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The Best Albums of 2014

December 31, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 9

2014 was a banner year for country music albums.   In addition to the predictably solid entries from the Americana, folk, and bluegrass scenes, some excellent albums also surfaced from the unlikeliest of sources: mainstream, radio-friendly

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2015 Grammy Nominations

December 5, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 10

Updated: Best Country Duo/Group Performance The Band Perry, “Gentle on My Mind” Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, “Somethin’ Bad” Little Big Town, “Day Drinking” Tim McGraw featuring Faith Hill, “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” Keith Urban

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2014 CMA Nominations

September 6, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 49

This year’s CMA nominees are the best in years, with multiple nominations for Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, and Brandy Clark.  Country radio may still be shunning women, but their embrace by CMA voters suggests that

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100 Greatest Men: #3. Willie Nelson

August 15, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 1

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List He started out as an unconventional songwriter trying to be a conventional artist.  But when Willie Nelson let his hair down, he became a country legend for the ages.

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Song Talk: Driving Away

July 24, 2014 Ben Foster 32

There are a lot of great country songs chronicling the breakup of a relationship, but it’s the female characters who have often shown a particular propensity for leaving their lovers by car. Sometimes she changes her mind

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Single Review: Lee Ann Womack, “The Way I’m Livin'”

May 27, 2014 Jonathan Keefe 5

Lee Ann Womack The Way I'm Livin'It’s always fascinating to see how a recording artist responds once her days as a consistent hit-maker have passed: While some chase the latest trends in an effort to remain commercially relevant, others embrace their newfound creative freedom and challenge themselves to add something meaningful to both their own artistic legacy and to the country genre itself.

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Single Review: David Nail, “Whatever She’s Got”

January 15, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 5

David Nail Whatever She's GotIs “Whatever She’s Got” really just David Nail doing whatever he’s got to do to stay in the game?

Nail is one of the most distinctive and substantive new voices to emerge in recent years, especially among the crop of younger male artists. He’s had more false starts than most, going through two labels in eleven years and having moderate to major hits, but not building up enough momentum to string a few together.

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We Need to Have a Little Talk about Randy Travis

July 12, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 21

Randy TravisIn a year that has already brought the deaths of immortal talents like George Jones, Slim Whitman, Patti Page, and Jack Greene, not to mention the untimely loss of Mindy McCready, it is understandable that the recent news regarding Randy Travis is having the country music fans collectively holding their breath with nervousness and dread.

There is something distinctly different about how I am processing the news about Randy Travis. The thought of losing him is inextricably linked with a feeling that we’d be losing an essential core of the country music that I fell in love with more than two decades ago. Now, I remember Randy Travis from when I was a child. What little kid wouldn’t be in love with a catchy song like “Forever and Ever, Amen”?

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