TNS Video History- Mama Cass & Johnny Cash Sing Together

From back in 1972, here's a great medley of songs by Mama's & The Papa's Mama Cass and Johnny Cash.

Mama Cass and Johnny Cash-1969
by DickGreenleaf

Country Music's Final Notes of 2009

If you believe that country music is a tapestry of personalities and styles, voices and notes, this list of country music personalities that passed on this world is some folks that help build that fabric. With that thought, here are the country performers we lost in 2009... RIP.

Ernie Ashworth (March 3, heart attack, age 80): long-time member of the Grand Ole Opry who is best known for the 1961 hit "Talk Back Tremblin' Lips."
Leona Johnson Atkins (October 21, long-term illness, age 85): member of the Johnson Twins on WLW in the 1940s who gave up her career to be Mrs. Chet Atkins.

Barry Beckett (June 10, illness, age 65): producer of albums by Kenny Chesney.
Molly Bee (February 7, stroke, age 68): singer based on the west coast who played with Tennessee Ernie Ford and Jimmy Dean.
Jimmy Boyd (March 8, cancer, age 70): he sang "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" as a child.
Tom Brumley (February 4, illness, age 73): son of gospel songwriter Albert Brumley, Tom was the original steel guitarist for Buck Owens' Buckaroos.

Whaley T. "Ric" Cartey (August 5, unknown cause, age 72): songwriter responsible for Sonny James' breakthrough hit "Young Love."
Jack Cooke (December 1, heart attack, age 72): one-time member of Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys.

John Dawson (July 21, stomach cancer, age 64): co-founder of the 70s country-rock band New Riders of the Purple Sage.
Hal Durham (March 29, unknown cause, age 77): long-time Grand Ole Opry announcer and WSM DJ.

Steve Ferguson (October 7, cancer, age 60): founder of the band NRBQ, the band that included Skeeter Davis' husband Joey Spampinato.

Vern Gosdin (April 29, stroke, age 74): when you said "the voice," you said it all about Vern.
Buck Griffin (February 14, heart failure, age 85): underrated country and rockabilly singer.

Jon Hager (January 9, illness, age 67): surviving member of Hee Haw's Hager Twins died less than a year after identical twin brother Jim's death.

Duane Jarvis (April 1, colon cancer, age 51): session guitarist who played with the likes of Dwight Yoakam and Lucinda Williams.

Arthur Kent (January 26, natural causes, age 88): songwriter best remembered for penning Skeeter Davis' hit "The End of the World."
Tim Krekel (June 24, stomach cancer, age 57): in addition to writing songs Jimmy Buffett and playing in Buffett's band, the singer/songwriter won two BMI awards for Martraca Berg's "You Can Feel Bad" and Crystal Gayle's "Turning Away."

Big Bill Lister (December 1, illness, age 86): a member of the "replacement" Drifting Cowboys Band who first commercially recorded "There's a Tear in My Beer."
Hank Locklin (March 8, natural causes, age 91): the should-be Hall of Famer who gave us "Please Help Me, I'm Falling," "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On," and many others.

Irby Mandrell (March 5, unknown causes, age 84): the father and manager of Barbara Mandrell died shortly after his daughter was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Les Paul (August 13, pneumonia, age 94): the inventor of multi-track recording and the electric guitar, he also won a Grammy for Chester and Lester with Chet Atkins.

Aaron Schroeder (December 2, Alzheimer's, age 83): a songwriter who saw Elvis Presley turn his songs into hits ("Stuck on You," "Good Luck Charm").
Dan Seals (March 25, mantle cell lymphoma, 61): beginning as a pop singer (as part of England Dan and John Ford Coley) and the brother of pop singer Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts, he "Bop"ped to country in the 1980s.
Shelby Singleton (October 7, brain cancer, age 77): influential Nashville producer who signed Roger Miller to Smash Records and launched the career of Jeannie C. Riley. He also owned Sun Records starting in 1969.

Kyle Woodring (September 8, suicide [hanged self], age 42): session drummer who worked with Deana Carter.
Ruby Wright (September 29, heart disease, age 69): daughter of Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright who had an "answer song" to "Dang Me" ("Dern Ya") become a hit.

Special thanks goes to K.F. Raizor, a free-lance writer since 1989,for compiling this list. His work has appeared in "Lefthander" magazine and "Hard Country Beat", He is also an editor at TV.com and TVRage.com for a number of actors and programs. His country blog is Raizor's Edge.

Four Free Country Music Holiday Songs On Amazon

Before we abandon the 2009 holiday season, head over to Amazon.com where you can get way ahead on 2010 by downloading four great holiday Christmas songs for absolutely free. They include:

Richie McDonald (Lonestar)- “Oh Holy Night”
Mindy Smith- “It Really Is (A Wonderful Life”
Tracy Lawrence- “All Wrapped Up For Christmas”
Lee Greenwood- “Joy To The World”

Happy New Year's From That Nashville Sound

As we enter into the third year of That Nashville Sound's existence, we take a minute just to tell all of our faithful readers a big hearty "thank-you" for making this site a little part of your day. Music is a passionate thing and it's enjoyable to share it with others that find it a passion too.

To celebrate the new year, here's a little acoustic "Auld Lang Syne" for you to bring in the New Years holiday...

Jessica Harp T-Shirt & Autographed Poster Giveaway

To help celebrate former Wreckers member Jessica Harp's upcoming album release called A Woman Needs on February 16, 2010, Warner Brothers has teamed up with That Nashville Sound for a fun giveaway.

Between now and the end of January 10th, leave us a comment as well as your email (leave it like this: name (at) url.com) and you'll be entered to win. What we want to hear is what you think of the upcoming album or the first single "Boy Like Me." Let us know, leave an email and be entered to win!

Kris Kristofferson, Roseanne Cash, John Mellencamp Work With Stephen King On Musical "Ghost Brothers Of Darkland County"

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County is an upcoming musical written by novelist Stephen King with original music written by rock musician John Mellencamp. A book including a CD recording of the songs should be published prior to it opening in Atlanta in September 2010. The musical was set to premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia from April 15 through May 10, 2009, but a problem with the script delayed things and the musical is now set to debut at the Alliance in September 2010.

Regarding the plot, Mellencamp says, "I can tell what it's not going to be like: It won't be Jack and Diane meets Cujo. He's already written the story- it's very beautiful, more like The Green Mile. It's an American story about an American family. Some of the characters are 100 years old, some are 15. So that will give me the opportunity to write for each character in a different style. I ain't writing a bunch of rock songs."

In a later interview he said, "[It's about] two brothers; they're 19 years old or 20, maybe 18 or 21, who are very competitive and dislike each other immensely. The father takes them to the family vacation place, a cabin that the boys hadn't been to since they were kids. What has happened is that the father had two older brothers who hated each other and killed each other in that cabin There's a confederacy of ghosts who also live in this house. The older [dead] brothers are there, and they speak to the audience, and they sing to the audience. That's all I want to say, except through this family vacation, many things are learned about the family, and many interesting songs are sung."

The play takes place in the fictional town of Lake Belle Reve, Missisippi. According to Mellencamp, the play will have a Tennessee Williams feel.

According to interviews, Mellencamp has written about 20 songs for the production. The ones that have been mentioned by name are: "You Don't Know Me," "My Name Is Joe," and "Tear This Cabin Down."

Mellencamp said, "I plan to have every person sing from their generation. This is what I'm thinking right now, but it may not work out this way. When the 18-year-old sings, he'll be rapping at you. When the people in their 70s are singing, they'll be singing in the style of Broadway or the style of Frank Sinatra or country. I intend to cover any type of music that Americans have invented."

Ryan D'Agostino of Esquire Magazine sat in on a New York rehearsal of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County in the fall of 2007 and had this to say in his review: "Musicals aren't usually a guy thing. This one, though, is not only tolerable, it's good. It may be the first-ever musical written by men for men. There's no orchestra, just two twangy acoustic guitars, an accordion, and a fiddle. The songs are both haunting and all-American."

The plan is to release a three-CD/book package featuring major artists performing Mellencamp's songs, and the book will contain the play's dialouge. According to Rolling Stone, two of those artists will be Elvis Costello and Neko Case. It was later announced that Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, and Roseanne Cash will also contribute. The album will be produced by T-Bone Burnett.

Production of this project began in June 2009 and, according to Mellencamp's website, the album will be available before the play opens in September 2010. It will be available as a book with a 3-CD set (two CDs containing the entire production and another with just the songs).

Cast:
Kris Kristofferson as Joe
Elvis Costello as The Shape
Roseanne Cash as Monique
Will Dailey as Frank
Dave Alvin as Jack
Phil Alvin as Andy
John Mellencamp as Drake
Sheryl Crow as Jenna
Neko Case as Anna
Joe Frazier as Dan Coker
Stephen King as Uncle Steve
Glenn Morshower as Narrator

Thanks goes out to Shannon over at Nashville Gab for digging this one up.

New Music Around Corner For Michael Martin Murphey, Patty Griffin, Chris Cagle & Allison Moorer

With 2010 just around the corner, we look ahead to some upcoming releases the first 45 days or so. We know there's a new Lady Antebellum and new Jessica Harp album forthcoming, but there are four additional albums that are very worthy of mention as well.

Michael Martin Murphey and his Bluegrass friends Ride Again on Buckaroo Blue Grass II (release date of 2/9/10)expanding on the passions of the first "Buckaroo Blue Grass" album, creating fully acoustic Bluegrass versions of songs about the region to which "Murph" has been deeply connected for a lifetime - the American Southwest. "Buckaroo Blue Grass II" reprises many of his classic songs performed with a stellar cast of top musicians and singers.

With Buddy Miller at the help producing the new album entitled Downtown Church, Patty Griffin's new album (1/26/10)will be a country artist's take on gospel. Mostly Buddy records in his living room, some blocks removed from Music Row in Nashville. Not this time. "One of the first things she said was she wanted a room where she could kind of feel her voice coming back to her," he says. "And my place doesn't necessarily fall in that category. So I thought of this downtown Presbyterian church. I'd just done a couple songs as part of a benefit there. It's the wildest looking thing, and it sounded beautiful," Buddy says. "So I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. The pastor said, `We're Presbyterians, we're very efficient, we only need it once a week.'" Buddy, too, is efficient; Downtown Church was cut live over the first week of January, 2009, with Patty Griffin singing from the pulpit.

Chris Cagle hasn't been heard from much lately, but Capitol Records will be releasing a new Best Of Chris Cagle album that will hit shelves on 2/9/10.

Oscar and Grammy nominated songwriter and alt-country artist Allison Moorer returns on 2/9/10 with a refined collection of songs that mark a stylistic departure from her previous work. On Crows, Moorer combines an astonishing vocal performance with new material primarily written on piano, rather than guitar.

WWE Star Mickie James To Release Country Single & Album

WWE diva Mickie James says she plans on releasing her first country music single in February before releasing her first album in March, which would be just in time for WrestleMania 26 hype.

Mickie says it's been tough to find the right management team to handle her country music ambition, but she feels she's hooked up with the right team to promote her career.

"I'm very blessed to have come across some really, really good people and gotten them on my team," Mickie told a New Jersey newspaper. "I was hoping to have all the vocals done by the end of this month, because obviously I want to release the single in February and the album in March."

Charlie Daniels Stars In New Geico Commercial

GEICO will launch four TV spots today as part of a new campaign, called “Rhetorical Questions.” The new creative joins their on-air rotation as the fifth current storyline, in addition to the Gecko, Cavemen, “Talking Accidents” and googly-eyed “Kash.”

During the last 15 years, everyone’s heard GEICO’s famous tagline: “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.”

With that in mind, GEICO’s savings message has a refreshed twist. The idea: people know this tagline so well, we could phrase it as a rhetorical question.

Each spot begins with an investigative reporter-type host, played by Mike McGlone (from The Brothers McMullen,) asking the question: “Could switching to GEICO really save you 15% or more on car insurance?”

Well…

“Is Ed “Too Tall” Jones too tall?”
“Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?”
“Does Elmer Fudd have trouble with the letter R?”
“Did The Waltons take way too long to say goodnight?”

Here's Charlie shredding it up good in his spot below...

Up & Coming New Nashville- Stormy Montana (With Exclusive Interview)

At just 16 years old, Stormy Montana has proven to have one of the largest and most dedicated fan bases in all of country music. She doesn’t attribute this simply to her age, but to the music itself, which is grounded in the best traditions of country music, with an eye towards the more accessable pop country of today’s generation. Stormy began singing live in bars and honky-tonks at 9 years old and hasn’t stopped since. Her love of music and performing is evident by the fact her mother never had to push her to sing and perform, it’s simply what she wanted to do. Teaming with renound vocal coach Teresa Smith, and surrounding herself with a great team of Nashville insiders and music professionals, Stormy set sail on her life’s calling.

Her brand new 2009 release “Someone Like Me” has already sold close to 7,000 physical copies since release, a virtually un-heard of feat in todays country music climate. In fact, had the C.D. been Soundscanned from the beginning, “Someone Like Me”would have remained in the Top 20 Billboard Country Music Chart throughout much of the year. Featuring 15 top quality songs by hit songwriters such as Dave Pahanish, Casey Kessel, Marcus Hummon, and James Slater; and recorded at Nashville’s finest studios featuring Nashville’s finest musicians, “Someone Like Me” is knee deep in great music that everyone can enjoy.The release date is a reflection of the Christmas season and the decision to release “Someone Like Me” online for the first time came after much deliberation. Stormy says, “At first we wanted to keep the C.D. offline completely, believing that the best way to sell ‘Someone Like Me‘ was for me to play shows, shake hands, and meet as many people as possible. As time moved on we found that the demand for ‘Someone Like Me‘ at the shows was overwhelming, leading us to sell out very quickly. At the same time, everyday we were getting request for the C.D. from places as far away as Japan and Germany. We concluded we needed to have ‘Someone Like Me‘ in all the online stores so that the fans who weren’t able to purchase the C.D. at the shows, and those around the world, could.”



We had a chance to interview the talented young lady for That Nashville Sound about her missions in music and more:

That Nashville Sound- What brought you to music in the first place?

Stormy Montana- I've pretty much been singing my entire life. I joke around and say it's in self defense to keep my mom from singing herself. She's a major support, though.

TNS- Describe your music- what’s the mission behind the music?

SM- I try not to stick a label to my music. It's obviously country, some more than others, but most of the songs can make people feel good. Easy-listening country, for the most part.

TNS- What might people be surprised to find out about you?

SM- Only thing I can really say that would be really surprising would be just finding out my age. I just turned 16 not that long ago. I've been told I look quite a bit older than my age.

TNS- What kind of music are you listening to? What’s in your iPod?

SM- I'll listen to anything except rap. I'm big on Outlaw Country, Classic Rock, Newer Country & Rock, Blues, Americana. Bob Seger, Johnny Paycheck, Paramore, Jason Aldean, P!NK, Metallica, Blind Melon, Tanya Tucker, Bekka Bramlett. I could name four million different artists I love listening to. The list just goes on and on.

TNS- If you had a crystal ball and looked forward five years- what do you see for yourself?

SM- Well, regardless what I do, I know it will have something to do with music. Whether it's getting out on a big stage and performing, writing, just sitting around with friends jamming, it doesn't matter. I love it all, and I think it'll always stay that way.

TNS- Any nicknames for any of your guitars?

SM- Oh god, I have this old Yamaha, and I named it Earl. I got that from the song "Goodbye Earl" from the Dixie Chicks, where they beat the crap out of him and everything. That poor guitar ha so many scrapes and dents in it. I just call my Taylor guitar Taylor. Original, huh?

TNS Video History- Norah Jones Sings A Little Johnny Cash