Old Crow Medicine Show – Page 2

Daily Top Five: Strengthen Country Radio

April 22, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 19

Actively writing single reviews again has me also looking at the radio charts again. What a bleak landscape of interchangeable singers and songs! I can’t remember things ever being this generic and bland. We flirted

Album Review: Ralph Stanley & Friends, Man of Constant Sorrow

April 18, 2015 Sam Gazdziak 1

Ralph Stanley & Friends Man of Constant Sorrow Perhaps the uninitiated may have “discovered” Ralph Stanley through his participation in the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, For those who have spent their lives appreciating

Single Review: Brantley Gilbert, “One Hell of an Amen”

February 25, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 12

“One Hell of an Amen” Brantley Gilbert Written by Brian Davis, Mike Dekle, and Brantley Gilbert I actually feel kind of bad for Brantley Gilbert. His heart is totally in the right place. But the

2015 Grammy Awards: Open Thread

February 8, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 54

Telecast Winners: Best Country Album: Miranda Lambert, Platinum Album of the Year: Beck, Morning Phase Best New Artist: Sam Smith Record of the Year: Sam Smith, “Stay With Me (Darkside Version)” Song of the Year:

Album Review: Jon Pardi, Write You a Song

January 27, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 2

Jon Pardi Write You a Song A surprisingly entertaining debut effort, Jon Pardi’s relentless enthusiasm infuses even mediocre material with enough energy to make it listenable. Of course, that’s the advantage of a debut album.

The Best Albums of 2014

December 31, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 9

2014 was a banner year for country music albums. In addition to the predictably solid entries from the Americana, folk, and bluegrass scenes, some excellent albums also surfaced from the unlikeliest of sources: mainstream, radio-friendly

The Best Singles of 2014, Part 2: #20-#1

December 30, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 15

The countdown concludes with our top twenty singles of 2014. Check out the first twenty entries here, and look for our countdown of the year’s twenty best albums tomorrow. #20 “The Devil is All Around”

The Best Singles of 2014, Part 1: #40-#21

December 29, 2014 Kevin John Coyne 11

Does failure to reach a consensus indicate a year that lacked quality, or a year that had enough interesting singles that subjective taste is enough to prevent a consensus? This was the dilemma faced by

Country Universe’s Best Singles of 2013, Part One: #40-#21

December 30, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 13

For the second year in a row, our seven writers – Kevin Coyne, Leeann Ward, Dan Milliken, Tara Seetharam, Ben Foster, Jonathan Keefe, and Sam Gazdziak – individually listed our twenty favorite albums and singles of the year. It’s a diverse crop of singles, some of which dominated country radio, while others were primarily heard in the Americana, bluegrass, and alternative country worlds. Today, we present the first half of our singles list, with the conclusion to follow tomorrow. Share your favorites in the comments!

#40
“Someone Somewhere Tonight”
Kellie Pickler

Individual rankings: #16 – Ben; #19 – Tara

A sweeping power ballad anchored by an intimate chorus and Pickler’s pleading sincerity. – Tara Seetharam

Grammy Pre-Telecast Winners

February 10, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 0

Grammy Pre-Telecast Winners

Here are the winners in country and country-related categories, including all-genre categories that include a country-related nominee:

Best Long Form Music Video: Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros & Old Crow Medicine Show, Big Easy Express

Song Written for Visual Media: T Bone Burnett, Taylor Swift, John Paul White & Joy Williams, “Safe and Sound”

Americana Album: Bonnie Raitt, Slipstream

Bluegrass Album: Steep Canyon Rangers, Nobody Knows You

Folk Album: Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, The Goat Rodeo Sessions

Country Duo/Group Vocal Performance: Little Big Town, “Pontoon”

Country Song: Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, “Blown Away”