Country Universe

100 Greatest Women, #38: LeAnn Rimes

May 27, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 13

100 Greatest Women #38 LeAnn Rimes When she burst on to the scene in 1996, she was praised as the second coming of Patsy Cline. Within two years, she was dominating the pop charts. Over

100 Greatest Women, #39: June Carter Cash

May 26, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 16

100 Greatest Women #39 June Carter Cash In the shadow of a famous family and an even more famous husband, June Carter Cash has largely been known and defined as a supporting player in legacies

100 Greatest Women, #40: Minnie Pearl

May 26, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 8

100 Greatest Women #40 Minnie Pearl She only had one chart hit in her whole career, a spoken-word answer song to Red Sovine’s “Giddyup Go.” But through the sheer force of her character-driven comedy, she

Six Pack: Domestic Violence

May 26, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 5

While there is a long history in country music of dealing with social issues, domestic violence was a topic that was taboo for a very long time. Indeed, when major artists started tackling the issue

100 Greatest Women, #41: Lucinda Williams

May 25, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 10

100 Greatest Women #41 Lucinda Williams When Time dubbed Lucinda Williams “America’s Greatest Songwriter” in 2001, it wasn’t exactly a news bulletin to those who had followed her career for the previous two decades. She

100 Greatest Women, #42: Patsy Montana

May 25, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 7

100 Greatest Women #42 Patsy Montana It’s always tricky to measure an artist’s impact by just looking at the record sales. But any way you slice it, selling a million copies of a record during

Randy Houser, “Anything Goes”

May 25, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 9

Well, this is just awesome. He sounds like a young Ronnie Dunn, it’s a classic drinkin’ ’cause my woman left me song, and the hook is so obvious that it’s amazing it hasn’t already been

Review: Chris Young, “Voices”

May 25, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 13

A fittingly respectful and appreciative look back at the positive role models that have shaped his life. I’m not crazy about the conceit of the chorus, “I hear voices all the time”, which plays off

Ashley Gearing, “Out the Window”

May 25, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 1

Gearing had a chart hit way back in 2003, and is a contender again this year now that she’s resurfaced on Curb Records. “Out the Window” is one of those “young girl throws caution to

Kellie Pickler, “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful”

May 24, 2008 Kevin John Coyne 15

Pickler debuted this single on last week’s ACM awards to a great response, and no wonder. She was saddled with quite a bit of disposable material on her debut album, but “Don’t You Know You’re