Single Review: Trace Adkins, “Watered Down”
Trace Adkins has always been at his most interesting when he’s been at his most reflective.
Trace Adkins
A Country Music Conversation, Day 12: “I’m Tryin'” to “It’s Not You, It’s Me”
Day 12 features tracks from Trace Adkins, Toby Keith, Martina McBride, Wynonna, and The Little Willies.
CMA Flashback: New Artist of the Year (Horizon Award)
Originally called the Horizon Award when introduced in 1981, the New Artist of the Year award is given to the developing artist that voters feel have demonstrated the most growth in their career during the past year.
CMA Flashback: Single of the Year
Here’s a look back at CMA Single of the Year, starting with this year’s nominees.
Sunday Selections: January 17, 2016
It’s a super-sized Sunday Selections for this week!
Single Review: Brad Paisley, “River Bank”
“River Bank”
Brad Paisley
Written by Brad Paisley and Kelley Lovelace
Brad Paisley has become a fairly reliable competitor in country radio’s annual summer song rodeo. He offers a 2014 entry that is listenable and likable, if not as memorable as last year’s “Beat This Summer.”
Single Review: Trace Adkins, "Them Lips (On Mine)"
This will make a great commercial for Pringles potato chips or something.
Just animate the chips to dance and sing. It’ll be the California Raisins all over again.
5 Five-Second Single Reviews: Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, The Dirt Drifters, OCMS, Darius Rucker
Trace Adkins, “Just Fishin'” (Listen)
Written by Casey Beathard, Monty Criswell and Ed Hill
Wish this weren’t quite so heavy-handed about driving home the theme; a subtler approach could have made it a Strait-ish classic. Still a nice, fresh idea, though.
Grade: B
The 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 19
Today’s category is…
A Song You Hate by an Artist You Love.
Here are the staff picks:
Kevin Coyne: “Honk if You Honky Tonk” – George Strait
Not even Trace Adkins would cut this.
Oh, who am I kidding? Of course he would.
But it should be beneath the stature of a legend like George Strait. His talent helped him pull of “Write This Down” and “Don’t Make Me Come Over There and Love You”, but there was no saving this one.
Single Review: Chris Young, “Tomorrow”
How to put it? I would listen to this man sing about IBS. I would listen to him sing a long-form denunciation of my inherent value as a human being – possibly my mother’s and little sister’s, too. Chris Young’s baritone is like the aural incarnation of warm fuzzies, and most everything it touches/fuzzes goes down easy – even those lame, creaky-hinged Music Row assembly songs scattered across Young’s first two albums.
So, granted: This single was probably going to sound all sexy-cool no matter what. Happily, though, we can all enjoy with a little less cognitive dissonance this time, because “Tomorrow” makes a serious play at substance. Young is finally a radio star now, and he’s using his powers to inject some actual psychological complication back into the format.