Vince Gill’s Excellence; Rodney Atkins Now Officially Associated with Cheese; Dierks Bentley’s Bluegrass
- Belmont University plans to honor Vince Gill on April 24 with its E. Mulloy Award of Excellence, which basically means he’s a pretty excellent dude.
- Dierks Bentley previewed tracks from his new, guest-heavy bluegrass album on Tuesday afternoon, CMT has the details:
Although the instrumentation and sensibility of the 12-song album are solidly bluegrass, the project ventures well beyond the traditional sounds of that genre. The title cut, for example, is a rap-flavored, banjo-inflected paean to rural living [...]
- That’s one creepy Willie doll.
- Velveeta Shells & Cheese partnered with Rodney Atkins.
- A lawsuit filed in March 2005 requesting that royalties owed from Don Walser‘s recordings be given to heirs will go before the court on May 12.
- “The Gambler” and “A Country Boy Can Survive” are two songs that bring back childhood memories for the ninebullets.net blogger. What are some of yours?
- Country Haiku:
They called him “The Streak”
‘Til someone got a good look
Now he’s called “Shorty” - Research from a recent CMT survey shows that more than 175 acts are signed to the top country labels. Edward Morris has a breakdown of the labels, their currently signed artists, and exiting artists.
- Celebrate today’s festive spirit with Juli Thanki’s playlist of 20 songs about fools, you just might gain a nugget or two of wisdom.
- The Johnny Cash Project is an interactive website attempting to create a video for the song “Ain’t No Grave” by piecing together portraits submitted by the community. The way it works is, users are assigned a single frame which they can draw on using the provided web editor. When the user is done, the picture is submitted and the video is created one piece at a time.
- The lineup for Old Settler’s Music Festival, taking place just south of Austin starting April 15, has been finalized.
- Country California’s C.M. Wilcox reviewed the Johnny Gimble album Celebrating With Friends:
This being a tribute to a Texas Playboy, music is obviously every bit as important as words and vocals, and it’s the music that makes the biggest impression. The band, which includes son Dick Gimble on bass, is simply excellent. There are no showoffs here, just great players assembled to pay tribute to a friend and hero. The fact that this is a great band record, not just a great fiddle record, becomes apparent on instrumentals like “Gardenia Waltz,” “Rural Riffin’,” and “Mandelopin’,” which are every bit as enjoyable as the vocal pieces.
- Add the Student Government at UT Austin to the list of those who don’t want the Cactus Cafe to close.
- We have winners and we have non-winners. The former group just scored a copy of Alan Jackson‘s new album Freight Train. Thanks to everyone who entered and congrats to Josh, Rick, Nicolas, Lee, and PaulaW, someone will be in touch shortly to get your contact info.
-
Music Fog: Gordie Tentrees – “Mercy or Sin”
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to subscribe to our feed or receive updates via email.
Columns
- Barry Mazor's "Scanning the Countryside"
- Chris Neal's "Belly of the Beast"
- Drew Kennedy's Column
- On the Road
Categories
Sponsors
Tagged In This Article
Alan Jackson // Dierks Bentley // Don Walser // Gordie Tentrees // Johnny Cash // Johnny Gimble // Old Settler's Music Festival // Rodney Atkins // Vince Gill // Willie Nelson
Current Discussion
- Jack Hanford: For those who are interested, there is a new 90-minute documentary video about Tompall & the Glaser Brothers on DVD ...
- joe morris: how come nobody mentions his fan club which started 1950 and was called the " the penny pushers " which ...
- jane: I'm reading this article in 2013 and I've yet to hear anything from the album played on the radio.....
- Catwandy: I guess Matt C. is eating his well-deserved crow 'bout now. Critics....gotta love 'em , bless their little hearts.
- Ed McClendon: Saw the brothers in Greeley CO on the occasion of Tompall's 50th birthday. The show wasn't well promoted and there ...
- Roby Fox: I'm sure no one else will know, or even care about this little tidbit of trivia. "Keep Your Change" was ...
- kate wonders: Roni Stoneman is still on Hee Haw every Sunday night on RFD channel.
- Marsha Blades: Tommy, You were so kind to me during a tough time in my life and I don't think I ever ...
- Leona Jones: I seen Chris at the Grand Ole Opry last week.. First time I have heard of him.. He rocked the ...
- Sonicjar Music: Agree with Lucas, But one thing is certain, for a song to come to existence, so many things have to ...
1 Ping
April 7, 2010
36 Comments
RSS for comments on this post
April 1, 2010 at 11:51 am
Oak Ridge Boys “Elvira” and John Anderson’s “Swingin’” are the two country tunes that take me back to my childhood the quickest…
April 1, 2010 at 11:55 am
It’s Willie & Merle on “Pancho & Lefty,” Michael Martin Murphey’s “Fiddlin’ Man,” and Chris Ledoux’s entire Old Cowboy Classics album for me.
April 1, 2010 at 12:06 pm
“Elvira” is definitely one for me as well, plus “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell and most of Don Williams’ work.
April 1, 2010 at 12:20 pm
“Swingin’” is one of mine too. And “On the Road Again”.
April 1, 2010 at 12:22 pm
wrong link for the DB article?
April 1, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Yes, yes it was. It’s fixed now.
April 1, 2010 at 12:32 pm
In addition to the ones Brody mentioned, I gotta throw in “El Paso” and “The Battle of New Orleans.”
April 1, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Don Walser was one of the unheralded country greats – it would be nice ot see his music back in print
The Johnny Gimble album is terrific but then, even after his stroke, Johnny is still as soulful a fiddler as ever existed
April 1, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Look, I actually won an Alan Jackson CD! (Or did I with that other alterna-Rick around? Hmm) See, all my begging and whining for freebies has finally paid off! Thanks guys. On the other hand I must sadly assume members of The Infamous Stringdusters are Obamavoters as my contest submission was by far the most unique and interesting! Oh well…(lol)
Its too bad it wasn’t Kenny Cheesey that hooked up with Velveeta, but Rodney Atkin’s music is pretty cheesey also, so I guess it makes sense.
Wow, Juli lists 20 songs about fools and not one of them specifically targets Odumbo, Obamavoters or Congressional Democrats! What’s up with that? (lol)
That CMT list of artists and their labels was surprising more in the artists let go than the ones retained or recently brought on board. Katrina Elam was still with a major label? And Sugar Hill has dropped some of Stormy’s favorite artists! Curb wins for having the most artists on the roster they don’t release any music for purchase from! Crikey!
April 1, 2010 at 12:41 pm
My brother had a jukebox in his living room back in the day and I had my privileges revoked for playing “The Gambler” a few too many times consecutively. I was obsessed with that song.
April 1, 2010 at 12:55 pm
The Gambler, Coward of the County, Elivra, Flowers on the Wall, El Paso… All 8-tracks we listened to repeatedly…
April 1, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Some that immediately come to mind:
Oak Ridge Boys-Elivra
John Anderson-Swingin’
Willie Nelson-On the Road Again
Waylon Jennings-Just The Good Ol’ Boys
Jimmy Buffett-Come Monday
TG Shepherd-Slow Burn
Johnny Lee-Cherokee Fiddle
Alabama-Dixieland Delight
…and perhaps owing itself to watching the movie 6 Pack too often
Merle Haggard-Rainbow Stew
Kenny Rogers aka Brewster Baker-Love Will Turn You Around
George Strait was always playing in dad’s truck…and grandma loved her some Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam.
I have non-country songs that spark a memory too…but I’ll spare those.
April 1, 2010 at 1:33 pm
@ Mike Parker … oh how I miss my 8-tracks. That is definitely where all the best music was.
April 1, 2010 at 2:13 pm
…more than 175 acts are signed to the top country labels – and radio still only plays a dozen of them regularly. fair enough, they usually have two or three of their songs on heavy rotation in order to make it not sound too boring.
April 1, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Hal Ketchum isn’t on Curb anymore, he’s somewhere doing a happy dance I’m sure.
April 1, 2010 at 2:43 pm
“…and perhaps owing itself to watching the movie 6 Pack too often
Merle Haggard-Rainbow Stew
Kenny Rogers aka Brewster Baker-Love Will Turn You Around”
AMEN Brad!! The Six-pack movie soundtrack was the very first cassette tape that my parenst bought for me when I was rewarded with a jam-box during my 2nd grade year! Man, that was great.
April 1, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Rick does every thing have to be about politics?
People come here to read about music not about your partisan views.
April 1, 2010 at 3:19 pm
“Hal Ketchum isn’t on Curb anymore, he’s somewhere doing a happy dance I’m sure.”
No kidding! After a string of albums with no publicity and one that wasn’t even released in the U.S., I’ve been wanting him to go the indie route for years. He’s way too deep to get played on the radio anymore, but he’s remarkably consistent when it comes to releasing good music.
April 1, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Oh, man. It’s tripping me out to have two Ricks on here. It’s worse than when Viki had split personality disorder on One Life to Live.
April 1, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Looks like The Cactus isn’t the only think that UT is thinking of cancelling:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A988242
April 1, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Alterna-Rick, not everything may be about politics, but they should be and I do my best to link them! And please stop using my name if you are going to whine and cry like a little tittybaby with his feelings hurt! Crikey, at least use the name “Rick The Obamavoter” so our identities don’t get confused! I’ve been stirring up crap around here for a long time and I don’t appreciate some “Obamavoter Come Lately” stepping on my turf! Back off, Hoss!
Opry Alert! Tonight’s Classic Country Opry will include Jeff “Twitty” Bates, Adam and Shannon Wright, and Mike Snider hopefully doing some of his comedy songs rather than that Irish jig kerfluffle he’s been into lately! Sheesh!
Opry Schedule: http://www.opry.com/shows/ThisWeek.html
April 1, 2010 at 7:01 pm
This is just getting ririckulous.
April 1, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Merle Haggard – That’s the way love goes
Willie Nelson – City of New Orleans
Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
John Anderson – Chicken Truck
April 1, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Cheese and Rodney Atkins go hand in hand good partnership.
April 1, 2010 at 9:33 pm
meant to add this url
http://brands.kraftfoods.com/Velveeta/RASongPage.htm
April 1, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Hal Ketchum is seriously ill with MS, I believe. He was booked for a concert in Hamtilon, OH among others, in this winter and canceled all. As for that CD that was never released in the US, I bought it off Amazon.com when it was first released. Title was “one More Midnight.” The Brits didn’t know what a Greyhound was, I guess. One of the best tracks on it was “Poor Lila’s Ghost.” Fifteen minutes of pure storytelling music/vocal old fashioned heaven. You’d never hear that on radio these days. The CD included “Alamo” which was released as a single in the US. Cost me $25 US, but worth every penny.
April 1, 2010 at 9:42 pm
correction…I bought Hal Ketchum’s CD off Amazon.uk (not .com) when it was released a few years ago.
April 1, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Kathyp, I saw Hal this past fall. I do know his longtime band member passed away last fall. His website simply says he’s taking 2010 off for a little rest and will return in 2011.
April 2, 2010 at 12:12 am
KATHYP,to say that Hal Ketchum is “seriously ill with MS” is just NOT TRUE. And while Hal was diagnosed with MS some 13 years ago he has continued to play 150 to 200 dates a year. I’ve seen him perform about 50 times and talked to him many times as well and never seen any indication of MS. He is still one of the best singers on the planet. Around the first of the year Hal announced on his website that he was taking 2010 off for relaxation (not that unusual) and would be back in 2011. Hopefully Hal will be back with new music for us all to enjoy. Also Hal’s last album, Father Time was released in late 2008 and was recorded in 2 days virtually live (old school) with no “protools” or overdubbing. It is a real gem and is available on Amazon.com
April 2, 2010 at 1:43 am
Did I win the Alan Jackson CD?
April 2, 2010 at 6:22 am
Not just Viki, Niki…also Jean, Tori, Princess, Tommy. lol
This site is a hoot. The comments are just as entertaining as the articles.
April 2, 2010 at 9:56 am
*Gasps* I actually won a free album??? Oh man! :D I’m all smiles for the rest of the week. Never thought my answer would actually win. To think I won an Alan Jackson is supreme icing on the cake. Funny thing…I was considering just buying that album yesterday. :P Good thing I relented for a while.
On another note: scanning record/artist lists breakdown can sure make you get a strong image of what they representing. I originally had my idea of who is under which company in terms of playing, but it seems the big dogs are easily divided with talent, and the small ones are racking up the unknowns, but surely well received acclaims.
April 2, 2010 at 11:55 am
I did not realize it was possible to leave Curb.
April 2, 2010 at 12:49 pm
I did not realize it was possible to leave Curb.
It’s possible, but the artist usually has to enter the Witness Protection Program.
April 2, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Hope TCB’s comment is correct. Hal Ketchum is the best. Loved the Father Time cd and I still play his older material frequently.
April 5, 2010 at 4:11 pm
AJ – Chatahoochie
Garth – The Night I Called The Old Man Out
Confederate Railroad – Notorious
Brooks and Dunn – Brand New Man
Doug Supernaw – I Don’t Call Him Daddy
Just a quick selection of cuts I loved when I first got into country as a teenager.