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Single Review: Lee Ann Womack, “The Way I’m Livin'”

May 27, 2014 Jonathan Keefe 5

Lee Ann Womack The Way I'm Livin'It’s always fascinating to see how a recording artist responds once her days as a consistent hit-maker have passed: While some chase the latest trends in an effort to remain commercially relevant, others embrace their newfound creative freedom and challenge themselves to add something meaningful to both their own artistic legacy and to the country genre itself.

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Single Review: David Nail, “Whatever She’s Got”

January 15, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 5

David Nail Whatever She's GotIs “Whatever She’s Got” really just David Nail doing whatever he’s got to do to stay in the game?

Nail is one of the most distinctive and substantive new voices to emerge in recent years, especially among the crop of younger male artists. He’s had more false starts than most, going through two labels in eleven years and having moderate to major hits, but not building up enough momentum to string a few together.

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We Need to Have a Little Talk about Randy Travis

July 12, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 21

Randy TravisIn a year that has already brought the deaths of immortal talents like George Jones, Slim Whitman, Patti Page, and Jack Greene, not to mention the untimely loss of Mindy McCready, it is understandable that the recent news regarding Randy Travis is having the country music fans collectively holding their breath with nervousness and dread.

There is something distinctly different about how I am processing the news about Randy Travis. The thought of losing him is inextricably linked with a feeling that we’d be losing an essential core of the country music that I fell in love with more than two decades ago. Now, I remember Randy Travis from when I was a child. What little kid wouldn’t be in love with a catchy song like “Forever and Ever, Amen”?

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iPod Check: Most Played Song by Twenty Country Artists

August 12, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 24

Since bringing back Recommend a Track proved so popular, I’m resurrecting another CU oldie but goodie: the iPod check.

I’ve only recently discovered the Most Played feature on iTunes, since it never had any relevance until iPods were large enough in memory to sync all of my music. So going back to early 2011, I have a lengthy list of the songs I’ve played the most.

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Four Ways that 9/11 Changed Country Music

September 12, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 27

The terrorist attacks on American soil ten years ago changed the course of our nation’s history in far more significant ways than just its impact on country music.

But the fact is that country music was changed as well. Here are the four biggest ways that it did, for better and for worse.

1. Alan Jackson Becomes a Legend

He was still getting solid radio airplay and record sales in 2001, but it seemed like his glory days were behind him. Then, he stepped on to the CMA Awards stage and debuted “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” to a stunned industry crowd on national television.

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