing a big band album is a scary thought indeed.”
Exactly my thought when I read that.
February 16, 2009 at 1:17 pm Permalink
I can’t even imagine what a big band album from Tippin would sound like. I just can’t wrap my head around it.
February 16, 2009 at 1:38 pm Permalink
When I talked to Aaron he said that his wife was making the big band album.
February 16, 2009 at 1:38 pm Permalink
Maybe Tippin will try his hand at opera next.
February 16, 2009 at 2:12 pm Permalink
This is nit-picky, but weren’t Keith Urban and Uncle Tupelo’s contributions to that 20 Break-Up songs list worth mentioning, too?
February 16, 2009 at 2:19 pm Permalink
They would be if they were country…
For real though, I had an errand to run early this morning and must have glossed over their names trying to get something written. Brady finished the rest of the roundup though, so any other nit-picky comments can be directed his way. :P
February 16, 2009 at 2:25 pm Permalink
I was wondering where you were, Brody…not that Brady didn’t do a great job, of course.
February 16, 2009 at 3:27 pm Permalink
I’m preoccupied with the fact that I think The Dixons and The Two Dollar Pistols sound so much alike. I probably shouldn’t care, but whenever I hear The Dixons, it’s all I can think about.
February 16, 2009 at 4:07 pm Permalink
Ben – I dig the 2 Dollar Pistols (not sure if you do or not). Luckily there is one station here in DFW that will play them every so often…I’ll take your comparison as a compliment to them (sorry if you didnt mean it that way, I’m not trying to put words in your mouth) and give The Dixon’s a shot…
February 16, 2009 at 4:08 pm Permalink
…also, isnt the Dwight Y. song in question at the top of the round-up, “Intentional Heartache”?? I could be wrong though…
February 16, 2009 at 4:23 pm Permalink
I totally dig the Two Dollar Pistols, and maybe I’m the only way who hears the similarities, but it trips me out a little.
February 16, 2009 at 4:51 pm Permalink
I was thinking the same thing RazorX. That cannot be a true picture of Kelly. Someone has made over it to make her look weird.
February 16, 2009 at 5:32 pm Permalink
If Joey + Rory thought that “Cheater Cheater” suffered an “early death” at Top 40 country radio, wait till they see what happens to “Free Bird”…
February 16, 2009 at 6:44 pm Permalink
The Jessica Harp song is actually pretty cool. I like it.
And now Kenny Rogers is trying to team with Tony Brown for a radio hit? With Dolly already on board, do I smell a Jessica Simpson duet too?
February 17, 2009 at 8:50 am Permalink
RE: “Free Bird” being the next J+R single–It’s a great album cut, but in a format that is scared to death of ballads, I can’t imagine that track ever rising beyond #40. Think about it–that version of “Free Bird” would be the slowest song on commercial country radio this decade. It’s not going to happen–even country radio ballads are about tempo, tempo, tempo.
I think Sugar Hill knows this. I don’t think the goal is a major radio hit–the goal is to spur enough interest to keep the disc selling 4-8k a week, which would really be phenomenal all things considered. The label is interested in selling albums, which, as we can see from the Shelton figures, is no longer transcribed from radio success.
July 27, 2009 at 7:42 pm Permalink
Does anyone know the author or title of a song with these lyrics “If I were a bee, I’d sting you”, If I were a door, I’d swing you? I was out around the 1950’s. My dad use to sing it all the time when I was a little girl.
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