Country Universe – A Country Music Blog

Single Review: Ashton Shepherd, “Where Country Grows”

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Y’all Y’all Country Pride Y’all.

Yee-Haw.

Grade: C

Listen: Where Country Grows

Single Review: Ashton Shepherd, “Look it Up”

Saturday, December 11th, 2010

Karmic retribution for every boring vocabulary lesson I ever bored my students with during my years as an English teacher.

I’d call this Jo Dee Messina’s B-material, but I’m pretty sure she’d have passed on this one, even though she’d sing it a lot better. I get that Ashton Shepherd is bringing country back to country, but a dull vocal isn’t improved by exaggerated twang. It just sounds forced.

The lyrical content suggests that Shepherd is aspiring to be a modern day Loretta Lynn. But the problem that surfaces with “Look it Up” is the same one that plagued most of Gretchen Wilson’s similar attempts and just about all of the recent Lynn tribute album.  Shepherd apes Lynn’s attitude without contemporizing it, and ends up with a song that is outdated before it’s even been officially released.

Grade: C

Listen: Look it Up

The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 2: #180-#161

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 2: #180-#161

#180
“These Days”
Rascal Flatts
2002
Peak: #1

It’s the pairing of aching nostalgia and all the power that comes with a Flatts country-pop ballad that makes this song so potent. – Tara Seetharam

#179
“Takin’ Off This Pain”
Ashton Shepherd
2007
Peak: #20

Like a wide-eyed hybrid of Loretta Lynn and Jennifer Nettles, Shepherd burst onto the scene snapping her newly ring-free fingers at the clueless sap not treating her right. Next Decade, please take note: you’ve got a star in waiting. – Dan Milliken (more…)

ACM Top New Artist Winners

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

The winners have been announced for three of the Top New Artist categories at this year’s ACM Awards:

• Top New Male Vocalist: Jake Owen
• Top New Female Vocalist: Julianne Hough
• Top New Vocal Duo or Group: Zac Brown Band

Jake Owen’s victory is something of an upset, as he was nominated against James Otto and Jamey Johnson, two men who received multiple Grammy nominations. Johnson still has a shot at some ACM awards this year, as he’s nominated in three other categories: Single, Song and Album of the Year. Owen is nominated for Vocal Event for his part in Sugarland’s multi-artist “Life in a Northern Town.”

Julianne Hough was chosen over Sarah Buxton and Ashton Shepherd, while Zac Brown Band won over the Eli Young Band and the Lost Trailers.

Owen, Hough and Zac Brown Band will compete for the Top New Artist award during the three-hour telecast on Sunday, April 5. We’ll be live-blogging, of course. Look for our predictions and personal picks later this week.

The 44th Annual ACM Awards Reaction, Part Two (Fail Blog)

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

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.

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44th Annual ACM Awards Nominations Announcement

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

The Academy of Country Music announced nominees for their 44th annual awards ceremony this morning at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Julianne Hough, Kellie Pickler, Leann Rimes and Jessica Simpson were on hand to present this year’s nominees. More analysis to follow.

Entertainer of the Year

• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• George Strait
• Carrie Underwood
• Keith Urban

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44th Annual ACM Awards Projections

Monday, February 9th, 2009

On Wednesday, February 11, the Academy of Country Music will unveil the nominees for their 44th annual awards ceremony. Last year, the usual suspects prevailed. Brad and Carrie repeated in the Vocalist categories, Brooks & Dunn claimed their 14th Vocal Duo prize and Kenny Chesney earned his fourth consecutive Entertainer of the Year award. As a prelude to the nominations announcement, here’s my projected slate for this year’s ceremony. (Favorites are in bold.)

Entertainer of the Year

• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• Sugarland
• Carrie Underwood
• Keith Urban

Prognosis: The “no girls allowed” edict will likely be lifted.  Underwood is the genre’s most prominent ambassador, and Sugarland’s rise to the high ranks has both commercial and critical support.

Note of interest: “The winner shall be determined by a combination of votes from the membership of the ACM and viewer voting.”

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The First Annual Country Universe Readers’ Choice Awards

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

Carrie Underwood is the top winner of the inaugural Country Universe Reader’s Choice Awards, earning first place in all four of the races in which she was eligible. In addition to being named Artist of the Year and Female Vocalist, her #1 hit “Just a Dream” won for Single and Music Video.

Also popular with readers this past year were:

- Sugarland, who won Vocal Duo/Group by the widest margin of any of the winners, and placed second for Artist and Album.  Additionally, lead singer Jennifer Nettles placed second for Songwriter.

- Jamey Johnson, who won for Songwriter, and placed second in the Male Vocalist race.  His hit “In Color” came in third in both the Single and Music Video races, and he also placed third in the Artist race.

- Brad Paisley, who won easily for Male Vocalist and came in second for Music Video with “Waitin’ on a Woman.”

- Patty Loveless, who topped both Sugarland and Lee Ann Womack to finish first in the Album race.

Among up-and-comers, Lady Antebellum and Joey+ Rory proved most popular, finishing first and second in the Rising Star race and second and third in the Vocal Duo/Group Race.  Lee Ann Womack and Trisha Yearwood also did well, with both women placing behind Underwood in the Female Vocalist race. Yearwood’s hit “This is Me You’re Talking To” placed second for Single, and Womack’s Call Me Crazy finished third behind Loveless and Sugarland for Album. And with wide disagreement in the Songwriter race beyond Johnson and Nettles, the red-hot Taylor Swift makes her only appearance on the list, placing third.

Our five winners of the Album Giveaway each received an Amazon Mp3 Gift Certificate for the cost of the album they chose from the various top ten lists of our writers.  The winners, and the albums they selected:

• Araceli Pinto Corrales – Lee Ann Womack, Call Me Crazy
• Andrew Lacy – Patty Loveless, Sleepless Nights
• Zachary Jodlowski – Joey + Rory, The Life of a Song
• Michael Kattman – Reckless Kelly, Bulletproof
• Laura Britton – Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, Rattlin’ Bones

Thanks to all of you who voted, and everyone else for your loyal readership!  Read on for the winners, along with the editors’ choices in each category. Percentages reflect the total amount of points received, with the maximum possible percentage of 50%, which would require a first-place vote on every ballot.

If you didn’t submit a ballot this time around, share your preferences in the comments!

The First Annual Country Universe

Readers’ Choice Awards

Artist of the Year

Readers’ Choice:
1. Carrie Underwood (22%)
2. Sugarland (19%)
3. Jamey Johnson (14%)

Editors’ Choice:
1. Jamey Johnson
2. Brad Paisley
3. Carrie Underwood

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Leeann Ward’s Top Ten Albums of 2008

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

#10

The SteelDrivers, The SteelDrivers

Chris Stapleton’s voice just blows me away. As Lee Ann Womack has recently observed, he sings like a real man. He takes Travis Tritt’s soulfulness to a whole new level. With incredible harmonies and terrific songs not limited to “Blue Side of the Mountain” and “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey”, this is a strong project that certainly stood out in 2008.

#9

Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Comal County Blue

I love Boland’s folk-tinged country voice, which sings these memorable fiddle laden melodies to great affect. While the lyrics can be abstract at times, they still manage to feel meaningful. I’ve come to realize that what ultimately appeals to me about this album is the fact that it reminds me of good nineties country music, which is the era that drew me to this genre in the first place.

#8

Darrell Scott, Modern Hymns

My admiration for Darrell Scott is unending. I, of course, love his voice, but I especially love his thoughtful songwriting. “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” just floors me every time I hear it. In this project, however, he chose to cover some of his favorite songs that he classifies as modern hymns. Unsurprisingly, these choices turn out to be as interesting as his own compositions, which simply confirms that his talent is inspired by tasteful writing equal to his own.

#7

Jamey Johnson, That Lonesome Song

Admittedly, nothing about this album is warm or pretty. Johnson’s vocals are harsh and the songs are mostly darker than we’re accustomed to hearing in country music these days. Along with the outlaw tinged productions, these factors are the fundamental elements of this great album.

#6

Peter Cooper, Mission Door

While the melodies on his first album, Mission Door, are enough to draw you in, it is Peter Cooper’s provocative and insightful lyrics which catch you by surprise on this folk infused, steel guitar laden album. Cooper either wrote or co-wrote ten out of the twelve tracks that explores such weighty topics as racism and poverty. He enlists the help of Nanci Griffith and Todd Snider, his two favorite singers, on the album’s stand out title track, along with recording his own mellower version of “Thin Wild Mercury”, which he co-wrote with Todd Snider for Snider’s The Devil You Know album.

The best and most powerful song on the album, however, is “715 (For Hank Aaron), a song that discusses the duality of Aaron being a revered baseball player and an oppressed black man. This grossly ignored album that sounds like a mix of Darrell Scott and Todd Snider, with lots of steel guitar thrown in for good measure, is one of the year’s most intriguing albums.

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Leeann Ward’s Top Singles of 2008

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

Here are my favorite singles of 2008. As Dan has done, I lifted the entries that I had already written from our collective list for this article.

#20: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Please Read The Letter”
The album from which this song comes seems like an unlikely collaboration. It, however, somehow works as one of the best albums of the decade and any song from it would make my top twenty singles list this year.

#19: Hank Williams III, “Six Pack of Beer”

Hank Williams III is known for relishing a rebel persona and this attitude is often reflected in his music. More often than not, his songs contain observations wrapped in harsh lyrics that cause me to wince, but his production and voice, which are both more comparable to Hank Sr. than Hank III’s father, still draws me to his music, nonetheless. This song, however, is simply pure ear candy. There’s nothing in it that makes me feel like I have to turn it down in mixed company as is the case with so many other Hank III songs. It’s nice sometimes.

#18: Jason Michael Carroll, “I Can Sleep When I’m Dead”

I’m not much of a Jason Michael Carroll fan, but there’s just something about this song that is infectious. The rapid and frenzied production matches its premise, “I can sleep when I’m dead.”

#17: Gary Allan, “Learning How To Bend”

As Dan has pointed out, these aren’t words that most men would say without feeling extremely awkward. The intriguing thing about Gary Allan is that he can get away with it without anyone unfairly questioning his masculinity. He sings this song with fine vocal execution and hits those falsetto notes with incredible ease.

#16: Carrie Underwood, “Just A Dream”

While I could live with a more understated melody that sounded less like it was written by Diane Warren, I can’t help recognize that Underwood’s performance is just right for this intense song. I can only imagine that it aptly captures both the hazy confusion and blunt pain that accompanies the sudden loss of a significant other. I know it’s how I would feel.

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