Kevin John Coyne

CMA Awards: Entertainer of the Year (1967-2013)

November 3, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 5

Since its inception, the top honor an artist could be given at the Country Music Association awards is this one: Entertainer of the Year. Originally a revolving door of winners, the winner in early years was often not even nominated the following year. In 1981, Barbara Mandrell became the first artist to win the award twice. Alabama succeeded her with a three year run from 1982-1984. Fourteen years later, Garth Brooks became the first artist two win four times, a feat later matched by Kenny Chesney in 2008.

Here’s a look back at the award from the very beginning, along with some facts and feats about the category and its nominees.

1967

Bill Anderson
Eddy Arnold
Merle Haggard
Sonny James
Buck Owens

One year after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Eddy Arnold was named the very first Entertainer of the Year at the inaugural CMA awards in 1967. Don’t assume it was a sympathy vote. Arnold had three #1 hits in the twelve months leading up to the ceremony, as he was in the middle of his impressive mid-sixties comeback, a period best defined by the 1965 classic, “Make the World Go Away.” He remains the only member of the Hall of Fame to win this award after being inducted.

Single Review: Eric Church, “The Outsiders”

October 26, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 20

A fun and catchy anthem for rebels who aren’t rebelling against anything in particular.

If Eric Church is anyone’s successor these days, it’s probably Hank Williams, Jr. There’s no specific ideology or established enemy in Church’s latest single, but it’s such a barn raiser that it’s very easy to side with him anyway. “The Outsiders” taps into that quintessentially American desire to champion for the underdog, and it does it quite well.

Single Review: Jake Owen, “Days of Gold”

October 26, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 4

It sounds like even Jake Owen got bored singing songs about girls and trucks and summer days and nights.

How else to explain the rapid fire delivery and fierce banjo and guitar on “Days of Gold”, which has him spitting out every country summer song cliché as quickly as he can get them out of his mouth?

Getting to Know Brandy Clark

October 20, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 4

As a general rule, you can scan the credits of any new country album and assume that if Brandy Clark is a writer on one of the songs, it’s the best song on the album. As Clark readies the release of 12 Stories, her debut album as an artist, it’s a great time for fans of that remarkable set to get caught up on Clark’s work to date.

Believe the hype. Clark really is as good as everyone is saying she is. Possibly even better, as these twenty tracks suggest. Scroll down to the bottom, and you can listen to snippets from all of them as you read along.

Single Review: Zac Brown Band, “Sweet Annie”

September 30, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 17

Zac Brown Band’s laid back approach can make it easy to miss when they are actually digging deeper with their lyrics.

Their music often sounds designed to fade into the background, particularly on their radio singles, which usually land somewhere between faceless and mildly interesting, but rarely compelling in any meaningful way.

Single Review: Ty Herndon, “Lies I Told Myself”

September 29, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 5

I’d imagine that to young fans who have discovered country music in the last couple of years, the new Ty Herndon single will sound remarkably dated.

Single Review: American Young, “Love is War”

September 8, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 8

There’s a country radio station in NYC proper for the first time in nearly twenty years. The last one went off the air before I was old enough to drive, so when I found out it existed, I immediately checked it out.

Then I immediately checked out. It’s not listenable to me. It’s playing all of today’s hits and those from the past couple of years, and sometimes a song that I like will come on, but it’s always sandwiched between filler that hurts my ears.