Rolling Country 2011

And speaking of Mark Twain, although not directly related to the country section, this is unintentionally funny and annoying at the same time:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/45645-upcoming-newsouth-huck-finn-eliminates-the-n-word.html

Weird -- wasn't LeAnn Rimes just making a big leftward move in a skimpy low-cut Santa outfit in front of the Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus a couple weeks ago? Yep, here is (linked below). Maybe she just likes the Republicans' money??

http://socialitelife.com/leann-rimes-dons-sexy-santa-outfit-for-gays-12-2010

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2010/12/leann-rimes-spices-up-mrs-claus-costume-sings-with-santas-gay-elves.html

Speaking of big-voiced country gals turned would-be drag queens, has anybody here kept up with Wynona's career lately? I just Netflixed a fourth-season episode of Army Wives (also featuring dull one-guy rock "band" Five For Fighting), and she did a hard rockabilly number followed by some inspirational Eurodance-like schmaltz. Not great, but not bad. Made me kind of curious.

Actually thought Frank's NashScene comments were great, especially the Niemann/Ke$ha point; wouldn't've guessed they were tossed off at last minute (even though I get the idea most of the listening was.) Do think reverb is a big part of what makes Jace Everett's album so distincitive and fun, though. (Didn't hear a more addictive "rock" album all last year, if rockabilly still counts as rock.)

Couple things, though:

-- Frank says he now thinks he overrated it, but I wound up booting Chesney from my top ten albums in favor of Shinyribs at the last minute. Just thought Shinyribs deserved a vote; that's a good one. And decided that, outside of "Somewhere With You," which I voted for as a single, the only thing I really love on Hemingway's Whiskey is "Boys Of Fall" (which, oddly, I know Frank likes much less than me.) Even the title track seems good to me more in theory (I like that Kenny tried it) than in execution, somehow. Do kind of wish I had considered voting for Chesney, like Frank did, as one of my male singers, though. He's really gained nuance.

-- On the other hand, I voted for Lee Brice's album despite it being inconsistent. Just thought the two songs Frank named, and "Carolina Boys" and "Four On The Floor" too, ranked up there with just about any country tracks I heard last year. And probably rocked as hard as anybody, this side of Flynnville Train. And the rest of the album was mostly at least competent -- I only care about those four tracks, but when I play the rest, I do find stuff to like. And it really helps that Brice put three of his four great tracks at #7 through #9, so you can blast them all one after the other. So I invoked Frank's all-albums-are-EPs rule. (Btw, I wasn't sure whether Brice should qualify as "new", since he's been charting with singles for at least a couple years now, I think, and If I remember right there was a previous album that was shelved. But technically, he met the debut-album criterion.)

-- I wasn't really sure what Frank meant on his ballot by "if Richard Thompson counts as country," even though I voted for Thompson albums in my reissues both last year and this year. But maybe other people voted for his stuff, too, and I just never noticed?

-- Amazed to see Reba so high on Frank's list (and to hear him say he now thinks he under-rated it.) I like it fine; thought, just like her '09 album, it was more entertaining than I ever would've predicted; I'm pretty skeptical about her. (Reviewed them both favorably for Rhapsody; linked on last year's thread.) But as I've said before, I like the couple ballads I like (including the Beyonce cover) more than the rockers I like, and "Turn On The Radio" managed to become a major radio annoyance for me in record time. Again, I like that she's doing these harder boogie tracks these days; just not sure they're that memorable, beyond the idea.

Country album I played most in the past week, fwiw: Jeannie C. Riley's Harper Valley PTA from 1968, which I somehow never noticed until now is a concept album about different folks all in the same small town, a' la Spoon River Anthology or Springsteen's The River or whatever. Actually, Whitburn book goes even farther: "all songs about characters mentioned in the title song." Some of the songs are better than others, of course, and nothing else can touch the title track, but three others were also written by Tom T. Hall, which helps a lot -- including "Mr. Harper," about the town rich man who marries a young wife and lives to regret it, and which uses a weird talkbox proto-Vocoder effect. Another song employs Bo Diddley beats. Like it a lot more than 1971's Greatest Hits, which is interesting but slips too often into Nancy Sinatra show-tune Charleston kitsch for my stomach.

Country album I've been liking even more is Billy Joe Royal's 1965 Down In The Boondocks, which I just this second learned doesn't count because, though it hit #96 on Billboard's main album chart, Royal didn't chart an album or single country until the mid '80s. Weird; I would've guessed otherwise. Anyway, it's produced by Joe South (whose "I Knew You When" Royal covers), and the guy's just got an amazing plaintive high voice -- up there with Narvel Felts, though I suppose Gene Pitney would be the template. Also think Royal's "Funny How Times Slips Away" (that's country, right?) cuts Willie Nelson's, even if that makes me a blasphemer.

Finally, on country's outskirts, does anybody have any thoughts on the blues singer Shemekia Copeland? I'd never listened to her before, I don't think, but I've been playing her imminent Alligator Deluxe Edition album a little bit, and think it's not bad.

As for whether somebody "can point out that Pebe Sebert's daughter isn't making country music," here's Josh Langhoff on Ke$ha's "Cannibal," on Singles Jukebox last week:

she pronounces words in ways that no credible singer would let herself. Hence the second half of Verse 2, from “Use yer fingerrr tuh stirrr mah teeeeeah,” where she basically sounds like a twanging banjo (Nashville Scene voters take note).

And here's me on Rhapsody, a couple weeks ago:

Ke$ha's most Lily Allen-like like track is "Stephen." Taylor did her own "Hey Stephen" on Fearless, two years ago. Both "Stephen" songs are about pining over boys. The opening harmonies of Ke$ha's version sound fairly country, as does her Bubba Sparxxx-reminiscent hick-hop drawling through "We R Who We R," which she has described as an anthem for picked-on teenage outcasts, which is pretty much also what Taylor's Miranda Lambert-reminiscent "Mean" — easily the most country song on *Speak Now* — is.

Just saying.

Occurs to me that one could theoretically also count as a country single Juelz Santana and Yelawolf's subterranean homesick "Mixin' Up The Medicine" (which I like a lot, and may even have included it, and Lee Brice's "Sumter County Friday Night", among by Poptimist poll Top 20 tracks, if I'd thought of them on time). Not sure if anything on Yelawolf's own album (which I need to listen to more) counts as country as not, though I do get the idea there's a sort of Bubba Sparxxxish hicktown trailer-park feel to thing.

Haven't heard that much Yelawolf yet, but already intrigued by my homeboy's pronunciation. Wonder if Ke$ha's word-shaping has anything to do with the fact that Phoebe Seifert's "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You" ect. songwriting partner (& perhaps Ke$ha's dad or stepdad?) Hugh Moffat also played trumpet. Although his professed inspiration was Clifford Brown, more than Don Cherry or Miles Davis, so any influence wouldn't have been world/free/Echoplex-extreme--still, mebbe the freedom principle, to cop the title of John Litweiler's excellent investigation of 20s-80s jazz.

"Hemingway's Whiskey" is so striking a song, and so well-suited to the tough terseness which its composer, Guy Clark is married to, for better or worse (much more faithfully than Hem himself), that it almost doesn't matter how well Chesney does it, but that he does it at all, releases the notes with translucent tone and feeling (does a decent job) gives it the exposure it and listeners deserve. Which is pretty much what xxhux meant, I guess, but yeah I like the way he does it (& floats like Hemingway's boat, and whiskey must have, while Clark's raspier version favors other implications, but they come across in both tracks, otherwise would be too barfy)

Speaking of big-voiced country gals turned would-be drag queens, has anybody here kept up with Wynona's career lately? I just Netflixed a fourth-season episode of Army Wives (also featuring dull one-guy rock "band" Five For Fighting), and she did a hard rockabilly number followed by some inspirational Eurodance-like schmaltz. Not great, but not bad. Made me kind of curious.

Her last album was a covers collection in early 2009, Sing: Chapter One. I actually compared her to a drag queen in my review of it. Nothing revolutionary, but it was better than her last couple of albums, in that she finally seemed to be taking ownership of her campiness and making it work for her. The last few nose jobs have irrevocably changed the tone of her voice, which is reedier now than it used to be, but she's still able to move from country to R&B to rock singing without breaking a sweat.

From Kogan's Nashville Scene comments:
Now, I don't see how any of these songs would have been different if she'd listened to "Lost Highway" or "Folsom Prison Blues" or "Mama Tried" before writing them (and you don't know that she didn't). Back in 2006 ("Cold As You") she started a fight just to feel something. So now what's she supposed to do to make her more country, if that's not enough? Ream out an old boyfriend in Reno, just to watch him cry?

OTM. I'm not nearly as much of a fan of Swift's as many of the folks around these boards, but I made a similar point in my comments for this year's poll about how it's disingenuous for people to champion Jamey Johnson for his supposed authenticity and, in doing so, to claim that he's saving contemporary country music from the likes of Swift, when the conflicts and narratives she writes are, to my ears, every bit as believably "authentic" as Johnson's, if not moreso. Will wait to see if Himes posts the comment in full before xposting it here.

Steel Magnolia review:

http://www.rhapsody.com/steel-magnolia-country-pop/steel-magnolia#albumreview

think the Mark Growden album might be okay (despite being apparently dull folkie singer-songwriter stuff on the surface), but it needs more listens

Gave it more listens; decided it bores me more than it interests me (though it's occasionally an interesting kind of boredom, maybe.)

xpost

Don't know if there actually are any other "likes of Swift" for country to be rescued from, since her singing just can't be approximated (at least I don't hear anyone who's even trying), and while the attention to detail in the lyrics, and the situations, ought to be taken as a model, I'm not hearing any other country young'uns doing that either (though maybe that just tells you I'm listening in the wrong places). But I assume those country blokes dismayed by whatever Taylor Swift represents to their nonprobing minds are equally dismayed by Carrie and Kellie et al., though none of those women are actually the dominant sound on the country charts. I'm not sure what I would call the dominant sound, though the word "blandboy" comes to mind. Of course I love Chesney's voice, which is officially bland, I guess, but I'm thinking more of Aldean and Currington and Hootie and Zac and Rascal, some of whom I like some of the time.

Think Taylor's singing just gets better, and her eye for situations is as good as ever, but I don't think she's finding words to deliver them that are as potent and complex as the ones she came up with when Liz Rose was helping her. See Dave Moore at the Jukebox for a strong critique - though I think Dave's way overreacting, the overeaction keyed by his love for her previous stuff and disappointment now. Any criticisms I have of Taylor are relative to that previous stuff and to her potential, since no one else - at least that I'm hearing right now - is coming up with nemesis brides looking like pastry (you suddenly picture Taylor smooshing her rival all over the floor, then wiping the cream and sugar from her boots) or is calling herself a flight risk, afraid of falling (the words "flight" and "falling" working several ways at once).

Chuck, the Juelz/Yelawolf "Mixin' Up The Medicine" is from 2009. The Yelawolf alb starts off amazing, with hardcore punk/crunk claws, and his drawl complementing his squall. But it drops off precipitously from there, after about track three, at least that's how it seemed to me over one-and-a-half listens; I do like "Marijuana" over on Track Nine, yet more hardcore. And you all are right about the drawl: definite country-rap possibilities if Yelawolf wants to take it there, though my guess is he won't. "That's What We On Now," perhaps another maryjane reference, also refers to Bubba Sparxxx and puts "I got twenty bucks and I don't give a fuck, e-yeah/A country girl in a pickup truck, eh" right next to the refrain. The lyrics make me smile. "They gave me a budget, I bought a bicycle frame." And (now sounding like Em on "My Name Is") "Jimmy crack corn, then he threw a barstool/Mother Goose broke a wing and still flew the coop/She gave Jimmy twenty bucks and threw him a deuce/Left Jimmy on the string like a loose tooth." A man to watch.

RE Paisley, Ke$ha, Yelawolf:

I don't wanna rep too hard for that Paisley, since I might forget it in a month, but don't singers ALWAYS say stupid things about their music, whether their music's good or bad? Of course, that doesn't change the pandering tone of his lyrics or the vast untruths unleashed therein, but at least they're interesting lyrics. And regardless of how much better the guy plays in concert, his guitar on that song sounds more fluid and conscious than any guitar I can think of on current radio, country or otherwise.

I'd like to stress that I don't consider Ke$ha country music, in case some lurking newcomer to this thread starts feeling all disgruntled. Nevertheless, she's got legitimate country roots, and they're as present in her voice as they are in her interviews. On that same Singles Jukebox, Katherine and I were talking a little about vowel sounds, and without taking this into pedantic choir-director territory, I'd point out that the way you shape your vowels encodes a whole lot. They're why country sounds "twangy." (In my comment, I should've said K pronounces words in ways no credible POP singer would let herself. Loretta Lynn, no problem.) I'm not familiar with the "Freedom Principle" Dow cites, but it does seem like K draws equally from southern and Valley vowel sounds, and maybe elsewhere, to create her "incorrect" persona. To Pop ears unwilling to venture outside Pop, I'm guessing country vowels signify "lower socio-economic class", which fits with K's dollar-sign and crash-the-rich-dude's-house shtick. So she probably adopts those vowels because she knows them intimately, and she knows they'll be heard as something outside everyday pop pronunciation, giving her transgression an immediacy missing from singers who only SING about transgression.

Of course, none of this should imply that people who hate Ke$ha are recoiling from people of a lower socio-economic class. I totally buy it when critics I respect say her music sounds ugly.

I should listen to Yelawolf.

Maybe Taylor's lack of twangy vowels is why some people have a hard time considering her country? Dave got this comment for his "Top Country Albums" list over at PopMatters:

Okay…first off, Taylor Swift is a singer who makes soft-rock/pop music, there is NOTHING country about her, save the marketing by her label. Second, that Cash album was an abomination. Third, the BEST country album of the year was from Marty Stuart. I literally have no respect for a best country music list that includes Taylor Swift and has no mention of Stuart’s masterpiece from this year. Did you just not hear the thing? Ghost Train: STudio B Sessions…check it out, and then re-do your list.

(He dealt with it well.)

And maybe that's why she and Underwood have been able to cross over to pop so successfully? I STILL meet nitwits who tell me they like every kind of music "except country and rap". Even in smalltown Missouri growing up, people would say that. It's really hard not to read class prejudice into that statement. Although to be fair, country and rap go to some lengths to demarcate who belongs and who doesn't, so maybe people who hate both genres are just bristling because those genres don't need them. (Which also applies to Ke$ha, because she makes it abundantly clear through her singing that she doesn't need you or your bougie friends.)

(And because, unlike most rap I've heard lately, $he makes a point of referring to her favorite club in "Take It Off" not as a VIP Room but as a "hole in the wall," which just happens to be the same metaphor frequently used by blue-collar Southern Soul singers to signify the low-rent places they dance and fry fish at on Friday nights -- in fact, "Hole In The Wall," from 1999 I believe, is one of Mel Waiters's signature songs; another one insists that "the smaller the club, the better the party." I bet Ke$ha would agree.) (Though her wall-hole is admittedly "downtown," not a destination a little up the road from the habitations and the towns we know.)

Josh, unless someone's idea of Pop is Julie Andrews, I don't think there's a general aversion to Southern singing styles among the pop audience; in fact whole hunks of non-Southerners (e.g. Stevie Winwood and Mick Jagger and Gene Pitney and Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin and Hank Snow and thousands upon thousands of others) have been known to adopt Southern styles themselves. I'd even say that when almost anyone sings something related to soul or r&b or rock 'n' roll or rock - and that's a huge amount of the American top 40, since those are the styles that American pop draws on - they're probably adopting Southernisms without even knowing it. Also, Taylor's singing runs close to her talking, and the more it does, the more Southern it sounds (albeit the Tennessee 'burbs rather than the Louisiana swamp). Not to say that Ke$ha isn't an interesting and unique singer, I just don't think that anyone's problem with her is her vowels; rather, it'd be her stridency (which I get a kick out of, myself). Anyhow, Ke$ha is quite the successful singer these days.

Beyond vowels, I think - and I'm not speaking authoritatively here, just parroting some ideas I've read - that twang also has to do with how you configure your throat when singing (as opposed to talking), the vocal style originating in the Middle East a couple of millennia back and stretching from North Africa through Europe. Styles and scales eventually shifted in the urban areas of Europe and then through much of central Europe but the older styles hung on in the rural western fringes e.g. rural England and Scotland and Ireland, and from there hello to the Southern United States. (Yes, I'm talking out my ass now, have made no effort to verify any of this, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong, and singing from the Mideast does have a twang.)

(Not that there aren't also strains in American pop singing from Italy and Jamaica and David Bowie and Johnny Rotten etc. But I really don't notice any aversion to Southern or low-class singing styles. Interesting how singing tends not to parallel, say, TV newscasting in this regard.)

Also, not speaking of vowels, you should read what Rob Sheffield has to say about the similarity between Taylor Swift and the young Morrissey.

Meanwhile, over on the Freaky Trigger/poptimists poll (here and here and here and here, so far), Sunny Sweeney's "From A Table Away" finished a miserable 111th, Taylor Swift's "The Story Of Us" finished an unexpected 95th, Taylor Swift's "Mine" finished an umimpressive 59th, and (to stretch the def'n of "country" even farther than usual) Intocable's "Estamos En Algo" finished a satisfying 81st (and finished an astounding 20th in the poptimists subunit of the poll, which I assume means that Chuck and I submitted our ballots through Kat at poptimists rather than Tom at Freaky Trigger). Beyond that it's been a washout for anything within miles of country, unless Miranda or Taylor pulls something out of the hat in the final 22. (I suppose the country-only-for-the-purposes-of-my-country-music-critics-poll-ballot Laura Marling also might have something to retrieve from her headwear, though I wouldn't bet on it.)

Chuck, Richard Thompson's name appeared on the long list of country hitmakers, notables, Grammy nominees, etc. that Geoff sent us when trying to drum up last-minute participation in the Country Music Critics Poll; I don't remember which category Thompson's name showed up in - presumably something related to "folk."

Sunny Sweeney's "From A Table Away" finished a miserable 111th

has she received any promotion? i guess the single did well enough on the charts (top 20 country), but it's been out for over half a year and i still haven't seen a peep anywhere about a new album. if memory serves, all inquiries about any forthcoming music from her have been met here and elsewhere with a shrug and an "i don't know." quite possibly my fave single of 2010 and i really really want to hear more.

I'm not the one to know about the promotion or lack thereof; Sweeney's on Big Machine, who are small enough that I'd think they'd give special attention and support to their acts, though I have no idea.

As far as our neighborhood of the Web, though, and people potentially voting in a poll through Freaky Trigger or poptimists, we reviewed and talked up "From A Table Away" quite enthusiastically on The Singles Jukebox. But we were voting our top twenty songs (in my case including album tracks) and it missed my twenty by a few spots. My guess is that Lex and Chuck were the only two to vote for it.

Not to say that Ke$ha isn't an interesting and unique singer, I just don't think that anyone's problem with her is her vowels; rather, it'd be her stridency

Despite my near-total veneration of Julie Andrews, I totally agree with this, and didn't mean to suggest otherwise. My question about Taylor and Carrie was probably a speculation too far. What I mean to suggest is that K's vowels are what people DO like about her; and I mean to suggest that because her vowels are what I like about her. Seriously, my favorite part of "Tik Tok" is how she pronounces the chorus. (And we're veering pretty far from country with "Tik Tok"; but I was only emphasizing her Southern-ness because my "twanging banjo" comment came up. Her Southern vowels are probably a smaller weapon in her arsenal than her Valley vowels.) But if we're talking about her stridency, I think she USES all her unusually-shaped vowels to create her stridency. (Unusually-shaped in a Julie Andrews context, yes, but also in a context of current white female Top 40 singers -- as far as I can tell, nobody else is pronouncing words like her.) So whether her stridency is a problem or a kick, her vowels -- and her lyrics, and Auto-Tune, and whatever else -- are integral to it.

This doesn't make her unique in the history of pop, it's just the way she goes about achieving her effect. For instance, lots of times she reminds me of Eminem, who's also got some twanginess based on calculated word-choice. And I, too, am pretty much talking out my ass with all this stuff, but that's what this is for, right? Someone'll correct us as necessary.

Yay Intocable!

Plenty of (alt)-country in the Austin Statesman's Austin Music Pundit Awards, which came out today. I've got no input in it, but was pleasantly surprised to note that I actually like three albums in the Top 10 (Shinyribs, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Matador's non-country Casual Victim Pile comp), one more in the Next 10 (non-country The Sword), and one more in the Honorable Mentions (not really all that country even though I named them on my Nashville Scene ballot Mother Truckers). Haven't heard most of the others named, though I thought this year's Alejandro Escovedo was kinda bad, and Okkervill River were probably the most boring thing ever to happen to Roky Erikson (though their album won anwyay.) Think I heard this year's Dale Watson album, but if so it went in one ear and out the other. (Really like his Whiskey Or God from 2006, but nothing he's done since has grabbed me.) Never heard the Reckless Kelly (whose Wicked Twisted Road I liked in 2005), and didn't even know there was a new album this year by Elizabeth McQueen -- would've really liked to hear that; I'd still rep for the two mid'-00s CDs by her I've got. Anyway:

http://www.austin360.com/music/2010-amp-awards-true-love-for-roky-erickson-1165276.html

From the blurbs attached, a fairly accurate description of the Shinyribs album (which I don't think I've ever actually described myself), by Michael Corcoran:

It would be obvious to call this a Gourds album without co-frontman Jimmy Smith, but there's a completely different mind-set here. "Well After Awhile" is all about the full-voiced vocals of Kevin Russell, who croons "Who Built the Moon" to open the record and never holds back.
Produced by George Reiff, "Well After Awhile" is adventurous, while firmly rooted. "Poor People's Store" brings a doo-wop observational vibe to the aisles of Dollar General, while "East TX Rust" sounds like what might happen if Jerry Reed (as channeled by Ray Wylie Hubbard) invited Stevie Wonder to stop by the studio with his clavinet.

i dig that Riley reissue too, Don! didn't even know if anyone had heard that one.

I think she USES all her unusually-shaped vowels to create her stridency. (Unusually-shaped in a Julie Andrews context, yes, but also in a context of current white female Top 40 singers -- as far as I can tell, nobody else is pronouncing words like her.) So whether her stridency is a problem or a kick, her vowels -- and her lyrics, and Auto-Tune, and whatever else -- are integral to it.

Yes!

It turns out Sunny Sweeney is now on Republic Nashville, a joint venture between Big Machine and Universal Republic. Hope they don't end up doing to her what Columbia did to Ashley Monroe, insisting she hit big before they release an album, so she ends up having to release the thing independently three years afterwards. "From A Table Away" did chart higher than "Satisfied" and "I Don't Want To" did, but times are harder.

I see that Joe Gross, a former Why Music Sucks contributor, is still writing for the Statesman. Chuck, have you met him? Nice guy. Married Renée Crist's sister. We had a long phone conversation shortly after Renée died.

(He once wrote that my writing changed his life, which also prejudices me in his favor, since he implied that the change was for the better.)

The Yelawolf alb starts off amazing, with hardcore punk/crunk claws, and his drawl complementing his squall. But it drops off precipitously from there, after about track three, at least that's how it seemed to me over one-and-a-half listens; I do like "Marijuana" over on Track Nine, yet more hardcore.

Frank, it seems the songs you like are the new ones--the album has an EP's worth of new songs (tracks 1-5 and 'Marijuana') while the rest are from a mixtape from earlier this year. He does seem to be going for a more rockin' sound in the more recent songs. I like some of the older ones a bit better though: "Box Chevy" is my favorite on the disc.

Yeah, Frank - I finally met Joe in person during the Austin City Limits fest last year; agree he's one of the nice ones. He's in the Statesman all the time -- it's his full-time gig -- but he actually writes about books (including graphic novels) and movies more than music these days. Though he does seem to grab the metal-leaning reviews. (Also still reviews for Decibel, I believe.)

"earlier this year" = earlier last year

Even in the South, certain instances of twang= white trash/skank/trailer/meth, and I've heard young African-American women calling each other for being "so small town, so ghetto"; references among young African-American men and women also to "chickenheads", "bucks," etc. Much campiness among those who call themselves (and/or close relatives) "rednecks", mixed emotions and motives--the Southernness of America's music heritage doesn't preclude any of this, esp. with younger people. (Oh yeah, speaking of "hole in the wall", I always remember what one excellent young Alabama funk guitarist said in the 70s, when I tried to get him into John Lee Hooker, "I dig BB King, but later for that hole-in-the-wall shi.t") Which is not to refute Frank, but I know where Dr Phil is coming from too, and the way Ke$ha's twanging some high-class nerves all the way to the bank and maybe glory too, like (prob more bank than glory-bound)self-described "guidette" Snooki. To the bank in both cases, because of the fascinated repulsion factor, a minstrel/menstrual show thing maybe (such reaction seems to apply more to female incoming outliers, or outlayers)

And I don't mean "minstrel" as a dismissal, but more of a starting point. (I'll spare yall a re-hash of Lott's Love and Theft though)

(Oh yeah, glad you liked the Riley album too, Scott--I liked it except for Riley's voice--where did you find it?! The only way I knew about it was Ebbtide's posts in RC 2010, and he passed my info along to the label)

Interview with Chely Wright, about how coming out has affected her career and standing in the industry, etc., thus far:

http://www.autostraddle.com/chely-wright-country-music-gay-interview-72366/

Good interview, Wonder if those songs she wrote with Linda Perry will ever show up somewhere (or maybe they have)? Anyway, "6 or 7 songs" toward the next album, aside from the Perry collabs, apparently. Dale Watson was one of the first sort of neo-honky tonk singers, actually associated more with dives than No Dep (although connecting with the latter as well) who I ever heard of. A neo-New Traditionalist, mebbe, somewhat like early Yoakam. But I lost track of him for a while, and when he came back with that 07 album I'm blacking on (the one on Hyena), I complained on Rolling Country about his wanting too much to be liked, while still trying to represent/credibly delve into a wide range and wild slide of life. Made worse by seeming to beg comparison with Johnny Cash. But he and his band showed up on World Cafe s few nights ago, with a speedy x relaxed approach, a balancing act that seemed effortless (many nights at the Continental Club in Austin, when not playing festivals etc) and necessary, after brief reference to having been in an intoxicated car crash, fatal to his girlfriend, followed by a stay in what he referred to as "the loony bin", plus a documentary. A great sound, if a fairly short live-in-the-studio set, but lots more club sets on archive.org, which posts only with the artists' permission (also posted) Here's the link to his World Cafe http://www.npr.org/2011/01/13/132887479/dale-watson-on-world-cafe
He was on there in 07 too, but I haven't heard that yet. Here's his Archive.org archive:
http://www.archive.org/detail/DaleWatson
if that doesn't work, just try Google's Advanced Search on him with archive.org as Domain Name

Sorry, "details", not "detail":
http://www.archive.org/details/DaleWatson

My review of the recent Trace Adkins "definitive" greatest hits, last year's second best country double album to include Jamey Johnson songs:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/135371-trace-adkins-the-definitive-greatest-hits-til-the-last-shots-fired

Pretty sure I coined the word "horndoggerel"!

From an email Don forwarded me this morning (pretty sure he gets these every year):

Marco Club Connection, a Nashville-based Country music dance venue marketing company, has released its seventh annual Top Ten list of the year’s most requested Country dance club songs.
Each year in December, Club Connection surveys a panel of more than 240 club owners, DJs and dance instructors from across the country to compile its Top Ten rankings.
“As Country music continues to incorporate more and more of a Pop element, the dance clubs can be a very important tool in breaking an artist,” says Club Connection Venue Marketing Specialist Bobbe Morhiser. “Look no further than Laura Bell Bundy for proof of that. ‘Giddy On Up’ was huge in the dance clubs, and for a brand new artist to place in Club Connection’s top five at the end of the year is very impressive.”
The results of the 2010 Top Ten Country Dance Club Hits are:

1. “Stuck Like Glue” - Sugarland
2. “All About Tonight” - Blake Shelton
3. “Hillbilly Bone” - Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins
4. “Need You Now” - Lady Antebellum
5. “Giddy On Up” - Laura Bell Bundy
6. “Country Done Come To Town” - John Rich
7. “Roll With It” - Easton Corbin
8. “Why Don't We Just Dance” - Josh Turner
9. “Turn On The Radio” - Reba
10. “Pretty Good At Drinkin' Beer” - Billy Currington

“All of the songs on Club Connection’s Top Ten list have been in heavy rotation at Wild Bills for most of the year,” says Dwight Philpott, one of the DJs at Wild Bills in Atlanta, Ga. “We play these songs every single night, because these are the ones that always pack our dance floor.”
Songs to top the list in previous years include Zac Brown Band’s “Toes” (2009), Alan Jackson’s “Good Time” (2008), Josh Turner’s “Firecracker” (2007), Steve Holy’s “Brand New Girlfriend” (2006), Trace Adkins’ “Honkytonk Badonkadonk” (2005) and Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse (Ride A Cowboy)” (2004).
A complete archive of Club Connection’s Top Ten Country Dance Club Hits can be viewed at www.MarcoClubConnection.com.

Pazz & Jop Albums:

Jamey Johnson 20th
Taylor Swift 26th
Laura Marling 80th
Elizabeth Cook 83rd (actually expected her to finish a lot higher, even though I think people overrate the album)
Patty Griffin 112th
Drive By Truckers 122nd
John Mellencamp 168th (57 places behind Never Mind The Bullets: Here's Early Bob Seger, which only five people voted for!)
Tift Merritt 196th

Probably missing some (not sure if Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Robert Plant, Mumford And Sons, Ray Lamontagne count as country these days or not. And Johnny Cash must be in there somewhere, but I'm not finding him.)

Most gratifying surprise (outside of Seger): Five people voting for Chely Wright -- 231st place, just ahead of Nicki Minaj):

http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/albums/2010/TGlmdGVkIE9mZiB0aGUgR3JvdW5k/

Singles
Taylor Swift "Mine" tied for 54th (13 votes)
Miranda Lambert "The House The Built Me" tied for 60th (12 votes)
Taylor Swift "Mean" and "Back To December" both tied for 138th (5 votes)

Oh, Lady Antebellum "Need You Now" got 12 singles votes too, looks like. Good for them. (Plus, George and two other people voted for their album.)

Sunny Sweeney "From A Table Away" -- only 3 votes. I expected it to do better.

http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/singles/2010/RnJvbSBhIFRhYmxlIEF3YXk=/

Frank voted for Mumford and Sons on his Scene ballot. Robert Plant's Band of Joy is its own kind of Americana art-pop, Planty leading a conga-chorus line of pickers and chirpers through candelit caverns. Also relates to some of the cuter, bouncier stuff he did with Zep. Can see why Krauss wasn't having any of those sexy-spooky incense 'n' peppermints Low covers (she's more into Bread, pop-rockwise). Cool review dr phil, I'll have to check that Trace comp, and "horndoggeral" shows you as dr. after my own heart.

Johnny Cash got exactly as many album votes as Lady Antebellum, it turns out:

http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/albums/2010/QW1lcmljYW4gVkk6IEFpbid0IE5vIEdyYXZl/

(I never heard the thing, myself.)

I'm rather impressed that only two singles I voted for got votes from anyone else (one of those only got one other voter, Bobby Reed joining me in a vote for "Little White Church").

Speaking of polls, I nominated a whole bunch of country tracks (including "Sandman" and "Picture Of Me") for the The 2010 ILM Super-Mega Year-End Albums 'N' Tracks Poll, if you want to vote for them or others (someone else had already nominated "From A Table Away"). Go here for instructions how to vote. The poll's open through Friday.

Thanks, Dow! 2 things:

Ned just told me Mumford and Sons are tangentially related to Christian rock or something, which I wasn't aware of since I've never heard them except for the profanity-edited-out song they play on VH1 in the mornings. (And I can't remember how that goes.) This may be old news (the Xian rock part). Apparently the singer comes from cheery evangelical folk.

Second: can anyone confirm or deny the accuracy of this P/J comment?

Just wait till Jamey Johnson’s admirers discover Mickey Newbury and Harry Chapin.

Michael Robbins
Chicago, IL

Believe it or not, I don't know if I've ever actually heard Mickey Newbury. (I've heard of him plenty, though -- mostly in the song "Luckenbach, Texas.") And I barely know Harry Chapin's stuff at all, beyond the obvious hits ("Cat's In The Cradle," "Taxi," "WOLD"), which I guess I've always had mixed feelings about. So who knows, maybe that guy's right -- even if (I assume) he's being sarcastic. Jamey Johnson's definitely got at least as much "'70s singer songwriter" as "outlaw" in his music.

Elizabeth McQueen cover story, from this week's Austin Chronicle. Frank and I liked and wrote about her The Fresh Up Club and all-pub-rock-covers Happy Doing What We're Doing back in the early/mid '00s; I haven't read this feature yet, but apparently she's been doing a lot with Asleep At The Wheel lately, and her new album is said to be a sort of retro-lounge-jazz move.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A1136831

New evidence of Ke$ha's rustic cowboy cred: I had one of the local regional Mexican stations on in the car this morning (have two punched in as settings now), and they were playing a good jaunty banda-type number that as usual I can't hope to identify, and when the singing stops, the deejay starts mashing up "We R Who We R" over the tubas and accordions. Sounded awesome -- my jop dropped.

Have been listening to an advance of the new Randy Montana CD, which is really great. Want to hold off on talking more about it for the time being, but so far "Ain't Much Left Of Lovin' You," the single Frank liked last year, is one my least favorite tracks.

Not real familiar with Newbury, but "Frisco Mabel Joy" was an early 70s late night FM folkie staple; also, he arranged the "Great American Trilogy": a medley of "Dixie", "Battle Hymn of the Republic", and "All My Trials",maybe not in that order, but anyway South, North, and African-Americans, reconciled by the majesty of Elvis, live in concert. It worked, at least insofar as "I believe 'em while I'm singin' 'em," like Dylan says. Otherwise, Newbury's later stuff sometimes got tagged as "new age country", and xgau shows no love, to put it mildly, but the early stuff might have something to do with Jamey Johnson. I think him, re songwriting and album developement more as relating to early 70s Coe,maybe Townes, Waylon and Willie,esp Phases and Stages. I'm initially amazed by Wanda Jackson's new album with Jack White & co., which has no prob spinning rockabilly, New Orleans, calypso, country, gospel, boogie woogie, an overall "Rainy Day Women" x Zep feel which doesn't mess up the gospel, even ( honoring Stax's own approach to remakes helps). Can well imagine Jace Everett getting into it, and not totally sure a couple of songs aren't his. Gets better as it goes along too It's streaming here til Jan 25
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/16/132289971/first-listen-wanda-jackson-the-party-aint-over

I'm glad they're streaming that, since I heard "Shakin' All Over" last night on the radio and liked it a lot. It's a big production number, sort of like what the White Stripes did with "Conquest" only more show-bizzy. This Letterman performance has a fine White guitar solo.

Yeah, although her voice seemed a bit small for the live sound, though I may have been influenced by the fast that she was at least a foot shorter than the musicians she was surrounded with. "Shakin' All Over" is kinda hard to pull off live (that "oh-oh-vuhhh", unless you're Roger Daltry on Live At Leeds, for inst), though better on the album, still not nearly the best track. Nashville Scene's round-up issue is here. Surprised that The Promise made Reissues, but I did hear an interview in which Springteen said he recorded Darkness On The Edge of Town during his long, glacial struggle with his former manager, I think he was forbidded to release anything til the suit was settled, and he was wondering if he was going to have the career he wanted, or slide back to the periphery, be a bar band guy or something, and he was also writing from how he'd felt as a hicktown teen in what he described as the "David Lynch-ian" mid-60s, when Highway 61 Revisited was his Catcher In The Rye. So, that kind of marginalized, impacted stress is indeed something I relate to country, but haven't heard this album (which also includes all the nostalgic pop-oriented outtakes pointedly from the Darkness sessions, and of course that's country-relevant too, thematically, but I also look for a certain feel)

Anyhoo, here's the press release and links to round-up stuff. Here's hoping ILX will let me activate all these links at the end:
JAMEY JOHNSON AND MIRANDA LAMBERT DOMINATE THE NASHVILLE SCENE’S ELEVENTH ANNUAL COUNTRY MUSIC CRITICS POLL

The 77 writers from all over North America who voted in the 11th annual Country Music Critics Poll named Jamey Johnson Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year and cited his latest release, The Guitar Song, as the year's best album. They also voted Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” as the year’s best single; they also named her Female Vocalist of the Year and runner-up Artist of the Year.

There are other winners: Hank Williams won the Best Reissue voting; Elizabeth Cook's Welder and Taylor Swift's Speak Now finished No. 3 and No. 4 in the Best Album voting; Little Big Town’s “Little White Church” was No. 2 Single; the Zac Brown Band was named Best Live Act and Best Group; Easton Corbin was voted the Best New Act.

But the poll was dominated by Johnson, whose album garnered nearly double the votes of the runner-up, Up on the Ridge, by Dierks Bentley. Here was a country singer, the critics agreed, who shouldered the work of role models such as Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings without turning their legacy into quaint history, pious sentimentality or artless showboating.

Today's Nashville Scene cover story provides much more than just the results. Geoffrey Himes, who conducts the poll each year, tries to make sense of the voting with a long essay and an interview with Elizabeth Cook. There are also comments from many of the voters as well as a chart comparing the poll results to the artists’ Billboard rankings.

The voters included writers from such high-profile publications as The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, CMT.com, Billboard, People, Entertainment Weekly, Spin, Rolling Stone, National Public Radio, Country Weekly and the Boston Globe. But the voters also came from such heartland publications as the Lincoln Journal Star, Memphis Flyer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Worcester Telegram & Gazette and Las Vegas Weekly.

Here are the URL links to the stories:

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/jamey-johnson-bridges-countrys-past-and-the-future-that-he-and-stars-like-taylor-swift-and-dierks-bentley-are-shaping/Content?oid=2191612

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/from-jamey-johnsons-triumphs-to-race-and-suicide-critics-weigh-in-on-the-year-in-country-music/Content?oid=2191626

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/commercial-country-doesnt-know-what-to-do-with-elizabeth-cook-and-thats-a-shame/Content?oid=2191638

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/country-music-critics-poll-voters/Content?oid=2191637

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/charts-vs-critics/Content?oid=2192281

'Hmm, what can we come up with today that will appeal to the emotionally bankrupt 36-year-old woman and allow us to go to the bank?'

Ha! Almost makes me want to buy her record sight unseen.

Nashville Scene results, for easy reference:

Albums
1. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song (Mercury Nashville)
2. Dierks Bentley - Up on the Ridge (Capitol Nashville)
3. Elizabeth Cook - Welder (31 Tigers)
4. Taylor Swift - Speak Now (Big Machine)
5. Marty Stuart - Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions (Sugar Hill)
6. Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues (Bloodshot)
7. Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig (Nonesuch)
8. Willie Nelson - Country Music (Rounder)
9. Merle Haggard - I Am What I Am (Vanguard)
10. Little Big Town - The Reason Why (Capitol Nashville)
11. Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain't No Grave (American)
12. Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give (Southern Ground)
13. The SteelDrivers - Reckless (Rounder)
14. Alan Jackson - Freight Train (Arista)
15. Laura Bell Bundy - Achin' and Shakin' (Mercury Nashville)
16. Chely Wright - Lifted Off the Ground (Vanguard)
17. Lady Antebellum - Need You Now (Capitol Nashville)
18. Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C.) (Bordello)
19. Easton Corbin - Easton Corbin (Mercury Nashville)
20. Robert Plant - Band of Joy (Rounder)
21. Patty Griffin - Downtown Church (Credential)
22. The Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do (ATO)
23. Gary Allan - Get Off on the Pain (MCA Nashville)
24. Randy Houser - They Call Me Cadillac (Universal South)
25. Jerrod Niemann - Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury (Sea Gayle)

Singles
1. Miranda Lambert - "The House That Built Me" (Columbia)
2. Little Big Town - "Little White Church" (Capitol Nashville)
3. Sunny Sweeney - "From a Table Away" (Mercury Nashville)
4. The Band Perry - "If I Die Young" (Republic Nashville)
5. Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson - "As She's Walking Away" (Bigger Picture)
6. Jamey Johnson - "Playing the Part" (Mercury Nashville)
7. Taylor Swift - "Mine" (Big Machine)
8. Jerrod Niemann - "Lover, Lover" (Sea Gayle)
9. Sugarland - "Stuck Like Glue" (Mercury Nashville)
10. Miranda Lambert - "Only Prettier" (Columbia)
11. Easton Corbin - "A Little More Country Than That" (Mercury Nashville)
12. Dierks Bentley - "Up on the Ridge" (Capitol Nashville)
13. Jamey Johnson - "Macon" (Mercury Nashville)
14. Laura Bell Bundy - "Giddy on Up" (Columbia)
15. Reba - "Turn on the Radio" (Valory)
16. Lady Antebellum - "Hello World" (Capitol Nashville)
17. Taylor Swift - "Back to December" (Big Machine)
18. Elizabeth Cook - "El Camino" (31 Tigers)
19. Eric Church - "Smoke a Little Smoke" (Capitol Nashville)
20. Laura Bell Bundy - "Drop on By" (Columbia)

Singles Jukebox reviews current singles by:

Sugarland

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=3073

Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=3068

Blake Shelton

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=3062

Sara Evans

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=3051

Hint: The one of these I liked least is the one I said I thought I "liked much" in the very first post on this thread. Boy was I wrong there. And the others aren't all that much better, really.
Prognosis: If these songs are any indication of what country radio will sound like in 2011, good luck staying awake.
Caveat: And we haven't even gotten to that lousy Brad Paisley single yet.

Yeah, they (the Band Perry) did that on Dancing With The Stars last week, hot stuff (funny given the title, cos song is not country goth or gothic, except in a hot Dancing With The Stars-appropriate way, "die"/"little death"/nice-sized O/musical sublimation way of country wisdom)

Xxhux's aforementioned quibbles with Working In Tennessee might well incl use of sureshot themes, re aforementioned barroom/boxcar/daydream sing-alongs, but his whiff-of-bs-bearing paper airplanes are bullseye or close enough, often enough for lazier me to be impressed--he really is Working it, somewhut. Top Ten? We'll see.

Neil Young's A Treasure turns out to be closer to Working In Tenn than I would have thought to expect, in terms of drollery, fecund foraging with Nashville cats (here touring as International Harvesters) and use of familiar elements. Only five prev unreleased titles, but the known ones haven't been redone on disc too often and everything's pretty sparky, except the first one, Amber Jean (and mebbe a couple others are too long). Several def (incl initial snoozes) def get better as they go along, which is not so common these days, much gracias. Fave: "Southern Pacific", where a forcibly retired railroad worker complains as the Harvesters klang and steam, way out on the redeye express. Kinda spooky--are they part of why he was retired? Note to self: This would have to be in Reissues, wouldn't it? Since Himes' Nashville Scene ballots have so far defined those as music rec. five or more years ago, and A Treasure's tracks are from mid-80s shows.

Hi guys. I'm guessing that 50-100% of you are working country music critics, so maybe you're the best folks to help me out. Where do you turn for the best new country album reviews?

I've noticed that most of the links on this thread aren't to country-specific websites. The only ones I found were for Taste of Country and The Boot, the latter of which doesn't seem to do albums. Do you find them to be reasonable? Are there better country-dedicated sources? Or do more broad-spectrum sites like Village Voice and NYTimes just have higher-quality music criticism?

I've really been getting into country music this year and want to do my best to keep up with the new shit. Thank you, and high fives to infinity.

The 9513 is 100% country and they cover nearly everything. ymmv on their quality.

I just checked it out. Apparently it hasn't been updated since May.

whoa really? apparently that was the last time i checked it. weird.

I mised the CMA Awards on tv last night as I was out seeing Mexican pop singer Julieta Venegas. Will have to check youtube or elsewhere to see if there are any good performance clips

The9513 officially folded back in May. Juli Thanki, who is a terrific writer and an occasional contributor to the former site, started engine145 a couple of months ago, though it focuses more heavily on "roots" music than contemporary country.

winners from the 45th Country Music Association Awards:

Entertainer of the Year: Taylor Swift
Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert
Male Vocalist of the Year: Blake Shelton
Vocal Group of the Year: Lady Antebellum
Vocal Duo of the Year: Sugarland
New Artist of the Year: The Band Perry
Album of the Year: My Kinda Party, Jason Aldean
Single of the Year: "If I Die Young", The Band Perry
Song of the Year: "If I Die Young", The Band Perry
Video of the Year: "The House That Built Me," Miranda Lambert
Musical Event of the Year: "Don't You Wanna Stay," Jason Aldean featuring Kelly Clarkson
Musician of the Year: Mac McAnally, guitar
Music Video of the Year: "You and Tequila," Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter

I didn't actually bother with the show, but Lady Antebellum over Zac Brown Band for Vocal Group and Aldean over Swift or Zac Brown Band are the only indefensible winners. A pretty accurate reflection of one of the poorest years for mainstream country I can remember overall.

band perry made out!

would kick it with: luke bryan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaZu7ODIFLs

I drunk-tweeted this last night. I love country music awards shows because no other genre wholly embraces its gaudy bullshit and even gives a platform to its more mediocre talent (Chris Young! Thompson Square! That icky kid who won American Idol!).

Aldean beating Swift for Album of the Year was so shockingly wrong it was laughable; Lady A over ZBB is predictable bullshit, although Zac Brown holding a red Solo cup in the audience during this category showed exactly how much he doesn't give a fuck. Although the reaction shots of the night go to Swift: not even bothering to be fake-happy when Lambert won Female Vocalist, clapping politely and talking after The Band Perry sang (I really hope she was saying "Oh so that's what I'd be like if my voice was thinner and less charismatic, and I had a problem with words!"), and then going PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE while all the other EOY noms were like "haha I'm gonna lose to the girl." #taylorswiftsurprisedface!

Actually I think ZBB got jobbed most when "Colder Weather" lost out to "If I Die Young" (which is about 16 months old at this point! But I guess if Luke Bryan and Eric Church are still considered "new artists"...), but I can see why people think that's a good song.

At one point Carrie Underwood had on a Maria Bello Prime Suspect hat and some reject dress from the musical Chicago while introducing Luke Bryan and his strippers singing "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)" and afterwards Nicole Kidman shot this look at Keith Urban that was like "Haha can you believe this bullshit?! Oh you can, whoops!" Blake Shelton sang "Footloose." Sara Evans did that big hit and had an aerialist, maybe so people wouldn't fall asleep.

I kinda like Aldean's title cut but haven't heard the whole album so I won't debate you folks (yet) on its merits versus Swift's.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/click-track/post/cma-awards-most-memorable-moments/2011/11/10/gIQAdree8M_blog.html

Some of these don't appear too memorable

Good job, internet: People on pretty well every country-specific message board I've checked are up in arms that Swift didn't look happy enough in her reaction shot when Lambert won Female Vocalist. Because awards shows need a villain.

To my ears, Speak Now is Swift's most unabashedly pop album ("Mean" notwithstanding) but whatever; Aldean isn't even remotely in league with her, and his album was far and away the weakest of the five nominees, including the Blake Shelton EP that inexplicably pulled a nomination.

Not a Faith Hill fan at all, but launching a comeback with a OneRepublic cover seems like an especially poor choice. Can't see country radio going for that single, but adult contemporary will likely be all over it.

I think Taylor will survive the message board comments.

She may even write a song about them.

Well yeah, obviously. I just think it's indicative of how such a sizable and vocal part of the country audience actively looks for reasons to villify her.

Taylor just looks bummed that she lost

http://www.k105fm.com/ArticleAdmin/Articles/tabid/64/ArticleId/1012/VIDEO-Taylor-Swift-Snubs-Miranda-Lambert-1012.aspx

haha blake shelton at the end

i'm back and forth on the nikki lane album on iamsound. productionwise definitely feels "indie country" for the most part but she has chops and i like that she isn't afraid to divest herself of most of the pop/rock trappings and go for a full on woe is me honky tonk weeper either