Posted on November 14, 2009 by J.R. Journey
1984: Willie Nelson – City of New Orleans (Sony)
1989: Randy Travis – No Holdin’ Back (Warner Brothers)
1994: Mary Chapin Carpenter – Stones In The Road (Columbia)
1999: LeAnn Rimes – LeAnn Rimes (Curb)
2004: George Strait – 50 Number Ones (MCA)
2009: Taylor Swift – Fearless (Big Machine)
Filed under: Charts | Tagged: George Strait, LeAnn Rimes, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Randy Travis, Taylor Swift, Willie Nelson | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 9, 2009 by Occasional Hope
We shared our wishlist for this year’s CMA awards with you of last week. Now for the hard part – this is where we go out on a limb and try to predict who will actually walk home with a CMA award this year. We collectively sucked at prediction the last time [...]
Filed under: Awards Discussions | Tagged: Billy Currington, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Jamey Johnson, Lady Antebellum, Paul Franklin, Randy Houser, Randy Travis, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band | 17 Comments »
Posted on November 7, 2009 by J.R. Journey
1984: Willie Nelson – City of New Orleans (Sony)
1989: Randy Travis – No Holdin’ Back (Warner Brothers)
1994: Mary Chapin Carpenter – Stones In The Road (Columbia)
1999: The Dixie Chicks – Fly (Monument)
2004: George Strait – 50 Number Ones (MCA)
2009: Tim McGraw – Southern Voice (Curb)
Filed under: Charts | Tagged: Dixie Chicks, George Strait, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Randy Travis, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson | 4 Comments »
Posted on November 4, 2009 by Occasional Hope
This year’s CMA Awards are due to be announced on November 11th. There are bound to be a few surprises, with unexpected winners or losers. We’ll share our best attempts at prediction with you next week, but first we thought we would let you all know not who we expect to win, but [...]
Filed under: Awards Discussions | Tagged: Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Jamey Johnson, Joey + Rory, Lady Antebellum, Lee Ann Womack, Miranda Lambert, Paul Franklin, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band | 14 Comments »
Posted on October 22, 2009 by Razor X
Posted on September 5, 2009 by Razor X
Posted on September 2, 2009 by Megan Morrow
Sometimes world events or personal events pile up and the needle on my emotional dashboard veers into the red “overwhelm” zone. Depending on the day and the circumstance, I might dial up my favorite “drown your sorrows” country songs in order to know I’m not alone in the “overwhelm” zone.
However, there are other days when [...]
Filed under: Discussions, Recommendations | Tagged: Bill Luther, Joe Nichols, Randy Travis | 2 Comments »
Posted on August 11, 2009 by Occasional Hope
I’ve mentioned before that I always enjoy hearing songwriters’ own interpretations of songs which they have written for other artists. The latest example comes from Kim Williams, a name you should recognize if you pay attention to the songwriting credits. Kim has been responsible for no fewer than 16 number 1 hits, and [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews | Tagged: Aaron Tippin, Adam Steffey, Austin Cunningham, Barry Bales, Buddy Brock, Charlie Daniels, Doug Johnson, Doug Stone, Garth Brooks, Gary Allan, Jeff Silvey, Jerry Lassiter, Joe Diffie, Kim Williams, Lance Miller, Larry Shell, Larry Sparks, Larry Williams, Randy Travis, Rob Ickes, Rodney Atkins, Ron Stewart, Steve Gulley, Tim Stafford | 8 Comments »
Posted on July 30, 2009 by J.R. Journey
I’ve been listening to country music since I was 9 years old. When I was a kid listening to some of these songs, I just sang along, memorizing the melody and the lyric, never really knowing what the song meant. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized Garth Brooks was singing about murder, [...]
Filed under: Venting | Tagged: Alan Jackson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood | 13 Comments »
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Razor X
Posted on July 11, 2009 by Razor X
Posted on June 10, 2009 by Occasional Hope
Some of the most memorable country songs are the ones which surprise you, the story song with a twist in the tale, or the song which suddenly goes in a direction you really weren’t expecting. Sometimes the effect is desigend to make you laugh; sometimes it may bring you to tears; there are some songs [...]
Filed under: Blurbs, Discussions | Tagged: Adam Harvey, Billy Yates, Bobby Braddock, Bruce Robison, Chris Young, Curly Putman, Dean Dillon, Dixie Chicks, George Strait, Gretchen Peters, Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard, Jimmy Wayne, John Conlee, Johnny Cash, Monty Criswell, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Tom Douglas, Tompall Glaser, Trisha Yearwood | 9 Comments »
Posted on June 8, 2009 by J.R. Journey
Hank Williams recorded under the guise of Luke the Drifter in the early 1950s, Garth Brooks was Chris Gaines, and George Jones as a rockabilly singing duck. These are just a few of the alter egos country music has created. An alter ego is a second self – ‘the other I’. So what drives a [...]
Filed under: Blurbs | Tagged: Chris Gaines, Criss Angel, Dee-Doodle Duck, Ferlin Husky, Garth Brooks, George Jones, Hank Williams, Luke the Drifter, Randy Travis, Simon Crum, Terry Preston, Thumper Jones, Travis Tritt | 6 Comments »
Posted on May 20, 2009 by J.R. Journey
I don’t have a theme for my recommendation this week. But I do want to point you to a great song on Randy Travis’ latest album, Around The Bend. The song is ‘You Didn’t Have A Good Time’. It’s a stark look at the morning-after a hard night’s drinking. Randy Travis is the owner of [...]
Filed under: Recommendations | Tagged: Randy Travis | 6 Comments »
Posted on May 10, 2009 by Razor X
1949: Lovesick Blues — Hank Williams (MGM)
1959: White Lightning — George Jones (Mercury)
1969: Hungry Eyes — Merle Haggard & The Strangers (Capitol)
1979: Don’t Take It Away — Conway Twitty (MCA)
1989: Is It Still Over? — Randy Travis (Warner Bros.)
1999: Wish You Were Here — Mark Wills (Mercury)
Filed under: Charts | Tagged: Conway Twitty, George Jones, Hank Williams, Mark Wills, Merle Haggard, Randy Travis | 8 Comments »
Posted on May 5, 2009 by Razor X
After the commercial failure of his RCA debut mini-album, Keith Whitley changed directions somewhat, moving away from traditional country and more towards a more contemporary (i.e., commercial) sound. The result was 1985’s L.A. to Miami, produced by Blake Mevis, who had produced some of George Strait’s early work. At that time, country radio [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews, Retro Reviews, Spotlight Artist | Tagged: Blake Mevis, Dean Dillon, George Strait, Hank Cochran, Keith Whitley, Randy Travis, Ron Hellard, Royce Porter, Sonny Curtis | 8 Comments »
Posted on May 1, 2009 by Razor X
Last month we spotlighted the Class of ‘89, noting the many creative and commercial triumphs that occurred during that landmark year for country music. The same year brought one of country music’s great tragedies — the untimely death of Keith Whitley from alcohol poisoning. May 9th marks the 20th anniversary of that sad day. This [...]
Filed under: Spotlight Artist | Tagged: Alan Jackson, Carter Stanley, Clinch Mountain Boys, Garth Fundis, George Strait, J.D. Crowe and the New South, Joe Galante, Keith Whitley, Lefty Frizzell, Lorrie Morgan, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs | 10 Comments »
Posted on April 28, 2009 by Erik
After making a surprise 180° turnaround with 1988’s pop-oriented Reba, the singer alienated many traditional country fans, and Sweet Sixteen was an attempt to recapture them. Now, Sweet Sixteen is in no way a traditional album the way The Last One To Know was a traditional album, but it’s still considerably more country than Reba. With some fiddle and steel [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews, Retro Reviews, Spotlight Artist | Tagged: Dave Loggins, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, The Everly Brothers | 18 Comments »
Posted on April 27, 2009 by Occasional Hope
1989 was supposed to be a new start for Gene Watson. He had been one of relatively few traditional country artists flying the flag for real country during the Urban Cowboy era of the earlier 80s, so the neotraditional revival should have given him a great opportunity. He signed to Warner Brothers, and [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews, Retro Reviews, Spotlight Artist | Tagged: Brad Paisley, Gene Watson, George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, Randy Travis, Ricky Van Shelton | 3 Comments »
Posted on April 24, 2009 by J.R. Journey
A comment made by Kevin at Country Universe got me to thinking more about the minuscule playlists of today’s country radio stations. Satellite radio almost seemed like a savior for the format at one point, but since that idea didn’t really catch on with the mainstream even enough to affect the Top 40, hope for [...]
Filed under: Discussions, Venting | Tagged: Alan Jackson, Hank Williams Jr, Randy Travis | 17 Comments »