Kevin John Coyne

The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 4: #70-#61

December 3, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 16

The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 4

#70
Pam Tillis, It’s All Relative: Tillis Sings Tillis

By the time she released a tribute to her father Mel, she’d become something of a legend in her own right. So it’s no surprise that she approached Mel’s stellar songwriting catalog as if she was recording any other studio album, taking the best of the bunch and making them her own. Bonus points for preserving the original fiddle breakdown from “Heart Over Mind” while making that classic shuffle a forlorn ballad, and a few more for hitting the archives of the Country Music Hall of Fame until she found a forgotten gem that should’ve been a hit back in the day (“Not Like it Was With You.”) – Kevin Coyne

Recommended Tracks: “Mental Revenge”, “Detroit City”

#69
Dwight Yoakam, dwightyoakamacoustic.net

Yoakam takes a new, inspired spin on the greatest hits album concept, presenting us with a hearty sampling (over 20 songs) of his catalog served acoustic style. It simply works for the country legend. He introduces some delightful new twists and turns to his old classics, and as it should go with acoustic music, the album is driven by unadulterated, raw vocals, coupled with honest storytelling – the purest form of country music. – Tara Seetharam

2010 Grammy Nominees

December 2, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 39

Not too bad, given the slim pickings on the ballot this year. Taylor Swift is the top country nominee with eight noms. Keith Urban earned four, while Willie Nelson, George Strait, Lee Ann Womack, and Zac Brown Band earned three.

Country Categories

Best Country Album

Zac Brown Band, The Foundation
George Strait, Twang
Taylor Swift, Fearless
Keith Urban, Defying Gravity
Lee Ann Womack, Call Me Crazy

Best Female Country Vocal Performance

Miranda Lambert, “Dead Flowers”
Martina McBride, “I Just Call You Mine”
Taylor Swift, “White Horse”
Carrie Underwood, “Just a Dream”
Lee Ann Womack, “Solitary Thinkin’”

100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 3: #80-#71

December 1, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 10

The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 3

#80
Martina McBride, Timeless

McBride has a voice that would have been as relevant in country music fifty years ago as it is today, and her album of cover songs exemplifies this. She doesn’t attempt to move any of the songs to a different level, but instead inhabits the artists’ original style with precision and spirit. The result is a pure, respectful homage to the country greats. – Tara Seetharam

Recommended Tracks: “Make The World Go Away”, “Pick Me Up On Your Way Down”

#79
Felice Brothers, Yonder is the Clock

The Felice Brothers are the least-known among the members of ‘The Big Surprise Tour’ headlined by Old Crow Medicine Show and featuring Dave Rawlings Machine with Gillian Welch, and Justin Townes Earle. Melding country-rock and folk-rock, they are roots-influenced and made their start playing in the subway. While it may take an extremely big tent to call them “country,” consistent Dylan comparisons make Yonder is the Clock hard to ignore. – William Ward

100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 2: #90-#81

December 1, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 17

The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 2

#90
Miranda Lambert, Kerosene

On her first major-label album, Lambert reveals herself as a fiery, spirited artist with a lot to say, and a clever voice with which to speak. Her sharp songwriting skills, though a work in progress as we’d later learn, take her naturally from aggression to desolation and back again. But most notably, through Kerosene, Lambert got the traditionalists to pay a little more attention to mainstream country music and its more promising artists. – Tara Seetharam

Recommended Tracks: “Kerosene”, “I Can’t Be Bothered”

#89
Kris Kristofferson, This Old Road
This Old Road has not have received as much mainstream attention as Kristofferson’s recent appearance in Ethan Hawke’s Rolling Stone article; an unfortunate fact, given it was the legendary writer’s first album of new material in 11 years. With This Old Road Kristofferson shines a spotlight on the world much in the same his earlier writing shined a spotlight on himself. The result is an overtly political album with more depth than most modern attempts have been able to produce.- William Ward

Recommended Tracks: “The Last Thing to Go”, “Pilgrim’s Progress”

100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 1: #100-#91

November 29, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 20

Ah, the naughties. The decade began and ended with pop crossover queens, with Shania Twain and Faith Hill at the top of their game in 2000 much like Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood reign supreme today. In between, we had the roots music boom, best exemplified by O Brother and the platinum-selling Nickel Creek and Alison Krauss & Union Station; the post-9/11 patriotic explosion, which brought Toby Keith and Darryl Worley to the top of the charts; the near-total banishment of women from the country radio dial for a good part of the decade, which started to fade as redneck pride ascended, thanks to a certain woman trying to make Pocahontas proud; and far too many tributes to country living and island-flavored beach bum songs to count.

All of this made for a fascinating decade to be a country fan. As radio worked its way through all of the above (with the notable exception of roots music), the internet made it far easier for acts to be discovered without ever getting a single spin of traditional radio play. With MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, and the explosion of country music blogs, the barriers have been torn down between artist and audience in a way that was never possible before.

The motley crew of Country Universe has a diversity of tastes that fit within the widest boundaries of country music, as reflected our collaborative list of the 100 best albums of the decade. Five of our writers contributed to the list, with all writer’s selections being weighed equally. We’ll reveal ten entries a day until the list is complete. A look back at the greatest singles of the decade will then follow.

The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 1

#100
Abigail Washburn, Song of the Traveling Daughter

Song of the Traveling Daughter is the debut album from Uncle Earl claw hammer banjo player Abigail Washburn. Produced by Béla Fleck and featuring Ben Sollee, it is a subdued album filled with intriguing instrumentation and influences. Standout songs include “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” with its interesting Civil War period influence; the upbeat “Coffee’s Cold,” originally performed by Uncle Earl; and “Song of the Traveling Daughter,” based on the classical Chinese poem “Song of the Traveling Son.” – William Ward

Recommended Tracks: “Nobody’s Fault but Mine”, “Coffee’s Cold”

Album Review: Carrie Underwood, Play On

November 15, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 51

Play On Carrie Underwood
Play On

It’s getting easy to take Carrie Underwood for granted. Her vocal talent so far exceeds all of her contemporaries that she can outsing them all from the corner of her mouth. On her newest album, Play On, she continues to find new ways to stretch that voice, using a variety of approaches ranging from full-on power to subtle nuances.

It helps that she’s as comfortable singing a shameless pop hook as she is a pure country melody. This should come as no surprise. Any artist of Underwood’s generation has been weaned on both Randy Travis and Def Leppard, on both Reba McEntire and Madonna, on both the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain. Play On makes the case that all of these influences can be mixed together, sometimes even on the same song.

Hey Mr. DJ. Put a Record On.

November 13, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 36

Radio Driving to work this morning, I scanned the XM stations and settled on Roadhouse, which was playing Tammy Wynette’s “I Don’t Wanna Play House.” Thus started a stretch of songs that got me all the way to work: Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler.” The Judds, “Young Love (Strong Love).” Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, “After the Fire is Gone.” Charlie Rich, “A Very Special Love Song.”

It was awesome, one of those rare times where I felt like the DJ might as well have been me, so aligned were the selections with my personal taste. When thinking of the sorry state of country radio these days, the temptation to take over the airwaves is inevitable.

What if you got to be the DJ for an hour at your local country station? Assuming you could play any ten songs, what would they be?

CMA Live Blog 2009

November 11, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 462

CMA Awards Winners

Musician of the Year – Mac McAnally

Musical Event of the Year – “Start A Band”, Brad Paisley & Keith Urban

Music Video of the Year – “Love Story”, Taylor Swift

Single of the Year – “I Run To You”, Lady Antebellum

Song of the Year – “In Color”, Jamey Johnson, Lee Thomas Miller, James Otto

Vocal Group of the Year – Lady Antebellum

New Artist of the Year – Darius Rucker

Album of the Year – Fearless, Taylor Swift

Vocal Duo of the Year – Sugarland

Male Vocalist of the Year – Brad Paisley

Female Vocalist of the Year – Taylor Swift

Entertainer of the Year – Taylor Swift

– – –

11:05 DM: Final tally of CMA staff predictions: Leeann – 9, Dan – 7, Tara – 6, Kevin – 5 (not counting Video). Leeann triumphs again! Thanks for joining us, everyone!

11:04 KC: Artists who have won 4 CMA awards in one night: Johnny Cash. Merle Haggard. Vince Gill. Alison Krauss. Dixie Chicks. Taylor Swift.

Happy Veterans Day

November 11, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 6

ArmisticeDay Happy Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day. In memory of my father, a veteran of the United States Navy, I share his favorite song. When the video came on, he stopped whatever he was doing and just watched:

Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a Number

November 9, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 24

george-strait1 While Taylor Swift mania continues to grow, there’s another impressive accomplishment being achieved by two veterans of country music on the opposite end of the age spectrum.

Contrary to what is commonly believed, there has always been a ceiling on how old you could be and still get country airplay. This year, both George Strait and Reba McEntire have been working steadily to shatter that ceiling.

Take a look at the age of country legends when they earned their most recent top ten solo hit:

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