Kevin John Coyne

2011 Grammy Awards: A Hollow Victory For Country Music

February 14, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 35

The increasing presence of country in the general categories of the Grammy Awards is undeniable.

In three of the past five years, an artist with connections to country music has won Album of the Year. The same ratio applies for the Record of the Year category. In the same time frame, two country artists have won Song of the Year and two have won Best New Artist.

That’s all good and well, and would be seen as a positive for the genre if not for one pesky problem. All of the artists and songs and albums that have been emerging victorious have been nearly indistinguishable from adult Top 40 music.

2011 Grammy Winners

February 14, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 14

General Categories

Album of the Year: Arcade Fire, The Suburbs

Record of the Year: Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”

Song of the Year: Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, “Need You Now”

Best New Artist: Esperanza Spalding

Genre Categories

Best Country Album: Lady Antebellum, Need You Now

Female Country Vocal Performance: Miranda Lambert, “The House That Built Me”

2011 Grammy Pre-Telecast Winners

February 13, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 28

Refresh for updates. Major categories will be announced above the fold:

Male Country Vocal Performance: Keith Urban, “‘Til Summer Comes Around”

Country Duo/Group Vocal Performance: Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”

Country Song: Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, “Need You Now”

Country Collaboration with Vocals: Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson, “As She’s Walking Away”

Country Instrumental Performance: Marty Stuart, “Hummingbyrd”

Bluegrass Album: Patty Loveless, Mountain Soul II

Americana Album: Mavis Staples, You Are Not Alone

Traditional Folk Album: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Genuine Negro Jig

Contemporary Folk Album: Ray LaMontagne And The Pariah Dogs, God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise

Southern/Country/Gospel Bluegrass Album: Diamond Rio, The Reason

Traditional Gospel Album: Patty Griffin, Downtown Church

Ridiculous Things: Wanda Jackson

February 11, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 4

Wanda Jackson covering Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good.”

Come on, now.

The Civil Wars

February 10, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 6

In August 2009, I wrote about The Civil Wars, an unsigned country-folk duo that I discovered through a friend.

Um, they have the #12 album in the country this week.

Single Review: Reba McEntire, “If I Were a Boy”

February 9, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 19

This really isn’t that bad.

Reba’s a great singer, and this is a great song.

Yes, the lyrics make it an awkward fit at times. Did we really need to hear Reba McEntire use the phrase “kickin’ it”, one single after using Twitter as an action verb?

Don’t Bore Us – Get To the Chorus!

February 8, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 42

The best title ever for a hits package.

Also, the first thing that popped up in my head when I was thinking about this discussion topic.

Some songs have choruses so good that they don’t even need the rest of the song to make them worth listening to.

100 Greatest Men: #91. Diamond Rio

February 7, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 14

Theme parks are full of aspiring musicians hoping to make it big. Most of them never do, but Diamond Rio did, and in a very big way.

The nucleus of the band was formed in 1984, when lead singer Marty Roe met keyboard player Dan Truman while both were working at Opryland U.S.A., a now-defunct theme park adjacent to the Grand Ole Opry theater.

100 Greatest Men: #92. Gene Watson

February 6, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 12

He didn’t always top the charts or win the big awards, but Gene Watson’s legacy of traditional country music made him one of the most respected vocalists of his generation.

Born and raised in Texas, he grew up fully immersed in Western swing, southern blues, and gospel music. By age twelve, he’d made his first public performance. Never liking school, he dropped out in ninth grade. He chose auto body repair as his career, but did music on the side at night, more as a hobby than anything else.

Say What? Classic – Charley Pride

February 5, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 8

Charley Pride, 1984:

Music is only a product, like anything else. You pick out what you feel your audience will like, and do it. At first, I recorded a lot of things I didn’t like. After I reached a point where I had some say-so about what I record, I try now to record what I like.