Country Music, Y'all!

[UYI]

On 7/6/2017 at 7:37 PM, ennui said:

I was thinking about Shania the other day. I discovered that she had appeared on The Voice, and I missed it. 

"Life's About to Get Good"? Seriously? You haven't worked in years.

Well, she's the best selling female country artist of all time. She didn't NEED to work if she didn't want to! ;)

Edited July 8, 2017 by UYI

[UYI]

Jason Isbell is one of the nominees for CMA Album of The Year. This is a BIG deal, as he is an independent artist, and his latest album is...considerably to the left of a good portion of the mainstream country audience (presumably, of course--stereotypes are never good). Makes me wonder if he has a shot for an Album of the Year for the Grammys, like Sturgill Simpson's surprise nomination this past year. 

Edited September 4, 2017 by UYI

[Stuffy]

Whether or not Jason has a shot at the CMAs will be determined by which agency he belongs to. If he's with WME, he has a chance. If he's WME plus also Live Nation for touring, he really has a chance. If an artist is with CAA they don't have much of a chance, unless they are in a WME weak category like Little Big Town (CAA) winning group. 

There's also a lot of politicking involved with the country awards. They have a strong history of vote trading. They just recently banned bribing with gifts. Blake Shelton threw a campaign style party one year. I am not positive, but I want to say it was the year he won entertainer for only being on the voice.  He didn't put out an album and toured very little but still won.

The good news is that even if Jason is shut out at the CMA awards, he still has a chance at the Grammys. It's not uncommon for them to have completely different winners. Carrie Underwood is an example of that. Carrie is with CAA/AEG Live and doesn't campaign for the country awards. People think she always wins but before last year's female win at the CMAs, it had been eight years. She will still win a performance Grammy occasionally, but not CMA or ACM awards. Zac Brown has spoken out about the country award show politics but was able to win a country album Grammy.  You also have the opposite example with Miranda winning country awards left and right but only has been able to win two Grammys in that time. 

It sounds all conspiracy theory-like, but a statistician used to post the WME vs CAA numbers after country awards before she passed away.  

Edited September 5, 2017 by Stuffy

[UYI]

Are you talking about Windmills Country? She used to post at Saving Country Music a lot. It's a shame she's gone now.

 

Margo Price's new album, All American Made, comes out on October 20th! Here's her new song, "A Little Pain."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W4-6R54xdg

[Stuffy]

On 9/6/2017 at 5:26 PM, UYI said:

Are you talking about Windmills Country? She used to post at Saving Country Music a lot. It's a shame she's gone now.

 

Margo Price's new album, All American Made, comes out on October 20th! Here's her new song, "A Little Pain."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W4-6R54xdg

Yeah I'm talking about Windmills. I love that she fought for the women of country music and used stats to back everything up. 

[Jeanne222]

Where is everybody talking about the CMA awards show last Wed. night.  I'm still humming Wichita Lineman.  Little Big Town stole the show.  I'd love to hear them sing it again but can't find a video anywhere.  TIA if anybody happens to find it.

[Quof]

I've been looking for a couple of videos as well, like "Our Town" when Eddie walked out. All videos seem to be on lock down.  

[Jeanne222]

3 hours ago, Quof said:

I've been looking for a couple of videos as well, like "Our Town" when Eddie walked out. All videos seem to be on lock down.  

Little Big Towns Wichita lineman is on YouTube now!  It's wonderful!

[Bastet]

21 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Where is everybody talking about the CMA awards show last Wed. night. 

There's a thread for the CMA Awards here (but no one has posted about this year's show yet).

[UYI]

On 11/11/2017 at 6:21 AM, Quof said:

I've been looking for a couple of videos as well, like "Our Town" when Eddie walked out. All videos seem to be on lock down.  

Here you go!

The Brothers Osborne perform a medley that includes "Tulsa Time" as a tribute to the recently departed Don Williams:

[UYI]

[Jeanne222]

2 hours ago, UYI said:

Thank you soo much!!!

[UYI]

Miranda Lambert didn't get a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album today and now I'm sad. :'( 

[UYI]

So only three people actually live in Luckenbach, Texas.

http://www.rollingstone.com/country/features/waylon-jennings-luckenbach-texas-at-40-inside-1977-hit-w513143

[Stuffy]

On 11/28/2017 at 9:43 AM, UYI said:

Miranda Lambert didn't get a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album today and now I'm sad. :'( 

I was definitely surprised about that omission especially since someone like Thomas Rhett did.  She doesn't often win Grammys, but her albums normally are nominated. The Grammy's don't have the WME/Live Nation block voting issues like the country award show, so she doesn't win every year.  She's only won two Grammys compared to the numerous CMA and ACM awards.  The album she did win a Grammy for was Platinum.  I would've given it to her for one of the earlier albums. 

[TheGreenKnight]

I have to say that I don't feel sorry for her missing a nomination considering how many other awards she's won and not deserved, imo. I'm glad she can't rig it at the Grammy's.

Danielle Bradbery's album was released this past Friday. It might be her last chance to get attention from country radio, so I'm hoping she lucks into a hit.

[unicorn23]

This is pretty late, but I watched part of the CMAs last month and the Brothers Osborne performance made me perk up and look away from my computer. I enjoyed it so much that I went and listened to their album and I like it very much. Also, I was surprised to find out that I had four of the five Best Album nominees in my music library (I don't have Jason Isbell's album) because I wouldn't consider myself a country fan, but apparently I am!

In other news, I'm thrilled that Sugarland are reuniting to release new music next year. It has been too long.

[UYI]

One of my favorite country Christmas songs.

[UYI]

 

 

[Stuffy]

Rolling Stone did an article about the open sexual harassment that goes on in country music.  It's not just the artists being harassed but also behind the scenes employees.  

https://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/inside-country-radios-secret-history-of-sexual-harassment-w515439

Looking at the huge chart imbalances and lyrics in some of the male artists' top songs, it shouldn't be a surprise that women aren't treated with respect. I read a review today about a Sony artist that they're trying to break. His song is called "Bitches" which according to the review he says 25 times.  He's a male artist on a big label, so he'll at least get a chance.  

A couple of sample lyrics are:

Well I don't want to deal with bitches no more

Your reputation, you earned it. You’re the best damn deal in town, oh, so cheap" 

[UYI]

Speaking of the song "Bitches", Trigger from Saving Country Music has sounded off! (Spoiler Alert: He's not too happy right now.)

https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/sorry-mitchell-tenpenny-bitches-goes-too-far/

[Stuffy]

Yeah that’s the review I saw. 

[27bored]

Hey, can someone help me figure out a country artist? There’s a guy whose video I’ve seen on the CMT Music channel a couple of times. I like the song a lot, but I can’t remember his name. He’s a young guy, but he has a long beard. In the video he has on a baseball cap and it’s mainly scenes of him in a studio. It might have some people in walking around in love or whatever, but it’s a budget video. I think he’s independent. Still, I know he’s in rotation. Anybody know who he is?

[Silver Raven]

Reba McEntire is the new Colonel Sanders in the KFC ads.

[Stuffy]

4 hours ago, 27bored said:

Hey, can someone help me figure out a country artist? There’s a guy whose video I’ve seen on the CMT Music channel a couple of times. I like the song a lot, but I can’t remember his name. He’s a young guy, but he has a long beard. In the video he has on a baseball cap and it’s mainly scenes of him in a studio. It might have some people in walking around in love or whatever, but it’s a budget video. I think he’s independent. Still, I know he’s in rotation. Anybody know who he is?

Sorry I can't help you. There's so many male artists that it's hard to keep track of the new ones.  The only long bearded guy I can remember is Chris Stapleton, but he's not young. He also wears a different kind of hat. Dierks Bentley has a beard with his new project, but he's not young either. 

[27bored]

3 minutes ago, Stuffy said:

Sorry I can't help you. There's so many male artists that it's hard to keep track of the new ones.  The only long bearded guy I can remember is Chris Stapleton, but he's not young. He also wears a different kind of hat. Dierks Bentley has a beard with his new project, but he's not young either. 

Yeah, I wish I had more info to go on. The beard thing is probably the most distinct feature on him. It’s long...maybe even a bit longer than Chris Stapleton’s. But you can tell he’s a young guy. I think he’s a new artist. The song has a nice groove to it; it’s  not a traditional country song, but it’s not, like, Sam Hunt, either. I wanna say his last name is East or has East in it. I don’t know. 

[27bored]

I FOUND HIM!

Oh my God, I’ve spent the last fourteen hours trying to remember this dude’s name. Searching every combination of names I could. Fortunately, I was right about his last name being East. I’ve realized that I even knew his entire name — but I kept getting an actor when I was Googling him. I should’ve written out his entire name because then I would’ve found his smiling face and, like I said, long beard. I wound up downloading Spotify and searching East and found him in seconds. Whew!

Anyway, I present to you “Still Crazy” by Jeffrey East.

Edited January 28, 2018 by 27bored

[UYI]

Just a reminder that Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson have the potential to save mainstream country music if people actually fucking let them. Chris has three albums in the Billboard Country Album charts top 10. Sturgill was nominated for Album Of The Year at the Grammys last year despite the CMAs and ACMS ignoring him. What more do you need?

 If only Jason Isbell was there, too!

15 hours ago, 27bored said:

Yeah, I wish I had more info to go on. The beard thing is probably the most distinct feature on him. It’s long...maybe even a bit longer than Chris Stapleton’s. But you can tell he’s a young guy. I think he’s a new artist. The song has a nice groove to it; it’s  not a traditional country song, but it’s not, like, Sam Hunt, either. I wanna say his last name is East or has East in it. I don’t know. 

lol, I saw that you said his last name is East and I was like, "Anderson East doesn't have a long beard!" :)

 

[SunnyBeBe]

Ref the discussion upthread about award wins by various artists.  I've always been skeptical about the winners and didn't know why, but, I read this theory. Please give me your input on it. I'm not sure if it's true or not.  I read it a couple of years ago and I think at that time, that Carrie and Miranda were under labels that were both owned by Sony.  And, that TPTB wanted to boost sales for Miranda so, they were promoting her winning as many country awards as possible.  (Within the industry, they couldn't control Grammy status.)  And that they were not concerned with Carrie's sales, because she already did quite well.  Not sure if this is or was true, but, it would explain how Miranda repeatedly won Female Artist of the year and Carrie did not.  Even Miranda seemed a little perplexed about it.  Gladly, she said that there were others who have much better vocals.  I found online that Carrie has 65 million album sales and Miranda not as much. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Underwood_discography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Lambert_discography

I just read that Carrie has changed labels last year, so, not sure how all that works now. Is Sony still involved?  Those corps.....not sure how they are all in cahoots. 

I actually like Miranda and Carrie. Both are awesome, imo. They are different. 

I will admit that I'm a little tired of some of the male generated country music that has been coming out over the last couple of years.  I find that I don't tune in to it the way I used to.  Sometimes, I feel like it's the same song, just a few different words and melody.  I really liked it the first thousand times I heard it. lol 

[27bored]

5 hours ago, UYI said:

Just a reminder that Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson have the potential to save mainstream country music if people actually fucking let them. Chris has three albums in the Billboard Country Album charts top 10. Sturgill was nominated for Album Of The Year at the Grammys last year despite the CMAs and ACMS ignoring him. What more do you need?

 If only Jason Isbell was there, too!

 

 

lol, I saw that you said his last name is East and I was like, "Anderson East doesn't have a long beard!" :)

 

 

Yeah, no beard for Anderson. Speaking of which, y’all need to check out Anderson’s new video for “Girlfriend”. I didn’t realize seeing Anderson dressed as a camp counselor was something I wanted to see in a music video, but it wound up being kinda awesome.

Oh, and here’s a video of Anderson back in 2011 with long, stoner hair.

[Stuffy]

4 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Ref the discussion upthread about award wins by various artists.  I've always been skeptical about the winners and didn't know why, but, I read this theory. Please give me your input on it. I'm not sure if it's true or not.  I read it a couple of years ago and I think at that time, that Carrie and Miranda were under labels that were both owned by Sony.  And, that TPTB wanted to boost sales for Miranda so, they were promoting her winning as many country awards as possible.  (Within the industry, they couldn't control Grammy status.)  And that they were not concerned with Carrie's sales, because she already did quite well.  Not sure if this is or was true, but, it would explain how Miranda repeatedly won Female Artist of the year and Carrie did not.  Even Miranda seemed a little perplexed about it.  Gladly, she said that there were others who have much better vocals.  I found online that Carrie has 65 million album sales and Miranda not as much. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Underwood_discography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Lambert_discography

I just read that Carrie has changed labels last year, so, not sure how all that works now. Is Sony still involved?  Those corps.....not sure how they are all in cahoots. 

I actually like Miranda and Carrie. Both are awesome, imo. They are different. 

I will admit that I'm a little tired of some of the male generated country music that has been coming out over the last couple of years.  I find that I don't tune in to it the way I used to.  Sometimes, I feel like it's the same song, just a few different words and melody.  I really liked it the first thousand times I heard it. lol 

I'm a fan of both Carrie and Miranda, but I never bought into the label conspiracy.  The WME/CAA thing seems more realistic due to the sheer numbers of WME artists winning in recent years.  In the past there have been years when there were four CAA artists and Miranda the lone WME artist in the female category. Miranda would win even in her years off. I don't think they could get away with it when Carrie won in 2016. Miranda was between albums and singles. Meanwhile Carrie had her most successful tour with many sellouts to go along with several successful singles and a well reviewed album  

One of the Sony bigwigs said something about not worrying about Carrie because she's so successful, but I don't remember it being about awards. I want to say it was Overton.  I don't think it was the current label head. 

Carrie's definitely not with Arista/Sony anymore. She's Capitol/UMG. There was/is a lawsuit against Sony because Carrie and Kelli supposedly were stiffed money. They both left their labels. Carrie also joined back up with a woman who helped her early in her career. Normally I would've said Carrie went with her because she's big on loyalty, but she's been making changes. Last album had less Mark Bright, and she also switched PR firms this year. I thought she'd stay with her original PR woman her entire career. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by Stuffy

[SunnyBeBe]

Interesting.  Thanks for the info. 

[UYI]

Cool piece of trivia:

Last night, Chris Stapleton became the first artist since Roger Miller to win two Best Country Album Grammys two years in a row. And because of From A Room: Volume 2 coming out a month ago, I can easily see him going 3 for 3 next year. 

[TheGreenKnight]

On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 1:46 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

Ref the discussion upthread about award wins by various artists.  I've always been skeptical about the winners and didn't know why, but, I read this theory. Please give me your input on it. I'm not sure if it's true or not.  I read it a couple of years ago and I think at that time, that Carrie and Miranda were under labels that were both owned by Sony.  And, that TPTB wanted to boost sales for Miranda so, they were promoting her winning as many country awards as possible.  (Within the industry, they couldn't control Grammy status.)  And that they were not concerned with Carrie's sales, because she already did quite well.  Not sure if this is or was true, but, it would explain how Miranda repeatedly won Female Artist of the year and Carrie did not.  Even Miranda seemed a little perplexed about it.  Gladly, she said that there were others who have much better vocals. 

There were others with better music, too.

I'm glad Carrie Underwood left Sony since they clearly were not making her a priority despite her being one of the biggest artists in the genre. Anyway, I wish there would be a moment that would shatter country music's current treatment of women. Sexual harassment, assault, and intimidation in a genre that won't even allow women full slots to perform or play them on the radio would not surprise me in any way whatsoever.

[SunnyBeBe]

I've read about how males dominate the country charts most of the time and that it's designed that way.  Yes, Carrie is an exception as are others, but, for the most part, it's the guys who dominate. 

This is Billboard Top 50 last week.  (A female on the top, but, with male collaboration.)

https://www.billboard.com/charts/country-songs

Itunes charts

https://www.billboard.com/charts/country-songs

[UYI]

I posted this already in the In Memoriam threads (both here and in the regular thread), but Daryle Singletary died unexpectedly this morning at age 46. I have heard some say it was from a sudden heart attack, but I don't think anything has been confirmed yet. He leaves behind a wife, and four kids: seven year old twins, a five year old, and a three year old.

How tragic. :(

https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/46-year-old-country-traditionalist-daryle-singletary-dies-unexpectedly/

[SunnyBeBe]

UYI, that is terrible news.  So young.  It's just heartbreaking.  

 

I must be missing something with Chris Stapleton.  I don't get it. Can anyone suggest something from him that they find inspiring.  I want to get it. .......I do like Nobody to Blame.  

Edited February 17, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[GaT]

Has Carrie Underwood's face been clearly seen since this picture was posted? I have to admit I am very suspicious of this whole "40 stitches" story. She fell back in Novemeber, & stories about it were all over the place, but they only mentioned her wrist, nothing was ever said about stitches in her face. Then all of a sudden in January, she posts about the stitches in her face & warns people she might be “not quite looking the same.”. I think she may have had a little tune up on her face, & came up with this story so no one would know. I find it hard to believe that not one gossip site heard about any face injury, but they all knew about the wrist. 

[Jeanne222]

2 hours ago, GaT said:

Has Carrie Underwood's face been clearly seen since this picture was posted? I have to admit I am very suspicious of this whole "40 stitches" story. She fell back in Novemeber, & stories about it were all over the place, but they only mentioned her wrist, nothing was ever said about stitches in her face. Then all of a sudden in January, she posts about the stitches in her face & warns people she might be “not quite looking the same.”. I think she may have had a little tune up on her face, & came up with this story so no one would know. I find it hard to believe that not one gossip site heard about any face injury, but they all knew about the wrist. 

Hummm you might be right!

I am in love with Little Big Town!  Anywhere I can read about them and their families?  I think the two dark headed ones are married to each other.

Girl Crush, Wichita Lineman, Better Man!   Love them all!

[Stuffy]

The original press release said multiple injuries including cuts and bruises, along with the broken wrist.  It just never said where the cuts and bruises were.  People in Nashville respect other's privacy and usually leave celebrities alone.  There's not a big paparazzi presence, so no photos would leak.  She recently posted a workout picture with her son, but it was only the right side of her face.  The part of the face shown doesn't look like any work has been done to it. 

I don't think she would have cancelled the Oklahoma Hall of Fame induction or the charity concert she was supposed to do for plastic surgery.  She doesn't have a reputation for cancelling on people, but she cancelled three appearances after the accident.  She usually shows up to perform no matter how sick or injured she is.  She only cancels/reschedules if she doesn't have a singing voice.

[UYI]

Yeah, I don't think she's the type to lie about something like this. I DO think it's possible she overreacted when she said her face might look different now, but no matter how phenomenal her voice may be, her looks will always be scrutinized, for better or worse. I can see why she might be scared of the reaction, even if it turns out her face really doesn't look different at all. Not to get too shallow, but she's one of the most gorgeous women in the entertainment in this last decade or so, and she seems like one of the straightest of arrows, too--a lifelong vegetarian who appears to take extremely good care of herself. It's possible some lines showed up that only she has truly noticed, but if she had work done, I think she would have done it in a subtle and tasteful way, and certainly not with an elaborate cover story to hide it, either. She seems like a professional who mostly keeps her private life private, as much as she can, anyway (and as Stuffy mentioned above, Nashville is NOT comparable to Hollywood in terms of paparazzi--I can see how she was able to keep the details about her face hidden before she was ready to talk about it herself). I WILL say that her fanbase can rival any pop star's in terms of craziness (yes, even the Beyhive and the Swifties--let THAT sink in for a second), but that's not necessarily her fault.

Lastly, a member of Willie Nelson's band died nearly a decade ago after a very similar fall to Carrie's. These things CAN happen.

https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/willie-nelsons-bassist-dan-bee-spears-dead-at-62/

32 minutes ago, Stuffy said:

 

I don't think she would have cancelled the Oklahoma Hall of Fame induction or the charity concert she was supposed to do for plastic surgery.  She doesn't have a reputation for cancelling on people, but she cancelled three appearances after the accident.  She usually shows up to perform no matter how sick or injured she is.  She only cancels/reschedules if she doesn't have a singing voice.

One thing she is routinely praised for is her commitment to performing at the Grand Ole Opry multiple times a year, even when she's on tour. There's a certain number of appearances Opry members are told to make per year, but many of them don't live up to them, whereas Carrie routinely leads everyone in appearances every year. 

[SunnyBeBe]

On 2/17/2018 at 6:59 PM, Jeanne222 said:

Hummm you might be right!

I am in love with Little Big Town!  Anywhere I can read about them and their families?  I think the two dark headed ones are married to each other.

Girl Crush, Wichita Lineman, Better Man!   Love them all!

I like them too.  Little Big Town was so underrated for years.  I was thrilled when they got the success they deserve.  I liked their old music too, though. 

Yes about Fairchild and Westbook.  Here's an article on it. 

 

https://www.bustle.com/articles/101815-which-little-big-town-members-are-married-the-cma-music-festival-hosts-were-bandmates-before-they

[UYI]

Kacey Musgraves and Ashley Monroe are both back with new singles and new albums! Kacey's new album, Golden Hour, comes out on March 30th, while Ashley's new album, Sparrow, comes out on April 20th.

[DisneyBoy]

Does Kylie's "Dancing" count in this category?

[UYI]

Jo Dee Messina was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago (I don't think it's been revealed publicly what kind it is, though), and is currently undergoing treatment. She is one of my favorite women in country music from the last two decades (and one of the few big country stars from the Northeast--she's from Massachusetts) . I hope she wins this fight!

Edited March 5, 2018 by UYI

[Bastet]

On 3/4/2018 at 4:34 PM, UYI said:

Jo Dee Messina was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago (I don't think it's been revealed publicly what kind it is, though), and is currently undergoing treatment.

I knew the name, but couldn't place the song I was associating her with.  I did an internet search and, oh! - I listen to Heads Carolina, Tails California frequently on my iPod.  It's such an evocative song.  Apparently that was her debut; way to come out of the gate!  Good luck to her in this health battle.

[Stuffy]

I think my favorite of hers is "Bring on the Rain."  I don't know why.  It sounds melancholy, but it's not.  It's about inner strength.  Those kind of songs are usually uptempo or with a lot of belting with exceptions of course.

[SunnyBeBe]

I'm a Jo Dee Messina fan too!  Love Heads Carolina, since, I'm a Carolina girl. I also love BYE BYE.  She's awesome.  I sure wish her well in her recovery.  Man, I HATE cancer. 

Edited March 6, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[UYI]

Here's something cool I plan to post about here for awhile:

Ten years ago in 2008, the website Country Universe did a list of who, in their view, were/are the 100 Greatest Women in country music history. Now, in honor of that list's ten year anniversary, they are compiling a new list, to reflect the changes in influence/popularity over many of these women and others in this past decade. This, of course, means that the rankings for some of these women will have changed--some with higher rankings, some with lower rankings--with a few new names added, and few who will no longer be on the list.

Here's the 2008 list:

http://www.countryuniverse.net/features/100-greatest-women/

And here is the beginning of the new list:

http://www.countryuniverse.net/features/100-greatest-women-10th-anniversary-edition/

The first four names/acts lists (along with links to the write-ups on each) are as follows:

#100: Roba Stanley.

http://www.countryuniverse.net/2018/03/03/100-greatest-women-100-roba-stanley/

#99: Ashley Monroe.

http://www.countryuniverse.net/2018/03/03/100-greatest-women-99-ashley-monroe/

#98: Gretchen Wilson.

http://www.countryuniverse.net/2018/03/06/100-greatest-women-98-gretchen-wilson/

#97: The Forester Sisters.

http://www.countryuniverse.net/2018/03/07/100-greatest-women-97-the-forester-sisters/

 

I'll post updates here as more names are added to the list (and the write-ups). I'm curious to see what others think of both this new list and the one from ten years ago. 

Edited March 7, 2018 by UYI

[UYI]

We have another entry on the 100 Greatest Women list!

#96: Rhiannon Giddens.

http://www.countryuniverse.net/2018/03/08/100-greatest-women-96-rhiannon-giddens/

Edited March 8, 2018 by UYI