2009 – Page 27 – Country Universe

Rodney Atkins, It’s America

April 9, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 8

The name of the new Rodney Atkins album is It’s America, but it could just as easily have been called Rodney Atkins and the Power of Positive Thinking.

Pessimists, be wary of this record. You run the risk of abandoning your perennial half-empty glass and purchasing a lifetime subscription to Keep on the Sunny Side Quarterly. For an optimist like me, listening to Atkins is like discovering a new friend, one who shares your enthusiasm for looking on the bright side but has the added bonus of punctuating his look on the bright side sentences with fiddles and steel guitar.

I can’t remember the last time I smiled so many times while listening to a new country record. In the opener, “Tell a Country Boy”, I grinned when he described a country boy as someone who will “always take his time, if you give him a choice.” As “Chasing Girls” progressed from chasing the girls you’re suiting to chasing the girls you’ve fathered, I laughed out loud as he pleaded with his three year-old daughter, “Don’t let that dog lick you in the mouth!”

And even though I’ve been a frustrated out-of-towner stuck behind a tractor on a one-lane road in Alabama, I couldn’t help but smirk at his celebration of his “Friends with Tractors” who “are good at slowing speeders down when they pass through from out of town.”

Get the New Rascal Flatts Album for $4.99

April 7, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 9

Amazon is racking up the deals lately. You can get the new Rascal Flatts album Unstoppable for $4.99.

Sara Watkins, Sara Watkins

April 7, 2009 William Ward 15

Since the “indefinite hiatus” of progressive acoustic darlings Nickel Creek, despite a history of diverging solo work, releases from Chris Thile and Sean Watkins have been shackled by expectations of a Creek-like sound. Much like releases from her former band mates, Sara Watkins self-titled debut is not a surrogate Nickel creek album. Instead, it is an album that is purely individual, combining the talent that we have already witnessed with more than a few surprises.

Marcel, "Believin'"

April 6, 2009 Leeann Ward 8

It is no secret that I have an unexplainable soft spot for Marcel. His songs are often silly and his voice is unpolished, though irresistibly charming, but he is also capable of turning a phrase.

Amazon Deal of the Day: Jason Aldean’s Wide Open for $3.99

April 6, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 0

You can get the new Jason Aldean album Wide Open for $3.99 today at Amazon’s MP3 store. They ran the same promotion for Keith Urban’s new album last week. Here’s the link: Amazon.com Widgets

ACM Winners and Live Blog

April 5, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 368

WINNERS:

ENTERTAINER: Carrie Underwood

ALBUM: Taylor Swift, Fearless

SINGLE: “You’re Gonna Miss This” – Trace Adkins

FEMALE VOCALIST: Carrie Underwood

MALE VOCALIST: Brad Paisley

VOCAL DUO: Sugarland

Lee Ann Womack, “Solitary Thinkin'”

April 5, 2009 Dan Milliken 8

One of the saddest things about the infamous “soccer mom soundtrack” mentality driving Music Row – whereby most singles are picked specifically because they require no real cognitive processing on your drive home from work – is how it scares most artists away from attempting any stylistic variety.

Thank goodness Lee Ann Womack is not one of them. In an era where “Stay” and “More Like Her” are considered risky radio releases simply for being un-chipper acoustic ballads that aren’t by Taylor Swift or a dude, Womack has gone ahead and picked a slow-burning lounge number about holing up in a bar and feeling sorry for yourself. Atta girl.

ACM Awards: Predicted Winners

April 3, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 17

As we gear up for the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards, the writing staff of Country Universe have prepared our predicted winners among this year’s nominees. Check out our Personal Picks as well, and share your own predictions in the comments. As always, we’ll be live-blogging the festivities this Sunday, starting at 8 EST.

ACM 2009: Country Universe Predicts the Winners

Entertainer of the Year

* Kenny Chesney – Dan
* Brad Paisley
* George Strait
* Carrie Underwood – Kevin, Leeann, Lynn
* Keith Urban

Kevin: For as much as the industry favors male acts, it’s the female acts who really post the big numbers. I think that the fans having a say will put Underwood over the top, though the industry is certainly behind her, too. The depth and breadth of her appeal warrants the win.

Leeann: I know how zealous Carrie Underwood fans are. So, I’d be shocked if she doesn’t win it. I like the way Lynn said it though.

Dan: You know, I really have no idea. It’s not going to be George Strait, and I probably wouldn’t anticipate a win for Keith Urban this year. I’ll say Chesney again, but either Paisley or Underwood could conceivably take him down with the help of the fan voting.

Lynn: If the fans are truly allowed to have their say…Ms. Underwood, please watch your step on the way up to receive your first Entertainer of the Year award.

ACM Awards: Personal Picks

April 3, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 6

As we gear up for the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards, the writing staff of Country Universe have prepared our personal picks among this year’s nominees. Check out our Predicted Winners as well, and share your own personal picks in the comments. As always, we’ll be live-blogging the festivities this Sunday, starting at 8 EST.

ACM 2009: Country Universe’s Personal Picks

Entertainer of the Year

* Kenny Chesney
* Brad Paisley – Leeann
* George Strait – Lynn
* Carrie Underwood – Kevin, Dan
* Keith Urban

Kevin: I haven’t been as happy with the standard-bearing superstar of country music since the heyday of the Dixie Chicks, so I’m definitely pulling for Carrie Underwood. She strikes the perfect balance of contemporary relevance and reverence for tradition.

Leeann: I’m always pulling for Paisley to win an Entertainer award, but I’d be happy to see a female win it as well, especially since Underwood’s not undeserving at this point.

Dan: None of these artists has impressed me recently from an artistic standpoint, although Strait has been less grating than the rest. But I think I’m going to say Carrie Underwood, simply because it’d be cool to see a woman win.

Lynn: I’m pulling for Strait to win this year. The ACMs put out a promo the other day that was essentially a glamour magazine photo shoot with three cute blonde singers. I’ll be honest…I didn’t want to watch the show after seeing that. Maybe I’m the odd one out, but I’d be more interested in watching the show if the promo had Strait sitting in a chair singing one of his classic tunes. I’m tired of the promotion of style over substance. Paisley, Underwood and Urban aren’t necessarily guilty of this, but I hope Strait wins just to remind everyone to keep it real.

Favorite Songs by Favorite Artists: Dan Seals

April 3, 2009 Guest Contributor 16

The following is a guest contribution by Country Universe reader Tad Baierlein.

When Dan Seals died of lymphoma last Wednesday, a great deal of the press coverage centered on his days as “England Dan” in the soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley. Seals’ country career, though more successful for a longer period of time, seemed to be treated as an afterthought.

Many of the obituaries mentioned Seals’ biggest country hit, “Bop”; hardly an accurate representation of his years spent in country. Now, it’s perfectly justifiable to glance at a person’s career highlights for a newspaper obituary, but I think that a great deal more attention should’ve been paid to Seals’ death within the country music community. I would like to contribute this little appreciation to one of my favorite country artists.

“The Banker”
Rebel Heart, 1983

For two years following the split of England Dan and John Ford Coley, nothing seemed to be going right for Seals. First off, he recorded two solo soft rock albums just as that sound was going out of favor. Aside from one single ekeing its way into the Adult Contemporary charts, the albums were considered huge failures. Secondly, Seals had accrued a massive amount of debt to the IRS; almost everything he owned was repossessed to pay it. Seals’ move to Nashville had been planned for quite a while but in 1982 it seemed almost a necessity.

This song that he wrote for Rebel Heart would seem to place his frustrations and hope in the story of a man trying to save his land from an evil, number-crunching banker. Sometimes when it seems like all hope is lost all you can do is work to get yourself out of trouble. Seals could only hope that the oil-rich resolution of “The Banker” came true in his life as well; he wouldn’t have to worry.

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