Who should win this year’s CMA Awards

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 [...]

Discussion: Crossover roots?

Last week, this article about Taylor Swift’s crossover success got me to thinking about not only Swift, but other country stars who have met with major success in pop and adult contemporary markets.  It’s a mixed bag among the genre’s most steadfast supporters, while we welcome all the new listeners and fans to the format, somehow [...]

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘When Fallen Angels Fly’

Hot on the heels of the success of 1993’s Only What I Feel,  Patty Loveless and Emory Gordy Jr.  headed back to the studio to record her sophomore album for Epic Records.    A lot was riding on this follow-up album; Patty’s album sales had been inconsistent throughout her career up to that point [...]

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘If My Heart Had Windows’

Signed to MCA in 1985, Patty Loveless enjoyed some modest success on the singles charts, which did not translate into album sales by the time her eponymous debut disc was released in 1987. Her second album, released in 1988, didn’t fare much better at retail, but it did provide a much needed breakthrough at [...]

A swarm of new videos!

Head over to CMT’s website today, and there are 10 music videos that are premiering. Those would be “Southern Voice” by Tim McGraw, “I’m Alive” by Kenny Chesney & Dave Matthews, “White Liar” by Miranda Lambert, “Keep You” by Sugarland, “Consider Me Gone” by Reba McEntire, “That’s How Country Boys Roll” by Billy Currington, “Hit [...]

Album Review: George Strait – ‘Somewhere Down In Texas’

In 2005, twenty-four years into his hit-making career, George Strait released Somewhere Down In Texas, a collection of laid-back songs that contrasted 2003’s Honkytonkville’s hard honky-tonk sound.  The album landed at the top of the country albums chart as well as the all-genre Billboard 200 and was certified platinum.  It also provided Strait with another [...]

Week ending 9/19/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: Hank Williams, Jr. – Major Moves (Warner Bros/Curb)
1989: Reba McEntire – Sweet Sixteen (MCA)
1994: Tim McGraw – Not A Moment Too Soon (Curb)
1999: The Dixie Chicks – Fly (Monument)
2004: Tim McGraw -Live Like You Were Dying (Curb)
2009: Taylor Swift – Fearless (Big Machine)

Week ending 9/12/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: George Strait – Right or Wrong (MCA)
1989: Reba McEntire – Sweet Sixteen (MCA)
1994: Tim McGraw – Not A Moment Too Soon (Curb)
1999: Shania Twain – Come On Over (Mercury)
2004: Tim McGraw -Live Like You Were Dying (Curb)
2009: Reba McEntire – Keep On Loving You (Valory/Starstruck)

Classic Rewind: Reba McEntire – ‘And Still’

Week ending 9/5/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: George Strait – Right or Wrong (MCA Nashville)
1989: Reba McEntire – Sweet Sixteen (MCA Nashville)
1994: Tim McGraw – Not A Moment Too Soon (Curb)
1999: Shania Twain – Come On Over (Mercury)
2004: Big & Rich -Horse of a Different Color (Warner Brothers)
2009: Reba McEntire - Keep On Loving You (Valory/Starstruck)

Recommendation: Reba – ‘Maggie Creek Road’

There was one track on Reba’s new Keep On Loving You album that jumped out at me from the first listen, and that was ‘Maggie Creek Road’.  The ominous opening catches your attention right away and as the story unfolds, like a good book that’s a page-turner, you can’t wait to hear what happens next.  Clearly, [...]

CD Giveaway: Reba – ‘Keep On Loving You’

And the winner is … highwayman3.
Congratulations and thanks to everybody who commented on this and all our other Reba coverage for the month of August. And stick around as we spotlight King George Strait this month.
Want to win a copy of Reba’s brand-new album? Keep On Loving You is her first solo album in six [...]

Who I am is who I wanna be

To finish up our Reba coverage this month, we wanted to talk about what she’s been up to for the past decade, since she’s only released 3 studio albums in that time – and I don’t count any of them among essential listening.  You should check out her take on the Kenny Rogers-penned ‘Sweet Music Man’ [...]

Week ending 8/29/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: George Strait – Right or Wrong (MCA Nashville)
1989: Reba McEntire – Sweet Sixteen (MCA Nashville)
1994: Tim McGraw – Not A Moment Too Soon (Curb)
1999: Shania Twain – Come On Over (Mercury)
2004: Jimmy Buffett – License To Chill (Mailboat)
2009: George Strait -Twang (MCA Nashville)

Album Review: Reba McEntire – ‘If You See Him’

Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn spent 1997 on tour together as co-headliners.  One night Reba would open for Brooks & Dunn and the next night they’d switch.  At the end of that tour, Reba and Ronnie Dunn would perform ‘You Don’t Know Me’ as a duet before being joined onstage by Kix Brooks for [...]

Album Review: Reba McEntire – ‘What If It’s You’

After experiencing a dip in sales with 1995’s Starting Over, Reba McEntire again changed musical directions, abandoning the glossy production of that covers album, in favor of a more stripped-down, organic sound.  She also teamed up with a new co-producer, John Guess,  and used her road band instead of studio musicians for the first time.   [...]

Album Review: Reba McEntire – ‘Read My Mind’

Toward the end of the 1980s, Reba McEntire began moving away from the hard traditional country sound that made her a star and an industry favorite.  As the ’90s dawned, gone were the fiddle-laden numbers on a Reba album and they’d been replaced by slick electric guitar-driven ballads.  Some point to this as the artistic [...]

Week ending 8/22/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: Hank Williams Jr. – Major Moves (Warner Brothers)
1989: Reba McEntire – Sweet Sixteen (MCA)
1994: Tim McGraw – Not A Moment Too Soon (Curb)
1999: Shania Twain – Come On Over (Mercury)
2004: Jimmy Buffett – License To Chill (Mailboat)
2009: Sugarland - Live On The Inside (Mercury)

The Song Remembers When

Whether it’s a breakthrough hit for a newcomer or a song that finally makes us fans of an established act to whom we’ve previously not paid much attention, we can all remember that one song that made an impression on us and made us become fans of the artist.   Prior to 1980, I didn’t have [...]

Classic Rewind: Reba McEntire – ‘I’m Checkin’ Out’

This is the famous performance from the 1991 Academy Awards, just nine days after the plane crash that took the lives of seven of Reba’s band members, her tour manager, a pilot, and co-pilot.  Watch as Reba gives the performance of her lifetime.