Grand Country: Recent Episodes

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Ashley Wineland, a young storyteller born and raised in Glendale, Arizona, has just opened the show with the fifth song included in her 2012 album “Family Business”, called No Prince Charming, which debuted at #2 on iTunes in the category of “Best New Country Music.” Ashley’s debut CD featured her original compositions, but it wasn’t until recently that this Official CMT Artist started leaving an impression on everyone she’s professionally come across. In 2017, she published her sophomore piece of work, “Simple Life”, which was airplayed worldwide, bringing about some praise and several hits, such as this No Prince Charming that we’ve just listened to, recycled from her first piece of work, which talks about good and evil in cowboy behavior. Ashley always mentions her father paving her way to share her talent in music. In an interview held some days ago, she recognizes that great support from her parents. In fact, so much so that in her upcoming album to be released in 2021, named “I’m gonna ride”, she has included a song called “Daddy’s Creed”, released last November 1st, which I clearly see as a homage to the effort her parents made to support her dream of becoming a singer. With this feeling in mind, we asked Ashley how much of what is happening to her regarding her professional career she can actually owe to her parents’ teaching.

Let’s listen to that rendition to her parents. “Daddy’s Creed”.

We’ve just listened to the song which gave name to her 2017 national tour “She’s Gone”. With each concert more and more fans, who in fact call themselves “Winelanders”, have proliferated by the thousands. Tremendous vocals, relatable demeanor, and excellent sound have left an unforgettable impression with audiences, hence her colossal presence on social media. Ashley also donates her time to animal welfare organizations, and helps to raise money to help the veterans. Apart from that, Ashley’s future 2021 album called “I’m gonna ride”, revolves around the idea of empowermentexploring the highs and lows of trying to find your own path. We asked her how it felt when she thought that her album could influence positively on the life of many “Winelanders”?

Ashley first made a splash in the Southwestern music scene with the release of her patriotic song, “Red, White & Blue,” song honoring the men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces, the videoclip of which raised some money which was donated to various charities supporting veterans. Still nowadays she she keeps volunteering for numerous charities — lending her voice and her time and talent to support them for a good cause. Such is the impact of her good deeds that her social media following has reached the impressive mark of 200 thousand fans. Having seen the evolution of how singers reached their fans, we asked Ashley how difficult it was to connect with people, fans.

Let’s listen to another song, this time “Family Business”, included in her debut album from 2012, the video of which quickly amassed almost a million views on Facebook.

A favorite on the festival circuit, Ashley has appeared with some recognizable names in country music, including John Michael Montgomery, the Grammy Award-winning band Diamond Rio and country music superstar Josh Turner. As we did years in the past with other artists, we asked her about her influences as she looks forward to having her music reach a larger audience and continuing to write music and taking the next exciting steps in her journey.

It is true that nobody knows what the future holds for her, but after years of hard work, dedication to her craft, and an up, close, personal connection to her fans have found Ashley in demand at top venues and festivals and a frequent guest on television and radio alike, only stopped by Covid-19. With such a future projection within reach, we finally asked Ashley how she sees herself in 5 years from now.

The new voice of the Professional Bull Riders is Chevel Shepherd, the extraordinary voice of a sixteen year old country singer who won season 15 of the NBC music competition “The Voice” in the fall of 2018. Yes, you heard correctly: sixteen years old. The PBR announced last year that Chevel, alongside with Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry and Black Stone Cherry would collaborate releasing its new anthem: “Be Cowboy”, written by Wynn Varble and David Frazier. The new soundtrack to the sport’s inclusive campaign encourages everyone to “be badder, be braver and be bolder” in unleashing their inner cowboy.  This theme will replace Steven Tyler’s PBR anthem “Hold On (Won’t Let Go).” The sport refreshes its TV openings and theme song every few years.

In the two years since winning The Voice, Chevel Shepherd has worked hard on her music career, even in the midst of a pandemic.  The young singer, coached by Kelly Clarkson throughout the show, stunned audiences with her powerful vocals and a style clearly influenced by her love of traditional country music. In an interview early 2019 she confessed she was going to release some music independently. Two of those new songs soon became available: the reflective “Everybody’s Got A Story,” penned by Kacey Musgraves (an old friend of this show), Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, and the second song is the extraordinarily witty “Mama Got the Chair,” which explores the other side of “The Chair,” George Strait’s 1985 No. 1 hit. These are the first of several releases leading up to Shepherd’s debut EP released in late 2019. Let’s listen to these two fantastic songs: Everybody’s got a Story, written by Kacey Musgraves, and Mama Got the Chair, which from now is one of my all-time favorites.

Extraordinary performance. It can get any better than that. Pure mellow country music as traditional as it can get. Shepherd soon began touring, opening shows for Clarkson (her mentor in The Voice), Little Big Town, Brothers Osborne, among others. She was invited to sing “God Bless America” at the 2019 Indianapolis 500. She also recorded an EP in Nashville and this year, since the pandemic hit, has been releasing some of the singles. Let’s listen to her honoring America listening to her performance of “God Bless America”, and “Southern Boy”, released in May this very 2020.

A few months ago, she decided to record a Christmas album. The album, A Good Ol Country Christmas, features 12 tracks ranging from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” to “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” to “Mary, Did You Know?” and more. She recorded the album in Durango, Colorado with members of her band, and guest musicians, Gary Cook (mandolin and acoustic guitar) and Matt Palmer (fiddle/twin fiddles). She not only sings, she co-produced it with Scott “Scooter” Smith. Let’s listen to “Country Christmas” and “Let it Snow”, two lovely classics country-style perfect for this time of the year.

What an extraordinary discovery we’ve made with this artist. I’ve already asked formally for an interview, let’s see if we are lucky enough to get ten minutes of her time. In the meantime, hoping to get a positive response, let’s say a proper goodbye to her hoping to get more extraordinary music listening to two more country style Christmas carols the way country music should aaaaaalways be played. Two more classics: Santa Claus is Coming To Town, and Winter Wonderland.

I was in the little store that the Opry has in the main street downtown Nashville, quite close to the Ernest Tubb Record Store and just a stonethrow away from where the Ryman Auditorium lays. After a two-hour wait I was able to approach him, taller than I expected, and he signed my record, which now I jellously store in my vynil records collection. He was really really nice to me, and when he heard that I was coming all the way from Barcelona Spain, he rushed to tell me he had a house in Mallorca. Charley Pride, who died last week a month after his performance in the CMA Awards 2020 held on November 12, was one of the last living legends, and the most important black country musicians. We’ve listened from him the song “Is anybody goin’ to San Antone”, a number 1 hit released in February 1970 as the first single from the album Charley Pride's 10th album. The song was Pride's third number one in a row on the country charts. The single spent two weeks at number one and a total of 16 weeks on the country chart.

Charley was country to the core, a member of the Grand Ole Opry and inducted into the Country music Hall of Fame. He died in Dallas on December 12 due to complications with Covid-19, which according to especulations he got during his performance in the CMA Awards last November 12, but that seems unlikely due to the fact that he was hospitalized late in november. He was 86 years old. The CMA Awards’ performance happens to be the last in his career, a career spanning 68 years active, from 1952 until this very november. He was the first country artists to be black who performed at the Opry, and a role model for others.

Rest in peace.

We’ll say goodbye to him and to the show, listening to two more of his classics: In 1971, Pride released what would become his biggest hit, "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'", a million-selling crossover single which made him win the Country Music Association's entertainer of the year award, as well as its top male vocalist award in 1971 and 1972. It became Pride's signature tune, and besides being a five-week country number one in late 1971 and early 1972, the song was also his only pop top-40 hit, hitting number 21, and reaching the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary charts, as well.

And the second song, “All I have to offer you (is me)”, Charley Pride's first No. 1 song, released in June 1969, reaching the top of the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart that August.

So, “Kiss and Angel Good Morning”, and “All I have to offer you (is me)”. Charley Pride.

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Montana native Tessy Lou Williams essentially has music in her blood. From a childhood spent watching her parents perform in their band Montana Rose to spending decades in the Austin music scene, Williams has been immersed in the music industry her entire life. She grew up in Montana, the daughter of two musicians who relocated to the small town of Willow Creek (population: 210) from Nashville. Their three kids traveled with them often, experiencing life on the road surrounded by talented musicians and top-notch songwriting. After overcoming a paralyzing case of stage fright, Tessy Lou began performing at the historic Pony Bar. Soon after, Tessy Lou and the Shotgun Stars were born, and the trio, including Bryan Paugh on the fiddle and her dad, Kenny Williams on the bass, built a following around her home state. The band moved to Austin, Texas, and were discovered by Warehouse Records at Poodie’s Roadhouse, a fitting place for the stars to align for someone whose love of honky-tonks runs deep. As part of her beginnings in the industry, the trio released two albums from which we have just listened to the song Beer, boobs and whiskey, from their debut album from 2012 Leaving Montana, full of wonderful tracks of traditional honky tonk and ballads. Just three years later, in 2015, they recorded their second album named Somewhere in Texas, from which we’ll listen to the track Scotty’s Place.

Williams is now stepping out on her own with a self-titled solo debut that’s more than worthy of carrying the torch of her classic country forbearers. Working with producer Luke Wooten, Williams has crafted a ten-song project that tackles love and heartbreak with a cutting, yet delicate clarity and a sound like something straight out of the 1960s. As Tessy Lou was preparing for the release of her first solo album, after a lifetime of songwriting and a decade of performing professionally, it is important to note the journey to get to this moment: her rural origins, the stage fright she once suffered, the move across the country to find her own place in the world and finally make her own music. All that brings about the heartbreak that inspired this batch of 10 songs. It all culminates in her solo debut, a self-titled effort that introduces her sound to a new group of listeners: deeply rooted in traditional influences, with her spin on western culture. These are the kind of songs you’d want to be playing on a dancehall stage when you walk in or blasting from the jukebox when the band isn’t there. It’s also the perfect soundtrack for a two-step or a waltz —or simply a great opportunity to sit back and enjoy well-crafted country music.

Let’s take a taste of this album by listening to two songs, the first one opens the album, Your forever will never say Goodbye, a wonderful heartstopping two-step with Tessy Lou joined by legendary bluegrass instrumentalist and songwriter Carl Jackson on background vocals about a painstaking love that is no more, and the second, Midnight Arms, with a feeling that the very Allison Krauss took the stage to flawlessly perform this story about cheating.

Country as hell, each of them songs are unique, and personal, and they embody heartbreak that we can all relate to.

Written primarily in Nashville, and recorded at Station West, also in Nashville, Tessy Lou and producer Luke Wooten collaborated with an ace band including Bryan Sutton on the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo and mandolin, Mike Johnson at the pedal steel, dobro, and pedalbro, Aubrey Haney on the fiddle, Ashley Campbell on the banjo, and background vocals from Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Jon Randall, Wes Hightower and Brennen Leigh, just to name a few. 

Between 2016 and 2020 the list of songs grew larger, and whenever they were playing these songs live, people kept asking when they would be available. Tessy Lou had been wanting to do a new album and knew the transition from the band to her solo career was nearing. The more time she spent going between Texas and Nashville, the more clear the idea became to her. She knew she wanted producer Luke Wooten to work on it because she was convinced that he could truly bring those songs she loved to life.

The question with a record like this is not the quality of the writing, or the top notch musicianship captured in the sessions at Nashville’s Station West, but how will it capture the ear and interest of the wider audience Tessy Lou’s songs and voice deserve? Some like to mix a little rock or pop in their music so it broadens its appeal, even if it results in something less country. You can still be country and include a dimension of variety, or spice. But this record falls a little short in offering something unique between the separate tracks. It doesn’t need a lot, but just a little something to make Tessy Lou not just true country, but truly unique within that realm.

Let’s say goodby to Tessy Lou listening to a couple more songs, the first one, One More Night, a great cut that seems to have been recorded by Union Station (although it hasn’t), and Busy Counting Bridges, one of her two co-writes with Jerry Salley that offers another up-tempo take on heartbreak, finding the narrator busy counting bridges that she has burned.

For those who are just hearing of Zephaniah OHora for the first time, if the warble in his guitar and the slight lilt in his voice bring forth the assumption that the singer-songwriter comes from one particular musical metropolis in Tennessee or some other country music-fueled locality in the U.S., think again. Though OHora sings with the love of country music in his heart, as we commented when we played his first album in this same show at the beginning of the year, he forged that passion on his own in the back rooms of Brooklyn, NY clubs. In OHora’s case, one could say his enthusiasm first sprouted not from growing up around the sounds and sights of country’s character but from one quintessentially New York City setting of record shops lined with bins, some holding well-loved country vinyl.

Fast forward to the present and OHora exudes the spirit of country’s unofficial motto – three chords and the truth – from a place of personal aspiration in his new single, “All American Singer.” This song comes off OHora’s forthcoming sophomore LP, Listening To The Music, due out August 28, 2020. Despite the fact that OHora’s latest unfolds with a melodically lighthearted demeanor – complete with some pristinely executed harmonica performance by none other than Mickey Raphael – the music’s fundamental inspiration encompasses a breadth of sentiments and current event topics that tend to give one much more pause. “The inspiration for “All American Singer” came from his personal experience, jis observations of events playing out in the American society, and their collective struggle, especially after the events leading to the movement BlackLivesMatter. There are many injustices and ongoing problems that people have good reason to be angry about and he simply took the opportunity to reflect on some of those issues through the writing of this song, where he explains that he sings for all America, not just for one side of it, making clear that his music is beyond the limits of the white community.

He truly believes that music is a great equalizer in our society and brings people from all backgrounds and walks of life together. In his style one can easily feel Merle Haggard or Gram Parsons’s spirit, his great influences.

We’ll say goodbye to Zephaniah listening to another song advanced from his forthcoming album. The song is called Black and Blue, about the relationships you just can't let go of on, two people who are so much alike that they can't seem to walk away from each other. It is the age old story of being in a relationship with someone who has many of the same tendencies as yourself. Someone that always seems to walk back into your life after you've finally walked out on the deal. Someone you find it easy to blame your relationship problems on until you eventually realize that really they're not that different from you. The song reads

“Not long ago you made promises you couldn't keep You had me believing that all I was needing was you, I was willing to go down any road I had to go Is there a difference between me and you or black and blue?"

He wrote it back in 2016 just after he finished recording his first album. Zephaniah Ohora, Black and Blue.

An award winning Nashville-based singer and songwriter, 3-time Top 30 charter artist in Europe and co-host of Radio and TV show The Music Row Show, we have just listened to the first cut of Scott Southworth’s new album called These Old Bones. The song is Steel Guitars and Broken Hearts, and it is the 5th album in his career that spans 8 years now. Most of his albums have received awards and nominations from Country Music People Magazine, or from the Academy of Western Artists, or from the North American Country Music Association Internation

He performs regularly in Nashville at the Bluebird Cafe, Douglas Corner and the Commodore Grille as well as house concerts and many songwriting festivals around the country and overseas, headlining a few years ago festivals in France, Spain, Norway and Germany.

This is his first release on new upstart Indie label Flaming Tortuga Records, in the Pacific Northwest, and continues to raise the bar set by earlier releases such as Hey Hillbilly Singer in 2018, or The Last Honky Tonk In Town in 2016. Let’s listen to a couple more songs. The first one, Critters, an excellent honky-tonk that sounds to me the good ole days of a mix between Hank Williams Jr. and Junior Brown. And the second song, a great slow-tempo song about a broken heart called Less to Break, a great opportunity to get the dancefloor and dance with your couple if you’ve got the chance to.

It doesn't get more in-your-face Country than this. Fully produced in Nashville, TN, by Buddy Hyatt, and engineered by Grammy Award Winning Zach Allen, this piece of work features some of Music City's top studio musicians, including: Brent Mason, Mike Johnson, Mark Fain, and Lonnie Wilson Scott among others. Scott Southworth has written and co-written more than 70 Indy cuts with artists as well as Independent films. As I commented before, he has released 5 solo songwriting projects. "The Last Honky Tonk In Town" dropped August of 2016 to rave reviews across Europe and the UK. Country Music People Magazine named him their September 2016 "Honky Tonker Of The Month". His first major label cut was part of Amanda Cook's Deep Water, her first major Bluegrass release with Mountain Fever Records. He is bit by bit getting to make his music more admired. Here you won’t listen to any rap music singing about half-naked country girls dancing at the bonfire, this is country music for grown-ups.

We’ll say goodbye to Scott listening to a drinking song. Every respected country musician has an ode to the liquid, and this time his voice reminds me a bit of Keith Whitley, who curiously enough, died of alcohol-poisoning himself. This song is called Brown Liquor. Scott Southworth.

From ode to ode about alcohol, there seems not to a better way to heal wounds and bridge deep divisions than by looking to cold longnecks and beer cans, or so it seems listening to Brad Paisley’s new song released this 2020. Set to a party-friendly outlaw groove, this great song called No I in Beer applies well to the idea of being quarantined during the Covid-19 pandemic. Anyway, don’t let the smoke get in your eyes because this tune was penned in 2018 by Paisley himself and Kelly Lovelace, although its idea of getting together and connecting has been a recurring theme for many people unable to see family and friends in person, along with the technology providing them with temporary solutions. As the lyrics say:

We’re all in this together, to me it’s all so clear, drinkin’ oughta be a team effort, there is no “I” in beer.

Most concerts are not happening this year. As many artists have canceled or postponed their tours, some are shifting to drive-in shows. Garth Brooks recently shared a live stream concert for hundreds of drive-ins across the country. However, fans were disappointed because it was not actually a live show, but a video. The website Live Nation has started a new series called “Live from the Drive-In.” It features live shows that you can watch from the safety of your own car. County star Brad Paisley sold out all three stops in his drive-in concert series some weekends ago. Paisley performed his full tour set up for his first in-person live concert since cancelling his tour due to the coronavirus pandemic in March. The tour included 90-minute concerts with stops in St. Louis, Nashville and Indianapolis.

The former CMA Entertainer of the Year award winner posted a recap video on his social media accounts with this message, “This was our weekend. The back row of cars was over a quarter mile away, but somehow I’ve never felt closer to an audience. Everyone went the extra mile to make this work, and somehow, safely, we played live music again. Thank you St Louis, Nashville, and Indy. These are the moments we will never forget. #livefromthedrivein”

One of these drive-in concerts took place in Ventura, in the sunny State of California, where artist Randy Houser paid tribute to a legend who passed away shy of a month ago: Charlie Daniels.

Lots could be said about Charlie, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame who sang The Devil Went Down to Georgia, which, upon its release in 1979, didn’t just top the country chart, it became a huge pop crossover hit — climbing up to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The song won Daniels' only Grammy Award in 1979, for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, and it gained even greater ubiquity one year later, when Daniels and his band performed it in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy, starring Debra Winger and John Travolta.

Regardless of that major moment in his career, his spans a 5-decade stay in the State of Tennessee. A bearded embodiment of fast-fiddlin' Southern life, Daniels cut a handful of solo efforts in the early 1970s, none more notable than Fire on the Mountain — the Platinum-selling release that spilled into mainstream country and Southern rock success. Daniels would proceed to sell more than 13.5 million records logging nine Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum releases.

Still, Daniels undoubtedly had many other passions. A staunch supporter of U.S. troops and veterans, he spent much of his career traveling overseas to play for service members in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

At age 70, he joined the ranks of country music stalwarts enshrined as a Grand Ole Opry member. He’d regularly perform on the 94-year-old country music radio tradition until his death.

In 2016, Daniels earned a top honor for any Nashville musician: A place alongside the all-time greats in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Entering at nearly 80 years old, he joined Randy Travis and Fred Foster for the year’s Hall of Fame class.

He died on July 6th after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. He was 83.

We’ll say goodbye to Charlie Daniels and to the show listening to 2 of his unforgettable tunes: What this world needs is a few more rednecks, and his classic The Devil went down to Georgia.

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In this 26th edition, we’ll start our trip with the new album of Jessica Leigh Alexander. This singer songwriter whose songs have been sung by Patty Lovess, or Trisha Yearwood, has just released her new album, an 8-track work called Decatur County Red.

Right after that, we will pay attention to another album, this time from Jesse Daniel, who just released his last album a few days ago, called “Rollin’ On”, full of honky tonk the way it should be done. We had a conversation with him from his apartment in Austin, TX, to hear his opinion on this great Long Play.

And to put a stop to our review of new albums, we’ll take a look at the last album released by The Tender Things, from Austin, TX, a great taste of American country music tethered to the roots of Appalachia and the rust of Texas honky-tonks. The album is called “How You make a fool”.

And to finish the show, we’ll pay respects to some of the reknown country artists who unfortunately have passed away because of Covid-19.

So get your imagination ready to get into your car, roll down those windows, and if you’re one of those heroes who are working to sustain our beautiful country amid this pandemic, blessed your heart, fasten your seatbelt, and enjoy the ride!

Many may not know Jessi Alexander, or may only recognize her from the hits she has written for other artists such as Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton or Miley Cyrus, to name a few, apart from, of course, the CMA and ACM winnin “ I Drive Your Truck”, cut by Lee Brice in 2013. But the thing is that she is also a recording artist in her own right. And thank goodness she is, ‘cause her voice is great. We have just listened to the song that opens and gives name to the album, “Decatur County Red”, the third in her career, recorded at Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Studio. The name Decatur County was inspired by a cabin in the county’s Tennessee River that she inherited from her grandmother. This song is part of the story of the account of a redneck upbringing with Rebel flags as curtains. Jessi dedicates this album to the folks who love sad songs, beer joints, pedal steel guitars, and country music.” Let’s see to what extension she dedicates that to us fans of the beautiful country sound, by listening to two more songs. The poignant waltz “Damn Country Music”, recalling a pivotal point in her life, her moving to Nashville to follow her dream, a ballad peppered with gorgeous steel and lyrics I have no doubt many hopefuls relocating to music city will relate to, co-penned by her, and then “My Problem is You”, the story of a harrowing heartbreak.

Great writing highlights can definitely be found along Decatur County Red. Hearing “Damn Country Music” it sends you straight to country music heaven. The arrangements are mostly what country music asks for. Unfortunately, what leaves you a little wanting is this album comes in with the fact that there are only eight songs. Sometimes that’s ample, but in this case, it feels like Jessi Alexander could have put a little bit more effort in getting this record to the next level, because, frankly, it’s not like Jessi doesn’t have enough material to pull from. As I commented before, this album recalls the period of her life which goes back to her lowly upbringing in both Memphis and Georgia, her parents divorcing when she was three, is also represented in the album’s opening and title track as commented before. They had a rebel flag for a curtain, a crate for a tv stand,... which leads us to thing from the very beninning what a powerful voice Jessi possesses, particularly in its soaring chorus. It’s a fantastic write which puts you right there with her, learning the survival skills needed growing up in rural America while also learning to hide her rebel child feelings . 

We’ll say goodbye to this gorgeous album with two more songs. The first one we’ll listen to is “Mama Drank”, whose video was released a few weeks ago, song co-written with her husband, Jon Randall. The song sees Jessi reflecting on the tough times her mother had to endure and which she was probably only aware of retrospectively, with her own experience as a mother of three most probably helping to open her eyes too. And the second song, called “Country Music made me do it”, reminds me of the good ole days of a retired country singer called Shania Twain, I can hear a bit of her voice in this track, featuring Randy Houser, whose voice compliments Jessi’s perfectly….. Like happened with tracks like “I love this bar”, or “Friends in Low Places”, I can see this one being a favourite when played live, with the crowd going wild, beers and whiskey in their hands and singing along. So “Mama Drank” and “Country Music made me do it”.

It’s country. It’s cool. It’s well-written, and exquisitely produced and performed by the top notch musicians involved. We’ve just listened to Jesse Daniel, opening his new album “Rollin’ On”, with this wonderful Tar Snakes, with a great Bakersfield Sound in the modern context, and does so while maintaining a robust adherence to the tenets of traditional country.

This California-born songwriter and singer Jesse Daniel, is about to become your next favorite artist, and Rollin’ On your next favorite album. It’s only a few precious times each year that we get to enjoy a landmark release that really defines the best in country music, and goes on to cement an artist as an important part of country moving forward. The release of Rollin’ On is one of those moments. Released just some 10 days ago, it’s pure country music at its finest.

The story of Jesse Daniel is like a country song itself. A slacker kid from smalltown California misspends his youth banging on drums in punk bands, and blowing his cash on tattoos and skag, trying poorly to stay on the right side of the law. Then the sounds of country music reminded him of a more simple time and place, saving his life. Country music became Jesse Daniel’s compass, inspired him to get sober, and drew him in so deeply, it not only saved his soul, but it called him to service for some time. Now Jesse is out to save a few souls of his own, and be an inspiration both to those looking to get clean and turn their lives around, and to those who worship at the altar of American twang. Jesse Daniel is not some excellent singer with a legacy voice. It’s the heart and conviction he brings to every song that makes him special. Let’s listen to a couple more songs and digest his excelence with “If you Ain’t happy now (You never will be) and “St. Claire’s Retreat.”

Daniel's time in the Golden State wasn't always so inspirational. A punk-rock kid who cut his teeth in the dive bars and local clubs that dot the San Lorenzo Valley, he developed a taste not only for the road, but also for the substances that sometimes come with a life spent onstage. As times got harder, so did the vices. What followed was a period of addiction, arrests, jail time, and rehabilitation centers. However, Rollin' On, which comes two years after the release of Daniel's self-titled debut album, also celebrates his newly found health and contentment. Jesse Daniel’s self-titled album from 2018 was a good starting point and humble debut. But it was much more of the underground-inspired style of country music, with illicit drug use and other rough-and-tumble topics, and scratchy recordings.

But Rollin’ On is the full package. Co-produced by the award-winning Tommy Detamore, he made sure that all stops were taken out and no expense was spared, and you can hear it in the finished product. Without talking about the songs themselves or anything else, Rollin’ On just sounds so damn good. Let’s listen to a couple more songs. The first one, "Champion," with its Mariachi influences and Tex-Mex twang, tells the story of an old drug-dealing acquaintance of Daniel's called “Champion”, with a rhythm of rodeo music that could come out of Red Steagall or Chris LeDoux, and the second one, paying homage to Buck Owens and the Bakersfield Sound, we’ll listen to an beautiful instrumental called “Chickadee”, in the tradition of such unforgettable tunes as “Buckaroo” from Buck Owens himself. So, “Champion”, and “Chickadee”.

Wow, amazing performance we’ve just witnessed here. Raised in a rural mountain town near Santa Cruz, California, and now living in Austin, Texas, Daniel knows something about mileage, too. He's traveled the country, sharpening his own music while sharing shows with Charley Crockett, Shooter Jennings, and others. Above all else, he's gained a clearer of where he's been and where's he heading.

In fact, he wanted to convey the meaning that this piece of work was more about moving forward, even physically driving, moving forward. It’s symbolic of that, and his ability to keep himself sober naturally fell into place with the theme of this record. Rollin' On traces that arc, from the bottomed-out lows of Daniel's darker days to the ever-escalating heights of his present. This is his best work to date… and like the album title suggests, he's nowhere close to being finished with the journey.

In an interview, Jesse Daniel confesed that he had been writing songs and short stories since he was a young kid in elementary school, that he would always write wild stories as he had a crazy imagination as a kid, and then he got into punk rock when he was an early teen. And country songwriting and writing in this style started as a cathartic thing because I always loved country music, but it naturally progressed. He also has an ace in the hole in his writing and singing partner Jodi Lyford, whose harmonies and help with writing put the sound of Jesse Daniel over the top.

uLet’s get another sip of this wonderful healing masterpiece with “Mayo and the Mustard”, a great honky tonk about a diner on the road, and the second one, my favorite in the album, “Sam”, where Jesse Daniel tells the story of a friend of him who ended up escaping a complicated life and Jesse wishes him farewell.

Jesse Daniel is not some excellent singer with a legacy voice. It’s the heart and conviction he brings to every song that makes him special. His style of writing is more inspired from the classic forms of country reworked into his own expressions. Jesse Daniel is here to entertain you, and get you twirling your partner on the dance floor. This is a time to celebrate that he has been sober for three years and counting. That’s why you shouldn’t mistake Rollin' On for an album that glorifies Jesse Daniel's outlaw-worthy past. In fact, jail time isn't street cred. Instead, Rollin' On finds its frontman reveling in his newfound health and happiness, reflecting on the roadblocks of his past to show just how far he's come. Playing a crucial role in that forward momentum is his musical and romantic partner Jodi Lyford, who not only sings harmonies throughout, as I commented before, but also co-wrote much of the album's material. Since doing so, his music has been his one outlet to pour everything into. Because of that, Jodi and Jesse were doing everything at an obsessive speed. They started writing a lot of songs and began listening to albums by Doug Sahm and Jim Lauderdale seeking inspiration. We’ll say goodbye to this unforgettable piece of work listening to the two songs which close the album. The first one, called “Only Money, Honey”, where Daniel contrasts the bright boot-scootin' bounce, pedal steel guitar, and fiddle riffs with a frank account of a working musician's financial struggles, and then a lovely waltz called “son of the San Lorenzo”, where he recounts his hometown hell-raising.

The prolific, two-time GRAMMY Award-winning American music icon Jim Lauderdale, North Carolina-born songwriter, paid tribute to the Tar Heel State with the March 6th release of his latest bluegrass album, When Carolina Comes Home Again, the 33rd in his career. The follow-up to 2019’s From Another World, the LP features Lauderdale collaborating with other North Carolinians, including Steep Canyon Rangers, Balsam Range, Town Mountain, and Songs From the Road Band. We have just listened to “It just takes one to wander”, always with a fantastic production. Recorded at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, NC, the 13-track album features instrumental accompaniment from various members of NC-based acts, including Balsam Range, Cane Mill Road, Hank Pattie & the Current, John Stickley,, Songs From The Road Band, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Town Mountain; as well as Matt Pruett (banjo); Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw (fiddle); Aaron Ramsey (mandolin); Nick Dauphinais and Presley Barker on guitars.

After a heavy 2019 touring schedule, including two trips to Australia. Once the Covid-19 crisis comes to an end, Lauderdale will continue his From Another World tour with a string of U.S. dates across the West Coast in May, before embarking on a tour in support of When Carolina Comes Home Again. We need to understand that between these two pieces of work there was a lapse of time of less than 10 months. One never knows what to expect at a Jim Lauderdale gig, with recent shows featuring surprise duets. We’ll say goodbye to this great bluegrass album listening to two more songs, “Cackalacky”, and “Spin a Yarn”. About the first, song, there’s an old nickname for North Carolina, with a lot of variations: Cackalacky. Cackalack. North Cack. Some folks love the terms. And a few seem to hate them. But where in the world did the word "Cackalacky" come from? Unfortunately, it's hard to know for sure. The research is a bit thin. Some have claimed Cackalacky is a derivative of a Cherokee word. Others suggest it's an Americanization of the German word for cockroach – "Kakerlake." Some also say that they came across Cackalack in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. As far as these people can tell, it was a pejorative term used by military members stationed in North Carolina. Whatever the case, Jim just takes advantage of having a North Carolina origin to tell everybody about his proudness. The second song, “Spin a Yarn”. So “Cackalacky”, and “Spin a Yarn”.

From Austin, TX comes a unique take on American country music. The group is called The Tender Things, and this new album titled How You Make a Fool evokes strong memories of the Flying Burrito Brothers and similar outfits that melded country with rock sensibilities. The Tender Things come primarily from the sweat and vision of frontman and songwriter Jesse Ebaugh. Bred out of Northern Kentucky with the influences of bluegrass music hovering very near, Ebaugh is perhaps best known for saddling up with the Heartless Bastards as a bass player for the better part of a decade. The hardcore country fans out there will find plenty of steel guitar and twangy leads to sink their teeth into, but How You Make a Fool is adventurous and offbeat compared to the average country or even country rock affair. This record is less classic and more retro. One of the things that made so many of those early 60’s and 70’s country rock records so good is the players often had more passion for country than many country artists did. We have just listened to the song that opens the album, “Sister Elizabeth”, a fantastic 70s sound that reminds me of the Flying Burrito Brothers. Melding those 60’s and 70’s influences where the seams are hidden, and allowing the lyrics and instrument selection to blend smoothly is how Jesse Ebaugh and The Tender Things bring the Bakersfield side of the Laurel Canyon sound alive in a way that is rarely achieved. We’ll say goodbye to this eclectic Americana album listening to two more songs, “The secrets We could tell”, and “You’ll be gone”, with more Bakersfield sound.

Some days ago, we received the devastating piece of news that Joe Diffie had passed away because of Covid-19. And some days before, also Kenny Rogers, another country music legend, left too soon because of the same illness that’s causing death all around the globe. We’ve just listened to “Third Rock from the Sun”, which peaked number 6 in the Hot country singles and tracks in 1994. Joe Diffie released many albums in the last 20 years, always loyal to steel guitar and fiddle. From him we will listen to one of his songs with reached number one in the country music lists in 1995: “Pick Up Man”. Kenny Rogers debuted in the late 50s in Houston, Texas, and he enjoyed some success until his fame exploded with the release of his 1978 album “The Gambler”, and the song was a cross-over hit that won him a Grammy Award in 1980 and was selected in 2018 for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. What an honor! From him, to honor his legacy, we will listen to the songs “The Gambler”, and “Ruby, don’t take your love to town”, from 1967, reaching number 1 and 9 respectively. We feel sorry for their losses, and I wanted to extend the condolences to all of you who may have lost a close or distant relative in these weeks. My heart goes out to you.

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Zephaniah Ohora, from Brooklyn, NY, and his band The 18-wheelers, released in 2017 one of the most vibrant-sounding, flawlessly-produced and recorded albums of classic country I have ever heard in any era. The debut album is called The Highway, and it includes superb songs, perfect instrumentation helping to fit the mood and style, turning the listening of this great album an overall dazzling experience that will make you open your eyes and clearly understand why you decided to open your arms to the best music in the world. We’ve just listened to the song that opens the album, Way down in my soul, sound that rapidly sets you in the mood when you hear the Bakersfield sound in the guitar and drums. It was produced by Jim Campilongo and Luca Benedetti, both of them deserving credit for capturing such warmth and body in the recording process, making the music soung vibrant and vintage, rewarding the listener with all the benefits of the music made in the 50s and 60s. He’s been able to put together what many a singers have so many times failed in: making real country music where it doesn’t matter if it’s 1957 or 2017 because the human heart still breaks down the same lines, we all yearn for freedom when we feel constricted, and we all search for comfort when we’re alone. Let’s listen to a couple more songs from this intemporal piece of work: I Do Believe I’ve Had Enough, that could have easily been cut by Merle Haggard, and This Highway, my favorite in this album, a song about the long-term marriage between singers and on-the-road touring. The pedal steel guitar Jon Graboff, responsible for all the pedal steel parts in the album, carries out an immaculate performance which elevates him to the Hall of Fame of the best ones of all time.

Zephanaiah OHora’s This Highway just very well might be a modern classic country masterpiece. It’s flawless for what it is, which is a reawakening of everything brilliant and beautiful about the Countrypolitan era of country music. The term “Countrypolitan” came from the contemporization of country music to appeal to country people who had moved to the city during the 50’s and 60’s for work and prosperity. Standards such as Detroit City, Old Home Place, and Streets of Baltimore all come from that time and deal with such stories of displacement of population. In fact, the Dustbowl we talked about some programs ago, the economic turmoil of the 1930s, and the end of World War II, in a way triggered this re-shaping of country music, which is nothing but the reflection of all these socio-economic situations that took place in the middle of the 20th century.

As I commented at the beginning, Zephaniah Ohora is original from Brooklyn, a New Yorker singing country music. In fact, there is a little bit of New York City peppered into the narrative here, in fact we can see that in the timeless theme called “High Class City Girl from the Country”, a song that reminds me of Glen Campbell. And even though we all know that country music doesn’t really belong to New York City, this album called truly tells the authentic story of Zephaniah OHora, and his experience as a classic country music fan living in the city. We’ll listen to a couple more songs from the album: High Class City Girl from the Country, and I can’t Let Go (Even though I set you Free), song about remorse of a lost love, with the pedal steel crying all over the place.

The challenge of all traditional and classic country music made in the modern context, such as Jon Pardi’s Heartache Medication, published last year, is definitely how to make it appeal to the present day mindset, while still minding the stylings both sonically and lyrically of the past era you wish to evoke. And that is exactly what happens here with Zephaniah Ohora’s debut album. It is indeniable that country music must evolve to stay relevant, but at the same time if someone can work within the restrictive parameters of a specific era and allow all the heartening and nostalgia to bolster the experience while still telling stories and touching topics that very much appeal to the modern heart, this is an enterprise worthy of praise when pulled off as well as Zephaniah does. music on a creative scale. Zephaniah wrote every song on this record except the tribute “Something Stupid”, guested here by Dori Freeman. I really hope this song really discredits those ones who might think that a guy from New York City can’t sing real badass country, ‘cause this is as real and relevant to today as it can be. We’ll say goodbye to this wonderful piece of work listening to a murder ballad called I can’t let go (even though I set you free).

Next June 2020 the new album by the Reeves Brothers will see the light. For the time being, the song Dad, an advance from the long-awaited Long Play, has visited the show. Matt Reeves on the Vocals, and lead guitar, Cole Reeves on the guitar, Kelly Bishop on the bass, and Caleb Melo on the pedal steel are responsible for a great Honky Tonk and western swing band that will make you think this is the official country band touring in Heaven. While we wait for the new album to reach our coasts, we’ll visit the last release, “King of Country Music”, published in 2017, as our previous guest. The songs Waltzes and Western Swing and Damned you whiskey open this magnificent album by The Reeves Brothers, band from Las Vegas, in the state of Nevada.

If you're familiar with the Reeves Brothers group, you will know that they have a lot of 70's influence. This album from 2017 is packed full of 70's style country, they also drew inspiration from the 60's Merle Haggard albums, the early 80's tracks of Alabama, and a lot of rodeo cowboy music from Red Steagall. Each album produced and recorded by these boys is nothing but a journey through the Honky-Tonk Country Music they grew up listening to. They have done over 600 live shows and they well know the difficulty of making it in the charts, especially keeping it real country. They won the Ameripolitan "Honky-Tonk Group Of The Year", and the Arkansas Country Music Awards' "Vocal Group Of The Year" a couple of years ago, and there is no doubt that they support fiddle and steel sound unconditionally. We’ll say goodbye to this wonderful band listening to two more songs from this 2017 disc: C.C. Watermark, and King of Country Music, with a touch of Red Steagall and a tribute to San Antonio Rose by fiddle.

Named by critics the new queen of rockabilly, has released a new album, called “Chicaboom”, Tami Neilson is coming to testify and save souls with her earth-shattering shouts that certify to anyone who has ever born witness to her in the flesh that powerwise she has no peer on this planet or any other when it comes down to musical performance. Tami is one of the greatest performers breathing at the moment, no ifs ands or buts about it, and make no mistake, a consensus prevails upon this point when surrounded by concert-goers who’ve actually been lucky enough to behold her power live in person. This Canadian-born performer who got her start in a family band opening for the likes of Tanya Tucker and Johnny Cash has been slowly bubbling under the surface of country for some years now, struggling to find her spot due to her limited name recognition and touring capability north of the equator. But things are changing now and she is starting to enjoy some of the buzz she’s deserved for some years now. It’s within this swelling of interest that she releases her new album, that as I said before is called CHICKABOOM!—an energetic mix of rockabilly, old school R&B soul, and classic country that has something for everyone with good taste. We’ll say goodbye to her listening to another song of this album, Tell me that you love me, before we go to the next band for today’s show.

5th album in a career that spans 11 years now, the Steeldrivers are not exactly the kind of bluegrass band that fits into the classic category of superpicking and wild runs on wood and wire. Rather, the way they accomplish a modern sound by bringing in the influences of other roots genres to bluegrass instrumentation, namely the soulful blues and vintage R&B that soaks their music with a measure of blood and color that other bluegrass music just doesn’t provide. That’s not to say they can’t excel in this field as well, as they prove on the instrumental of this new record. But they separate themselves from the herd of buttoned up bluegrass pickers and jam band newgrassers by bringing that influence time and again in this piece of work excellently. The album is called “Bad for you”, and the first song we’ve listened to is “I choose you”. It bears mentioning that most of the songs on this new record stick close to familiar themes and modes to blues, R&B, and bluegrass, even though they do these themes better than most other bands out there. The lyrics of the SteelDrivers fit the mood of the music just like a glove, with little latency between the two that traditional bluegrass listeners sometimes get in pure songwriting efforts with no purposeful musical direction. They can brag proudly about having been capable of accomplishing such endeavor. We’ll say goodbye to this great album listening to two more songs: Glad I’m Gone, and Lonely and Being Alone. The Steeldrivers.

Strange as it may sound, this album by Ronnie Dunn called “Redunn” is being released just a mere matter of months after his cameo-comeback with Kix Brooks in his “Reboot”, a forgettable intention to reignite the duet Brooks & Dunn.

This “Redunn” album, unlike “Reboot”, wasn't released on a major label, appearing on the tiny imprint Little Will-E Records. Anyway, it's a collection of covers, which doesn't make it all that different from Reboot, which featured revived versions of old Brooks & Dunn tunes. All of this makes Re-Dunn seem modest, but the album is long, stretching out over the course of nearly 90 minutes. This gives Dunn plenty of time to sing his favorites, which wind up being some '70s oldies, a few country tunes from the '70s and '80s, and a handful of honky tonk classics. The first two songs of this album cutting 24 of Ronnie Dunn’s favorites are Amarillo By Morning, the classic by George Strait, and Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress) from The Hollies. One curiosity about this covers album is that this is the first time that a singer cuts a version of “The Cowboy Rides Away” from George Strait. As a fun fact I’ll tell you that that’s the song George says goodbye with in his concerts, and here is the one which will make us sign out. We’ll listen to three more songs from the album, as I said The Cowboy Rides Away from George Strait in 1985, Ridin’ my thumb to Mexico, from Johnny Rodriguez in 1973, and Amie, from The Pure Prairie League in 1972. All three covered by Ronnie Dunn from his new cover album “Redunn”.

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Country icon Tracy Lawrence has released a new original album, his first in six years, named “Made in America”, his 16th studio album in a career as a country music singer that spans 29 years, and six different record labels: Atlantic Nashville, Warner Brothers Nashville, DreamWorks Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Rocky Comfort, and his own discographic company: Lawrence Music Group. This opening track, the one that gives name to the album, talks about the stereotypes that made America great in its 224 years of democratic history: toughness. Just as tough as Tracy Lawrence himself, who here’s a not-so-fun-fact, received 4 shots when he was younger, who formed his first own band when he was only 16 years of age, and who never gave up his dream of earning a living in the ironwork sector while he was pursuing a career as a country musician and surviving the miseries of a young chap who was holding on to a dream. His is the project from a veterans that shows he is not losing any steam, and this is exactly what you’d expect from Tracy Lawrence in 2019, that is to say, 90s neotraditional country with more of a Texas influence updated for the modern age, especially instrumentally. Let’s listen to a couple more songs of this wonderful album: “Forgive Yourself”, and “First step to leavin’”, two wonderful two-step tunes co-written by the same artist.

What wonderful songs we’ve listened to right now. Though his voice may not be iconic like that of other great artists such as Dwight Yoakam or George Jones, it’s distinct enough to stand out. And in much the same way as in the career of other major and true country singers who’s career spans decades, the tone of their voice becomes even more compelling with age as the weight of their contributions to the genre result in warm recollections from the listener. I truly consider this album a solid and enjoyable country album that will satisfy Lawrence fans alike, regardless of age.

Like other artists such as Toby Keith did 20 years ago, Tracy Lawrence does have a message here, and that message is that America is worth standing up for, and so are the principles of hard work and personal responsibility. A moral message that sounds quite old school, a fist-pumping tribute to the Star-Spangled banner. We’ll say goodbye to Tracy Lawrence listening to two more songs. The first one, “It ain’t you”, a love song, and “When the Cowboy’s Gone”, song that, regardless of what you think about redneck America, makes a solid point about how it’s those brave souls who are tasked to run towards burning buildings and shooter situations, and volunteer to fly overseas and serve, and points out how we would be lost without them.

Tanya Tucker, the country legend, released last summer his first album of new material in 17 years. She’s co-produced this piece of work with Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings in the debut for Fantasy Records. Almost 50 years after the singer became a child phenom, Tucker’s latest never succumbs to old-age weariness. We’ve just listened to the song “The Wheels of Laredo”. She wouldn’t have been able to but all this together without the help of Carlile, or the twin brothers Phil and Tim Hanseroth, her longtime collaborators, who penned most of the songs. Named “While I’m living”, this album isn't intended as a memoir, but as a musical biography about Tanya’s real life and the places she’s seen. Tucker’s voice carries appealing scars accumulated over the years, yet she hasn't lost a whit of her pitch. A native of Seminole, Texas, and a longtime equestrian, Tucker illustrates that in the first song we’ve listened to, named “The Wheels of Laredo”, with equal parts “country” and “western” style, a song about a brokenhearted love story which, at deeper exploration, appears to acutely point at the contradictions inherent in the illegal immigration debate. Laredo is a city sitting on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, with a long tradition of immigrants crossing or trying to cross the river seeking pursuing the American Dream, and that in recent dates have been facing the “Remain in Mexico” policiy of the Trump Administration. Brandi Carlile, and the twins Hanseroth may be writing towards Tucker's myth in their lyrics, but she’s not treated with kid gloves, which allows her humor, soul, and sensuality to shine throughout the piece of work. We’ll listen to two more songs included in the album: “I don’t owe you anything”, and “Rich”, also written by Carlile and the twins.

A 10-time Grammy nominee with a substantial number of memorable hits, Tanya Tucker, now 61 years old, is not quite as old as Dolly Parton or Loretta Lynn, who are given legend status. This new album has granted her 4 Grammy nominations for this 2020 Grammy Awards, bringer her lifetime Grammy mods tally to 14. The night of the big show, she won her first two Grammys thropies ever, best country song for “Bring me my flowers Now”, which we will listen to from her Grammys performance with Brandi Carlile right now, and Best Country Album. We’ll say goodbye to Tanya Tucker as I just said, listening to the Grammys performance of Tanya and Carlile “Bring me my flowers now”, and Miranda Lambert’s grammy-winning “The House that Built me”, song that was included in 2010’s album by Miranda Lambert and that was co-written by Allen Shamblin and Tom Douglas, song about going back to the house that saw you grow up. Miranda was 27 when she recorded it, and Tanya was 60 when she covered it, so the message is substantially different depending on the singer. “Bring me my flowers Now”, and “The House that Built me”.

Great voice and first ever #1 song by Miranda Lambert, “The House that Built me”, recorded in 2010 for her album “Revolution”. At that time she was dating singer Blake Shelton and was looking for songs for her album when she bumped into this song, which was a life-changing one for her career. When she went into the studio to record it, she asked her mom to do her a special favor... to e-mail her pictures of their old house. She printed them and had them on the music stand in front of her when she cut the song. In an interview at the time, co-writer Allen Shamblin said he and Tom Douglas, the other co-writer, digged into their own hearts for where they came from, children, family, to come up with their own idea of the events that made them who they were. Miranda confesses that every time she sings this song she cries on stage.

Some months ago we reviewed 2019’s album by Miranda Lambert, who enrolled in her tour around the States in September with the name “Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour”, bringing with her some heavy hitters including Maren Morris, Elle King, the Pistol Annies, Tenille Townes, Ashley McBryde and Caylee Hammack. The 26-date tour was celebrated teaming with her tourmates, the entire all-female lineup that is accompanying her on the road, for a cover of 1975’s “Fooled Around & Fell in Love” from blues guitarist Elvin Bishop, song that had many times been covered in its 44 years of existence. Let’s listen to them, “Fooled Around and fell in love”.

“Whose bed have your boots been under?”, the unforgettable song by Shania Twain from 1995, here covered by the Hot Country Knights in a live performance next to Miranda Lambert, who give a great rendition to the classic. The history behind the band “Hot Country knights” comes from afar and it is necessary to understand the play on words. Hot Country Nights was an American television program which presented country music acts performing their biggest hits. It aired on NBC from November 1991 to March 1992. Each episode featured between four and six singing acts, including established stars such as Alabama, or Pam Tillis, up-and-comers and a veteran star like Kenny Rogers. A featured comedian would also perform between acts. One such comedian was Tim Allen.

The band “Hot Country Knights” is a cover band that basically sings country hits from the 90s. The singer, Douglas Douglason, nicknamed “Big Rhythm Doug”, is the famous country singer Dierks Bentley, who back in 2015 took advantage of his time off to get a new band together. What started as a funny and one-time solo event has gotten more real. They were invited to Jimmy Kimmel’s TV show some weeks ago, and they have officially engaged on a tour starting in April with a list of classics. They have released their first two original songs, “Asphalt” and “Pick Her Up”, this one featuring Travis Tritt, with a great 90s flavor that will satisfy those craving for more Neotraditional sound from that time.

How many western-swing artists do you come across these days? Some months ago we talked about Wayne Hancock and played some great music from his previous album. This time this is about his most recent piece of work, “Man of the Road”. The good thing is that you know what to expect when you hear a new Wayne Hancock album. This is a collection of his early songs on Bloodshot Records, and it is as good as you would expect, taking you through familiar favorites like “A-Town Blues” and “Tulsa.” Even if you’re a die-hard Hancock fan, hearing this collection of songs will make you want to boogie in your living room. We’ve just listened to the song “Driving My young life away”, an ode to touring life. While the young part may not apply to the 54-year-old Hancock these days, the notion of him being road-weary does, as he continues to hit the road “200 days a year”. This newly curated collection of his output from more than 20 years past is delicious. Let’s be witness to it listening to two more songs from this wonderful Long Play, “Man of the Road”, another song about musicians who tour most of the time, and “Throwin’ my money away”, about spending money in bars and alcohol.

Indeed, the record’s title reflects a lot of what we hear in this selection of songs: tales of a working musician who hasn’t lost his love for playing shows and going town-to-town. There are songs here that look at the more difficult side of life on the road, too. For those who might also like old country honky tonk, will have noticed that vocally, Hancock is a ringer for Hank Williams, his characteristic nasal tone – as traditional as it might be – cuts through in a crisp and refreshing way. The music calls back an earlier time too, with a mix of western swing, big band and honky-tonk. As classic as these elements are, the irresistible catchiness of every song would be enough to turn the heads of more modern country-genre fans. We’ll say goodbye to Wayne Hancock and this edition of Grand Country listening to three more cuts from this unforgettable album. The classic “Thunderstorm and Neon Signs’ (originally on Hancock’s 1995 debut album of the same name), yet another love letter to touring life, then the song “Your love and his blood”, and “Gonna be flying tonight”.

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Aloha! Here starts another edition of Grand Country, a 60-minute show where we bring you the best of your favorite music style: country music.

This is Domi, and I will be your host for today’s show.

Remember that you can listen to this podcast subscribing to the show through the mobile phone application iVoox. And if you’d wish to listen to any specific song, you can ask for it by email on grandcountry@hotmail.com, or leaving comments in the same iVoox podcast platform.

In this 22nd edition, we’ll listen to the last album released by Oklahoma-born Vince Gill.

Tradition will continue as part of our show with the daughter of the Rolls Royce of country music: Goergette Jones, daughter of the late Tammy Wynette and George Jones. She has released a fantqstic album and we’ll revise it.

Right after that, a newcomer called Erin Enderlin will get her time in the show with a couple of songs. Another artist, Elena Ley, will let us listen to acou’le of songs from her second work, and we’ll finish the show with the new album of Michaela Anne.

So with the full intention of listening to some of he very best of the music of the American heartland, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!

For MORE THAN four decades, singer, songsmith, and guitar player Vince Gill has achieved virtually every accomplishment a recording artist can, from selling millions of records and winning awards to being able to record exactly what he wants and who he wants to work with. His ambition is balanced by a conscientious work ethic, unbendable spiritual faith, and the goodwill to support other musicians. Born in the state of Oklahoma in 1957, now 62, it seems for him the perfect time to have released this autobiographical and laid-back collection of orginial songs. The album, released in august last year, is named simply “Okie”, a once-derogatory term identifying Oklahomans who escaped the Dust Bowl during the 1930s. For those not in the know of certain pieces of American history, the “Dust Bowl” was the name given to the Southern Plains region of the United States which suffered severe dust storms during a dry period inthe 1930s. As high winds and choking dust swept the region from Texas to Nebraska, people and livestock were killed and crops failed across the entire region. In 1932, 14 dust storms were recorded on the Plains, a year later there were 38, and by 1934 in was estimated that 100 million acres of farmland had lost all or most of the topsoil to the winds. About 7000 people, men, women and especially small children lost their lives to “dust pneumonia”, and at least 250,000 people migrated to California to escape the ruin of the Great Depression and the natural disaster, thus named “Okies”, poor rural people with crippled education background. In many states, the word “Okie” continues to be used to define bad quality, for example it is the definition of a calf of the lowest quality. Gill reclaims the term as a badge of pride, endurance, overcoming problems. We’ve just listened to the song “An Honest Man”, with the fantastic Paul Franklin on the steel guitar, an autobiographical confession of Gill's male commonness and his need to be loved despite that. He is obviously dedicating the song to his significant other, Amy Grant, with whom he married in the year 2000. Vince Gill and Amy Grant's love story involves the end of two marriages, the beginning of one and a whole lot of heartache and joy along the way. Their story is incredibly inspiring, to say the least. We’ll listen to two more songs from this wonderful intimate album by Vince Gill. The first one, also dedicated to Amy Grant, called “When my Amy prays”, and “A World Without Haggard”, a twangy tribute to Merle Haggard, who also helped in the 60s to bring pride to the term “Okie”, born in California from an Oklahoman family.

Incredible performance by Paul Franklin again on the steel guitar, a commonly known as a “pedal steel weeper tune”. Tom Bukovac's and Jedd Hughes' performance on the guitars is exquisite, and provides a blueprint for each song. Perhaps some of the listeners expected Vince Gill to compose some rag tag version of country music tunes evoking the early sounds of Merle Haggard, but the experience of Okie is much more involved, spiritual, and important. This marks his 18th album published, the 15th under the same label, MCA Nashville, which has been his home for the last 20 years, since 1989. To say goodbye to Vince Gill, we’ll listen to one more song from this album, song named “That Old Man of Mine”, a story about alcohol and child abuse, and we’ll go back in time to 1989 to listen to his duet performance “Oklahoma Swing” with fellow Oklahoman and queen of modern country music Reba McEntire, from his album “When I call your name”.

If you thought it was tough for Hank Williams Jr. and Rosanne Cash to live in the shadow of famous fathers and have the world lump unrealistic expectations upon their careers, imagine doubling up on that burden. That is what Georgette Jones has dealt with for her entire life. Distinctive vocalist and daughter of country royalty George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Georgette Jones knows a thing or two about heartache, resilience and perseverance. With her new album, Skin, the 4th in her career, the songstress collaborates with Grammy® winning icon Vince Gill in this first song we’ve just listened to called “I Know What You Did Last Night.” Georgette Jones is the only child of Country Music Hall of Famers George Jones and Tammy Wynette. She’s been singing with one or both parents since the age of three until their passing. She recorded her first single with her Dad, “Daddy Come Home” when she was ten years old and performed it on an HBO special. Georgette is a songwriter and member of the CMA. Music has been a life-long passion for Georgette and she achieved a special personal goal in 2010 when she recorded a duet with her Dad titled, “You and Me and Time,” which Georgette co-wrote for her Dad and was released as the first single from “Burn Your Playhouse Down”. She is also an author. She released her book titled “The Three of Us” co-written by Patsi Bale-Cox in 2010, and is currently in the works to have her story turned into a major motion picture starring Josh Brolin as her father and Jessica Chastain as her mother. Her talent for singing and finding songs that embody all that’s great about the country genre is on full display on her latest record, Skin. She’s put a really inspired work together here with one great song after another, some excellent performances by Georgette and all the players involved, and a few really excellent guest appearances, like the one we’ve just had the pleasure to find, Vince Gill, resulting in something begging to be paid more attention to, and considered one of the better titles released in all of 2019. Possibly one of the best elements of Skin is the guest appearances. We’ll listen to two more songs from this fantastic album, focusing on two more collaborations. The first one, called “Cigarettes and You”, with the delicate croon voice of Dale Watson adding great texture in the well-written “Cigarettes and You”, written by Ashlee Hewitt, wife of Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan’s son, and a singer herself of the pop duo “Post Monroe”. The second song we’ll listen to is “Make a Little Love”, with Dean Miller, who not only penned three of the album’s best tracks, but also takes part in the singing himself. He is the son of Roger Miller, a country artist who had several hit singles from the 60s through the 80s. As both a producer and a songwriter, Dean Miller is really starting to emerge as a name you should keep tabs on if you want to be on top of some of country music’s best projects. So, first, Georgette Jones with Dale Watson, song “Cigarettes and You”, and then with Dean Miller in “Make a little Love”.

Skin really is a tour de force of songwriting, and underscores the importance of being patient and thorough in your hunt for compositions as opposed to taking what’s easy like so many performers unfortunately do. Bobby Braddock, who wrote many of those legendary songs for Georgette’s parents, lends another touching song to the album, one we will get to listen to in a moment, about not wanting to get hurt in a relationship, called “End It With Hello.” You dive in and are very pleasantly surprised by what the daughter of George and Tammy has turned in here. Add on top what a difficult relationship her two Country Music Hall of Fame parents had, and how both of their estates have been embroiled in battles of one sort or another over the years, and it’s a miracle she’s even survived in the world of music. And it’s a good reminder that no matter what her name is, Georgette Jones is her own woman. My own feeling is that what she illustrates on Skin is that you don’t know her, you only thought you did. That’s the theme of the title track, and it couldn’t be any more true about this record. Skin may be one of the best albums released in 2019, or it may not be. That’s up for the listener to decide. But it’s certainly one of the most surprising. We’ll say goodbye to Georgette Jones listening to “End it with hello”, written by Bobby Braddock, and “Pretty Good Mistake”, an up-beat 90s country retro-style that so many country musicians try to acquire for their music nowadays.

Erin Enderlin, a composer and songwriter who has penned songs for great artists such as Reba McEntire in her last album that we played last year, or Terry Clark, a good friend of hers, in her 2018’s work named “Raising the bar” that we also played in Grand Country. The list is long: Alan Jackson, Roger Creager, Luke Bryant, Tara Thompson, etc. Erin’s new album, “ Faulkner County “, released on 1st November is no exception to good country music. As with her previous two albums Erin offers up tales of heartbreak and feebleness and introduces us to some wonderful characters along the way, the attention to detail in her lyrics paint vivid pictures and draw the listener in. The emphasis throughout is definitely on tearjerking ballads, something she is the queen of as far as many critics are concerned. The instrumentation is heavy on pedal steel and fiddle, and vocally Erin is up there living and breathing every lyric. Of the fourteen tracks, twelve are taken from the series of EP’s Erin has released in recent months, and the majority have been co-produced by Jim Brown and Jamey Johnson who Erin also worked with on his previous album “Whiskeytown Crier”. We’ve just listened to the song “Old Flames (can’t hold a candle to you)”. We’ll wrap this album up with a couple more songs from it: “These Boots” , an autobiographical track which among other things touches on some of Erin’s career highlights to date, such as her Opry debut and opening for Willie Nelson, which Erin released as a single last year, and the fantastic “Til it’s Gone”, where alcohol, motel rooms and heartbreak rear their heads again as a good ole country song should include in its lyrics. This song includes a great instrumental introduction, and it’s the play on words in this one that really puts the frosting on the cake, the recurring title being cleverly used in a variety of contexts throughout.

Not long ago Grand Country took advantage of a series of country artists who weren’t born within the borders of North America (as I am including the Canadian singers such as the previously mentioned Terri Clark, as part of the heritage of this genre), because we wanted to give proof of that feature not being the key one to produce good country music. Now, another artist, this time a singer and songwriter called Elena Ley has released an album called “And So On”. She is from Milan, in Italy, but lives in Barcelona. This is her second album, produced in Nashville, Tennessee, as She doesn’t really define herself a country musician per se, but she is definitely an Americana music performer, as throughout her album some Southern Rock and some blues can be heard. The first time she went to Nashville she was pursuing finessing her singing style and learning to play the fiddle. she was sponsored after being heard in a bar and was asked to participate in a campaign to raise money for the veteran soldiers, which she accepted, even though she never knew who her sponsor was in the two weeks she spent in Music City, USA. An ex-TV host from the Italian television and a writer herself, she’s writing a book about her own experiences. We’ve just listened to the song “...and So on”, written by Keith Follese, and Wade Kirby, this last one a very famous songwriter who has penned songs from artists such as George Strait or Trisha Yearwood, to name a couple from a really long list of mainstream artists. We’ll say goodbye to her listening to another song from the album. This time it’s called “Someday”, wishing to see Elena reaching stardom just as other once unknown artists like Sunny Sweeney or Kacey Musgraves were aired here before they touched the ceiling of country music. Elena Ley, “Someday”.

With an incredibly similar voice to that on Alison Krauss, Michaela Anne has just sang the song “Run Away with Me”, included in her third album, called “Desert Dove”. Recorded in San Clemente, California where the desert meets the sea, Michaela Anne’s Desert Dove looks to capture the majesty and wonder many feel while in the midst of these arid landscapes, and instill it into songs about life and love. Produced by contemporary California country artist Sam Outlaw (now in Nashville), and Kelly Winrich of The Delta Spirit, they call upon a menagerie of sounds to see this expansive vision through, with textures of country, folk rock, classic pop, early psychedelia, and even Latin to extend Michaela’s sound beyond her original home of more defined country. Michaela Anne has lived a life on the move. Growing up in a military family, and now living as a traveling musician, she’s undoubtedly experienced those moments of desert wonder in her travelogue, and captures her restless experiences and heartbreaks. Incredible care goes into the compositions of Desert Dove, from the writing, to the use of steel and strings and keys to create the ethereal and airy mindscape that allows you to float above mundanity and lose yourself in these songs. Long-time Michaela Anne collaborator Kristin Weber creates lush, spirited string arrangements, while the lead guitar parts include notions of Tom Petty and Mark Knopfler. Both delicate and confident, just the sound Desert Dove makes feels like a precious thing. But don’t think by the pink hues of the cover and Michaela’s petite build that she’s a pushover. Another beneficial attribute to Desert Dove is how producers Sam Outlaw and Kelly Winrich discovered what is possibly the best way to present Michaela Anne’s songs and voice in recorded form. She pulls off country very well, but doesn’t have a hard twang to her voice, and some of her songs don’t lend perfectly to the country aesthetic. The California-style of country where those folk rock influences can flow in is probably the preferable way to present her music in a more pleasing and flattering approach, even if as a country fan you kind of selfishly want a few more of those dancehall shuffles since she does those well too. We will finish today’s program with three songs. The first one, the close dance song “Two Fools” about finding it hard to define boundaries between friends. The second one, the stern confidence of “If I Wanted You Opinion” marks in my opinion the record’s best tracks. And to finish, the frontier sound of “Tattered, torn and blue (and crazy)”, expanding as commented at the beginning, her skills. So “Two fools”, “If I wanted your opinion”, and “Tattered, torn and blue (and crazy)” Mahalo nui for listening, and have a good week!

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The music industry is taking notice of singer/songwriter Ashley Wineland. In 2018, the Official CMT Artist was signed to a worldwide management deal with powerhouse entertainment company The City Drive Group. The Arizona-based artist next set her sights on Nashville – collaborating in-studio with one of today’s leading songwriters/producers, hitmaker Marti Frederiksen, who has also worked with Oklahoman Carrie Underwood, and with Faith Hill.

Her voracious vocals have left an everlasting impression with audiences across the U.S. This, combined with her colossal presence on social media, has amassed a fervent global fan base, also known as “Winelanders”. This new but impassioned spirit storyteller is on an ardent quest to bring back the core elements that are sorely missing from today’s country music, just the right kind of artist this show is looking for. Her song “Simple Life”, which has been the opener of today’s show, strikes a chord of authenticity as it captures the heartbeat of the heartland and the essence of the human experience, just as an old troubadour would do. Along the still short way in her musical journey, this young girl-next-door lends her time and talent to compelling charitable causes, showing that her voice is not the only good thing she has, but her heart is as big as the Arizona desert sky. Years of hard work, and a true connection to her fans have heralded her as “The Next Big Thing” in country music. We’ll say goodbye to her listening to two more songs. The first one called “She’s Gone”, single from 2018, and the second one is a version of LeAnn Rimes’s Christmas song “Put a little holiday in your heart”, taking advantage of the holiday season. Ashley Wineland.

Earlier this year, Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter and powerhouse vocalist Leann Rimes unveiled her last album “Rimes: Live at Gruene Hall” as an exclusive Record Store Day only, and released only on vinyl. Recently, during a sold-out show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, she announced that she had decided to make the record available worldwide across all digital and streaming formats to mark her 25-year career, being this one the first live album in her career to have been released. It is a collection of ten live performances from the world-renowned artist at Gruene Hall, which historically is known as “the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas”, to celebrate her love for all music ranging from rock, country, to blues and pop under one roof. We’ve just listened to her rendition to Patsy Cline’s “Blue”, song that marked her stardom at the early age of 13, just like Tanya Tucker did in 1972 with her song “Delta Dawn”.

We’ll listen to two more songs from the concert, “Streets of Bakersfield”, versioned from Buck Owen’s classic, and “The Bottle Let me Down”, from Merle HAggard’s unforgettable standard.

The difficulty that we face every time we want to find new releases and artists whose main aim is to save real country music and tradition from disappearing is staggering. But this is not something new, mainstream Nashville has always been in constant fight to get as much attention from audiences as possible, creating what has been always known as “crossovers”, that is to say, songs which don’t really pertain to one style exclusively. In the 70s there was a genre within country music coined “outlaw country” because there were a series of country musicians (mostly men) who resisted the temptation of recording music which would not really represent their stories. One of these several cases was impersonated by David Allan Coe, who recorded a version in 1975 of a song called “You never even call me by my name”, which had been written and recorded in 1971 by Steve Goodman and John Prine. The song was a satirical response and kiss-off to the country music industry placed in Nashville, which blatantly refused to acknowledge the artist’s fringe style. The song name-drops other outlaw country musicians in the lyrics, such as Waylong Jennings, Charlie Pride, and Merle Haggard. The song, over 5 minutes long, is known for its humorous self.description as “the perfect country and western song”. It is widely accepted that a good country song lists clichés such as mama, trains, or trucks, or pick up trucks, or prison, or getting drunk. As the song didn’t mention any of these things, David Allan Coe and Steve Goodman commented about it and Goodman, who had penned the song, included a last verse on the record which had not previously been included in 1971 or 1975, but that has since been included in spoken epilogues when performed both on stage and in other albums, such as 1994’s Doug Supernaw rendition to the classic, which includes the old voices of the outlaw performers who had been mentioned in the original song, including David Allan Coe. All of this has been explained because Leann Rimes, in her live album, has included her own version of the song, called “You never even call me by my name”. We’ll say goodbye to her listening to this beautiful song, to later listen to David Allan Coe’s original version, and finish with Doug Supernaw’s 1994 rendition.

To hear Curtis Grimes sing is to take a trip through the heart of country music. Grimes was raised listening to Alan Jackson and George Strait. A contestant of 2011 reality TV show “The Voice”, Grimes ended up finishing as a Top 10 Finalist of Season 1. We’ve just listened to “Ten YEar Town”, a beautiful country song which talks about how difficult it is to be a country artist who wants to make it singing traditional country. Ten years is the time it seems to be taking Curtis to get to mainstream on his own, with his own talent, which as a matter of fact is exactly the message of the previous song. In fact, he openly critizices the fact that they don’t know song standard songs like “You never even call me by my name”.

We’ll say goodby to Curtis with a promise to listen to more stuff from him, listening to his last two singles released in 2019. The first one, called “Still”, about his Texas origins, and the second, a great rendition of a bluegrass classic, “I saw the light”, that I hope you enjoy as much as I will.

Since they started back in 1953 officially as a duet in Knoxville in Tennessee, marking 1959 as the year when they released their first album “Country Pickin’ and Hillside singing”, 31 have been the complete Long Plays that have been released by this duet formed by Sonny Osborne and Bobby Osborne, or as they are known all around the bluegrass scene, “The Osborne Brothers”. Born in Hayden, Kentucky and raised in Dayton, Ohio, they started flirting with instruments in 1949, ten years before they decided to form the duet of talented musicians. Their career spans 70 years, and 66 as a duet in itself. For that matter, the brothers have released a compilation of bluegrass representative of their fruitful career.

We’ve first listened to the song “At the First Fall of Snow” opening this compilation called “Blame me”, released under the record label Royal Bakersfield Music. Both brothers are still alive, even though they retired in 2005, with Bobby still working in a band called Rocky Top X-press. We’ll listen to a few more songs from this unforgettable and talented musicians of bluegrass: “Banjo Boy Chimes”, and “There’s a Woman behind Every Man” from 1959.

The Osborne Brothers met a great number of virtuoso musicians such as Bill Monroe, considered the father of Bluegrass music, or Earl & Scruggs, another historical and talented duet. Dozens of thousands of fans still rage when they get ahold of a collection such as this double album, containing 26 songs, two more than their 1991 double CD called “Once More”. We’ll say goodbye to these Brothers listening to one more song from this album from 2019, “Old Hickory”, a great instrumental, and “Nobody’s Darlin’ but mine” from the 1991 double collection “Once More”.

From the year 1991, just as The Osborne brothers were releasing this “Nobody’s Darling but Mine”, the Ka’au Crater Boys from the beautiful islands of the state of Hawai’i released their debut album called “TRopical Hawaiian DAy”, with this rendition to Jimmie Davis’s “Nobody’s Darling but Mine”. The Hawaiian duo teamed Troy Fernandez and Ernie Cruz. Formed during the mid-1990s, they issued a series of LPs including Tropical Hawaiian Day, the one we are visiting today, Valley Style in 1993, and On Fire in 1994, before disbanding in 1997. The name Ka?au Crater Boys refers to Ka?au Crater, an extinct volcano above the Palolo Valley of Oahu, near to the Palolo housing community in which Cruz and Fernandez were raised.

Between 1991 and 1997, the Ka‘au Crater Boys rode a wave of success that earned them a Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Best Contemporary Album in 1995, the one called “On Fire”. Brimming with youthful energy, the duo’s songs conveyed the wonder of the islands and the ocean, and often the intensity of romantic love. Fernandez’s embellishments on the ukulele—roller-coaster scales, cascades of thirds, thrilling tremolos—showcased the instrument to a new generation. But as there is no better way to describe it than by listening to some songs to understand the blend between bluegrass and Hawaiian beautiful ukulele sound, we’ll listen to two more songs included in this album from 1991. “Hana Calls”, and “Still the One”.

When Troy Fernandez left the duet, we started recording solo, including covers from country musicians such as Hank Thompson, from whom he played the country classic “The Wild Side of Life” in his album called “Strumming My Ukulele”. In many occasions he has commented that he got turned on mostly to country-western by Ernie Cruz Jr., because his dad was a famous country-western singer. He was in Hawaii and all over in the mainland, and he would even perform with the duet on occasions. No doubt that the band sounds so great and country even in their debut album. We’ll say goodbye to our show with two more songs from the album, and a third song from a different artist.

The two songs we’re going to listen to, included in this “Tropical Hawaiian Day” are “Guava Jam”, and “Sweet Lei Ka Lehua”, this last one sung in Hawaiian language. And to finish this show we’ll wish you happy holidays in Hawaiian in the voice of Kacey Musgraves, who has released a country album holiday special with 10 classics, including “Mele Kalikimaka”, Hawaiian’s way to say “Merry Christmas”.

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“Big Iron Train”, the name of this song included in the last album published by Ben Jarrell called “Troubled Times” that we started introducing in our last show. This native son of the state of Alabama published some months ago the best album of this year, plenty of outlaw country of great authenticity, to the extent that one cannot stop listening to it once and again. This is the kind of record I’d like to play in every single show, but unfortunately it is quite hard to find real good music newly released, so when one bumps into one long play like this one, it is just red meat for hungry ears. The album was published at Southern Grounds Studios, in Nashville, and in it we can enjoy Mike and Steve Daily, father and son, playing the pedal steel (Mike), and the Lead Guitar (Steve) respectively. We’ll listen to a couple more songs from the album, “Black Helicopter”, where I can hear a little bit of Waylon Jennings, and “My Old Friend”, with a clear similarity to Garth Brook.

After being semi-retired for 14 years, Garth Brooks wasn’t convinced he could jump back into mainstream country music and touring at a level with which he was confident. Things had changed since 2000, when h announced his retirement. At that time, smartphones didn’t exist, and cellphones weren’t predominant, let alone Facebook, or music streaming services. As for new music, Brooks released “MAn Against Machine”, his first album of all-new material in 13 years, in 2014, then “Gunslinger” came along in 2016. Now, in 2019, Garth Brooks has released several songs, the first of which is this “All Day Long”, with jukeboxes, beer and pool in place of boots and cowboys hats. Singing in his most affected drawls, Brooks celebrates the barroom life in a 90s style production. At 56, Brooks remains a master of the country song. Proof of that is that he was nominated for Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards (the big brother of the awards show) in 2015. He didn’t win, but he did take home such trophy in 2016 and also 2017. But curiously enough, most fans can’t hear it because Garth is notoriously protective of his music, removing any recording or live performance that pops un on You Tube at lightining speed. He even withheld his songs from digital services until 2014, when he went all-in with a digital music provider called GhostTunes and then partnering up with Amazon as the only digital service carrying his new music and back catalog. Anyway, it is my opinion that by withholding his latest offering from services like AppleMusic and Spotify, the latter of which still mainaing a free option, Brooks is shooting himself in the foot with younger listeners, don’t you think? And even with his Amazon deal, Brooks holds fast to his decision to not allow his songs to be downloaded as individual tracks, so “All Day Long”, the song we’ve been able to listen to, is available for streaming only, included in his forthcoming album “Fun”. We’ll say goodbye to Garth, and his work only available in pre-order fashion, listening to two more songs, the first of which called “Stronger than me”, and then a collaboration with Blake Shelton called “Dive Bar”, which is now on country radio. A Dive Bar is a colloquial AMerican term for a disreputable bar, where local residents gather to drink and socialize... and to listen to country music, of course. The song is at this point sitting on the number 25 of the Hot Country Songs from Billboard magazine.

Blake Shelton, the artist collaborating with Garth Brooks in the last song we’ve aired possesses a worm, masculine ease that has given his rowdier numbers a sense of sly humor, but this relaxed touch also made him an effective crooner of ballads, the ace in the hole that helped him cross over from country to the mainstream in the 2010s, reason why he is a superstar on TV, especially in the American version of “The Voice”. A native of Ada, Oklahoma, Blake picked up the guitar in his early adolescence and started writing songs not long afterward. He left his home state for Nashville just two weeks after his high-school graduation in 1994, bitten by the musical bug. The legendary songwriter Bobby Braddock, who penned George Jones’s “He Stopped Loving Her Today, discovered Blake in the late 90s and brought him to the attention of Giant Records, recording an unstoppable career in 2001 with the release of his first single: “Austin”. Blake is also known for marrying (and later divorcing) Miranda Lambert, a runner-up on Nashville Star, a show similar to that of “The Voice”. Regardless of their successful careers, and their loyalty to country music, both Blake and Miranda, still publishing today, have gotten a bit detached from what pure country music used to be. We’ll say goodby to Blake Shelton listening to the only song from his last album, called “Texoma Shore”, that can be considered within the standards of bearable country. The name: “Hangover Due”.

Seventh album in her career, spanning almost 15 years now, Miranda Lambert has just released “Wildcard”, a new chapter in her career. Coming from her last album, called “The Weight of These Wings”, a very moody album that found the singer sorting through the emotial wreckage of a public divorce from Blake Shelton, Lambert has decided to look on the brighter side for this last piece of work. She has also parted ways with Frank Liddell, her producer since she started in this music business, to hire Jay Joyce, who also worked with the Brothers Osborne and Eric Church. The first track we’ve listened to is “Locomotive”, the seventh track into the album, so you can imagine that the first 6 we not that good. Before talking a bit more about this CD, let’s listen to a couple more songs: “Tequila Does”, and “Track Record”.

“Wilcard” is almost constructed as a jukebox with songs completely unconnected one with another. There is no doubt that Miranda Lambert is delighted to venture outside of her comfort zone. The album departs quite a lot from traditional country, indulging in the retro-80s rock and electronic R&B. Perhaps “Wildcard” isn’t as emotionally resonant as some of Lambert’s other records, but there’s no denying that she’s delivered exactly what she intended with this album, which is to experiment. Also remember that Miranda relies more on country when she publishes with her band “Pistol Annies”, the last album of which, we aired in this show months ago. We’ll listen to one more song from Miranda, called “Dark Bars”, and we will say goodbye to our show detoxing a bit with supertraditional country in the form of a duet called “Steel Blossoms”. Sara Zebley and Hayley Prosser are two former elementary school teachers who met in Pennsylvania while playin in separate proyects. Immediately noticing a musical kinship between each other, the Steel Blossoms were formed, eventually reclocating to Nashville and spending ample time developingt their songs and sound on the road and house concerts. Whatever your mood or sensibility, the Steel Blossoms have you covered, and show a pretty unbelievable range and proficiency with whatever they choosde to pen and sing about. As we are running out of time, we’ll go with the promise of picking up the rest of the album for next edition. We’ll say goodbye with the song that opens the album “You’re the reason I drink”, and the amazing tune “Pick me Up”. So remember, first Miranda Lambert’s “Dark Bars”, and then Steel Blossoms’s “You’re the reason I drink” and “Pick Me Up”.

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“Raising Humans”, Easton Corbin singing a song about a dog’s relationship with their human... Quite a sobbing tune, I must say. Easton was in the middle of creating his fourth studio album when he parted ways with his record label, Mercury Nashville, just a year ago, a move that offered him a chance to refocus his attention on the music he’s passionate about. The missing piece was story songs. There’s always been a saying in real country music, an it’s that there’s a story behind each country song, and that’s what this singer and songwriter from the sunny state of Florida was in need of: singing about real stories. Just like Jon Pardi last week, Easton has been one these new artists who in this new decade has maintained some of the tradition in the mainstream of Nashville. Now under the record label “Honkytonk Land Records”, he’s launched the first track of his new album to be released some time next year. To say goodbye to Easton, we’ll listen to the first song that got him the prize for “New Artist of the Year” in 2010, with his first nomination for the CMA Awards: “A little more country than that”.

Last may 17th Kathryn Legendre, born and raised in the lonestar state, Texas, released her new album named “Making it up”, formed by just 5 tracks, but real hard country tracks that sound like something Loretta Lynn could’ve written while sitting on the porch at her Kentucky homeplace. We’ve listened to the song “There you Go”, a song about a couple saying goodbye until they see each other again, expressing the pain of the lonesome hours in an empty house. Kathryn grew up in Helotes, Texas, where she spent much of her childhood watching shows at the same venue where a young Willie Nelson cut his teeth back in his days, at the legendary Floore’s Country Store. We’ll listen to two more songs from this wonderful Extended Play, the fantastic waltz “Making It Up”, the one giving name to the album, song talking about lies, and the honky tonk song “Letters from Prison”, where she sings the story of a relationship with a prisoner who’s spending time in jail.

A fan of Merle Haggard, she drives around with a bumper sticker stating that, as if her mission in life was saving country music. She has released three albums already, one in 2013, another in 2016, and then this last one this save 2019. One every three years. We’ll say goodbye to Kathryn Legendre listening to her other remaining tracks, the one opening the album, named “Going Crazy”, where she tells the story of a woman falling in love and going crazy about it, and the desperate watz called “Sit Here & Cry”, which talks about totally the opposite, falling out of love and crying about a broken heart, with the first line being clear about it: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. What a piece of real work by this Texas-born singer songwriter.

Felicity Urquhart has released her first album in a decad “Frozen Rabbit” released by her own record label, from which we’ve listened to the second track, “Chain of Joy”. This Australian-born singer-songwriter is one of the best-loved artists of this music style down there, apart from a TV and radio presenter still active. While country music may (or may not) be a purely American invention, it certainly owes its roots to foreign countries. At the same time, other countries have developed their own country culture and music. Country music, bluegrass, and folk are quickly gaining large followings worldwide. Some of the United States’ most popular country musicians have come from other countries, and country music is widely popular in countries such as Belgium, Argentina, United Kingdom, India, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Canada, which is just north of the border with the USA, and the number one on the list is Australia, perhaps the country with the most similarities due to structure and the sense of wild west, the last frontier.

The Irish singer-songwriter Danny Burns released last January his album “North Country”, teaming with bluegrass greats like Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, or Tim O’Brien to name a few. Released with the label Bonfire Recording, this 10-track album is a delicious collection of bluegrass music, and precisely another example of a musician who was born away from American soil. We’ve just listened to “Great Big Sea2, where Danny Burns teams up with Tim O’Brien as special guest, providing harmony and vocals and one heck of a mandolin solo. The song’s story came to Burns while he was writing in his mother’s kitchen in Donegal, Burns’ hometown in the northwest part of Ireland, a comunity mainly industrialized on fishing and farming. It’s a song about friends who were fishermen, coming and going out to sea. Some folks didn’t come back, unfortunately. We’ll say goodbye to this album produced by Gary Paczosa, producer and engineer known for his work with Dolly Parton and Alison Krauss, listening to another song. This time he is teaming with Critter Fuqua, Holly Williams, the daughter of Hank Williams Senior, Jerry Douglas & Sam Bush.

Listening to Ben Jarrell’s debut Long Play album called “Troubled Times” is like taking the DeLorean and time-travelling to this time where country music was pure. 10 songs put together this masterpiece of country music, revealing all the talent of this singer from South Alabama who now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. We’ve just listened to the first two songs that open the album, released in March under the label “Country Roots Records”. The songs “Troubled Times in a Tribal Town”, a catchy song that tells us a story about a guy who finds a lover and murders her, and “Gearjammer Blues”, where I can hear a little bit of Waylon Jennings style quite clearly. I’m also impressed with the excellent work of Mike Daly at the pedal steel guitar. I wish country radios would play this kind of music more often.

If I thought that Jon Pardi was 2019’s best album released so far, I have to take back my words. This is the best album I’ve listened to in this 2019. Its outlaw country style exceeds my expectations basically because I am a Waylon Jennings fan myself. We’ll say goodbye to this edition of Grand Country with two more songs and the promise that I will air a few more in our next show. The first one of the two songs offers a bit more Waylon Jennings kind of music, mixed with some Alabama style. It’s good ole 80s country music. The last one is “Colorado Bound”, a 4-minute ecstasy of guitar riffs and impressive drums trucker style.

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Jon Pardi opens his new album with this wonderful “Old Hat”, a wonderful anthem for old cats that aren’t ready to give old hats the boot, as he says in the lyrics, that is to say, he’s not ready to stop wearing his hat because it isn’t fashionable in the music industry nowadays. This album has odes to cowboys, sweet memories about old times, and tributes to the old-timers who make the best drinking buddies in street joints. Pardi got to the top of the country charts the old-fashioned way: through slow, steady work. His first two albums found the Californian singer focusing his music on hardcore basics and it turned him into a star, so it comes as no surprise that he doesn't mess with the great formula for its 2019 sequel, Heartache Medication. Reuniting with his co-producer Bart Butler, Pardi barely takes a glance at the present on this album. Proof of that is the second song, the one giving name to the album, “Heartache Medication”, where the lyrics explain that the best formula to get over his lost love and heal his heartache is taking steady dosis of hardwood floors, jukebox country songs, beer bubbles and neon signs that can be found in honky tonks, which is the name for old country bars that can be found in Texas along the roads.

Written by Rhett Akins, producer Bart Butler, and Jon Pardi himself, we’ve just listened to this wonderful honky tonk song called “Me and Jack”, a song that reminds us of the good ole country music of the 1990’s made by such wonderful artists like Joe Diffie, Travis Tritt, or Garth Brooks, to name a few. The fact that I say Garth Brooks is no coincidence. While growing up in Dixon, California, Jon fell in love with country music when he was still a kiddo, inspired by the karaoke machine in possession of his grandmother. He was drawn to hardcore singers ranging from classic singers like Geroge Jones, to more contemporary but still traditional like George Strait, and he took a liking to singing while performing at his dad’s birthday party when he was just seven years old, in which he sang the classic “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks.

Country music is all a great family, where such things as songwriter Rhett Akins, whose heydays as a singer happened in the 90s, can collaborate in this wonderful album next to other songwriters whose hey days are happening right now, as is the example of Eric Church and Miranda Lambert, who wrote the next ballad we’re about to listen, with singer Lauren Alaina singing next to Jon Pardi in “Don’t Blame it on Whiskey”, a song talking about a couple with troubles. There we can listen to such lines as “the sober truth”, or “let’s get down to the bottom, and not just the bottom of the glass”.

Wonderful two more cuts extracted from this wonderful album. “Tied One On”, an hemorrage of honky tonk to the core, followed by “Buy that man a beer”. This new record of Jon Pardi is not country music by close approximation, but really the nitty gritty of it, and taking into account that this album has been produced in Nashville, it is a truly remarkable thing taking into account the 95% of what is being released in Music City, USA. It is quite surprising that this guy is in fashion there, and he cojntinues to be one of the top releases in all of country each week. Regardless of his country roots and his attachment to traditional country, he’s still willing to collaborate with his contemporaries in the mainstream, he is leading by example and being a gentleman about it, proving that strong country sounds can still be successful to wide audiences if they’re just given a chance and opening doors for other performers to do the same.

We’ll say goodbye to Jon Pardi with two more wonderful tracks, “Call me country”, an anthem similar to the classic “Murder on Music Row” that in the 90s George Strait and Alan Jackson sang to complain about an evidence nowadays: that Nashville has killed real country music by erasing it from mainstream radios on the grounds that it is not marketable or fashionable any longer. And the wonderful “Just like Old Times”, where the steel guitar cries just like old times, as the lyrics say. A complete breath of fresh air, that given the opportunity, you should possess in vynil, like the good ole days.

Inspired by the music of Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn that her grandmother would play when she was growing up, Charlie Marie chose the burden of performing country music in a classic style. As a Rhode Islander, this music comes from an obvious and sincere passion that translates into the stunning results of this wonderful EP of just 5 tracks that does what most country records fail to do in 10 or more, which is to connect with the audience on a deeple human level, and satiate the expectations present in the avid country listener. Even though she was raised in the north, whe is no stranger to life in the south, as Charlie Marie attended Blemont University in Nashville, and participated in some co-songwriting sessions while in the city, getting a segirous does of the culture and influences she had enjoyed from afar from many years before. We’ve just listened to “Countryside”, a lesson into the foolhardy notion that country music is onlyu for those in designated regions. Let’s listen to two more songs from this Extended Play before we say goodbye to her beautiful voice. The first one, “Shot in the Dark”, a wonderful ballad of a woman who finds desperate love in a honky tonk, falling in love with a cowboy who will just be her next one-night stand. And we’ll say goodbye with “Rodeo”, another wonderful ballad. This being her second album makes me think that though this is not her first rodeo in the music industry, we’ll soon listen more from this talented voice. Remember her name: Charlie Marie, from Rhode Island.

Don’t regard Ian Noe as just another songwriter trying to gain national attention. This Kentucky-born original from Beattyville is almost stepping into Americana music, borrowing heavily from songwriters such as Prine, Dylan, and Guthrie. Both folk and country could fight to claim primary rights for Ian Noe’s music, and his music and songwriting make a strong case for inclusion in both.

On this album called Between The Country, people die, and the light of the world is clouded out by the gloom of hard times, broken hearts, and troubled minds. The American dream is forgotten in the struggle for everyday survival, where death isn’t always regarded as a catastrophic outcome, but is sometimes seen as sweet relief from earthly burden, and one marks themselves fortunate if they even receive a proper burial. We’ve just listened to “Irene (Ravin’ Bomb)”, the hard story of a Kentuckian girl with a troubled past.

There’s no mistaking that some of Kentucky’s most depressed regions fuel such harrowing accounts of life and death, whether it takes shape as a murder ballad similar to those in the historical past, or an account of meth addiction that’s all too real today.

We’ll finish today’s show with two wonderful country songs from this fantastic artist, Ian Noe, with “Barbara’s Song” and “That Kind of Life”.

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It was the year 1999 when I first bumped into a fine young country musician called Brad Paisley releasing his debut album called “Who needs pictures”, and just into his third or fourth song in that unforgettable piece of work I knew without the shadow of a doubt that he would have a fantastic career in country music, and I was right. Now, just months shy of his 20th anniversary in mainstream country, he is working in his yet-to-be-released new album from which some months ago we listened to the first song delivered, Bucked off, and now we have just listened to “My miracle”, co-written by Paisley and Gary Nicholson, which is nothing but a tribute to Paisley’s wife of 16 years, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and spares no gushing bit of sentiment in describing his own whiskey-into-wine brush with divinity. “How could I not have faith in the god that created her?” he sings in the refrain, seeing no less than a miraculous moment in meeting the love of his life, which happened on the set of Paisley’s own music video for 2002’s “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song).” Just to remember that moment from 2002, we’ll go back in time to remember the song where Bradley met his wife: I’m gonna miss her.

Luke Combs is releasing next week his new single “Beer never broke my heart”, even though he has been performing it live in some concerts, from which we have extracted this live piece. In our next show we will try to get hold of that studio version to play it, just as we have done with the last single released by Bruce Springsteen, song called “Hello Sunshine” included in what, according to Bruce himself, is going to be a country album. Even though the song is not a country song “per se”, we will take the chance right here right now of getting our own opinion of it. “Hello Sunshine”.

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Molly Tuttle has just released her first full-length solo LP on independent label Compass Records, and the 25-year-old performer has already stocked up on groundbreaking industry awards. Between her expressive, crystalline voice and astounding flatpicking guitar skills, Tuttle has made history as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s first-ever female Guitar Player of the Year (in 2017 and 2018) and the only female artist to take home a member-voted prize (Instrumentalist of the Year) at 2018’s Americana Honors & Awards ceremony.

A sort of high-wattage Alison Krauss-Taylor Swift hybrid — Tuttle effortlessly delivers a mélange of styles to accompany her powerful guitar licks throughout. This time we have listened to two songs included in her album “When you’re ready”, just released. The songs were “When you’re ready”, giving name to the album, and “Sleepwalking”.

When You’re Ready, produced by Ryan Hewitt (the Avett Brothers, Lumineers), also features Jason Isbell on backing vocals and Sierra Hull in a guest spot on mandolin. We’ll say goodby to this fantastic album with two songs: the first one is “Clue”, and the second is the LP’s opening cut, “Million Miles,” one Tuttle co-penned with Steve Poltz, who started writing the song in the Nineties with his one-time musical colaborator Jewel before the pair abandoned it.

Honky tonker Deryl Dodd grew up in Dallas, TX, where he favored football over music throughout his formative years. When an injury permanently derailed his athletic career, his fellow students at Baylor University encouraged him to begin performing his music in public, and soon he was one of the biggest attractions on the Waco club circuit. After graduating in 1987, he pursued music full-time, moving in 1991 to Nashville to form a band with his friend Brett Beavers. After supporting Martina McBride during her 1992 tour opening for Garth Brooks, Dodd sang backing vocals on McBride's second LP before embarking on a solo career. He also played in Tracy Lawrence's band and sang harmony on records by Radney Foster and George Ducas. After a 1994 demo deal fell through, Dodd issued his debut album, One Ride in Vegas, in 1996. A self-titled effort followed two years later. Shortly after his 1998 album was released, Dodd was planning national tour, opening for Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn, but his plans were foiled when he was diagnosed with an acute case of viral encephalitis. Dodd was bedridden for six months, per doctor's orders. He then went through a rehabilitation period lasting a year and a half, during which he had to relearn how to play the guitar. After playing songwriter nights in Nashville, Dodd ditched his deal with Columbia Records in favor of Lucky Dog, a Sony imprint dedicated to Texas music. 2002's Pearl Snaps appeared on Lucky Dog. He returned to Texas, where he was fortunate enough to be invited to record Live at Billy Bob's Texas, which was issued in August 2003. After returning to Texas, things continually went up, including the sales of his 2004 album Pearl Snaps. In 2006, Dodd released Full Circle on DualTone Nashville.

After a halt in his career he released an album called “Random as I am” from 2011, and then in 2017 another called “Long Hard Ride”. This time we have listened to his song “I’m so outta style”, from an upcoming album yet to be announced. His most important hit anyway comes from 1996, his unforgettable “One Ride in Vegas”, a fantastic waltz we will just go back in time to listen to Deryl Dodd.

A superstar in his home state of Texas and a cult hero elsewhere, singer and songwriter Pat Green goes back to basics on his new single included in the soundtrack of the movie “The Last Whistle”, and American Football movie premiered only in the United States.

Texas native Pat Green got his start in country music while still attending college in the mid-'90s. As a teenager, Green had quickly taken to the sounds of several Lone Star State performers: Robert Earl Keen, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Willie Nelson. He started writing songs at age 18 while studying at Texas Tech, and was eager and earnest to make something more happen with music. He has released really good albums during his career, includin his last one to day, his 12th from 2015's Home. Green's first album of new material since breaking ties with BNA Records, Home was recorded without the input of a record company, and finds the country star recording with his road band instead of studio pickers, giving the material a warmth and immediacy that should remind fans of Green's fabled live shows. Home also finds Green sharing the microphone with some famous and talented friends; fellow Texas tunesmith Lyle Lovett duets with Green on "Girls from Texas" (already a radio hit in the Lone Star State before the album was released), while Sheryl Crow and Delbert McClinton also contribute guest vocals. From this album we will listen to the song “May the good times never end”, and we will finish today’s show listening to an independent female singer also from the state of Texas, from 1998, around the time of the debut of Deryl Dodd and Pat Green. Her name is Danielle Myers, and she only released one album from which we’ll listen to two beautiful songs called “Cowgirl’s Cadillac” and “Spin my heart”.

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Daniel Goguen, a Canadian singer from a little town called Cocagne, in the Province of New Brunswick, one of the first areas in North America to be explored and settled by Europeans, especially by the French, reason why its constitution says that this piece of land still recognizes French and English as official languages in its territory. This is the reason why half of Daniel’s third album, called Les backroads is in French. We’ve just listened to “On veut juste avoir un good time”, translated “We just want to have a good time”. And definitely that’s what I’ve had listening to this wonderful piece of work by this Canadian from the East Coast of that vast nation.

Let’s listen to a couple more songs from this album published in 2017. This time one in English, and the other in Canadian French. “Miss you just the same”, and “C’est à cause de moi”, translated “It’s my fault”.

Many people will agree with me that real country music must be sung in English, but that is not exactly true. There are beautiful country songs sung both in Spanish in Tex-Mex in the frontier with Mexico, and especially in French in the area of the bayou in Louisiana, in cajun style, where the influence of the cajun fiddle or violin is just beautiful. So I think it’s about time to listen to a couple of cajun songs in this show. One of them, sung in French, is called “Mon cœur ne bat que puir toi”, translated “My heart beats only for you”, and the other is “Finalement la fin de semaine”, translated “The weekend, finally”. Two songs to make your heart beat faster with real fiddle and steel country music from a Canadian singing cajun in Canadian French. Quite a mix.

This singer songwriter has been performing for more than 25 years between 1999 and 2010, years in which he recorded and released three albums, called “It goes on like this”, “Another season”, and “Just you and me”. It is not until 2014 that his musical career did take a new turn when he launched the song Les Backroads as a single for the radios. This song was selected as the #1 song of the year 2014 by the New Brunswick Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. He released the album we are listening to in 2015, and then he re-released it in 2017, winning a counple of nominations for some Awards in Canada. We’ll say goodbye to Daniel Goguen listening to two more songs from this fantastic album. The song that changed his fate, “Les backroads”, and “Bartender”, two songs where the steel guitar cries deeply. What a jewell we’ve just reviewed today.

Rick Trevino is a Grammy-Award winning Mexian American country music artist. Trevino has charted eleven singles on the Billboard Hot country songs charts including three #1 and top ten singles on several lists. Trevino has recorded nine studio albums including three with the Grammy award winning all star group Los Super Seven. His last album, from 2016, “Long Coyote Gone”, was co-written and self-produced in Austin, Texas, and it included this song “I am a Mexican”, bringing his Texas guitar and his take on this Latino moment in America. He was born on Buffalo -bayou, in Houston, Texas, a third-generation Mexican-American who just wanted to sing straight ahead Texas country music. This song isa homage to his Mexican roots, as well as a statement about how Mexican immigrant workers are viewed and treated, and the problems they face. The song features legendaty accordionist and seven-time Grammy winner Flaco Jiménez, also Texas-born, adding with his accordion much to the Mexican feel of the track.

Few if any artists in Tejano music have received the level of critical acclaim Flaco Jimenez has enjoyed over the course of a career that’s spanned six decades, and it’s certain that no one has taken the accordion-fueled-Tex-Mex sound to a larger audience than he has. Without compromising his musical vision, Jimenez has introduced the traditional conjunto sound to mainstream pop and country listeners thanks to his collaborations with bands and singers such as “The Texas Tornados”, Dwight Yoakam, and “The Mavericks”. He was born in the State of Texas in 1939, and raised in a musical family. His grandfather, Patricio Jiménez, was his inspiration as an accordion player who embraced polkas and waltz tunes, and his father, Santiago jimenez Senior, was a pioneering Tex-Mex musician who cut one the first tex mex records ever to be recorded. His main influence was zydeco master Clifton Chenier, and at 15 he formed his first band. After listening to his accordion in the song we’ve just listened to next to Rick Trevino, I thought it was fair to listen to a couple of songs and I have selected an album called “Los Reyes del Norteño”, where he shares with other Mexican-influence talents this piece of work. The two songs we’ll listen are “La historia de nuestro amor”, and a “Carolina”, this one a beautiful instrumental accordion waltz. Flaco Jiménez.

Aaron Watson just played his song “Vaquero”, included in his 11th album of the same name. Watson is a proud Texan (to be honest, it’s very rare to find a Texan who isn’t), but Vaquero navigates the territory between tradition and modernity, sounding strong and open, never making concessions to pop but never adhering to a rancid notion of country, either. Watson is hppy to play with familiar sounds, filled with songs that recall everyone from George Jones to George Strait, but it always returns to the present. Much of the album is about being in a long-term relationship. Let’s listen to a couple more songs from this wonderful Texas country album from 2017. This time the songs are “Take you home tonight”, and “They Don’t make em like they used to”.

There is no doubt that Aaron Watson is an old-fashioned singer/songwriter, but he applies his traditional values to the present, and that’s what makes “Vaquero” seem fresh. I said this is his 11th album, but actually his 3rd one since he started making waves on the Billboard charts. When one listens to some of his early material, one realizes he has evolved towards something a bit more sophisticated and pop in certain songs, but we’re going to skip those ones, which actually don’t even make a handful. To be honest, Aaron Watson always makes for an interesting discussion point. Here’s a guy who is completely independent. He owns his own record label. Aside from some regional stuff in Texas, he’s not really on the radio, or at least not on mainstream corporate ones. Usually independent artists also tend to have a bit of a tortured soul thing going on within them, while mainstream country artists are more even and amicable. Aaron is kind of a mix of these two things. He writes his own songs, and sometimes with the help of others, but usually relying on himself as the primary contributor. This is a very common practice for an independent-minded musician.

Let’s listen to a couple more songs from the album, this time with the always beautiful background vocals of Lee Ann Womack as a contributor, in the song “Big love in a Small town”, and “One Two step at a time”.

Generally speaking Vaquero is what you should expect from Aaron Watson, now 11 studio records into his career. There are some deep songs, there are some songwriter songs, there are songs tha make you think, and some songs that allow you float away on a catchy rhythm and melody. In an ideal world, Aaron Watson would represent the norm for mainstream country radio: sensible, accessible, smart at times, sentimental in others, and fortunately he never makes you feel stupid like much of country radio does today.

We’ll say goodbye to this great piece of work by Aaron Watson with two more songs. The first one “Diamonds & daughters”, a pretty song showing off Aaron’s sentimental side, and “Rolling Stone”.

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Two Highways is the first piece of work Alison Krauss recorded with her excellent backing band, Union Station released in 1989 by Rounder Records and produced by Bill Vorndick. The Long Play was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Bluegrass Album in 1990, and here Alison demonstrates that at the early age of just 18 she could already lead a band through a number of bluegrass standards, as well as several more contemporary numbers. Of course, her instrumental solo continue to be the most impressive thing about her music on Two Highways, but her duets with guitarists Jeff White come to show that her vocals are beginning to come into their own, as we have witnessed in the song “I’m Alone Again” that has just opened today’s show. We’ll say goodbye to this excellent masterpiece with another number included. This time the song is “Teardrops will kiss the morning dew”, which was also included in her album “Now that I’ve found you: A Collection”, published almost 25 years ago.

As of 2018, Alison has won 27 Grammy Awards from 42 nominations, ranking her third behind Quincy Jones and classical conductor Georg Solti for most Grammy Award wins.[3] She is the most awarded singer and the most awarded female artist in Grammy history. Her talent is beyond compare. We’ll say goodby to Alison listening to her first ever Grammy Award, back in 1991, for her 1990 album I’ve Got That Old Feeling also published by Rounder Records. The contract Alison had with Rounder obligated her to publish one album with Union Station and another without. This record doesn’t include her band. This time we’ll give the chance to a song from the album that is rare to listen to, but another jewel for the ears: “It’s Over”, a mesmerizing waltz that makes it impossible not to tap your feet to the music. So we’ll put a coin in the Wurlitzer to go back in time to the year 1990.

The 33rd studio album from Reba McEntire and the first not dedicated to religious material since 2015 kicks off with the song "Swing All Night Long with You," the first of the two songs from her we have listened to, which is a delicious slice of western swing that functions as a manifesto of pure, unadorned country music. To tell you the truth, I hadn’t stumbled on a work by McEntire delivering in such good old-fashioned way. Proof of that is that she returns to her hardcore sound on occasion throughout the record in songs such as "No U in Oklahoma," so nimble that it could've been part of the Texas Playboys' repertoire. Without a doubt, McEntire sticks to the kind of country that made her a star back in the '80s, emphasizing tearing ballads and well-rendered stories. The second song by Reba we have listened to was “Cactus in a Coffee Can”, a delicious number that plays like a short story where she tells the tale of a woman that was given in adoption in birth by a mother who had suffered gender violence. In country music, every song is a story.

We’ll listen to a couple more songs from the album released just 10 days ago: “The Bar’s Getting Lower”, and “In his mind”.

Tempos rarely quicken on Stronger Than the Truth -- apart from the two western swing numbers, of course, but the album doesn't feel soft by any means. Thanks to the co-production of Buddy Cannon, who regularly recorded with Willie Nelson and Kenny Chesney in the 2010s, the album offers a combination that's long been a signature of McEntire's. She channels this empathetic toughness into a series of songs that, as I commented before, plays like short stories: from tales of dashed dreams to managed expectations along with earned love, and some other manners of adult concerns, and that is precisely what gives Reba’s last long play the lasting resonance it deserves.

We’ll say goodbye to Reba listening to the song which closes this fantastic 33rd album by the well-deserved entitled queen of country music. The name of the song is “You Never Gave Up On Me”, and it is dedicated to her mother. The love of a mother is the most intense one.

Brooks & Dunn spent much of the 2010s, playing a few shows in Vegas during the middle of the decade but otherwise enjoying the retirement they announced in 2009. Delivered a decade later, Reboot eases the duo back into active duty, pairing Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn with 12 young stars. The idea is to emphasize the connection between Brooks & Dunn and the new generation, an idea that often pays off. This first song we’ve listened to was obviously starting with their classic “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” included in their debut album from 1991, 28 years ago, named “Brand New Man”, which shot them to stardom. Their voices, Kix Brooks’s and Ronnie Dunn’s, blend perfectly together, and one and after another for almost 20 years they delivered excellent country albums that are forever to be remembered by country music lovers. This time we’ve mixed that classic with the new release with the band Midland, but obviously not as country as it was, and with lots more electronic music so appreciated now in Nashville. We’ll say goodbye to this album listening to a couple more songs from the album, this time the song “Neon Moon”, also pertaining to their debut album of 1991, but including the voice of Kacey Musgraves, artist already know in our weekly podcast, and the song “Brand New Man”, which again was from that album from 1991 I was just talking about, with the fantastic voice of Luke Combs, a voice you’re already used to if you are a frequent listener of this show.

Luke Combs made fans happy when he recorded the live favorite “Beautiful Crazy” for This One’s for You Too, the deluxe reissue of his 2017 debut album. Now Combs has cut another version, one that strips away the studio production for just guitar, some fiddle and his quintessentially country voice. The acoustic take of “Beautiful Crazy” was released last February, as the album version currently sits in the Top Ten on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

Combs, who wrote “Beautiful Crazy” with Wyatt Durrette and Robert Williford, is currently on tour with his Beer Never Broke My Heart Tour. Each date of the tour, which runs through July, is sold out.

In January, Combs challenged his fans to help him reach 1 million followers on Instagram, offering to post a performance of a new song if he was successful. With the goal quickly met, he released a clip of a still-in-the-works track titled “Every little bit helps”, that we’re going to listen to here right now, with not much sound quality ‘cause he recorded it in his living room, and then we’ll say goodbye to him with the song “Beer Can”, a favorite of our fans, included in his 2017 album “This one’s for you too”.

Aaron Lewis (born April 13, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and founding member of the alternative metal band Staind, with whom he released seven studio albums.

But what is a metal band singer doing delivering such standard of quality in honky tonk music? That’s the first question I made myself when I read about him. Lewis said in a July 2011 interview that he was introduced to country music as a child by his grandfather, but his interest was recently rekindled when he toured with fellow rock turned occasional country singer Kid Rock. His debut EP Town Line, which was released in March 2011 on Stroudavarious Records, led to Lewis' first full-length solo release, The Road, released by Blaster Records on November, 2012.[1] Lewis released his second studio album Sinner in September 2016, and now we’ve just peeked at his last album released, called “State I’m in”, which saw the light less than a week ago.

From this first two numbers we have listened to the songs “The Party’s Over”, borrowing the song tittle from a classic by Willie Nelson, and “It Keeps on Workin’”, a song with could have been released by Waylon Jennings himself. The album was produced by Buddy Cannon, and there’s no doubt that he has made State I'm In sound lean and mean, purposefully conjuring ghosts of honky tonk heroes. We’ll say goodbye to this long play and to the show listening to three more songs. “God and Guns”, “If I were the devil”, and “Burnt the Sawmill Down”, this last one intentionally twisting another song title from George Jones. Throughout the songs he keeps on dropping references to his idols. All this time, singing country works in Lewis' favor, since he now knows how not to overplay his hand, either as a singer or a writer. There’s no doubt that Aaron Lewis demonstrates that even if Aaron Lewis has found his comfort zone as a country singer, he's willing to stretch its limits somewhat.

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“The heart is a lonely Hunter”, song written by Mark D. Sanders, Kim Williams and Ed Hill, and recorded by Reba McEntire for her album “Read My Mind” from 1994, now 25 years ago. This song was the fourth single from this piece of work, and it became #1 both in the US and Canadian country singles charts in 1995. The song talks about a woman who has been feeling lonely too long and is trying to find love at any price in all the wrong places. Hence, the name of the song: the heart is a lonely hunter.

Lest than a week separates us from the new album by Reba, the 33rd in her career, and as many experts prognosticate, the most country of them all. To say goodbye until we listen to some of them next week, we will listen to the first single that we listened to some weeks ago here in Grand Country: “No U turn in Oklahoma”, a Western Swing melody that will make you move your feet.

Austin's famed dancehall the Broken Spoke is pictured in the cover of Honky Tonk Time Machine, George Strait's 30th album. If you pay attention and look closely it's possible to see a hint of the new apartment buildings that crowd this historic landmark: it's there on the right side, peeking into a frame that deliberately cuts out these horrible constructions, and the main reason why Dale Watson left Austin and the Broken Spoke, as we explained two editions ago. This is all the better to present the Broken Spoke as the physical embodiment of the titular Honky Tonk Time Machine, a place that sends the listener back to the good ole days. Strait's music is a honky tonk time machine of its own lingering to traditions that seemed old-fashioned even when he delivered his debut album in 1981, Strait Country, almost 40 years ago. Honky Tonk Time Machine belongs in the same universe as Strait Country -- it may not have much in the way of Western Swing, but it's filled with barroom ballads, honky tonk sound, and a hint of Old Mexico, but it's clearly the work of a veteran who isn't concerned with keeping up with trends. Singing many songs co-written with his son Bubba and Dean Dillon like he’s done a zillion times, Strait doesn't attempt much new except for how he finally gets to "Sing One with Willie," a delightful duet with Willie Nelson, the other undisputed king of Texas country.

We’ve just listened to two of the songs included in this fantastic piece of work: “Take me Away”, written by Strait himself, and “Two More Wishes”, written by Jim Lauderdale.

Let’s listen to a couple more songs from the album. The first one is the song “God and Country Music”, a matter-of-fact spiritual song that might soften hardboiled atheists — even if the charming kid’s voice at the end (it belongs to Strait’s grandson) feels like cheating. The song was penned by the power trio of Luke Laird, Barry Dean and Lori McKenna. It’s an idealized vision of country’s power to unite, and religion’s. But good on Strait for pitching it. The second one, named “Codigo”, written again by Strait himself, is a good taste of Old Mexico, so close to his house in San Antonio, Texas.

This second LP since George Strait’s retirement from touring is a trip back to when country radio didn’t suck as a rule. Whether he's performing an ode to tequila, juke joints, or covering Johnny Paycheck's "Old Violin," Strait sings with humor, tenderness, and ease, qualities that lend the deliberately nostalgic Honky Tonk Time Machine grace, resonance, and depth. Perhaps this isn't a new trick for Strait, but it's one to be cherished nonetheless. To say goodbye to George and move on, we’ll celebrate George Strait and Willie Nelson's duet on "Sing One With Willie", the song we always knew we needed and can't believe we didn't have yet. The collaboration is one of the most talked-about songs from Strait's just-released album, and finds the icon looking back on his career, but questioning why he never had the chance to sing Nelson before now.

So, we’ll listen to these two songs, Strait’s rendition to Johnny Paycheck’s “Old Violin”, and his duet with Willie Nelson in this “Sing One With Willie”.

In June 2018, Willie Nelson released a public statement criticizing the Trump administration family separation policy. During his annual Fourth of July Picnic, Nelson was joined on stage by Beto O'Rourke, a candidate in the 2018 Senate election in Texas, running against Ted Cruz. Nelson later gave his endorsement to O'Rourke, and received critics among the conservative part of his fan base. On September 29, 2018 Nelson offered a free concert in Austin, Texas, supporting O'Rourke's campaign efforts. At the end of the concert, Nelson debuted his new song "Vote 'Em Out", which he have just listened here. The track was released as a single on October 11, almost 6 months ago.

This year marks the 25th year of the release of his album “Healing Hands of Time”, which curiously enough is a crooning one, just like his last one published last year 2018 dedicated to Frank Sinatra under the name “My Way”. While none of the songs is country enough to be listened to in this show, we will choose one of the many times Willie has recorded this beautiful piece of music, listening to his most modern version from 2017 included in his record “Willie Nelson and the Boys, Willie’s Stash Volume 2”, this time next to the voices of his two sons, Lukas and Micah, sounding much more traditional than any of this other versions.

Singing the classic “I saw the light”, we’ve listened to Willie Nelson collaborating with Alison Krauss in a concert in the summer last year, just to get an excuse to listen to the last album released by Alison, this “Windy City” from a year and a half ago. This classic “It’s Goodbye and So Long to you” is included in the fifth solo studio album by bluegrass-country artist Alison Krauss, a classic by the Osborne Brothers. Released on February 17, 2017, the album is Krauss' first solo release in almost eighteen years, and includes ten covers of classic songs that she selected with producer Buddy Cannon, who also collaborates in the background vocals, as will Dan Timinsky and Hank Williams, Jr.

The album debuted at number one on both the country and Americana charts in the US and UK, as well as number nine on the all-genre Billboard 200, and as of March 2018 the album has sold some 128,000 copies in the United States.

Alison Krauss is one of the artists who helped break down the barriers between bluegrass and mainstream country music, but even though country radio was willing to make room for her, Krauss never seemed to be interested in following their directives or courting their favor. Krauss has always followed her own creative path and let the audience come to her with her mature approach to acoustics. Thirty years into her recording career, Krauss has made her most specifically "country" album to date.

Windy City is a polished and carefully crafted tribute to the countrypolitan sounds of the '50s and '60s, music that fused the emotional honesty and personal storytelling of country with smooth, sophisticated production dominated by pianos and strings, and the set list draws from old standards rather than contemporary compositions. Her stellar fiddle work appears on only one track. She meets the demands of the material beautifully, and she brings a warmth and subtle passion to songs like "Gentle on My Mind" and "You Don't Know Me" that makes you briefly forget the definitive recordings of these classics. Let’s listen to a couple of numbers more: “Windy City”, the classic by The Osborne Brothers penned by Bobby Osborne, and “Gentle on my mind”, the unforgettable classic by Glenn Campbell.

It remains to be seen if Windy City is a brief creative detour for Alison Krauss or the first salvo of a new creative direction. But if Krauss wants to be the new voice of retro countrypolitan music, Windy City leaves no doubt that she has the talent and the intelligence to make it work, and this album is a richly satisfying experience.

Just to say goodbye with a great mood, we’ll listen to three great pieces, “Dream of me”, a rendition to Vern Gosdin’s classic from 1981 and curiously enough written by Buddy Cannon, who produced Alison Krauss’ album we’ve just listened to, then we’ll play “Poison Love”, the traditional 50s classic country number from the duet Johnny and Jack, and “You Don’t know me” a song from Eddy Arnold written by Cindy Walker based on a title and storyline given to her by Eddy in 1955, who was really made famous by Ray Charles, taking it to the #2 of the Easy Listening charts in 1962.

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As a newly inducted member of CMT's Next Women of Country class of 2019, Stephanie Quayle is celebrating a breakthrough year in country music.The singer-songwriter made her debut on both the Grand Ole Opry and historic Ryman Auditorium stages, along with hosting for Wrangler Network on the ACM Awards red carpet, as well as hosting for Sounds Like Nashville on the CMT Awards and CMA Awards red carpets. And in a once in a lifetime opportunity, she was the only indie act invited to perform for the five living former U.S. presidents (Obama, W. Bush, Clinton, H.W. Bush and Carter) as part of the hurricane relief concert "Deep From The Heart: The One America Appeal" in Texas. Today we have listened to her playing her 2016 single “Drinking with dolly”, dedicated to giant country female singers such as Dolly Parton, or Loretta Lynn, who were of great influence for Stephanie back in her younger days.

Just as a curiosity, Dolly Parton with her massive and legendary catalog of songs has just signed a major deal with the biggest publishing concern in all of music—Sony/ATV. The company will now represent all of Dolly Parton’s songs, including country standards such as “Jolene”, in 1973 “I Will Always Love You”, in1974, and “Coat of Many Colors.” , which started being recorded in october 1969, almost 50 years ago this year, and was included in the 9th studio album of the artist.

Ended in April 1971 and running to three minutes four seconds, this is another of Parton's hit songs, and the personal favorite of her own compositions. From the title one would be inclined to think it had a Biblical or religious connection with. The biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors is found in Genesis 37.; although it does, it is actually autobiographical.??Parton was born in Locust Ridge, Tennessee and grew up in poverty, the fourth of 12 children, and her mother really did make her such a coat. Her classmates teased her, but Parton was proud of the coat and tried to make them understand that even though her family didn't have much money, they were rich in other, more important ways. While Dolly Parton's patchwork coat inspired ridicule, Joseph's one in the Bible inspired envy. We’ll listen to Coat of Many Colors, year 1971 by Dolly PArton.

September 29 2019 our calendar will mark the 50th anniversary of this great classic “Okie from Muskogee”, this time sung by Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard in a rare TV collaboration between the two legends. "Okie" is a slang name for someone from Oklahoma, and Muskogee is the 11th largest city in the state. The song was released in September 1969 as first single and title track from the album Okie from Muskogee, and was one of the most famous songs of Haggard's career.

Haggard said that he wrote the song after he became disheartened watching Vietnam War protests and incorporated that emotion and viewpoint into song, "Okie from Muskogee" grew from the two trading one-liners about small-town life,[3] where conservative values were the norm and outsiders with ideals contrary to those ways were unwelcome. Here, the singer reflects on how proud he is to hail from Middle America, where its residents were patriotic, and didn't smoke marijuana, take LSD, wear beads and sandals, burn draft cards or challenge authority.

We’ll say goodbye to Merle Haggard with another one of his eternal classics, this time from 1966, called “The Bottle Let me Down”.

Dale Watson has come to our show with two songs, the first one being Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle let me down” performing life in concert, and the other is part of his new album “Call me Lucky”, name of both the song and the album.

Two years is an eternity for Dale Watson, the country troubadour who made it a habit to release at least two records a year through for most of the 2010s. Watson slowed his roll in 2018, leaving his longtime home of Austin, Texas, for Memphis, Tennessee. His move was spurred by Austin's plague of condos and multi-use properties -- the Broken Spoke, one of the city's prime honky-tonks and a regular stomping ground for Watson, is now dwarfed by modern architecture on both sides of its old-fashioned dancehall. In Memphis, he recognized a city that was intent on nurturing its roots instead of trampling them. Revitalized by his new city, Watson wrote a set of vibrant, funny numbers -- songs that sound like throwbacks to the heyday of hardwood juke joints and well-worn jukeboxes, but enlivened with a knowing wink. Truth be told, only a handful of the tunes truly seem informed by Memphis. Nevertheless, Watson is clearly reinvigorated by his new surroundings, writing lean and lively songs that touch upon every one of his musical obsessions, whether it's Bakersfield twang, truck drivers, outlaws, barroom weepers, or hopping swing. It all adds up to one of Watson's most satisfying records -- which is saying something, considering how many albums he has.

We’ll say goodbye to Dale with two more songs from this great album. “Haul off and do it”, and “Run Away”.

A singer and songwriter with a rock & roll heart and a country soul, Hayes Carll has won a devoted following in roots rock and Americana circles for music that honors the traditions of vintage country but with the swagger and swing of rock, while speaking from the perspective of a regular guy with street smarts and stories to tell. Carll has a loose but committed rock & roll with a Southern accent and more laid-back numbers that grafted an outlaw sensibility to a Sunday afternoon back-porch guitar pull.

Born Joshua Hayes Carll in Houston on January 9, 1976, the singer/songwriter received his first guitar at the age of 15 and almost immediately began writing songs influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, and the Beat-era writings of Jack Kerouac, all of which continued to reverberate in Carll's mature songwriting style. After graduating in 1998 with a history degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, Carll returned to Texas, settling in Crystal Beach, where he played his own material in the local bars. After a stay in Austin, he returned home and continued to play gigs in the Galveston and Houston area, picking up a loyal following.

signed to Compadre Records and in 2002 released a debut album, Flowers and Liquor, which garnered him favorable comparisons to Townes Van Zandt. Carll released his second album, Little Rock, on his own Highway 87 Records; He signed with Lost Highway Records in 2006, and they released Trouble in Mind in 2008. Carll's clever, witty lyrics developed a strong ironic streak. His reputation got a boost when four of his songs appeared in the 2010 film Country Strong, Carll partnered with Dualtone Records to release 2019's What It Is, which was produced by Allison Moorer in collaboration was bassist and recording engineer Brad Jones.

From this album, we have just listened this “If I may be so bold”, and we’ll say goodbye to Hayes listening to “What is it”.

A Nashville-based singer/songwriter with a smooth voice and classic tone, Logan Ledger built a buzz around Music City in the late-2010s, calling to mind names like George Jones and Webb Pierce. His career got a significant boost when producer T-Bone Burnett signed him and brokered a record deal with Rounder Records, resulting in a pair of 2019 singles, from which we have listened to the single “Imagining teardrops”.

A native of California, Ledger developed a fondness for bluegrass, old-time, and honky tonk music from a young age. After a brief post-college stint as part of a Bay Area bluegrass band, he migrated east to Nashville and put in the requisite hours working on his songs and playing at venues around the city. Industry insiders quickly took notice, and before long he was offered with Rounder Records. The first official release from these sessions arrived in early 2019 with the singles "Starlight" and "Imagining Raindrops”, which is the one we’ve listened to.

Gethen Jenkins is an award-winning singer-songwriter born in Huntington, West Virginia, and raised in a rural Indian village in the state of Alaska. He served eight years in the US Marines. In July 2017, Five Music Inc. released his six-song Extended Play titled “Where The Honkytonk Belongs”, and turned out to be one of the top-selling Outlaw Country albums on iTunes. After being honored with the Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year awards that very same year at the California Country Awards, Gethen was recently named 2018’s Best Outlaw Country Artist by a country magazine in the city of Los Angeles. Earlier this year, Gethen Jenkins recorded his full-length album in Nashville with award-winning producer Vance Powell (who has also produced for Jack White, Chris Stapleton, or Willie Nelson). Gethen has since played over 1,000 live shows, sharing the stage with prominent acts such as The Marshall Tucker Band, Billy Joe Shaver, Wanda Jackson, David Allan Coe, and many more. From the album we have just listened to the songs “Restless Ways”, and “Bottle in my hand”, with which is possible to appreciaty the quality of this fantastic outlaw artist. This talent has resulted in the establishment of a dedicated country fan base in Southern California, which did not happen since Dwight Yoakam. We’ll say goodbye to Gethem Jenkins with another song from the album: “This ol’ prison”.

Reba McEntire is following up her Grammy-winning gospel collection with some of the purest country that she’s ever done, and if “Stronger Than the Truth” is any indication of what the album has in store, she’s gunning for the sound and substance of the new traditionalist albums that made her a superstar in the nineteen eighties. We’ve just listened to the song that gives name to her latest album, which will see the light next month. What’s different this time around is her age. Many of her finest recordings ever document the pain of a long-term relationship dissolving.  But when she sings about a marriage dying now, it has a potency that even Reba herself couldn’t deliver thirty years ago. That’s because the wife being left in “Stronger Than the Truth” isn’t being betrayed by the love of the last decade, but the love of a lifetime.  The violation of that trust being broken, and the helplessness that accompanies it, are only heightened by McEntire’s bare and vulnerable vocal:  “The only thing I can do is pour a glass and pretend that this pain is gonna end.” Reba’s powerhouse vocals gave her classic breakup hits an underlying layer of confidence and resilience.  There’s none of that here.  Just unyielding heartache in the wake of the ultimate betrayal. It’s as sad and lonely a record as one could ever hear. One has to go back twenty years to find the last time which Reba McEntire introduced a new studio album with a ballad. It’s exceedingly rare, and a welcomed change of pace, especially when it introduces a project McEntire is calling one of the most country of her career. The title track, which was co-written by Hannah Blaylock and her niece Autumn McEntire, talks as I said before about a woman in the wake of learning that her husband has taken up with someone new. The album comes just four years after McEntire and her manager husband Narvel Blackstock divorced after 25 years, a decision she has said, “wasn’t her idea.” Probably this is the reason why she is delivering it so well in the song.

While we keep on waiting for the release of the album, we’ll get satisfaction of the songs which have already been released. We’ll say goodbye to the show today listening to two more songs: “Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain”, and “In his mind”.

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Faren Rachels, a tough young woman from the small town of Sparta, in the state of Georgia, has come to open the show with her new song “Uber Driver”. Her community, Sparta, was so small and tight-knit that her graduating high school class consisted on only twelve students. During that time as a teenager she gained an appreciation for the great 90s female artists of country music, crediting Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack and Trisha Yearwood as her biggest influences. If we get to mix this influence with a dose of southern rock, then you can understand how well this “Uber Driver” sounds. While still attending college in the university of Georgia in the city of Athens she put together a band to perform cover gigs, combining that with singing in church. Soon after graduating she pursued her dream understanding that her current 9 to 5 job was a dead-end for her, so Faren moved to Nashville never to look back. In November of 2017 she releasend her self titled EP “Faren Rachels” and joined Luke Combs on his fall tour. Her music caught the attention of the magazine Rollin Stone, tagging her as a country artist to follow in 2018. This song we’ve just listened to talks about the freedom a woman should have just as men have in their life, without having to give explanations to anybody just for being a woman.

In the era of the hashtags “Time’s Up” and “Me too”, women continue to struggle in the world of country music. It could seem like the country music world is dominated by men, at least based on radio airplay. Proof of that is that in early December, Billboard magazine announced that for the first time, its Country Airplay chart listed no women in the Top 20. This issue has made some artists such as Lauren Alaina release a song called “Ladies in the 90s”, which celebrates a time when females were plentiful on country radio sending songs up the charts cutting hit after hit after hit. We’re not going to listen to that song in this podcast due to the fact that this is pop song and this is a traditional country show. What we are doing, though, is playing real country voices and fiddle and steel tracks included in EPs and LPs both recently released, and on their way to become all-time classics. It is not the case of the voice we have just listened to, the Australian country singer Jamie O’Neal, who was singing to us the song “Born to Run”, a voice quite similar to that of one of the queens of country music, especially in the 90s, Martina McBride. What is quite unusual in country musicians who kind of struck Music City gold as a sought-after songwriter is to find good songs among their third album. She is singing to freedom as a woman, she was born to run, to get ahead of the rest, she didn’t want to be the best, just be someone, to feel the freedom, as she was saying in this track opening her album from 2014 “Eternal”, with a flavor to the old 90s style. Her talent as a songwriter was proven when singers such as Clay Davidson, Ronnie Milsap, LeAnn Rimes or Chely Wright sang her songs. This wasn’t enough for her and she pursued her career to find a spot among the stars, which she finally got hold of. We will say goodbye to Jamie O’Neal listening to her rendition to Loretta Lynn in her “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (with loving on your mind)”, second song in her album “Eternal”, with a style quite similar to that of Terri Clark, the Canadian singer who also struck hard in the 90s.

Loretta Lynn is about as iconic as female country music stars get, and she’s been praised and celebrated for her honest, eloquent and quite often brilliant songwriting about the realities of an adult’s life. We’ve just listened to her in one of her best-known compositions, "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin", an all-time classic about an angry wife who is fed up with her husband coming home late every night very drunk and wanting to have sex. For new audiences it might be shocking to hear that the song was based on Lynn's personal life. Actually, her husband is known to have been a heavy drinker. The song was the first of many controversial songs sung by Lynn, which also included 1972's "Rated X" and 1975's "The Pill". The song was considered very controversial for the time, but was ultimately quite popular. An album of the same name was released following the song's success, which also rose to the top of the charts. The producers John Carter Cash (only son of Johnny Cash and June Carter), and Patsy Lynn Russell, daughter of Loretta Lynn, have designed the last album recorded by the giant icon during 2018 to celebrate her talent as a songwriter. Some of the tracks are old classics re-recorded, while six are new tunes, some written in collaboration with Shawn Camp, a great singer and songwriter from the early 2000s. Her voice at the age of 86 is remarkably strong and limber, not very differnt from her heydays in the 60s and 70s, still in full command of her instrument.

We’re going to listen to two more songs, this time two new recordings, the first one is “Ruby’s Stool”, and “The Big Man”, showing that she hasn’t abdicated her position as a honky tonk queen.

The acoustic arrangements include some stellar bluegrass pickers such as Sam Bush, Ronnie McCourse and Randy Scruggs. Some editions ago I commented that last year Loretta suffered a stroke that crippled her capacities. Regardless of that, this jewell includes 13 tracks of the best country music one can imagine at this moment to be released by a female artist, and deep into this work one realizes that Lynn hasn’t lost her stride either as a composer or as a vocalist, which makes the presence of the remakes, especially the ones we will say goodbye with to this album, a proof that her flame as a country musician will need more than a stroke to make her decide to retire completely. We’ll say goodbye to this wonderful album with the songs “Darkest Day”, and the song with which she always finished her concerts: “Coal Miner’s Daughter”.

Stella Parton’s rendition on Loretta Lynn’s classic “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, included in her album from 2010 “American Coal”. Stella, Dolly Parton’s sister, has put her sister under fire after seemingly dismissing concerts about the hashtag “Me too” movement and sexual harassment in the country music industry. The country legend, Dolly, said she had experienced sexual harassment during her time in the limelight, but that her experiences likely aren’t as bad as those other women may have had.

The unapollogetically feminine Parton says she relates to feminists, and even provides them a soundtrack and film in “9 to 5”, but the singer is hesitant to label herself as such because she never saw herself in that way.

Stella Parton also says that she was uncomfortable when Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda criticized President Donald Trump while onstage with Parton at the 2017 Emmy Awards. Dolly commented that she doesn’t like getting up on TV and saying political things. A big reason Parton doesn’t get political is because she’s a smart marketer, admitting that she doesn’t want to allienate anyone in her enormous, diverse fanbase.

Stella also called out Dolly’s pal Jane Fonda, as well as Mery Streep, for allegedly keeping quiet about sexual misconduct in Hollywood.

Just in December 2018, the audiovisual platform Netflix released the coming-of-age comedy film called “Dumplin’”, an American movie directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Kristin Hahn. It is based on the young audlt novel of the same name, written by Julie Murphy. The flix stars Danielle Mcdonald as Willowdean “Dumplin’” Dickson, Jennifer Aniston as her mother, Rosie Dickson, and Odeya Rush as her best friend, Ellen Dryer. The singer and actress Dolly Parton doesn’t appear on-screen in the film, but she plays a pivotal role in this comedy anyway, both providing the bond between the two lead characters, Rosie and Willowden, who are mourning the death of Aunt Lucy, a big Dolly Parton fan -functioning as a center for its soundtrack. 10 out of the 12 tracks that conform the CD have been penned by Dolly herself, who next to Linda Perry produced the album, revisiting a few of her old classics. The two songs we’ve just heard are “Dumb Blonde”, played by Dolly and Miranda Lambert a few minutes ago, which had been also previously recorded and included in the 1967 album “Hello I’m Dolly”, and “If we don’t”, here next to Rhonda Vincent and Alison Krauss, being one of the new songs. It is refresing to hear Dolly hug these smooth melodies, with some intentionally referring to her crossover peak of the late 70s and early 80s.

Dolly Parton was a strong female voice in the male-dominated world of country music, where she excelled as both a singer and a songwriter. Just to say goodbye to Dolly we will listen to one of her most iconic songs the all-time classic “Just because I’m a woman”, well in the line of today’s program defending the female voices in country music. In this song, she demands equal treatment, making it clear that she shouldn’t be judged more harshly simply because of her gender. This being the American South in 1968, it was without a doubt a bold statement. In the lyrics she clearly points out that women and men are judged differently based on their sexual experience. This stems from a real-life dispute with her husband, Carl, whom she had married in 1966 and who started having second thoughts about Dolly’s past before their marriage. This song gave an early indication of Parton’s unique talents: how she could be both a paragon of traditional values and a champion of women’s rights.

We’ll say goodbye to this wonderful soundtrack listening to two more tracks, this time we are going to satisfy the selection of one of our listeners, Jabier Diaz, who wants to listen to the song “Here I am” from the 1971 album “Coat of many colors”, curiously enough the track which opens this soundtrack we are reviewing today “Dumplin’”, accompanied by the pop singer Sia. The second one is included in the extra CD in the album, which contains a series of songs mixed for the occasion, or simply selected from classics from 20 plus years ago. This time is the all-time classic we were just commenting a few moments ago, “Just because I’m a woman”.

Jeannie C. Riley giving her rendition to the classic by Dolly Parton. She is 73 years old today. She is best known for her 1968 country and pop hit "Harper Valley PTA" (written by Tom T. Hall), which missed (by one week) becoming the Billboard Country and Pop number one hit at the same time. In subsequent years, she had moderate chart success with country music, but never again duplicated the success of “Harper Valley PTA”. The great steel guitar legend Weldon Myrick gets credit for believing in her talent after listening to one of the demo tapes that Jeanne sent while still a teenager living in Stamford, Texas, who sent her a letter asking to move to Nashville Tenessee to record music for him.

The singer and songwriter Tom T. Hall had written a song called “Harper Valley, PTA”, and while Riley was working as a secretary in Nashville recording country demos on the side, the producer of Mercury Records at the time, Shelby Singleton, received one these demo tapes of Riley's voice. Singleton was starting and succeeding with his own label, Plantation Records, at the time. He worked with Riley in the recording of the Tom T. Hall demo song that Singleton saw potential in, "Harper Valley PTA.”, and the record quickly became one of the best-known country music songs of all time. Riley became the very first female with the Number 1 in the Pop and Country charts at the same time. A "PTA" is a Parent Teacher Association. Popular in small towns of the United States, the organizations work to improve school conditions and encourage communication between parents and teachers. In some cases, the members of PTAs can be righteous and petty, and the characters in this song are depicted as such. The song struck a nerve with many women who felt some empathy with the character of the song: Stella Johnson. The singer is the junior high-school daughter of the widowed Mrs. Johnson. The story begins when the daughter brings home a note from the Harper Valley PTA, signed by the Secretary, which decries Mrs. Johnson's allegedly scandalous behavior. Examples of conduct the town views as offensive to moral standards include wearing short dresses, engaging in dalliances with men and "goin' wild". Mrs. Johnson is outraged and attends the PTA meeting that happens to be going on that afternoon. The members attending have a surprise when she walks in wearing a miniskirt; she then exposes a long list of indiscreet behavior on the part of numerous people, present or not. She concludes her smackdown by labeling the PTA a bunch of hypocrites.

This is nothing but a cry for freedom for women: Harper Valley PTA, Jeannie C Riley.

To finish today’s salute to women of country music, we wanted to get our own rendition to one of the most authentic voices in Nashville, that of Gretchen Wilson, who no matter how many albums she sells, keeps being loyal to the fiddle and steel sound that made her famous in the first place.

My first experience with listening to the music of Gretchen was in 2004 when her song “Redneck Woman” was played nationwide over country radio stations. She broke the boundaries of what women in music are supposed to be singing about. She did not want to conform to the typical lifestyles most musicins choose to adhere to. Her music which some may refer to as “rough around the edges” breaks the stereotype of what society expects women to be. She belives that women should just be themselves and do what makes them happy, ever if it is not what the societal norm is. She was once described as a “ working class feminist for the post feminist age”. Most of her songs talk about breaking the boundaries of what is socially acceptable for women, and proof of that is the fact that musicians like Gretchen Wilson give hope to those that do not have the luxiries and amenities that members of higher social classes have. For people of high social classes, hearing her lyrics may be offensive but it serves as a reminder that there is nothing that really makes them better than anyone else. It is my humble opinion that more musicians like Gretchen would help the world become a more equal place due to her speaking on behalf of those who do no t have the opportunity to and for that I respect her.

From her last album from 2017 called “Ready to get Rowdy”, we have listened to “I ain’t that desperate yet”, a wonderful plain and honest honky tonk sound as fresh as it was in 2005 when she released her debut album. To finish with today’s show we will listen to two more songs from the album, this time the songs that close the album. “A little Loretta”, honoring Loretta Lynn as one of her most important influences in her career, and “Big Wood Deck”, song talking about building a wood deck where one can sit and enjoy a beer on the front porch, a very redneck way to end this podcast today.

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Red Steagall, singing the classic “Jerry’s Bar’n’Grill”, a great fiddle and steel rodeo song from the 70s. Red can take credit for discovering one of the greatest country talents of the last 30 years: Reba McEntire.

Red has had three careers running at the same time: the one as a songwriter, which made him coin over 200 compositions, several of which became hits by other artists; as a singer, Steagall had some major hits in the 70s, like this one “Jerry’s Bar’n’Grill”. He was also an author of poetry about the West, turning him into a modern cowboy balladeer.

He was born in Gainesville, Texas, and became a bull rider at rodeos in his teen years. A serious illness back in his time, Polio got hold of him and he had to recover his strength in his arms by playing the guitar as therapy. He formed his first band still at university playing in clubs around Los Angeles. Even though his successful career started in the 60s by having artists such as Ray Charles and Nancy Sinatra playing his music, it wasn’t until the 70s that he turned towards country music.

Steagall was a regular guest at rodeos, and while he was performing at the National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City in 1974, he spotted a young singer named Reba McEntire who was appearing with her family. Reba had been chosen to sing the National Anthem at the beginning of the show, and she did it so well that he got her to record a demo and made sure that it was heard by anyone who could do McEntire some good, which resulted in her being signed to a recording contract while still in her teens.

In 1980, he decided to leave Nashville and took up residence at his ranch near Fort Worth. We’ll say goodbye to this wonderful honky tonk and western swing singer from Texas with a couple more songs from the 70s: Tight Levis and yellow ribbons, talking about the attire of cowboys wearing Levi jeans, and Lone Star beer and Bob Wills music, two important iconic references for Texans: the national beer called Lone Star, as the state, and the western swing music of the most important singer that the State of Texas ever breeded: Bob Wills.

Clay Blaker is probably best known as the writer of half a dozen songs recorded by his great friend of George Strait. Clay and George started their careers not very distant apart in years, but Clay became a more popular regional entertainer, publishing only 4 albums, whereas George has published some 30 albums and has Ybecome a national mainstream attraction.

We’ve listened to his great voice here in “Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills music”. He was born in Houston, like Red Steagall, near Almeda, Texas. His parents loved both swing bands and country music. Hence, his most important influences are Glenn Miller and Ernest Tubb. His music is also influenced a bit by Hawaii, as early in the 70s he tried to pursue a career as a surfer in the island of Maui. To finish, we’ll say goodbye to Clay Blaker listening to a couple more songs: Heart of Glass, and Goin’ Home to Texas.

The late Texas legend Doug Sahm produced this wonderful album by Ed Burleson called “My Perfect World”, including Lloyd Maines at the steel guitar.

Burleson, a descendant of General Edward Burleson, a war hero from the Texas independence Battle of San Jacinto, was born on June 10, 1969. Burleson's father was a salesman, so Burleson grew up in various locales around Texas -- Garland, Denison, Conroe, El Paso -- as well as in Tulsa, OK. Burleson eventually settled in Lewisville, TX, where he was on the high school rodeo team. It was traveling to rodeos and listening to small-town radio that introduced him to Texas music. Burleson won a rodeo scholarship to Hill College in Hillsboro, TX, and it was there that he first started learning guitar. Upon graduation, he acquired a knee injury that needed surgery. While recovering, his love for playing country music grew. He first started playing at a newcomer's showcase at the Three Teardrops Tavern in Dallas. The owner told Burleson if he could put a band together, he could play every Thursday night. (The drummer for that band was his father, Richard Burleson.) Burleson's first CD was 1997's Comin' Around. One night at the Broken Spoke Saloon in Austin, Burleson gave a copy of the album to Doug Sahm, who was so impressed that he became Burleson's manager. Sahm also polished up the CD and released it on his fledgling Tornado Records label. That effort, 1999's My Perfect World, hit number four on the Americana charts. From that album we’ll listen to two more wonderful songs, “No Closing Time”, making reference to the closing time of the bar, and “It all started and eded with you”, where Ed makes reference to a love relationship going wrong and lingering in the feeling.

Country singer and songwriter Jon Pardi, born and raised in Dixon, California, found himself enjoing country music early in life, falling in love with great voices such as that one of George Jones, George Strait, or Hank Williams Jr. He started writing at the age of 12, and joined his first band at 14. Country music was the only thing thing Jon wanted to do, and started playing regional clubs and bars once he gratuated from high school. After graduating from college he moved to Nashville in 2008, pursuing a dream, which he fulfilled 18 months after arriving in Music City. Pardi signed a recording deal with Capitol Records, releasing in the spring of 2012 his first single “Missin’ You Crazy”. His debut album arrived 2 years later with his “Write you a song”, peaking at number three of the country albums. Pardi’s sophomore album, California Sunrise, appeared in June 2016, from which we have listened the beautiful “She Ain’t in it”, a song where he receives a call from a friend who asks him about how he was doing, and we get to understand that he has been dumped by his girlfriend and he is doing alright provided her name isn’t mentioned in the conversation. We’ll say goodbye to Jon Pardi by listening to a great honky tonk song called “Paycheck”, a ode to receiving your salary and spending part of it in having a good time.

On February 21, the duet formed by Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn unveiled the track listing for their latest album, which will see the light on April 5th. In addition to previously released songs such as “Believe” with Kane Brown, Books & Dunn released their collaboration with Luke Combs on “Brad New Man”, which we have just listened to, and with Jon Pardi on “My Next Broken Heart”, which we will now listen to, and from which we have just revised his album “California Sunrise”.

Brad Paisley paying respects to Brooks and Dunn with “My next broken heart”, when Brooks and Dunn decided to go their separate ways and Nashville remember tpart of their legacy thru different singers singing their songs.

In this case Brad Paisley sings their unforgettable “My next Broken Heart”. Speaking of which, Brad Paisley sings one for the perpetually unlycky in love with his new single “Bucked Off”, released some days ago. The song is Paisley’s first release since the 2017 single “Heaven South”, which appeared on his long play “Love and War” that some editions ago was revised in this same show. Penned by Paisley, Chris DuBois and Kelley Lovelace, “Bucked Off” is an upbeat mediation on the riksks of dating, making the comparison that putting oneself in that vulnerable situation feels like riding a bull at the rodeo. In the song, Brad comments that George Strait song on the jukebox suggests it’s a worthwile endeavor in spito of the pain one may have to endure along the way, mentioning such classics by George as “Marina del Rey” and “I can still Make Cheyenne”.

The song is the first taste of an album Paisley says he’s working on, but is just four or five songs into. He promises he’ll continue to keep one foot planted in the past with the other leading the genre forward. Chris DuBois and Kelley Lovelace helpd Paisley write this song, as I said before, and it was debuted during the 2018 CMA Awards and immediately released to radio. The singer didn’t provide a timetable as to when this next studio album might be released, and next month will mark the 2nd anniversary since his last studio album was released.

Just to finish the show, we’ll listen to “Bucked off”, and we’ll remember George Strait’s songs mentioned in Brad’s song: “Marina del Rey”, from 1982’s sophomore album by Strait, “Strait from the Heart”, and “I can still make Cheyenne”, epic cowboy song about a cowboy rider who is abandoned by his wife, who is tired of his being away in competitions most of the time.

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A small boat honors the cover of Songs for the Saints, a visual that usually insinuates sunshiny good times from Kenny Chesney. Beaches are one of his areas of specialty, so it would follow that this 2018 album -- his first album for Warner, after leaving his longtime home of Sony -- is one full of life. That's true to an extent: Chesney assembled the album in the wake of 2017's Hurricane Irma, a storm that devastated the Caribbean. The singer realized how Irma changed the lives of so many in the path of the storm, and decided to record Songs for the Saints as a tribute to what these islands mean. Songs for the Saints has a melancholy running through a few of its tunes, yet its tone isn't bitter. Chesney celebrates the very feel of island culture, relying on the scenery, legends, weather, and friendship that come with the sand, sun, and sea. The result is one of Chesney's best records: and I have to say that some of his tunes lingered in my memory long after having listened to them.

We’ve just listened to Gulf Moon, referring to the Golf of Mexico. Kenny has lots of fans, but his kind of country is far from tradition since the late 90s, when he fell in love with the Caribbean, and most of his lyrics nowadays revolve around white sandy beaches, and Bloody Mary cocktails. We’ll say goodbye to this last album from Kenny Chesney with another reference to Hurricane Irma: Trying to reason with hurricane season, this time accompanied by Jimmy Buffett, another country artist who fell in love with the Caribbean a long time in the past, and right after this song, we’ll look back in time to 1996, when Kenny was a bit more traditionalist, and his second album “Me and You”. From that album we’ll listen to the song “Ain’t that Love”.

“Ain’t that love”, recorded in 1993 by Rhonda Vincent for her album “Written in the Stars”, and 3 years later by Kenny Chesney, even though I must confess that Rhonda’s version outweighs Kenny’s version in quality. It is very curious, but included in this album by Kenny, there is a song that later in the year 2000 Rhonda Vincent would cover in her album for Rounder Records. That is a very curious fact.

Musicians like Rhonda Vincent don’t come along very often, and when they do, the music industry doesn’t always know what to do with them. Fortunately, Rhonda Vincent figured it out on her own. This great Bluegrass vocalist and fiddler began her professional music career at the age of five, playing drums with her family's band, the Sally Mountain Show. She picked up the mandolin at eight and the fiddle at ten, performing with the family band at festivals on weekends. After appearing on TNN's nationally televised You Can Be a Star program in her mid-twenties, Vincent struck out on her own, singing with the Grand Ole Opry's Jim Ed Brown, eventually leading to a deal with Rebel Records. Her work with Brown and her Rebel recordings caught the attention of Giant Nashville's president, James Stroud, who signed Vincent to record two contemporary country albums. After her time at Giant, she moved to Rounder Records, and demonstrated her passion for the traditional music she grew up with on her work.

A car accident in December 1999 kept her from a planned trip to Nashville for auditions, so she hired her band (unusually named the Rage) through the Internet. Rhonda Vincent & the Rage have gained popularity at bluegrass festivals since their formation, playing hard-driving, high-energy contemporary bluegrass music. Her 2001 album, The Storm Still Rages, was nominated for seven Bluegrass Music awards. From the same album we where we listened “Ain’t that Love”, called “Written in the Stars” in 1993, we’ll listen to one more song, this time the beautiful and unforgettable “I’m not over you”, song which opened the doors of the heavens of country legends for Rhonda Vincent.

Country music duets have a deep and long tradition going back to the origins of the genre, celebrating its heydays in the 60s and 70s. Now it's Rhonda Vincent and Daryle Singletary delivering in high fashion in this album called "AMERICAN GRANDSTAND," a mixture of re-recordings of old classics and some new material. This is Daryle’s last album of his life, as he passed away a year ago at 46. He was one of the most underrated traditional country music singers of the moment, and his voice and Rhonda Vincent’s fit like a hand into a glove. The album opens with a 57-year-old classic that Harlan Howard penned, called "Above And Beyond", which we have just listened. The song ages well like a fine wine. The interplay between fiddle, steel guitar and "honky tonk" piano is pretty magical.

Without a doubt, this is a must-have album for those in love with classic country and a blend of new honky tonk.

Besides Rhonda & Daryle hitting all the vocal highs and lows in superior form, they were helped by a who's who in the studio. There is current Hot Rize member Bryan Sutton on acoustic guitar, Stuart Duncan on fiddle comes courtesy of the Nashville Bluegrass Band. The electric guitar is shared by former Merle Haggard guitarist Redd Volkaert and Nashville session pro, James Mitchell. And then there is steel guitar wiz Mike Johnson, who does a lot of TV work and tours with the queen of country music Reba McEntire.

Even though Daryle’s voice is more suited to sing songs from George Jones than from Conway Twitty, we’ll say goodbye to this wonderful album listening to a huge classic from 1971 called “After the Fire is Gone”, written by L.E. White, a bluegrass player with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, and who also played with the Osborne Brothers, recorded originaly by Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, recorded also 17 years ago for Daryle’s album “That’s Why I sing This Way?” from 2002 also with Rhonda. This time we’ll listen to this one version included in this album from 2017.

“Rocky Top”, the legendary song sang here by the classic Osborne Brothers, the original performers, more especifically by Bobby Osborne, 88 years old and still in front of the mike in this wonderful album recorded in a once-in-a-lifetime evening of historical performances, filmed and recorded live at the Ryman Auditorium in 2016 featuring the most award winning band in bluegrass music history - Rhonda Vincent & The Rage! Special guests include bluegrass legends Jesse McReynolds, Bobby Osborne, Sonny Osborne, and Mac Wiseman along with masters in the craft of bluegrass music join together in a multiplistic display that features musicians spanning three generations! The album was published in DVD and CD just last summer.

The Osborne brothers, Sonny and Bobby, were an influential and popular bluegrass act during the 1960s and 1970s. The song was originally recorded by the Osborne Brothers in 1967, it talks about a dweller’s lamentation over th loss of a simple and freer existence in the hills of Tennessee, and it is one of the 10 official state songs. Sally Berry, the daughter of Rhonda Vincent, is also with her in the band. Hers is the responsibility of our next track, called “Grass that I’m Playing is really blue”. Sally Berry got married to Rhonda’s fiddle virtuoso Hunter Berry some time in the past. Right after that song, to say goodbye to this wonderful album, and hence to Rhonda Vincent, we’ll listen to the classic from Merle Haggard “Mama Tried”, also included in this album, next to Sonny Osborne, 82 year-old bluegrass virtuoso.

Reba McEntire, in her live album in 1989 at the McCallum Theatre, was singing the classic “Mama tried”.

Reba was the most successful female recording artist in the 1980s and 1990s, scoring 22 top hits, and released 5 gold albums, six platinum albums, two double platinum, etc, of sales exceeded the 33 million copies sold, and now she has diversified her talets. Well into the 21 century, she expanded her activities as an actress in film and on television stages, where she starred a long-running situation comedy, ultimately making her the most important crossover artist ever to have emerged from country music since Dolly Parton.

She was born in 1955, in McAlester, in the State of Oklahoma, from a professional steer roper and a former school teacher. Her family sang together, and she was raised in a ranch in Chockkie, Oklahoma although as her father competed, they had to be on the road most of the time. The family taughtg the children how to play instruments, and her career started as the 70s came to live. During the National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City, she was asked to sing the national anthem, and Red Steagall, a very important singer from the 70s, fell in love with her voice and invited her to record music. The rest is history: 34 albums published. But life as not always that easy for her, as in 1991 8 members of her band died in a plane crash. Reba still remembers that situation.

From that experience, Reba published one album called “For my Broken heart”, in 1991, one of her best-selling works in her career, dedicated fully to the band members she lost.

I’d love to have an opportunity to play a couple of songs from this sad but extraordinary album from Reba listening to a couple of songs before moving to Reba’s last single. The two songs we will listen from her 1991 album are “Is there life out there”, and “He’s in Dallas”, two classic and beautiful songs with a breeze of good ole 80s traditional country.

We’ll say goodbye to this podcast listening to the two singles advanced from her last work, still in the oven, called “Stronger than the truth”. The two songs are “Stronger than the Truth”, giving name to the album, and “No U in Oklahoma”, and it’s the most traditional piece of work she has released in the last 20 years of her career, which comes as a surprise to me. I wasn’t expecting Reba to make this U turn and play western swing like she used to do in her albums from the 80s, The album will see the light next April 9th, and we have already saved the day in our calendar to show you some songs from what outlooks to be an extraordinary album. And for the frosting on the cake, we’ve saved a fantastic song from the live album at the Ryman Auditorium from the album we have been talking about early in the show, the one from Rhonda Vincent with the Osborne brothers, if you might remember. From that album we’ll play the last track called “Oswald’s Dobro Chimes”, played by Brent Burke, that covers the Hawaiian classic “Maui Chimes”. So, first Reba McEntire with “Stronger than the truth”, then “No U in Oklahoma”, and then Brent Burker live with “Oswald’s Dobro Chimes” in a mix between bluegrass and Hawaiian music.

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“Down Louisiana way”, song by George Strait from the album “Lead On”, recorded almost 25 years to the day. It was the 15th studio album by George, and was published in november of 1994.

The songs on this superb country recording showcase the artist's smooth Texas baritone along with the expected honky tonk fiddle cries in the hand of Stuart Duncan and steel guitar twangs by Buddy Emmons and Paul Franklin. Though Lead On doesn't have an enormous runaway hit in its tracks, many of the songs written by extraordinary songwriters such as Aaron Barker, Jim Lauderdale, Dean Dillon, or Don Schultz, found their way onto the music charts, such as "You can’t make a heart love somebody", "Lead On," and "Adalida", to name a few.

Aaron Barker, the co-writer of this beautiful “Down Louisiana Way”, with which we opened today’s show, has written a few number one songs for George, such as “Baby Blue”, song that George sang and dedicated to his daughter Jennifer, who died at 13 in an automobile accident in San Marcos, Texas in the 80s, “Love without End, Amen”, or “Easy Come, Easy Go”, among others. Some three years ago, Aaron Barker was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

But to be honest, Aaron Barker is not the only important tunesmith in the work by George Strait. As I said before, other important names come together, such as Jim Lauderdale, who as written beautiful and unforgettable songs for Mr. Strait, such as “The King of Broken Hearts”, “Where the sidewalk ends”, “Don’t make me come over there and love you”, or more recently, “Twang”. From this album we are visiting today, we’ll listen to the song “What am I waiting for”, which didn’t make the charts itself but is worth listening to.

Jim Lauderdale’s music often walks a line between past and present as his talent takes him from bluegrass to contemporary sounds. We’ve just listened to the 8th track of his last album “Time Flyes”, the 31st in his 18 years of recording Americana music, called “Wild on me fast”. His talent helped lay out the blueprint for the Americana movement of the 1990s, releasing albums that spanned hard countrty, rootsy rock & roll, blues, and bluegrass.

In this last album Jim shows tremendous talent with a series of elements put together: his superb vocals on each and every tune, his cunning and down-to-earth songwriting, and a flawless performance. He is such a prolific musician that he has been able to put 31 albums in some 18 years, as I said before, and so it comes as no surprise to me that there was another album published in 2018 by Jim Lauderdale, but this time next to Roland White. The thing is that there’s a catch to this album, because even though I said that Jim Lauderdale’s official discography begins with his 1991 album Planet of Love, there was a Long Play album recorded in 1979 that had gone lost. The story says that in 1979, Jim decided to pay a visit to one of his musical heroes, madolin picker Roland White, who had played with a couple of bluegrass band called The Kentucky Colonels, and the Nashville Grass. Mr. White fell in love with Jim’s talent and became his mentor at the age of 22, and so he arranged to cut an album with him in Earl Scruggs’ home studio with a band which included such talents as Marty Stuart on guitar, Gene Wooten on Dobro, Johnny Warren on Fiddle, and of course Roland White on the mandolin. And so just 6 months ago finally Jim’s first ever album saw the light.

We’ll say goodbye to Jim’s album “Time Flyes” listening to the song “If the world’s still here tomorrow”, and a short pick of “Six White Horses” from his first album ever recorded.

Recorded between 2015 and 2017 in California and Honolulu, Peter Rowan has played this “My Blue Hula Girl”, from his 2017 album “My Aloha!”. For those not in the know, Peter Rowan has been one of AMerica’s masters of acoustic music since the 60s, and it should not be surprising that he a soft spot for vintage Hawaiian music, due to the fact that Traditional Hawaiian style enjoyed a burst of popularity in the 1920s, around the same time that artists like the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, considered the fathers of our favorite music style, were bringing country music to a mass audience for the first time, and they were the first to record tuens inspired by the sounds of the islands. This “My Aloha!” Album as created with a handful of Honolulu musicians, intended to reflect the cultural crosstalk between American rural music and the native sounds of the Hawaiian islands. As it can be seen throughout this piece of work, the country and especially its bluegrass side is overwhelmed by the Hawaiian influences, which have been put front. This isn’t an album for a beach celebration, to tell you the truth, but in case you were looking for a listening as you watch the sun set on the seaside, this should fit like a glove for that endevor. We’ll say goodbye to Peter Rowan’s excellent album with the song “Uncle Jimmy”, with Kilin Reece at the slack key guitar, and Douglas Po’oloa Tolentino at the Ukelele.

TRAVIS TRITT has dominated the charts for a decade performing the kind of country music that “men identify with and females swoon over.” In this Soundstage concert,published in 2018 in the form of a CD and a DVD by the Public Broadcasting System, or PBS he wows the audience performing favorites such as “Here’s a Quarter Call Someone who cares”, "I’m gonna be somebody," and "T-r-o-u-b-l-e."

This lengendary new traditionalist American singer songwriter and actor charted more than 40 times on the Hot Country Song charts, including 5 number ones with 15 additional top ten singles. He’s earned two grammy awards and has been a member of the grand ole opry since 1992. Tritt did a video some years back called “Any more”. In that video Tritt plays a disabled veteran. He shot the video in an actual patients or Veteran’s Hospital where many of the people in the video were actual patients or staff members at the hospital. He says that’s when he got involved in the Disabled American Veterans Association and he says it’s something that he’s still passionate about to this day.

Many have been the occasions when a singer has been asked in an interview about the events that happened in the shooting spree in Vegas. When he was asked about the shootings at that country concert in 2017, Tritt says he refuses to let that stand in the way of his music and his band.

He says he does about 135 shows a year, and the majority of them are with his band but his performance in Eastern Idaho Saturday night, he was solo with just him and his guitar playing an accoustic show.

We’ll say goodbye to Mr. Tritt listening to the song that opens the concert listening to his classic “Put some drive in your country”, and we’ll go back to the year 1990, 19 years ago, when he released his debut album and his most iconic song “Country Club”, giving name to the unforgettable album of this singer from Marietta, in the state of Georgia.

With three albums released, and a peek to his forthcoming one this 2019, this talented singer natural from the state of Florida called Easton Corbin just came over to sing “Somebody’s Gotta Be Country”, his new single. Easton remembered wanting to be a country singer as early as three years old. He spent a great deal of time at his grandparents farm after his parents divorced, where he could watch various Opry television shows which aired on Saturday nights. He began to take guitar lessons at age 15, and soon started his own band. He won his spot as a solo act in a festival and soon started opening concerts for Mel McDaniel. He married and moved to Nashville in 2006, and after 3 years he managed to get a record company interested and so his debut song “A little more country than that” was released. Let’s listen to his the debut song of this great future talent for the industry.

"Paint Me a Birmingham" is a song written by Buck Moore and Gary Duffy. It was concurrently released by American country music artists Ken Mellons and Tracy Lawrence, whose versions entered the country charts within one week of each other, and that is the reason why we played them half and half. Lawrence's was the more successful of the two, reaching #4 in May 2004 and becoming his first Top 5 country hit since "Lessons Learned" in April 2000.

Anyway, this version is not the one included in his 2004 album “Strong”, but the one re-recorded in his duets album “Good Ole Days” from 2017, where he re-records his classic tunes with such contemporary artists as Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Luke Combs, Chris Young, Kellie Pickler, or our previous artist, Easton Corbin. This is precisely the singer who accompanied Tracy Lawrence in his “Paint me a Birmingham”, where The narrator describes an encounter on the beach with an artist who is painting ocean scenes. The singer then asks the painter to paint a picture of the plans the man and his lost lover had actually made. Just for the record, a Birmingham is a style of home construction very typical in the south of the united states.

Tracy Lawrence is one of country music’s biggest starts of the 90s, and throughout this lovely work he puts a fresh spin on his best-known songs. We’ll finish this revision of this album from Tracy listening to two of his all-time classics: “Stars over Texas” from his timeless album “Time marches on” from 1996 accompanied with the beautiful voice of the Tennessian Kellie Pickler, and “If the World had a front porch”, with the voice of Luke Combs, who’s not a stranger to our podcast, song included in his must-have album “I see it now”, which is celebrating its 25 anniversary this very 2019.

So well listen to Tracy with Luke Combs in “If the world had a front porch”, and with Kellie Pickler signing “Stars over texas”.

What a way to finish the show, listening to the debut song by Kellie Pickler back in 2006, “Small town Girl” giving name to the album. In 2005, Kellie Pickler landed a spot in the 5th season of American Idol, and even though she finished 6th, the former waitress and Miss North Carolina contestant was able to conquer the hearts of the audiences with her Southern twang, resulting in a contract to yield her debut album. This reminds me of other two famous country artists who also reached mainstream attention in country music through these kinds of shows: Carrie Underwood, and Kacey Musgraves.

Just to finish the show, we’ll pay tribute to Kasey Musgraves, artist who was interviewed by this show in early 2007 after the release of her first important album, and who just last weekend earned her first grammy award. So we’ll listen to her song “Rainbow”, new single from 2019, included in her forthcoming album “Rainbow”. Congratulations, Kacey!

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Over the last three decades, honky-tonk legend Dale Watson has carried the torch for pure country music. A permanent fixture of the Austin, TX, music scene for as long as I can remember, Watson has a new home base, Memphis, TN and recorded all but one song on his new Red House Records release, CALL ME LUCKY, at historic Sam Phillips Recording studio in Memphis. The album features some of city’s finest as well as Dale’s longtime band, His Lone Stars, and includes a horn section on some of the tracks. With nods to the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, as we listened to last week, and to Hank Williams Sr. Watson pays homage to the greats and proves he’s the real McCoy.

We’ve just listened to the song Tupelo Mississippi & 57 Fairlane, Tupelo was the place where Elvis was born, and a Ford Fairlane is a car which Elvis bought in 1956, now almost 53 years ago, and a classic car from the first era of Elvis Prestley. As Dale says, they don’t make them like that no more. We’ll say goodbye to Dale Watson listening to the song David Buxkemper, which resembles to me the classic “Six days on the Road” from Dave Dudley. An anthem of trucker sound. We’ll listen to both of them.

We’ve listened to Heather Myles and her “Big Cars”, from her 4th album “Sweet Talk and Good Lies” from 2002. Just as Dale was talking about the Ford 1957 Fairline, Heather talked about the classic cars that the amecian car industry used to produce until the 70s. Heather plays Bakersfield honky tonk tradition, and she developed a reputation as one of the finest traditional-style country singers to emerge in the 1990s and her songwriting is just as strong as her voice. Heather Myles was born and raised in Riverside, CA, where her parents raised her on a ranch. Myles grew up with an enthusiasm for horses, as well as the traditional California country sounds her parents loved. When she was a child, Myles picked up a ukulele belonging to her father and tried to learn how to play it; in time, she graduated to a guitar and in the 1980s, she began performing live with a group called the Lonesome Myle Band. Myles in 1992 released her first album, Just Like Old Times, recorded under her own name for the label Hightone, and from there a series of albums by different producers and with classic artists such as Merle Haggard and Dwight Yoakam collaborated in her real country albums. A collection of Myles's material for Hightone (which featured a previously unreleased song), Rum and Rodeo, appeared in 2005, and this is the song we will use to say goodbye to this great singer. Rum and Rodeo talks about the hard life of rodeo riders that every year compete in the American circuit. Always on the road, they are never at home, just earning enough to survive, but their physical strength sooner or later comes to an end and then they find it difficult to survive in society.

The duet Larkin Poe, formed by siblings Rebecca and Megan Lovell, part of the older group The Lovell Sisters, which disbanded in 2009, have just played this beautiful version of the classic by Santo & Johnny “Sleepwalker”, a classic mix between Hawaiian and Country music instrumental, with the electric guitar in Rebecca’s hands, and Megan at the lap steel. When they reunited in 2010, they decided to name their duet after their great-great-great-grandfather, who happened to be a distant cousin of Edgar Allan Poe, the writer. They released their 5th work in their career, “Venom and faith”, in november last year, and from this one we will listen to the 6th track of the CD, called “Blue Ridge Mountain”, where they will display their talent in their modern bluesy country style.

A long 15 years ago this show had the opportunity to have a little interview with young talent Sunny Sweeney right after releasing her debut album “Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame”, re-lauched last year from which we have just listened to “The next big nothing”. Sunny Sweeney was so intensely attached to country music that during the interview she stated clear that her most important influence was the late Merle Haggard, Bakersfield sound in new traditionalist hands. From her first album to 2018 she has published 9 albums of great quality. Just out of curiosity, we will listen to two songs from two different works. First one, “Nothing Wrong with Texas”, from her album “Trophy”, a song about returning to your origins, to what really is important. The second album, “Heartbroke”, also published in 2017. From this one we will listen to the song that gives its name to the piece of work, too, “Heartbroke”, the classic from Ricky Skaggs from 1981.

It is always a pleasure to listen to George Strait, here covering the classic by Ricky Skaggs, Heartbroke, included in his second album “Strait from the heart”, from 1982. George is working on his latest album, the 30th in his career, called “Honky Tonk Time Machine”, due out on March 29, also with MCA Nashville, record label that has been his home since the beginning of his career. The album cover has already been leaked to the press, and it’s a picture of the “Broken Spoke”, famous Austin honky-tonk bar at which he performed early in his career. On February 11th, that is, yesterday, the song “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” was released as his next single to country radios around the USA. Composed by Strait himself, his son Bubba, and tunesmith Dean Dillon. Let’s listen to it.

Harvey Strait, the grandson of George Strait, son of Bubba Strait, collaborates in this beautiful song included in George’s 30th album. There will be a concert that’ll stand alone in Atlanta Georgia, to be announced, which will also include artists such as Chris Janson, Ashley McBryde, and Chris Stapleton, whose voice we heard last week.

Last year Shooter Jennings published his 9th album. The only son of country legends Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, and relay in country music, spent literally his childhood on a tour bus. We have just listened two tracks of his last album, Shooter, a mixture between rock and roll and country music. He is more than capable of bringing both sides of his musical personality together on an album, even though I must say that I can hear more of country music than rock and roll throughout this jewell. The first song we’ve heard from him is “Bound to git down”, a rollicking boogie number that kicks up plenty of dust, followed by “Do you love Texas?”, a pedal steel-infused two-step that wouldn’t have been out of place if it had been included in one of his dad’s albums.

To finish with today’s show, we will listen to a couple more songs from this fantastic and talented musician born in Nashville, Tennessee. The first one is “D.R.U.N.K.”, that is, “drunk”, a great outlaw song, and “Living in a minor key”, song which he wrote for George Jones years in the past, and that he himself is trying to defend here.