Entries by Robert K Oermann

DISClaimer Single Reviews (7/27/11)

Is it hot enough for you? There’s nothing like Nashville in July-August to wear you out. And there are no ballads in this week’s column to cool you off. The new sounds from Bomshel, Randy Travis, Montgomery Gentry and Marlee Scott are particularly hot stuff.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (7/13/11)

“After years of being nothing, they’re all looking right at you.” That’s what it says in our Music Row anthem, “16th Avenue.” And that’s exactly what is happening to Blake Shelton right now.

Services Set For Songwriter House

Funeral services for Gerald “Jerry” House will be held on Saturday, July 9. The hit country songwriter died Tuesday at age 69. House spent his working career in the printing industry, but he retained a lifelong love of country music. The Alabama native first performed on the Grand Ole Opry at age 16. He wrote […]

DISClaimer Single Reviews (7/6/11)

Superstars Taylor Swift and Shania Twain are in the mix this week, but both were trumped by lesser lights. Challenging the two divas for supremacy were excellent new sounds from Craig Morgan, Robin Meade, Royal Wade Kimes and Jody Jenkins.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (6/29/11)

This listening session was dominated by hit makers of yore. Ricky Skaggs, Tracy Lawrence, Sawyer Brown, Michael Martin Murphey and Roy Head with Jeff Chance are all on board with new sounds. Ricky and Tracy, in particular, are audio delights.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (6/22/11)

Our three contenders for this edition’s DisCovery Award can all be found on independent labels and the Disc of the Day goes to the combo of Rascal Flatts with New Zealand born and Britain-created pop warbler Natasha Bedingfield.

Music Industry Art Director Bill Johnson Passes

Grammy Award winning art director Bill Johnson has died at age 68. He passed away at home in Nashville on Wednesday (6/15) following a battle with lung cancer. As the art director at CBS Records in the 1980s and 1990s, he left his visual imprint on an entire generation of country record makers. Johnson was […]

CMA Fest By The Numbers

The Country Music Association released its preliminary statistics on its 40th annual fan festival on Monday, and the results are impressive. There is no official estimate on how much economic impact this year’s festival had on downtown, but it is a safe bet that it surpassed last year’s $24 million.