Trace Adkins‘ home in Brentwood, Tennesee (just outside of Nashville) was consumed with fire earlier this afternoon. His children and nanny were home when the dryer exploded inside the garage. Everyone escaped the home safely. A video with more details is below:
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Country Music News Updates On Tim Robbins, Shania Twain, JD Souther, Suzy Bogguss and Alabama
* Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins has signed with 429 Records and will release his album, Tim Robbins And The Rogues Gallery Band, on July 19. You can read a little more about the project HERE or view his website at http://www.timrobbins.net/.
* After getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this week, Shania Twain's next trick will be releasing her first single in over six years during the finale of her Oprah Winfrey Network show Why Not With Shania Twain. It's titled "Today Is Your Day."
* JD Souther may not be a mainstream country radio name today, but ask any songwriter and he's placed there up with the greats. He was the pen behind many of the great hits by the Eagles and has other cuts by acts like the Dixie Chicks and Trisha Yearwood just to name two. More recently, he co-wrote with the boys from One Flew South on their album Last of the Good Guys. Souther has a brand new album called Natural History and it features his own interpretations of many of his greatest hits.
* It's been WAY too long since we heard new music from Suzy Bogguss- good news is that wait is over. Bogguss has a new CD and companion Songbook that will be released on July 18, 2011 at all Cracker Barrel Country Stores. This looks like a serious keeper.
Folk songs are the scrapbook of the American experience, but as music education fades from our public schools, she worried; these beautiful melodies are in danger of being overlooked. She resolved to record these timeless songs in an updated but reverent way.
The hardcover, 96-page book is filled with illustrations, fascinating historical stories about the songs, easy to read sheet music arrangements for piano, voice and guitar as well as personal insights and anecdotes from Bogguss* In an interview with Bradenton.com, Alabama member Jeff Cook reveals tentative plans for an Alabama reunion tour and possibly even an album into 2012.
We’re talking about doing maybe 20 shows next year,” said Alabama cofounder, singer and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Cook during a recent phone interview. “I feel sure that if we do dates we’ll have a recording to go with it,”
Thursday, June 2, 2011
That Nashville SoundBites- Marc Broussard- Marc Broussard EP
That Nashville Sound receives many different CD releases throughout the year from indie, small majors, bluegrass and artists just off the country mainstream radar- or smaller projects like EPs- that we’re doing short mini CD reviews on. We call them That Nashville SoundBites- it’s a feature that will allow us to give some props to some albums and artists that deserve a spotlight on their work.
The Review:
Bayou-born Marc Broussard is one of those guys whose vocals don't match the face. With a deep raspy powerhouse voice, Broussard sings soulful passionate blues as good as anyone. His 2004 album Carencro is truly one of the most underrated albums of the last decade. This EP is being released prior to a full album later this year with four new songs. "Lucky" is everything that's great about Broussard. Despite somewhat generic lyrics, this love song is delivered with such strength and with such powerful vocals, it draws you in with its emotional delivery. Amazingly, it is not any different on the last track of the EP, a live version of the same song. If anything, the intimate setting draws you in more. "Could You Believe" is another love song, this one tied to a more worldly "better-the-world" premise in which Broussard does his best Stevie Wonder impression backed by a funk band and horn section. The lone negative? You just want more on this short little album.
Sounds Like:
Combination of Rick Astley voice and Stevie Wonder soul
Stand Out Tracks
Lucky
The Verdict:
Three & a half stars out of five
Ashton Shepherd Readies Where Country Grows For July Release
Where Country Grows is the much-anticipated follow-up to her 2008 debut, Sounds So Good, and captures her impressive songwriting and singing evolution she’s made over the last few years. She wrote or co-wrote 8 of the 10 songs on the new album, which was produced by Buddy Cannon.
“I felt like I had a basic plan for this record,” she says. “You’ve got your first record behind you; you’ve learned some things. Your sophomore record – I heard from all these people – is supposed to be different. It’s supposed to be another factor and define you a little more. I’m thinking, ‘How am I going to do this?’”
One new approach was to spend time with several of Nashville’s prominent songwriters, including Dean Dillon, Dale Dodson, Bobby Pinson and Troy Jones, to see if these collaborations could inspire new sounds or themes. The strategy worked.
“I was just a little scared of it, since I’d never co-written before,” says Ashton. “Once I started, I really, really enjoyed it. I felt like we had plenty of songs to choose from. So the angle on this record was trying to define Ashton Shepherd in a different way, maybe dig just a little bit deeper and try and put some different kinds of songs on it.
“I was listening back to the record, thinking, ‘This has something for everybody on it.’ I think we’ve accomplished that,” says Ashton, who wrote by herself two of the album’s most powerful songs – “I’m Just a Woman” and “Rory’s Radio.”
The songs from Where Country Grows have already taken her live shows in an exciting new direction. “This record is more tempo-heavy. The first record was very country with all the ballads,” she says. “It made it kind of hard to do live shows, because you had 11 songs and six of them were ballads. Now, we’ve got a good little handful of spunky songs that I think people will really like to sing along with and enjoy on this record.”
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Hear It Here- New Music From Jack Ingram- "Right For You"
Enjoy the latest song in Jack Ingram's online Acoustic Motel series- a brand new song written by Jack with Natalie Hemby just a few weeks ago.
CD Album Review- Matt Kennon- 77
Just a year after making some country music chart noise with a semi-autobiographical story of how a phone call saved his life as a baby with “The Call” as well as a parting with his BamaJam music label, Kennon returns with this independent album titled after the year he was born.
The Review-
Matt Kennon is blessed with one of those voices that, for better or for worse, sets him apart from the rest of the radio dial; from the minute he opens his mouth on his hit song “The Call,” it was clear that the gravelly and deep voiced Kennon is working with a different instrument than most. It took nearly half a lifetime, however, to find out the genetics of where it came from.
In an interview that I did with Kennon over at The 9513 a year ago, he told of that story in “The Call,” the second chorus of which deals with a young mother grappling with the heart wrenching decision of whether or not to keep her new baby. It was from Kennon’s own personal experience of being that baby that the song’s lyrics took root. Kennon’s birth mother was in an unfortunate economic situation and had made the painful decision to abort him. The doctor that was seeing his mother knew of another patient, a mother who had lost three of her children in a terrible house fire, who had just found out she was unable to conceive more children. The doctor matched up the two mothers and the new family adopted Matt.
Why that is important is for two reasons. First, “The Call” and four other songs from his debut album have been rerecorded and included on 77. Secondly, that theme of an edgy smoke-stained and breathless voice paired with a song themed with a positive message carries over into his second album. Kennon has a place in no-man’s land- a rocker’s voice in a country song- and pushing a cause. “You Had To Pick On Me” tackles bullying, “Wake Up Dancin’” celebrates his faith and obviously “The Call.” It’s an interesting combination of an edgy country-rock driven with electric guitar sound with sometimes syrupy lyrics. The message songs are combined with up-tempo southern rock songs that sometimes lean on cliché’s a little too much such as on “Too Loud”- “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” They’re designed to get you on your feet in a bar room and they’re probably successful in that forum. Critically, they can come off a bit bombastic. It would have been interesting to hear Kennon provide a couple of stripped down acoustic pieces or a couple of extra ballads to help balance the album out. The one new stand-out track for this listener was the one traditional honky-tonk tale of heartache and loss, “I Can’t Get Back.”
Sounds Like-
Movie voice-over guy Don LaFontaine singing country music
Suggested downloads-
I Can’t Get Back
The Call
The Verdict-
Two and a half stars out of five
Monday, May 30, 2011
Up & Coming New Nashville- The Black Lillies
Born in the rumbling cab of a stone truck and aged in the oak of Tennessee's smoky night haunts, The Black Lillies have come to the forefront of the Americana scene in little more than a year. Founded by multi instrumentalist and vocalist Cruz Contreras, co-founder of Robinella and the CCstringband, and singer-guitarist Leah Gardner (Maid Rite String Band), The Black Lillies have created their own unique brand of country, roots, rock and blues via Appalachia. The group, formed in 2008, also includes bassist Taylor Coker, electric guitar and pedal steel whiz Tom Pryor (the everybodyfields), and drummer Jamie Cook (the everybodyfields). In April, The Black Lillies released Whiskey Angel, their debut recording. The album was recorded live in Cruz's living room by Sparklehorse drummer Scott Minor, and features Billy Contreras on fiddle. This summer, The Black Lillies received critical acclaim for their performances at the Bonnaroo Music + Arts Festival, Rhythm & Roots Reunion, and on the live radio broadcasts of both Tennessee Shines and Music City Roots. The host of Tennessee Shines, legendary songwriter and musician Jim Lauderdale, called The Black Lillies "a true Americana supergroup." The Black Lillies have developed their own style of Americana music in true East Tennessee fashion
The Black Lillies will make their debut performance on the Grand Ole Opry on Friday, June 17. The band, which chose to use a fan-funded model to record their new album, 100 Miles of Wreckage, rather than signing to a label, will be the first independent artists from the Knoxville area to be featured on the Grand Ole Opry. They join the ranks of local Opry alumni Dolly Parton, Roy Acuff and Kenny Chesney
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Hear It Here- New Single From Phil Vassar- "Let's Get Together"
Only a few weeks after announcing his new label Rodeowave Entertainment and the arrival of new music, Phil Vassar returns with his brand new single "Let's Get Together," which debuted at #55 on the Billboard Singles chart in its first week.
"Let's Get Together" is the debut single from Rodeowave Entertainment. The song was co-written by Vassar and Tony Mullins and co-produced by Vassar and Ross Copperman.
"Country radio has always been so supportive of Phil Vassar and his music and we are thrilled that his first single from Rodeowave is off to such a great start!” says Teddi Bonadies, Rodeowave Entertainment team member.
"Let's Get Together" is the debut single from Rodeowave Entertainment. The song was co-written by Vassar and Tony Mullins and co-produced by Vassar and Ross Copperman.
"Country radio has always been so supportive of Phil Vassar and his music and we are thrilled that his first single from Rodeowave is off to such a great start!” says Teddi Bonadies, Rodeowave Entertainment team member.
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