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 […]
This week, the major labels are stepping up to the plate with quality. Mercury has two excellent singles, by the Randy Rogers Band and Holly Williams. Warner Bros. Records is offering us a dandy uptempo by Jessica Harp. Columbia has the DisCovery Award winners, Caitlin & Will. But at the end of the listening session, […]
Is it live or is it Memorex? Remember that old commercial for magnetic tape? Remember magnetic tape? Anyhow, the gist of it was guessing whether what you heard was pre-recorded or not. And that was the game I played all night long during the Grammy telecast. Not surprisingly, Music City’s finest fared best. Those were […]
It’s awfully hard to argue with the power of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the voices of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Especially when they’re backing Billy Dean on a patriotic anthem. Maybe there’s inspiration and hope in the air or something. Whatever the cause, I fell for “Wave On, Old Glory.” It’s the Disc of […]
All of a sudden, there is a banquet of Nashville-oriented jazz releases on hand. This is a growing, strong and highly gifted segment of our music community, so this week we’re throwing the spotlight on it. There is something to recommend in every disc here. But the clear winner of the Disc of the Day […]
Newcomers, baby acts and veterans are all in the mix this week. Both Aaron Tippin and Collin Raye arrived with excellent sounding comeback discs. Chris Young, Bomshel, Jamey Johnson continue to shine with blindingly bright promise. Newcomer Mike Adkins totally nails the DisCovery Award. And I continue to be in awe of the talent of […]
Doff your caps to the ladies, gentlemen. This week, the fairer sex rules the listening session. Carrie Underwood has a splendid outing with the Randy Travis goldie “I Told You So.” Newcomer Christen Sawyer is our DisCovery Award winner. And the Disc of the Day is by a group that actually has “Lady” in its […]