Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Rascal Flatts is putting the final touches on their latest album, Changed, due out April 3. The group once again worked with their longtime producer, Dann Huff, but this time they decided to produce a few of the tracks on their own.

“It was just so much fun in the past to do individual tracks — like we’ve done a couple of Christmas tracks together — and produce them ourselves,” Jay DeMarcus said. “When it came time to go in to do this record, we’d realized how much fun we had working together, just the three of us, without any outside influence. Not to diminish anything that our producers have done with us. It’s just a chance for us to explore, even further, our own musical tastes and likes and experiment.”

Watch Rascal Flatts’ “Easy” video! >>

The band thinks fans will be able to pick out which tracks were produced by them when they listen to the new album. “You’ll hear the difference between the tunes that we’ve done versus the ones that we’ve done with Dann,” Jay said.

“Banjo,” the first single from the new album, is flying up the country charts. Rascal Flatts is currently touring the country on their Thaw Out 2012 tour and will launch The American Band Tour this summer, featuring several top country bands.

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Gene Watson photo courtesy of Tamara Saviano.

In celebration of 50 years in country music, Gene Watson has re-recorded 25 of his classic hits to sound like the originals. Best of the Best: 25 Greatest Hits will be released February 14 on Gene’s own record label, Fourteen Carat Music, and features legendary steel guitarist Sonny Garish along with a band of players that re-created the original arrangements.

“I wanted these to sound as close to the originals as could be done,” Gene said. “I had to work so hard to capture them the same way I did them originally. All of these songs are in the same keys. I just thank the good Lord above that He’s let me keep my voice intact. In fact, I can probably hit the notes better now than I could back then. Whenever there was a question when I was re-recording these, we went back and listened to the original recording.”

The Watson family, made up of seven children, grew up moving from shack to shack as their father took logging and crop-picking jobs to make ends meet. Home became a converted school bus and Gene dropped out of school in ninth grade to help his family. He settled in Houston, where he developed a local following on the club circuit. Capitol Records picked up “Love in the Hot Afternoon” for distribution after hearing him perform and it became the first of Gene’s two-dozen Top 10 hits in early 1975.

“Seems like my career just kind of happened accidentally,” Gene says. “It was purely unintentional. Music was just a sideline. I was going to be playing and singing no matter what line of work I was going to do. I never did really have any high expectations out of the music business. Even today, I never know what to expect from one day to the next.”

Gene Watson is a survivor. He quit drinking in 1980 and quit smoking in 1990. He underwent surgery and survived colon cancer in 2000-01. Through it all, he continued to record one critically applauded collection after another. He was inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame in 2002.

“It’s unbelievable to me that it’s been 50 years,” says Gene. “For most of those years, it seemed like it took everything I could do to keep working as steady as I needed to. Now that I’m older, it seems like everything comes to me without trying. I’m working more shows than I was 15 years ago.

“It’s quite a compliment,” he adds. “I think a lot of it is because there’s not too much of what I do around anymore. I think there is still such a hunger out there for traditional country music. So I’d like to stay out there as long as I’m able to do the job and do it well.

“Every time I step out on that stage and see that audience, it’s a new beginning,” says Gene. “Even though I’ve sung these songs millions of times, I look at each one like it’s brand new to me. Every night, I try to deliver that song the best that I can.”

Gene’s classic songs like “Fourteen Carat Mind,” “Love in the Hot Afternoon,” “Farewell Party,” and “Memories to Burn” have earned him the title of a ‘singer’s singer.’ Joe Nichols, Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Lee Ann Womack and Randy Travis all count him as one of their idols.

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Dierks Bentley's 2012 CD, Home. Photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

On his last record, 2010’s Up On The Ridge, Dierks Bentley went Appalachian while pursuing his love for bluegrass, amidst earthy tones and Americana-influenced songs. Though the album was critically acclaimed and garnered Country Album of the Year nominations from both the Grammys and CMA, the singles didn’t achieve quite the same success at radio as his previous releases. On Home, his first mainstream set since 2009’s Feel That Fire, Dierks returns with 12 contemporary songs that showcase the singer/songwriter firmly entrenched in his element and building on established strengths.

With the album’s first single, “Am I The Only One,” already reaching the top spot on the country charts, and follow-up single “Home” currently in the Top 10, it’s clear the new work is already connecting. These two songs also highlight the diversity of Dierks’ songwriting and continued artistic drive. “Am I The Only One” is a rowdy stomp through a wild night that has Dierks seeking out someone to party with, while “Home” is an introspective and vast power ballad celebrating our differences with elegant patriotism. Dierks’ ability to maneuver between lighthearted and openly emotional from song-to-song has been a key aspect to his career — and he continues to execute it flawlessly here.

Songs like the quick “5-1-5-0,” punctuated by sharp acoustic riffing and tight banjo, illustrate Dierks’ sense of humor and penchant for entertaining twists. 5-1-5-0, just this side of loco/ I’m goin’ crazy / Think I love you, baby, he sings through lyrical dips and dives. On the hard-driving “In My Head,” distorted guitars roll along while Dierks shows off his ability to develop engaging melodies over an entire song. Flowing through verse and chorus, melodies build to a powerful refrain complete with rhymes inside rhymes. You’re still in that t-shirt on my bed/ You’re every song that’s on, you’re gone, but you’re in my arms in my head, he sings with an emotional punch.

On the swaying “Tip It On Back,” Dierks cleverly alters the carefree nature found in other songs on the album with a desire for being free from troubles when faced with tough struggles. With epic-sounding production supplied by Brett Beavers and Luke Wooten, ringing guitars and twinkling mandolin lay a foundation for forgetting about Main Street closing and miles of “for sale” signs with a good old-fashioned night at the bar. It’s a smart emotional swap that gives the song extra depth.

Home features guest spots from bluegrass players Sam Bush and Tim O’Brien on “Heart of a Lonely Girl,” and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild adds beautiful dynamics to the bluesy “When You Gonna Come Around.” However, it’s Dierks’ three-year old daughter Evie who provides the most touching collaboration, singing the final chorus of “Thinking Of You” and creating the album’s most tender moment. On Home, Dierks masterfully pulls these different elements together, creating an album that succeeds in both its artistic vision as well as its mainstream appeal.

Key Tracks – “When You Gonna Come Around,” “Home,” “In My Head,” “Diamonds Make Babies”

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Carrie Underwood photo by James White, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Last week Carrie Underwood announced she’ll release her new single, “Good Girl,” later this month. With today comes the news that her new CD will be released on Tuesday, May 1.  Produced by Mark Bright, the forthcoming album was featured in Entertainment Weekly’s recent “10 albums we can’t wait for.” This will be the fourth studio album on 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville for the five-time Grammy winner.

Carrie’s February schedule is already gearing up with numerous appearances, performances, and events.  Among those are an appearance at the 54^th Grammy Awards, Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, a performance at the Nordstrom Nashville Symphony Fashion Show, and the digital release of her new single, “Good Girl.”

Since releasing Some Hearts in 2005, Carrie has sold more than 14 million albums with Some Hearts, 2007’s Carnival Ride, and 2009’s Play On.  She’s amassed 14 No. 1 singles, six of which she co-wrote, and became the first country artist in history and the only American Idol winner ever to achieve 10 No. 1 singles from their first two albums.  Carrie is a current Grammy Award nominee and a five-time Grammy Award winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time Country Music Association and ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry.

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Tim McGraw's 2012 CD, Emotional Traffic. Photo courtesy of Webster & Associates.

Tim McGraw’s Emotional Traffic album debuted at No. 1 this week on the Billboard Country Chart. This mark’s Tim’s 13th career No. 1 debut. His first new music since 2009’s Southern Voice, Tim is thrilled with how his fans have reacted.

“The most beautiful thing about this No. 1 debut, over the others, is that it was driven by the fans and their eagerness to finally have this music in their hands,” Tim said. “The fans don’t care about the business side of things. They just want the artists they follow to keep putting out great songs, and I think we have delivered some of the best songs of my career on Emotional Traffic.

Read our review of Tim McGraw’s Emotional Traffic >>

Tim will join good friend Kenny Chesney this summer on their co-headlining Brothers of the Sun stadium tour. They will kick off the tour on June 2 in Tampa and will stop at the nation’s biggest stadiums through August. With new music in the hands of his fans, Tim is looking forward to getting back on the road. “The reaction to the album makes me even more excited to get back on the road this summer on the ‘Brothers of the Sun’ tour,” he said.

Tim will head to Australia next month for a performance with wife Faith Hill and GAC wants to send YOU! Enter our GAC Country Down Under Sweepstakes for your chance to win a trip to CMC Rocks The Hunter 2012, Australia’s biggest international country and roots music festival, held March 16-18. The three-day event will feature over 30 artists including Tim & Faith, Dierks Bentley, Wynonna, Eli Young Band, Tracy Lawrence and more!

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Kellie Pickler's 2012 CD, 100 Proof. Photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Kellie Pickler has been crisscrossing the country promoting her new album, 100 Proof, which hit stores last week.  She made several TV appearances in both New York City and Los Angeles, including Good Morning America and The Ellen DeGeneres show, before heading south to Kennesaw, GA and Monroe, NC over the weekend to meet fans and sign copies of her new album.

On Saturday, Kellie spent six hours at Best Buy in Kennesaw, meeting fans, signing autographs and taking photos. On Sunday, she headed to her home state of North Carolina to meet hundreds of fans at a Monroe Wal-Mart, many of whom camped outside all night just to meet her.

Read our review of Kellie Pickler’s 100 Proof >>

Photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

One fan was so eager to meet Kellie that he received his first speeding ticket on his way to the meet-and-greet (see the photo on the left). The cop who wrote him the ticket showed up at the signing and even posed for a picture with Kellie and the speedster. Kellie signed the young man’s ticket ‘Slow Down (or don’t get caught).’

Kellie is back in New York City this week. Fans can catch her perform on ABC’s The View on Wednesday, February 1.

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Carrie Underwood photo by James White, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Carrie Underwood fans, rejoice! Carrie will release her new single, “Good Girl,” to country radio on February 23.  The five-time Grammy winner’s new CD will arrive later this spring.

Carrie wrote the track with Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley, who co-wrote two of her No. 1 hits — “Don’t Forget to Remember Me,” and “All-American Girl.” Once again Carrie teamed up with Mark Bright, who produced her two previous albums as well as seven tracks from her debut album Some Hearts.

Since releasing Some Hearts in 2005, Carrie has sold more than 14 million albums with Some Hearts, 2007’s Carnival Ride, and 2009’s Play On.  She’s amassed 14 No. 1 singles, six of which she co-wrote, and became the first country artist in history and the only American Idol winner ever to achieve 10 No. 1 singles from their first two albums.

Carrie is a current Grammy Award nominee and a five-time Grammy Award winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time Country Music Association and ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Here’s a message from Carrie about “Good Girl”:

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Lionel Richie sings “Endless Love” with Shania Twain on his new CD, Tuskegee. Photo by Alan Silfen, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Lionel Richie will release Tuskegee, a collection of 13 of his hit songs recorded as duets with some of the biggest names in country music, on March 27. Duet partners include Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson and more.

In addition to the album, the Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions will tape an all-star concert special, Lionel Richie and Friends In Concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas on April 2. The special will air at a later date on CBS. Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, and Kenny Rogers are among the artists scheduled to perform.

On Tuskegee, Lionel returns to his roots, paying tribute to his hometown of Tuskegee, Alabama where he was shaped as a man and a musician. He grew up listening to country, gospel, R&B and classical music and it was in Tuskegee that he helped form the Commodores and wrote some of his earliest hits.

“Tuskegee is where it all began, the place where I felt that everything was available and possible,” he said. “It’s where I learned about life and love and the power of music, and the place I built a musical foundation that knows no genres or boundaries.”

The artists who worked with Lionel have their own connections to the legend’s songs. “Every Lionel Richie song that I can think of I had a personal experience with – high school homecomings, proms, you name it,” Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts said. “Lionel was always playing in my house. His music always said what we felt and couldn’t express.”

Says Darius Rucker, who joins Richie on “Stuck On You,” “I wanted to work with Lionel because he is one of my idols. Lionel’s more a part of my DNA really than an idol. It was an absolute honor to work with him.” Adds Jason Aldean, who selected “Say You, Say Me,” “I’ve always been a huge fan. He is probably one of the best singer/songwriters of this generation.”

This isn’t Lionel’s first venture into country music. His songs have been recorded by Conway Twitty, Kenny Rogers and Alabama, while other artists have covered his songs in their sets. He’s performed on the CMA Awards three times and his 2011 performance received two standing ovations.

“When I did the CMAs and the room was singing along with me, it was really more like a family reunion than it was a concert or show,” Lionel said. “It was just great validation to know that the music was accepted like it was.”

On the album, Lionel asked his duet partners to choose the song they wanted to record and ignore his original version. He encouraged them to make it their own. “I wanted it the way they would do it in their show, which means I captured their essence,” he said. “You make the song a Willie Nelson song. You make the song a Rascal Flatts song.

The recording of Tuskegee was some of the most fun Lionel has ever had in the studio. “Tuskegee is going to be one of the most special albums I’ve ever done in my life,” he said. “This is something that’s going to be so special forever because it’s a moment in time when these artists all got together and celebrated some music.”

Fans can catch Lionel talking about his new album right here on GAC. He will be a special guest on Top 20 Country Countdown on March 23 and sit down for an episode of On The Streets on March 27.

Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee Track List:

1. “You Are” with Blake Shelton
2. “Say You, Say Me” with Jason Aldean
3. “Stuck On You” with Darius Rucker
4. “Deep River Woman” with Little Big Town
5. “My Love” with Kenny Chesney
6. “Dancing On The Ceiling” with Rascal Flatts
7. “Hello” with Jennifer Nettles
8. “Sail On” with Tim McGraw
9. “Endless Love” with Shania Twain
10. “Just For You” with Billy Currington
11. “Lady” with Kenny Rogers
12. “Easy” with Willie Nelson
13. “All Night Long” with Jimmy Buffett

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Photo courtesy of Webster & Associates.

Between 1982 and 1986, Janie Fricke reeled off seven No. 1 singles as country music fans got to know her as more than a backing vocalist and in-demand duet partner (she also scored No. 1 hits with Charlie Rich and Merle Haggard in 1978 and 1985, respectively). Her run in the US alone through the 1980s consisted of 16 Top 10 singles with a brand of country/pop that paid homage to classic country.

Janie’s now honoring the pickin’ tradition while reworking 12 of her own hits on the new studio album, Country Side of Bluegrass. Backed by a group of seasoned players, including dobro player extraordinaire Randy Kohrs (Hal Ketchum; Hank Williams III) and fiddler Luke Bulla (Lyle Lovett; Jerry Douglas Band), Janie offers up stirring renditions of chart-toppers like “He’s A Heartache” and “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me Baby” with a bluegrass twist.

Amidst standard bluegrass instrumentation, songs like the speedy “Do Me With Love” nail the elements of controlled chaos and precision found in the genre. Add in quintessential country double-meanings like, Words are cheap and ‘I love yous aren’t free/ So unless you mean it, well, don’t spend ‘em on me, and it’s clear that the combination can be entertaining and exciting. Hard-hitting classic country lyrics are all over the record, like on standout track “Tell Me A Lie,” where Janie’s voice pours out the emotion of a desperate woman while singing, Tell me a lie, tell me you’re not a married man, in her Indiana twang. Janie cranked up the tempo on the new version of “Tell Me A Lie,” a song that was originally done as a ballad.

Traditional country influence is heard throughout the record. On the steady-paced “Please Help Me, I’m Falling (In Love With You),” Janie’s voice rises and falls with aching honky tonk melodies as a fiddle yearns in the background. The slow dobro/acoustic guitar intro of the classic “It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Easy” makes way for a smooth chorus full of textured harmonies as the song’s loneliness seeps through the speakers.

The album is indeed full of lonesome songs. One of the best is “I’ll Need Someone to Hold Me (When I Cry).” Over quick dobro and banjo, Janie sings deliberately, So sit down here beside me after you say goodbye / ‘Cause I’ll need someone to hold me when I cry, seeking tenderness from the one who’s headed for the taxi outside.

Country Side of Bluegrass stays true to its title, using lush arrangements to combine bluegrass and country, giving Janie’s most well-known songs a new and different sound. While fans of Janie’s original chart-toppers should love the new renditions, her timeless voice is sure to attract new ones.

Key tracks – “Do Me With Love,” Please Help Me, I’m Falling (In Love With You),” “Tell Me A Lie,” “I’ll Need Someone To Hold Me (When I Cry)”

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It’s like Montgomery Gentry’s Eddie Montgomery sings toward the end of the duo’s spirited cover of the classic “Good ‘Ol Boys (Dukes of Hazzard Theme Song).” Just havin’ fun, mama, he muses over a thick rhythm section, honky tonk piano and pedal steel. On this song, and really everywhere on the record, that fun-loving sentiment is easily heard.

Be it Dierks Bentley, Hank Jr. or Justin Moore, the performances here are ignited by a love for Waylon’s enduring legacy and free spirit. Dierks opens the record with a swampy, thumping version of “Lonesome, Onry and Mean,” calling out the anthem with a smoldering intensity as the band’s obvious joy is heard through their own instrumental voices filling out the rest of the track. Hank Jr. couldn’t be more in his element than on the chuggin’ “Waymore’s Blues,” letting loose with the lines, Well, I woke up this mornin’ it was drizzlin’ rain / around the curb came a passenger train, over the song’s infectious shake. And Texan Pat Green, whose raspy voice gives the beautiful “Rainy Day Woman” a rugged edge, deftly navigates multiple tempo shifts before an around-the-horn solo handoff from pedal steel to fiddle and later electric guitar.

The majority of The Music Inside is uptempo, bordering on anthem. However, artists like country/hip-hop-infused Colt Ford and folk-inspired Jewel offer their takes on Waylon classics that serve to slow things down just a bit. On “Only Daddy That Will Walk The Line,” Colt dials down the original tempo, rhythmically speaking the verses before a searing slide guitar solo. Jewel, the only other woman on the album besides Jessi Colter, adds a bittersweet touch to the wistful waltz “Dreaming My Dreams With You.” With a classic country ache and a quivering vibrato, Jewel beautifully renders the lines, Someday I’ll get over you / I’ll live to see it all through/ But I’ll always miss dreaming my dreams with you, over piano and reverb-washed guitars. Jessi lends her own voice to the haunting traditional heart breaker “Mama,” channeling her late husband through, ironically, a song she actually wrote herself.

The album’s overall sound is dynamic and spatially well-constructed, with a foundation of sturdy deep bass and full percussion. Credit is due to Producer Witt Stewart, as well as the mastering crew at Sterling Sound, for unifying such a diverse group of artists while simultaneously allowing each one to add their own unique voice. Fitting, really, considering The Music Inside is a celebration of one man’s unique voice and its lasting effect on a broad musical landscape.

Key tracks – “Lonesome, Onry and Mean,” “Waymore’s Blues,” “Bob Wills is Still the King,” “Rainy Day Woman”

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