Rolling Country 2020

Big thing on them in yesterday's Wall St Journal, which I haven't read yet.
Here's this: https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/cover-story/article/21110118/20th-annual-country-music-critics-poll

"throw your love away" on the little big town record is so fucking good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCYsnofk3K4

yeah this album is so good

leans hard into the "lost in california" vibes <3

it's produced by the golden hour duo

Weed & Cannabis?

hehe

Merle Hazard - “(Gimme Some of That) Ol’ Atonal Music”

ok, my music geek kids got a huge kick out of this

Long, interesting article:

https://variety.com/2020/music/opinion/women-country-radio-tweet-reignites-firestorm-kacey-musgraves-kelsea-ballerini-1203472923/

other amazing songs on the little big town record:

next to you
title track
over drinking
questions
the daughters
river of stars
sugar coat
trouble with forever

ok most of 'em

re: "sugar coat"

and one of these nights i'll meet you in the driveway
and tell you to go to hell
go to hell

the first 5 songs go so hard i've had trouble getting to the rest of the album

the lord did bless us with another wonderful song titled "bluebird" tho

'river of stars' is so beautiful

Effective immediately all music video hours on CMT and CMT Music channels will have complete parity between male and female artists. That means 50/50. #CMTEqualPlay

— CMT (@CMT) January 21, 2020

Wonder if that will have any impact on country radio ( where stations can’t even play 2 songs in a row by female acts)

Howdy, Edd Hurt here. Wrote a couple things about Reggie Young, mentioned above, last year: https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/nashville-cream/article/21044397/reggie-young-19362019 and this (listen to "Mercy," referenced below, good example of Young's tact):

Reggie Young
Session guitar legend

Reggie Young, who died in Leiper’s Fork on Jan. 17 at age 82, played guitar on a huge number of recordings that have become country, pop and soul classics. Young added his fluid licks to Dusty Springfield’s 1969 album Dusty in Memphis, and he played on sessions with Elvis Presley, Joe Tex, James Carr, Billy Swan and Dobie Gray. Many of Young’s best-known recordings feature a lick, invented by Young, that defines the performance. Like his fellow Memphis rhythm-guitar masters Teenie Hodges and Bobby Womack, Young was a structural thinker.

Young was born Dec. 12, 1936, in Caruthersville, Mo. He made his name in pop and country, and he lived and recorded in Nashville for decades. But I like to think of him as a quintessential Memphis musician. Like Hodges, who devised unforgettable licks for records by Al Green and producer Willie Mitchell, Young knew how to lay back in a rhythm section. You can hear his restraint on an obscure 1967 Willie Mitchell record, “Mercy,” in which Young plays strict rhythm guitar behind Memphis ax man Clarence Nelson’s brief, stinging lead.

I saw Young demonstrate some of his signature inventions at a 2008 program at the Country Music Hall of Fame. He played his intro to Swan’s 1974 track “I Can Help,” and he made it look easy. For Young, it was about the total effect — he never showed off, because he didn’t have to. —Edd Hurt

Didn't know he'd died, damn!

From Mary Gauthier's Feb. enewsletter:

David Olney
1948-2020

The world lost a great artist on January 18th. We songwriters lost a dear friend. David Olney was a man with genius and wide-reaching vision. He was the master of perspective. Point of view in his songs was forever original and brilliant. Unparalleled Mastery.

He wrote from the viewpoint of the Iceberg in "Titanic." From the point of view of the huckster ripping people off on the hill next to Jesus in "Jerusalem Tomorrow." From the viewpoint of the dummy, talking to the ventriloquist, in "Who's The Dummy Now?"

I cannot pick a favorite Olney song, but I do come back to this one over and over, written from the viewpoint of a French prostitute, in "1917."
(if this doesn't show up here, it's on youtube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqXmR_npUs&fbclid=IwAR3BH3ggKomdimJR-KE9zKjcd16ClpZewwILACnFIWTVcBxRR2lnMnh9TeE

Wow to "Throw Your Love Away"! Excited to hear the rest of the album.

Here were my 2019 favorites in roughly the order I'd rank them:

ALBUMS
Michaela Anne - Desert Dove*
Miranda Lambert - Wildcard
Ian Noe - Between the Country
Jon Pardi - Heartache Medication
Emily Scott Robinson - Traveling Mercies
The Highwomen - s/t

SONGS
Emily Scott Robinson - The Dress*
Jon Pardi - Old Hat
Madison Kozak - First Last Name*
Miranda Lambert - Mess With My Head
Jon Pardi - Heartache Medication
Joy Williams - The Trouble with Wanting*
Tyler Childers - All Your'n
Hailey Whitters - Ten Year Town
Mike & The Moonpies - You Look Good in Neon
Maren Morris - The Feels
Ashley McBryde - One Night Standards
Midland - Let It Roll
Luke Combs - Even Though I'm Leaving
Ingrid Andress - More Hearts Than Mine
Joshua Ray Walker - Canyon
Caroline Spence - Mint Condition

*Gut-punchers

Just put on the LBT. Holy hell "Next To You"!

This is p cool:

“I’ve really never seen any four people work as well together as they do,” says singer-songwriter Lori McKenna, a longtime collaborator. “I’ve also never seen four people write songs to the harmonies. When I watch them write a lyric around a note that they all can sing, it’s mind-blowing. It’s almost like a kind of sign language; they use their hands, point to one another. I don’t know if they know all the names of what they’re doing [when they work together]. But together, when they sing, they flow like water, like liquid.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/little-big-town-new-album-tour-dates-946655/

"next to you" is amazing

also i interviewed LBT once for a story that wasn't about them and they were very generous w/ their time even when they didn't need to be, so that makes me like them a little extra

LBT is one of the bigger acts not to have their own ILM thread which makes sense bc i think they're underrated round these parts and maybe operating in a style that isn't one to cross over to other audiences. despite them being generally extremely good especially on their past several albums, which i rarely put on but always enjoy listening to.

i first was impressed w/their chops on Pain Killer, which was among other things evidence that whatever type of song they wanted to pull off, they could do it. in addition to their way with close harmonies they can really tear shit up when they choose to do so.

When my wife and I did our Southern road trip to Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Clarksdale, and Memphis, Little Big Town were on the multi-act bill at the Grand Ol Opry. Impressive harmonies. At times a bit too polished for me, but I generally like their country meets Fleetwood Mac sound.

When we were just up in NYC, they were at the Apollo for a couple of shows! We just noticed it after the gigs had already happened when we were touring the Apollo.

@RScountry
Whitney Rose previews her new album 'We Still Go to Rodeos' with a compassionate spin on the cheating song in "Believe Me, Angela" https://rol.st/31tidvk Cosmic Canadian cowgirl rolls on

Anyone have a recommendation for a country station, podcast or show worth streaming?

New York's Country, 94.7: Haven't listened a whole lot, but seems okay, am told it's usually pretty good; Maura posted link on a previous RC---and hey, commercial-free Mondays!
https://newyorkscountry947.radio.com/blogs/joe-cingrana/commercial-free-mondays-on-new-yorks-country-947?utm_source=second-street&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sam+Hunt+Tix%2c+Martina+Tix%2c+CFM%2c+Troops%2c+Miranda+News%2c+Aldean+News%2c+Oscars+Best%2c+Listen+App

Thanks!

Grady Smith's youtube channel is worth keeping an eye on

http://www.youtube.com/GradySmith

Maren Morris “The Bones” is the first solo song by a woman to hit #1 since Taylor Swift “You Belong with Me” in 2009, per @chartdata on twitter

X-post- for a guy with hundreds of thousands of YouTube followers, that Grady Smith guy didn’t seem that smart or charismatic in his episode on country music TikTok. He seemed clueless that young folks would do karaoke like videos there, and he mocked country songs that have rap inspired vocals .

Can't say I've seen that one but I used to read his writing in The Guardian and thought he had a good ear for talent and an unpretentious style. Now primarily follow him on Twitter but occasionally watch his album review videos.

He’s unpretentious, which is good, just has those flaws I mentioned.

new jason isbell is predictably great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPek7jto9l0

After spending a week with New York 94.7 (thanks, dow!), I wanted less "10,000 Hours" so I looked for local owned stations and came across KBST in Big Spring, Texas. Pretty good station with waaay more character that so far seems to only be about 1/2 current hits. The stream doesn't sound as good, but that seems appropriate. Plus local ads for laundromats and mineral rights consulting!

Cool, and speaking of Texas, should have thought of https://kutx.org/about-kutx-music

Maren Morris “The Bones” is the first solo song by a woman to hit #1 since Taylor Swift “You Belong with Me” in 2009, per @chartdata on twitter

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, February 11, 2020 9:56 AM (one week ago)

this is not correct. it's the first solo song by a woman to hit #1 on country airplay AND go top 10 in all-format airplay since "you belong with me"

other songs by any artist to have done the same since "you belong with me":

lady antebellum "need you now" (2010)
florida georgia line (ft. nelly) "cruise" (2013)
sam hunt "body like a back road" (2017)
bebe rexha ft. florida georgia line "meant to be" (2018)
dan + shay "speechless" (2019)
dan + shay & justin beiber "10,000 hours" (2019)

and now "the bones". so this stat is more about crossover than acceptance at country radio alone (which, yes, is paltry for women, but not quite THAT horrendous)

this kicks ass

alee - "no one like you"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJrVn_2QoYg

canada stand up

Excerpts from press release about new Maren Morris tour:
Grammy-winning artist Maren Morris will embark on “RSVP: The Tour” throughout North America, including festival dates at Governors Ball Music Festival and Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience and headline stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Colorado’s storied Red Rocks Amphitheatre and many more. Supporting acts James Arthur, Ryan Hurd and Caitlyn Smith are confirmed for select dates. The tour kicks off in June following Maren’s headlining appearance at the Houston Rodeo on March 7, her biggest show to date.
,,,Last week marked the second consecutive week at #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart for Maren’s song “The Bones,” making it the first solo female back-to-back #1 since 2012 and her fourth #1 single to date. It also marks the first solo female Billboard country #1 since her single “GIRL” topped the chart last summer. In addition, Morris recently appeared on the 50th season of “Sesame Street” in an episode titled “Let’s Draw”—watch here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O08nNZt074&feature=emb_title
MAREN MORRIS LIVE
March 7 Houston, TX Houston Rodeo
May 24 Napa, CA BottleRock Napa Valley
June 5 Boston, MA Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion*‡
June 6 Gilford, NH Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion*‡
June 7 New York, NY Governors Ball Music Festival
July 10 Calgary, AB The Scotiabank Saddledome
July 24 Boca Raton, FL Mizner Park Amphitheatre*‡
July 25 Jacksonville, FL Daily’s Place*‡
July 30 Cleveland, OH Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica*‡
August 7 Kansas City, MO Starlight Amphitheatre*‡
August 8 Indianapolis, IN Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park*‡
August 21 Atlanta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheater*
August 22 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater*‡
August 22-23 Lexington, KY Railbird Festival
August 27 Detroit, MI Freedom Hill Amphitheatre*
August 28 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena*
September 4-6 Aspen, CO Jazz Aspen Snowmass
September 7 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre†
September 10 Abbotsford, BC Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre†‡
September 11 Portland, OR Moda Center – Theater of the Clouds†
September 17 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre†‡
September 18 Charlottesville, VA Sprint Pavilion†‡
September 19 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion†‡
September 25 Montréal, QC Corona Theatre‡
October 1 Tuscaloosa, AL Tuscaloosa Amphitheater†‡
October 9 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP†‡
October 15 San Diego, CA Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU†‡
October 17 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre†
*with Ryan Hurd
†with James Arthur
‡with Caitlyn Smith
For more information, please contact
Carla Sacks, Cami Opere, Reid Kutrow or Asha Goodman at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000;
carla at sacksco.com, cami.opere at sacksco.com, reid.kutrow at sacksco.com or asha.goodman at sacksco.com

Loving this. Very impressive debut. Fleetwood Mac vibes, at times.

Katie Pruitt - Expectations

https://cdn.nashvillescene.com/files/base/scomm/nvs/image/2020/02/640w/katie_pruitt_cover2.5e4c5b08c0293.jpg

https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/features/article/21116886/katie-pruitt-is-herself-on-expectations

https://americansongwriter.com/katie-pruitt-elevates-herself-on-expectations/hal-horowitz/

https://youtu.be/mG1JsSh951U

There's also a new Secret Sisters album out today. I'm a sucker for great harmonies, and they're as good as anyone. Looks like Brandi Carlile produced this one, too.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58c2329c29687f4f845d04d0/1573786946140-SGMM23TKNA5YRMWZAPI9/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kOyctPanBqSdf7WQMpY1FsRZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwwQIrqN0bcqL_6-iJCOAA0qwytzcs0JTq1XS2aqVbyK6GtMIM7F0DGeOwCXa63_4k/SecretSistersCover_600.jpg

The fourth album from Alabama sibling duo the Secret Sisters is the stunning country-soul opus their talent has always promised. Laura and Lydia Rogers have been at it since 2010, making solid LPs with high-profile producers (T Bone Burnett, Dave Cobb) while lending their Southern church harmonies to legends like Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello. In 2017, the pair enlisted singer-songwriter Brandi -Carlile to co-produce their third LP, You Don’t Own Me Anymore, helping them up their game in a set of songs about piloting life’s hardships, delivered with tender -intimacy. Carlile is back for Saturn Return, a spare, -gorgeous, relatably realistic set. “Late -bloomers on parade” is how the group put it on the Elton John-meets-Dusty Springfield declaration “Late Bloomer.” That well-chosen sentiment is truth in -advertising.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/the-secret-sisters-saturn-return-959155/

Here's the single they released in November:

https://youtu.be/uCC6vcgEASg

the katie pruitt is lovely

It really is. The songs are unhurried and the production suits her perfectly.

The background "ooohs" on the opener "Wishful Thinking" sounds just like Miranda's "Running Just in Case" to me.

Stream the new Brandy Clark album on NPR:

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/809688824/first-listen-brandy-clark-your-life-is-a-record

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2020/02/26/brandy_clark_cover_sq-9980232010f7a76c7ea651090fbc586e9934b7fc-s700-c85.jpg

"Not only did I have some soul searching — I think Jay Joyce, who I made this record with, had a similar (experience). He took some time off and I think he had gotten kind of burned out. I got him in an amazing season for him, because he had just come back and was really, really excited. Somebody like him, who's so known for an electric, kind of heavier sound, I thought, "What would happen if I challenged him to only cut with acoustic instruments?" I didn't expect him to get so excited. He called me with this whole idea to cut it with just four of us: myself, him, Giles Reaves, who plays percussion and piano, and Jedd Hughes, who kind of plays anything with strings. I loved that idea."

yeahhhhh boy

Secret Sisters/Katie Pruitt/Brandy Clark really my life lately

Secret Sisters didn't do much for me on first listen but I'm with you on Katie & Brandy.

Love how honest Pruitt is in grappling with belonging and exclusion. She has lived these songs, their characters, and emotions, most notable on queer anthem "Loving Her":

If loving her's a sin, I don't wanna go to heaven
There's nothing else up there I could need
And if I'm sinning every day, I guess I'll sin all seven
If I can still have her by the end of the week

If loving her's a drug, then I wanna be addicted
Why would I get clean, when the high's this good?
She says I'm the only one who can hit it
And all the other druggies just wish they could
They wish they could

You see I used to be ashamed
To write a song that said her name
'Cause I was too afraid
Of what they all might say

But if loving her is wrong
And it's not right to write this song
Then I'm still not gonna stop
And you can turn the damn thing off

for Secret Sisters, Cabin / Hold You Dear / Late Bloomer / Hand Over My Heart are really hitting my corny AM rock sweet spot; feels like this is catnip for the brandi carlisle crew

xp about Pruitt, "Normal" is great with that too:

Marchin' in line in the halls of my Catholic school
Seven Hail Marys if I copped an attitude
And God was a word I had spoken but I hardly knew
Kneelin' down at the altar with no clue who I was talkin' to
Stumblin' 'round Athens with frat boys in hot pursuit
Left me starin' at the ceilin', pissed off and feelin' used
Wasted and worn out and wonderin', "Where do I fit?"
And scared as hell 'cause I knew I was different

Did they want what's best or did they want what's easiest?
'Cause I tried my best, but God damn, was I curious
And she had me high as the sun on a Saturday afternoon
With no way to unsee this side of me that she introduced

What's it like to be normal?
To want what normal girls should?
God knows life would be easier
If I could be normal, then trust me, I would

Curled up on the couch, you look just as worn out as me
Tryin' to act certain in a world of uncertainty
And one night, the moonlight took over and I kissed your lips
The world told us to fit in, but we did the opposite

loving katie pruitt's record so much.

The Tender Things are gonna end up in my top 5 EOY, Zephaniah is a solid jam-in-the-car-sing-along album but more like top 20 for me

The Katie Pruitt album is my favorite of the year I think, country or otherwise.

it's up there. would like to mobilize the ILX crew to vote for it in the yearly poll for sure.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71YE7tpRLBL._SY355_.jpg

This title will be released on February 26, 2021.

Honoring the enduring inspiration of Frank Sinatra, That’s Life is Willie Nelson’s second album of classics made famous by The Chairman Of The Board. Willie’s first ode to Frank, 2018's My Way, earned Willie the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Solo Album, and That's Life finds Nelson (who has penned a few standards himself) inhabiting 11 more of the most treasured songs in the Great American Songbook including the title track, "Luck Be A Lady,” "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "You Make Me Feel So Young," and "I Won't Dance" (a duet featuring Diana Krall).

Produced by Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings, That's Life was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood--where Frank Sinatra, created a string of album masterpieces--with additional recording at Pedernales Studios in Austin, Texas. Willie delivers 11 new studio performances, coming alive in a musical landscape animated by lush string and vibrant horn arrangements on an album mixed by recording industry legend Al Schmitt (who's recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums and won more Grammy Awards than any other engineer or mixer). The album cover features a brand new painting of Willie and his iconic guitar, Trigger, standing in the glow of a twilight streetlamp, evoking classic Sinatra album covers of yore. With one of those Gene Krupa cigs.

this motherfucker is immortal

xxxpost reminder
(THIS EVENT IS FREE TO WATCH WITH RSVP*. PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING THE KESWELL SCHOOL BY MAKING A DONATION.)
LUCK PRODUCTIONS & CITY WINERY PRESENT: 6TH ANNUAL JOHN HENRY'S FRIENDS
A BENEFIT FOR THE KESWELL SCHOOL
On December 13th, 2020, Luck Productions, City Winery and Steve Earle will join together to host the 6th annual John Henry's Friends benefit concert to raise funds for children diagnosed with autism. In this first virtual fundraiser, Steve Earle & The Dukes will be performing, along with sets from an incredible lineup of guest artists including Warren Haynes, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Shawn Colvin, Matt Savage and The Mastersons for an unforgettable night of music.
*RSVP yall:https://luck.stream/johnhenrysfriends?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=ab4c45c0e5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_12_11_02_23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9d7f017887-ab4c45c0e5-415586925&goal=0_9d7f017887-ab4c45c0e5-415586925&mc_cid=ab4c45c0e5&mc_eid=3ce2be0c08

Hailey Whitters made the top 15 for Washington Post critic Chris Richards

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, December 9, 2020 10:37 AM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

The lyrics on "Ten Year Town" impressed me in 2019, but the album's got some serious hooks. "Dream, Girl" sounds a bit like Maren Morris. Great record.

Yeah this Whitters album was the knock out I was sure was out there that I'd slept on. Was thinking, wow "Janice At the Hotel Bar" sounds a lot like Lori McKenna's best tunes, and then "Happy People" came on -- didn't know that was cowritten by Whitters. There are also apparently cowrites with Brandy Clark and Hillary Lindsey, but I can't find detailed credits.

Anyway, RIYL: Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Lori McKenna, Brandy Clark, etc.

#1 on Marissa Moss's list: https://www.stereogum.com/2110043/best-country-albums-2020/lists/year-in-review/2020-in-review/

Any other good country-specific/heavy year-end lists you've seen?

Rolling Stone
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country-lists/best-country-albums-2020-1095488/

Bitter Southerner
https://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2020/best-southern-albums-of-2020

SCM Album & Song OTY Noms
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-music-2020-album-of-the-year-nominees/
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-musics-2020-song-of-the-year-nominees/

"Janice at the Hotel Bar" is "Humble and Kind" redux in the best of ways:

And stay off the pills
But get on the pill if you ain't ready to start a family
And pay all your bills
But give some away
All that money won't make you happy
Make good love, good company
Drink good wine, make good coffee
Keep your chin up, but every once in awhile
Have a good cry
Go on and make a good livin' girl, don't forget
To make a good life

I also like the "Heartland" double meaning - kind of thing Kacey Musgraves would do.

Her voice actually reminds me of Kacey's

Unless Musgraves is increasingly your go-to guru, and/or The Golden Hour is your touchstone or wellspring or Sgt. Pepper's, I'd say not to waste time with most of this---although "Red White & Blue" is a keeper: here she actually seems to push back against her chronic sluggishness, in a way I don't think I've ever heard (that wordless, rec cry is not a hook in the usual sense, but keeps me waiting for its return), and "Dream, Girl" is a little sneaky, and "The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice" has that stalkin', smokin' beat and riff, the kind of thing she needs way more of---or a sax solo, steel guitar, hick-hop beats--anything to distract from the drab vocals, trite tunes, triter advice, that the people who might possibly benefit from are not likely to hear, because not enough sweetening for the pill to go viral---also, does she really listen to herself? "Happy people don't cheat"? Well, maybe if the cheatee has already made them happy and ready to take things further---but then, also, just to touch all the bases, "do whatever makes you happy"---so that includes, I dunno, cheating, mass murder, shoplifting, gtfo
RIYL: Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Lori McKenna, Brandy Clark, etc I do, but this don't.

Sorry yall, it's just hitting me rong (been listening all afternoon, per your recs)

i will try whitters but i wanted to say a big THANKS for the Jake Blount album, which hit on all cylinders. Solid lo-fi, down homey bluegrass all the way through with some very able playing and just the right attitude. Aces stuff, makes for a great companion to the Tyler Childers album.

Dunno dow - it's right in that Musgraves/Morris/Pruitt pocket of young upstart songwriter with lots to prove; smart and sly lyrics with a clear pov; and loads of hooks. I like that she mixes sounds and styles and would hate if the whole thing was your typical Nashville overproduced mess. The simplest tunes ("Ten Year Town" and "The Faker") are two of the best, but the new wave influence on "Dream, Girl" and the Stapleton swagger of "Devil" keep things moving.

As for the trite advice, as I mentioned upthread I think this is a hallmark of McKenna ("Humble and Kind") and crops up in the two songs they cowrote, "Janice" and "Happy People." Maybe a bit on "The Days," too, but that feels more like her take on Musgraves' "Follow Your Arrow."

If I've got a gripe it's her voice is very thin and doesn't touch Morris/Pruitt; though I agree with bunny slopes that Musgraves is closer, she stays in more of a pocket, and some places on the Whitters definitely grate a bit like the overdubs on "Heartland."

Pruitt album is solid, though lugubrious. Maybe I'm not built anymore to endure a song like "Normal."

xxp glad you enjoyed Jake Blount, forks---I still need to check this year's Childers set (have you heard Country Squire? That's the one that really sold me on him). Also Sturgill's current bluegrass chunks, right there on bandcamp---but so far I've liked his unmistakably country voice and attitude the more contrasty thee setting, esp. last year's Sound and Fury, wnich I tagged as "illin' ZZ Rex." The great example of that in 2020 is xpost Elizabeth Cook's post-sadcore silver spacesuit tequila surveyAftermath. And don't sleep on the lyrics, which come across best (or at least benefit from confirmation) on her site--wotta sound, though.
xpost Yeah, if you really like recent Musgraves and that side of McKenna's writing, Whitters is okay, although we agree on the thinness of her voice, the need for more production solutions to that.
Pruitt's voice tends to remind me of Ronstadt's, and this is all new to her, part of her big upfront earnest breakthrough testimonial, still in early chapters----Chely Wright and Waylon Payne are considerably older, and on record the gayness is more allusive, part of the world view in their mood rings---hard to imagine Pruitt getting to that any time soon---will she be more like, say. Taylor Swift for girls who like girls---?

pruitt sounds fucking great to me. i can understand hearing "normal" as po faced but it's also tremendously heartfelt; she's coming from an honest place i think.

Good list of 2020 songs here:
https://dontrocktheinbox.substack.com/p/dont-rock-the-inbox-issue-3

I nom'd and will be voting for Emily Scott Robinson's "Time for Flowers" in the ilm song poll -

“Time for Flowers,” Emily Scott Robinson: An exquisite meditation on how to find the strength to keep going when it feels like the walls are crashing down (or holding us captive), “Time for Flowers” is also a reminder that the good things always come back around, if we wait patiently - but we have to make sure we tend to the garden, because beauty can only grow out of despair if we give it what it needs to thrive. —MM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d1Xp1wzWZM

Oho, didn't know about this song or list, thanks. Yeah forks, i can understand hearing "normal" as po faced but it's also tremendously heartfelt; she's coming from an honest place i think.

Time will tell whether she's said it all here, but still.

Whoah---just now played Kelsey Waldon's covers EP, which is not one of your covid-alibi barebones potboilers: it's well-produced, swirling around and further shading, supporting her deftly deployed Appalachian inflections---and dig this track list:
1.
The Law Is For Protection Of The People 04:33
2.
Ohio 04:01
3.
Mississippi Goddam 04:54
4.
Sam Stone 04:29
5.
They'll Never Keep Us Down 02:51
6.
With God On Our Side 07:30
7.
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free 03:11
So the righteous weary narrator of "The Laws" is too close to home, ditto Kent State and the whole of MS, where now I'm especially struck by how this "hillbilly"-tagged Kentucky woman audibly relates to
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
Also Dylan's entrophic balladeer setting out on a new day's slog:
Oh my name it ain't nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
7:30 minutes of that, no more or less relentless than the razor detail of "Sam Stone," remembered, as a matter of fact, by the local junkie's offspring, with a brittle briskness more effective than the relative weepiness of Prine's original track---would like to see her do more by him, for sure.
Ends with the atypically upbeat "I Wish..." providing some refreshment, but not letting nobody off the hook: https://kelseywaldon.bandcamp.com/
(The inner warpage of continuing citizens here reminding me of several on Johnny Cash's recent Easy Rider: Best of the Mercury Recordings, incl. some that might be The Man In (or near) The Diner, getting head set for another visit from the New York Times---not all of the material is equally good, but it's all done his way and pulled me right through)(incl. some speedy remakes of Sun-era classics)

Should have edited this before posting on savingcountrymusic.com, where some are going after Maren Morris etc. etc.:

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

CMA set itself up for all this via inconsistency: on the one hand, testing and , maybe, exclusions (though no doubt some of those would have happened anyway, with the more cautious performers staying home), on the other, televised lack of social distancing and masking, onstage and off (seems likely that’s why the AP photog wasn’t allowed to take lasting evidence). If they’d had a mask mandate, would have been trouble with that audience, but a virtual event (though taken as an insult by many) would have saved them from the present controversy, and won new defenders, representing the saner side of country. *some* new defenders, but still catching it from the kneejerks and worse.

Just listened to Pruitt's album againL holy crap, what a *sound.* So many facets, right off---some have associated it w Fleetwood Mac, but here's how to assimilate and *learn* from that (Margo, producer Sturgill), as you're rolling along your own path. Always to a purpose, which is never just a show of strength, though that's part of it, rallying herself as much as anyone, while dealing with the doubts and other shadows, like "How did I get through all that, how am I still getting through it, and yet here I am with you, how did and does that happen---like this!"
So the well-chosen details, incl. still-recent memories, come to the foreground and confirm impressions of the words that found their way through the boom-boom of the first half, and "Normal" sounds forthright, incl. the problematic "If I could be normal, trust me, I would." Not abject, not anything reassuring, either, just how it is in her.
But right now, wow: https://rounderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/expectations

one of my great covid concert regrets of 2020 was the cancellation of her tour

Emily Yahr on Charley Pride and Covid issues in country music in Washington Post. Here's part of it:

A CMA spokeswoman said: “Out of respect for his family, we do not have further comment.”

And yet it’s hard to imagine country music’s year in the pandemic ending on a worse note. The genre has made a slew of unflattering headlines over the past 10 months, from Chase Rice’s not-socially-distanced summer concert to Morgan Wallen being dropped as the “Saturday Night Live” musical guest after violating the show’s coronavirus protocols. Then there was the strange tone of the CMA Awards, the format’s biggest night in the national spotlight to celebrate music known for capturing real life and “three chords and the truth,” trying to project an image of cheerful normalcy in a tragedy-filled year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/country-music-covid-charley-pride/2020/12/26/ac51bd2e-4566-11eb-975c-d17b8815a66d_story.html

Not sure how I missed this but Ingrid Andress had a cover of Charli XCX's "Boys" on the deluxe edition of Lady Like that's surprisingly good! I guess Andress was a cowriter of the song? Curious to know more about how she got looped in on that project if anyone knows more.

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

cool, thank you!

Mandolin a surprisingly good replacement for the Super Mario Bros coin sound

https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/cover-story/article/21145509/21st-annual-country-music-critics-poll-the-results

: 1. Mickey Guyton, “Black Like Me” (Capitol Nashville)
2. Chris Stapleton, “Starting Over” (Mercury Nashville)
3. Ashley McBryde, “One Night Standards” (Warner Music Nashville)
4. The Chicks, “Gaslighter” (Columbia)
5. John Prine, “I Remember Everything” (Oh Boy)
6. Eric Church, “Stick That in Your Country Song” (EMI Nashville/Big EC)
7. Tyler Childers, “Long Violent History” (Hickman Holler/RCA)
8. Mickey Guyton, “What Are You Gonna Tell Her” (Capitol Nashville)
9. Miranda Lambert, “Bluebird” (Vanner/RCA)
10. Sam Hunt, “Hard to Forget” (MCA Nashville)

Lists go further , but here’s cut and paste of top 10 album choices

Albums
1. Ashley McBryde, Never Will (Warner Music Nashville)

2. Chris Stapleton, Starting Over (Mercury Nashville)

3. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Reunions (Southeastern)

4. Brandy Clark, Your Life Is a Record (Warner Music Nashville)

5. Margo Price, That’s How Rumors Get Started (Loma Vista)

6. The Chicks, Gaslighter (Columbia)

7. Waylon Payne, Blue Eyes, the Harlot, the Queer, the Pusher & Me (Carnival)

8. Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions (High Top Mountain)

9. Elizabeth Cook, Aftermath (Agent Love)

10. Hailey Whitters, The Dream (Pigasus)

More on the 2021 thread

god, "Hard to Forget" still slaps so hard

i just realised that justin townes earle is dead. kind of reeling from it. his songs feel so personal, it feels like i know him.

You do.