Emmylou Harris with Charlie Louvin. Photo courtesy of charlielouvin.net.

Following a battle with pancreatic cancer, Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie Louvin died early this morning.

Born Charlie Elzer Loudermilk in Section, Alabama on July 7, 1927, Charlie formed a duo with his brother Ira. As the Louvin Brothers, they were pioneers in country music — and their soaring trademark harmonies influenced many generations of artists that followed, including Emmylou Harris, whose 1975 version of the Louvin Brothers’ “If I Could Only Win Your Love” was her first Top 10 hit.

The Louvin Brothers joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1955.  Charlie remained on show even after the brother act split in 1963.  He was also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Continue Reading

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Brooks & Dunn photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

When they first came to national attention with “Brand New Man” in 1991, Brooks & Dunn were an unlikely combo — a couple of guys who moved to Nashville with dreams of becoming solo performers who were sort of glued together by a Music Row executive.

By the time Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn wound it down with the Last Rodeo Tour in 2010, they had become the most commercially successful duo in country music history — better known than Country Music Hall of Famers the Louvin Brothers with more hits than Hall of Famers the Everly Brothers.

The Brooks & Dunn breakup ranks No. 5 as GAC counts down the dozen top stories of the past year.

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Willie Nelson photo by David McClister, courtesy of Lost Highway.

When fans talk about classic-country sounds in 2010, they more often than not are thinking about music by the likes of Merle Haggard, George Jones, Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson.

Who did those artists consider classic? Well, you get a bit of an answer to that question on Willie’s latest album, Country Music. Released Tuesday, it includes covers of songs first made famous by the likes of Porter Wagoner, Al Dexter, the Louvin Brothers and Merle Travis.

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Dierks Bentley photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Even before Dierks Bentley had his first hit, he made it a point to pay homage to his roots. He made a passionate plea to take part in a bluegrass tribute album, and his enthusiasm won out: Even though he was unknown, Dierks showed up alongside Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Marty Stuart on Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’: The Songs Of The Louvin Brothers.

Seven years later, Dierks is playing up his musical influences again in several different efforts. He debuts his own one-hour radio show Monday afternoon on classic-country WSM, the station that introduced the Grand Ole Opry. He’s got a roots-referencing album, Up On The Ridge, coming out this summer. And next month he launches a 30-date Up On The Ridge Tour with a couple of appropriate opening acts: bluegrass icons the Del McCoury Band and award-winning Americana singer-songwriter Hayes Carll.

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Willie Nelson photo by David McClister, courtesy of Lost Highway.

He’s done American pop standards, the blues, jazz and even reggae music. But Willie Nelson is keeping it simple with his next album, giving it a tell-tale title, Country Music.

Set for release April 20, he recorded the project with the acclaimed T Bone Burnett, who won a Golden Globe this month for his work on Crazy Heart and likewise produced the music to O Brother, Where Art Thou?. T Bone brought together some of Nashville’s best musicians — including guitarist Buddy Miller, mandolin player Ronnie McCoury and background vocalist Jim Lauderdale — to work with Willie, and they laid down a total of 23 tracks, ultimately picking 15 for the final draft.

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Jeff Bridges visits with Nan Kelley on the set of Top 20 Country Countdown.

Jeff Bridges is getting huge Oscar buzz for his performance in the movie Crazy Heart, while Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett have a Golden Globe nomination for writing the picture’s theme song. All three of them will visit host Nan Kelley on this weekend’s edition of GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.

The film is about a former country star who’s down and out, playing small dives and drinking too much whiskey. Jeff’s character, Bad Blake, is a rough-edged singer built artistically around such iconic stars as Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, and Jeff’s acting drew a comparison from New York magazine to the alcohol-fueled guy Nicolas Cage played in the depressing Leaving Las Vegas. Nicolas apparently drank between takes so he could play the part as realistically as possible in that film, though Jeff declined to go that far to develop his role in Crazy Heart.

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T Bone Burnett photo courtesy of tboneburnett.com.

Producer T Bone Burnett has had a hand in a slew of important albums this decade, including the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss project Raising Sand, Elvis Costello’s current Secret, Profane And Sugarcane, plus the soundtracks to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Cold Mountain and Walk The Line.

Now T Bone’s got his fingers on a picture that has pre-release Oscar buzz all over it, and the song that runs over the end credits should heighten the profile of Americana artist Ryan Bingham.

Jeff Bridges stars in the new picture, Crazy Heart, in which a formerly successful country singer grapples with life after his career has faded. Robert Duvall, who won an Oscar for a similar role in the 1983 movie Tender Mercies, is a co-producer of the new release. In an unconventional move, T Bone wrote the music before shooting commenced with co-producer Stephen Bruton, a Kris Kristofferson band member who died this year after working on the project. Much as he did when he oversaw the vocal performances of actors Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix in Walk The Line, T Bone also produced Jeff’s performances as a has-been singer.

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