If anything, Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent are double trouble. In a good way, of course. The pair recently swept the SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Awards, a near-replica of their performance at last fall’s International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, where they claimed seven trophies. On March 31, they’ll release the followup to last year’s critically-acclaimed debut disc, aptly-titled Dailey & Vincent. The duo called from Nashville’s downtown YMCA to discuss their new album and touring plans for 2009 (and beyond). Sponsorships welcomed.
Brothers from Different Mothers is your second album together. Were there any shifts in approach or attitude this time around?
DV: We wanted to make the recording quality better. We’re trying to give the best performances we can give. We capture what’s in our hearts and capture the CD in a different light, to make it something that the audience will purchase and play over and over again.
“Head Hung Down” is a fascinating starting point—a man stuck in the rain trying to catch the train home to his beloved. The perfect introduction to a bluegrass album, don’t you think?
DV: Yeah. (laughs) Why we chose the song is, we recorded the whole record, but we didn’t have an upbeat barnburner to start the album. We were kind of stuck in the studio and we talked to Robert Gaitley and he actually had a song he thought would work that he’d written. He sent us over an mp3 of the song and I wrote down the lyrics, and within about an hour we’d laid out the arrangement. It’s amazing what technology we have these days.
JD: Darrin’s just great about sequencing the record. We want to record the best possible songs for the album, but he knows how to make it all fit.
Katie Armiger served as GAC’s Artist of the Month in February, and she recently released “Trail of Lies,” the third single from her album, Believe. The Texas-born 17-year-old called Country Universe recently to discuss her burgeoning career.
The youth movement on Music Row continues to pick up steam. Artistically, how do you stand out from the crowd of young women who are trying to establish their careers?
I think there are a lot of differentiations in our styles. There are a lot of younger artists now for sure, but we have different vocals and different influences. I come from a more empowered standpoint and want the songs to have that view.
What singers most influenced you during your childhood? Is there someone that served as a model for the career you would like to create?
I would say that Martina McBride would be the big one. I’m also a huge fan of Patsy Cline and Linda Ronstadt, but Martina is my favorite.
The Country Music Association, mere weeks after inducting its 2009 class, has announced a change in the Hall of Fame criteria. Per the CMA website:
Three inductees will continue to be announced as new members of the Country Music Hall of Fame annually, each selected from a different category. Beginning in 2010, the categories will be renamed and defined as follows:
Veterans Era – This category will be for professionals that have been in the industry longer than 25 years. It combines the former “Career Achieved National Prominence Between World War II and 1975″ (which was voted on annually) and “Career Achieved National Prominence Prior to World War II” (which was voted on every third year in rotation) categories into one.
Modern Era – This category will be for professionals that have been in the industry at least 20 years, but no more than 25 years, and takes the place of the former annual “Career Achieved National Prominence Between 1975-Present” slot.
Rotating Categories – The third slot will continue to be a rotating category, with each group in the spotlight every third year. The Recording and/or Touring Musician and Non Performer slots will remain, joined by a new Songwriter category.
The Modern Era category seems far too limiting, especially given the numerous artists and industry insiders that are fully deserving of this honor. The change does present Randy Travis, Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson the opportunity to be inducted within the next two to three years, but also leaves legends such as Connie Smith, Jean Shepard and the Oak Ridge Boys to ”compete” with newer acts such as Reba McEntire and Hank Williams, Jr. for one solitary spot each year.
Eventually, all of those artists appear to be locks for the Hall of Fame, but, as My Kind of Country alluded to earlier in the week, very few artists in modern-day country music will truly be remembered. Here’s a list of ten contemporary artists who could make the Hall of Fame one day. Although their careers aren’t complete, they have the potential to be lauded for their talent in the coming years. Sound off in the comments with your opinions on who is in, who is out and who could still make a case for induction. Feel free to add any other artists you’d deem worthy. This is not my judgment of who should/should not be included, but a random listing of ten artists who could at least present interesting cases in, say, 2020. Feedback it up. (For a glance at near-future candidates, see Six Pack: Hall of Fame Inductees. Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy are the 2009 honorees.)
Entertainment Weekly writer Whitney Pastorek shares exclusive new touring information about her favorite country act, Sugarland. Kristian Bush says about the tour,
”You may see Jennifer Nettles play the piano or a bass guitar. I love throwing down the challenge to all the other country musicians. Sometimes you have to choose the fork in the road: the entertainer, or the musician. You go down one road long enough, and you end up Alison Krauss and Union Station. And you go down the other road, and you end up Kenny Chesney. Not to say that Alison isn’t a great entertainer or Kenny isn’t a great musician, but a lot of times that was traditionally the choice you had to make. We’re gonna challenge it, and say, ‘We wonder if you can do both.’”
Boys like me and Nick Hornby love lists. (I mean, Nick Hornby and I. Whatever.) Hornby, the author of A Long Way Down, How to Be Good and, most famously, High Fidelity, is known for his staunch organizational skills. The narrator in High Fidelity, Rob Fleming (John Cusack for all you moviegoers), is obsessed with creating lists on almost any occasion. He counts down his top five ex-girlfriends, his top five favorite films and his top five dream jobs—the only stable aspect of a life that’s filled with business troubles (the record store he owns sees little traffic) and romantic entanglements (he’s a commitment-phobe who struggles with his past).
CMT introduced its 100 Greatest Country Songs list in 2003, and it’s awfully fun to debate the inclusion (and the rankings) of many entries. Since I’m in the process of establishing my own list of best country albums, songs, men, women, ex-girlfriends, I’m asking for your help. Which country song is missed from CMT’s list? Which ranking is least justified? Which will it be: The Whopper or The Big Mac? Also, please stay tuned throughout 2009; the lists ain’t over here. Plus, Country Universe is a perfect space to express my adoration for the master of lists, Casey Kasem. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars, folks. And debate, debate, debate!
Jennifer Nettles sums up the latest Sugarland single better than I ever could. “Ain’t no rhyme or reason, no complicated meaning. Ain’t no need to over-think it,” she says, echoing my impression of “It Happens,” a pop-country, cutesy anthem for suburbia. Nettles is full-blown twangified and all twisted up on this aw-shucks celebration.
In a fit of candor, Nettles calls upon all her mistakes to drive the point home: life is funny if you live and let live. Her alarm clock and her boss say she’s late for work, and she’s missed her morning coffee and, more uncomfortably, her daily shower. She arrives at the job with a pair of unmatching shoes, but life is full of such obstacles; “It happens,” she admits. (Though being tardy to the office is a no-go in these economic times.) The second verse is just an extension of her troubled day. On a trip to Walmart (homegirl is one with the people), she accidentally bumps into her ex’s truck, the second vehicle she’s sidelined that day (her “trusty-rusty” has a flat; she’s borrowed the neighbor’s Caddy).
In the press materials for Love on the Inside, the duo referenced blast-from-the-past “Walking on Sunshine,” the claim to fame for ’80s New Wave group, Katrina & the Waves, as the song’s sonic inspiration. Nettles, though, may have more in common with Bangles frontwoman, Susanna Hoffs. Both are strikingly beautiful women who’ve led highly-successful group efforts into the spotlight with their sass and sex appeal, not to mention their distinctive vocal spirit. The Bangles bowed to commercial expectations in the late ’80s; hopefully, Sugarland shrugs off that impulse and presses forward towards more challenging material.
Love on the Inside is a strong step in that direction, but contemporary albums now seem to be dotted with needless novelty. ”It Happens” isn’t harboring hope for world peace or establishing country living as the only way of life; it’s just a necessary evil in a corporate radio world. The supposed release of “Love” relieved me (temporarily) of the fear that “It Happens” would blare out from my car stereo for the next five months. Now, I’m a little miffed about its release. I will let go, as Nettles nudges us to do, but I ain’t laughin’.
Grade: C
Written by Kristian Bush, Jennifer Nettles & Bobby Pinson
A Peter Cooper article in today’s edition of theTennessean:
The album of the year nominees are … as yet unannounced. That’s because the Academy re-thought its prerequisite that album contenders sell at least 300,000 copies. Several of last year’s most acclaimed country albums, including Jamey Johnson’sThat Lonesome Song, did not meet the sales requirement, and ACM officials held a board meeting, waved the prerequisite and mandated a re-vote. Results of the re-vote will be announced in March.
Album rule was outdated
Romeo said it became clear during the voting process that the sales requirement in the album category had become antiquated due to changes in the way people consume music. The ACM normally uses an initial vote to take the field of album nominees down to 20, from which five finalists will be chosen. But only nine albums this year survived the 300,000 minimum.
“Does this mean country music isn’t doing business?” Romeo asked rhetorically. “No. But it means that the kind of business we’re doing is changing. It may not be albums anymore; it may be singles downloads and ring tones.”
There had been ongoing discussion and dissention centering around the ACM’s album category rules, with many holding upThat Lonesome Songas a case in point. Though it has not been a slam-dunk sales success, the album helped Johnson to two Grammy nominations, and it was Music Row’s most critically acclaimed album of 2008. Thus, Johnson’s record company argued, the album would appear to merit consideration.
“We want to be inclusive and fair, and I think this change shows that if we feel something’s not right, we’re not afraid to change it,” Romeo said.
The Academy of Country Music membership clearly made the right decision. In the last two years, the academy has shown a willingness to look beyond the charts in the Single of the Year category. Miranda Lambert’s “Famous in a Small Town,” which peaked at No. 14 in November 2007, was a losing nominee in last year’s race; this year, two No. 1 singles (“Waitin’ on a Woman” and “You’re Gonna Miss This”) are matched with Lambert’s “Gunpowder and Lead” (No. 7), Jamey Johnson’s “In Color” (No. 10) and Heidi Newfield’s “Johnny & June” (No. 11). The Album of the Year category should recognize the most essential album released during the year, and a little technicality shouldn’t squash an album’s chance of being nominated. With the current buzz building around his career, expect Johnson to be celebrating a gold record sometime in 2009.
With his new single, “Mid-Life Chrysler,” Collin Raye claims marriage and a motor vehicle as the ideal tonic for a middle-aged man.
Raye’s new album, Never Going Back, is due in late spring, and its first track is a step back into the spotlight after a brief hiatus from the Arkansas-born singer. His emotive tenor earned him consecutive CMA nominations for Male Vocalist of the Year, but he’s taken a back seat to his younger counterparts this decade. That voice is an old friend, though, and a welcome relief from the deeper-than-the-holler baritones that dominate the singles chart.
Raye is primarily known for his slow tempos, but he’s comfortable quickening the pace on this slice-of-life anthem. ZZ Top-like electric guitars kick “Mid-Life Chrysler” into high gear, and Raye digs deep into the groove. The story revolves around a farmer who doesn’t use fancy designer clothes or lurid love affairs to ease his self-doubt. Instead, this man’s wife and car are the only cures he needs, in sharp contrast to other males of his generation. “They’ve got lawyers and ladies lined up to take a chunk of their backside,” Raye says, cleverly recounting how many men stray at a certain stage in their lives.
The topic at hand is well-suited to the veteran performer; he turns 50 this summer. Now that Raye works for Time-Life Records, he’s unencumbered by commercial expectations and can sing about decidely un-youthful stories. His claim to fame this decade is his star turn in the infamous Fruit of the Loom commercial (“You Can’t Over-Love Your Underwear” is over-the-top genius.), and he likely wants to leave a lasting impression with more serious music this time around.
Currently, Chrysler is staying afloat due to federal loans. Will Raye’s latest single serve as an endorsement for the struggling auto industry? If shopping at Abercrombie and cheating on your unsuspecting honey are the other mid-life options, then putting payment down on a hot rod seems to be a much safer bet.
Written by Neal Thrasher, Wendell Mobley and Tony Martin
In honor of FAIL Blog (the perfect workday distraction), here’s my take on the Academy of Country Music Awards nominations. Opinions expressed belong solely to the author, and do not represent the views of other contributors to Country Universe.
WIN- Carrie Underwood, Entertainer of the Year
A Grand Ole Opry induction, four No. 1 singles and best-seller status on the concert trail. Serious credentials for the reigning female vocalist, ensuring her a well-deserved Entertainer nod.
WIN- Miranda Lambert, Single of the Year (“Gunpowder and Lead”)
Lambert’s vengeful stand against domestic violence is amply rewarded with an appearance in the Single category. Her spicy snarl is an intimidating match for a clever, caustic lyric.
The Academy of Country Music revealed its nominees for the 44th annual awards show slated for Sunday, April 5. Album of the Year nominations will be announced in March, likely to coincide with the presentation of the Best New Artist nominees.
Brad Paisley- Paisley is the leader of the pack with six nominations. His video clip, “Waitin’ on a Woman,” (with legendary television star, Andy Griffith) is Paisley’s bid at a fourth Video of the Year victory. “Waitin’” is also in the running for Single and Song of the Year, and Paisley is a considerable threat to dethrone four-time champion Chesney for Entertainer of the Year.
George Strait- In a separate ceremony, Strait will be recognized as the Academy of Country Music’s Artist of the Decade, but his support runs deep even in the present day. He will bid for Entertainer of the Year and Top Male Vocalist, as well as Video of the Year for “Troubadour,” his first clip since 2006′s “The Seashores of Old Mexico.”
If anything, Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent are double trouble. In a good way, of course. The pair recently swept the SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Awards, a near-replica of their performance at last fall’s International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, where they claimed seven trophies. On March 31, they’ll release the followup to last year’s critically-acclaimed debut disc, aptly-titled Dailey & Vincent. The duo called from Nashville’s downtown YMCA to discuss their new album and touring plans for 2009 (and beyond). Sponsorships welcomed.
The Country Music Association, mere weeks after inducting its 2009 class, has announced a change in the Hall of Fame criteria. Per the CMA website:
Entertainment Weekly writer 
Boys like me and Nick Hornby love lists. (I mean, Nick Hornby and I. Whatever.) Hornby, the author of A Long Way Down, How to Be Good and, most famously, High Fidelity, is known for his staunch organizational skills. The narrator in High Fidelity, Rob Fleming (John Cusack for all you moviegoers), is obsessed with creating lists on almost any occasion. He counts down his top five ex-girlfriends, his top five favorite films and his top five dream jobs—the only stable aspect of a life that’s filled with business troubles (the record store he owns sees little traffic) and romantic entanglements (he’s a commitment-phobe who struggles with his past).
Jennifer Nettles sums up the latest Sugarland single better than I ever could. “Ain’t no rhyme or reason, no complicated meaning. Ain’t no need to over-think it,” she says, echoing my impression of “It Happens,” a pop-country, cutesy anthem for suburbia. Nettles is full-blown twangified and all twisted up on this aw-shucks celebration.
A Peter Cooper article in today’s edition of the Tennessean:
With his new single, “Mid-Life Chrysler,” Collin Raye claims marriage and a motor vehicle as the ideal tonic for a middle-aged man.
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