Rolling Country 2012

Ah yeah, I need to dig deeper into YouTube country, thanks. xpost curmudgeon: Crowell, Karr and Smith will tour. Dunno if Karr reads, sings, or both. Hope Crowell does both; excerpts of his memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks were pretty pungent, if sometimes overwritten (pot to kettle, yeah).

Anybody heard this?

The Lacs 190 Proof Available In Stores Today
Collaborations with Big & Rich, Bubba Sparxxx and Crucifix Included on the Anticipated Sophomore Album

The Lacs gear up to open for Colt Ford on his
2012 “Declaration of Independence” tour

Nashville, TN (April 5, 2012) — Backroad Records’ high-powered duo The Lacs are now serving up their intoxicating blend of southern rap and rock on their sophomore album, 190 Proof. Available now in stores and online everywhere, the highly anticipated release includes collaborations with country music stars Big & Rich, as well as platinum selling rapper Bubba Sparxxx, and new artist Crucifix.

Taking the partying, country mud truckin’ lifestyle to the next level, 190 Proof is creating quite a buzz with songs like “Drinks Up” “Shake It (featuring Big & Rich)” and “4 Wheel Drive.” Produced by Phive Starr Productions and Shannon “Fat Shan” Houchins, 190 Proof is filled with 14 tracks of their unique inebriating mix of slinky southern guitar riffs with booming beats and rhymes about life in the dirtiest parts of the Dirty South. The album is available on iTunes and can be downloaded here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/190-proof/id513376545

Hailing from the sandy dirt roads of Baxley, GA, hip-hop artist Clay "Uncle Snap" Sharpe and lead vocalist/guitarist Brian "Rooster" King make up The Lacs (short for Loud Ass Crackers). Their unique brand of hick-hop/southern rock captured a national audience when their song, "Shindig" (featuring Colt Ford), appeared on the Mud Digger album series, selling over 100,000 albums and 150,000 digital downloads. Their Backroad Records album debut, Country Boys Paradise, released in 2010, went on to sell over 50,000 albums and over 150,000 downloads.

The Lacs will join label mate Colt Ford on the road as one of the opening acts on the 2012 “Declaration of Independence” tour. For a complete list of tour dates visit www.thelacsmusic.com

190 Proof Track Listing:

190 Proof
Drinks Up
Po Dunk University (Skit)
Shake It featuring Big & Rich
Old River Road
Wylin featuring Bubba Sparxxx
Great Moments in Redneck History #2 (Skit)
Country Biy Fresh
Island Time
Just Another Thing featuring Crucifix
4 Wheel Drive
Drink Too Much
Ease Along
What I Need

I do like their ride
http://www.selectohits.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AVJ-238.jpg

Was not wowed by some of those youngin' who were up for best new artist at the Academy of Country Music Awards, but maybe I need to give 'em more of a chance. XChuckx probably knows their rock influences and can 'splain which ones are worth following. Scotty McCreery won as best new artist--he looks like he is 14 but he has a pretty deep voice

That live stream upthread has now been archived, or at least "highlights" have, w more Folk Alliance performers unveiled: we get the aforementioned Mary Gauthier, Steve D. and Malcolm Holcombe, plus Jimmy LaFave, the Dunwells, some you may even give a shit about:
http://www.folkalley.com/festivals/folk-alliance-2012

Heard the Lacs album today. Or skimmed it anyway. As country rock rap goes, maybe better than the most recent and worst Colt Ford one (maybe), but that's not saying much. Opener, which is the title track, rocks and crunks hardest -- had me going there the first time through, I admit it. Big & Rich and Bubba Sparxxx collabs both seem to be country strip-pole rock, and both seem negligible. Skits are as dumb as all rap skits, maybe dumber -- for Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy fans I guess. They get kinda smooth in a not awful way toward the end, but by then it's kinda too late. "Kickin Up Mud," mentioned upthread as a big country linedance or whatever song last year (and which I've still yet to hear), isn't on the album. Though "4 Wheel Drive" (no relation to BTO, unfortunately) does probably refer to mud being kicked up.

Oh well word to the Lacs: Necs! I mean Next! True that xpost Joe Henry can stuff some boredom into tracks, but he does great w with the ones he produces and writes and co-writes on Bonnia Raitt's new Slipstream. The co-write's with Loudon Wainwright, melds with the real good Dylan-written track before it, which he also produced, so Raitt's playing with Bill Frisell and Greg Leiz, no ambient 'llowed, not in the usual elevator sense anyway, just some eloquent picking. She and ex NRBQ/long-time Nashville cat Al Anderson play great elsewhere (she produced most of the set, sounds like she and Al may have co-written some too)They even squeeze and slap some juice out of "On Down The Line," basically a boring-ass yacht rock barnacle. The only other song choice I'd quarrel with so far is one about a Hollywood marriage as run through the evil media blah blah, but some musical diversion there too. So far seems like if you jumped from her 70s peaks to this, you'd be on the same level, or close enough to keep your balance--streaming here for nownhttp://www.bonnieraitt.com/slipstream

Player's in the right rail, despite blank in the middle of page.

Might be good. See link below for some of the tracks. Support record stores yall, wherever you find 'em.

New West Records and WXPN-FM's World Cafe®
Collaborate For
Special Record Store Day Release
NEW WEST RECORDS PRESENTS
ON AIR AT WORLD CAFE®
limited Edition Sampler Available Free With Purchase

At Participating Record Store Day Stores
Los Angeles, CA - April 12, 2012 - New West Records and WXPN-FM's acclaimed music program World Cafe® have joined together to produce a special, limited edition Record Store Day sampler available for free with purchase at participating stores worldwide on April 21st. New West Records On Air At World Cafe® features 14 special performances that have aired on World Cafe® but have never been made available on CD.
New West Records On Air At World Cafe® spans New West's 14 years as a label with performances from early signings Shaver and Tim Easton recorded in 2001 to shows recorded in 2011 with Buddy Miller and Steve Earle. Other artists featured on this exclusive release include Delbert McClinton, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman, Drive-By Truckers and Mark Olson & Gary Louris.
"World Cafe® has been integral in building the careers of many of our artists. We were thrilled to work with WXPN to curate this special release," says Michael Ruthig, General Manager of New West Records. "We hope to spread awareness for the show and celebrate the terrific performances on World Cafe® by making this stellar collection available to fans supporting Record Store Day.
"Looking through our archives for sessions with these amazing New West artists took us back over our 20 year World Cafe history as well," adds World Cafe® host David Dye. "I was struck with the artistic integrity of the artists and the consistent quality of the work. Kudos to New West. Now even more people will be able to hear them."
Track Listing:
1 Buddy Miller - Don't Wait
2 Steve Earle - This City
3 Old 97's - Dance With Me
4 Tim Easton - Lexington Jail
5 Mark Olson & Gary Louris - Turn Your Pretty Name Around
6 Drive-By Truckers - 3 Dimes Down
7 The Flatlanders - South Wind Of Summer
8 Jason Isbell - Dress Blues
9 Billy Joe Shaver - Restless Wind
10 Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman - Midnight In The City Of Destruction
11 The Majestic Silver Strings (Buddy Miller, Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot & Greg Leisz) - Freight Train
12 Randall Bramblett - Playing Card
13 Ben Lee - We're All In This Together
14 Delbert McClinton - Going Back To Louisiana
Click here to listen to a selection of tracks from the sampler:

http://soundcloud.com/newwestrecords/sets/nwr-world-cafe-sampler

I condensed that a lot, should've done more, sorry.

He can be peppery live, wish there were more new songs though.
TEXAS LEGEND BILLY JOE SHAVER RELEASES
LIVE AT BILLY BOB’S TEXAS,
FIRST NEWLY RECORDED PERFORMANCES
IN NEARLY TWO DECADES

Twenty-two track package features CD and DVD;
includes two new previously unreleased songs

WACO, Texas — Country songwriting icon and honky tonk hero Billy Joe Shaver and his Heart of Texas Band offer the best from his catalog of legendary songs in concert from the stage of the world’s largest honky tonk. Shaver’s Live at Billy Bob’s Texas, slated to be released July 17, 2012 on Smith Music Group is his first album in five years. The fully loaded special package includes 20 live renditions of some of his most notable compositions on an audio CD and DVD as well as two bonus tracks, and is the first set of new concert recordings since 1995 to be issued to the public. Included among Shaver classics and favorites are two new songs: “Wacko From Waco” (co-written with his longtime friend Willie Nelson) and “The Git Go,” proving that his muse remains as fertile as ever.

Born, raised and still living in the rolling plains of Central Texas, Shaver is not just the epitome of a songwriter’s songwriter, but a singer, recording artist and performer as well as actor and published author. A genuine salt of the earth natural talent whose acclaimed work is free of any artifice. The esteem he has accrued since 1973 — when he issued his first album, Old Five and Dimers Like Me, and Waylon Jennings recorded nine of Shaver’s songs on his landmark Honky Tonk Heroes LP that heralded the arrival of country music’s outlaw movement — is best measured by the fellow writers and talents who admire, perform and have recorded his compositions. Revered American novelist John Steinbeck’s favorite song was “Old Five and Dimers,” which has also been played at live shows by Bob Dylan, who mentions Shaver in his recent song “I Feel a Change Comin’ On.” Just some of the distinguished artists who have recorded Shaver’s works are Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kris Kristofferson, The Allman Brothers, Bobby Bare, John Anderson, George Jones, Tex Ritter, Patty Loveless and Willie Nelson, who says that “Billy Joe Shaver may be the best songwriter alive today.”

At the same time, there’s nothing else like Shaver himself performing his songs. Live at Billy Bob’s Texas delivers all the dynamism, musical variety, emotion and personality of a Shaver show in both audio and video. The set opens with his paean to his home place, “Heart of Texas,” a Lone Star dancehall two-step with a rock kick from his band: guitarist Jeremy Woodall, drummer Jason Lynn McKenzie and bassist Matt Davis. Included are vibrant renditions of such signature Shaver numbers as “Georgia on a Fast Train,” “Honky Tonk Heroes,” “Old Chunk of Coal,” “Live Forever” and “Old Five and Dimers,” along with gems from across the range of his career. Shaver rocks numbers like “That’s What She Said Last Night,” “Black Rose,” “Hottest Thing in Town” and others. He hits an electric Western groove on “Thunderbird,” harks back to ragtime on “Good Old USA,” country-waltzes Texas style on “I Couldn’t Be Me Without You,” tenderly renders “Star in My Heart” a cappella, and wraps it all up with a rousing “You Can’t Beat Jesus Christ.” His recent legal troubles are wittily recounted on “Wacko From Waco” while the hauntingly bluesy “The Git Go” deftly summarizes the facts of life since the dawn of history. The double-disc set is the ultimate Shaver live experience as well as a de facto greatest hits collection, and finds Shaver as potent as ever in front of an enthusiastic audience.

H'm-m, maybe, got some of his more reliable associates aboard anyway:
THE FINAL RECORDINGS OF WAYLON JENNINGS
TO BE RELEASED 10 YEARS AFTER
COUNTRY MUSIC ICON’S DEATH

GOIN’ DOWN ROCKIN’:
The Last Recordings of Waylon Jennings
DUE SEPTEMBER 2012
ON SAGUARO ROAD RECORDS

Nashville, TN (April 16, 2012) --- A new album from outlaw country legend Waylon Jennings will be released this September, filled with recordings the icon made during the last few years before his death in 2002. Jennings spent hours in a recording studio with his longtime accompanist, Robby Turner and together they laid down twelve tracks using just Waylon’s guitar and vocals and Turner’s bass. All songs were personally selected by the country star, ones that resonated in a deeply personal way and reflected his state of mind, his passions, and important statements he wanted to make about his life. The duo planned out the future instrumentation that would be added to the tracks, but Jennings was never able to complete them. 10 years after his passing, Turner returned to the recordings, finishing each song to honor Waylon’s vision of what would turn out to be his very last album. Bringing in musicians who had long worked with Waylon, such as Reggie Young, Richie Albright and tour mate Tony Joe White, Turner painstakingly created the album that Waylon set out to make. "Waylon knows he's surrounded by friends and all that hear this will feel as if they know Waylon in all his authenticity," explains his widow, country singer Jessi Colter. With his family’s blessing, Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Last Recordings of Waylon Jennings will be available on September 11 (Saguaro Road Records).

Jennings wrote 11 of the 12 songs that appear on the new album, a testament to the personal nature of the recordings, and they reveal an artist in the midst of a final creative peak. In addition to his own songs, the album includes Tony Joe White’s “Goin’ Down Rockin’” (on which White himself is a guest). In all, the album will feature eleven songs that have never been released before.

Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Last Recordings of Waylon Jennings Tracklisting:

1. Goin’ Down Rockin'
2. Belle of The Ball
3. If My Harley Was Runnin'
4. I Do Believe
5. Friends In California
6. The Ways of the World
7. Shakin' The Blues
8. Never Say Die
9. Wasting Time
10. Sad Songs & Waltzes
11. She Was no Good for Me
12. Wrong Road To Nashville

Isn't there still a Waylon Jennings with Tupac unreleased album?

Yeah that's the hologram for BamaJam.

Holabamajamma

Anybody heard the new Don Williams? I'm intrigued...

Oh yeah

He's still got it

Spotify, I love you

Luke Bryan's "Drunk On You" is getting a lotta play around here (I see it's #9 on the charts this week, no wonder) & I like how the vocal's cadence is like a rapper's: like I can almost believe you could straight cover it as a rap song. good song!

I like it too.

I should buy his records; I loved "All My Friends Say" a few years back, & "Country Girl" is good dumb fun.

Bamajam 2012, sure wish I could go. Never been to a *country* festival, wonder how it compares to a rock festival ("Get yer meth makin's here"?) Latest news flash (note good opportunities for golf!) and complete lineup by now, prob:
BAMAJAM 2012 REVEALS EXCITING NEW DETAILS FOR
ON-SITE ENTERTAINMENT AND AMENITIES

High Demand and Early Purchasers Have Campsites Filling Up—
Buy Now to Reserve Your Spot and the Lowest Ticket Price

Enterprise, AL (May 30, 2012) – With only two weeks to go before BamaJam 2012, organizers are pleased to reveal details about on-site entertainment and amenities that are sure to excite festival attendees. The event, to be held in Enterprise, Ala., June 14-16, will not only feature performances by some of today’s hottest music artists, including Tim McGraw, Zac Brown Band, Kid Rock, Alan Jackson, Eric Church, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow and more, but the premier festival will also offer a wide array of lifestyle activities including a water park, a par 3 executive golf course, ATV trails and more. Tickets for each of these individual activities will be exclusively offered to BamaJam 2012 attendees during the festival for the discounted rate of $15 per person.
.

Due to high demand and early purchasers, the BamaJam 2012 RV Camping Central Lot is SOLD OUT. But don’t worry because there is still limited space available in the RV Camping North Lot ($175 per spot), RV Camping South Lot ($160 per spot) and tent camping ($85 per spot). In addition, there are a very limited number of all-inclusive RV spots available with water, power and sewer hook-ups ($1,500 per site). Reserve your campsites now to ensure a spot!

BamaJam 2012 will introduce new and innovative dual-headlining stages, allowing the music to keep flowing without having delays due to set changes, resulting in three days (over 2,520 minutes) of non-stop music!

BamaJam 2012“We thought about our audience and the excitement that each act generates,” said Rendy Lovelady, executive producer of the festival. “We wanted to keep that excitement going.”

These two stages are the largest portable ones ever built. When they arrive on site, they will transform into two huge 50’wide X 40’deep X 35’ tall stages in less than a day. All together this rig is over 216’ wide and weighs in at about 400,000 lbs. A special sound system has been designed and custom built in Valencia, Spain. Production is topped off with three large high definition 11’ X 21’ LED video walls, giving even the furthest person an up-close-and-personal view of their favorite artist.

Surrounding these two stages will be VIP double decker viewing stages giving festival attendees an unparalleled view of the artists as they perform on stage. Also, the downstairs area will host a VIP lounge. To see more pictures of the stage, please visit http://bamajam2012.com/ or http://www.fb.com/BamaJam2012.
BamaJam 2012 is a production of BamaJam Productions, LLC. For more information about BamaJam 2012 artists, tickets, camping, directions, parking, sponsors, jobs and vendors, please visit www.bamajam2012.com.

Tim McGraw

Eric Church

Willie Nelson

Darryl Worley

Third Day

Outlaws

Herrick

Dustin Lynch

Tyler Reeve

The FARM

David Kroll

The Lost Trailers

John Nemeth

Joanna Smith

ConnorChristian
& Southern Gothic

Bill Gentry

Martin McDaniel

Buffalo Clover

Honey Island Swamp Band

Aerias

Zac Brown Band

Alan Jackson

NEEDTOBREATHE

Ronnie Milsap

Stryper

Michael Sweet

John Elefante

Casey James

Wood Brothers

Badfinger

Sonia Leigh

Nic Cowan

Aaron Parker

Levi Lowrey

Dugas

Albert Castiglia

Wheeler Boys

Kid Rock

Sheryl Crow

Jamey Johnson

Gov’t Mule

Uncle Kracker

Yelawolf

Randy Montana

Breaking Laces

Drake White

Rosehill

Big Smo

Mockingbyrd

Tyler Farr

Moreland
& Arbuckle

Jaida Dreyer

Bridge To Grace

Ph well, mebbe I'll save up and be ready for this:
Alabama's Quest for Gay Rodeo
Maggie Martin (2012-05-29)
Listen Now:
FORT WORTH, TEXAS (APR - Alabama Public Radio ) - More than 100 people gathered in a large arena in Fort Worth, TX to watch and compete in what was called a "traditional" rodeo. However, the term traditional may depend on your point of view. The event is a gay rodeo. It's like a traditional rodeo with bull riding and calf roping, but it's open to the LGBT community. John Beck of Denver is an expert on the gay rodeo. He's hard to miss with his large, red feather on his cowboy hat.
"That's been my signature for close to ten years," he says.
Beck is known as the Grandfather of the Gay Rodeo and is one of the oldest competitors on the circuit. He rode in straight rodeos too, but says the atmosphere of a gay rodeo is more welcoming.
"We work together better than in straight rodeos," says Beck. "Straight rodeos, I hate to say, is more of a cut throat type business. We're out here for camaraderie and fun and give the people who win a pat on the back. You don't find that in other rodeos."
Even though gay rodeos aren't as competitive as their traditional counterparts, Beck says they're just as dangerous.
"I've had five ribs broken, both collar bones, both legs, one ankle. It doesn't bother me."
On the other side of the arena is a woman who's also made a name for herself on the rodeo circuit. Lisa LeAnn Dalton of Fort Worth, TX is just above 5 ft. tall with short blonde hair and blue eyes. She's dressed the part of a rodeo competitor with a black cowgirl hat and a championship buckle. But she's not competing today. Five years ago, she had a bad accident in the arena that took her off the circuit.
"I broke C5 and C6 and damaged my spinal cord and was paralyzed completely from the shoulders down. It's been almost five years, but I can walk now."
Dalton competed in gay rodeos for about five years before the accident and made her name riding bareback broncs. Among her other prizes, Dalton won the national rodeos twice. But Dalton isn't gay. She's straight, but she prefers gay rodeos because there are no gender restrictions. In traditional rodeos, women can hold the reins with both hands. That didn't work for Dalton.
"I rode one-handed so I technically could ride in any rodeo and then I could qualify for and compete against the guys, but not all of them were interested in having girls so I was turned down some."
Dalton says of the rodeos she competed in, gay rodeos were the funnest. But some of that fun has gone away now that she's restricted to the sidelines.
"I love to come back and see all my friends but it's a bummer because it's not fun watching for me. I'd much rather competing," says Dalton.
Music starts to blare in the arena and the crowd roars as chutes open for one of the most popular events-bull riding. Competitor Russell Schnitz of Gonzales, TX hangs on tight to his bull. But he doesn't stay on long. He hits the dirt and barely gets out from under the bull. He has a bad scrape on his left cheek.
"I almost got him covered. Right at the buzzer I bucked off him and fell under him. He stepped on my face. And that was that," says Schnitz, who is still slightly shaken by the incident. He's been competing for 15 years and it's taken a toll on him.
"I used to do every single event, but now that I am older, I just do a few. Today was the first day I rode the tough bulls in a long time. I usually just ride the smaller ones because I'm too old to be hurt and my friends talked me into the regular ones today."
Schnitz, Dalton, and Beck have been competing in gay rodeo circuits for years in states like Texas and Colorado. But not in Alabama. That's because there isn't a gay rodeo here yet. A man in Birmingham wants to change that. Rick Vaughn is president of the Cotton States Gay Rodeo Association in Birmingham.
"I just felt it was a very positive thing for the gay community. And to show the rest of the world that we do things like everybody else does."
Vaughn says he wants to be seated by the International Gay Rodeo Association, or IGRA, by November. He wants to hold Alabama's first gay rodeo by 2014.
© Copyright 2012, APR - Alabama Public Radio

12,000+ words I wrote (plus an intro where I use the editorial "we" under duress) on 50 really good country songs, from the '20s to the '10s.

http://www.complex.com/music/2012/06/50-country-songs-that-dont-suck/

Great songs, xhuxk. I went to find Milsap-disco immediately.

Yep, and I think the dB's' new "She Doesn't Drive In The Rain" is a real good contemporary country jangle-ballad. Would really like to hear the Pistol Annies With Special Guest Lee Ann Womack cover, but the orig should be on the radio rat now.

Turns out Holsapple wrote it w Kristian Bush of Sugarland, so maybe they'll do it too.

Eric Church, some McGraw performing at this weekend's Bamajam 2012, hope more music surfaces later, mostly yadda-yadda so far
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9VNYsKxdKc&feature=related

Also from YouTube, Don Williams' EPK; he's back with the producer of his hits (and non-hits). Should I request the new album? Trying to avoid the snoozier stuff these days (incl much involving drone etc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvBf9TKrqAo&feature=youtu.be

Strange! You may see a big black space, But if you click on it, esp right above my name, it'll take you to the EPK

Don, did you see the gigantic 50-country-song thing I linked to a few posts up? Would be curious what you thought of it; just beware of all the quotation marks that Complex's faulty tech tools substituted for my dashes all through it.

In other news, I like a song or each each on the new Alan Jackson, Josh Turner, and Edens Edge albums, and less than that on the new Easton Corbin -- none of which are enough to make me listen to them more than I already have. Not much a fan of Luke Bryan's "Drunk On You" either.

Exchange on Facebook yesterday, after I linked to my Toby Keith "Beers Ago" blurb from my country song thing...

Me: Wanted to end with a single from this year, so I cheated -- This actually came off a 2011 album. That it's the best I could come up with indicates just how lame 2012 has been for country records.

S@r@ Sh3rr: I don't know a lot about new country but I look at the Billboard charts every week for karaoke purposes and I noticed that there's a return to young cowboy hat studs.

Me: I hadn't thought of it that way, but that sounds about right -- At least they sound like hat guys, even if they don't wear them: Just real rote and cautious, with basically none of the character or chips on shoulders that made so much Nashville country so great in the past decade or so. Kip Moore (who wears a baseball cap) made a fairly decent album; Lee Brice's new one (he wears a baseball cap too) might be borderline but nothing on it touches the four best songs from his debut. I like the Farm's single "Home Sweet Home" okay. None of the other young guys seem to be grabbing me this year (like, for instance, Randy Montana and David Nail did last year even). And the old guys aren't doing much better. If there's stuff I've missed, I don't know where it is.

"...a song OR TWO each" on Alan Jackson, etc., I meant.

Hi xhuxxk, I'll comment when I've had time to listen to all 50 songs, several of which I thought were long gone from anywhere but yard sales, like "Heather's Wall"--ghost song, ghost track. Thanks! Hope the artists are aware.

Don't know whether I hope Ty Herndon is aware, considering I go into his...unfortunate incident. But right, that song has ghosts galore.

Just listened to nine of the first ten (Rimes wouldn't play, but she's usually good, usually and vaguely taken for granted by reviewers, it seems; glad you didn't do that). "Space" and "Heather's Wall" have none of the padding (incl excess melodrama, without or without an inspirational aura) so often required for country Top Ten--Hell, I'm impressed he made it 17. Good presentations, though "Space" isn't wordplay, and that girl sounds nothing like Nico, very little like Marianne F., though yes, somewhere between her faves, Dusty and Bobbie G. Way between. But that's the point, she's isolated, makes herself even smaller to lay low, when the scarey ol' Drone Patrol comes through at the end. Rebecca Lynn Howard's track is cool too, bet Scott Seward would dig it. The Friday night fight rolls on out of sight, "pre-football game," as you say. "Bad Things" was always king, Red Revelations made my Nash Scene Top Ten too, thanks for getting me into both (and indirectly into True Blood)

Hey xhuxk, I made a Spotify of the stuff I could find on that list so I could easier play it through my stereo while reading through, hope you don't mind. Awesome article:

http://open.spotify.com/user/yesmoremaciej/playlist/74GTFgoasj2NyjMTyD59jn

man I still love that Kellie Pickler album released in January.

deeply obsessed with "Springsteen" now

Church's album has been my sleeper.

just got the album after getting caught on "Springsteen", gonna get into it shortly

xpost Oh yeah xxhuxx, I guess "Space" is wordplay in the sense that she gives it to him alright, by expanding convenient absence-of-Sarah into this cold, dark, approximately infinite thing, also conjuring "an island on the dark side of the moon." In this track, and in "Heather's Wall," the usually numbing use of radio-aimed repetition has just the opposite effect. Also, no cute excess melodrama, just: baby it's cold inside. The program directors don't wanna know, but some folks, including many females, understand (so Buxton may well have an enviably sweeter gig as some smart cookies' creative-process-resource than she did as a non-star)

the kellie pickler is so surprisingly good. far better than the new carrie underwood.

also this is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLOmpgLmtP0

maciej recognizing trill -- I don't mind at all; in fact I'm honored, and happy you liked the piece. Curious which/how many songs you wound up tracking down though. (I'm semi-employed by Rhapsody these days, so Spotify's off limits to me -- Otherwise, I'd post your link somewhere.)

dow -- You may be right about Nico and Faithfull in re: These Bird Things; sometimes I might use those ladies as ice-queen fallbacks, and Salla's singing has warmth; just not sure it's the r&b-inflected warmth of Gentry or Dusty, either. I was probably grasping for straws there.

As for "Heather's Wall" and "Space" (or Eddie Rabbit's "Suspicions" or Trace Adkins' "I'm Tryin'," for that matter, and maybe a couple other things on the list) I agree they have a spareness unusual in Nashville (though busy-ness is the least of Nashville's problems in my book -- it's not something that actively bugs me much anyway.) But fwiw, I don't hear those songs' kind of space in most alt-leaning country, either.

The LeAnn Rimes song I wrote up was basically disco-rock; not sure why it didn't play there (I actually haven't tried any of those streams myself), but it should here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXiqr_YjwRM

THEM Bird Things -- oops.

found 39 of them on Spotify. Missing the ones by: Gene Watson, Ty Herndon, Sylvia, Terrie Gibbs, Ronnie Milsap, Stoney Edwards, Narvel Felts, OC Smith, Dick Curless, Moon Mullican, and Smokey Wood and the Modern Mountaineers

The "50 Songs..." feature is, of course, fantastic stuff, xhuxk. I've loved "Somebody's Knockin'" for years; the local "classic country" station keeps that one in pretty heavy rotation. They're also big on Don Williams and early Tanya Tucker, so I can overlook the fact that they throw the occasional Kenny Chesney or Rascal Flatts single into their playlist.

"I'm Diggin' It" was the last cassingle I bought. Elliott's other singles weren't enough to kickstart a career, but that one still holds up well. Makes me quite happy to discover that anyone else actually remembers it.

The Pickler album is definitely worth going back to. Wouldn't have released the title track as a single (it missed the top 50), but I also don't know if there's anything on it that wouldn't sound out-of-place on radio between Luke Bryan and Lady Antebellum. Still don't think it's a great album, but it's a very good one that I really did not think she had in her.

Underwood's album is pretty obviously her best yet, though it's still a long way from being great, either. Will be interesting to see if the minor backlash she's incurred for her pro-marriage equality statement a couple of weeks ago actually has any real impact on her commercial stats.

Is that the consensus with the current Underwood album? If so, I really didn't realize people were liking it that much. I haven't heard it -- was kind of under the impression that she was one of those people who peaked with her debut then kept getting worse (which I probably tend to think about way more artists than deserve it) -- but I guess I need to check it out now. Should probably try the Pickler again sometime, too.

That's been the consensus among the folks I talk to who write predominantly about modern country; mainstream sources have been more mixed but still generally pro on it. My full review is here.

"Before He Cheats" and "Some Hearts" have been the only two singles of hers I've liked much at all, and she's had maybe two or three other album tracks that were solid, but this one has a handful of cuts that I've gone back to revisit and two that I like outright. So that's an improvement for her. I still think her level of acclaim and stature are greatly disproportionate to the quality of the material she's released, but I can see that gap closing a bit with her new one.

I'll listen to it. As is, a week short of halfway into the year, my country album top 10 is shaping up to look downright weird, and more alt-ish than it's ever been since I started keeping track: Elfin Saddle (more Brit folk but with Appalachian tendencies), King Mob (somewhat rockabilly but really loud pub-rock), Bhi Bhiman, Blackberry Smoke, Turnpike Troubadours, Darrell Scott (which I probably heard almost a year ago but it didn't come out until February or something). Lionel Richie and Kip Moore would have a shot (and even if it's the second biggest selling album of the year I don't think the Richie actually gets played on country radio); Dierks Bentley and Tim McGraw might squeak in for lack of competition. (Also marginally tolerable, if no-names: Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires, Drew Nelson, Bryan Clark & the New Lyceum Players. Hell, I might go with those over the equally marginal Nashville guys, just because Nashville pisses me off lately. Wonder if Dr. John -- pretty good, far from great -- counts. And if ZZ Top's album is good as the single, maybe them.)

Finally made it through the second ten of xpost xxhuxx's 50 Country Songs That Don't Suck. Adkins' "I'm Tryin" is great up to half way through, but at 4'40" it's noticeably longer than most, maybe all of the next nine. Also much more recent, and lengthy repetition became a given with so many radio-aimed songs, hits and non-hits, sure enough. My faves are "I'm Diggin' It" and "Seminole Wind," both with tenacious beats; she's bit by the lovebug, like she's celebrating, and Jawwn's riding the ancient snake through the tropical profusion of them word things, the arrangement slanting the light of motel window blinds all through there. T.G.'s song might've been lifted from The Summer of 42, which I saw in the summer of '72, so mainly remember it was a hit date movie with a real happy ending. But I also remember it was much more appropriately atmospheric--you know: gettin' in the mood--than T.G.'s high-stepping barroom sing-along, guess they didn't want it to sound suggestive. Pretty close to Sylvia's oompah band, with matadors in lederhosen. The arrangement on Don Williams' song seems busier than I remembered, but his voice has no prob mood-wise, maybe he should cover T.G.'s song, but does he do the sex stuff, except maybe very very very subtly?

Listening to (Jon Dee Graham, Freedy Johnston, Susan Cowsill) The Hobart Brothers & Lil Sis Hobart's At Least We Have Each Other. Cowsill of course the youngest of her brothers'/mother's/manager dad's group The Cowsills, real life basis of the Partridge Family. She does not sound waify here, fairly tough and flexible voice, something of a potentially upsetting, born-for/to-trouble spark. Also ready when Johnston brings out a bit of power pop, the soda pop pulled from a rusty icebed outside of an ol' gas station, probably in Texas and/or the Great Plains, while the sun keeps the beat--they keep enough shade, enough cool to try and work out "the difference between beaten and beat," also Beat. Several Rolling Countrys ago, Edd Hurt and I were digging Jon Dee Graham's gravelly live solo sets (also played w Alejandro Escovedo in guitar armadillo army True Believers and fairly recently with A.E.'s own band). Think Edd's Top Tenned at least one JDG album I haven't heard, but prob will(now that nobody goes to MySpace, tons of albums there, incl most of Graham's, plus I gotta get to the promo of his new Garage Sale). This album (electric and acoustic versions of most tracks, justifiably so) rec to these individual artists' fans, ditto those who enjoy the best of James McMurtry, Warren Zevon, John Doe, Dave Alvin, Eliza Gilkyson, like that y'all.