Lee Brice has established himself as one of the most promising new voices in country music with his debut album 'Love Like Crazy.' In addition, Lee has proven himself as one of Nashville's top tunesmiths, with songwriting cuts by Garth Brooks ('More Than A Memory'), Tim McGraw ('Still'), Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Adam Gregory to his credit. 'More Than A Memory,' the Garth Brooks smash that became the first song in Billboard chart history to debut at #1, seems more like a dream to Brice, who names Garth as his first major musical influence.
As a young boy, Brice was raised on Gospel in church and the harmonies of Alabama, The Oak Ridge Boys, and the Statler Brothers at home, largely sheltered from the popular music of the day.
'I got my first clock radio when I was twelve,' Brice recalls, 'Just as Garth was becoming huge. He's the reason I first picked up a guitar to write, and he had a definite effect on my writing.'
Conventional wisdom says that in the music business, once you achieve a certain threshold of success, caution should be your guide. You've come this far, you're told by everyone around you. Don't surprise your audience too much. But trepidation will not be part of Dierks Bentley's legacy. At every turn in his career, he's done his own thing, whether that meant touring with jam bands, playing rock venues or recording with bluegrass all-stars on platinum country albums. Now Dierks steps forward with his most artistically daring project yet - the all-acoustic Up On The Ridge - a powerful, beautiful album steeped in the bluegrass and roots music that moved Dierks Bentley to be a country musician in the first place.
"I fell in love with this kind of music the first time I walked into the Station Inn with a fake I.D. at 19 years old...these guys, who were my age, were playing their instruments so hard it knocked your head back," explains Bentley. "Without the whole bluegrass community taking me in, I would have had no place to start from. It is my foundation."
Dozens of talents have contributed in some way to this project. Besides the five co-written by Dierks himself, the songs come from such varied sources as Bob Dylan, Buddy and Julie Miller, U2 and Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson participated on the project as a guest vocalist as well, along with a slate of today's best traditional country singers, including: Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Sonya Isaacs and Chris Stapleton of the Steeldrivers. Players on the project include: Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers, the Del McCoury Band, the legendary Sam Bush, dobro player Rob Ickes, guitarist Bryan Sutton, fiddler Stuart Duncan, and mandolinist Ronnie McCoury.
"This record's not a departure for me at all," says Dierks. "It's really just going back and reclaiming something I feel like I do have some ownership of, which is the acoustic music scene in Nashville."
The Dixie Chicks changed the face of music with a combination of feistiness, sensitivity, and sheer musicianship that traded every prevailing women-in-country stereotype for the freedom of Wide Open Spaces. The trio s trailblazing invigoration was rewarded with 14 Top-10 country singles six of which reached No. 1 and two successive 10-million-selling albums. By their fourth disc, they d broadened their sound and fan base enough to sweep the top all-genre awards at the GRAMMYS®. Frontiers for women in country or rock truly never seemed so wide open. (br/)
Welcome to the Playlist series. We've fished through hundreds of tracks to cherry pick the perfect playlists. Not just the hits, but...the life-changing songs. The out-of-print tracks. The fan favorites everyone loves. The songs that make the artists who they are. You'll no doubt enjoy the sound of the beautifully remastered songs on this CD, unlike the compromised sound of an MP3 file. You might also like the fact that the packages are environmentally-friendly (no plastic, 100% recycled paper). But we think the thing you'll appreciate most about this Playlist is that even though you didn't make it, you might wish you did. This package has been created with the environment in mind. All of the paperboard is 100% recycled and 100% recyclable. Of course, we would prefer that you not throw this package or CD away. We would prefer that you keep it in your collection to enjoy for many years to come! Full liner notes, photos, and more included as a PDF file on this CD. Enjoy!
The Band Perry is comprised of three siblings from Mobile, Ala. The trio has enjoyed a top 20 hit with Hip To My Heart. Their first release is a five-song EP produced by Nathan Chapman, who did similar chores for Taylor Swift, and Paul Worley. They will be opening for Clay Walker this summer at The Central States Fair Grandstand on Sunday, August 22nd!
Chalk it up to their Texas-meets-Tennessee grit and tenacity, but there’s nothing Lonestar loves more than a challenge. 500 concerts in their first two years. Crossing over from country to pop and back again after no one else topped both charts at the same time since 1983. Selling 10 million albums, landing ten top 10 country hits!
Jo Dee Messina's first release in 5 years!
Here is the first in a trilogy of EP's to be released throughout 2010! Volume 1 is titled 'Unmistakable: Love' and offers seven new songs as well as live acoustic cuts of 'Because You Love Me' and 'Stand Beside Me.' 'Unmistakable: Drive' and 'Unmistakable: Inspiration' are expected later in the year.
After 20 years of writing and recording hit after hit, country music has become synonymous with Alan Jackson. The superstar has sold over 50 million albums and has claimed nearly 100 industry awards - including three CMA Entertainer of the Year Awards. Freight Train, Jackson's 18th album was produced by longtime collaborator Keith Stegall and features 12 brand new songs, one of which is Jackson's hot new single, "It's Just That Way." Eight of the album's dozen tracks bear Jackson's songwriting credit, including one he penned with Roger Murrah, with whom he wrote one of his biggest hits, "Don't Rock the Jukebox." In a moving tribute to the legendary Vern Gosdin, who passed away last year and for whom Jackson has long expressed admiration, Jackson enlisted Lee Ann Womack to record "Till the End," Gosdin's 1977 classic duet with Janie Fricke.
Multi-Platinum recording artist Gretchen Wilson exploded onto the country music scene with her smash hit Redneck Woman and has since scored three No 1 albums with 'Here for the Party', 'All Jacked Up' and 'One of the Boys'. She recently left her long time record label home at Sony music and started her own Redneck Records label. Her first single, Work Hard, Play Harder , is reminiscent of the music that first brought her to national and international prominence.
The album is being released as a regular 10-song version as well as in a deluxe edition that includes 4 bonus songs and access to exclusive video downloads.
Born and raised in rural Gilchrist County, Fla., Easton spent much of his time on his grandparents' cattle farm after his parents divorced when he was young. A member of FFA and 4-H, Easton showed cattle at the local livestock fair. While no one in his family played a musical instrument, music was a big part of his upbringing.
"My grandparents liked to watch the Opry," Easton remembers. "We'd start Saturday night off with `Hee Haw' and then `Opry Backstage' and then `Opry Live'." When Easton was 15 years old he began taking guitar lessons; every day when he got home from school, Easton would practice guitar for hours, sometimes until his fingers were raw, then help his grandfather around the farm.
After earning a business degree through the College of Agriculture at the University of Florida, Easton took two important steps. "My wife and I got married on September 2, 2006, and on October 14 we moved to Nashville," he says. "I always knew I wanted to move up here. There was never any question about it. I didn't want to wake up one day and wish I would have tried it, but I had to get my education first so I had something to fall back on."
Like his heroes Strait and Whitley, Easton is unapologetically country. His songs, while rooted in the present, call to mind simpler times when the back porch was where folks gathered to network. His first single, "A Little More Country Than That," paints a picture of rural life that speaks to Easton's small town sensibilities. "This song identifies who I am," he says. "It shows character and that's important where I'm from. You learn to say `yes, ma'am' and `no, sir,' and to open the door for the ladies."
www.dannygokey.com
The debut Country album from the 8th season finalist of American Idol featuring the single "My Best Days are Ahead of Me". During his bid for the Idol title, Gokey impressed the judges with his vocal versatility, but it was his buoyant personality and perseverance in the face of adversity that earned Gokey a special place in the hearts of Idol devotees.
Constantly asked by fans when he is going to release new music, country star Blake Shelton is giving the people what they want. Shelton has announced that he will release a value-priced album featuring six brand-new songs, entitled Hillbilly Bone, on March 2.
'I talk to my fans every day and the first question they ask me is, 'When are you going to release a new record?'' says Shelton, whose last studio album was 2008's 'Startin' Fires.' 'I want to give my fans new music more often and at a lower price. The fact that people will be able to get the new music for less money is a gift to my fans who have been behind me every step of the way.'
The first single is the title track, a comedic, sing-along duet with Shelton's long-time friend Trace Adkins.
In Josh Thompson,working-class country has found its most authentic spokesman in a generation. A compelling singer, he is an artist whose songwriting reflects both the gritty realities of blue-collar life and the beer-fueled release of the Friday-night honky-tonk. There is no doubt this work ethic,which was perhaps most evident in the days when he was juggling the publishing deal he earned just seven months after moving to Nashville and pouring concrete, the trade he had worked at since he was 12.
That work ethic, the honesty in his writing and the energy in his performances have combined to make JOsh a powerful new voice in country music.Thompson's Columbia Nashville debut, Way Out Here, showcases the man who lived the music he makes. Produced by Michael Knox (Jason Aldean), the CD captures both the emotional nuance that marks Josh's work an the raucous energy that sparks his live performances. The album features 10 songs-nine co-written by Josh and one that he penned entirely on his own.
HAYWIRE has been the quickest record we've ever made from start to finish," says Josh. "But I'm glad our haste didn't make waste. I love every single song. One thing I've noticed is that you are definitely hearing more of my range, high and low on this album. I'm really proud of this record." And that's saying something, given what he's accomplished so far. Since earning a standing ovation as an unknown singer on the Grand Ole Opry stage in 2001 with his impressive delivery of "Long Black Train," he has established himself as one of the most identifiable male vocalists in country music.
This is the first EVER Best of Chris Cagle compilation in the market place! Features Chris Cagle's 5 top ten hit singles, plus many more of his country classics including: I Breathe In, I Breathe Out, What Kinda Gone,and What A Beautiful Day!
