Feb
27
Randy Houser photo courtesy of Universal Records South.
If you want an update on where country music’s been and where it’s going, you only need to put two events from the past week into perspective: Tuesday’s announcement of the 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees and Friday’s New Faces Show at Nashville’s Country Radio Seminar.
Don Williams, the most recent hitmaker among the four Hall of Fame additions, was often noted for a quiet stage show. He simply stood at the microphone and sang, and his success relied exclusively on the warmth of his gentle demeanor and the thoughtful messages that dominated his understated songs.
The New Faces Show demonstrated the bigger-is-better philosophy that’s dominated concerts ever since Garth Brooks turned up in arenas two decades ago. From the outset, Love And Theft and Randy Houser — the first two acts in a five-artist lineup — cranked the volume and the tempo in a slickly produced show meant to confirm for radio programmers that they are indeed playing the right new performers as they compete for listeners’ ears.
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Feb
16
Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
One trick psychologists employ to make their clients recognize their personal progress is to have them look back a year — or five or 10 — to compare where they were emotionally against where they are now. Looking back is a technique that Brad Paisley has used to craft such hits as “Welcome To The Future,” “Letter To Me” and “Then,” and when he puts it to work in evaluating his career, it yields an amazing contrast.
Back in 1999, when Brad released his first single and album, he travelled in a van, sometimes driving himself to the gig with his band members and the equipment all piled in the vehicle. Once they got to the venue, it was as if nobody knew — or cared — who he was.
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Jan
25
Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
Since he’s already featured such musicians as Dolly Parton, Keith Urban, George Jones and Little Jimmy Dickens on his albums, it’s pretty evident that Brad Paisley’s gotten a good reputation among other country artists.
It’s not just because he’s a great songwriter and guitarist — which he is. It’s also because he’s a big supporter of his fellow acts.
Jason Michael Carroll, for example, opened for Brad at a club in Raleigh, N.C., more than 10 years ago. Brad reached out to the young singer and has continued to do so ever since.
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Jan
7
Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
Texas and Oklahoma have a looooong history of antagonism, one that’s so strong that in 2007, a man got beat up in Oklahoma City for simply walking into a bar wearing a Longhorns T-shirt.
Into this whole them-versus-us rivalry strolls one Miranda Lambert, who’s taken up residence in Tishomingo, Okla., 200 miles from her hometown of Lindale, Texas. Her farm in the Sooner State has become something of a refuge from the grind of the road, though the border feud gets little more than a shrug from her.
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Jan
6
Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.
So the holidays are over and you’re thrilled to be back at work… right? Sorry if the answer’s no, but we all gotta do what we all gotta do. And just like the rest of us, country artists are going back to work en masse this week. Rascal Flatts tapes an acting role; Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood hit an awards show; and Brad Paisley is kicking off the next leg of his current tour.
Really. That really is work, as it’s defined in their job descriptions.
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Dec
26
Randy Houser photo courtesy of Universal Records South.
#6 on GAC’s Top Stories of 2009 | View all »
When Randy Houser played a show in Nashville last January, he introduced his Top 20 release “Anything Goes” with a sarcastic tone that’s familiar to just about every new act in country music: “Seems like 87 weeks [it’s been on the singles chart], and I have to say, I’m happy to be movin’ on to another one.”
Most new artists can assume that if they get a hit — and that “if” is a very key word — it’s going to take 30 weeks or more for the song to reach its full peak. As an illustration, consider these six acts, all of whom earned their first Top 10 hits in 2009: David Nail, Chris Young, Gloriana, Love And Theft, Justin Moore and the sarcastic Randy Houser. Every one of their first-time Top 10 singles was released in January or February of 2009, and every one of them had to wait until about September for the single to finally reach its peak. That’s eight months of waiting and working and losing sleep just to call attention to one song that may, or may not, motivate fans to go out and buy a whole album or a concert ticket.
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Nov
18
Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
“Life,” according to the teaching of Buddha, “is suffering.”
“Life,” wrote The Road Less Traveled author M. Scott Peck, “is difficult.”
The characters in Miranda Lambert’s best-known songs — “Kerosene,” “Gunpowder & Lead” and the current “White Liar” — know suffering and difficulty well. Domestic violence, dishonesty and cheating are all some of the least savory characteristics of human beings, but they are human traits and behaviors nonetheless. Miranda understands, and it’s part of the reason she sings the kinds of songs she does.
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Oct
30
Justin Moore photo by Kristin Barlowe, courtesy of The Valory Music Co.
Many country stars enjoy dressing up for Halloween – and some avoid it altogether. Dial-Global recently spoke with Justin Moore, Big Kenny & Dierks Bentley about their Halloween plans.
“I absolutely hate Halloween,” Just tells Dial-Global. “Everybody makes fun of me ’cause I despise Halloween and I don’t know why. I was a real serious child, which makes no sense because I’m never serious now, but I never wanted to dress up as a kid. My parents, they’re like, ‘You are the strangest kid.’”
As one might expect, the opposite is true for Big Kenny. “Halloween is the great American excuse for everybody to get dressed up, eat, drink and be merry together and spook the dickens out of all the kids and even some dudes like me who are still spookable,” he says. Continue Reading
Oct
27
Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.
Toby Keith will top 1 million ticket sales, Jimmy Wayne had an onstage drop-in from a legendary pop artist, and Kenny Chesney had the summer’s top tour.
In addition to the weekend’s previously reported mass of ticket sales for the new Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift dates, there’s still plenty of country concert news to skim.
What’s up on the road:
When Toby Keith concludes his current America’s Toughest Tour, he will have sold a whopping 1 million concert tickets for the year. It is, he says, the ninth time he’s reached that mark.
When Jimmy Wayne appeared in Baltimore last week on Brad Paisley’s American Saturday Night Tour, he had a surprise guest join him onstage. John Oates, of the pop duo Hall & Oates, helped out on Jimmy’s performance of “Sara Smile,” a 1976 H2O hit that Jimmy’s re-recorded as his current single. Brad’s tour, which also featured Dierks Bentley, came to a close over the weekend. Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore take over Dierks’ and Jimmy’s slots when Brad goes back out in January.
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Oct
7
Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
Brad Paisley’s not ready for Saturday night to end. He just announced that he’s continuing his “American Saturday Night” tour into 2010, adding 19 dates. Special guests for the tour are Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore.
Currently, Brad has a lot on his plate. In addition to the tour, he’s prepping for the “43rd Annual CMA Awards” on Nov. 11. Brad will be co-hosting with Carrie Underwood and is up for seven awards, including Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for American Saturday Night.
If you’ve ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes at awards shows, Brad is ready to tell all. Continue Reading
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