Country Universe

Steve Holy, "Men Buy the Drinks (Girls Call the Shots)"

August 23, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 1

Starting a song about the battle of the sexes with Adam, Eve and the apple is so horribly contrived that this song almost lost me from the opening verse. But Holy’s energy, coupled with the

Say What? – Garth Brooks

August 23, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 4

Garth Brooks spinning his decision to not release his music digitally: “For people who have all the records, to have them come get this compilation of 33 songs and then 33 videos and know that

Say What? – Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts

August 20, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 11

Rascal Flatts’ lead singer, on not winning Album of the Year for Me and My Gang: “We deserved it last year. To sell more than anybody, I think that qualifies for album of the year.”

Rodney Carrington, King of the Mountains

August 17, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 3

Rodney Carrington King of the Mountains They always say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” That may be true for the literary world, but as comedy albums go, you can take one look at

Kellie Pickler, “Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind”

August 16, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 12

You know what? I enjoyed listening to this a lot. I smiled, I laughed a few times. It reminded me of Pickler when she was at her most endearing on Idol. Her personality shines through

Andy Griggs, “What If It’s Me”

August 16, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 0

The song is solid, as his material often is. He sings it with conviction, nuance and enough shades of emotion to convey the conflict in the lyric. The anemic production comes close to derailing an

Essential Viewing: Women of Country Special

August 15, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 11

CBS has a tendency to pull clips from this show down as soon as they’re up, so I highly recommend watching it now: the 1993 Women of Country documentary. It traces the history of women

Fifty vs. Kanye vs. Kenny

August 15, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 16

Entertainment Weekly has an interesting take on the brewing feud between hip-hop mega-stars 50 Cent and Kanye West: Whose new CD will sell more when they both drop on Sept. 11, 50 Cent or Kanye

Trisha vs. Trisha

August 13, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 12

Two Trisha Yearwood albums are on the way this year. The first is Greatest Hits, a compilation of fifteen of her bigger MCA hits along with two previously unreleased tracks, on Sept. 11. The second

Yesterday's Songs: August 12, 1995

August 12, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 4

This list was an interesting trip down memory lane. This particular top twenty has my personal favorites from Brooks & Dunn, George Strait and Pam Tillis, alongside singles I’d completely forgotten about from Vince Gill,