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 [...]

Album Review: Sara Evans – ‘Three Chords and the Truth’

Had Three Chords and the Truth been released about a decade earlier, it would have been a monster hit for Sara Evans. All of the tracks on this very traditional-sounding album would have been right at home on country radio in the late 80s, alongside the hits of Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakam, Reba McEntire [...]

Album Review: Brooks & Dunn – ‘Hillbilly Deluxe’

After the success of Red Dirt Road, the duo had issued a second volume of Greatest Hits, and unusually the new singles released from that (‘That’s What It’s All About’ and ‘It’s Getting Better All The Time’) had done very well. Their next studio album, 2005’s Hillbilly Deluxe, shares its title with a Dwight [...]

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton & Vince Gill – ‘I Will Always Love You’

Album Review: Brooks & Dunn – ‘Borderline’

Brooks & Dunn’s fourth studio album for Arista Records was released in April 1996. The title — Borderline – is an unusually though probably unintentionally descriptive one, as it sums up perfectly the quality of this uneven and somewhat disappointing collection.
A month before the album’s release, things got off to a good start [...]

Album Review: Joe Nichols – ‘Old Things New’

A few years ago, Joe Nichols looked to be one of the brightest young country stars, with an interestingly textured voice and a sound with genuinely country roots which still worked on country radio, thanks to some very good songs. His career seems to have gone off track since them – no doubt not [...]

Classic Rewind: Doug Stone – ‘I’d Be Better Off In a Pine Box’

This was one of the first country songs I remember really loving.  Somehow the melody just sucked me in and I didn’t even know how dark the lyrics really were until I was much older.  There are lots of 90s country songs like that for me, those I memorized and then later learned what they [...]

Classic Rewind: Patty Loveless with Vince Gill – ‘On Down The Line’

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Sleepless Nights’

Patty Loveless was dropped by Epic following disappointing sales and minimal airplay for her last album for the label, Dreamin’ My Dreams. She was in no hurry to make her next move, taking some time off the road to move down to Georgia, and dealing with family deaths and illness, but in 2008 she signed [...]

Album Review: Terri Clark – ‘The Long Way Home’

Following her exit from long-time label home Mercury Records in 2006, Terri Clark inked a deal with BNA Records just a few months later.  Under the Sony imprint, she released two singles to radio, but both stalled just inside the Top 40 on the U.S. Country chart.  Both were bona fide hits in her native [...]

Mountain country magic: A tribute to Patty Loveless

When we announced Patty Loveless as our Spotlight Artist, all of us here at My Kind of Country were very excited about the opportunity to write about one of our favorites.  In past months, we’ve brought in Guest Contributors to help out with the reviews.  But this month, all the reviews were snatched up [...]

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Honky Tonk Angel’

Patty Loveless’ third album, released in 1988, marked her real commercial breakthrough. It was her first gold-seller (and eventually reached platinum status), and it also built on her growing success on country radio. No less than five of the ten tracks were released as singles – an unusually high number at the time. [...]

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Mountain Soul II’

Country radio’s love affair with Patty Loveless began winding down around 1997, with the release of the single “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me”. The record met with resistance by some radio program directors, who requested the release of an alternate version, without the harmony vocals provided by George Jones. Loveless refused to [...]

Album Review: Reba McEntire – ‘For My Broken Heart’

Heartbreak is at the heart of country music. Perhaps that’s because heartbreak is the common denominator for us all. No matter our lot or station in life, we’ve all lost someone or something at some point – a job to the economy, our innocence, a lover to another, a spouse to divorce or death, a [...]

Classic Rewind: Vince Gill & Patty Loveless – ‘My Kind Of Woman, My Kind Of Man’

When two stars collide

Country music has a long history of two separate artists coming together to record a single or album together.  We’ve also seen our fair share of duos who sing and perform exclusively together.  In the 1970s it seemed like all the rage for two of country’s biggest stars to join forces.  The decade saw the [...]

Album Review: Keith Whitley – ‘Sad Songs and Waltzes’

There are very few that can sing a sad one like Keith Whitley. At least that’s what I’ve discovered in our recent Spotlight Artist feature on Keith in May. So it’s appropriate that one of the posthumous releases featuring Keith’s vocals is titled Sad Songs and Waltzes. As a relatively new fan of country music, I fell [...]

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 [...]

Meet the Class of ‘89

Class of ‘89 Album Review: Suzy Bogguss – ‘Somewhere Between’

Suzy Bogguss is not one of the names usually associated with the “Class of ‘89″, as it was another couple of years before she really broke through commercially, but her debut album Somewhere Between was one of my personal favorite releases of 1989.
The best adjective I can find to describe Suzy’s voice is pure – [...]