The most puzzling thing I have found this decade was the songs chosen as singles? Does anyone doubt “Gimme The Good Stuff”(Jasper County) “Nothin About Memphis”(HHPOL) or even if they pushed and made a video for “They Call It Falling For A Reason”(HHPOL) would have had potential to be bigger hits. I would not have released the title track even though it was a top 20 hit, let alone release it as a lead off single. Not that its a bad song, or she did bad on it, it just wasnt memorable or attention grabbing to push a album.

I don’t think she’s gone to radio with a song that fits either of those categories very well from her last four albums, with the big exception being the power ballad “I Would’ve Loved You Anyway” – her only top ten hit this decade.

Zack- I could never figure out why on earth they played She’s In Love with the Boy at the 1998 ACMs…I can understand not wanting to play How Do I Live, due to the whole LeAnn thing, but why not Perfect Love, or Everybody Knows….something current?

By the way I am the poster of 2 of the 3 youtube videos up there :) the Try Me Again, and the ACM…more to come

Regarding Jasper County vs HHPL, I liked the latter by a long shot. To be honest, I quickly got tired of Georgia Rain. Outside of “Standing Out in a Crowd” and “Sweet Love”, the rest didn’t do much for me. I liked almost all the songs on HHPL.

Nicolas,
I liked Jasper County a lot, but think Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love is, overall, better.

Well, I suppose Trisha can take responsibility for not being played on radio today if taking responsibility means that she’s not bowing to the pressure of making crappy music, which is mostly what’s being played on the radio these days with very few exceptions. I made myself listen to an entire mainstream country music countdown a few weeks ago on Sirus Radio, which is based on requests. I was pretty underwhelmed and sometimes horrified (Uncle Cracker, anybody?) by what I heard. I’d love for quality Yearwood music to be played on the radio, since radio (unfortunately) symbolizes success to a lot of people. But if quality music can’t be synonymous with radio play, then I suppose she’s made the right choice in the end.

Either way you spin it though, I like Trisha and would love to have her back on radio

The comment misspelling “Patty Lovelace” was not made by me. I didn’t even mention her name in my post. See Eric’s comment below mine for clarification.

I agree with much of your post though, Eric. I’ve often thought that a big part of the reason Reba and George were able to be stay relevant in the format was because they changed their music to fit in with the current sound at radio.

I’ve often wondered what determines whether an artist has “sold out” in order to stay relevant, or whether fans view that as simply being verstile enough to adapt to the changing of the format?

With regards to Trisha, I do think there is a whole host of explanations for lack of success over the past few years, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t take some responsibilty. Would you ever hear an artist say “Although I’m an extremely successsful artist, I don’t want to take credit for my accomplishments?” I don’t think so; the same thing applies to faliure in my mind.

While I realize the enormous impact of radio on artists, I think it’s only a small ingredient to success. If you’re an established artist, you will keep selling records and being successful regardless of whether radio plays your music.
Look no furthur than musical legends who are long past radio success; even the Dixie Chicks are a great example.

With regards to Taylor; the roots of her career began when she gained a big following on Myspace, and she landed her record deal after playing a showcase in Nashvile. She’s played on the radio a lot now, but keep in the mind that she also sells boatloads of records, has won countless awards, and is favored in the worlds of both pop and country music. An artist who is that popular is naturally going to get tons of airplay because people are chosing to support her career.