Rolling Country 2013

Regarding that Sunny Hill track, Mat (who's Norwegian, though I think he's living in Seoul at the moment) points out over on K-pop 2013 that the Irish elements I was noticing might actually be Swedish, and that at one point featuring artist Hareem is playing a Swedish Nyckelharpa - which I guess is five times* as expensive as the pennywhistle he also plays. The pennywhistle is generally Irish, right? (Also sometimes Scottish, and British, and then South African.)

Says LOEN Entertainment in the YouTube description:

The song has a Bohemian polka-rhythm along with Jungle and Rock feelings with it as well.... the musician 'Hareem' joined as a session to make the music even more fun. The greek bouzouki, nyckelharpa, Drehleier, and the Irish Whistle is personally owned by Hareem himself. These instruments are rarely found in Korea, and in this song they make the polka even much more fun to listen to.

And polka makes it country! Or Mexican! And Bohemia makes it folkie!**

*Okay, bad joke, false cognate. "Nyckel" doesn't mean "nickel," it means "key."

**Okay, 'nother bad joke.

Actually, I hear more polka oompah than rockabilly in the rhythm of "Mama's Broken Heart" -- There's something Central European about it, to my ears.

Haven't listened to my Cinderella albums in something like 15 years, not even sure what box the cassettes are in; but if Keifer no longer counts as metal, so much the worse for metal. He can still approximate that high hysteria turn-of-the-'60s-into-'70s pitch that comes from nowhere else.

Also, new Keifer alb, The Way Life Goes, sounds more like what my fallible memory says Long Cold Winter sounded like than like what Fallibility & Crew attribute to Heartbreak Station, which is good since Mr. Fallible Frank far prefers the engaging former to the relatively respectable and austere latter.

Do you think "Mama's Broken Heart" might have some English Music Hall in it too? --Maybe "too" is the wrong word, since I wouldn't be surprised if the polka crazes of the 19th century embedded the rhythm in places as scattered as the West Indies and the British Isles and northern Mexico and from there into the American south.

When I first heard Dwight Yoakam's "Population Me" I immediately thought of the Kinks' "Harry Rag."

Yeah, music hall in re: the Lambert song doesn't seem out of the question to me. But it's that Germanic gasthaus cabaret drinking song swirl or whatever that I really notice (not that drinking songs and music hall are musically exclusive by any means, obviously) (and not that I'm any kind of expert, myself.)

As for the Keifer album, the late '60s/early '70s rock I hear on it seems a lot closer to the Faces or (sometimes country leaning) Stones or even Joplin than to, say, Iron Butterfly or Blue Cheer or Blues Image or Bloodrock or Rare Earth or Uriah Heep or Deep Purple. So I'm guessing metal heads, at least these days, would hear it as a lacking a certain elephantine riff density that has increasingly been considered a metal requirement. (There may be moments of elephantine density here and there; I'm not sure -- My advance CD's back in the car player now, inspired by this thread, after being on the shelf for a month or two -- but if so I don't really remember any. But believe me, I'll take any excuse I can to slot is as metal for Rhapsody readers if I can convince myself it qualifies, so I may be open to persuasion.) Obviously it sort of qualifies as metal merely on the basis of Keifer being grandfathered in as the leader of what was once considered a metal band (Dug Pinnick of King's X's latest solo album, which isn't is good as Keifer's but which I still like pretty well, is grandfathered in partly for that reason, but it also seems heavier to me), but the late '80s might be sort of a historical blip in that bands like Bon Jovi (and maybe Cinderella), who probably wouldn't have been heavy enough to be considered metal before or since, were.

I'm not saying that era were wrong -- and metal fans are ridiculous, in that Blue Cheer, Heep, Purple, etc., are these days widely referred to as "proto"-metal, which is absolute historical revisionism but I've shamefully taken to using the phrase now and then myself just because of how it's so widely understood. Anyway, I'm not sure I'm right about this, but I'm guessing Keifer's new one might feel even less metal (i.e. less heavy) than Cinderella did on even their earliest albums. (Long Cold Winter is easily my favorite too; always was. And right, Heartbreak Station was their respectable blues-rock move. Debut Night Songs, a lot of it an AC/DC rip, was arguably their most metal album, and this year a sort of doom metal band from Ohio, Robot Lords of Tokyo, even covered the title cut.)

By the way, seeing how I'm off on this metal tangent, I should mention that I've also noticed a aural intersection between jiggy Irish and Scandinavian folk rhythms in regards to Irish (Cruachan) and Scandinavian (Korpiklaani from Norway) forest-troll folk-metal bands in recent years. (Lots of drinking song rhythms in that music, too. In fact, in Korpiklaani's case, almost all the songs are about drinking.)

("Mutually exclusive," I think I meant in that first sentence. Though maybe "musically" works too.)

Uh, second sentence. (Oh never mind.)

Frank/xhuxk/jon_oh -- Thanks!

not saying that era were wrong....Jeez. Lots of ungrammatical incoherence in that post.

Anyway, now I'm noticing a few tracks on the second half of Keifer's The Way Life Goes that might approach the heaviness of, say, Stone Temple Pilots or the less muscular side of '70s Aerosmith ("Mood Elevator," "Welcome To My Mind," "Ain't That A Bitch," "Babylon" -- possibly "Solid Ground" or "Cold Day In Hell" on the first half too, though those are probably stretching it even more), but that's as heavy as it gets. Nazareth's Dan McCafferty conceivably still a vocal inspiration too. But I'm still doubtful about calling it metal, by current definitions at least. Also don't hear a "Gypsy Road" on the thing. But I can still see this being Keifer's best album in a quarter-century regardless (and I say that as a weirdo who actually Pazz&Jopped Still Climbing, which peaked at #178 in Billboard, in 1994, though I do remember thinking that a weak year at the time.) If I did count The Way Life Goes as either metal or country, I'd say it would have a good chance on making year-end top 10s in those genres. Probably not my favorite new "rock" album I've heard this year (I'd put it behind Corsair, Mustasch, probably Voivod, and especially the Thin Lizzy spinoff Black Star Riders -- all more metal -- so far), but close.

Since Lady A's "Goodbye Town" was mentioned...I think this might be one of those cases were I realize none of us hear music the same, but this song, which I'm not sure I like all that much overall, has one part, the last minute of the song basically, when he starts riffing about memory and how she's going to think about him someday, that always stuns me because it sounds so much to me like the Scottish band The Blue Nile, especially songs on Hats like "The Downtown Lights". I need to listen to those songs again side by side to see if I'm crazy, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Ashley Monroe was set to play here, but the date got cancelled, because she's opening up for Train. Train.

She may deserve such a fate, judging her recent so-smooth-she's-a-stiff appearances on TV. Yeah, it's just TV, and could be nerves, but seems like complacency. Although on Prairie Home Companion, with no cameras, she did muse, "Sometimes I think I'm a 90-year-old man in the exterior of a 26-year-old female." Garrison: "Uh...well...while we're...considering that, could we have another song--?" So, maybe we'll get more such (hopefully in song) from this oracle whose huge waif eyes now sport painted lampshades, keeping stoic watch across the fields.
And might also have something to do with "Being Pretty Ain't Pretty", one of those Annie Up songs with unusual themes. Sure, there have been some books, like The Beauty Trap, and outbursts on every side of the screen, even in these "post-feminist" times, but I can't think of other musical examples, in any genre (oh yeah: Ani, India.Arie, years and years ago). There must be others, but not very often.
"Dear Sobriety" ia a seemingly new kind of cheatin' confessional---but does it have to be addressed to "Sobriety"? Reminds me of Fogerty saying that when he changed "Somewhere dowon the road" to "The old man down the road", the whole song came into much stronger focus for him. S
"Don't Talk About Him, Tina" is just about perfect, especially because the singer, Tina's friend gets more anxious than confident with the memes, maybe infectiously so, while trying to bolster Tina's courage and maybe her own) with drink may well have the opposite effect--ditto the title refrain, which could be like "Do not think of a purple cow", but is still good advice, cos I'd be trying to figure out how to take my leave as gently as possible, while keeping an eye out for her irate ex, if I met her and she was talking that heartbreak stuff, however philosophical(ly obsess, as these things tend to sound, too soon after)Ends in suspense!
"Trading One Heartbreak For Another"--dreading her son's pain and blame for the breakup--how many women have gone through this, why have I never heard a song about it---could nevertheless just seem like a premise for a TV screenplay, if not for the delivery--like Frank said about that xp solo Lambert track. This 'un achieves what one Music Row writer described as a country ideal of "dramatic stasis." Which sounds like a contradiction in terms, 'til you find your life floating in a shotglass, stuck inside a mobile or Mobile. (Patterson Hood's tried for this effect, but doesn't always use his def-sub-Annies vocal limitations cannily).
"Loved By A Workin' Man", though atyoically conventional as written, is also strikingly completed by its delivery: muscular music, confident vocals---so not really uncharacteristic, 'cos this lawwng drink o' refreshment's what they're always looking for, despite the other stuff.

(I'm trying to listen to every album mentioned on this thread, and singles too--so far digging Rimes, most of Maggie Rose, Willie. the aforementioned Mavericks, Marshall Chapman--also must listen again to Holly Willliams and Gary Allan)(sorry about typos)

Holy bovini! It's been Armato & James week on the two ilX threads I pay any attention to anymore, what with me finally picking up on Chuck's cue here and listening to Kacey Musgraves' "See You Again" and learning that it really is "See You Again" and then over on K-pop 2013 finding a controversy over whether Tahiti's new "Love Sick" is a ripoff of "Potential Breakup Song."

Not sure of the Musgrave track's provenance. Seems to be a legit release, on a small Texas indie - anyway, is available on iTunes and Amazon – though I don't know if it has Kacey's endorsement. She seems to have recorded it at age 18 or 19, which is pretty young except she'd done three albums already and likely had appeared on Nashville Star as well. It's not getting much attention. The A-side, "Apologize" (the Tedder song?) isn't even streamed on YouTube.

Jon_oh, thanks for alerting us to Sturgill Simpson. The album really is good hard bitter country from someone resolved to be left-behind and to resent it. So doesn't work as well as music criticism than as music, but I'm sure Simpson'll take that tradeoff.

It's been out well over a year, but I've really been digging Fred Eaglesmith's "6 Volts". It's got a nice Stones/DBT vibe... doesn't sound much like his previous couple albums which are are a little over produced.

I love eaglesmith's "johnny cash" on that album. simple, stupid, angry and great.

YES

News from Cary Baker---would like to check that autobio too:

BUCK ’EM, A DEFINITIVE TWO-CD SET OF BUCK OWENS’
MUSICAL EVOLUTION FROM 1955–67, DUE OUT NOVEMBER 5
ON OMNIVORE RECORDINGS
Fifty-song collection forms companion release to the book
Buck ’Em: The Autobiography of Buck Owens
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — If someone thinks they’ve got a cooler Buck Owens collection, we’ve got two words for them: Buck ’Em! As the newest release in its continuing and acclaimed reissue campaign, Omnivore Recordings is proud to announce Buck ’Em! The Music of Buck Owens (1955-1967) — an anthology of a different kind. The fifty tracks here virtually define the Bakersfield sound, from the beginning of Buck’s recording career to the end of the classic Buckaroos lineup (Don Rich, Tom Brumley, Doyle Holly, and Willie Cantu), the period that established Owens’ biggest hits and influence as a hard-edged alternative to increasingly slick Nashville production. The collection will hit stores on November 5, 2013.

Eleven #1 hits are included, but in true Omnivore fashion, “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail,” “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me),” “Sam’s Place,” and “Before You Go” are in their original mono single versions. Live versions (including some from the historic Carnegie Hall concert) of “Act Naturally,” “Buckaroo,” and “Together Again” are featured and alternate versions of “My Heart Skips A Beat,” “Where Do The Good Times Go,” and “How Long Will My Baby Be Gone” make their U.S. CD debut. With the addition of a previously unissued version of “Under The Influence Of Love” and the CD debut of Omnivore’s sold-out Record Store Day single “Close Up The Honky Tonks,” this collection shapes up to be indispensable to not only fans of Owens and the Buckaroos, but any fan of classic country music.

Beginning with three Pep Records sides from 1955-56 through 1967’s triumphant tour of Japan, Buck ’Em! tells the story of Buck Owens like no other release has. The set will be released as a companion to the upcoming Buck ’Em! The Autobiography Of Buck Owens by Buck Owens with Randy Poe, coming November 5 from BackbeatBooks, an imprint of Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group. Featuring liner notes taken from the book, detailed session information, and rare photos, Buck ’Em! looks to be the audio release that every discerning country music fan will want for Christmas. (Good thing it also contains the original mono single version of “Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy”!)
Buck ’Em! works as a great introduction to the new Buck Owens fan, and a fascinating listen with some new rarities for the longtime one. It’s hard to believe this much music came into the world in only 12 years, but Buck ’Em! The Music of Buck Owens (1955-1967) proves it was not only Buckin’ possible, but Buckin’ incredible.
DISC 1:
1. Down On The Corner Of Love
2. Hot Dog
3. There Goes My Love
4. Sweet Thing*
5. Second Fiddle*
6. Under Your Spell Again*
7. Above And Beyond (Alternate Version)
8. ’Til These Dreams Come True
9. Foolin’ Around*
10. Nobody’s Fool But Yours (Early Version)
11. Under The Influence Of Love (Early Version)
12. Keeper Of The Key
13. Goin’ Down To The River
14. Fool Me Again
15. My Heart Skips A Beat (Early Version)
16. Sweethearts In Heaven*
17. Love’s Gonna Live Here*
18. Down, Down, Down
19. Act Naturally (Live in Bakersfield)
20. Ain’t It Amazing Gracie? (Original Version)
21. Close Up the Honky Tonks (Early Version)
22. Truck Drivin’ Man
23. I Don’t Hear You24. Hello Trouble
DISC 2:

1. I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me)*
2. Don’t Let Her Know*
3. Buck’s Polka
4. Playboy
5. Cryin’ Time*
6. I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail*
7. The Band Keeps Playin’ On
8. Gonna Have Love*
9. Before You Go*
10. Getting Used To Loving You
11. Gonna Roll Out The Red Carpet
12. Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy*
13. We Split The Blanket
14. Sam’s Place*
15. (I’ll Love You) Forever And Ever
16. In The Palm Of Your Hand*
17. Pray Every Day
18. Together Again (Live at Carnegie Hall)
19. Buckaroo (Live at Carnegie Hall)20. Where Does The Good Times Go
(Alternate Version with Strings)
21. The Way That I Love You
22. Adios, Farewell, Goodbye, Good Luck, So Long (Live in Japan)
23. We Were Made For Each Other (Live in Japan)
24. Heartbreak Mountain
25. How Long Will My Baby Be Gone (Alternate Version)
26. The Girl On Sugar Pie Lane *Original Mono Single Version / “Sweethearts In Heaven” performed by Buck Owens and Rose Maddox
“Under The Influence Of Love” previously unissued

Anybody heard this stuff?

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/bf141dbbd818f4f933816b13a/images/B_R_RemixBundle1a_lrg.jpg

BIG KENNY'S ELECTRO SHINE RELEASES NEW MUSIC

New Bundle of Big & Rich Remix Tracks available

Nashville, Tenn. (September 4, 2013) – Big Kenny, one-half of multi-platinum country duo Big & Rich, is continuing to push boundaries with his ELECTRO SHINE music project, where he brings together an eclectic fusion of beats, instrumentation and feel-good lyrics. On September 3rd, a new installment of Electro Shine Remix tracks was released on Glotown Records, including “Party Like Cowboyz” and “Born Again” from Big & Rich's latest release, Hillbilly Jedi.

“I've decided that it's time to get everybody dancing again! It's time to start celebrating life, no matter how much BS we keep enduring in the world. I want to throw big dance parties and get us all to know one another and make new friends. John (Rich) and I had such a huge hit and success with our dance remix of "Save a Horse," I was inspired to try some of the Electro Shine sounds to my favorite new B&R hits, “Born Again” and “Party Like Cowboyz.” Now lets crank up the tunes and dance. It's a great way to meet girls,” says Big Kenny.

For those passionate “out of the box” EDM, country and hick-hop music lovers, ELECTRO SHINE has more for your listening pleasure. ELECTRO SHINE’s debut EP, The Hits Vol. 1, that features a love of “Muzik Without Prejudice,” the mariachi inspired and pop infused “Electro Country Shine,” the feel good dance anthem “Hope Chant,” electronic country and rap anthem “Star,” and three versions of “Dance Upon The Solid Ground,” the up-tempo jam ingrained with twangy fiddle, banjo and electronic melodies is also available at all digital retail outlets: iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and Rhapsody.

"Electro Shine is going to be a great way to introduce country to the Electronic Dance world, which is so huge now. And a great way to introduce the Electronic Dance World to Big & Rich and Electro Shine," adds Big Kenny.

In addition to the recordings, soon to be announced will be the ELECTRO SHINE touring show. The Vegas-style show under a big top tent will include singers, musicians, rappers, dancers, badass beats, aerialists, lights, lasers, psychedelic great visuals, and even little blue flying winged cherubs! An experience that could be best described as a musical circus, hosted by Big Kenny, where a collision of EDM, Americana, Country, Reggae, Rock, Pop, and Hip-Hop will create the vibe and party atmosphere that will keep everyone inspired and on the dance floor.

About ELECTRO SHINE:
ELECTRO SHINE is spearheaded by singer, songwriter and producer Big Kenny of Big & Rich. The farm boy from Culpeper, Virginia, powers the engine behind the madness of ELECTRO SHINE and has the passion and vision to propel it into an unforgettable experience. The ELECTRO SHINE sound is truly something that hasn’t been heard before from what might typically be thought of as an unlikely pairing.

For more information about ELECTRO SHINE, connect digitally at:
www.electroshine.tv
www.youtube.com/electroshinetv
www.twitter.com/eshinetv
www.facebook.com/electroshinetv
instagram.com/eshinetv
http://gallery.mailchimp.com/bf141dbbd818f4f933816b13a/images/07_16_13_BK_ES_Promo_861.jpg

I still want to believe, cos this solovision still roolz:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-10-04/music/wurlitzer-dawgs-out/full/

Wonder if Kenny knowz any of theez guyyyyz:
http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-05-25/music/the-groovegrass-boyz/full/

It's on Spotify...it's not very good.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/florida-georgia-line-the-duo-changing-country-music-one-party-song-at-a-time/2013/09/26/6477d338-254a-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_story.html

Jack Daniels and group prayer, what else

I assume Willie's duets w Mavis, Dolly, Sheryl, Miranda, Shelby, Carrie, Emmylou, Tina, etc., etc., newly recorded for the aptly titledTo All The Girls..., due Oct. 15, will be on Spotify, but what the heck, Amazon's already streaming the whole thing: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_500800_33438110_pe_epc_/?ie=UTF8&docId=1001088031
Haven't had time to check it yet, but I really enjoy his prev. 2013 release, Let's Face The Music And Dance. Unlike several albums from recent years, it doesn't shuffle different approaches; it's small combo country & swing, closer to Django than Bob("Nuages" and s couple others have me craving another all-instrumental set). What the hell, if Aldean's heavy emphasis on arena rock is country, so's this. His voice and guitar are smooth and sandy in all the right places, and Sister Bobbie's 88s co-star, enforcing the speed of thought.
I would like some fiddle, though Mickey's harmonica mans the fiddle function, but when I want the literal, and in the same style, can chase this with Rendezvous With Rhythm, the latest from Hot Club of Cowtown. OK, it's not quite the same, no traces of Bob etc., but damn Elena's voice is so very come hither, and if Aldean etc.

Elana, not "Elena"; damn! In case you missed her distinctive solo album (w HC guitarist Whit strictly in tow), it's had a good effect on subsequent HC, I think : http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-03-27/music/a-dylan-co-conspirator-swings-out-of-the-past/

Like most songwriters in Nashville, McAnally works with a web of collaborators. His immediate circle includes Brandy Clark, Josh Osbourne, Trevor Rosen, Matt Jenkins and Matt Ramsey, and extends to Luke Laird, Natalie Hemby, Jimmy Robbins and Ashely Gorely. Their writing sessions are gruelingly frequent. In 2012, McAnally was writing as many as eight songs a week.

The only way to maintain that sprinting pace is through co-writing. “I wake up every day thinking, ‘I just can’t do it anymore.’ There’s nothing left to say and I’m completely dry,” McAnally says. “And then I get in the room with somebody and they say the right thing, and I’m on again.”

...

McAnally typically writes a song with two other writers, whose publishers will each have at least three pluggers, meaning there’s always a minimum of nine people hustling to find a song a home.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2013/11/05/how-does-a-song-get-from-shane-mcanallys-guitar-to-country-radio-explaining-the-complex-process-in-the-making-of-a-country-hit/

companion article to above blogpost

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/shane-mcanally-writes-real-country-songs-with-major-commercial-appeal/2013/11/04/37ea950c-4580-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html?tid=gog_ent_article_grid

McAnally has helped write monster hits (Lady Antebellum’s “Downtown,” the Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two”) and superlative sleeper cuts (Ashley Monroe’s “Two Weeks Late,” Randy Rogers Band’s “Fuzzy”) — all very different songs with varying degrees of bittersweetness.

“That internal ache is the starting point of country music,” McAnally says. “If it’s a happy song and I can still feel sad in it? That’s my favorite. Pop does that a lot right now. Both of Miley Cyrus’s singles, “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball.” [Katy Perry’s] “Teenage Dream.” . . . Those songs are sad to me, even though they’re, like, UNGH-UNGH-UNGH!” (He pumps his fist overhead like Arsenio Hall.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/brandy-clarks-debut-album-is-a-stunner-but-will-anybody-hear-it/2013/11/05/04be0ea8-4656-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html

http://www.npr.org/event/music/241888300/ashley-monroe-tiny-desk-concert

Monroe, Clark, Lambert all starting to reach NPR audience

I like them AND Florida-Georgia Line

yeah florida georgia line's singles have all been pretty good so far. i know they exemplify frat-country and so i should be against them or whatever but i like the songs. *shrug*

^^^Yes

Good example of McAnally's point: Brandy Clark's "Hungover", with her steady rise through the eternal shade of her hubby's sub-Easter Island headload (no matter how many steps she climbs, still got to mind the gravity, feel the pull)(she still cares; can't tell him to buzz off or get out of the way, even). That's the 12 Stories track that keeps finding its way to replay in my own head, but still not sure about the album as a whole. (Several--prob a majority/plurality--of keepers, duh, but so far she and Monroe and Musgraves seem more effective as team players--co-writers and demo/live mini-set singers--than on their own whole solo studio albums. I'll keep listening, though).
Just now spent the morning with that xpost Buck 'Em: The Music of Buck Owens (1955-1961), out yesterday and already on Spotify, unlike some. Can def see what the Beatles seem to have learned from him (and maybe even vice versa--ditto the Everlys?) also rec to fans of buckskin Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Dwight Yoakam of course. What I didn't expect, aside from his own apporach to rockabilly, which sounds like no one else I can think of, is his own apparent influence, the Louvin Brothers---even aside from overdubbing, or maybe singing with Don Rich or somebody, he can go it alone, go from Ralph's legato tenor to Ira's "boy alto" (or damn near) and back (and forth), but with his own droll soul, while exploiting sentiment and accent: stretching, bending, adding syllables, leaning out from the beat. There's at least one---blanking on the title, after listening to 50 tracks at one sitting---where he chortles and complains like uptempo Hank Williams on the verses, yelps like the Louvins on the chorus. (Mostly: mono singles, with some alt versions, punctuated by a few live shots, and a couple of great instrumentals: "Buck's Polka", which doesn't bother with accordions or fiddles, and "Buckaroo", kissin' cousin to Lennon-McCartney's "I Feel Fine", which doesn't bother with feedback---more like these, please!) I'd probably just keep 35-40 out of 50, but hey.

Did ya watch the CMA Awards tonight?

Kacey Musgraves - 2013 Anticipation

some comments here

Given up on awards shows, at least for now; the commercials are getting me claustrophobic, or agoraphobic, strictly speaking (both, as the dread marketplace presses me). Thanks for the link, but I'm putting off getting back to Musgraves. On Veteran's Day and free Spotify, when I don't wanna spend any unpaid-holiday money and have nothing better to do, I've just now listened to Divided & United: Songs of the Civil War. Think I might should listen more before saying much about it, but it's mostly, maybe all, good-to-great Top Ten bait, with hardly anything seeming merely mopey(perhaps a few where they're just killing time before or after the battle, but those fit too). Tracks:
1. Take Your Gun And Go, John Loretta Lynn
2. Lorena Del McCoury
3. Wildwood Flower Sam Amidon
4. Hell's Broke Loose In Georgia Bryan Sutton
5. Two Soldiers Ricky Skaggs
6. Marching Through Georgia Old Crow Medicine Show
7. Dear Old Flag Vince Gill
8. Just Before The Battle, Mother / Farewell, Mother Dirk Hamilton & Steve Earl
9. The Fall Of Charleston Shovels & Rope
10. Tenting On The Old Campground John Doe
11. Day Of Liberty Carolina Chocolate Drops
12. Richmond Is A Hard Road To Travel Chris Thile
13. Two Brothers Chris Stapleton
14. The Faded Coat Of Blue Norman Blake
15. Listen To The Mockingbird Stuart Duncan
16. Kingdom Come Pokey Lafarge

Disc 2:

1. Rebel Soldier Jamey Johnson
2. The Legend Of The Rebel Soldier Lee Ann Womack
3. The Mermaid Song Jorma Kaukonen
4. Dixie Karen Elson & the Secret Sisters
5. The Vacant Chair Ralph Stanley
6. Hard Times Chris Hillman
7. Down By The Riverside Taj Mahal
8. Old Folks At Home / The Girl I Left Behind Me Noam Pikelny & David Grisman
9. Secesh The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band
10. The Battle Of Antietam T Bone Burnett
11. Pretty Saro Ashley Monroe
12. Aura Lee Joe Henry
13. Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier AA Bondy
14. When Johnny Comes Marching Home Angel Snow
15. Battle Cry Of Freedom Bryan Sutton
16. Beautiful Dreamer Cowboy Jack Clement

Uh-oh, that paste didn't catch some duet partners:
Richmond Is A Hard Road To Travel--Chris Thile & Michael Daves
The Faded Coat Of Blue--Norman & Nancy Blake
Listen To The Mockingbird--Stuart Duncan & Dolly Parton
Pretty Saro--Ashley Monroe ft. Aubrey Haynie
(Nor did it get Steve Earle's final "e", but he'll live.)

No L.L. Cool J or Brad Paisley on it?

Maybe they declined---like Neil Young and Springsteen coulda been on The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams---and originally, Bob Dylan was given the opportunity to do the whole album, but he declined (said it was too great a responsibility). Would've liked to have seen what Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith, Gary Allan, Sugarland might've brought to the table, in that case or this---but mebbe they declined too.

I'm kinda squeamish about songs about the Civil War tbh

anybody own the new Kellie Pickler? What I heard sounds pretty solid but the songs aren't as sharp as 100 Proof's.

Will check the new Pickler; good review in recent Rolling Stone. Here's Emmylou & Rodney's whole Nov. 2 Austin City Limits show,(they'll be on ACL's Americana awards show too)Still got the good Geritol:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365109950/

Okay, just listened to Pickler. I hope 100 Proof is better; I'll check that too. So far, mainly digging "A Little Bit Gypsy", which seems a little bit Bangles in the writing & vocals, with mainstream country pop's now nearly obligatory 70s arena rock guitar; "Buzzin' "; "Closer To Nowhere" ("Out where the stars get crowded, but we can get just as lost in your car in the driveway", or something to that effect); and "Someone Somewhere Tonight" (first steps, first kiss, everything else to be thankful for--but also, simultaneously, other someones getting last rites, trying to make it though the bottle tonight; living in prison, etc.) A candlelit boudoir arena ballad, risking buzzkill---but not getting out of prison may mean not getting run over by a truck, so count that too, She's so sweet, totally unconvincing as a badass. Well, the one about selling the ring her cheatin' fiance's still payiing for could work, but goes nowhere past the first couple verses, like many hits, but in, this case, the chorus isn't strong enough to keep the static sparky. Yeah, "Bonnie and Clyde"--they're prob her matching malties!

I'm def not liking this Pickler as much as the last one.

Haven't heard it yet.

Caramanica in the New York Times re Florida Georgia Line live:

They started out with one that perhaps only dedicated listeners would appreciate, Lil Troy’s Houston-rap hit “Wanna Be a Baller.” Then it was Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s “Thrift Shop,” a cheap ploy to snare the casual listener. After that, TLC’s “No Scrubs,” 50 Cent’s “In da Club,” Juvenile’s song about derrières with an unprintable name, and Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.” After that, Mr. Ford rewrote Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” as a country song, and everyone rapped along.

Wait — what?

That a country band can drop a string of hip-hop and R & B songs into its set (as opposed to ones by Alan Jackson and George Strait) and no one bats an eye — indeed, the audience cheers — says everything you need to know about the disruptions that have been shaking country music lately. Quite suddenly, Nashville is a hip-hop town, whether it likes it or not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/arts/music/florida-georgia-line-at-best-buy-theater.html

From original hick-hop (which has been around, now and then, for a decade or so, maybe starting with Toby Keith and the Groovegrass Boyz) to adaptations and straight-up covers.... oh well, I'll check it out.

The Florida-Georgia Line album though is not straight-up hick-hop

I meant I'd be more interested if he'd reported that F-G's doing original hick-hop, as Toby etc. started doing a long time ago, than just throwing in some covers (as some other country pop biggies now routinely add arena rock chesnuts). Okay by me, but c'mon, suddenly, Nashville is a hip-hop town, whether it likes it or not? It's just a nod to the (multi-)generational appeal, mutual congratulations on what we all came up hearing with and still like. They could also cover something from Dark Side of the Moon, another family favorite down here.

But yeah, I'll check out the shows on YouTube and the album on Spotify.