Here’s hoping you haven’t gotten completely burned out on countdowns yet. 2009 was hardly a favorite musical year for many of us, but amid each year’s glut of throwaway items, there’s always a good’un or two (or forty). The following is the first installment of our Best Singles of 2009 list, which will conclude tomorrow morning. Best Albums will follow next week.
As with the Singles of the Decade feature, this countdown has been compiled through combination of four equally weighed Top 20 lists by Kevin, Leeann, Tara and myself. An inverted point system was applied to the individual rankings (#1 on a list meant 20 points, while #20 on the list meant 1 point). The songs were then ranked together by number of total points, greatest to least. The final result is another rather stylistically diverse set.
As always, we hope you enjoy the countdown, and welcome all the feedback you can muster. Happy New Year!
#40
Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”
The trio puts a country spin on an old school pop sound, but without forsaking raw emotion. The highlight of the song is Hillary Scott’s smoky performance, which draws out all the anguish and regret you’d expect from a desperate, 1 AM lover’s call. – Tara Seetharam
#39
Joey + Rory, “Play the Song”
While Joey + Rory’s image appears to be squeaky-clean, it is fascinating that their songs have displayed some of the most attitude in the mainstream country music world. After releasing the sassy “Cheater, Cheater”, they have appealed to radio (the very people holding part of the duo’s career in their hands) to stop limiting their playlists with safe choices and to just “play the song.” – Leeann Ward (more…)
Widely acclaimed as one of country music’s greatest warriors, Marty Stuart turned a childhood obsession into a lifelong career filled with hit records and collaborations with numerous Nashville legends. A member of the Country Music Foundation and the Grand Ole Opry, he’s preserved the traditions of the genre by assembling a collection of country-related artifacts that has no rival. His most recent project is The Marty Stuart Show, a weekly television program airing Saturday nights on RFD-TV. Stuart discusses the development of the show, his thoughts on the future of country music and his role in honoring its past.
What was the single driving force behind creating The Marty Stuart Show? What are your hopes for the future of the program?
The most important thing was the right setting, the channel, RFD (a Nashville-based television station focused on rural America programming). I’m a big fan of the network and I’ve watched it grow. As a country music fan, I loved those old syndicated shows—The Porter Wagoner Show, The Johnny Cash Show, The Flatt & Scruggs Show, The Wilburn Brothers Show. I loved the spirit of those shows and started talking to Patrick (Carr, Stuart’s biographer) and really wanted to develop this idea. There was nothing like it on television at the time. Traditional country has so few outlets now. I wanted to give it a voice and show the integrity and entertainment value. You know, you have your Kenny Chesneys and Taylor Swifts, and they’re great for the genre, but this is the absolute other end of the country universe, the real traditional stuff. I’m just trying to present country music as a part of American culture, our heritage.
On the surface, family bluegrass act Cherryholmes’ new single might seem to paint by a lot of standard Nashville numbers, but don’t let the use of over-exploited motifs (God, soldiers, solders’ families) distract you from how bold an effort it really is. Contemporary country in the 2000’s loves to find ways to tie whatever it’s talking about to Christianity, but it’s rare to hear a tie that really sounds inspired and personal, the way spiritual insights worth actually writing about should. “This Is My Son” is a beautiful example of a piece that manages to pull it off.
The song is written as a mother’s prayer to God that her son will remain safe while he’s away at war. Not a terribly objectionable set-up, but the kicker comes swiftly as the mother draws a parallel between her son potentially dying for “a people who don’t even care that they’re free at the cost of his life” and Christ having done the same. It’s a striking idea, one that serves to make the mother’s personal faith sound rich and thoughtful while also making a provocative statement about the way we as bystanders regard the wars our nations engage in and those who are directly impacted by them.
But my favorite aspect of the comparison is how it brings God’s sacrifice down to a human level, where it’s easier for us to fully understand its significance. My experience tells me that because Christians understand God to be too big and mysterious to fully understand, many of them tend to think about his reported Biblical works more dogmatically than personally. They’ll harp on about the significance of Him giving up His Son because those are the words to the story, but they won’t actually engage emotionally, because the God of the Bible seems more like a mysterious figure in history than a real, current presence to them.
Here, though, we have a case of a woman crying out to God because she thinks she might actually feel a slice of the suffering He did. She puts His sacrifice in a context we can all understand, and in doing so makes it seem like more than just an Important Story to memorize and restate each night as you get tucked in – or at least makes us understand why she feels that way about it.
And really, if the main objective of Christianity is to bring oneself closer to God, I have to imagine that a sense of shared suffering with Him really would do the trick much better than a hollow recitation of praise ever could. And I think that idea plays out here, too, because something in the record’s melody and vocal actually sounds very uplifted and resolved, as if the mother’s realization of this connection between herself and God has brought her a curious moment of joy in spite of her present torment. You can tell that she’s scared to death about what’s happening and angry at the world’s indifference, but her fear co-exists with faith, and the combination of the two makes her sound that much more genuine, even wise.
And in that sense, I think the song is more than just a study in one woman’s faith in God and love for her son; whether it was intended or not, the mother’s example seems to make an implicit cry to Christians and Americans to really consider the conceits of their faith and their country’s decisions in a more thoughtful, personal way if they hope to understand either one more fully – which, if nothing else, is certainly one heck of a message to send to country radio.
There are a few quibbles to be made: the piano and drums that have been added in for this radio mix clutter it up in spots, the song’s structure is a little clipped and clumsy, and you wind up wishing it had delved even deeper into the issues instead of just repeating the chorus a bunch of times and changing the key at the end. But Cia Cherryholmes’ tastefully emotive lead performance is a real treat, and the fact that she’s managed to compose a song about God and country that seems genuine, challenging and uplifting all at once tells me we’ve got quite a budding maverick on our hands. I’m impressed.
One of my favorite features to write for Country Universe is Favorite Songs by Favorite Artists. So, since I love Christmas music, it seems natural that I change the format a bit to accommodate a list of my favorite Christmas songs.
Narrowing my favorite Christmas songs down to twenty-five choices proved to be a nearly impossible challenge. In order to accomplish this feat, I had to do two things: (1) disqualify all quintessential versions of classics, i.e., Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” or any songs by Gene Autry. Instead, I’ve stuck to modern country versions of any classics that may appear on this list. (2) Limit the number of classics included on this list so that there can be room for as many original Christmas songs as possible.
You can listen to most of the songs and purchase them through the Amazon link at the end. Merry Christmas!
#25
Asleep At The Wheel, “Christmas in Jail”
Merry Texas Christmas, Y’All, 1997
Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel have a fun time with “Christmas In Jail.” The lesson he learns?: “Ain’t going to drink and drive no more.” Good!
#24
Roger Miller, “Old Toy Trains”
King Of The Road: The Genius of Roger Miller, 1995
I first heard this song as a little girl on a Raffi Christmas album, long before I had any idea of who Roger Miller was. So, after I discovered country music and Roger Miller, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this familiar song was actually written by Roger Miller for his son Dean. In this sweet and irresistible ditty, Miller is trying to coax his little boy to go to bed despite the excitement of Christmas
#23
Clint Black, “Til’ Santa’s Gone (Milk And Cookies)”
Looking For Christmas, 1995
This is sung from the perspective of a five-year-old who is getting ready for Santa’s impending visit. He knows what brings Santa back every year. Milk and cookies, of course!
Country Universe has presented you with its top 40 singles of 2008, but as you know, singles rarely scratch the surface of a great album. Over the course of the past year, while listening to various albums, I made note of songs that stuck out for one reason or another. Although this isn’t a comprehensive list by any means, here are some of my favorite songs of 2008:
#1 “She Left Me For Jesus” (Hayes Carll, Trouble in Mind)
Honestly, when is the last time you heard a song this slyly clever? This laugh-out-loud engaging? But not just anyone could pull off this song. Carll’s slow laughing drawl is absolutely perfect and he nails every punch line. He not only gets the joke, he assumes you do as well. Carll readily acknowledges that this song isn’t for everyone, but in my book, it’s an instant classic.
#2 “Red River Shore” (Bob Dylan, Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8)
Bob Dylan, that enigmatic icon, continues to raise the bar for singer-songwriters. It’s nearly ridiculous at this point. This year, Dylan treated us to a grand smorgasbord of songs with the latest in his bootleg series. “Red River Shore” was one of the few previously unreleased songs on the set, and it’s perhaps the best on the album. I could spend hours ruminating over what Dylan intended with his lyrics about star-crossed lovers, but instead I’ll leave you with his opening lines: “Some of us turn off the lights and we live / In the moonlight shooting by / Some of us scare ourselves to death in the dark / To be where the angels fly.” This is, as the album booklet suggests, an elegant summation of Dylan’s artistic credo. If only others took note.
#3 “I’ve Done Everything I Can” (Rodney Crowell, Sex and Gasoline)
On “I’ve Done Everything I Can,” Crowell acknowledges that incredibly delicate interplay between father and daughter; that difficult line a father must walk between wanting to protect his little girl, and preparing her for the real world. He sings: “The sun comes up tomorrow / But there are no guarantees / It can rock you like a baby / It can knock you to your knees / The path that lies between us / Is a rough and rocky rue / I’ve done everything I can / There’s nothing I can do.” This song reminds me rather poignantly of my own father, who occasionally walked that fine line with grace, but usually just blundered over it with good intentions.
Upon listening to Cherryholmes’ latest album, Cherryholmes III: Don’t Believe, you’ll remember, if you’ve been ambivalent of late, why you love music. Because at the end of the day, bluegrass is one of the last honest forms of music: it’s real, it’s tangible, it’s grounded, it requires heart and talent, and it can’t be faked. In an era where image is everything, and substance and talent seemingly count for little, bluegrass is one of the last great refuges for music lovers.
Continuing the long tradition of family bands in bluegrass, all six members of the Cherryholmes family contribute their unique talents to this album: Cia Cherryholmes, 25, a fast and powerful banjo player, wrote or co-wrote seven of the twelve tracks, and takes lead vocals on four of them; Molly Cherryholmes, 16, contributes lead vocals, orchestral arrangements, songwriting and a fine fiddle; Sandy Cherryholmes, the matriarch, takes lead vocals on two songs and plays a mean mandolin and clawhammer banjo; Skip Cherryholmes, 19, contributes fast picking and rhythm guitar and takes lead vocals on one track; B.J. Cherryholmes, 21, contributes a fast fiddle, lead vocals and composed two of the instrumental tracks; and finally, Jere Cherryholmes, the patriarch, grounds the group with his supporting vocals and bass playing.
The family approach, which characterizes both the look and sound of the band, is what makes Cherryholmes III: Don’t Believe special. Five different singers—male and female, young and old—take the lead on the album, contributing to a sound that is timeless yet progressive. Instead of feeling disjointed, the back and forth between the ages and the sexes, takes the listener on a journey—one with immense variety, depth and spirituality. The first four songs perfectly encapsulate that journey, moving from the young broken heart of “I Can Only Love You (So Much)” to the wise faith of “The King As A Babe Comes Down,” to the blistering critique of those who blindly follow in “Don’t Believe” and finally to the resigned sacrifice in “This is My Son.”
As it does in their lives shows, the unmistakable sound and feel of Ireland floats through the album. Both Jere and Sandy Cherryholmes had a strong background in Celtic music before the formation of Cherryholmes in 1999, and that strong Celtic undercurrent is readily apparent on the album, particularly in the two songs on which Sandy sings lead vocals—the soaring “The King As A Babe Comes Down” and the jangly toe-tapper “The Sailing Man”—BJ’s Cherryholmes’ instrumental “Mansker Spree/O’Coughlin’s Reel” and the song at the heart of the album—“Broken.”
“Broken,” perhaps the best song on the album, is a haunting song with a fierce string arrangement about a woman who dies alone with a shattered heart. Those already familiar with Cherryholmes’ music will continue to appreciate the gorgeous vocal stylings of Cia Cherryholmes. However, this album reveals a new star in the Cherryholmes family—16-year-old Molly. Not only did Molly write and sing the lead vocals on “Goodbye,” a song about saying goodbye to a love who played you for a fool, but she composed the excellent orchestral arrangement on “Broken.” Molly’s rich voice and undeniable ear for music belies her 16 years and makes her an exciting one to watch in the future.
If you’ve never given bluegrass a chance before, there is no time like the present and this album to start. From beginning to end, Cherryholmes challenges and transports the listener both lyrically and musically, combining the best of the past with a fresh take on the future.
#40
#39
Widely acclaimed as one of country music’s greatest warriors, Marty Stuart turned a childhood obsession into a lifelong career filled with hit records and collaborations with numerous Nashville legends. A member of the Country Music Foundation and the Grand Ole Opry, he’s preserved the traditions of the genre by assembling a collection of country-related artifacts that has no rival. His most recent project is The Marty Stuart Show, a weekly television program airing Saturday nights on RFD-TV. Stuart discusses the development of the show, his thoughts on the future of country music and his role in honoring its past.
On the surface, family bluegrass act Cherryholmes’ new single might seem to paint by a lot of standard Nashville numbers, but don’t let the use of over-exploited motifs (God, soldiers, solders’ families) distract you from how bold an effort it really is. Contemporary country in the 2000’s loves to find ways to tie whatever it’s talking about to Christianity, but it’s rare to hear a tie that really sounds inspired and personal, the way spiritual insights worth actually writing about should. “This Is My Son” is a beautiful example of a piece that manages to pull it off.
#25
#24
#23
on 
on 
on 
on 
on 