Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
The good people at Brady Mills Graphics have redesigned Country Universe, and the new site will be launching the morning of Wednesday, March 18.
Things may get a little wonky as the kinks are worked out, so bear with us. The end result will be more than worth it!
Category Site News
Monday, September 8th, 2008
As of September 8, 2008, we have put an official comment policy into effect. They are as follows:
1. Stick to the topic. Discussion on each post should remain relevant to its content.
2. Speak respectfully. Do not insult, antagonize or otherwise disrespect the authors or other commenters. Disagreement can be expressed without being disrespectful.
3. Keep it clean. Any comment that contains profanity or bigotry of any kind will be deleted.
Commenters who violate the first two rules will be warned by a site administrator; future violating comments will be deleted. Comments violating rule #3 will automatically be deleted. Repeated violators will be banned from commenting at Country Universe.
These simple guidelines exist to build the Country Universe community and ensure that our readers feel comfortable expressing their ideas and opinions. Because of this, we will be strictly enforcing them.
Please also note that our spam filter will automatically submit any comment with two or more links for moderation. If your comment does not appear immediately and it includes two or more links, it will be cleared for posting by a site administrator.
If there are any questions or concerns regarding this policy, you can e-mail me at kevin@countryuniverse.net or leave a comment below. You can review the policy at any time by following the link above the banner or on the sidebar.
Category Discussion, Site News
Saturday, August 30th, 2008
The introduction of our new writers concludes today with the first post of Lynn Douglas. She has been a regular commenter for a long time, and now she will be contributing her perspectives on country music as a whole, with a focus on Americana music in particular. With her addition, our staff is now complete. Please join me in welcoming her! – Kevin
Hello everyone! I have been asked to make contributions to Country Universe, which I find to be such a wonderfully thoughtful and engaging (and female friendly!) site on country music. I’m incredibly excited by the prospect of introducing you to new songs and artists, as well as helping you discover or re-discover older ones.
I don’t have a formal degree or pedigree in the subject; I simply love and am addicted to music – from the Boss to the Dixie Chicks; from Joni Mitchell to Willie Nelson; from Louis Armstrong to Loretta Lynn; and from The Clancy Brothers to Steve Earle. I adore lyrics that that read like your favorite book, fast picking that energizes the blood, the perfect steel guitar solo, and the sound of an acoustic guitar being plucked by a master.
I was born and raised in Southern California, and currently call it home, but I have lived all over the U.S. (including Nashville) and spent a number of years living overseas. Both music and traveling have been my passions for years. In many ways, for me, each defines the other. Everywhere I have traveled, I have found my music spot – the cozy cavern in Spain, the friendly pub in Scotland, the smoky bar in Ireland, the dark basement in Prague.
Music has an amazing ability to define the moment and connect you to a new culture. I fully believe it is that grounding, yet transcendental quality to music that has enabled me to shelter my undying love for Latin, Irish, jazz, blues and folk under the same umbrella as my undying love for country. Each of those genres has a story to tell – of a people or of a generation. Hopefully through this site I’ll be able to help you sift through the morass of shallow nothingness that frequents the airwaves and makes the news and find those stories that should come to light!
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Category Site News
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
On behalf of Leeann, Blake and myself, I‘m thrilled to welcome our newest writer, Dan Milliken. For many of you, he will need no introduction, as Squinty Dan’s is a popular blog among our readers.
Dan’s mixture of knowledge, humor and personal reflection, along with his strong writing voice, make him a perfect fit here. I know that all of you will enjoy his contributions as much as we will! – Kevin
Hey there, everybody! My name’s Dan, and I’m pleased to be formally making all of your cyber-acquaintances. I currently live in Nashville, Tennessee, where I’m working toward my Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Music Business, and I like to spend my non-blogging free time working out, vegging with a good video game, or trying not to suck at guitar. Sometimes I go outside, too.
Kevin originally contacted me to design a banner for the newly pimped-out site layout, and at some point in that conversation I rather cleverly bamboozled him into letting me join up as a writer, as well. Poor guy.
But in all seriousness, I’m thrilled to have been offered this opportunity to share my thoughts on what I consider the greatest music on Earth, and humbled to be doing so for this community, which I happen to hold in similarly high regard. Kevin’s incisive work has already taught me more about the breadth and history of country music than I ever knew I wanted to know, and the site has only flourished in depth and personality thanks to the brilliant additions of Leeann and Blake. Throw in the passionate, diverse readership, and it all amounts to a very addictive experience for the burgeoning country fan like myself!
Country Universe is also personally meaningful to me in that its stellar example was part of what inspired me to revive my own blogging habit. My personal site, Squinty Dan’s, is the fruit of that decison, and I’ve loved packing it with country music content from the get-go. Ultimately, though, I felt that the blog needed a bit more topical balance, and was already looking for someplace else to dump my country music spillage when Kevin mentioned the possibility of my contributing here. So the timing of the offer really couldn’t have been better.
But enough about blogplay. This entry is supposed to be about my personal connection to country music, though frankly there are few topics I find harder to discuss. My “thing” with country music is almost too intrinsic for me to really describe it as a “connection,” hokey as that might sound. I don’t appreciate country music from a distance, as some sort of entertainment-hungry spectator looking for some excuse to have an opinion; I appreciate country music from the inside-out, because I see myself in it.
That’s what gives merit to any art form, I think. There’s no difference between the post-grunge fan and me, except that we happen to prefer different mediums, different sonic windows on the world and our places in it. I prefer my window rusty and raw, I prefer it with vocal trimmings that sound dead-tired from heat or heartache, that slur words and speak only in simple poetry because they can’t afford to waste breath on B.S. Because that’s what makes sense to me.
I appreciate country music because it’s terse, witty, honest, all of those other adjectives people throw around all the time. I appreciate country music because, at its best, it reminds me of who I am and who I’d like to be. And most of all, I appreciate country music because it appreciates me back, even when the rest of the world doesn’t.
Category Site News
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
Country Universe’s 100 Greatest Women feature has received a mention in the new issue of Country Weekly:
You can’t ask for anything more than being acknowledged for the work that you’re most proud of. I’m humbled.
Thanks to reader Judy for the scan, and Miss Kitty for mentioning it in the comments this past weekend!
Category Site News
Saturday, August 9th, 2008
I’m very excited to introduce Blake, a new writer for Country Universe. He shares our commitment to high-quality writing and informed commentary on country music, and we expect his contributions to be invaluable! – K.
Hello, my name is Blake. I live in Nashville, TN, and work in advertising sales at a major newspaper after graduating with a Master‘s degree in Mass Communications and interning at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Kevin has asked me to contribute to Country Universe, and I am more than honored to be involved. This is my opportunity to provide my own observations about the music, past and present, and hopefully make the readers invest in its future. For this to happen, I hope that you feel the freedom to enter into the discussion and debate that I believe will make our appreciation for country music that much deeper.
First of all, I would like to thank Kevin for inviting me to contribute to this site. In such a short time, he has made Country Universe an important resource for country music fans and those who are just now exploring the genre. Along with Leeann, who I respect so much for her role here and her unique, informative comments and articles, I hope to assist Kevin in presenting the many different facets of the music and enhance the site even further.
When I think about country music and music in general, my thoughts stray to a certain quote by Eliza Tabor I first read a few years ago:
“Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it.”
To me, country music, or at least great country music, is brimming with this sentiment. Hardship and heartache, hurting and healing, pain and perseverance—the best of country songs are an appreciation of life’s blessings and the trials and tribulations that it takes to reach that point of appreciation. I grew to enjoy the sounds and the stories that make this such a great musical place to be. The ability to tell a tale in just a matter of minutes is amazing, and the great ones do it with such ease.
My musical tastes run rather wide, so I wish that this ever-improving knowledge and love of other styles and acts from all different genres will only help my perspective. Luckily, living in Nashville the last few years has afforded me to see most of the major country acts, along with any number of rising acts and artists from other genres that will surely receive their introduction within my posts. I look forward to this new journey, and thank you all for making Country Universe such a terrific site to visit.
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Category Site News
Thursday, February 14th, 2008
This week’s issue of Country Weekly, dated February 25, has a brief mention of Country Universe on page 60. The clipping mentions last month’s feature, The Fifty Best Debut Singles of All-Time, which you can begin reading here. Personally, I’m most excited to have given them a reason to put Jeannie C. Riley’s picture in the magazine!
Huge thanks to reader Judy, who first e-mailed me about the mention, and then was kind enough to scan it.
Category Site News
Tags: Jeannie C. Riley
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
Sometime last night, while I slept, Country Universe hit 500,000 in page views, according to the handy little stat box that WordPress provides.
The fact that people read this site at all used to surprise me, but now I’m just appreciative that so many of you keep coming back, even when I’m not consistent on my updates. I’m even more thankful that y’all have made your voices heard in the comments, too: 3,629 to date, not counting spam.
Fifty Best Singles of 2007, Part 3 will be up this afternoon, but this morning, I just had to wallow in some site stat goodness!
Friday, August 31st, 2007
I’m just in an unshakably good mood lately! Gotta go run some errands, but I’ll be doing a lot of posting this weekend.
For now, enjoy the best country guest appearance in the history of The Simpsons – Johnny Cash, helping Homer find his soul mate. And a hearty congrats to Brady Vercher of The 9513, who is marrying his soul mate this weekend!
Category Site News, Video of the Day
Tags: Johnny Cash
Saturday, August 25th, 2007
I’m feeling a little generous, my friends, and bankrolling a fun little contest here. Over the past few days, I’ve made predictions for eight categories in the upcoming CMA Awards. Do you think you can outguess Country Universe?
Here’s how the contest works. Post your predictions for all eight categories – five per category – in the comments section below. The final nominees will be announced on Thursday, August 30, so the deadline for posting your prediction is Wednesday, August 29, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. I’ll award one point for each correct nominee, for a total possible score of 40. The person with the highest score will win a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate via e-mail. In the event of a tie, the person with the earliest entry will win, so get cracking! Make sure to include a valid e-mail address when posting.
Here are the predictions of Country Universe. Click on the category title for analysis:
Category Contests, Site News
Tags: Kenny Chesney
on Single Review: Kristen Kelly, “Ex-Old Man”
on Single Review: Kristen Kelly, “Ex-Old Man” on Single Review: Kristen Kelly, “Ex-Old Man”
on Donna Summer: The Country Connection
on Donna Summer: The Country Connection
on Donna Summer: The Country Connection
on Donna Summer: The Country Connection
on Single Review: Chris Young, “Neon”