Rolling Country 2016

Starting this with one of the comments which will have been blog-linked from the Rolling C post of my Nashville Scene ballot (when the Scene's annual round-up is published):

Elana James, Black Beauty: Hot Club of Cowtown’s fiddling chanteuse brings the back-and-forth of both principal instruments to this second solo set’s selection, sequence and sound of songs, which sometimes veer from Hot Club-ready, steamy and starlit vintage visions, into contemporary covers and originals, often powered by serious playfulness (careful if ye be wishing for truly elfin charms). She wraps “The One Who Loves You More” and the bone(s?) of contention in her own dream, which is just passing through, floating into place, like a cape and/or a sheet. Who else could or would glide and ricochet directly from a cover of double entendre chestnut “Telephone Man” to the musical setting for “Hey Beautiful: Last Letter From Iraq (US Army Staff Sgt. Juan Campos),” in which the soldier deftly spices understatement into intimate reserve, where lines and spaces can be lit just so. There’s also a rippling version of Hunter-Garcia’s sneaky “Ripple,” for instance, along with an occasional reminder of Hot Club’s tendency to random selection, though pretty sure they wouldn’t majority-vote for “Hobo’s Lullaby.” Her self-titled debut might be the solo EJ to start with; it’s concisely covered here: http://www.villagevoice.com/music/a-dylan-co-conspirator-swings-out-of-the-past-6425494

I'll be doing this MUCH different this year, but if you want to follow along:
ILM's Rolling Country Thread 2016

Forks, how different is MUCH different? Any details?
(My first grand plan of 2016 is to follow your rolling playlists avidly, so yeah, I'm a bit concerned atm, lol)

ha, sorry. my plan is to update each playlist at or around the start of each month with everything that's been posted prior. So maybe push your grand plan back till early February? Sorry if that mucks up your resolutions but the past year of doing this triggered some serious OCD behavior and I need to dial it back.

On the other hand (and I'll post a thread on this shortly), I have my own ridiculous grand plan to listen to an obscene 7k playlist of 2015 music culled from all the last year's threads and I'd like some company with that... want to join?

Ha ha, I'll certainly do my best. Can't promise that I'll follow through, but I'll try.

cool; i'm still finishing compiling last years playlists so will post when that list is ready and starting to be cleaned... I started in late December and am already up to Agent Sasco in my alphabetical artist order so that's like 120 songs down.

My SECOND grand plan is to contribute more to these lists and at the very least enough to get a rolling soca thread going for 2016. If you would care to playlist that it would make my year.

absolutely!

Great!

New Trace Adkins song, his first after his second rehab stint. It is called... "Jesus and Jones."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD3IVvPJUYs

I like that one a lot - is "jones" common slang?

RIP RED

http://theboot.com/red-simpson-dead-dies/

Red Simpson, a pioneer of the “Bakersfield sound” and an icon in the sub-genre of country trucking songs, has died unexpectedly. He was 81.
According to the Bakersfield Californian, Simpson had suffered a heart attack on Dec. 18, after returning from a tour. Family friend Gene Thome tells the paper, “He seemed to be doing better,” but on Friday night (Jan. 8), Simpson went into cardiac arrest and could not be revived

Henley's surprisingly good Cass County incl. cover of Tift Merrit's "Bramble Rose," title song of her first alb, now reissued:

Originally released in 2002, Tift Merritt’s debut album, Bramble Rose, was named one of the year’s best by The New Yorker and garnered rave reviews worldwide. Fourteen years later, and long out-of-print, Yep Roc Records will reissue a limited edition, remastered, vinyl-only LP February 19. Pre-order here.

Don Henley recalls of its title track, “I’d wanted to record that song ever since I heard it”, before releasing the song on his 2015 album Cass County (featuring guest vocalists Miranda Lambert and Mick Jagger).

http://yeproc.11spot.com/media/catalog/product/cache/12/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/t/i/tiftmerritt_bramblerose_ri_cover.jpg

Taking a rare moment to reflect on the album, Tift and her band will perform Bramble Rose in its entirety in a special, one-night only performance at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro February 26. A select number of pre-sale tickets for the show will include signed vinyl. Produced by Ethan Johns, Bramble Rose features 11 original compositions and was recorded with her longtime band.

Mountain Stage
A big thanks to NPR Mountain Stage for including Tift's appearance in Grand Marais, MN as part of their 'favorite performances of 2015' list! You can listen to the performance here: http://wvpublic.org/post/mountain-stages-favorite-performances-2015

Sundance ASCAP Music Cafe
Next week, Tift heads to beautiful Park City, Utah for Sundance Film Festival. If you're in town, stop by the ASCAP Music Cafe to catch her and Eric playing some new tunes, January 23rd & 24th.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61OmaUcdO4L.jpg

Willie performs classic songs written by George and Ira Gershwin on his brand new album 'Summertime,’ available February 26.

1. "But Not for Me" by Willie Nelson
2. "Somebody Loves Me" by Willie Nelson
3. "Someone to Watch Over Me" by Willie Nelson
4. "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" by Willie Nelson feat. Cyndi Lauper
5. "It Ain't Necessarily So" by Willie Nelson
6. "I Got Rhythm" by Willie Nelson
7. "Love is Here to Stay" by Willie Nelson
8. "They All Laughed" by Willie Nelson
9. "Embraceable You" by Willie Nelson feat. Sheryl Crow
10. "They Can't Take That Away from Me" by Willie Nelson
11. "Summertime" by Willie Nelson
Watch the new video:
http://www.vevo.com/watch/USSM21502502?syndicationid=bb8a16ab-1279-4f17-969b-1dba5eb60eda&shortlink=2n4TlL&country=US

So the minor key melody of "Summertime" can seem like depths of irony waiting in the creek, depending on your circumstances.

Which reminds me

https://light-in-the-attic.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/release_image/18153/image/large_550_tmp_2F1451500388861-fl5dfbh97o1lwhfr-708c17df57241f53de3b90f0bde7b4e2_2F0934334403988.jpg

more info, audio here:
http://lightintheattic.net/releases/2203-hillbillies-in-hell-country-music-s-tormented-testament-1952-1974

4. "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" by Willie Nelson feat. Cyndi Lauper

Lauper has a country album due out later his year, fwiw. I adore her generally, but I thought she sounded terrible on her traditional blues album from a few years back. Will be curious to see if she fares any better in a country milieu.

yup this Nelson album has me v interested

same here! Willie's gershwin prize ceremony is being broadcast on pbs tomorrow night; set yer dvrs
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/willie-nelson-sings-theres-room-for-everyone-in-america/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjT5EKskTYY

^new Miranda, Brandy Clark, Jamey Johnson

looks cool!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/meet-the-brothers-osborne-the-embodiment-of-country-musics-evolution/2016/01/20/b8d0ffda-b950-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html

Washington Post writer and Xchuckx E like this Maryland duo who work and write with Nashville songwriters and have had their long-delayed album finally released

the Brothers Osborne find themselves in the unlikely spot of being at the forefront of a shift in country music. John and TJ are part of the progressive Nashville clique that also includes the much-lauded Kacey Musgraves and up-and-coming Texas singer Maren Morris. They’re all on a group text chain — one that TJ jokes would be very incriminating if ever released — along with other young singer-songwriters.

“We used to all hang out before we had s--- going on, so it’s the only way we can keep in touch,” TJ said.

cross-posting brandy clark's fantastic new single here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9lDtvaGQio

the hair metal signifiers threw me on the first listen but the lyrics pull this out of the fire in a big way imo
"if you want the girl next door /than GO next door" is a fucking awesome line

WHAT'S WRONG WITH HAIR METAL SIGNIFIERS???

I'm all for the return of Lita Ford.

just seemed incongruous and not quite in line with what i'm looking for out of her i guess. but you're right, nothing inherently wrong.

xpost speaking of Willie; here's some bits from his latest newsletter:

To start, Willie wanted to clear some things up since he's been hearing/seeing some things from fans. He has NOT been sending any personal emails, Facebook/Twitter private messages, or any other messages through social accounts asking for money, giving money away, or anything that sounds too good to be true. You should report those pages or you can reply to this email with a link to their profile so we can take care of it. He only posts to his official social pages publicly and this newsletter.

Willie loves his fans and does not appreciate these scammers!

In more exciting news...a new show date was announced, Willie and others will be honoring Kris Kristofferson, and he is featured in some new music!

New Show Date Announced
A new show date was just announced, 3/8/16 at Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center in The Villages, FL. Tickets go on sale to the public on Wednesday, January 27th.

Premium Packages and presale tickets for Club Luck members are available starting tomorrow, January 23rd at 10am ET! Not a Club Luck member? You can join today: fanclub.willienelson.com

Premium package includes:
A Prime Seat Location* to the show (most seats are located within First 10 Rows!)
An Exclusively Designed T-Shirt
An Exclusively Designed Picnic Blanket
An Exclusively Designed Canvas Tote Bag
An Exclusively Designed Trigger Lapel Pin
A Red Willie Nelson Bandana
An Exclusive Keepsake Laminate
A One Year Membership to the Official Club Luck Fan Club
A Digital Download of the Live Show you attend**
*Unless the show is General Admission
**There are some cases where the live show download for your show is not available, in those cases you can choose any other Live Willie show available.

Honoring Kris Kristofferrson

Willie and others will come together for 'Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson' a concert honoring Kris. Tickets are available tomorrow at 10am CT, get details below.
Get Details Here

I Long to See You

Charles Lloyd & The Marvels new album is out now. It features Willie, Norah Jones, and Bill Frisell.

Get your copy today!
is KK fixing to check out? That's what tribute concerts to the living often mean, in this neck of the woods (don't download the John Hartford trib; it was atypically dire, considering the line-up, and he was there, but with bigger things on his mind).
A local DJ spun Charles Lloyd's groovy 60s hit Forest Flower in its entirety last night---he became something of a Fillmore fixture for a while, I think, but has long since established himself as a quality-over-quantity guy, who goes away when he isn't feeling it. Nelson's made some fun albums with the post-pretentious Wynton Marsalis. Norah Jones is a cool, blue light (not too lite, or it doesn't matter)refreshment on a couple of 'em too. Frisell may or may not add too much of a snooze factor (bringing out NJ's "Snorah" tendencies?), but he's good sometimes, and I'd to hear his humming,tilting, panning-for-ambience guitar next to Nelson's jagged Django interjections.

Ho! Dunno why this particular track should do *this* well, but it's good and so is album:

THOMAS RHETT’S “DIE A HAPPY MAN" MARKS FIRST SIX-WEEK NO. ONE
ON THE BILLBOARD COUNTRY AIRPLAY CHART SINCE
TAYLOR SWIFT’S “OUR SONG” IN 2008

The PLATINUM Hit Consistently Maintains Position As Best-Selling Country Track
and Tops Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart for 11th Week

NASHVILLE, TN – Jan. 25, 2016 – Multi-PLATINUM singer/songwriter Thomas Rhett declares the top spot once again on the Billboard Country Airplay chart this week as his megahit “Die A Happy Man" spends its sixth consecutive week at No. One. The last artist to hold the same reign over the chart was Taylor Swift exactly eight years ago with “Our Song.”

"I seriously can't believe this song has spent six weeks at No. one,” said Thomas Rhett. "When you put a song out there as personal as this, you hope it connects and resonates with people. But I could never have imagined it would connect like this! And to mirror an achievement not seen since Taylor Swift - someone I really respect as a songwriter, performer and entertainer - is just mind blowing."

“The biggest country song in the nation right now" (Omaha World-Herald) continues to serve as the best-selling country digital track and simultaneously tops Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for an 11th week. Thomas Rhett continues to bring his signature "sizzling fusion of soul, funk, R&B and country as his own" (Rolling Stone) to his live show as direct support for Jason Aldean’s WE WERE HERE 2016 TOUR, where he has proven he knows “how to please a full house” (City County Observer). For more information and for a full list of upcoming tour dates, visit www.thomasrhett.com.

I really enjoyed a mid-60s paperback, Paths In The Unknown: The Best of Soviet Science Fiction, which had 0 editorial & translator credits (intro by noteworthy American SF anthologist-author Judith Merrill, who is amazed by short-term quality leap in Soviet SF as represented here, but she's frustrated by some of the translations, which I had no prob with, as a total ignoramus). I talked about several of these stories on the older (b. 2011) Rolling Science Fiction, Fantasy, Speculative etc. Also check out

Damn, wrong thread, wrong board, obv! Sorry!

That Brothers Osborne album is pretty good.

Amazed nobody has linked to the (seemingly belated) Nashville Scene poll that came out today yet:

http://m.nashvillescene.com/nashville/results-of-the-2015-nashville-scene-country-music-critics-poll/Content?oid=6325160

And my own ballot, for old times' sake (though I really only care about the first two categories):

TOP TEN COUNTRY ALBUMS OF 2015:
1. Eric Church – Mr. Misunderstood (EMI Nashville)
2. Toby Keith – 35 MPH Town (Show Dog)
3. Cam -- Untamed (Arista Nashville)
4. Clint Black – On Purpose (Thirty Tigers/Black Top)
5. Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material (Mercury Nashville)
6. Maddie & Tae – Start Here (Dot)
7. Thomas Rhett – Tangled Up (Valory Music Co.)
8. Brett Eldredge – Illinois (Atlantic)
9. The Mavericks – Mono (Valory Music Co.)
10. Reba McEntire – Love Somebody (Starstruck)

TOP TEN COUNTRY SINGLES OF 2015:
1. Haley Georgia - Ridiculous
2. Brothers Osborne – Stay A Little Longer (Extended Version)
3. Blackberry Smoke – Too High
4. Laura Denisse – Sigo Enamorada
5. Cam – My Mistake
6. Eric Church – Like A Wrecking Ball
7. Miranda Lambert - Little Red Wagon
8. Beseech – Highwayman
9. Thomas Rhett – Crash And Burn
10. Lee Brice – Drinking Class

TOP (ONE) COUNTRY REISSUE OF 2015:
1. Dr. John – The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1974 (Omnivore)
COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST MALE VOCALISTS OF 2015:
1. Toby Keith
2. Eric Church
3. Thomas Rhett
COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST FEMALE VOCALISTS OF 2015:
1. Cam
2. Haley Georgia
3. Reba McEntire

COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST SONGWRITERS OF 2015:
1. Eric Church
2. Toby Keith
3. Shane McAnally
COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST DUOS, TRIOS OR GROUPS OF 2015:
1. Maddie & Tae
2. The Mavericks
3. Blackberry Smoke
COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST NEW ACTS OF 2015:
1. Cam
2. Haley Georgia
3. Brothers Osborne
COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST OVERALL ACTS OF 2015:
1. Eric Church
2. Toby Keith
3. Cam

Anyway, I'm sure this is a glass half-full or half-empty thing (there are obviously a lot of things I like on there, and half of my singles at least made the singles list), but most of the winning album list looks like a No Depression list to me, and inasmuch as I care, I find it kind of...depressing. I have voted for a few of those artists before: Corb Lund in 2014, Ashley Monroe in 2013, Turnpike Troubadours in 2012. But I thought all of those albums were really disappointing; couldn't even get through the Lund or Troubadours.

Yep. Thinking their are some critics who would have voted for non-No Depression stuff who did not participate. Ugh, Chris Stapleton album winner and top male vocalist. Too early 70s barband generic on some cuts for me.

there

Haven't heard Geoff Himes fave from last year:

By contrast, consider James McMurtry's Complicated Game, which to my ears was last year's best album in any genre, perhaps the best album of the decade thus far. It did respectably in the poll, finishing at No. 8 in the Best Albums voting and earning McMurtry the No. 3 slot in the Best Songwriters category. But the record never found a large audience, and thus it remained an individual experience rather than a social one. As a result, even its greatest admirers heard it in an isolated manner quite different from the way we heard the Stapleton and Isbell albums.

I listened one and it didn't grab me. I'm enough of a fan to go back again based on that blurb.

Confused by Ashley Monroe not getting a top 10 spot

I forgot to vote -- first time that's happened -- but I would've boosted the Alan Jackson album.

Although I liked a few tracks,Complicated Game is not up to McMurtry's usual. It's mostly kneejerk negativity, monotonous despite the studied lyrics, delivered in a petulant, quivering snarl. Minority report, maybe: along with Himes, xgau thinks it's one of his best, if not his best ever.

Here's my ballot---also posted, with comments, a lot of 'em based on RC 2015 posts, here:http://thefreelancementalists.blogspot.com/2016/01/marinade-stampede-2015-country-etc.html

just in the order they come to mind (if this were Pazz & Jop, I’d give all Top 10 albums 10 points each)

Best Country Albums of 2015:

1. Cam: Untamed
2. Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell: The Travelling Kind
3. Alan Jackson: Angels and Alcohol
4. Ashley Monroe: The Blade
5. Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard:Django and Jimmie
6. Ryan Culwell: Flatlands
7. Lindi Ortega: Faded Gloryville
8. Gretchen Peters: Blackbirds
9. Shelby Lynn:I Can’t Imagine
10.Thomas Rhett:Tangled Up

Hon. Mentions:
Dwight Yoakam: Second Hand Heart, Chris Stapleton: Traveller, Don Henley: Cass County Deluxe Edition, Donnie Fritts, Oh My Goodness, Allison Moorer: Down To Believing

About Half Good (40-60%, incl x % of this song, y % of that):
Tim McGraw: Damn Country Music, Eric Church: Mr. Misunderstood, Toby Keith: 35 MPH Town, Jason Boland & the Stragglers: Squelch, Striking Matches: Nothing But The Silence

Less Than Half Good (in effect if not percentages)(ditto About Half Good, in some cases):
Old Dominion: Meat and Candy, Kinky Friedman: The Loneliest Man I Ever Met,
Kacey Musgraves: Pageant Material, Dave Rawlings Machine: Nashville Obsolete, Ryan Bingham, Fear and Saturday Night

Countryoid/Americana/Related:
1. Patty Griffin: Servant of Love
2. Zane Campbell: s/t
3. Rhiannon Giddens: Tomorrow Is My Turn
4. Whitney Rose: Heartbreaker of the Year
5. Bob Dylan: Shadows In The Night
6. Jason Isbell: Something More Than Free
7. Iris DeMent: The Trackless Woods
8. Brandi Carlile: The Firewatcher’s Daughter
9. Mavericks: Mono
10. Elana James:Black Beauty

Hon. Mention:
Tami Neilson: Don’t Be Afraid, Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin: Lost Time

Reissues:
Roscoe Holcomb: San Diego State Folk Festival 1972
Legends of Old-Time Music: 50 Years of County Records
Buck Owens & Buckaroos: Buck ‘Em! Vol. 2---The Music of Buck Owens (1967-1975)

Hon. Mentions: Joe Bussard Presents The Year of Jublio---78 RPM Recordings of Songs From The Civil War, The Winding Stream: The Carters. The Cashes and the Course of Country Music, Vince Matthews and Jim Casey: Kingston Springs Suite
Jimmy Rabbit and Renegade: The Texas Album
Related: Kentucky Headhunters with Johnnie Johnson:Meet Me In Bluesland,
Rough Guide To Country Blues, Rough Guide To Blues Songsters

Best New Artists:
Cam
Chris Stapleton

confused by Ashley Monroe not getting a Top Ten spot

In the Scene poll? The Blade is # 3.

Just Xchuckx and Dow's list are spelled out here. The Scene poll is at the link

Ah took xhuxx's list as the poll results

yeah that threw me off at first too, like 'wow toby keith is still that well regarded?'

Maren Morris, mentioned upthread in the Brothers Osborne article, is blowing up with the single "My Church" right now but the whole EP she released in November is pretty good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enEZjjk77Nk

playlist is up to date with the thread. back in a month.

ILM's Rolling Country Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist

very psyched for the new mary chapin carpenter record http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-mary-chapin-carpenters-incisive-something-tamed-something-wild-20160203

Not familiar with her work, could you recommend me something that will get me psyched as well?

Charlie Daniels, Night Hawk: the title character, that quiet fella over there, lost his wife and babies in a sagebrush fire, so best not mess with him, This here set is at home on the emotional and musical range, so we also get a cowgrass "Big Balls In Cowtown" and Western Swing "Stay All Night"---riding econo, and sounds like he might be playing all the instruments (no drums, that I've noticed yet, anyway---plus a couple of re-done co-writes, "Billy The Kid" and "Running With The Crowd", plainspoken, but more cautionary than preachy, as he keeps a sharp eye on the party (the latter song could be taken as something about runaway populism, as well as reg'lar Saturday nights getting carried away, turning into shoot-outs and necktie parties----I wonder; he's managed to stay out of any political news that I've seen this year, unlike his sometime talk radio colleague, Ted Nugent).
My favorite is "The Goodnight Loving Trail", a real place, main route of many a cattle drive, and name of course ready for implicit irony in this campfire waltz, at first tweaking the beard of the "old woman"---somebody who can't work the range no more, so he's the cook--but the narrator then admits "someday I'll be wearin' the apron too," cos what else can he do? No place else to go, as the desert wind dries him out, first preserves and then scatters his increasing flakiness---I'm paraphrasing, but not by much---also helps that CD's voice is as dry as the wind; no tears. (This is by Utah [Bruce] Philips, AKA "U. Utah Figment", as referenced by the elusive UP's sometime duet partner, Rosalie Sorrels.)
Also "Ghost Riders In The Sky" and "The Old Chisholm Trail" give us more of the cinematic side, while a somewhut self-mocking serenade of a leetle cowboy fan makes for a slightly sly finale, mixing sentiment and sediment (he knows he's old and his themes are too, duh).

Fuck you, country stars, for not a one of you speaking up when it might've made a difference.

Can't get into politics/policy on here, for professional reasons combined with my ever-increasing paranoia. But can't think about anything else. So, dipping out for a while. Keep it up, y'all. <3

stay ridin high in the saddle

come back when you can dc

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/03/country-music-election-politics

written Nov. 3rd

Silence has come to define the current climate throughout the world of country music, a genre that has historically aligned with the Republican party for the past half-century.

In 2016 that allegiance feels as flimsy as ever, but a wide range of factors, namely the harshly polarizing nature of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, have made the 2016 election a taboo topic of conversation in Nashville’s country music industry...

...Nashville’s long been a Democratic stronghold in deep-red Tennessee, but despite the city’s liberalism many estimate that the country music industry still slightly favors Trump. A recent informal survey conducted by the trade publication Country Aircheck showed that 46% of the industry professionals who participated favored Trump compared to 41% who supported Clinton, with 13% supporting Gary Johnson.

“What I’m hearing is that even with the reservations about Trump, the male members of the industry still feel that he’s one of us,” says Don Cusic, professor of country music history at Nashville’s Belmont University.
...“Country music has become publicly apolitical,” says Braddock. “Ten or 12 years ago, you’d hear a lot of super patriotic, rightwing subject material on the radio. You don’t hear that now. There are a lot more young people listening, and I no longer think of the music as conservative or ideological.”

When major stars have expressed any degree of political opinion, near immediate blowback has ensued. “Whether you love him or hate him, he says what he thinks, and he has proven that you don’t always have to be so afraid,” Blake Shelton said of Trump in Billboard, before adding: “I probably wish there was another option, but there’s not.”

“Hillary might make as good a president as anybody ever has,” Dolly Parton said to the New York Times in June. By August, her opinion on the candidates had been modified to “I think they’re both nuts”...

...With not a single mainstream country star expressing unambiguous support for Clinton, the genre appears to publicly lean slightly towards Trump at first glance. Blake Shelton, Justin Moore, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Rogers, Larry Gatlin and Aaron Lewis have all expressed admiration for the candidate.

...Nearly everyone interviewed for this article cited the Dixie Chicks as a primary reason so many singers are still scared to speak their minds politically. “The one thing the Dixie Chicks taught the industry is boy, you go against the prevailing political belief and you’re off the radio,” says Cusic.

One more thing from that:

The biggest country star to release socially conscious music during this election season is Eric Church, whose current single, Kill a Word, is a subtle condemnation of hate speech. “We thought it would be a crime not to put that song out with what’s going on right now,” says Arturo Buenahora, who’s served as executive producer on each of Church’s five albums.

The song also features vocals from singer Rhiannon Giddens, a committed activist-musician whose origins are in traditional roots and folk music.

...I’m normally not a very political boy,” says Radney Foster, who recently released All That I Require, a historical critique of fascism that might be country’s most directly political take this election

Radney Foster, who recently released All That I Require,

Wow---if this doesn't show here, it's worth googling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgAs9sZA-XQ

Leaves out the charm offensive, but got the subtext

Not really "sub" so much now of course, except for the mention in passing of all that he requires (after all the good news)

So I saw the PBS taping last night in DC of Smokey Robinson getting the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize, and the company curating the list of performers paying tribute to Smokey by doing his songs included country singer Kip Moore and 13 year-old country wunderkind Tegan Marie. They were ok-- competent but neither thrilling or terrible. Alas, the bill did not include any of Smokey's fellow Motown artists or other old-school soul acts. The bill also included: Aloe Blacc, Gallant, CeeLo Green, JoJo, Ledisi, Corinne Bailey Rae, Esperanza Spalding, The Tenors and BeBe Winans. The honoree also performed some of his favorite tunes.
Berry Gordy did an intro for Smokey before his acceptance speech.

The show will air in February

Here's a couple from Leon & Willie, promoting their album of the late 70s (as I v. dimly recall, these were the two best tracks).

"Heartbreak Hotel", but steady-rolling (sometimes bouncing) country boogie a tad more than Elvisabilly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6jYhm9Aq_0

"One For The Road", but not *too* much like Sinatry (actually if you keep watching after the end of the "HH" youtube, it'll prob go right to this, but just in case it doesn't)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZrake9yxgs

One more--- Leon's most-covered, mebbe (Aretha also did a well-plotted version)---kinda country&otherpolitan as done here, by him, Willie, and Ray Charles (reminding me a little of RC's Modern Sounds In Country & Western):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UW4ELmVD9M

Aaron Lewis, Sinner: title and theme song doesn't give us the devilish details, nor does Lewis's voice (though common-man robust and expressive, like the production) project the shadow of dark thangs you shouldn't ask about (so he gets a bit upstaged when Willie Nelson shows up occasionally on this track, albeit with an somewhat messed-up voice, alarmingly enough oafter two good albums this year; can go fast at that age). And Lewis is unwise enough to ask for even more comparison with Chris Stapleton by covering "Whiskey and You", this soon after the original release, too. Oh well, this album turns out to be all about a self-destructive man, after all, and about how there's more than one way to detail the damage.
Not that he can't enjoy it, and doesn't have a sense of humor, like "That Ain't Country" is not the usual tiresome sermon, and he does have a point, complaining about "good times and happy endings", at least, I'd like to think, if they're fake, but he (the guy in the song anway) does seem to be a stubborn cuss, who wants it to be all miserabilism all the time--then again he gets so happy with his Christmas misery list ( of tropes as sung by his hee-ros) that it starts to sound (well kind of) like "Twistin' The Night Away."
Also, there is kind of a perhaps accidentally pre-emptive strike/parody/answer song (re xpost Maren Morris on country as church), "Sunday Every Saturday Night", in which "whiskey fills the cracks in my soul...the preacher calls "Last Round"...Jesus says, "Son, you'll be alright", for a little while, o' course. It is whiskey and wry, close enough (and not too close) to deadpan to get banned, so far.
There are several a little too crisply articulate and well-balanced for convincing desperation---again, considering his handy, familiar vocal skills and their limits---but others tilt toward chaos or inchoate just enough---- the guy in "Mama" laments being "pieces glued together" in stead of scattered, and it unsettles me every time---he may be the guy (or a forerunner, John the Baptist) of the self-made, outward success in "Lost and Lonely", who is also a Richard Cory in the making, "an albatross around my own neck", hoping his wife (or maybe the other, previous woman) can hold everything together 'til he gets back, and they can "get back to where we started so long ago, before my demons took over"---a long-distance with a speed habit (among other problems)? A serial killer? Surely something more like the former--"He sounded so normal, Officer."
"I Lost It All" is a very tuneful, graceful, soulful (not over- or undersung) blurt, and his 13-year-old daughter Zoe gets to rush the beat but not over- or undersing "Travelin' Soldier", yay.

"long-distance *trucker* with a speed habit", I meant!

Lewis is unwise enough to ask for even more comparison with Chris Stapleton

hmmmm. Almost stopped reading your post there.

He gets wiser pretty soon.

Perhaps its me, but wasn't sure from your lyrics-heavy description whether you liked the record, or not

I liked the *sound* right away---he recently closed out some late night talk show, you know how they usually put the musical artists right at the end, and I was shuffling by, getting ready for bed, but he caught my attention, held it, and I perked up enough to go google his album title (no idea of the Staind connection, had completely forgotten about them. Liked the sound of the stream right away too: Lewis's voice (though common-man robust and expressive, like the production) quite tasty high generic neurotic grooves, for the most part. I've come to like a few tracks more, a few less than I did early on, but it's worth checking out (especially on free Spotify, but might buy a nice-priced copy for somewhat spooky traveling companion, to keep me on my toes).

I should say I was also glad to find something sustaining yet plainer than much of my recent subtext-laden listening fare, something with yer more basic ups and downs.

I had a really hard time connecting to the Brandy Clark album this year. Tried multiple times. I generally like what Jay Joyce does to bring life to LBT, Eric Church, Zak Brown, etc., but the sound of this record doesn't fit the artist. Exception would be "Daughter".

Missed Alfred's review the first time, but this is otm:

"However, Clark has a couple of bad habits that need modulating. She still thinks like a writer. Creative writing workshops across the land have so fetishized the detail that they have come to stand for realism — the realism of the inventory, the grocery list, the TSA travel advisory. Good singers don’t need details. Intimations, chance remarks, aperçues, doggerel even — singers can inflect them. Color is harder to throw away; it’s gotta mean something. At times the sheer number of details throughout Town is oppressive. Waffle House? Ill-fitting sequined dress? Jeans needin’ patchin’? Check, check, annnnnd check."

Applaud the effort to portray real life America without the typical generic cliches, but this.:

When my family says put on some music, they mean put on some country. And by country they don't mean any of those Brandy Clark songs about pills and foreclosure. Like Edd said, they're in the middle of it. They want me to put on "Snapback" or "Pontoon."

― dc, Saturday, September 24, 2016 11:13 PM (two months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Country songwriter and country-folkie performer Lori McKenna was mentioned upthread. Still need to listen to her. I see Robert Christgau is writing for the Voice again and he interviewed her:

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/country-musics-most-unassuming-genius-9400051

"Numbered Doors" is the place to start, IMO. Thanks for sharing.

This is the only contribution I have for this thread:

http://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/see-luke-bryan-slap-fan-at-charlie-daniels-concert-w453237

curmudgeon, thanks again for posting. What a great write-up. Made me revisit The Bird & The Rifle (better than I'd remembered). Had totally glossed over "Old Men Young Women" and the line Christgau notes: "You want the lights off/He wants the lights on/So you can pretend/And he can hold on, hold on." !

Hi Indexed, xgau got inspired by the new 'un and covers five McKenna albums here, a unique Expert Witness special so far:
https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/robert-christgau-lori-mckenna-expert-witness

playlist updated.

Jon Pardi has a number #1 country song "Head over Boots," and another popular song called "Dirt on my Boots." I like the hit one better. Catchier, better use of fiddle, guitar solo is not as long and bothersome.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/7357935/jon-pardi-on-head-over-boots-hit-traditional-country-music-interview

“Head Over Boots” is a shuffle, but it’s more of a Motown laid-back shuffle than, say, a Dwight Yoakam shuffle. We met in the middle: the swing and soul of traditional country, but modern at the same time.

2 song titles with "boots" and one with "hat"

McKenna's "Bird and Rifle" has its moments, but didn't wow me. May try some of those earlier albums when I get around to it.

Last year Chris Stapleton was the outsider pick for Grammy album of the year, and this year its Sturgill Simpson

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/grammys/7603835/who-is-sturgill-simpson-grammy-album-of-year-2017

country part of Grammys nominees

Best Country Solo Performance:

"Love Can Go To Hell" — Brandy Clark
"Vice" — Miranda Lambert
"My Church" — Maren Morris
"Church Bells" — Carrie Underwood
"Blue Ain't Your Color" — Keith Urban

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:

"Different for Girls" — Dierks Bentley Featuring Elle King
"21 Summer" — Brothers Osborne
"Setting The World On Fire" — Kenny Chesney & P!nk
"Jolene" — Pentatonix Featuring Dolly Parton
"Think Of You" — Chris Young With Cassadee Pope

Best Country Song:

"Blue Ain't Your Color" — Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey & Steven Lee Olsen, songwriters (Keith Urban)
"Die A Happy Man" — Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett & Joe Spargur, songwriters (Thomas Rhett)
"Humble and Kind" — Lori McKenna, songwriter (Tim McGraw)
"My Church" — busbee & Maren Morris, songwriters (Maren Morris)
"Vice" — Miranda Lambert, Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)

Best Country Album:

Big Day In A Small Town — Brandy Clark
Full Circle — Loretta Lynn
Hero — Maren Morris
A Sailor's Guide To Earth — Sturgill Simpson
Ripcord — Keith Urban

PANDORA'S MOST THUMBED UP COUNTRY SONGS OF 2016

1. Die A Happy Man, Thomas Rhett
2. H.O.L.Y., Florida Georgia Line
3. Tennessee Whiskey, Chris Stapleton
4. You Should Be Here, Cole Swindell
5. Came Here to Forget, Blake Shelton
6. T-Shirt, Thomas Rhett
7. Somewhere on a Beach, Dierks Bentley
8. Think of You (Feat. Cassadee Pope), Chris Young
9. Home Alone Tonight (Feat. Karen Fairchild), Luke Bryan
10. Drunk On Your Love, Brett Eldredge
11. From the Ground Up, Dan + Shay
12. Head Over Boots, Jon Pardi
13. Middle of A Memory, Cole Swindell
14. Different For Girls (Feat. Elle King), Dierks Bentley
15. Record Year, Eric Church
16. Lights Come On, Jason Aldean
17. Fix, Chris Lane
18. Church Bells, Carrie Underwood
19. Snapback, Old Dominion
20. Parachute, Chris Stapleton
21. Nobody to Blame, Chris Stapleton
22. Humble & Kind, Tim McGraw
23. Used to Love You Sober, Kane Brown
24. Peter Pan, Kelsea Ballerini
25. Burning House, Cam

Its rough for women performers on Pandora . Chris Stapleton is all over that list

Stapleton seems to be the only act on that list who doesn't get much radio play (not that this is good or bad)

was Lambert's album too late for Grammy eligibility?

The album will be eligible next year, but "Vice" was nominated for Country Solo Performance and Country Song.

http://www.rollingstone.com/country/lists/40-best-country-albums-of-2016-w452950

Maren Morris followed by Miranda L. and then Margo Price and then Drive by Truckers and then Sturgill S for the top 5

http://www.rollingstone.com/country/lists/25-best-country-songs-of-2016-w455405/margo-price-hands-of-time-w455414

Toby Keith said in an interview that if you'll pay him, he'll appear anywhere.

On the first day of their father’s administration, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. will be glad-handing at an “Opening Day” party in Washington for hundreds of wealthy well-wishers.

Details about the bash — which is separate from the official events hosted by the Presidential Inaugural Committee — are still being worked out, the event’s organizer tell us, though he confirmed that the proceeds would go to unspecified conservation organizations.

TMZ this weekend posted an invite detailing the admission prices, including a $1 million package that included, among other perks, a private reception for 16 with newly sworn-in President Trump and a “multiday hunting and/or fishing excursion for four guests with Donald Trump Jr. and/or Eric Trump, and team.” According to the document, the event will have a “Cuff Links & Camouflage” hunting-and-fishing theme (“jeans, boots, and hats are welcome”) and country acts Toby Keith and Alabama are set to perform.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/year-in-music-2016/7624580/best-country-singles-2016

no NPRish or alt-country or folky stuff here

Except for his lyrical reference to James Brown, Eric Church's "Record Year" song is so formulaic. But I kinda like it anyway. Something about his voice and the melody.

Chely Wright, I Am The Rain: the title doesn't mean she cries all the time; it's a line from "You Are The River", which, in a classic country way, develops logically and poignantly and selectively from the observable physical relationship of rains and rivers. She takes realism inside "Blood and Skin and Bone": "I'm like a guillotine that's lost its point in a room of petty thieves/I'm like a teenage boy with a rake in his hand, starin' up at the leaves." And that is because "nothing around here makes since you've been gone." And the title is because she's a hunk of physical reality going to waste, "after God went to all the trouble to make me this way" (incl. "gay", as inferred here from a context subtly but never coyly provided on this album, as on 2010's Lifted Off The Ground, where she and producer Rodney Crowell provided a new country mainstream, or the old one updated: personal expression via personalized signposts pointing toward the familiar, incl. stuff maybe not talked about too much, or talked about too much, but the discipline of music can create the balance, externalizing without generalizing too much. And the careful clarity of writing and performance is never hesitant (if she doesn't know where or if she's going, she just says so), never murky (the sound is grounded in shades and planes of bass: maybe upright, and/or fretless electric, with just as much unobtrusive, non-chamber-y clarinet, occasional notes from the left side of an electric piano; steel, 12-string, other guitars glint and glide just fine, passing through).
Scenes shift: "Mexico" is from the POV of a truckstop waitress just this side of the border: "Every shift is different and the same....long-distance truckers, runaways and thieves...they're all headin' for the promised land...the dusty TV blares the local news." No complaints: it pays okay though she's away from her dangerous husband, but sometimes she wonders about "heading further South". in a good way, of course. "Where Will You Be" seems at first like it could be about the Rapture---"when it happens, will you be driving your car?"---and maybe it is, but mainly it's about "when you realize what the mess you've made." Tough, but she gets more empathetic in a sequel: "You're fighting battles in your head...we messed up what God said"---which is even more reason to give the singer a call sometime so they can has it out.
"You" might often mean "I", judging by her autobiography, rather than the traditional gender-avoiding gay usage of the second person; she doesn't change "lying by her side" covering Dylan's "Tomorrow is A Long Time"--the best version of this song I've heard, other than Elvis P.'s. (And she pays tribute to a cosmically beautiful female "born at midnight...Haloma, Princess of the Prairie Rain", who also brings fire, but no complaints (so could be about clearing the underbrush, like Mother Nature intends).
But "you" doesn't always mean herself, or doesn't seem to in the sad 'n' sexy "Next To You", though she might be talking to the mirror in a house divided in "Holy War", a spooky modern descendant of Willie Nelson's "This Cold War With You", recorded by one of his strongest influences singing-wise, Floyd Tillman (and seems likehe may have written some with Tillman's vocal phrasing in mind):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQbT8BOOfRc

Should be "it pays okay *and* she's away from her dangerous husband."
Also: "so they can *hash* it out."
(PS: Crowell shows up on this one too, occasionally singing backup [ditto Emmylou] and co-writing, though Joe Henry is the producer this time [and another occasional co-writer]).

Aggh! Should be "Nothin' here makes *sense* since you've been gone." No more long spontaneous posts this year, I swear.

xpost not"This Cold War With You" was written as well as first recorded by Floyd Tillman, fairly early in the CW:
Floyd Tillman [1949]
This Cold War With You
(Tillman)
Columbia 20 615-4

jeez, disregard "not" in that, sorry

from comments for Nashville Scene ballot:

Maren Morris, Hero: First heard as a single, out of the album’s context (unbidden, uncomfortable insights, updates, reminders: notes to self & others), radio bait “My Church” seems like it’s county in ways perhaps not altogether consciously intended by those who put together the100% Bona Fide Certified Yessireebob Country celebration up front: here we have the tradition of show biz congratulating itself via the artist-as-fan-surrogate, namechecking the safe, placeholder icons while (since it’s still now, not yet quite Springtime for Cheetos),plugging into a received, expertly performed carefully filtered version of “gospel”, waving hands in a slo-mo, laidback way, because this is a secular, love song-based sort of “Church”: a conceit (in more ways than one), so let’s turn it up for a minute yet not get too excited, folks. Right on cue, thank y’all.
As first read about, reviewer-bait and clickbait “80s Mercedes” seems like another auto- controversy: is she another naive young bling head, or seeking/preaching Empowerment?
But as actually heard, it’s convincing: Morris is seeking and savoring the quest, as much as the object of her desire and release---which might be out of her financial league, and that of many if not most other “90s bayyy-bies” she’s singing for, but hey life is a journey so ride on, dream on, you go girl--- this good song, and even “My Church”, are best understood as brief necessary detours and pit stops, from and versus. the overall sense of hard-won, still struggling awareness of how relationships work and don’t work: how the sausage gets made, in both cases.
And the stress comes not just from realizing you’ve been had by a sweet-talker, the most adept one yet, and not even from realizing the self-deception, the self-sweet-talking, but also realizing you aren’t just warning and testifying for other young women---you’re also, still, lambasting the sweet talker, who may not even still be around, at least for the moment, but you’re still hooked. And you keep coming back, whether that person does or not. Not just in your mind, either----there is this newfangled thang called a cellphone, with whatchacall a speed dial.
Aside from being hooked on That Person, “I could use a love song”, sung like someone might sigh, “I could use a drink”---”to take me back”, to before she knew. So yeah, she is a country fan, in the age of Beyoncé, for instance, who makes wised-up music, about having your foundations shaken and figuring out how and when to slam the doors and move on. Beyoncé, with her own circuits of self-awareness, of being trained by tough “Daddy Lessons”, about how to deal with/be wary of men like Daddy: lessons based on his own stated sense of self-awareness.
But, That Person aside, there is also another (not trying to be weird about gender, but sounds like she addresses that other as “girl” initially, later says “boy” more clearly), screwed over by another woman, thus (in part because observably not invulnerable) a suitable case for treatment: she explains, suggests, anyway, to this other person and herself “How It’s Done”: could start with, for instance clasping hands as if in a movie----as also suggested sometimes in acting classes: instead of trying to relate to the character from your own experience, generating and then figuring out how to externalize a feeling---instead, you might go through the right motion, act as if you feel, and then you might indeed begin to feel it---so, encouraged, and becoming aware of your improved acting, you feel and act more---and the process continues, as you become more of a pro, hallelujah.
Not so say that she doesn’t keep a sense of suspense going, right to the end--will it work this time, has she continued the spiral beyond her still-accruing powers and responsibilities and stakes, beyond her depth, her range, her potential, her luck? This is the question as she climbs the staircase to knock, one more time, in “Once”--the question she leaves us with (after and perhaps self-deluded/made overly hopeful by the joyful relief of “Second Wind”). Stay tuned, as the voice-over hosts of serials used to say (and what is country without history, as astute student and compulsive seeker Morris would surely ask).

more from the ballot: 2016 Reissues---

Merle Haggard’s Live In San Francisco 1965 opens with a series of endings, which work pretty well: the last 48 seconds of “Devil Woman” is about all I can take, especially since he clones the hair-oil sanctimony of Marty Robbins’ original delivery---then make way for the exciting climaxes of “Movin’ On”, “Orange Blossom Special”, and “Love Is Gonna Live Here Again”! First full-length (2:58) is a very fine “Blue Yodel”, with Johnny Gimble’s blue fiddle swinging out and back into a tensile combo of early Strangers (later, Bonnie Owens is the effective singing actress on “Lead me On”, and caps the uptempo “Cowboy’s Sweetheart” with her own, Swiss-tending yodels, while the rhythm guitarist enjoys working at “Harold’s Super Service”, except for the big guy who always wants like the sign says for a little bitty amount of gas, even at the Pearly Gates). Mostly we get Reader’s Digest editions of mostly original early highlights, some already classic, all quite fresh, as is the Hag’s voice, yodeling and all---the more striking after last year’s collab with Willie, Django and Jimmie, where his always right but economizing sometimes ragged delivery made it not that much of a shock when he checked out with respiratory problems. But the deft terseness of his final round is accentuated here too, making the candid pictures, cards from life’s “other” side. cut just right: ain’t that it, often as not. “Okie From Musgokee” and “Fightin’ Side of Me” have yet to show up, but/and “A Soldier’s Letter” certainly works as a sign-off. 16 songs. 30 minutes.

x-post --Maren Morris' "I Could Use a Love Song" has been growing on me