July 2015 – Country Universe

Single Review: Blake Shelton, “Gonna”

July 31, 2015 Leeann Ward 1

“Gonna” Blake Shelton Written by Luke Laird and Craig Wiseman “Gonna” is a mix of the old and the more recent Blake Shelton. It has shades of his current music trends, but also calls back

Daily Top Five: Songs About Rain

July 31, 2015 Leeann Ward 18

Rain is often associated with gloom or sadness and there’s plenty of that in country music, but it turns out that country music can be surprisingly positive about rain too. These are some of my

Daily Top Five: Sports Songs

July 30, 2015 Leeann Ward 14

A strange fact about me is that I do not care for sports at all, but I love sports movies, even television dramas (Friday Night Lights, anyone?). The same can be said for songs about

Single Review: Jason Isbell, “24 Frames”

July 29, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 8

“24 Frames” Jason Isbell Written by Jason Isbell “You thought God was an architect. Now you know. He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow.” If that line isn’t enough to have you

Daily Top Five: Least Favorite Song from Your Favorite Albums

July 29, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 11

Because turnabout is always fair play! What is your least favorite song from each of your favorite albums? Here’s my list: Dixie Chicks, “Tortured, Tangled Hearts” (Home) Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Stones in the Road” (Stones

The Best Singles of 1993, Part Four: #10-#1

July 28, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 6

The list comes to a close with ten classic records from some of the era’s most commercially and critically successful stars. It’s easy to be cynical about country radio these days, but unlike most of

Daily Top Five: Your Favorite Song from Your Favorite Albums

July 27, 2015 Leeann Ward 17

As if narrowing down your five favorite albums or your five favorite songs isn’t difficult enough, lets make things even more difficult by trying to narrow down our favorite song from our favorite albums. Don’t

The Best Singles of 1993, Part Three: #20-#11

July 27, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 8

As we enter the top half of the list, signature hits by some of the era’s biggest stars rub elbows with a pair of breakthrough singles and an overlooked release by a future superstar. You’ll

The Best Singles of 1993, Part Two: #30-#21

July 26, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 4

Our Best Singles of 1993 list continues with a collection of #1 hits, breakthrough hits, and should’ve been hits. Kicking things off is the debut single from one of the decade’s most successful vocal groups.

Album Review: Alan Jackson, Angels and Alcohol

July 25, 2015 Leeann Ward 5

Alan Jackson Angels and Alcohol Alan Jackson is known as reliably country and not one to chase trends, but rather, somebody who holds steady as a standard-bearer for modern traditional country music. Even so, in