New Music Video From Tracy Lawrence - "I Could Use One"

New Music Video From Tracy Lawrence - "Pretty Dang Good"

New Music Video From Tracy Lawrence - "Gulf of Mexico"

New Music Video From Clay Walker & Tracy Lawrence - "Amarillo By Morning"

That Nashville Sound Sunday Newsbytes - Rory Feek, Tracy Lawrence, Natalie Hemby, Lilly Winwood & More

After a fairly slow and underwhelming start to 2021 in new music, there's some light and anticipated music on the horizon.

---

Tracy Lawrence has announced that he will have not one, but three different projects released in 2021. The first is coming on April 23. He is celebrating his 30th anniversary in country music this year, and to mark the career milestone, he’s releasing a special project, Hindsight 2020. The three-volume album has 30 tracks and will be released throughout 2021.

The career-encompassing project is a combination of brand new material, collaborations, and some of Lawrence’s favorite hits. The first in the series, Volume 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell, will be that first one released in April. This 10-song collection features all new material from Lawrence, who penned nine of the 10 tracks, mixing his signature blend of contemporary and traditional country that has made him a mainstay since his debut album, Sticks & Stones, in 1991.

“It has truly been the honor of a lifetime to be so welcomed by country music fans,” says Lawrence. “As I look back over the past 30 years, I am incredibly humbled to have been able to live my dream and to have so many folks support me along the way. I wanted to celebrate this amazing milestone with fond reflection and embrace the next chapter with the people who made it all happen, my fans.”

---

Rodney Crowell and all of his friends have collaborated on a new compilation album, Songs From Quarantine Vol. 1, which has an all-star cast of singer-songwriter, country and Americana VIPs sending in tracks from their own splendid isolation.

Six of the 13 artists represented — Ry Cooder, Elvis Costello, Joe Henry, Ronnie Dunn, John Hiatt and Crowell himself — contribute original songs that have never been released before in any context. The remaining seven offer demos or otherwise stripped-down or alternate versions of numbers they’ve put out in full form before, with Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Keith Urban, Jeff Tweedy, Rosanne Cash, Steve Earle and Taj Mahal rounding out the guest list. (Download the album here.)

---

Rory Feek has a solo album called Gentle Man coming out this June and he's released a music video from one of the early songs released off the album that features Vince Gill on harmony vocals. The new song is called "Me and the Blues." 

Says Feek on the new song, "Five years ago, Joey gave me a gift. A Valentine's card. It was to be the last note, the last written words, and the last card I would ever receive from her. That card was her Valentine's gift to me that year. This is my Valentine's gift to her this year…"

---

That Nashville Sound praised Natalie Hemby's 2017 solo album, Puxico. In 2019, she teamed with Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires to form The Highwomen. Now she's just signed with Fantasy Records and will be releasing a new album later in 2021. 

The upcoming solo album has been produced and mixed by her husband Mike Wrucke. She joins a roster at Fantasy Records that includes Tanya Tucker, James Taylor, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Paul Simon, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, and more.

“Both Mick Management and Fantasy Records have an exceptional and eclectic roster of artists they work with,” said Hemby. “Their teams are some of the most respected in the music business. I’m so proud to be a part of their musical families…it is truly a dream come true for me.”

---

The much-too-early winner for new music discovery of the year here at That Nashville Sound has to go to Lilly Winwood and her new album, Time Well Spent. The quick bio always refers to her as legendary rock artist Steve Winwood's daughter, but her musical stylings lean more towards Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt or Holly Williams than anything her dad ever put out. The bluesy, moody album allows Winwood’s wise-beyond-her-years tone and resilient lyrics to shine through nearly every track. 

A little more about this new-to-us artist from her website bio: "After feeling that the countryside of her native Gloucestershire, England felt too familiar, and London was, in her own words, “so big, so expensive, and reeked of havoc and loss and all that good stuff,” she decided to spend a few weeks in Nashville, where she spent her childhood summers, but ended up staying instead. Winwood’s debut EP, Silver Stage, chronicled the journey through earnest coming-of-age narratives and a sound that—much like her father’s work—offers an English take on traditional American roots music. Backed by Nashville-via-Australia producer Joshua Barber (Gotye, Archie Roach), the songs on Silver Stage blend Bonnie Raitt’s world-weary vocals, My Morning Jacket’s ethereal twang, and Brittany Howard’s no-bullshit bravado to create an EP that pays homage to Lilly’s singer-songwriter idols (like John Prine) and establishes the twenty-one-year-old as a writer that’s wise beyond her years. Following the release of Silver Stage, Winwood has continued on to collaborate with fellow East-Nashville-based Americana artists such as Boo Ray, with the release of their A-side/ B-side vinyl collaboration. Lilly also collaborated with Nashville based Americana artist Don Gallardo on his 7-track EP In the Name of Good Intentions where Lilly’s vocals are featured on more than half of the songs. Rolling Stone deemed Winwood and Gallardo’s “Shine a Light on Me” one of the Top 10 Best Country, Americana songs to hear now in 2019, amongst Trisha Yearwood and Tanya Tucker. Lilly has set her debut album release Time Well Spent for early 2021. This record was produced by Alex Munoz and Allen Thompson in Nashville, TN at High Cotton Recording Studio."

That Nashville Sound Sunday Newsbytes: New Albums From Clint Black & Will Hoge + New Music Videos

As the music business stands to lose up to 9 billion... that's a billion with a b, folks... from lost revenue from concert ticket sales, it's left the industry reeling. With album sales at an all-time low, streaming revenues that are a joke to the artists, and now concerts all in limbo, now is the time to support your favorite artists. Buy a shirt. Buy some vinyl. Show some support. Heaven knows they need it now more than ever.

~ That Nashville Sound favorite Will Hoge will release his new self-produced project, Tiny Little Movies, on June 26 via Thirty Tigers. It is "a throwback rock and roll splendor, setting the tone well for an album in which Hoge chose to highlight the raw chemistry of his road band. After tackling the arrangements over four days in an East Nashville rehearsal space, Hoge, guitarist Thom Donovan, drummer Allen Jones, and bassist Christopher Griffiths headed into Trace Horse Studio and tracked each song live, together and inspired. “There’s a classic, rock & roll centerpiece to everything this band does, but it’s still a group of four different people, and we all bring different influences to the table,” says Hoge, who turned to Grammy-winning producer/engineer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Lori McKenna) to mix the album at Sam Phillips Recording. “We’ve got a metalhead in the group. We’ve got a Motown fan. We’ve got a guitarist who loves Johnny Marr. It’s a unique hodgepodge of sounds coming together, and we tried to accentuate that.”"

~ Clint Black will release his 23rd album called Out of Sane on June 19. "Out of Sane is made up of all original songs, except for one cover. I recorded it with a varied collection of musicians; some from my band and some with session players. I believe it’s one of my best albums ever and I think my fans will love it. They’ve been asking for new music for a while and I’m thrilled to finally be able to deliver after five years since the last studio album,” said Black.

New music videos:

      Hot Country Knights (feat Terri Clark) - "You Make It Hard"
      Keith Urban - "Polaroid"
      American Aquarium - "Six Years Come September"
      Clint Black - "America (Still In Love With You)"
      Tracy Lawrence - "When The Cowboy's Gone"

      Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen - "Rodeo Clown"

      Trace Adkins - "Tough People Do"

      Blackberry Smoke - "Take The Highway"

      Drake White - "Mix 'Em With Whiskey"

      Lennon Stella - "Older Than I Am"

A h/t goes to the Ryman Auditorium for this list of country artists live-streaming concerts over the next few days:

April 26

Adam Hambrick
Time: 9 a.m.
What: Coffee and a Hymn
Where: YouTube

Tara Thompson
Time: 11 a.m.
Where: Facebook

Chris Young
Time: 1 p.m.
Where: Facebook

Hailey Whitters
Time: 2 p.m.
What: Performance as part of Stagecoach’s “StageCouch” weekend
Where: Instagram

Tyler Rich
Time: 3 p.m.
What: “Leave Her Wild Sunday Brunch” With Tyler, Sabina and Friends
Where: Instagram

The Lone Bellow
Time: 3 p.m.
What: Pickathon’s “ A Concert A Day”, an initiative to help musicians and artist communities through the to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund
Where: Facebook, YouTube and Twitch

Song Suffragettes
Time: 6 p.m.
Where: YouTube

Jon Pardi
Time: 7 p.m.
What: Happy Hour as part of Stagecoach’s “StageCouch” weekend
Where: Instagram

Zac Brown Band
Time: 7 p.m.
What: Sunday Night Live
Where: Instagram

Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Time: 7 p.m.
Where: Facebook

April 27

Hot Country Knights and Terri Clark
Time: 3 p.m.
Where: Instagram

Temecula Road
Time: 3:30 p.m.
What: Performance
Where: Facebook

Chris Bandi
Time: 7 p.m.
What: Performance
Where: Facebook

Sara Evans
Time: 7:30 p.m.
What: “Closet Chaos” Co-hosted with daughters, Olivia & Audrey. They sing, talk beauty products, tv/film, and host one special guest.
Where: Instagram

April 28

Mitchell Tenpenny
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Instagram

Caitlyn Smith
Time: 8:00 p.m.
What: Country Music Hall of Fame Songwriter Sessions
Where: Instagram

Tyler Rich
Time: 8:30 p.m.
What: “Sing Behind the Scene”: Showcasing the Writer’s and Stories Behind your Favorite Songs.
Where: Instagram

April 29

Clay Walker
Time: 4:00 p.m.
What: Wrangler “Can’t Stop Country” livestream
Where: Facebook

Steve Wariner
Time: 7:00 p.m.
What: Wariner Wednesday

Where: Facebook

April 30 

Sara Evans
Time: 7:30 p.m.
What: “Closet Chaos” Co-hosted with daughters, Olivia & Audrey. They sing, talk beauty products, tv/film, and host one special guest.
Where: Instagram

New Music Video From Tracy Lawrence - "Made in America"

That Nashville Sound Saturday Newsbytes: Drew Kennedy, Josh Grider, Kate Bowen, Tracy Lawrence, New EPs, New Music Videos & More

Welcome to That Nashville Sound this fine Saturday morning. I'd like to take a quick moment and just thank all of our readers for their continued support through coming to this site for the last 12 years. We're thankful and the opportunity to share in music that moves us is genuinely appreciated. There's lots to share this morning, so without further ado...

- Songwriter Kate Bowen (former Ella Mae Bowen) has traded her former Big Machine Records gig for a brand new music route and has a brand new EP that just came out this week. An accomplished songwriter, her song "I'll Go On" was included on Reba McEntire's chart-topping LP Love Somebody. Now, Bowen has found a new start as a writer and artist, penning a deal with Jay Joyce's Neon Cross Music and Warner Chappell Music. The project is called Waking Up From the American Dream and you can find all the details HERE.

New music videos:

- Aaron Watson - "Old Friend"
- Aaron Watson - "Riding with Red"
- Billy Ray Cyrus - "I've Been Around"
- Billy Ray Cyrus - "Guns, Gold & Guitars"
- Todd Snider - "Like a Force of Nature"
- Jimmie Allen - "Make Me Want To"
- Clare Bowen - "Let it Rain"

- Texan singer-songwriters and best friends Josh Grider and Drew Kennedy have unveiled both the album cover and the release date of their 6/14 album release together, Live at Main Street Crossing. Main Street Crossing, a great little non-profit venue that doubles up as a music hall and a Sunday-morning church, announced that they will be producing their first ever live record. This project will be a follow-up to the critically-acclaimed 2017 release At Home In The Big Lonesome by Kennedy and the terrific release last year by Josh Grider, Good People.

- CMA and ACM-award winner Luke Combs will release his highly anticipated new EP, The Prequel, June 7 via River House Artists/Columbia Nashville. Produced by Scott Moffatt, the EP features five new songs co-written by Combs including lead single, “Beer Never Broke My Heart, which recently premiered worldwide at country radio. The song is currently #2 on Billboard’s Country Streaming Songs chart with 11 million streams—setting the record for the best first week of streaming ever for a country song—and #1 on the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart.

- Maren Morris is also releasing a new EP, this one landing on May 31 called Maren Morris: Reimagined. It features reworked acoustic renditions of three of her biggest hits with influential Nashville producer Dave Cobb. Morris says on the project, "I think the mark of a good song is you can rearrange it up and it still is a very defining song. Dave you know, his production is so--rootsy and very soulful and Americana and he just understands that sound so intensely. I love the way it turned out."

- Tracy Lawrence will also be back with new music this summer, releasing Made in America on August 15, 2019. “I am extremely proud of my new album Made in America. It is possibly the most personal album I have ever released,” states Lawrence. “I co-wrote 8 out of the 12 songs, pouring my heart and soul in each of the songs. I feel it will resonate with my fans and country music lovers across this nation,” elaborates Lawrence. According to the press release,  "The album harkens back to authentic country music. Lawrence’s mixture of rock and blues, and by penning 8 of the 12 tracks himself, this album is one of his most personal and relatable to date." It should be noted that track number 8 is a song titled "Givin' Momma Reason's To Pray" written by none other than Chris Stapleton.

- Songwriter Glenn Martin passed away this month. Martin wrote top hits for such Country Music Hall of Fame members as Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Bill Anderson and George Jones. Among his best-known songs are Pride’s “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” (1970), Haggard’s “It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)” (1972) and Tammy Wynette’s “I Still Believe in Fairy Tales” (1975).

- The last recordings of Troy Gentry will be making it onto a new Montgomery Gentry EP being released on June 14 called Outskirts. The project was recorded in September of 2017 and marks a return to the duo’s signature southern rock sound. Among the tracks on the new album are the title track, which touts the virtues of small town living and common core values, Montgomery’s version of Merle Haggard’s “What Am I Going To Do With The Rest Of My Life,” and Gentry’s take on the Darrell Scott classic “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.” Writers contributing to the new project include Ashley Gorley, Darrell Scott, Dallas Davidson, Rodney Clawson, and more.

- Josh Abbott Band will release a new EP Catching Fire on June 28. The band released the first song from the EP, “Little More Of You.”  Produced by Marshall Altman (Marc Broussard, Frankie Ballard, Aaron Watson), the Catching Fire EP features "four songs of positivity, built on solid country textures and unified by Abbott’s congenial-but-experienced voice. The EP brings a sense of similarity back to JAB’s own foundation. It’s a return to the band’s sonic past, a revival of its bar-bred optimism and fiery individualism. And it’s a reflection of the group’s off-stage cycles as old chapters are closed and a renewed, upbeat storyline comes to life. Catching Fire captures a sense of personal renewal."

“We have a whole new refocused attitude on what we're gonna do now moving forward,” Abbott says. “Catching Fire is a reflection of what's happened over the last year and a half of my life.”

New Music Video From Tracy Lawrence - "Frozen In Time"

The Skinny: Brand New Projects From Willie Nelson, Tracy Lawrence, Will Hoge, The Band of Heathens & Jimmie Allen

Artist: Willie Nelson
Album: At the Boarding House: San Francisco Broadcast 1975
Label: All Access
Release date: September 7, 2018

By the mid-1970s Willie was writing and performing "Outlaw Country". He performed a dynamic show at San Francisco's Boarding House venue on 7th June '75, playing a selection of tunes from his recent albums, plus a number of covers, this entire show is now available as an album for the first time.



Artist: Tracy Lawrence
Album: Frozen In Time
Label: Lawrence Music Group
Release date: October 12, 2018

An official release hasn't been made on this one, but the timing of this project, along with the name and album cover would lead us to believe this will be a holiday album. No news on whether it will be Christmas standards or originals (or a combination thereof).



Artist: Will Hoge
Album: My American Dream
Label: Cumberland Recordings
Release date: October 5, 2018

The release features eight songs of rabble-rousing political commentary that turns a critical eye on the crisis of conscience and culture threatening to tear apart his country. The album is Hoge's impassioned portrait of what he holds dear - and what we all might risk losing.

Artist: The Band of Heathens
Album: A Message From The People Revisited
Label: BOH Records
Release date: September 14, 2018

The Band of Heathens have shared a new track, their version of "Take Me Home, Country Roads." While best known as a hit song first performed by John Denver, the song was also recorded by Ray Charles on his seminal 1972 album A Message From The People. Today, the Band's new version of the song is from their ambitious re-envisioning of Charles' album in its entirety. Aptly titled A Message From The People Revisited, The Band of Heathens' upcoming record offers new takes on the original album's ten tracks including "Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong," “Hey Mister,” and "Heaven Help Us All" presented in The Band of Heathens' own voice while staying true to the weight and tone of the originals - as well as Charles' own indelible interpretations. The band chose to re-record the often forgotten album because of its moving commentary on social justice, abuse-of-power, and its vision for a stronger, more-unified America.

Artist: Jimmie Allen
Album: Mercury Lane
Label: Stoney Creek
Release date: October 12, 2018

Allen's debut single "Best Shot" is racing up the charts and it appears his debut album is not far behind: “It’s incredibly special to be able to introduce myself to Country music with such a personal song that was inspired by the person who always encouraged me to pursue my dreams,” said Allen. “I’ve always dreamt of what it would feel like to turn on the radio and hear my own song playing through my speakers and I’m so thankful to country radio for helping make that dream a reality.”

 

New Music Video From Tracy Lawrence - "Good Ole Days" (featuring Big & Rich and Brad Arnold)

That Nashville Sound Sunday Newsbytes - New Music Videos & Upcoming Releases

We're playing catch-up this weekend with lots and lots of new music videos and a handful of new album introductions. TNS would love to hear from you- what's your favorite off of the list below?

- Tracy Lawrence has set November 10, 2017 as the release date for one of the most ambitious and significant albums of his career. Good Ole Days celebrates the country legend’s indelible mark on country traditionalism with an album of 11 duets pairing a selection of his most iconic hits with some of country and rock’s contemporary superstars and newcomers. See a video about the project HERE. The collaborative collection includes guest appearances by Jason Aldean, Big & Rich, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Easton Corbin, Dustin Lynch, Tim McGraw, Justin Moore, Kellie Pickler and Chris Young. 3 Doors Down leader Brad Arnold makes his country music debut on the title track “Good Ole Days,” which is the second of the two original songs.

- On November 10th, Jeff Bates will be releasing an EP called Troublemaker.

- Blake Shelton released a new music video for the song "I'll Name The Dogs."

- Alison Krauss released a new music video for the track "Windy City."

- Whitney Rose released a new music video for her new song "Better To My Baby."

- Maggie Baugh released a new music video for "Catch Me."

- On the eve of Irma making landfall, it seems appropriate that Georgia-native Derek Hoke's next album is titled Bring the Flood. It comes out on Oct. 13 on Little Hollywood Records.

- Award-winning bluegrass artist Donna Ulisse has a new project out on Sept. 22 on Mountain Home Records called Breakin' Easy.

- Jack Ingram will be releasing a new song on Sept 19, a Next Waltz project with a cover of Jason Eady's "Why I Left Atlanta."

- Kelly Clarkson will return with her debut project for Atlantic Records on Friday, Oct. 27. The new album, Meaning Of Life, will feature songs including “Move You” and the album’s first single, “Love So Soft.”

- Valerie June and her top flight band stopped by Los Angeles' legendary public radio station KCRW on June 7th, 2017, for a live session on the their flagship Morning Becomes Eclectic program and released it into an live EP this week. Valerie June - Live at KCRW features eight songs from her critically acclaimed album The Order of Time (released earlier this year.)

- Blackbird Presents Records and CMT have combined forces and have announced the broadcast premiere and CD/DVD release of The Life & Songs Of Kris Kristofferson. The broadcast, concert film and music release features a collection of legendary singers, songwriters, and rising superstars who came together for a once-in-a-lifetime concert event taping in Nashville, Tennessee at the Bridgestone Arena to celebrate the songs of music icon Kris Kristofferson. CMT will premiere the 90-minute broadcast on Friday, October 27 at 10 PM ET/PT, and Blackbird Presents Records will release the full-length concert film as a CD/DVD combo, which is available for immediate preorder at http://songsofkristofferson.com and http://pledgemusic.com/projects/songsofkristofferson.  The Life & Songs Of Kris Kristofferson features captivating performances, in-depth interviews, and compelling behind-the-scenes footage with Kris Kristofferson, Jessi Alexander, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Ryan Bingham, Rosanne Cash, Eric Church, Jessi Colter, Rodney Crowell, Larry Gatlin, Emmylou Harris, Jack Ingram, Shooter Jennings, Jamey Johnson, Alison Krauss, Martina McBride, The Travelin' McCourys, Reba McEntire, Buddy Miller, Willie Nelson, Jennifer Nettles, Jon Randall, Darius Rucker, Hank Williams Jr. and Lee Ann Womack.

- Calico the Band, the California Americana country group led by the female duo of Manda Mosher and Kirsten Proffit, premiered their Western-themed music video for "Cold Cold Love," the latest single from the band's forthcoming album Under Blue Skies. Click here to watch the video that was filmed just outside of Joshua Tree, a Southern California location which has a "mystical cosmic country connection that is inspiration for us," says the band. -

New Mark Chesnutt Album Features 12 Duets With Likes Of Womack, Jones, Diffie, Jennings, Watson & More

Artist: Mark Chesnutt
Album: Duets
Label: Row Entertainment
Release date: April 24, 2017

After selling more than ten million records over his career, Mark Chesnutt is doing something a little different and a little special for his fan club members this year. His brand new album featuring a dozen duets with the likes of Lee Ann Womack, George Jones, Tracy Lawrence, Joe Diffie, Waylon Jennings, Gene Watson and more is being offered solely as a fan club exclusive and only available through his website. The album will not be sold separately on the website or sold in stores. In addition to the new project, fans will get meet and greet opportunities and a signed photograph.

The project is a collection of songs and collaborations- a unique greatest hits of sorts- over Chesnutt's long and stories career. The first track is off of Lee Ann Womack's debut album back in 1997.  Track two is off Chesnutt's 1992 Longnecks and Short Stories album. All told, it's a solid combination of Chesnutt's unique traditional country voice with some of the bigger country names over the last two decades.

Duets Track Listing

1. Make Memories with Me (with Lee Ann Womack)
2. Talking to Hank (with George Jones)
3. Stay All Night (with Ray Benson)
4. A Couple More Years ( With Amber Digby)
5. A Good Way To Get On My Bad Side (with Tracy Byrd)
6. Rockin the Roadhouse Down (with Tracy Lawrence & Joe Diffie)
7. Rainy Day Woman (with Waylon Jennings)
8. Good Ones And Bad Ones (with George Jones)
9. Political Incorrectness (with Kevin Fowler)
10. This Side of the Door ( with Gene Watson)
11. When The Grass Grows Over Me (with George Jones)
12. Honky Tonk Song (with Tom Aster)

Tracy Lawrence Has A Special Duets Project Planned For Release in August 2017- Includes Aldean, McGraw, Corbin & Young

Tracy Lawrence has a special project planned for August 2017 and it's going to involve many of the artists currently on radio and he reinterpreting his dozens of hits from his long and illustrious career. Involved on the project are Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Easton Corbin, Chris Young and more. He's also been working on a solo album that will follow after that one.

From RR Daily Herald, "Lawrence said he’s feeling good about a collaboration album he’s been working on. “It’s a duet project with a few of my peers — current artists out there,” he said of the full-length album that reimagines some of his biggest songs, adding he didn’t want to confirm his collaborators just yet. Lawrence said he would like to put out another proper solo studio album after that, noting he has some new, original songs already complete."

From Kentucky.com, "First up in the next phase of Lawrence’s professional life is an album of duets with an as-yet-unannounced roster of singing partners. Lawrence hopes to begin work on the project within the next few months, finish shopping for a label to issue the recording and release the recording in early 2017."

“I think the future is going to be bright. I don’t know if any of what I’m taking about entails radio. I don’t know if my career involves being high-profile at all on radio again at this point. I think that might be over and done with. But that’s OK. I’ve got a great body of work that I can draw from and a huge fan base out there. I’m just going to enjoy where I am in life and go with the flow.”

From Billboard, "“I signed with new management this year, and they are helping things to get on track to get my career moving forward again. The plan is to go in and recut a lot of my big hits. We’ve got commitments from some major artists to do duets, and we’re going to do a group sing on one of my marquee songs.”

Interview Flashback- Full Circle With Tracy Lawrence

I have been blessed to write contributions/reviews/interviews/opinion pieces for several country music and roots-oriented websites and publications over the years including Saving Country Music, Nashville Scene, Country California, Country Weekly, American Noise, The 9513 and Engine 145. As a regular contributor to the last two in that list, I did close to a 100 interviews with different artists- and since both of those great sites have come down, I will reprint some of those interviews here to give them a home in perpetuity. This interview was originally published in August of 2009 on The 9513.

 

In a sometimes underrated career spanning almost 20 years, Tracy Lawrence has had all the successes a country music artist could ask for.  With 4 Platinum Records, 2 Gold Records, 30 charted singles, 17 number one singles and awards from the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association and Billboard Magazine, his music has struck chords with millions of fans over that time.  

But it hasn’t always been easy.  Just before his first record was released back in 1991, Lawrence was confronted by three armed men with a former girlfriend at a hotel. When the men robbed them and attempted to force them into a hotel room, Lawrence resisted and was shot four times, allowing his friend to escape. One of the bullets remains embedded in Lawrence's pelvis to this day.

But that adventurous start and his rowdy history seem to be behind Lawrence, particularly with his latest release, The Rock.  The album is an entirely Christian inspirational theme, departing not from the sound of his previous works, but from the message.  Admittedly, Lawrence is not focused on the commercialism of the release or catering to the music industry on this album.  On The Rock, he has set his own path, charted his own course, and it is his journey and life experiences that have led him here.  

Ken Morton, Jr. - This album’s theme seems to be “a promise kept.”  I understand it was a dedication to your parents who had this idea for an inspirational album?

Tracy Lawrence – Well, you know, I grew up in church and this was something that my mom and dad wanted me to do for some time.   Over the last few years I started going back to church and taking the kids to church and this seemed like it was the right place in my life to do and do it the right way because it isn’t the kind of record you can make half-heartedly.  I felt like last year when I started recording it, I was in a real good place at home.  My career was thriving, the kids are healthy and I felt like if I was ever going to do it, now was the time.  

KMJ - Was it the right time for Tracy Lawrence to have an inspirational album, the right time for the country to hear an inspirational album, or a little of both?

TL – You know, I think it was both.  I think it is the most relevant album for the time and place for any album that I have ever done.  And I didn’t even realize it was even going to be like that when I recorded it.  Obviously, I couldn’t foresee what was coming, but I do feel like it was very appropriate.  And that is kind of the feeling that I am getting back from my fans.  It is really striking a chord with people.  It is really moving them a lot which I am proud of.  

KMJ - It seems a little like a coming full circle considering your tumultuous history- not too many artists start their careers off with four bullet wounds.  Was it difficult choosing songs for the album with this specific narrow theme?

TL – You know, I had more of a hard time cutting things out, because I found so many great songs and I was really overwhelmed because I have never done a song search looking for material like this before so I was really blown away by how great the songs were that I actually found and I recorded 12 things and they were adamant about me bumping two of them off because of the distribution deal that I have.  And I had a hard time bumping the two of them off and I didn’t feel like there was
anything weak on the album at all.  I thought it was all really strong and it all seemed to have a place on the record so it was more difficult in that perspective.

KMJ - This album marked the first time you brought your road band into the studio with you.  Why the change and what differences did you see on the album tracks?

TL – Well, I wanted to use my band before.  It’s just such a scary thing because when we go in with the session players, man, they are so quick and efficient and they bring so much to the table that I didn’t want the album to suffer but I felt like talented players around me that were capable of rising to the occasion and the one thing that I was really impressed with the guys is that they were very fast and efficient.  We cut all the tracks in two days which is pretty much on pace with as far as tracking overdubs and getting the music bed right.  I mean, that is pretty quick for a record.  

KMJ - Do you have a favorite song on the album?

TL – My favorite song is one called “I’m Done” and it was kind of a personal thing for me because I felt so attracted to it because it seemed almost autobiographical.  I got to that place a few years ago where I just said, “I’m tired of the way I’m living and I am ready to make some serious lifestyle changes.”  I just got to that point in my life where when I found that song, I said, “This is really a special song.”  

KMJ - A set of inspirational songs would seem to be a harder sell to country radio, at this point in your career, is that important to you?

TL – Not important at all.  I’ve kind of gotten to the point where I’m a little burned out on it.  There are so much politics and it is so frustrating dealing with them.  It has been a difficult sell, but we’ve been managing to sell records okay.  We’re using a lot of internet marketing and we’ve bought some television time so we’re just going through other channels.  I don’t know if the next album is going to do any better with country radio either.  I don’t know if I am going to continue the marketing for it.  You know, it is pretty frustrating.  They have a short play list and if you are not one of the five artists that they are dialing down to, it is almost impossible to get heard.

KMJ – I know the album has been on the country charts, but on the Christian charts, it has actually been a top 10 record – has it been an interesting new genre to be on that side of the coin?

TL – Not really.  I’m still dealing with a lot of the same people, but the only thing I have noticed about the Christian format is that it is not as well-structured.  I’ve visited a few radio station and they are still al little bit behind the times as far as their studio technologies, but they still reach a lot of people.  I didn’t realize what a big format it was and one of the reasons that I wanted to do this now is that my career has still been thriving and I didn’t want it to be seen as me just searching for an easier format.  I wanted this album to have relevance with my fans.  I am glad that I did it right now, but it has been a little bit different dealing with the Christian radio side.  It really is a different beast over there.

KMJ - Are your young daughters fans of Dad’s country music?

TL – They are.  They are big fans of music and theater and everything.  My kids are very involved in my life.  They are very talented in their own right.  My 6-year-old daughter was actually out on the road with me this last week.  Saturday night we were down in Missouri and I had my full set up – it was a big outdoor show.  She is taking guitar lessons and she has a junior electric guitar.  She had
her own riser and my guys set an amp up and so she had her own road manager and her own guitar tech and she got up there and faked the whole show.  She had a big time.  It was really cute.  They’ve been exposed to it since they were little kids, since they were infants, so this is pretty normal for them.  They think this is the way it is supposed to be.  We try to make things as normal around the house.  It isn’t like we dwell on it all the time.  I keep my family time separated and we focus on their education and their extra-curricular activities so they are the focal point when I am at home.  We don’t really talk about the music business very much.  I do my phone interviews one day a week and the rest we keep separate.

KMJ - On your last album, you released “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.”  It hit number one in it’s amazing forty-first week on the charts,  It was the first time that any artist had reached number one with the first release from a self-owned label.  What’s it meant doing this on your own terms and on your own Rocky Comfort label?

TL – There’s been some excitement to it but at the same time there’s been its challenges.  It has its difficulties, it hasn’t been an easy road.  So far, so good, though.  Hopefully we’ll be able to have another hit and keep rolling but I don’t know if we’ll be able to get through the cracks again.  I don’t know what the future holds.  The great thing about the days we live in now is that there are so many different marketing avenues.  There are so many different ways to reach the fans.  It doesn’t have to be just heard on country radio.  There’s other outlets for people to hear their country music.  

KMJ - How has it been running your own label?  You have three artists in addition to yourself on the label (Zona Jones, Michael Scott & Sam Powell), what has it been like promoting artists other than yourself?

TL – A big challenge.  It’s been harder getting them through the cracks than it has been me.  I bring different ones with me on the road pretty much every weekend.  I give them an opportunity to get in front of crowds.  The sell their products and go out and sign autographs and get in front of fans that way.  They’re getting some exposure that way.  So we just take it one step at a time.  

KMJ - Obviously as your promoting one album, it’s sometimes difficult to talk about the next, but what other musical goals to you have for yourself in the coming years?

TL – I want to produce other outside acts whether they’re on my label or not.  I have the desire to produce other available artists.  And I’m actually working on my next album now.  I’ve been writing a lot this year.  I’ve got 20 something songs already finished and a couple of demo sessions in the tank.  I’m planning on going back into the studio probably the first quarter of next year.  I’d like to write 20 or more songs and have about 50 to choose from when we go into the studio.  My goal is to this time to write my entire album.  I’ve never done that in my career.  I’ve had a song on one, maybe three or four on another one.  But I’ve never actually focused enough to sit down and write an entire record on my own.  That’s my goal for the next album.  

KMJ - Would you consider loaning out songs you didn’t use out to other artists?

TL – Absolutely.  After I get my project done and whatever things that are left over, sure.  Not to say that they’re weaker or anything else.  But I can only put ten or so on an album.  There’s going to be some really good stuff left over.  I think I’m at the point in my career when I’m writing better than I ever have in my life.  I’ve got a lot of life experience.  And I’m a seasoned songwriter, I can sit down there by myself and wrestle one out.  But I also enjoy co-writing too.  But I think I’m at the place in my life where I’m going to write some of the best stuff of my life right now.  

KMJ - Being a neo-traditionalist artist in the vast landscape called country music, what’s your thoughts of what’s currently being played on country radio- this modern electric guitar movement?

TL – You know, I like it.  I really do.  I’m a Rascal Flatts fan.  I’m a Keith Urban fan.  But I think there’s always going to be a place for traditional country.  It still is the real backbone of our format.  Country has split off in different directions.  It’s gone pop, it’s gone everything else.  But the backbone is still going to be traditional country.  Other stuff will come and go but fiddle and steel will always be around.  

KMJ - You’ve been a tireless contributor to charities over the years, raising a million dollars for Cystic Fibrosis research and being on the national board of the Alzheimer’s Association National Advisory Council.  How is that important to Tracy Lawrence, the artist?

TL – It’s a huge responsibility that I take very seriously.  I feel like I’ve been blessed with so many good things in my life.  I try to give back in every possible way I can.  I do a lot of work with St. Jude’s.  Cystic Fibrosis.  Alzheimer’s Association.  I have my own non-profit organization back home in southwest Arkansas where we’ve put a lot of money back into the community where I grew up.  I think being a humanitarian is a very important thing to do in life.  There’s a lot of people out there that are a lot less fortunate than I.  I wish more people did it in our industry, but I can only lead by example as much as I can.  

KMJ – What’s the next single off of the album?

TL – Probably a song called “Somebody Who Would Die For You.”  That’s the one that I’m getting the most response on from the radio and fans out there.  

KMJ - What is country music to Tracy Lawrence?

TL – It’s my heart and soul, really.  That’s all.  

Interview Flashback- Full Circle With Tracy Lawrence- The Interview

I have been blessed to write contributions/reviews/interviews/opinion pieces for several country music and roots-oriented websites and publications over the years including Saving Country Music, Nashville Scene, Country California, Country Weekly, American Noise, The 9513 and Engine 145. As a regular contributor to the last two in that list, I did close to a 100 interviews with different artists- and since both of those great sites have come down, I will reprint some of those interviews here to give them a home in perpetuity. This interview was originally published in August of 2009 on The 9513.

In a sometimes underrated career spanning almost 20 years, Tracy Lawrence has had all the successes a country music artist could ask for.  With 4 Platinum Records, 2 Gold Records, 30 charted singles, 17 number one singles and awards from the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association and Billboard Magazine, his music has struck chords with millions of fans over that time.  

But it hasn’t always been easy.  Just before his first record was released back in 1991, Lawrence was confronted by three armed men with a former girlfriend at a hotel. When the men robbed them and attempted to force them into a hotel room, Lawrence resisted and was shot four times, allowing his friend to escape. One of the bullets remains embedded in Lawrence's pelvis to this day.

But that adventurous start and his rowdy history seem to be behind Lawrence, particularly with his latest release, The Rock.  The album is an entirely Christian inspirational theme, departing not from the sound of his previous works, but from the message.  Admittedly, Lawrence is not focused on the commercialism of the release or catering to the music industry on this album.  On The Rock, he has set his own path, charted his own course, and it is his journey and life experiences that have led him here.  

Ken Morton, Jr. - This album’s theme seems to be “a promise kept.”  I understand it was a dedication to your parents who had this idea for an inspirational album?

Tracy Lawrence – Well, you know, I grew up in church and this was something that my mom and dad wanted me to do for some time.   Over the last few years I started going back to church and taking the kids to church and this seemed like it was the right place in my life to do and do it the right way because it isn’t the kind of record you can make half-heartedly.  I felt like last year when I started recording it, I was in a real good place at home.  My career was thriving, the kids are healthy and I felt like if I was ever going to do it, now was the time.  

KMJ - Was it the right time for Tracy Lawrence to have an inspirational album, the right time for the country to hear an inspirational album, or a little of both?

TL – You know, I think it was both.  I think it is the most relevant album for the time and place for any album that I have ever done.  And I didn’t even realize it was even going to be like that when I recorded it.  Obviously, I couldn’t foresee what was coming, but I do feel like it was very appropriate.  And that is kind of the feeling that I am getting back from my fans.  It is really striking a chord with people.  It is really moving them a lot which I am proud of.  

KMJ - It seems a little like a coming full circle considering your tumultuous history- not too many artists start their careers off with four bullet wounds.  Was it difficult choosing songs for the album with this specific narrow theme?

TL – You know, I had more of a hard time cutting things out, because I found so many great songs and I was really overwhelmed because I have never done a song search looking for material like this before so I was really blown away by how great the songs were that I actually found and I recorded 12 things and they were adamant about me bumping two of them off because of the distribution deal that I have.  And I had a hard time bumping the two of them off and I didn’t feel like there was
anything weak on the album at all.  I thought it was all really strong and it all seemed to have a place on the record so it was more difficult in that perspective.

KMJ - This album marked the first time you brought your road band into the studio with you.  Why the change and what differences did you see on the album tracks?

TL – Well, I wanted to use my band before.  It’s just such a scary thing because when we go in with the session players, man, they are so quick and efficient and they bring so much to the table that I didn’t want the album to suffer but I felt like talented players around me that were capable of rising to the occasion and the one thing that I was really impressed with the guys is that they were very fast and efficient.  We cut all the tracks in two days which is pretty much on pace with as far as tracking overdubs and getting the music bed right.  I mean, that is pretty quick for a record.  

KMJ - Do you have a favorite song on the album?

TL – My favorite song is one called “I’m Done” and it was kind of a personal thing for me because I felt so attracted to it because it seemed almost autobiographical.  I got to that place a few years ago where I just said, “I’m tired of the way I’m living and I am ready to make some serious lifestyle changes.”  I just got to that point in my life where when I found that song, I said, “This is really a special song.”  

KMJ - A set of inspirational songs would seem to be a harder sell to country radio, at this point in your career, is that important to you?

TL – Not important at all.  I’ve kind of gotten to the point where I’m a little burned out on it.  There are so much politics and it is so frustrating dealing with them.  It has been a difficult sell, but we’ve been managing to sell records okay.  We’re using a lot of internet marketing and we’ve bought some television time so we’re just going through other channels.  I don’t know if the next album is going to do any better with country radio either.  I don’t know if I am going to continue the marketing for it.  You know, it is pretty frustrating.  They have a short play list and if you are not one of the five artists that they are dialing down to, it is almost impossible to get heard.

KMJ – I know the album has been on the country charts, but on the Christian charts, it has actually been a top 10 record – has it been an interesting new genre to be on that side of the coin?

TL – Not really.  I’m still dealing with a lot of the same people, but the only thing I have noticed about the Christian format is that it is not as well-structured.  I’ve visited a few radio station and they are still al little bit behind the times as far as their studio technologies, but they still reach a lot of people.  I didn’t realize what a big format it was and one of the reasons that I wanted to do this now is that my career has still been thriving and I didn’t want it to be seen as me just searching for an easier format.  I wanted this album to have relevance with my fans.  I am glad that I did it right now, but it has been a little bit different dealing with the Christian radio side.  It really is a different beast over there.

KMJ - Are your young daughters fans of Dad’s country music?

TL – They are.  They are big fans of music and theater and everything.  My kids are very involved in my life.  They are very talented in their own right.  My 6-year-old daughter was actually out on the road with me this last week.  Saturday night we were down in Missouri and I had my full set up – it was a big outdoor show.  She is taking guitar lessons and she has a junior electric guitar.  She had
her own riser and my guys set an amp up and so she had her own road manager and her own guitar tech and she got up there and faked the whole show.  She had a big time.  It was really cute.  They’ve been exposed to it since they were little kids, since they were infants, so this is pretty normal for them.  They think this is the way it is supposed to be.  We try to make things as normal around the house.  It isn’t like we dwell on it all the time.  I keep my family time separated and we focus on their education and their extra-curricular activities so they are the focal point when I am at home.  We don’t really talk about the music business very much.  I do my phone interviews one day a week and the rest we keep separate.

KMJ - On your last album, you released “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.”  It hit number one in it’s amazing forty-first week on the charts,  It was the first time that any artist had reached number one with the first release from a self-owned label.  What’s it meant doing this on your own terms and on your own Rocky Comfort label?

TL – There’s been some excitement to it but at the same time there’s been its challenges.  It has its difficulties, it hasn’t been an easy road.  So far, so good, though.  Hopefully we’ll be able to have another hit and keep rolling but I don’t know if we’ll be able to get through the cracks again.  I don’t know what the future holds.  The great thing about the days we live in now is that there are so many different marketing avenues.  There are so many different ways to reach the fans.  It doesn’t have to be just heard on country radio.  There’s other outlets for people to hear their country music.  

KMJ - How has it been running your own label?  You have three artists in addition to yourself on the label (Zona Jones, Michael Scott & Sam Powell), what has it been like promoting artists other than yourself?

TL – A big challenge.  It’s been harder getting them through the cracks than it has been me.  I bring different ones with me on the road pretty much every weekend.  I give them an opportunity to get in front of crowds.  The sell their products and go out and sign autographs and get in front of fans that way.  They’re getting some exposure that way.  So we just take it one step at a time.  

KMJ - Obviously as your promoting one album, it’s sometimes difficult to talk about the next, but what other musical goals to you have for yourself in the coming years?

TL – I want to produce other outside acts whether they’re on my label or not.  I have the desire to produce other available artists.  And I’m actually working on my next album now.  I’ve been writing a lot this year.  I’ve got 20 something songs already finished and a couple of demo sessions in the tank.  I’m planning on going back into the studio probably the first quarter of next year.  I’d like to write 20 or more songs and have about 50 to choose from when we go into the studio.  My goal is to this time to write my entire album.  I’ve never done that in my career.  I’ve had a song on one, maybe three or four on another one.  But I’ve never actually focused enough to sit down and write an entire record on my own.  That’s my goal for the next album.  

KMJ - Would you consider loaning out songs you didn’t use out to other artists?

TL – Absolutely.  After I get my project done and whatever things that are left over, sure.  Not to say that they’re weaker or anything else.  But I can only put ten or so on an album.  There’s going to be some really good stuff left over.  I think I’m at the point in my career when I’m writing better than I ever have in my life.  I’ve got a lot of life experience.  And I’m a seasoned songwriter, I can sit down there by myself and wrestle one out.  But I also enjoy co-writing too.  But I think I’m at the place in my life where I’m going to write some of the best stuff of my life right now.  

KMJ - Being a neo-traditionalist artist in the vast landscape called country music, what’s your thoughts of what’s currently being played on country radio- this modern electric guitar movement?

TL – You know, I like it.  I really do.  I’m a Rascal Flatts fan.  I’m a Keith Urban fan.  But I think there’s always going to be a place for traditional country.  It still is the real backbone of our format.  Country has split off in different directions.  It’s gone pop, it’s gone everything else.  But the backbone is still going to be traditional country.  Other stuff will come and go but fiddle and steel will always be around.  

KMJ - You’ve been a tireless contributor to charities over the years, raising a million dollars for Cystic Fibrosis research and being on the national board of the Alzheimer’s Association National Advisory Council.  How is that important to Tracy Lawrence, the artist?

TL – It’s a huge responsibility that I take very seriously.  I feel like I’ve been blessed with so many good things in my life.  I try to give back in every possible way I can.  I do a lot of work with St. Jude’s.  Cystic Fibrosis.  Alzheimer’s Association.  I have my own non-profit organization back home in southwest Arkansas where we’ve put a lot of money back into the community where I grew up.  I think being a humanitarian is a very important thing to do in life.  There’s a lot of people out there that are a lot less fortunate than I.  I wish more people did it in our industry, but I can only lead by example as much as I can.  

KMJ – What’s the next single off of the album?

TL – Probably a song called “Somebody Who Would Die For You.”  That’s the one that I’m getting the most response on from the radio and fans out there.  

KMJ - What is country music to Tracy Lawrence?

TL – It’s my heart and soul, really.  That’s all.  

Several New Music Videos From Up & Coming New Artists (Along With A Couple Of Veterans)

Over the course of the last week or so, many new music videos and a handful of key live performances have been released by a multitude of artists that might normally go under the radar. If you're so inclined, check some of these out and let us know of which are your favorites. Click on the song title to watch the video.





Old Dominion - "Break Up with Him"
Shakey Graves - "Dearly Departed"
Bros Landreth - "I Am the Fool"
Del Barber - "Big Smoke"
Sam Outlaw - "Kind to Me"
Belles & Whistles - "Mary Had a Little Boy"
Natalie Stovall & The Drive - "Mary Did You Know"
Angaleena Presley - "Merry Christmas From The Fam"
Frankie Ballard - "Run Rudolph Run"
Charlie Worsham - "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"
Tracy Lawrence - "Cold Beer"
Kelsea Ballerini - "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" 
Valerie June - "Workin' Woman Blues"
Terri Clark - "Longer"
Crowder - "Come As You Are"
Jeremy Starkel - "Burn"
Eileen Carey - "Bottle Your Crazy Up"
Johnny Marr - "Dynamo"
The Cheaters - "She Got a Way"
O'Shea - "Here I Am"

TNS Video History- Tracy Lawrence- "If The World Had A Front Porch"

New Live Music Video From Tracy Lawrence- "Lie"

Tracy Lawrence performs "Lie" in an exclusive live recording session at Blackbird Studios in Nashville Tennessee

That Nashville Sound's Top Albums of 2013

Much has been discussed and theorized about 2013 being the Year of the Woman in country music. While the guys of the radio dial generally compete with each other about whose trucks are bigger and whose back dirt roads are better, a quiet resurgence of thoughtful and introspective female songwriters have put out some incredible music this year. Seven of this year's top ten albums- including the top three on this chart- feature a female singer/songwriter. My grandfather used to tell me that "he had my grandmother right where she wants me." Perhaps this same assessment applies this year in county music as well. These fairer sex artists have us right where they want us. And aren't we lucky bugs for it?

Over 300 different albums were reviewed, most completely, a few partially. Lyrical depth rules more often than not and grabs the proverbial attention lapels. That's not to say that a good dance song and steamy groove won't entertain. It can actually augment and build around some wonderful musical poetry found elsewhere on the album. But as a close friend once told me, "country music is an entire novel written in three minutes. It’s a Broadway show in three minutes. It’s an entire lifetime in three minutes. A great country song can be a guiding post for someone’s life." Good storytelling gets bonus points. Originality gets extra credit.

That Nashville Sound is looking back on the year behind us and reminded that in the day of digital music, the amount of quality music available to the listener is near limitless. Looking back, it rivals or bests past years. Our favorite 2007 album was the Alison Krauss & Robert Plant album Raising Sand, the top spot on our 2008 list went to Lee Ann Womack’s Call Me Crazy, 2009 went to Eric Church's Carolina, 2010 was Zac Brown Band’s You Get What You Give, 2011 was Pistol Annies' Hell on Heels and last year was Marty Stuart's Nashville Volume 1- Tear The Woodpile Down.

But 2013 had some terrific albums as well that will go down as some of my big music collection’s favorites. The 30 albums are a wide variety of country genres from more contemporary country to bluegrass to honkytonk to traditional country. We present to you… That Nashville Sound’s Top Ten Albums of 2013…

1. Brandy Clark - 12 Stories- If you hear a little Kacey Musgraves (more on her album later) in this upcoming phenomenal album from Brandy Clark, there's a good reason. They're songwriting partners and friends who penned Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart" together. She writes realistic snapshots from the underbelly of real life in this fantastic collection of tales of cheating, smoking, jail-time- all with a wit that bites the listener and won't let go.  She's aware of the flaws of both herself and her community and celebrates them both in a way that gives both a depth rarely heard from an artist- especially one relatively new to country music. One of our favorite tracks of the year is "Stripes," a tale where a cheating boyfriend's only saving grace from being shot by his jealous girlfriend is that her fashionista sense won't let her wear those stripes in jail.


2. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park- This album and our favorite track of the year, "Follow Your Arrow," just could be the most important album of the year, if not just our favorite. Country music hasn't been the most open-minded of genres over the years. While there has been many exceptions like Dolly Parton, social and racial evolution has been slow moving with country fans and artists alike. That's what makes Musgraves album and "Arrow" so refreshing. "Follow your arrow, wherever it points," she croons. It doesn't matter to whom, love who you love. It doesn't matter your passion, do what you do. The debate to whether the track could be a radio hit amongst the country music industry is a VERY healthy one. And despite the fact that it might not ever see a release to those same radio executives, the fact that it's being discussed is important as hell. Kudos to Sirus/XM for seeing the light and spinning the track consistently through the 2nd quarter of 2013.

3. Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison - Cheater's Game- She is carrying the torch for female honkytonk singers. He is the singer/songwriter with #1 records cut by the Dixie Chicks, George Strait, and Tim McGraw. Married and singing together, they have put together an incredible album that truly belongs in the echelon of Tammy and George. Together they are the first couple of Texas music, and, they have finally recorded together. Each song is a polaroid of life, none more stripped down and revealing than "Leavin." That song is a snapshot of the album, showing the ups and downs of married life can be truth and inspiration in songwriting.

4. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain- Forget the wannabe mainstream artists that are calling themselves outlaws like the legends of Cash, Jennings and Nelson. Sturgill channels his inner-Waylon on this unbelievably great album that meets where the 1970's and modern day production collide. It's a masterpiece of outlaw country that just doesn't pay lip service to doing things different. It pays tribute to an entire genre of music the way it should be done- with an album of original materials that carry the torch and move the rock down the road.

5. Jason Isbell - Southeastern- The former lead singer of The Drive-By Truckers contemplates love and sobriety on this introspective songwriters dream of an album. It's where he contemplates life and death on "Elephant" is where he shines the brightest, however. It tells the tale of a friend, perhaps a past lover, who is facing the end of their battle with cancer. "I buried her a thousand times/  Giving up my place in line/ But I don't give a damn about that now/ There's one thing that's real clear to me/
No one dies with dignity/ We just try to ignore the elephant somehow." It's revealing, heart-wrenching, personal and a tribute to a fallen friend all wrapped up in one amazing song.

6. Logan Brill - Walking Wires- The minute the album starts out with the outstanding track, "There's No Such Things As Ghosts," the listener recognizes the power in the album. The sound is fresh and the lyrics are poignant. At only 22, her storytelling belies her age. The depth of the emotions conveyed through the performances relate well to her soulful voice, particularly when singing of loss and heartache. Says Brill, “I really like putting myself into that mindset because it’s not necessarily an everyday thing to be brooding. It’s interesting to put myself into those situations in songs and experience things that way, trying to get into a character. I enjoy drama every once in a while.”

7. Erin Enderlin - I Let Her Talk-  Enderlin has achieved success (and awards) as a songwriter for country legends such as Randy Travis, Terri Clark and Joey + Rory- and covers a handful of her own compositions here including “Monday Morning Church” (Alan Jackson); “Last Call” (Lee Ann Womack) and “You Don’t Jack” (Luke Bryan).  Want a recommendation? Miranda Lambert says, "That girl is a badass." I Let Her Talk is an incredible record about emotional reactions, love, alcohol and loss. The killer of the album is “I Let Her Talk,” a tale of a woman who meets her husband’s lover in a bar, without revealing her identity. The spurned spouse then buys his lover drink after drink as she spills details of the affair.  She sings, “A careless drunk will tell the cold, hard truth”. It's three chords and the truth with a heartache chaser.

8. Holly Williams - The Highway- Legacy. It's a word that can be a burden or it can be a word that can act as a generational compass to follow and continue on a tradition started by our forefathers. For Williams, it's the latter. In her case, the shadows of her grandfather, Hank Williams, Sr., and her father, Hank Williams, Jr., simply provided a charted course of songwriting and storytelling. Following their lead and doing in distinctively her own way, she has quietly delivered her third highly emotive album of incredible stories that puts her in the high echelon of Nashville songwriters. Co-produced by Williams and Charlie Peacock (The Civil Wars), The Highway boasts guest appearances from Jackson Browne, Jakob Dylan, Dierks Bentley, and actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The standout track on the album is the fragile "Drinkin" in which Williams describes: "This may not be my story at this time in my life (thankfully) but it’s the story of many people around me. Growing up in the south and seeing so many small town tales was really the catalyst for this song. It’s the sad story of a spinning wheel that won’t cease.”

9. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose- Country music insiders have known about Ashley Monroe's beautiful voice and incredible songwriting skills for years. But it wasn't until the spotlight from Pistol Annies that she was able to put together this Vince Gill-produced album that was truly something special. The semi-autobiographical title track, one of the best songs of the year was co-written with the legendary songwriter himself, Guy Clark. While much of the male country world is posing with their rock and roll infused country, Monroe followed her own muse, unwrapped her outer proverbial onion layer, and let us in to here that honest inner voice discover life through traditional country music sound.

10. Band of Heathens - Sunday Morning Record- The Band of Heathens has evolved its sound on each of its four studio albums, and Sunday Morning Record may be the most apparent departure from the band's rock and roll-ish debut - a decidedly more mellow, mature, worn sound.  They time travel back to when the Eagles were putting some of their most timeless "Hotel California"-era material. There is a healthy mix of swirling organ, rock guitar, and on point harmonies that are combined with some smart and engaging lyrics: a recipe for success.

11. Dale Watson - El Rancho Azul- No one else is quite carrying the flag for traditional country music quite like Dale Watson. El Rancho Azul marks his 20th album release and like many of the albums before, this is a collection of great traditional, time-honored country music with just the right mix of attitude mixed in. It's all pure Honky Tonk record filled primarily with drinking songs. Ironically, the two love songs standout above the rest except for perhaps the terrific “Where Do You Want It?” which chronicles the night that country music legend Billy Joe Shaver allegedly shot a man outside a Waco, Texas bar.

12. Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver - Roads Well Travelled- If Dailey and Vincent are the face of new bluegrass, Doyle Lawson certainly can be the face of classic bluegrass on this list. That being said, Lawson and the boys flirt towards a traditional country sound on a couple of tracks including the phenomenal and heartbreaking, "How Do You Say Goodbye to 60 Years?". "When Love Is All You Want (It's All You Need)" is another bluegrass/country blend that showcases the band's outstanding vocal harmonies and stunning musicianship.

13. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener- Perhaps no other album on this list better represents the prioritization of putting languid melodies and introspective lyrics ahead of radio hooks and clichés. Here, on Kennedy's sixth album, the listener doesn't dare take their attention from paying attention to every word as to not miss a keen observation or unique take on the mundane and universal philosophies alike. Honest. Heartfelt. Smart. They're hallmarks of previous Kennedy albums and hallmarks of this one as well.

14. Lori McKenna - Massachusetts- My friend and incredible music writer Juli Thanki described McKenna the best, "Lori McKenna doesn’t write so much as lay open a vein with each new lyric." It's so true. As a mother and a wife, no one can detail out the trials and tribulations of the ups and downs of everyday life like McKenna. "How Romantic Is That" stands out as the perfect example. Those that have had the beautiful opportunity to fall in love and spend years, if not decades, with the one they love recognize that the expression of love isn't always done with passion and rose petals. That's where McKenna is at her best- highlighting the minute details that couples find special enough to maintain that spark. She speaks equally well from the light and the dark side of that equation and delivers another stunning collection of songwriting on this album.

15. Chris Wall - El Western Motel- With Lloyd Maines at the producer's helm, Wall released an album full of songs that are sharply written, and, while they are plainly written and sung, the lyrics hide great subtlety and feeling. This is his first album in over a decade and each song is a new take on the oldest country themes in the business including love lost, failures and heartache. Most importantly, however, Wall writes how he deals with those with an emotional fragility that belies his rough exterior. The title track stands out as the albums best work. And if you don't believe me, trust Ray Wylie Hubbard who says, “In this lawless terminal age where music is made for the sole purpose of creating revenue for corporations, Chris Wall is a cowboy savior/hero/poet who with his words and music gives us redemption from the atrocities of this illusion that is presently known as country music.” Truer words have never been spoken.

16. Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You- This album might as well be called "Heavy."  The reigning sage of Texas singer/songwriters sets the stage with the incredible title track, a plainspoken paean to Susanna Clark, his wife and fellow songwriter for more than 40 years, who succumbed to cancer in 2012. Throughout the album, he intersperses poetic tributes/songs about a returning Iraq war veteran with PTSD (“Heroes”), Mexican immigrants left in a van to die (“El Coyote"), and a heartbroken young woman hitchhiking out of town (“Rain In Durango”). A voice worn down by the ages only gives each track a texture to grip on to.

17. LeAnn Rimes - Spitfire- All of the well-documented drama surrounding LeAnn's personal life over the last few years made for great fodder and inspiration on this terrific album. The project plays out like an unspooling of her diary entries from the last four years set to music. On “Borrowed,” she eloquently speaks with ache and longing from being the other woman and the haunting “What Have I Done” is centered around her lamenting the hurt that she has brought others through her infidelity. The backing vocals on the latter song by Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski only add to the emotion.

plays out like an unspooling of her diary entries from the last four years set to music
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/news/leann-rimes-new-album-spitfire-review#WSBclfUVIw7kGAKj.99

18. Vince Gill & Paul Franklin - Bakersfield- Vince Gill has reached the point in his career where radio play (unfortunately) and record sales quantities aren't even on the radar for making music. (Not that they were ever a large driving force to begin with.) It is quite evident that, through his numerous backing vocal projects, his work with the Western band The Time Jumpers and through this project, a tribute to the legendary California sound made famous by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, it's only his muse that is driving that ship. "This is just as much a guitar record for me as it is a singing record," Gill says, "But, it was fun for me to sing a whole record of the greatest songs ever. What I'm real proud of is that when it's one of Buck's songs, I sing it very much in that vein. And the Haggard songs are very much in the vein he sang. With Buck's songs, you won't find much vibrato in my vocals, and with Merle's, it will come down to a low note and that quiver."

19. Pistol Annies - Annie Up- While perhaps not as strong as their debut album, the sophomore album by Ashley Monroe, Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley is still a fantastic group of spirited and feisty women anthems that stands on it's own right. With southern sass, the ladies lower their outlaw image for a slightly more mature of life as country women. It's less woman empowerment and reverse sexism, and a little more about family and loving. Considering that the ladies are settling down, that all makes sense as they're writing what their experiencing. Here's hoping it's not all wine and roses down the road in their songwriting, making hay and hell is what they do best.

20. Joey + Rory - Made to Last- The married- and now expecting- duo of Joey and Rory Feek quietly changed their approach to records after the appropriately named Album #2. Whereas Joey played the role of main vocalist and Rory played the role of songwriter, their third project, His and Hers, was the first to feature them trading vocal duties on every other song. Both projects they released this year, this one followed a Christian release called Songs of Faith and Family, follow a similar approach. And despite having Joey's beautiful voice cut from half of the songs, the mixture of voices allow Rory's personality and songwriting prowess to shine. The key standout on this album is one that's bittersweet: Tim Johnson’s “To Do What I Do” waxes poetically on the privilege of being able to sing music for a career, but it's also a sweet dedication to their songwriter friend who passed away this past year. The album is appropriately named. There's many songs on here that will endure the tests of time.

21. Julie Roberts - Good Wine and Bad Decisions- If trials and tribulations make for good song inspirations, Miss Julie Roberts has had no shortage of material to work with. Between a Nashville flood wrecking her home to a The Voice stint that was much too short to a fairly recent public reveal that she suffers from MS, Roberts seems to have had more than her fair share of heartache to work with. She puts it to amazingly good work here on Good Wine and Bad Decisions, the first new Sun Records release in 30+ years. While only one track from the old Sun catalog made the cut- Roberts fell in love with Bobby Gentry’s "He Made a Woman Out of Me"- there's an undeniable classic feel to all 14 tracks. That soulful southern voice is as good as it's ever been and the material is outstanding. She leans on two of country's best on the two stand-out tracks. Vince Gill provides some incredible harmony on the heartbreaking "Old Strings" and the Chris Stapleton-penned "Daddy Doesn't Pray" is solid classic country gold. Here's hoping that Sun Records rises again with more projects from Roberts.

22. Dailey and Vincent - Brothers of the Highway- Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent's beautiful harmonic vocal blend has garnered them 13 IBMA awards over the last six years. On this outstanding new bluegrass album, the duo takes a compelling step forward with self-penned original songs, as well as tunes by The Louvin Brothers, George Strait, Vince Gill, and the father of Bluegrass himself, Bill Monroe. "The Hills of Caroline" is a jaw-dropping combination of instrumentation, harmony and songwriting- check it out HERE.

23. Brett Eldredge - Bring You Back- When I had the opportunity to introduce Eldredge up on stage earlier this year at our Golf & Guitars Children's Charity Concert, I told the audience that when I grew up, I wanted to have the soulful swagger that Eldredge has. That soulful swagger is on full display here. With a vocal style parked somewhere between Marc Broussard and Bruce Springsteen, Eldredge lays down a groove like a country Marvin Gaye. Traditional country this isn't. But if you like your country music flavored with some Delta blues, drenched in Memphis soul, and delivered with powerhouse vocal chops, Eldredge's Bring You Back delivers in a big way.

24. Dean Brody - Crop Circles- While most in the lower 48 states aren't going to know about Brody and this terrific album, Canadian country fans know him well. Brody has won nearly every available award up north and this makes his fourth release. "Bounty" is a terrific story told and sung with Lindi Ortega" about a man who saves his love from a predator and has to move to Mexico. "Another Man’s Gold" talks about loss and treasuring what you have been given and "Kansas Cried" is a great Civil War-themed track about a song about a brave solider and his love. It's storytelling at a very high level.

25. Gary Allan - Set You Free- For nearly two decades now, Allan has blended his unique gravelly voice, his Bakersfield roots, career-defining ballads and a rock and roll mentality to put together a discography that can match up against any other modern-day country artist. Set You Free continues that legacy well. If it feels independent in spirit, there's a good reason. Says Allan, "I recorded the album during the transition of label heads and no one realized what I was doing until I turned it in...When you have one producer, you sometimes allow a song to get in there as an album cut. But with different producers, each one is competing to have the best songs and hopefully songs that are good enough to be released as singles, so I think the overall album and the quality of songs were better because of it. I forced myself to stretch on this one, because I had time, and I think you need to do something new to keep reinventing yourself."

26. Kellie Pickler - The Woman I Am- My friend and Engine 145 writer Blake Boldt said it best on his review of this outstanding album, "On The Woman I Am, her fourth album and first with new label Black River Entertainment, Pickler affirms her status as an authentic personality and, more importantly, an intelligent picker of songs. For 40 minutes, she proves how a current hitmaker can emphasize the genre’s traditions while still engaging with contemporary sounds and themes. Amidst a sea of interchangeable male performers, Pickler would be a welcome addition at country radio with her effervescent and distinctive voice. Hers is a straight-ahead twang that bends and curls around notes, trading power in favor of pure subtlety. That down-home attitude may be best represented on the title track, which reminisces about the days when traditional singers ruled the airwaves: “I miss songs like that,” she sighs, referring to Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces.” By keeping one foot in the door of modern-day country, Pickler is doing her part to resurrect the past and move it into the future."

27. Steeldrivers - Hammer Down- Murder and mayhem might sound like the recipe for a nice long stay at Folsom Prison, but for the bluegrass band, the Steeldrivers, it is a foundation for a fantastic third album that builds on the critical success of their first two. "When You Don't Come Home" exemplifies the dark genius of the album as a wife confronts her cheating husband with a .45. The musicianship on the album, lead by the great fiddle work by Tammy Rogers, is without compare. This marks the first album sung by new lead singer Gary Nichols. He has stepped in flawlessly for Chris Stapleton and retained that passion and delivery that made their first two releases so fascinating. This is one terrific album.

28. Statesboro Revue - Ramble On Privilege Creek- Led by the strong and unique lead vocals of  Stewart Mann, The Statesboro Revue have delivered a terrific surprise collection of tracks that rank amongst this year's very best. While leaning a little more on the Americana side of things, the band reminds of some of Zac Brown Band's best work. At times, the guys deliver an intimate acoustic feel, but turn right around and crank it up Southern Rock style with electric licks, organ, harmonica and steel guitar. The songwriting is impeccable, diving into great depths of relationships and love lost. If you haven't heard of this band before, do yourself a great favor and get them (quickly) on your radar. It's great work by an indie.

29. Charlie Worsham - Rubberband- Warner Music Nashville is the new home for newcomer Charlie Worsham who presented his debut album this year, titled Rubberband. The 11 track release, which features his first radio single, "Could It Be," was entirely co-written by Worsham. The album includes a very special collaboration between Worsham, Marty Stuart and Vince Gill- two of his biggest musical idols- for the track "Tools of the Trade." The Tennessean appropriately praised Worsham s unique sound, calling out that he has an "instantly identifiable voice, a guitar style full of virtuosity, surprising shift and subtle humor... a descriptive lyrical style that is all his own."

30. Tracy Lawrence - Headlights, Taillights and Radios- Co-producing the album with his long-term collaborator Flip Anderson, Tracy offers up some great storytelling and good old-fashioned honkytonk country music. The album's high-water mark is “Saving Savannah,” where the lines, If I have to burn down Atlanta, I’m bringing Savannah back home" tell the story of a sibling going off to the big city to bring his homeless sister back home. It's powerful stuff and a welcome return from an artist we hope to continue to hear more from.