Album Review: Sara Evans – ‘No Place That Far’

After the traditional sound of Three Chords And The Truth had failed to break Sara at radio, there was some modification and a slightly smoother, glossier sound for her second album in 1998, but without breaking away completely from her traditional roots by any means. The production chair passed from Pete Anderson to Norro Wilson [...]

Classic Rewind: Trisha Yearwood – ‘Try Me Again’

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Trouble With The Truth’

When we were divvying up the albums that we wanted reviewed for this month, I called dibs on Trouble With The Truth because I knew I would be busy and it’s one of my absolute favorites. First I want to tell a short story: At the end of last year, I was working on my [...]

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 [...]

Secret tracks

Reading the comments section on one of the many country blogs I read, I came across a thought that resonated with me.  The comment was about when you find an album cut that you love as much or more than the album’s radio singles – the singles are usually the reason you bought the album [...]

Classic Rewind: Trisha Yearwood – ‘Walkaway Joe’

Classic Rewind: Trisha Yearwood – ‘She’s In Love With The Boy’

Album Review: Reba McEntire – ‘Keep On Loving You’

She revisits many of the same themes and ideas she has sung to us about before, at times saying it better than before.  But more
often than not, these recycled themes fall short of the songs of their predecessors.  Reba is in fine voice throughout the entire
album.  Her vocal is the one thing I can’t find [...]

Listening and learning

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, [...]

Classic Rewind: ‘You Can Be A Star’

Back in the day, before American Idol and Nashville Star, there was a talent competition on The Nashville Network called You Can Be A Star. See if you can recognize two of the contestants that eventually went on to bigger and better things:

Completed collections

A few weeks ago, while chatting to Country California’s C. M. Wilcox on facebook, I expressed my goal for the summer. Due to Patty Loveless releasing her next album, Mountain Soul II, on September 29 I made my goal to get all of her studio albums before summer ended. So far? I’m almost done, I’m [...]

Something with a twist to it

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 [...]

I need album recommendations!

Lately I’ve been ordering more albums off of Amazon.com, mostly older albums with songs I like. Today, I realized that I’ve bought almost all of Trisha Yearwood’s studio albums, all of them except Trisha Yearwood, Everybody Knows and Where Your Road Leads. Then I decided I should just order those three and complete my Trisha [...]

Keith Whitley the Songwriter

In addition to being an exceptional vocalist, Keith Whitley was also a very accomplished songwriter. He didn’t record very many of his own songs, but a handful of them went on to become hits for other people. Here’s a sample of some of the songs he wrote or co-wrote:

[...]

Recommendation: Songs about rain

It’s raining again today in southern Ohio, and it has been for the better part of a week now.  A couple days ago, during a particularly torrential downpour, I was sitting here listening to music and decided to search the word ‘rain’ in my media library.  And I have to say I was surprised at [...]

Signature songs from superb singers

This past year, Taylor Swift had a massive hit in “Love Story.” I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It went to #1 on 3 charts worldwide, including the American and Canadian County charts as well as Australia’s all-genre chart. Beyond that, “Love Story” went into the top 5 on U.S. Billboard’s Hot 100, Pop 100 [...]

De-stress songs

These next two weeks will be very stressful, for me that is because of one thing: AP tests. Half of my classes are AP classes, so I have a lot of big tests coming up. So what did I decide to do? I made a playlist of some albums that I consider very relaxing, namely:
Home, [...]

Class of ‘89 Album Review: Mary Chapin Carpenter – ‘State Of The Heart’

Singer/songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter’s second album (her first album saw no singles released from it) and it’s four breakthrough top 20 singles gave her a solid place in the Class of ‘89.  Originally released through Columbia Nashville, State Of The Heart rose to #28 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and has been certified gold. [...]

Album Review: Matt Jenkins – Quarter of a Century: The Acoustic Sessions

Matt Jenkins is a singer/songwriter from Texas. He came to Nashville a few years ago and was signed to Universal South by Tony Brown and Tim DuBois. He released a few singles that failed to catch on at radio, and was eventually dropped from the Universal South roster after Brown and DuBois departed [...]

Defining songs

Sometimes a singer records a song that just completely defines who they are as an artist and a person.  Other times an artist records a song that’s not so autobiographical, but the fans embrace it as the truth.  
George Strait’s 2008 single ‘Troubadour’ sums up the man and the legend that is George Strait better [...]