Since this was a solo blog, doing a Grammy Wish List has been an annual tradition. I’m not too excited about this year’s Grammys, to be honest. 2009 was a weak year in my opinion, and the shortened 11-month eligibility period didn’t help matters. But a tradition is a tradition, so here are my picks in the eleven categories that I care about this year:
* denotes my personal wish:
Record of the Year
- Beyoncé, “Halo” *
- The Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
- Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”
- Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
- Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”
It’s always nice to see a country radio hit in there, but I honestly can’t stand “You Belong With Me.” I dig the Kings of Leon song, but the record that I enjoy the most here is “Halo.” Some pundits have suggested that Beyoncé threw her chances at this trophy by submitting “Halo” instead of “Single Ladies”, but I like that song even less than “You Belong With Me.” Love “Halo”, though.
Song of the Year
- Lady Gaga & RedOne, “Poker Face”
- Hod David & Musze, “Pretty Wings”
- Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”
- Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, “Use Somebody” *
- Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”
Great to see Liz Rose in there, too, but I still can’t stand the song. I think “Use Somebody” is a great composition that could easily be a hit in other formats if the right artist covered it. Are you listening, Sugarland?
Best New Artist
- Zac Brown Band *
- Keri Hilson
- MGMT
- Silversun Pickups
- The Ting Tings
Zac Brown Band don’t quite live up to the hype, but they come a lot closer than last year’s nominee, Lady Antebellum.
Best Country Album
- Zac Brown Band, The Foundation
- George Strait, Twang *
- Taylor Swift, Fearless
- Keith Urban, Defying Gravity
- Lee Ann Womack, Call Me Crazy
There isn’t an album here that is built for more than cherry-picking. Strait’s set has the most cherries.
Best Female Country Vocal Performance
- Miranda Lambert, “Dead Flowers”
- Martina McBride, “I Just Call You Mine”
- Taylor Swift, “White Horse”
- Carrie Underwood, “Just a Dream” *
- Lee Ann Womack, “Solitary Thinkin’”
The only women who brought their A-game to this category are Swift and Underwood. “White Horse” might be the better song, but Underwood’s is the better vocal performance by a country mile.
Best Male Country Vocal Performance
- Trace Adkins, “All I Ask For Anymore”
- Billy Currington, “People Are Crazy”
- Jamey Johnson, “High Cost of Living”
- George Strait, “Living For the Night” *
- Keith Urban, “Sweet Thing”
I love the Strait song, so it’s my pick, but this is one of the only strong categories this year and I wouldn’t mind seeing any of these five win.
Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
- Brooks & Dunn, “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”
- Zac Brown Band, “Chicken Fried”
- Lady Antebellum, “I Run to You”
- Rascal Flatts, “Here Comes Goodbye”
- Sugarland, “It Happens” *
No A-game here, but Sugarland’s B-game is better than the rest.
Best Country Vocal Collaboration
- Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin, “Beautiful World”
- Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally, “Down the Road”
- Brad Paisley & Keith Urban, “Start a Band”
- Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis, “I Told You So” *
- Lee Ann Womack & George Strait, “Everything But Quits”
Some amazing pairings here, but Underwood and Travis are the only ones with the material to match the talent.
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
- Adele, “Hometown Glory”
- Beyoncé, “Halo”
- Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold”
- Pink, “Sober” *
- Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”
Pink is an awesome songwriter, and easily the most substantial female pop star to come along in the last decade. “Sober” is one of her best.
Best Pop Vocal Album
- The Black Eyed Peas, The End
- Colbie Caillat, The Breakthrough
- Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted
- The Fray, The Fray
- Pink, Funhouse *
It’s not quite as good as I’m Not Dead, but it comes close.
Best Dance Recording
- The Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow”
- David Guetta and Kelly Rowland, “When Love Takes Over”
- Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
- Madonna, “Celebration” *
- Britney Spears, “Womanizer”
Even her throwaway singles are built to last.
It’s taken a long time to put words together for this review, mostly because the prospect of Patty Griffin being billed on a mainstream single is too exciting not to cloud critical judgments a little. I mean, seriously – “featuring Patty Griffin.” From the same label that just won Taylor Swift a Female Vocalist award. It’s far too much cool for a body to digest in one sitting.
Miranda Lambert
As I was scouring the neighborhood around 9pm last night after work looking for an open pet store, I flipped through the local radio stations looking for something new and interesting. I really didn’t expect to find much, but after awhile, I finally hit something with a cool beat and lyrics. Something that I hadn’t heard before and sounded different. I kinda liked it, but couldn’t place it.
Kathy Mattea’s brilliant album released last year, Coal, reminded me of how much I love themed albums. There is something unique and special about an album that addresses a single topic from varied angles or transports the listener on a purposeful ride. It’s not just a random collection of singles with little to coalesce them together. Rather, like great movies, themed albums demand that you listen from the first note to the last, lest you miss something important in between.
Dierks Bentley
So who the hell is Patty Griffin, anyway? If you’re asking that question, I highly recommend clicking through and hearing one of Americana’s most consistently interesting and incisive songwriters. Here, she emphatically rejects fear and those who promote it, choosing instead to push to get to know the strangers around us until they aren’t strangers anymore. Political message? Perhaps, but I read it more as a call to discard all of those assumptions of ill intentions that we make about the people in our life, and choose instead to believe the best about them, even if we end up wrong in the end. Open the doors, instead of close them. Music to my ears.
