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Perfect 10

April 29, 2009 Dan Milliken 43

As April is one of the odd months that has five Wednesdays, I thought I’d take a break from Country Quizzin’ for this week and try out a new discussion-thing.

Given the current mainstream climate, it’s been a while since I’ve felt able to heap unfettered praise on a piece of country music here, and that frankly bums me out a bit. So in the spirit of un-bumming, I’m going to share ten country songs that I find absolutely flawless – my “Perfect 10” – and I invite you to do the same. It’s a simple enough concept – you could just think of it as Recommend a Track times 10 plus a punny name.

Still, I suspect the outcome could be really interesting if everybody puts in the effort to pick ten songs that they consider the absolute cream of the crop. We’re talking all-time best material here, whatever “all-time” happens to mean to you. You don’t have to rank them, and they don’t have to be your definitive top ten; I sure wouldn’t be able to produce that list without a lot more thought. They just have to be up there – the kind of songs that you love fully and deeply, that still engage and surprise you after countless listens.

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Keep on the Sunny Side

April 11, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 23

Today’s Recommend a Track focuses on those songs that remind us to “Keep on the Sunny Side.”

As I wrote in my review of the new Rodney Atkins album, I’m an optimistic guy. So while I do love me some dark and depressing country music, the songs that best match my personal philosophy are those that look at the brighter side of life.

Some of my favorites:

The Carter Family, “Keep on the Sunny Side”

The Grandmama of them all. This was released during The Great Depression, y’all.

Shania Twain, “Up!”

Rodney Atkins sounds about as optimistic as Dwight Yoakam when compared to Shania Twain. This remains one of my favorite songs she’s ever released. Bonus points awarded to this clip because it not only features Alison Krauss & Union Station behind her, but Krauss and Twain discuss deodorant and shaving during the winter seasons.

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Recommend A Track: Shot to The Heart

March 28, 2009 Leeann Ward 15

Last Thursday, Bill and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. It’s been a wonderful run so far. Of all the positive things that I can say, my favorite thing about our marriage is that we

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The Return of Recommend a Track

March 23, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 20

It’s been a good long while since I’ve shamelessly plugged a favorite song, and far too long since all of you have made me break the bank to purchase your recommendations. We’ve taken some heat

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Shania Twain, “What a Way to Wanna Be!”

February 22, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 1

I was inspired to recommend Shania Twain’s “What a Way to Wanna Be!” after seeing this new Dove commercial: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U The track comes from her excellent fourth album Up!, which was released in three different

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Recommend a Track: High Energy

January 24, 2009 Guest Contributor 17

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2009 was to get back into shape.  I’ve been working non-stop the last couple of years and it was definitely time. Of course, I thought getting back into

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Discussion: Recommend a Track

December 12, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 16

I used to think that Dolly Parton’s early country tragedy songs were over the top.  Then I heard some of Porter Wagoner’s, and realized that she’d actually toned down some of his excesses.    Nothing is

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