Zac Brown Band Has Year’s Top Country Dance Club Hit; Early Waylon Jennings Reissues
- The Zac Brown Band topped the 2009 list of the top 10 country dance club hits with its song “Toes.” GAC has the rest of the top 10 plus lists for the previous five years.
- Craig Shelburne considers George Strait’s second album, Strait From the Heart, one of his finest achievements and with songs like “Fool Hearted Memory,” “Marina Del Ray,” and “Amarillo By Morning” it’s hard to argue.
- Despite a bombardment of outsiders over the past ten years, The New York Time’s Jon Caramanica says Nashville was able to demonstrate its resilience.
Organized, successful, lumbering, stubborn: Music Row is the last vestige of the record industry as it used to be. To each of these border threats, the city has stood up — remained seated, really — and held its ground, either stymieing or assimilating. The genre’s top female stars retreated from blatant pop crossover, the Muzik Mafia was a team of classicists in outlaw clothing, and Ms. Underwood was a country star in the old mold, after all.
And so the city’s oligarchy remained more or less intact.
- Asleep at the Wheel plans to celebrate its 40th anniversary in Sept. with a three-night stand at Austin’s Long Center. The details are still being ironed out, but Ray Benson says one night will be a staging of “A Ride With Bob.”
- As of this writing, The Gobblers Knob has five of Blackberry Smoke’s Little Piece of Dixie discs to giveaway. You’ll want to act quick, because they’ll go to the first five people to send in an email. (MySpace)
- The Texas Music Matters song of the day belongs to Charlie Louvin for his performance of “Great Atomic Power” from a recent session at KUT.
- Tracy Lawrence, Darryl Worley, Lorrie Morgan and John Anderson are just a handful of over 20 acts scheduled to perform at the three-day (Jan. 15-17) grand opening celebration of Country Crossing, a new entertainment destination in Alabama.
- Country California: Quotable Country – 01/03/10 Edition
- “Legends: Townes Van Zandt,” the title of Holly Gleason’s recent article for American Songwriter, pretty much sums up the 3,000-plus words that follow.
- Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. will present Brooks & Dunn with a Career Achievement Award on Feb. 23.
- Alt-512 Music Musings recorded an Amanda Shires and Rod Picott show at Gruene Hall just before Christmas and posted the audio to “Arrows On Your Compass.”
- Country Universe published the first of a two-part series counting down the best singles of 2009.
- Merle Haggard, Neko Case, and Shelby Lynne contribute vocals to the new Peter Wolf album Midnight Souvenirs, due out April 6.
- Commentary on Rascal Flatts‘ music:
Life is a highway
And I like driving in the
Middle of the road - On Jan. 12, Collector’s Choice will reissue six Waylon Jennings albums from the late ’60s/early ’70s on three discs. The discs, Folk Country/Waylon Sings Ol’ Harlan, Love of the Common People/Hangin’ On, and Waylon/Singer of Sad Songs, chronicle Jennings’ career before he began to create albums as “personal statements” instead of “assemblages of songs from different sessions” and include liners notes by Colin Escott.
- Dierks Bentley is a glutton for punishment.
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Amanda Shires // Asleep at the Wheel // Blackberry Smoke // Charlie Louvin // Darryl Worley // Dierks Bentley // George Strait // John Anderson // Lorrie Morgan // Merle Haggard // Neko Case // Rascal Flatts // Ray Benson // Shelby Lynne // Townes Van Zandt // Tracy Lawrence // Waylon Jennings // Zac Brown // Zac Brown Band
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January 5, 2010 at 11:48 am Permalink
It would be interesting if just one time when when one of these “Nashville oligarchy” or “Music Row Establishment” pieces shows up in the Times or some place, if they’d name the names of the executives and companies they allege have that power at this time. Just to get a rough sense whether they have the vaguest idea what they’re talking about. Because those phrases come cheap.
January 5, 2010 at 12:21 pm Permalink
The genre’s top female stars retreated from blatant pop crossover …
When did this happen? Ever hear of Taylor Swift?
January 5, 2010 at 12:33 pm Permalink
Razor,
I think they’re referencing Lee Ann Womack and to a lesser extent Faith Hill’s “Fireflies” album.
January 5, 2010 at 6:56 pm Permalink
Thanks for the Amanda Shires link. I really enjoy watching her perform! I wonder if she’ll ever make it to Los Angeles for a gig? Hmm…
I really like the Country Universe singles list thus far (well except for the obvious “J.R. Journey Top 10 Big Name Artist” picks). I’m pretty sure theirs is the only countdown to include something as obscure as Emily West’s “That Kind of Happy” and the Cherryholmes’ “mainstream country” version of “This Is My Son”. I salute the handful of radio stations that might have actually aired these fine songs!
That Peter Wolf album sounds a bit intriguing but a countrified version of “(My Baby’s A) Centerfold” would have been appreciated. This would make a great album for a 9513 give-away contest!
I think Kelly might have difficulty giving away those Blackberry Smoke CDs unless some folks think its a contest for a fruity tobacco mix or snuff chew…
Man, I thought the title of Holly Gleason’s article was “Songwriters With Overblown Texas Size Reputations They Probably Don’t Deserve”? Hmm, I must have been mistaken…
January 5, 2010 at 7:28 pm Permalink
The genre’s top female stars retreated from blatant pop crossover, the Muzik Mafia was a team of classicists in outlaw clothing, and Ms. Underwood was a country star in the old mold, after all.
All those words don’t make sense.
January 5, 2010 at 8:02 pm Permalink
Rick, is there a reason why you use The 9513 to critique what’s taking place on other blogs, rather than commenting on those blogs themselves? And just so you know, J.R. Journey doesn’t write for Country Universe. Why are you associating his name with their Top Singles list?
January 5, 2010 at 8:11 pm Permalink
I think the Time’s article wasn’t too far off. There has been a change of the old guard to return slightly back to roots. I think there is definitely a separation. Most of the “young blonde pop” people are producing slightly countrified pop songs…then also have a slightly poppish country song. They are at least trying to straddle the fence.
I especially liked this:
Ms. Swift may be the biggest country star of the moment, and one of the most significant pop acts of recent years, but her Nashville success is always marked with an asterisk. She’s been accepted, even winning Entertainer of the Year at last year’s CMAs, but brute force helped: numbers talk.
That hit it exactly.
January 6, 2010 at 9:55 am Permalink
To insunate that Taylor Swift’s crossover success is “blatant” i think is a bit severe. Her songs were fairly undeniable.
If you flip the scenario for every Darius Rucker that Crossed over to Country with a hit, there is a litany of bodies on the side of the road (Jewel,Jessica Simpson, Bon Jovi’s 2nd album and so on and so on). There has to be a modicum of believability for this to happen. I think Rucker nailed it, while others where fish out of water.
I remember Rucker covering Radney Foster’s “Fine Line” with Hootie in 94, so there’s always been somewhat a connection, although Im still shocked he became such a breakout, especially because hootie has been off the radar for soo long.
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