Nashville pop and country star Dan Seals has died at age 61. “Dan lost a two-year battle with lymphoma,” reported his longtime friend and manager Tony Gottlieb. “He was a beautiful man.” Seals sang the Country Music Association’s 1986 Single of the Year, the upbeat, nostalgic “Bop.” It was also a significant pop-crossover chart success. […]
Ted Jarrett As a recording artist, songwriter, producer, manager and record label executive, Ted Jarrett was one of the leading figures of the Nashville R&B community. He died Saturday, March 21, at age 83. Jarrett’s many contributions were highlighted by the award-winning 2004-2005 Night Train to Nashville exhibit and record albums by the Country Music […]
Share and share alike. We’re giving out two Disc of the Day awards today. One is for traditional country excellence. And that, hands down, belongs to a masterful honky-tonk stylist, Mark Chesnutt. Long may he sing. The second goes to a modern, rocking-country disc maker. That would be Jack Ingram, who has the first summertime […]
It’s veterans’ day. No, not the holiday, silly. It’s a day when we have new music from some of country music’s vets. Aaron Tippin, Ricochet and Ronnie Milsap are all dropping by with new sounds. And the magnificent Mr. Milsap wins a Disc of the Day award. Neil Carswell is a veteran, too. He previously […]
As you might expect, the stars are twinkling for Country Radio Seminar. Toby Keith, Sugarland, Telluride and Pat Green all have terrific new tunes for the radio decision makers to savor. Universal South is bringing forth a dandy by this week’s DisCovery Award winners, Jonathan Singleton & The Grove. Less than a month ago (on […]
The Raconteurs are the latest pop act to put their toes in our country waters. Come one, come all, say I. We have several youngsters in our listening stack today. One of them, Matt Gary, walks off with a DisCovery Award. Mercury’s Billy Currington is on a roll. Thanks to his ultra-smart song selection, he […]
They may call this genre “Americana,” but the Disc of the Day comes from overseas this time. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson have a current CD called Rattlin’ Bones that is a must-own for anyone in love with soulful, mountain-soaked music. My other two favorites in this listening session both came from veterans. It sure […]
All I have to say is, “wow.” I can’t remember the last time so many records deserved a Disc of the Day award. How to choose between Alan Jackson’s sweet/sad acoustic ballad, The Zac Brown Band’s groove-a-thon, Wynonna’s celestial performance, Love and Theft’s dizzy pop confection, Dierks Bentley’s party platter and Jefferson Ross’s brilliant songwriting? […]
This week, I’m tidying up a few loose ends in my Americana listening stack. This truly is a genre of great singer-songwriters, and three of them have current albums that you absolutely must own. They are John Hiatt’s Same Old Man, James McMurtry’s Just Us Kids and Bruce Robison’s His Greatest, which earns our Disc […]
A Nashville memorial service was held this morning, Feb. 18, for the multi-faceted music industry figure Scotty Turner. Nashville Association of Talent Directors president Rod Harris announced Turner’s death at the NATD’s monthly meeting last week. Turner was a musician, record producer, label executive, music publisher and songwriter. Early in his career, he was the […]