Country Universe

Single Review: Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson, “As She’s Walking Away”

September 10, 2010 Tara Seetharam 15

Few mainstream singles this year have displayed the fine musicianship of “As She’s Walking Away,” the first single off the Zac Brown Band’s upcoming album, You Get What You Give. Sparsely produced, the song leaves ample breathing room for the equally gorgeous fiddle and full harmonies to make their respective impacts. More notably, the song is ripe with earnestness, from the sweet interplay between Brown and Jackson to the charming, honest performances. Even the energizing melody feels sincere.

Single Review: Mary Chapin Carpenter, “The Way I Feel”

September 9, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 15

A song about finding liberation on the open road shouldn’t put you in danger of falling asleep at the wheel.

I don’t know what’s going on with Mary Chapin Carptenter. She made my favorite album of all-time, Stones in the Road, and it wasn’t particularly upbeat. But the songs were amazingly good. I’m still learning new things from that album a full sixteen years after its release.

Back to School

September 6, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 12

Another summer has come and gone. For those of you headed back into the classroom, here’s some helpful advice from some country music stars:

1. Avoid social stereotypes.

The girl in the bleachers might be your dream girl…

Single Review: Dierks Bentley, “Draw Me a Map”

September 4, 2010 Guest Contributor 3

This single review is written by Guest Contributor Jennifer Bernard.

“Draw Me a Map,” the second single from Up on the Ridge, contains lyrics which are cleverly evocative and packed with passion. The acoustic arrangement combined with the vocals of Dierks Bentley and Alison Krauss make for a soothing delivery of words that definitely dive below the surface. Specifically with lines such as “I’d beg forgiveness but I don’t know where to start” and “I’ve never been so at loss, I’m at a canyon I can’t get around or cross,” you can truly feel the anxiety and hopelessness that Bentley illustrates.

Single Review: Sara Evans, “A Little Bit Stronger”

September 3, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 43

This isn’t very good.

Perhaps it could have been, with a stronger melody and a more refined concept. The song itself is pretty good, but Evans turns in a listless performance, delegating all of the “oomph” to the background vocalists and studio musicians. And they’re pretty listless in their own right.

CMA 2010: Female Trouble

September 3, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 85

It’s pretty rare that the CMA nominations garner much attention outside of the country music press, but the always excellent Whitney Pastorek at Entertainment Weekly has a lengthy article trying to rationalize the exclusion of Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift from the Entertainer category.

It’s amazing that in a year where a record was set for the most nominations by a female artist, there can still be a valid accusation of gender bias among the nominations. Women have been poorly represented in the Entertainer category for pretty much the entire history of the CMA Awards. Even when you include duos or groups with female members, there have never been more than two out of five nominees that are women.

2010 CMA Nominations

September 1, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 125

Last month, I suggested an infusion of new blood at the CMA Awards. They’ve exceeded even my wildest expectations, rejecting the usual nominees in nearly every race. Lady Antebellum, Zac Brown Band, and Dierks Bentley have quite a bit to celebrate, but this year’s awards belong to Miranda Lambert, who earned a stunning nine nominations, a record for a female artist.

Let’s take a look at this year’s nominees:

Entertainer

Lady Antebellum
Miranda Lambert
Brad Paisley
Keith Urban
Zac Brown Band

Who’s In: Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band

Who’s Out: Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Taylor Swift

400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #25-#1

August 30, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 32

The top of our list includes a wide range of artists singing a wide range of country music styles. They are all perfectly-written songs delivered with sincerity by the artists who brought them to life.

Single Reviews: James Otto, “Soldiers and Jesus”; Due West, “The Bible and the Belt”

August 29, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 16

I’m getting tired of the dime store theology in country music today. It’s officially reached pandemic proportions.

Up for airplay are two new singles in which religion is just a decorative prop used to elevate a human role to something divine. Instead of achieving that impossible goal, all they do is cheapen the divine into something that is only human.

Single Review: Carrie Underwood, "Mama's Song"

August 27, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 69

Love ain’t no fairytale.

The latest single from Carrie Underwood knows and embraces this. I can’t remember another wedding song that is so understated in its declarations. As she prepares to marry, she reassures her mother that this man is good. That’s pretty much it.

Pretty much it on paper, at least. But notice how the term is repeated – “He is good, so good.” Underwood chooses to emphasize those five words more than any others in the song, singing them as if just being good is enough to qualm a worried mother’s fears for her daughter’s future.