Rolling Country 2012

actually really enjoying that record, even more than the last

I'm mixed on it; probably need to listen to it more. But it's really long, just like his last one. So far, two songs stand out for me: closest thing to a "rap" song (and rock song, and novelty track) is "1994," nostalgia for a year I didn't realize anybody was nostalgic for yet and for a country singer (Joe Diffie!??) who I didn't expect anybody would ever be nostalgic for, though I liked his chaos theory/butterfly effect hit "3rd Rock From the Sun" back in 1994 too; Aldean's musicians a little space in that to get funky. There's also a song near the end I like -- "Black Tears," a sort of sad hair-metal fallen-angel-working the-strip-club-and sniffing coke ballad, but maybe darker than that sounds, plus there's a recurring "Stairway To Heaven" motif running through it, which I don't remember country doing before. Rest of the album, so far, strikes me as just typical Aldean, who-cares rock-wannabe stuff and ballads, with okay small-town details (an abandoned factory in one song, for instance, where a party happens), more I could take or leave, and some that will probably grow on me a little over time.

So I just now checked out Jerrod Niemann – Free The Music (Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville) on his MySpace. Crisp white sand Carribean country appeal, rec to fans of Sublime, Chesney Buffett, RIYL associations esp. relevant on the five tracks I so far don't particularly care about. But some of that same appeal on the seven I perk up for, "Guessing Games" being the most meta, like what will the arrangement do next, with suave switcheroos, "I could waste a day or two with my hippies out west/Cajuns on the bayou" ect., little bits "Southern Nights"-era Allan Toussaint and early Big Kenny solo turns flash before mah eyes,and I'm there for the horns, a bit "Kenny Lane" on the title track, though usually with a sly riverboat Dixieland tinge(as heard on riverboats near casinos and minor league ballparks in the modern South). When he disclaims being a "Rhodes scholar/rough edges, blue in the collar", is he maybe actually disavowing all of that, so "Rhodes" could also be "roads" ("blue in the collar" could also imply "red in the face", he's not overselling or embarrassed, also not red in the neck) and he's not afraid to show musical evidence of being an unstudied combo of non-generic brains and beauty? Maybe does crossword puzzles, albeit with a pencil and eraser; only wears cologne on the right dates,if atall. Good to hear and think about, but I dunno about Top Ten Albums; h'm-m-m, seven keepers, five so-whuts. Should be something for Singles though, unless his ballads tamely hog that category.

Mind you, the disclaimer goes with a very nice trad country-friendly track, mellow baritones singing along, made me wonder again about the xpost Jamey Johnson trib to Hank Cochran (also reminds me Niemann should have supporting vocals more often, on slower songs)

Great writeup, Don, but wait -- which are the stinkers again? (Agree there's a couple, though not nearly enough to sink the riverboat.)

The Aldean dig grow on me, a little -- At least enough to convince me to hang on to the promo CD I got sent. Is it my imagination, or is it possible he's actually singing better now? Or maybe I just never noticed before that he's pretty okay at it. There's something about his slightly fancy vocal swoops in "I Don't Do Lonely Well" that reminds me, in a good way, of Jon Secada doing "Just Another Day" two decades ago. Despite its rote farm-town tough-guy chauvinism I don't hate the other quasi-hard-rock quasi-rap shitkick song "The Only Way I Know", which apparently has Eric Church and Luke Bryan on it. But besides the two I mention above, I'd say the standouts are "Night Train" (I get that "going down to the tracks to listen to the night train in the middle of the night" or whatever is a metaphor for making out, but is it also something people actually do?) and "Water Tower," and maybe "This Nothin' Town" -- all partly for their hicktown specifics, I reckon.

Drew Nelson's Tilt-A-Whirl, on folk/blues/Americana-type indie Red House, has a real shot at my country top 10, it turns out. He sings just about as bleh as Steve Earle, so I have my reservations, but the first few songs are real nice Nebraska-style recession gloom that always grabs my bleeding heartstrings. Album tails off halfway through, though I like when his band stretches out "Copper" to 6 minutes.

"..did grow on me a little..."

And I didn't make it very far into the Jamey Johnson. Just seems like a lazy writer's-block stopgap and star-studded grandstanding move to me. Can't make myself care about it at all. Though I did notice that both Jody Rosen in Rolling Stone and Christgau (who never liked Johnson much before) gave it good reviews.

The last Niemann album was a sleeper: I got it two years ago and it kicked in last summer or fall. It's hard for charm to combat slack songwriting, but he won. The last single was terrific.

The Singles Jukebox on "Shinin' On Me":

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=5386

Maybe the rest of Free The Music will grow on me like the prev did for Alfred, but meanwhile, keeping things positive, these are the ones I do like so far:
"Free The Music"
"Shinin' On Me"
"Honky Tonk Fever"
"Guessing Games"
"It Won't Matter Anymore"
"Real Women Drink Beer"
"Fraction of a Man"

The others aren't stinkers, just dull-normal pop country radio bait.

Oh man, back to MySpace, this time for Jamey Johnson and friends' Hank Cochran tribute, and now I wanna do bad things with you. Very sensuous autumn flames in the veins, righteous wounds and guilt, old weird passive aggressive Casonova singing in his chains and cowpoke leather. Well, it's a reverie anyway, but the object of his repentant booty doesn't seem so far away tonight, and actual female duet partners take it t another level, which may be why not so many of them. The faster, funnier tracks are welcome too, a little fresh cold air, not too far from the dancefloor, at-least-mental boudoir, or bar (I once read that songs of this era were judged by the amount of drinks sold while they were played on the jukebox and radio; not a conspiracy, just corporate tie-ins). Maybe it is just one more elaborate act of JJ's writerly procrastination, but he def holds his own amid all the guests. Sounds kinda like Merle but younger. Very edutaining too; I never heard most of these.

repentant booty *call*, that is.

"one more act of writerly procrastination" in all the world of writers, that is, and hold the JJ, not saying he's done this before. I like that so far, each album is different, whatever the circumstances might be.

Goood band too, discreet yet sparky and no-hesitation spot-on.

I'm kinda skittish about the Johnson album. I liked That Lonesome Song better than The Guitar Song, and albums of duets typically do nothing for me. But I'll check for it on Spotify.

So, is anybody in this thread watching the TV show Nashville? I'm kind of enjoying it.

I liked the Altman movie okay, despite its know-nothing condescension toward country music. But this is what I wrote about the TV show on facebook last week: " I miss Tami Taylor. And I have no Hayden Panettiere opinion. (Doubt I could identify her in a police lineup, to be honest.) And I might try out this show when Netflix gets it a year from now (just like I try out lots of shows), but I do not have high hopes. 'Real' country diva who's paid her dues vs. 'fake' country upstart superstar, right? Zzzzzzzzzzz."

Just my know-nothing gut feeling, though. Could be wrong, obviously. (And other people seem to like it. Except ones who are bored by it.)

Yeah, pretty decent last night, especially the music. Even the tween-aimed video song was totally believable, could see it as a hit in that fictional world and this one too. The final song was awesome, smoke curling down the scale seeping into certain little shifts, private places. "We shouldn't have done that song," the resolutely ex-lovers agree after this duet, which portends probs for their reunion tour (he plays in her band all along, but this is a reinstatement of the once famously hot, fraught, pre-rehab duo. Which is Rayna [Connie Britton of Friday Night Lights)'s desperate career move, having pissed off her label and precluded their support for new album, by refusing to open for the tween-aimed starlet (who wants to move to grown-up audience cred, busy trying to steal the reinstated duo guy). Anybody heard the soundtrack?

I think Hayden comes off as a *somewhat% sympathetic character: like Rayna/Connie, she doesn't want to be trapped in a niche, and when she witnesses the xpost duet, cries like she's being shut out, not only a power thing, it's evidence of a bond, a musical transmutation of experience she hasn't had. Clumsily trying to buy it with the coveted duet guy, and may succeed to some extent, judging by previews of upcoming episodes, which also include crying after an encounter with her own non-rehabbed mother, recalling rough upbringing of this by-her-bootstraps gal.

Well, Metal Mike Saunders sure likes it. This was waiting for me when I opened my email this morning (tried to un-jumble it a little; not sure how successful I was):

c.f. everyone's favorite TV adult actress Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) and other things/etc. (and wow is the show as good as hyped, based on ep #2)
i'd seen only a couple (or three max) of co-star Hayden Panettiere's TV/movie credits (i.e. the straight-to-DVD BRING IT ON: All Or Nothing from 2006 which is rerun 16 times a week on Disn/Nick/Fox Family channels) (and the2009 movie I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER that she had the lead role in) but had the definite impression (esp in the 2009 movie) that she had/has real cinema-stage-presence/etc. i never watched the TV series HEROES that made her a medium-big TV name 2006-2010) ("Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role on Television Series (2008–10), and Teen Choice Award (2007) Choice TV: Breakout;") even though best-TV-show-ever-Veronica-Mars 's kristen bell had a character/role in it before moving over to big co-star movie roles
but wow does NASHVILLE have a perfect casting with HP and Britton (who is regarded as a national treasure for her five seasons' of Friday Night Lights)

...and hound dog, i mean T-Bone taylor, i mean T-Bone burnett owes me two snow cones if he's never heard the 1965 kitty wells pop-country hit (that i cite). ya fuckin' dumbass texas ya. it was a #4/country (hit single)! look it up in Whitburn!
there are a shitpile of original songs on this/that youtube page (several of them legit pop-writer gifted, i.e. melody lines) and a half billion cover songs all of which...need autotune like santa needs reindeer. hey, didn't stop Lila McCann from gettin a gold album or two in the 90's! (as a mid-late teenager from seattle/tacoma)
(like teenagers getting to review 1971 proto/early metal albums in CREEM/etc, i am wot? the first "music fan" to post a muso-comment into the brand-new youtube ABC-TV clip(s)? does not make sense. makes NO sense at all. now send me a fuckin' snow cone coupon for referring the great Kitty Wells 1965 hit back into public discussion so's they can sing it in a couple/few months from now on that should-be-a-hit TV show. just do not make me listen to a "J Henry Burnette and the B-52 Band" album (on Uni) from 1972, wow not good x 10)

(a nova scotia/canada country-songwriter highschool prodigy who's been writing since age 12; vocals extremely erratic w/good hard country/country-pop vocal sound that needs AUTOTUNE on 6 of every 10 notes. like taylor swift ha). ..u probably saw/heard this on TV (last night/wed, ep #2). wow, some baadass oldschool vocals, but w a slight folkie tinge just like late 60's-early 70's dolly parton. NO AUTOTUNE. hp is a real singer, even if she apprenticed in highschool doing random disney/Hollywood Records' comp tracks..

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

"hybrid hard country/folkie vocal sound, very similar to (late 60's-early 70's) (early-RCA) Dolly Parton. truth = HP has got an oldschool Hall of Fame country voice, in the key of D here anyway. so she used to cut tunes in highschool for Disney/Hollywood Records' comps/sdtks (Girl Next, Girl Next 2, DisneyMania 5, Cinderella III)?"

"doesn't matter, 'it's what's in the grooves that counts.' "

oh wait that was me sayin that haha. note: miranda lambert (1st lp that had a bunch of acoustic-y things) would have OVERsung this song, and she's an often-great singer. HP understates it -- gives the vibrato space at the end of lines -- like wow hella good.

NASHVILLE "Undermine" as sung in ep#2 (missing the "studio-recording" scene later in the epi)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irx8_XFI7Fs

NASHVILLE "Undermine" full studio recording

http://www.youtube.com/user/EmilyTaylorKelso

Uh, think I might've cut-and-pasted a couple of those comments in the wrong order...Oh well, deciphering Metal Mike is half the fun.

He also called it (in his subject line) the "best TV drama ever about the music biz."

Btw, I am with Phil in preferring Jamey's Lonesome to Guitar. And also in not being a fan of duet albums.

The Guitar Song is like the Use Your Illusion albums - a bunch of good stuff, but also a bunch of filler. Take all the good songs and make a solid 45-minute iPod playlist out of it. That's what I think I'm gonna do tonight.

well gosh, finally listened to Iris Dement's Sing The Delta, and don't want to say too much now, I need to listen more--it's really rich, deep, lots of turns in the syllables, imagery, piano--but gotta say something. First track reminds me of what I liked about Leon Russell: that rippling, bouncing/pouncing piano (thinking of his "Tightrope"), and what kept me at at armslength: those rippling, detouring syllables). But intriguing, and after that, more like Toussaint,Domino even, especially at her most country (reminds me, she played piano with Merle Haggard and the Strangers on tour; think she learned something from his sneakily flexible tightjaw, even though she can take such phrasing much further--usually I can follow her far enough, catch up with her often enough). And at least a couple, "The Night I Learned How Not To Pray" and "Mama Was Always Tellin' Her Truth" ("no back burners on her stove"), are like great lost Tom T. tracks. Would like to hear Lee Ann Womack, Miranda Lambert, Lucinda Williams cover some of these.

So much for making the good stuff singles, sez this email I just got:

Sea Gayle Records/Arista Nashville singer/songwriter Jerrod Niemann is poised to hit the airwaves with the stirring “Only God Could Love You More,” the new single from his recently released Free the Music album.

Yuck.

x-post to Dow

Would like to hear Lee Ann Womack, Miranda Lambert, Lucinda Williams cover some of these.

Does that mean you think Iris Dement's renditions are too stiff or something; or do you like Dement's takes but also want to hear what the others would do with such songs?

Really enjoy her takes. She has such a distinctive way with fairly familiar elements. And I don't think I've ever heard anybody else cover one of her songs, I'm curious.

Oh yeah, back to Jamey Johnson for a sec: I really liked the way he and his band continuously played in and out of songs--whole songs, not medleys--on The Guitar Song and in some live sets on YouTube. The lesser songs were helped by the momentum, ditto on the Cochran tribute, even though its tracks are separated, and "lesser" here just means some don't have an immediately hooky turn of phrase.

<<'Real' country diva who's paid her dues vs. 'fake' country upstart superstar, right? Zzzzzzzzzzz.">>

that's the basic premise, more or less, but the show, which i love so far, is a lot smarter and more interesting than that. the "real" diva who paid her dues relies on her producer to bring her songs. and the upstart, we learn in episode 2, is a good writer with serious ambition. and both of 'em have backbones. and that smoky duet that closed episode 2 was pretty damn great.

Indeed. Though I'm wondering if Connie Britton can project beyond her hopeful yet basically seen-it-all Friday Nights Light perspective--gettin' weary when she's even got time for that---can she be project showbiz-drama-appropriate charisma when she's not singing? Here's a bit about the music
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/tv-film/big-machine-records-to-release-music-from-1007966002.story

it's not so uncommon to hear albums inviting comparisons to spaghetti western soundtracks, but few really 'ppreciate the possibilties of American and European give-and-take: Latin in the Southwestern and Transatlantic senses, small room jazz a la Weill, Ellington, Arizona highway lounge; steel guitars and twang bars with nothing left to prove, Giant Sand (many of whom have been Danish for some time) expanding into Giant Giant Sand and offering Tucson--billed as a country rock opera--without ever being anythang that can't be hitched to s dustcloud drum kit, usually bouncing through stagecoach ruts. Sometimes swinging a little, though a droll drawl and and a tall tale (of love yall--it's all very romantic, in a worldly, wide open spacey way) "You're so much like the river/Beautiful, twisted and blue/You appear to be here forever/Passin' through."

And like an old Giant Sand song mentions, "Baby, it's hot outside."

Anybody heard Big & Rich's Hillbilly Jedi? Several Amazon reviewers describe it as "conventional, though with sound effects", "thinning" etc.

I am having a go at Kurt Wolff's 100 Essential Country Albums Rough Guide
Somehow never did Roy Acuff seriously. Newsflash: This guy is good!

Those are accurate descriptions for the Big & Rich set. Reviewed it here a few weeks back; the first single stalled at #16, and the album hasn't sold particularly well, and there's not another standout choice for a single that could really turn the project into the "comeback" it was intended to be.

Absolutely love the new Iris DeMent. Have seen quite a few complaints about its overall tempo, which is something that I typically complain about (as with the comatose new Tift Merritt album), but I didn't hear that as an issue for Sing the Delta.

I've never been fond of Jamey Johnson's voice, but I was impressed by the range in his performances on the Hank Cochran tribute.

Me on the new Big & Rich, which I didn't like much:

http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/big-and-rich/album/hillbilly-jedi

Those reviews are all too plausible, ditto the Amazon. I guess I'll listen anyway, what is country without some sadness, after all. James Hand's Mighty Lonesome Man pays some mighty lonesome dues with mighty fine timing--unafraid to venture beyond deft word play into details that could easily keep him orbiting in mental and emotional rituals eternally--but 12 items, 34 minutes, as Windows Media Player sums up, hand him off, pass him along in the alone together jukebox of honky tonk pop. Good in the background or foreground; I'm tempted to say he'll be there when you get there--he's a stand-up guy--but whatcha say James? "Let's do it now, before they use a plow, 'cause then I won't be no earthly good to you."

Gotta head out before I can finish listening to John Fullbright's From The Ground Up, but the first 2/3 have me evangelistic 'bout it. Call it Southern Gothic or just past that. First song is like Randy Newman's "God's Song" and then some: He gives us the stuff to party with here, then He (or whoever's representing) got a hang over cure, if you can hang with that (party again, way out of or in the core of bounds). "Jerico" founds him heading east to find his destination all fallen down, but bury him in the vines, he wants to rise and be the trumpet sound all around the walls )which have to rise and fall again for him to do so). Oh, but he's a badass by day who prays at night, when the world disappears and he has to confront his fears, has an unmarked scar, wants to keep things unscarred (or looking that way), only flies so far. some things are nowhere to be found, but that's not nec bad: he might want to be a rich man in a big house where he can't be found--rich or poor, no matter how loudly he testifies, is always ready to take off again. So many shadows, such appetite, eh "Fat Man" (caricature taking on a life of its own). Another for Miranda or Lae Ann to consider, though the orig should be on the radio right now: "This is not reflection/Reflections are true/This is just me/Me wantin' you/Sweet silver mem'ries/Me wanting you", and the music starts another upward arc, then back to its perch, but as always (so far) with the talons to ride cows, whales, whatever you got. Strong, clean-cut voice; there's more to the boy next door than previously thought. Kid's got charisma, look out.

An unmarked "car" I meant (quoting him, and yeah wants to keep things unscarred, visibility-wise anyway, also based on transcript)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2012
TO CELEBRATE RECORD STORE DAY’S
BACK TO BLACK FRIDAY EVENT (NOVEMBER 23)
OMNIVORE RECORDINGS
READIES
FOUR TEN-INCH VINYL DISCS BY WANDA JACKSON,

GEORGE JONES, MERLE HAGGARD AND BUCK OWENS

Also from Omnivore, Jellyfish’s two-CD set Stack-a-Tracks offers
rare glimpse of band in an instrumental mode

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In order to celebrate Back to Black Friday (November 23, 2012), Omnivore has prepared four ten-inch vinyl EPs by country legends Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson, George Jones and Buck Owens, with much of the material making its vinyl debut. At another end of the musical spectrum, Jellyfish’s Stack-a-Tracks presents never-before-heard instrumental mixes of the band’s two studio albums in a limited-edition, numbered, first edition digipak.

On November 23, 2012, Omnivore will release these ten-inch discs, which will preview full albums due in 2013: George Jones’ United Artists Rarities; Wanda Jackson’s Capitol Rarities; Merle Haggard’s Capitol Rarities; and Buck Owens’ Buck Sings Eagles. Jellyfish’s Stack-a-Tracks also hits the racks on the same day.

According to Pawelski, “Our very first Omnivore release, the Big Star — Third [Test Pressing Edition, released on Record Store Day 2011] is an example of being a little extra creative for Record Store Day. It was an expensive release to make, and without the event that is RSD, we probably couldn’t have pulled it off. It gave us that extra latitude to be able to push the creative limits as far as we could go and justify it.”

The November 2012 Record Store Day releases:

• George Jones – United Artists Rarities: As Jones prepares for his farewell tour in 2013, Omnivore is planning the release of The Complete United Artists Solo Singles. Jones had two label homes prior to signing to UA in 1962, and while his tenure there was short (four years), it produced hits like “She Thinks I Still Care” and “The Race Is On.” The United Artists Rarities ten-inch vinyl EP in a beautiful picture sleeve presents four alternate versions of UA recordings plus two previously unissued duets with Melba Montgomery (“There Will Never Be Another” and “Alabama”).

• Wanda Jackson – Capitol Rarities: 2012 was a big year for the Queen of Rockabilly on the heels of career-reinvigorating new albums produced by Jack White and Justin Townes Earle. While Omnivore puts the crowning touches on its 2013 release The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles, the six-song vinyl EP Capitol Rarities sets the stage. Included are previously unissued versions of songs recorded between 1956-62 including “Step by Step” “In the Middle of a Heartache,” “The Wrong Kind of Girl” and three more.

• Merle Haggard – Capitol Rarities: One of the pioneers of the Bakersfield sound, Haggard toured with Buck Owens in the early ’60s and in 1965 was signed to Capitol Records (already home to Buck) by producer Ken Nelson. Omnivore is planning a full-length CD The Complete Capitol ’60s Singles for 2013 release, to which the Capitol Rarities ten-inch vinyl EP sets the stage. The EP contains songs never released back in the day, and alternate versions of well-known tunes. All six songs emanate from unique Nashville and Hollywood recording sessions, making this EP a very cool, collectible piece.

• Buck Owens – Buck Sings Eagles: If Buck Owens, Father of the Bakersfield sound, wasn’t already a household name by 1968, the advent of the hit TV series Hee Haw cemented his fame. Music for the show was recorded in Buck’s studio and then played back on the show with live-to-track vocals. Omnivore will issue these previously unissued made-for-TV recordings as Honky Tonk Man: Buck Owens Sings Country Classics in 2013. Among these recordings were four previously unissued cover songs by the California country-rock torch-carriers the Eagles that comprise the ten-inch vinyl EP.

• Jellyfish: Stack-a-Tracks: While recording their two pivotal studio albums, 1990’s Bellybutton and 1993’s Spilt Milk, “instrumental” mixes of each record were created by Jellyfish and their producers. Unheard and untouched for decades, these recordings will finally see the light of day on Omnivore Recordings’ Jellyfish – Stack-a-Tracks. This is not a “re-imagining” of what these records “might” sound like as instrumentals. They’re the real deal, transferred from the original 1/4-inch masters. With an individually numbered edition of 2,500 units, housed in a digipak for the limited first edition with new illustrated artwork (created for the release by artist Mike McCarthy), this two-CD set is destined to become the newest gem in the collection of power-pop fans everywhere.

About Omnivore Recordings:
Founded in 2010 by longtime, highly respected industry veterans Cheryl Pawelski, Greg Allen, Dutch Cramblitt, and Brad Rosenberger, Omnivore Recordings preserves the legacies and music created by historical, heritage, and catalog artists while also releasing previously unissued, newly found “lost” recordings and making them available for music-loving audiences to discover. Omnivore Recordings is distributed by EMI.

So...who is watching the Country Music Awards? I mean...I'm not

It's got its lumps but I love this Niemann album.

Haven't heard the new one Niemann but I didn't like the last one, save for a few songs.

Re: CMAs: I really hate that Lambert song (and half of that record) but the performance was fantastic, probably the best of the whole night (tempering the fact that the insipid/overblown "Over You" won Song of the Year over "Springsteen," which is one of the most elegant songs to be a hit on country radio even if it pales in comparison to Taylor's "Tim McGraw'). Swift was ok, kind of nice to see her romantically triumphant after her current persona (which is why "Begin Again" is such a stellar closer on Red). Totally happy that Church won Album of the Year; of all the nominees, his was the most consistent, but his performance weirdly lacked the urgency of his last few times on the show, maybe because he knows he's finally Made It. I kinda love the new Paisley song for ~WHAT IT MEANS POLITCALLY/CULTURALLY~ and Underwood was flawless if frigid, as always. I'm most excited about Little Big Town's success; their songs have not often lived up to their talent, but "Little White Church" and "Pontoon" have a bluesy FMac influence that is really endearing.

Can't believe Miranda won song of the year over Springsteen.

Albums are proving no prob, but could use suggestions for Top Ten Country Singles this year (can't stand the endless idiot commercials on my local radio, so mentions of tolerable online country stations also much appreciated)

a few:

Dierks Bentley - 5-1 5-0
Tim McGraw - The One That Got Away
Eric Church - Springsteen
Miranda Lambert - Fastest Girl in Town
Carrie Underwood - Blown Away
Luke Bryan - Drunk On You
Jerrod Niemann - Shinin' on Me
Lee Brice - A Woman Like You

In no real order except the top one (which is shoo-in for top 10 singles list, country or otherwise), here are some other singles from this year ( might consider, if I don't decide that I actually hate them:

Kacey Musgraves – Merry Go Round
Pistol Annies – Takin’ Pills
The Farm – Home Sweet Home
Toby Keith – Beers Ago
Tim McGraw – Better Than I Used to Be
David Nail – Sound Of A Million Dreams
Thomas Rhett - Something To Do With My Hands
Alan Jackson – So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore
Miss Willie Brown – You’re All That Matters To Me
Kix Brooks – New To This Town
Rodney Atkins - He's Mine
Dean Brody - Canadian Girls
Band Perry - Postcard To Paris
Dropkick Murphys – Rose Tatoo (probably not country enough, maybe also not good enough)
Laura Marling – All My Rage (ditto)

And Frank Kogan listed these (along with a few others Alfred and/or I mentioned) on his blog a month or so back:

Eden's Edge "Too Good To Be True"
Jason Aldean "Fly Over States"
Eric Church "Creepin'"
Carrie Underwood "Blown Away"
Easton Corbin "Lovin' You Is Fun"
Willie Nelson "Just Breathe"

And then there is Taylor Swift. I am inclined to grandmother in Red as country for my Nashville Scene album ballot if I get sent one despite its pervasive lack of actual country-ness. (And if I do, it will probably top my list -- sorry Jerrod.) But I'm less sure about the singles on it (some but not all of which I might like enough.)

Also, I hate Record Store Day sucker-bait on principle, but gotta admit those 10-inch rarities EPs Don posted about sound pretty cool. Then again, I always think that about 10-inch EPs. Reminds me that I actually used to own this 10-inch George Jones EP with early rockabilly sides like "White Lightnin" and "Who Shot Sam" on it, but for some reason I don't anymore. I sure have done some dumb purging over the years.

http://www.discogs.com/George-Jones-White-Lightnin/release/2923913

Oh yeah, the rest of that Fullbright album wasn't quite up to the first 2/3 or so, but overall pretty strong, he stays in the room w fellow Okies Woody, Garth, Toby 9yeah, some spaces in that room). Been listening to Deluxe Edition of Toby's Hope On The Rocks. The title song opens with troubled people hurtling into the bar and the chorus, which isn't quite up to the pressure. It's not a total let-down, and wouldn't want something grand, which would miss the point--the singing bartender's professionally observant, but he's just a bartender, and he knows that too. Just is a little too anti-climatic, beyond the call of realisn's duty. The uptempo yuk-yuk stuff could work (laff to keep from crine), but could use a guitar solo here, bigger beats there--thinking oof Montgomery Gentry, Terri Clark respectively--but Toby might riposte, "And where are they now?" Okay, but anyway I do enjoy "Get Got"--"Ask forgiveness, not permission." The one about the little gal who's just his size is kinda growiing on me, since the friend he's talling to back off is a big guy, which implies that Toby is fine with being little too (of course he's huge, so the buddy must be a monstah, but so be it). Immediately got spooked goosebumps via "Haven't Seen The Last of You" and "Missed You Just Right." Bonus tracks: good remix of "Red Solo Cup", which was already one of his funniest; nice mix of "Beers Ago" and live "Whiskey Girl" has some good beats too. Other extras are more disposable.

Thanks for the suggested singles, guys, I'll check 'em out.

Here's Hope... and a bunch of his other albums (if you want to stream a whole album here, better to hit Play All than try to go through track by track; can always pause it):
http://us.myspace.com/tobykeith/music/albums/hope-on-the-rocks-deluxe-edition-18769271