No Picture

ACM Awards: Personal Picks

April 3, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 6

As we gear up for the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards, the writing staff of Country Universe have prepared our personal picks among this year’s nominees. Check out our Predicted Winners as well, and share your own personal picks in the comments. As always, we’ll be live-blogging the festivities this Sunday, starting at 8 EST.

ACM 2009: Country Universe’s Personal Picks

Entertainer of the Year

* Kenny Chesney
* Brad Paisley – Leeann
* George Strait – Lynn
* Carrie Underwood – Kevin, Dan
* Keith Urban

Kevin: I haven’t been as happy with the standard-bearing superstar of country music since the heyday of the Dixie Chicks, so I’m definitely pulling for Carrie Underwood. She strikes the perfect balance of contemporary relevance and reverence for tradition.

Leeann: I’m always pulling for Paisley to win an Entertainer award, but I’d be happy to see a female win it as well, especially since Underwood’s not undeserving at this point.

Dan: None of these artists has impressed me recently from an artistic standpoint, although Strait has been less grating than the rest. But I think I’m going to say Carrie Underwood, simply because it’d be cool to see a woman win.

Lynn: I’m pulling for Strait to win this year. The ACMs put out a promo the other day that was essentially a glamour magazine photo shoot with three cute blonde singers. I’ll be honest…I didn’t want to watch the show after seeing that. Maybe I’m the odd one out, but I’d be more interested in watching the show if the promo had Strait sitting in a chair singing one of his classic tunes. I’m tired of the promotion of style over substance. Paisley, Underwood and Urban aren’t necessarily guilty of this, but I hope Strait wins just to remind everyone to keep it real.

No Picture

Keith Urban, Defying Gravity

March 31, 2009 Dan Milliken 12

Keith Urban Defying Gravity Personal hardship can be important source of inspiration for many artists. For Keith Urban, it’s been downright essential. Since his star-making Golden Road, the luster of Urban’s aesthetic package – talent,

No Picture

The Return of Recommend a Track

March 23, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 20

It’s been a good long while since I’ve shamelessly plugged a favorite song, and far too long since all of you have made me break the bank to purchase your recommendations. We’ve taken some heat

No Picture

Keith Urban, “Kiss a Girl”

March 12, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 19

Keith Urban has grown tremendously as a singer over the past decade. On “Kiss a Girl”, he milks his vocal talent for all that it’s worth. The emotion in his voice is so palpable that

No Picture

Perfect Producer/Artist Pairs

February 25, 2009 Leeann Ward 17

Last week, I berated producers that I could count on to produce bland, generic albums that I inevitably would not enjoy. As promised, I’ll be more positive this week. As previously noted, producers play a

No Picture

Pat Green, “Country Star”

February 16, 2009 Leeann Ward 11

What can I say? Pat Green’s “Country Star” is gimmicky, bland and altogether misses the mark. It shamelessly namechecks artists such as Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Big & Rich, Brooks & Dunn, Vince

No Picture

44th Annual ACM Awards Projections

February 9, 2009 Guest Contributor 38

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 &

1 17 18 19 20 21 22