LoveMyCountryMusic.com

Bury me in cliches (or, I'm Not the Only One!)

A reader brought this post from Beauty Spelled Backwards to my attention and I just had to share!

I try to avoid negativity in my posts. But right now my mind is consumed with loathing for the Band Perry, and I must purge myself of these thoughts before I can move on.

Everything about this song is nauseating. The trite, puerile metaphors (“the sharp knife of a short life” – what the hell does that even mean?), the celebration of untimely death as a glamorous, ennobling fate that keeps the subject forever young, beautiful and pure, and – need I even say it? – that appalling hair!

Read the full post:
http://beautyspelledbackwards.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/bury-me-in-cliches/#comment-124

Interview with country singer Jimmy Wayne

Interview with country singer Jimmy Wayne.

Brantley Gilbert's Rockin' Country Wakes Up D.C.

The 930 Club in Washington, DC, is one of the best live music venues in the country, but it isn't known for booking country acts. That may change thanks to the huge turnout country acts have attracted, most recently Brantley Gilbert.

Outside of his cult following in the South, the Georgia native is known more for writing the hits "My Kind of Party" and "Dirt Road Anthem" for Jason Aldean. Brantley rarely plays headlining shows this far from Dixie so I wasn't sure what kind of crowd he'd draw on a sleepy Thursday night in August (when DC is known for basically shutting down). But the GRITS and redneck Romeos came from several neighboring states for the show.

Brantley managed to almost fill the 1,200-capacity club by word-of-mouth with zero radio support -- the local country stations vans parked in front of the Taylor Swift and Keith Urban shows held at the basketball arena in the past few weeks were nowhere to be found on this night. No local DJ came out to do the intro or toss t-shirts into the crowd.

Not that any of the fans lined up around the block hoping to get in early to secure a spot on the floor cared one bit about country radio, which rarely plays their kind of music anyway.

Fans sang and fist-pumped along to every song, having learned "GRITS" (Girls Raised in the South), "Kick It In The Sticks," "Hell on Wheels" and "Take it Outside" without any help from the radio. Those who hadn't seen Brantley in parts south or opening on the Country Throwdown tour earlier this summer learned his songs from YouTube, where his live performance videos have had millions of views. and My Space (yes, My Space is still there), where total plays of his songs is close to 16.5 million.

Brantley put on an exhilarating performance of loud, in-your-face country music that takes liberally from rock with a dash of rap. You can almost feel his connection to his fans and his fans to him. The energy sizzles from the stage to the crowd and back again and again.

And even when he slows it down for the rare ballads -- the playful "My Kind of Crazy" and sweet "You Don't Know Her Like I Do" -- the energy keeps buzzing like afterglow.

It's hard not to compare Brantley Gilbert's rising success to the other rare country act to play (and sell out) the 930 Club -- Eric Church. Both boast a rabid fan following, extensive touring and a sound that's a little harder than many country radio stations are comfortable with.

Eric Church recently sent the entire music industry a wake-up call when his new CD "Chief" debuted at the number one spot on Billboard's all-genre charts, and selling almost 150,000 copies in its first week. Let's hope Brantley will be on a similar path soon. His first major label release, "Halfway to Heaven Deluxe," is due September 13.

Find out more at www.brantleygilbert.com

Is Chris Young Too Sexy for Country Music?

You may have heard that Chris Young has lost his hat. But don’t worry, he's still as country as biscuits and gravy. He also might be too sexy for his audience. (More about this later.)

This was the first time I'd seen Chris Young as a headliner (not counting his fan club party last year) and I'll have to say I think his opening act days will soon be behind him. He had no problem commanding the stage, coming out with guitars blazing with "Lay it on Me" and keeping up the energy through tracks from his soon-to-be 3-CD* catalog. He had no problem filling the 70-minute show with only a few covers, all of which were well-suited to his voice and style, which is heavy on charm and sex appeal.

Those looking for his hits got them all-- "Voices," "The Man I Want To Be," and the encore he'll be playing for the next 40 years, "Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song)."  He didn't forget his first CD, either, playing "21 Candles," "Who's Gonna Take Me Home" and " Small Town Big Time."

The audience got a sneak preview of Chris's new CD "Neon," due July 12, including the so-sexy current top-10 single, "Tomorrow" and his summer radio-friendly next single, "Save Water, Drink Beer."

He never got too far away from the sexy, of course -- how could he, with those ridiculous good looks and deep, dreamy voice, and the third song from "Neon" is another seduction song, "I Can Take it From There," which got the ladies young and old screaming and swooning again.

Chris did his best to connect with the men in the predominantly female audience, playing a song "to set up the tee for you guys" to encourage a little slow dancing, the always beautiful country classic "When You Say Nothing at All."

But I don't know if it helped. The men seemed a bit annoyed by the goings-on, none too pleased with the wanton behavior of their women.

So is Chris Young too sexy for his audience?

Naaa. He can fill up a theater with multi generations of adoring female fans and their tolerant male companions, who, if they're smart, can reap the benefits of "Gettin' You Home" after the show.

Chris at times seemed a bit embarrassed by the screams of his adoring fans, but he handled the ardour with humor and graciousness, chatting with the audience about the days when he was grateful if the number of people in the audience outnumbered those on the stage.

"Thank you for being here. Thank you for changing my life," Chris told the audience before leaving the stage.

You’re welcome, Chris. But next time you get to headline a show, please play a wee bit longer.

 

Worst Country Hits of 2010

Calling some of these songs country is a stretch, but that's not why they're on the list. They're here because, in my humble opinion, they're bad in any genre and didn't deserve the unending airplay they received in 2010. Guess that's why my radio has lots of buttons!

10. "Stuck Like Glue" Sugarland

As catchy as a cold and just as annoying. It won't kill you but you sure don't want it in your head.

9. "Turn on the Radio" Reba McEntire

I love Reba, but this song stinks. The lyrics try too hard to be hip and clever, the music sounds like a reality TV show intro, and the singing ... well,, it's Reba, so the singing is just fine. But it's not enough to make me want to hear this song.

(And a side note: Why are Reba and Jeniffer Nettles torturing men in their videos? It's kind of sick, ladies.)

8. "Southern Voice" Tim McGraw

He's so much better than this silly little list of Southern-ism. Where's the passion, heart, soul and swagger of the old Tim? Oh, right -- he saves it for the movies now. (Loved you in The Blind Side!)
Update: I love "Felt Good on My Lips" so I guess he's not saving it all for the big screen!

7. "Anything Like Me" Brad Paisley

This song is just a re-write of the earlier hit "Letter to Me." The original was better.

6. Changed my mind and deleted this one!

5. "Bonfire" Craig Morgan

This song in indistinguishable from a dozen other country hits about the joy of stomping in the hillbilly backwood boondocks, except for maybe being the second worst use of a great country voice in 2010. (See No. 3 below for the worst use.)

4. "Hip To My Heart" The Band Perry

Instead of "More cowbell," I think someone said "More fiddle" and tried to make this a country song instead of a mediocre bubble-gum pop tune that even Katy Perry couldn't pull off. Cowbell might have worked better. And the lyrics were the second stupidest to ooze out of country radio in 2010.

Honorable Mention: The stupidest lyrics award for 2010 goes to "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking?" Rhyming lookin', bookends, cookin' and, well, lookin' again? Geez, buy a thesaurus or something! But the actual song is NOT on my worst list because Blake Shelton sings it so beautifully and I like the music (and video) so much. That, and because I adore Blake.

3. "Undo It" Carrie Underwood

The voice of an angel and she screams "uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh" and "na-na-na-na-na-na" or some other unintelligible gibberish? What a waste. Let's hope she's gotten whatever "It" was out of her system. (Her dancing in this video does look a bit like she's having an exorcism, so hopefully that took care of "It.")

2. "Keep On Lovin' You" Steel Magnolia

I really don't get the appeal of this song but I know a lot of people just love it. To me, it sounds like a rejected American Idol performance ("Simon, listen to my range!!!!) -- but without the humor. I'd rather hear "Pants on the Ground" or Snookie sing a Journey medley than listen to Meghan Linsey scream/sing/moan scales again.

1. "If I Die Young Young" The Band Perry

It's not the tween-pandering emo lyrics (I can still channel my inner Bella and go all moony if needed); or the catchy, sappy music that make me change the station every time this song comes on. It's Kimberley Perry's attempts to hit notes so far out of her range that I literally cringe in pain when I hear/feel them. When she sings, "The sharp knife, of a short liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife," it feels like a sharp knife in my ear. If not for that painful pitch, I'd probably download this one.

So there's my list. Maybe it's just me!