Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country:” Sweepingly Dramatic and Dead Serious
How Blake Shelton got to recording his newest single, "God's Country," is almost as dramatic as the song: He was clearing land on his Oklahoma farm, a place that he considers "to be God's country, doing the thing that makes me feel the most connected to God, which is...
The “Eyes” Have It
So many songs about eyes: lying, dying, crying, all formats, genres, languages have songs about the eyes of others, the windows into the soul. "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" was a corny ballad with terrific hooks that was one of the top songs from 1967. Chase Rice's...
The Wonder That is George Strait
George Strait isn't now and never was "hip or "cool" in the way that Johnny Cash was or Willie Nelson is--rather he is more like a "Stepford Wife" version of a "Country Star" whose clean living, solid marriage, clever, neo-traditonal songs, strong voice and handsome...
There’s Just Something About…Rainbows!
No one was more shocked and surprised to be awarded this year’s Grammy for Album of The Year than the winner herself, Kacey Musgraves. Although she’s considered one of Nashville’s most talented singer/songwriters, her songs are hardly played on Country radio...
For (pretty hard-core) Country Fans: Ashley McBryde, “Girl Goin’ Nowhere”
Up and coming Country singer/songwriter Ashley McBryde followed her heart, opting to reject the role of “flavor of the month” route to stardom, and look what happened: Her debut album "Girl Goin' Nowhere" earned a 2018 Grammy nomination for Best Country Album. The...
A New Country Song with a Traditional Country Vibe
Yeah, she's crazy but her crazy's beautiful to me “Beautiful Crazy” is a modern Country song that captures the tone of Traditional Country. Intelligent lyrics reveal a man in the “blown away by everything she does” stage of love, besotted, bowled over, amazed at his...
A Feel-Good Country Song. What’s Not to Like?
Just because a Country song has a line like …let's make a little lemonade if lemons is all we got ...doesn’t automatically exclude it from greatness: Many famous Country songs have banal lyrics, but make up for it somewhere else, like emotional connection, or...
Country Music is Having a Moment
The crowd jumped to their feet when Luke Bryan, winner of 2015’s coveted CMA “Entertainer of the Year” award, and “American Idol” judge, performed his newest hit “What Makes You Country” at this year’s Country Music Association Awards show--kudos to hosts Brad Paisley...
A Romantic Song to Start Your Weekend…
Before you automatically disregard “Here Tonight” just because it’s Country, be aware that it’s not very corny, and it isn’t at all “Bro-Country,” rather, it’s uplifting and up-tempo with a positive and energizing chorus and melody, and the lyrics and overall...