Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Danny Gokey Releases New Holiday Single "Tennessee Christmas"
Danny Gokey is releasing a new single to radio just in time for the holidays- here's him performing "Tennessee Christmas" to a live audience this past week.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Collin Raye Releases "Undefeated" Written With Daughter
Raye's latest album, Never Going Back, was released in 2009 on the Saguaro Road label. It included the track "She's With Me," which is a tribute to Raye's granddaughter, Haley, who died from a severe but undiagnosed brain disorder earlier this year. He has just released a new single to i-Tunes and has taken to his website this week to announce the new single that hits close to home:
Hello friends, it's that wonderful time of year again! I love the holidays because that means spending time with family, giving thanks for our blessings, wonderful music, and good home cooking! The past year has been a trying time for my family, but my faith has carried me through and made me a stronger person. In the midst of those trying times, my daughter Britanny and I wrote a new song called "Undefeated." This song was truly a gift from God and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed writing it! May it bless you and your family! Happy Thanksgiving and God bless!
Collin
New Music Video From Reba McEntire- "When You Have A Child"
This seems an appropriate release on Thanksgiving Day- the best song off of Reba's latest album.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
New Richie McDonald Album Slow Down Ships First Week of December
"I just wanted to slow down a little bit, spend more time with my family, watch my children grow up, and just take a break and do things at my own pace. I made a lot of memories, music with Michael, Dean and Keech and I do miss them. This is just another chapter in my life."
Now that change in philosophy is represented in the name of his new album that is being released the first week of December- an album appropriately named Slow Down.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
CD Reviews- Taylor Swift- Speak Now
Speak Now is the third album for the country/pop superstar- a follow-up to her multi-million-selling 2008 album, Fearless. The 21-year-old singer/songwriter wrote the entire album on her own and co-produced with longtime collaborator Nathan Chapman, who worked with her on Fearless and her 2006 self-titled debut. Features the first smash single 'Mine'.
The review:
I have to admit that after two previous Taylor Swift albums, I didn’t quite get it. And by “it,” I mean the worldwide adoration for this teenage singer/songwriter. She’s a beautiful young lady and her songwriting chops have been proven to be liquid gold. Certainly, it’s obvious that the lyric choices she’s made thus far in her career would appeal strongly to the i Generation. But her enormous appeal has crossed across sexes, genres, generations and radio channels.
It was back in September, however, when the groundwork began to shift my thinking a bit. Taylor Swift was invited to participate in the Country Music Hall of Fame All For The Hall benefit concert. Country stalwarts Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and pop star Lionel Richie joined Swift in Los Angeles. Also joining the group was country music’s living songwriting legend Kris Kristofferson. Swift and Kristofferson in particular seemed to share a special bond, having connected at the last BMI Country Awards in Nashville. Never mind that the cowboy boots he wore were literally decades older than Swift herself. He effusively sang the praises of her songwriting, and when he asked if she would be a Hall of Famer someday, bellowed, "She's already in the Hall of Fame!"
Here was one of country music’s foremost storytellers singing the praises and comparing his skills to her own- at only the age of twenty. When I was twenty, I was just simply trying to make it to college classes on time, let alone run a multi-million dollar music empire. Even young music star teenagers such as Debbie Gibson, Tiffany and country’s own Lila McCann weren’t close to burning as brightly and as long as Swift has done already in her young career.
And it was this one storyteller’s effusive praise that opened my eyes and had me take another closer look- at Swift the storyteller. And with eyes wide open, that’s how I dove into Speak Now.
Just four minutes in, it was clear that the pen is the power behind Taylor Swift. Her third album's first and title track, "Mine," shares the tumultuous story of a young lady who at once wants to fall in love but is wary of repeating the same mistakes her mother made with a cheating father. It’s a carefully writing story of a “a careless man’s careful daughter." "Mine" brings together the polish of modern country with the explosiveness of guitar-driven pop-rock at its most dynamic. Add an irresistible melody and compelling lyrics and you have the total package.
What she creates is a country-pop-confessional-songwriter-folk music- a genre she’s carved out on her own. Each song has a transparency that clearly feels lived in.
On another great song/tale, “Back to December,” she turns the tables and offers up regret and solitude. She delivers a powerful apology to an ex-boyfriend, which she never did on her prior two albums. The nimbly rendered interrupted-wedding saga of the title track “Speak Now” is another terrific example of Swift’s ability to tell a tightly woven and captivating story in just a few minutes time. It's told with a such a romantic charm, you hardly believe she could be wrong in being in being a wedding sabateur.
The second half bogs down some with the appearance of more orchestrated and overlong tracks such as "Enchanted" and "Haunted," where Swift indulges in melodrama. It is a bit overproduced at times- “Better Than Revenge” is an auditory collage of a mess. “Last Kiss” is an exception with a cool little Norah Jones-ish vibe.
While her much-debated voice is not nearly as strong as fellow country artist Carrie Underwood- or even pal Kellie Pickler’s- it’s perfectly fine on recorded disc. On many of the tracks, there’s a whispery fragileness that benefits her storytelling. For the most part she forges a variety of deliveries that appropriately match the tale she’s sharing. Power ballads get a strong passion, and longing and regret are softer and somber affairs. While no one doubts Underwood’s powerful pipes, letting her foot off the gas as Swift does with some of her vocals makes it more diverse and introspective.
A couple of excellent ballads are tucked into the second half as well: the surprisingly adult lullaby "Never Grow Up.” When she sings about still needing her night light, she reveals a tenderness and feeling that is certainly what Kristofferson finds so appealing.
Overall the songwriter in Swift has her heart on her sleeve on Speak Now. She wears it well.
Sounds Like:
Kristofferson’s teenage girl muse
Track Highlights (suggested iPod adds):
Back to December
Mine
Last Kiss
Speak Now
Dear John
The Verdict:
Four Stars Out Of Five
Billy Currington & Babyface Collaborate On Stage
During a Joe’s Bar stop in Chicago last Wednesday, multi Grammy award-nominated Mercury Nashville artist Billy Currington surprised fans by bringing out superstar artist and Grammy award-winning producer Kenny Babyface Edmonds for a soulful collaboration of “Change The World.”
Monday, November 22, 2010
Alabama Reunite For New Single For Upcoming Waylon Jennings Tribute Album
The three volume celebration, THE MUSIC INSIDE: A COLLABORATION DEDICATED TO WAYLON JENNINGS, features some of the biggest stars of Country music –from legends Kris Kristofferson and Alabama to hit makers Jamey Johnson and Trace Adkins to critically-acclaimed Patty Griffin and Sunny Sweeney – performing and paying tribute to Jennings’ most-celebrated songs. (The official Vol. I track listing is below.)
Every artist on the project possesses either a personal or professional connection to the Texas-born Jennings, and no one more so than Country star and Jennings’ widow Jessi Colter, who performs a heartfelt duet of “Good Hearted Woman” with Sunny Sweeney. Their son Shooter Jennings also pays tribute with “Belle of the Ball,” appearing on Vol. I. In addition, every performance on the compilation earned Jessi and Shooter’s blessing.
“There have been several tribute albums made in my father's honor, all of which were great tributes to his legacy. But this one has been a true passion project for a lot of artists and friends who truly wanted to remember and give back to the wonderful man he was,” says Shooter. “In the years since my dad passed away, I've grown as an artist and I feel this is the first time I'vebeen able to give back truly to the man who inspired, influenced and nurtured me and my musical passion.”Spearheaded and produced by Scatter Records founder Witt Stewart, the project was born in 2007 while Stewart was visiting his hometown of Lubbock, Texas. Recalling the days when Jennings and Buddy Holly used to rehearse down the street from his own home and Jennings’ days as a local DJ on KLLL, Stewart contacted Jessi Colter and from their first meeting, they began recording in Jessi’s Arizona living room on August 20, 2007, the project -- a labor of love for both -- was born.
“This project started with double rainbows and ended with double rainbows....a promise I'd say; as I think this could have been a prayer Waylon may have prayed....artists doing what they love for love,” says Colter. “I couldn't lead such a monumental effort. But, Witt set his face like a flint to finishing what he began and I am expecting Waylon to break the sound barrier again with the help of way cool artists too numerous to name. Thank you God for the vision you gave Witt, the artists who showed love in their music and, Waylon who gave us all a reason to listen again to whatmusic really means. Bravo!!!”Two and half years and 33 tracks later, Stewart met with Big Machine Label Group President & CEO Scott Borchetta on a cold, windy day in New York City. From the moment they met, Stewart knew BMLG was the right partner to release the hallowed collection.
“It was clear that Scott had really "listened" to the music,” explains Stewart. “The comments he made and questions he asked, I knew he had spent a lot of time with the music. And with his track record, he knows a few things about a hit song. Add that, due to his genuine love for Waylon and Jessi, there was no other home for the project but his house.”Leading the launch of the compilation series is legendary super group Alabama, who reunited to record Jennings’, “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” for Vol. I -- the first new recording from Alabama in a decade.
“The music of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson was some of the first music I ever fell in love with and one of the biggest reasons I moved to Nashville to work in Country Music,” says Scott Borchetta, President & CEO of the Big Machine Label Group. “Ironically, my dad also worked Alabama’s first singles when they were with then-independent label Stargem Records. It all seems to have come full circle with Alabama releasing the first single from the Vol. I compilation with our label group.”
“What an opportunity for us to go back in the studio, play and record live like we used to, and pay tribute to a TRUE legend in music...not in country music...in music period,” says Randy Owen of Alabama.“Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”, the lead single from Vol. 1 of the compilation series, impacts Country Radio on Nov. 29th with an official add date of Dec. 13th. A preview of the new song can be heard at: www.WaylonJennings.com
Adds Alabama’s Teddy Gentry,"This is probably as close as I'll get to being a real outlaw...Thanks Waylon!”
"Waylon was one of a kind,” continues Alabama’s Jeff Cook. “We did a lot of his songs in our early years. It's nice to be a part of this tribute album!"
Official Track Listing:
1. This Time – Jamey Johnson
2. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way – Alabama
3. I’m A Ramblin’ Man – Randy Houser
4. Belle of the Ball – Shooter Jennings
5. Good Hearted Woman – Sunny Sweeney and Jessi Colter
6. Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand – James Otto
7. Just To Satisfy You – John Hiatt w Waylon Jennings
8. Rose In Paradise – Kris Kristofferson and Patty Griffin
9. You Ask Me To – Trace Adkins
10. Go Down Rockin' – Waylon Jennings
11. The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don’t Want To Get Over You) – Chanel Campbell
Kenny Rogers Releases New Holiday Release- Christmas Live
Featuring such favorites as “Silent Night,” “Mary, Did You Know,” and “The Chosen One/Joy To The World,” the album truly captures the essence of his live holiday performances so that you and yours can enjoy these special musical moments wherever you happen to be and whenever you’d like. Available for pre-order now via www.kennyrogers.com and at Kenny’s Christmas Hits shows on the road beginning November 26th, Christmas Live makes the perfect stocking stuffer.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
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