Year: 2011
Inspiration
Inspired by Leeann Ward.
Sometimes it’s hard to write about country music.
Outside life intrudes, and the music that used to offer you sanctuary now greets you with mind-numbing banality.
But if there’s something true about all long-term country music fans, it’s probably that the music has uniquely inspired us, moved us in a way that other genres had failed to do.
Single Review: Toby Keith, “Somewhere Else”
“Somewhere Else” has a groove that is very similar to “Trailerhood”, the lead single from the set that features both songs.
The slightly meatier content of this one likely gives it a longer shelf life. Keith does breakup about as good as anybody, and he sounds great, as always. I don’t think the guy is capable of turning in a weak vocal performance.
Single Review: Kenny Chesney, “Live a Little”
It starts with a pure pop/rock intro that goes on a little too long, but provides for a pleasantly jarring transition into acoustic country. The first thirty seconds have that contrast which made Shania Twain’s The Woman in Me hits work so well.
But then it quickly disintegrates to generic Chesney: loud but not assertive, cute but not clever, upbeat but not uplifting.
Say What? Classic – Carlene Carter
From an interview with New Country in 1995:
It bugs me when I do something that I really think is great and they don’t acknowledge it at all. It’s kind of weird for me, but I don’t slit my wrists. What would kill me is if I did something that I didn’t believe in at all, that I hated, just because they said you’ll have a hit, and then it wasn’t a hit. That, to me, would be death.
2011 Grammy Awards: A Hollow Victory For Country Music
The increasing presence of country in the general categories of the Grammy Awards is undeniable.
In three of the past five years, an artist with connections to country music has won Album of the Year. The same ratio applies for the Record of the Year category. In the same time frame, two country artists have won Song of the Year and two have won Best New Artist.
That’s all good and well, and would be seen as a positive for the genre if not for one pesky problem. All of the artists and songs and albums that have been emerging victorious have been nearly indistinguishable from adult Top 40 music.
2011 Grammy Winners
General Categories
Album of the Year: Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Record of the Year: Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”
Song of the Year: Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, “Need You Now”
Best New Artist: Esperanza Spalding
Genre Categories
Best Country Album: Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
Female Country Vocal Performance: Miranda Lambert, “The House That Built Me”