100 Greatest Men: #57. Kenny Chesney
100 Greatest Men: The Complete List
After many years as a mid-level country artist, Kenny Chesney fused arena-size country with Caribbean rhythms to become one of the genre’s biggest stars of the 21st century.
100 Greatest Men: #58. Carl Smith
100 Greatest Men: The Complete List
One of the most successful country stars of the 1950’s, Carl Smith is as well known today for his famous relatives as for his legendary music.
Single Review: Kix Brooks featuring Joe Walsh, “New to This Town”
I’ve always liked Kix as a singer, so I was happy to see that this single exists. He’s got one of those modest-but-charming Everyman voices, the kind that makes every song feel like a conversation with your ol’ pal.
He also sounds positively thrilled to flex it for us again, which is just infectious. Listen to how he relishes every note of “New to This Town,” like he doesn’t want waste a moment of this reintroduction. Love that! I love that.
Single Review: Sara Evans, “Anywhere”
Nothing like a good country music driving song, right? I could make a whole road trip playlist full of them. Ostensibly, Sara Evans upcoming single “Anywhere” is seeking a spot on my road trip playlist. It’s a bit off-putting, unfortunately, that the lyric plays more like a watered-down knockoff of Jo Dee Messina’s “Heads Carolina, Tails California.”
At the very least, the single earns points for a committed vocal performance on Evans’ part, as well as a cool banjo-rocker of a production, which could have made for a pleasant little slice of pop-country. But the song structure is totally not there.
2012 ACM Awards: Staff Picks & Predictions
Throw on your bedazzled boots – the 47th annual Academy of Country Music Awards air live from Las Vegas this Sunday at 8 p.m. EST. The show promises to be a melting pot of performances, with oddball duets like Rascal Flatts and Steve Martin – and no, that’s not an April Fools joke. The CU staff picked and predicted the awards below. Tell us your thoughts, and check back for our live blog on Sunday night!
Entertainer of the Year
Should Win:
- Jason Aldean
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- Blake Shelton
- Taylor Swift – Jonathan, Dan, Tara, Leeann, Kevin, Ben, Sam
1986 | #1
Single Review: Martina McBride featuring Pat Monahan, “Marry Me”
Honestly, I was never a huge fan of this particular Train hit. The lyric has a few interesting lines, but I couldn’t help but find it a bit schmaltzy and heavy-handed. Plus it’s like he just met this girl in a cafe, and he’s already getting ready to propose marriage? I would probably have liked the song better without “If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe.”
So it figures that Martina McBride reworks it into a duet with Train frontman Pat Monohan (after having joined Train for an episode of CMT Crossroads), and I can’t get over how cool they make it sound.