Urban Out Of Rehab, Clay Walker Gets Engaged, And George Jones 101

Brody Vercher | January 17th, 2007 Email Share

Today has been kind of slow on the news front. I think all the cold weather is killing everyone’s productivity levels, or maybe that’s just us? Funny how that works, we’re trapped indoors where it seems like we could sit down and just write, but then nothing comes out. Nevertheless, on to the news:

  • Keith Urban is officially out of rehab today.
  • Suite101 thinks Joshua Stevens is far and away the best singer on this season of Nashville Star, however they admit that the voters don’t necessarily vote for the best. I didn’t see the show so I don’t have an opinion. I did watch American Idol last night and the dude with the cowboy hat butchered a Johnny Cash song. I’m tone deaf, have no rhythm, can’t hear very well and can still sing better than he did, at least I think I can.
  • Want a review of the live album, Back to Tulsa, from Cross Canadian Ragweed? Austin360 has you covered. I bought the CD a while back at Best Buy, but haven’t gotten a good chance to really listen to it yet.
  • Clay Walker asked his girlfriend to marry him…and she said yes…and they’re probably getting married this fall…and, there are no more ands. via CountryNation
  • MSNBC has a good interview with George Jones. They talk about the state of country music today and his love for traditional country, his drinking addiction, and sobering up.

    They say they’re upgrading country music. I tell them they need to find a new title and let us have back our traditional country music. They’ve stolen our identity. I don’t feel like the real thing will be back for quite a while. I’d like to see new artists recording traditional country music. Not for me. I just hate to see it not heard. I hate to see the new country artists not doing their thing because they’re told what to do nowadays.

  • More George Jones news: George Jones is starting an educational program for music business newcomers. I guess this is what they call “putting your money where your mouth is.”
  1. Matt
    January 17, 2007 at 10:34 pm Permalink

    Having nothing better to do, I’ll comment on the first episode of Nashville Star. I’ve never expected much from this show, but I have to say that even this week disappointed. The thing I hate most about the show remains predictably unchanged. The contestants barely get 90 seconds to perform their songs, a travesty in a genre that is driven by narrative lyrics. Thus, song selection is of utmost importance in Nashville Star. The worst performer of the night was Tim LaRoche, who, in addition to being a weak vocalist, made the mistake of performing a ridiculously truncated rendition of “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.”

    I thought this year’s judging panel would be great but they disappointed. Blake Shelton is not nearly as funny as he thinks he is, which produced such groaners as, “I think that you have a great bottom end, and your voice is great too.” Randy Owen apparently didn’t want to talk about music and instead made it his job to summarize each contestant’s video biography instead of commenting on their performances. Maybe I’m setting the bar too high, but I expect a country music hall of famer to be able to provide a 20 second critique of a vocal performance. Anastasia Brown is decent, but, along with the other judges, fell into the trap of telling practially every performer that they just might win the competition. The only positive thing I can say about the judges is that they definitely eliminated right two contestants.

    Hosts: Cowboy Troy continues to be unremarkable in every way. Jewel is much easier on the eyes than Wynonna was, but asked canned, inane questions like “how do you expect that your poker-playing abilities will help you on Nashville Star?”

    The only memorable performer of the night was Angela Hacker, who got a standing ovation for a powerful rendition of Patty Loveless’ “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am.” Based on the first week, I’d call her the most talented contestant. Yes, the judges, especially Anastasia, raved about Joshua Stevens, but I found his performance nauseating. He performed “My Wish,” one of my least favorite “country” songs, and was only slightly less obnoxious that Gary Levox.

    If I had to pick a winner, I’d go with Dustin Wilkes, who performed Travis Tritt’s “Put Some Drive in Your Country” and also looks a lot like Darryl Worley. The judges weren’t crazy about his performance, but he won the crowd over. It’s much easier for a male to win Nashville Star than a female. Wilkes had an outlaw appeal that the other males lacked and seems like the only male contestant that has the chops to perform classic-sounding material, an ability that seems characteristic of those contestants that do well on Nashville Star.

  2. Brody Vercher
    January 17, 2007 at 10:51 pm Permalink

    With a review like that I can begin watching at the second show without feeling like I missed anything.

    Say Matt, do you have a website of your own. You seem to have a lot of insight into the country music world, it would definitely make an interesting read.

  3. Jenna Vercher
    January 18, 2007 at 12:16 am Permalink

    Am I the only one who liked Tim LaRoche?

    Anyways, I agree with Matt about Randy Owens and his comments, but I think Blake Shelton is always hilarious. He can always put a smile on my face. I could care less of the lady judge, everything she said was so superficial and corny. I acutally liked some of Jewel’s questions, she asked questions I’d want to know the answers to.

    Angela was definitely my favorite of the night and Dustin would be my favorite male. I wasn’t impressed with Joshua’s performace either, but that might have to do with the Rascal Flatts song.

  4. Matt
    January 18, 2007 at 12:11 pm Permalink

    No website, but thank you for the kind words.

  5. Tim La Roche
    January 30, 2007 at 12:51 am Permalink

    Thanx Matt,

    I appreciate the kind words. With your outlook on things I take it as a compliment! LOL

    Tim

  6. Matt C.
    January 31, 2007 at 12:35 pm Permalink

    Given that my prediction of Dustin Wilke’s victory was one of my worst ever, my criticism may not be a death sentence.

    I continue to be underwhelmed by this year’s Nashville star crop. It seems like in the early seasons of the show, even when the contestants lacked commercial polish, they were artists, creative singer-songwriters. If the pop-country pretty boys like Joshua Stevens stick around much longer, I have a feeling that original song week is going to be quite painful this year.

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