Country Universe

ACM Awards: 2007 Live Blog

May 15, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 12

ACM Winner Miranda Lambert (above) ACM LIVE BLOG 10:59: Just FYI: Carrie won Video, so she went 3/5. “Building Bridges” by B&D, Vince and Sheryl Crow won Collaboration. 10:57 Entertainer: Kenny Chesney, three in

ACM Awards 2007: Picks & Predictions

May 12, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 10

There are three major country awards given by the music industry, and each particular show reflects the preferences of a different section of it. The CMA Awards, given every fall, are the Music Row awards,

LeAnn Rimes, "Nothin' Better to Do"

May 10, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 5

LeAnn Rimes, “Nothin’ Better to Do” She hasn’t done anything quite like this before, a muddy water twang-fest that has her sounding like a mature woman who has seen some hard times, but still has

Amy Dalley, “Let’s Try Goodbye”

May 10, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 7

Amy Dalley, “Let’s Try Goodbye” Curb Records is continuing its maddening approach with Dalley’s debut album: keep throwing singles at radio until one sticks, and keeping the album shelved until one does. The travesty is

Travis Tritt, “You Never Take Me Dancing”

May 6, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 24

Travis Tritt, “You Never Take Me Dancing” Good Lord, this is good. I’ve always thought Tritt was trying too hard when he did the southern rock thing, but with age, he’s really grown into the

Sarah Johns, “The One in the Middle”

May 6, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 113

Sarah Johns, “The One in the Middle” Too long, too drawn out and not nearly clever enough to sustain an entire song. Johns has a nice, twangy voice that is being wasted on this futile

Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, “I Need You”

May 5, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 8

Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, “I Need You” Most of the time, these two superstars just take turns singing backup and call it a duet. This is only the second full-fledged collaboration the two have

Jamie Slocum, “Say Hello to Heaven”

May 5, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 4

Jamie Slocum, “Say Hello to Heaven” This is beautiful, a man speaking to his wife who died in a car accident because of a reckless drunk driver. He’s asking for strength to raise the daughter

Gretchen Wilson, “One of the Boys”

May 5, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 3

Gretchen Wilson, “One of the Boys” “Woo hoo hoo.” That’s a catchy little hook there. Wilson sounds more fully engaged in the material here, much more so than anything that was released off of the

Rick Rubin among the 2007 Time 100 List

May 3, 2007 Kevin John Coyne 0

One year after the Dixie Chicks popped up on the Time 1oo, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people, their producer Rick Rubin has been included in the 2007 list. It’s only