Rosanne Cash photo courtesy of myspace.com/rosannecash.

Ronald Reagan, the DeLorean and parachute pants.

The 1980s were kind of strange — and we’re still paying for the greed-is-good mentality that the ‘80s movie Wall Street embraced.

Nevertheless, there were numerous artists worth their salt in that decade who still matter: Reba McEntire, Dwight Yoakam and George Strait had their first hits, for example. And several acts — including Rosanne Cash, Paul Overstreet and the Desert Rose Band — are still making their presence felt.

Here’s a look at some of the artists who reached their commercial peak during the ‘80s who are making a creative difference in slightly different ways:

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Chely Wright & SHeDAISY at the 10th Annual Reading, Writing and Rhythm benefit concert, held at TPAC’s James Polk Theater in Nashville, Tenn. on June 8, 2010. Photo by Melinda Norris, courtesy of Wortman Works Media & Marketing.

Chely Wright’s 10th Annual Reading, Writing and Rhythm benefit concert, held at TPAC’s James Polk Theater in Nashville on June 8, 2010 during the CMA Music Festival, raised thousands of dollars for local Kingston Springs Elementary School, which was devastated by flood waters. The concert also donated over one ton of food to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.  

With over 800 in attendance, the star-studded event included performances by Trisha Yearwood, Rodney Crowell, SHeDAISY, Jamey Johnson, Bucky Covington, Justin Moore, Buxton Hughes, Jann Arden, and of course, Reading, Writing & Rhythm’s Founder, Chely.  Items were auctioned off throughout the evening, including a shopping spree with Chely to Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams furniture store and a Fly Away trip to a Keith Urban show. 

Chely signed her last autograph at 4:40 a.m. Continue Reading

ShareThis

Eli Young Band photo courtesy of Universal Records South.

In an era when Kid Rock and Bon Jovi have found success in country music, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to hear Tom Petty’s name being thrown around.

The Eli Young Band has been covering the rocker’s “American Girl” frequently in concert, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are something of a muse for the Texas foursome as it develops a follow-up to the 2008 album Jet Black & Jealous.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Alan Jackson photo courtesy of SonyBMG Nashville.

The music business is rife with executives lamenting the downturn in album sales, but that doesn’t stop artists from turning out new CDs, and a bevy of projects are on the way in the coming months from Alan Jackson, Johnny Cash, Josh Turnerand Danny Gokey — all hoping to spur the rest of us to visit a store or a website and plunk down a few bucks for new music.

Even if the industry isn’t moving as much product as it used to, you can’t blame artists for continuing to put out new albums. The fact is if they only had one song to sing, they’d all be bored. Put out 10 or 12 or 20 — well, it certainly allows for a lot more opportunities to heat up the creative juices. And that’s what it’s all supposed to be about in the first place.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Willie Nelson photo courtesy of Lost Highway Records.

There are plenty of ways to meet the Christmas gift wishes of country music fans in 2010: new Christmas albums from Sugarland, Richie McDonald and John Cowan; concert tickets for one of the coming year’s summer festivals; or maybe a Keith Urban fundraising calendar.

But if you want to go the extra mile — and you’ve got bucks to spend — you might want to consider something that’s been signed, or previously owned, by a country star. Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift and Johnny Cash are among numerous artists represented at auction this month, with the proceeds in most instances going to a worthy charity.

Some are online, some require you to show up in person, and the most expensive one is already completed. But here are some reasons to do a friend’s “bidding” for Christmas:

Continue Reading

ShareThis

Alan Jackson photo courtesy of SonyBMG Nashville.

Nashville celebrated its songwriters for two straight nights this week with Alan Jackson and Taylor Swift each earning trophies as Songwriter/Artist of the Year from two different organizations.

Taylor picked up the Songwriter/Artist trophy from the Nashville Songwriters Association International Sunday, the same night Toby Keith earned Songwriter/Artist of the Decade. Wynn Varble claimed the NSAI’s Songwriter of the Year after netting hits with Darryl Worley’s recording of “Sounds Like Life To Me” and Brad Paisley’s rendition of “Waitin’ On A Woman,” named Song of the Year.

Continue Reading

ShareThis