Sugarland
Grammy Wish List
Yesterday marked the end of the eligibility period for the 2010 Grammy Awards, which will be presented in January. To accommodate the earlier award ceremony, this year’s period lasted one month shy of a year: October 1, 2008 – August 31, 2009.
It’s been something of an underwhelming year musically from my perspective, but I have a few nominations that I’d like to see:
George Strait
- Best Male Country Vocal Performance: “El Rey”
- Best Country Album: Twang
Strait’s been on a roll since It Just Comes Natural, releasing his most consistent string of albums since the mid-nineties trifecta of Easy Come Easy Go, Lead On and Blue Clear Sky. It’s often been said that Strait could sing the phone book and make it sound great, and “El Rey” proved that he’d do just as well with la guía telefónica.
Todd Snider
- Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: The Excitement Plan
This category has been great at acknowledging artists who essentially make acoustic music that isn’t particularly commercial, with previous winners including Nickel Creek and Emmylou Harris. Snider put out one of his strongest albums this year, and he’s long overdue for some Grammy love.
Brad Paisley
- Best Country Album: American Saturday Night
- Best Male Country Vocal Performance: “Welcome to the Future”
- Best Country Instrumental Performance: “Back to the Future”
Paisley has reaffirmed himself as a creative force to be reckoned with and deserves to be amply rewarded with multiple Grammy nominations this year. The rock edge to his token instrumental track is a refreshing new take on his guitar-playing virtuosity.
Picking the CMA Nominees: Album of the Year
This year’s eligibility period runs from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. In those twelve months, there have been some solid albums released, and while there isn’t a wealth of treasures to choose from, there are enough good albums to round out this category.
Here are the five albums that I would nominate for Album of the Year:
Joey + Rory, The Life of a Song
The past twenty years have brought several excellent breakthrough albums by groups, especially those by Sugarland, Little Big Town, Brooks & Dunn, Diamond Rio, and Big & Rich. This set by Joey + Rory is better than all of them, and is selling quite well despite limited airplay.
Jamey Johnson, That Lonesome Song
It’s been nominated for ACM’s trophy and for the Best Country Album Grammy, but Johnson’s best shot at winning has always been with the traditional-leaning CMA voter membership. If both Sugarland and Taylor Swift secure a nod, he’s a shoo-in.
Bargain Hunter: Sugarland’s Twice the Speed of Life ($2.99)
It has been awhile since Amazon has had a Daily Deal worth mentioning here. However, they have returned to country music in a big way today by offering Sugarland’s smash debut album, Twice the Speed of Life for just $2.99.
This album, by one of country music’s most popular duos, famously includes the radio hits, “Baby Girl”, “Something More”, and “Just Might (Make Me Believe)”. it also includes my new personal Sugarland favorite (as I’ve just bought the album thanks to this deal), the unreleased organic-sounding “Hello.”
Picking the CMA Nominees: Entertainer of the Year
Just last week, the second ballot for the 2009 CMA Awards was sent to voters. Now, they are charged with the task of picking five nominees for each category.
How about we help them out? I’ve listed the five artists that I believe are most deserving of an Entertainer of the Year nomination. Share your own top five and your reasoning in the comments.
Over the course of the next two weeks, we’ll do the same with all of the other major categories.
Entertainer of the Year:
The nominees should be:
Brad Paisley
Much like George Strait before him, Paisley has carved out a career that is defined by its consistent success. He’s an increasingly large draw on the road, and his latest album shows that his creative juices are flowing again.
Album Sales Update: July 2009
It’s time for an album sales update, our first since May 23. Brad Paisley is off to a strong start with American Saturday Night, selling 130k in its first week. That’s about 70k less than his previous two studio albums – Time Well Wasted and 5th Gear – opened with, but not a terrible drop-off, considering the state of the music market.
Meanwhile, the new studio albums by Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban are slowing down considerably, now being outpaced on a weekly basis by 2008 releases by Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum.
Among younger acts with a new album in 2009, the most impressive sales are coming from Jason Aldean, while 2008 releases from Kellie Pickler, Billy Currington, and Randy Houser are showing new signs of life.
Biggest disappointments? It’s hard not to look in the direction of Martina McBride, who has barely cleared the 100k mark on her new studio set. Lee Ann Womack’s 2008 set just made it over that mark, too. Then again, one only needs to have sold 455 copies to make the chart this week, with the anchor position going to Wynonna with that total. Her covers album Sing – Chapter 1 has sold 41k to date.
Here are the latest totals for albums released over the past three years that are still charting:
2009
- Rascal Flatts, Unstoppable – 842,000
- Keith Urban, Defying Gravity – 452,000
- Jason Aldean, Wide Open – 384,000
- Kenny Chesney, Greatest Hits II – 281,000
- Dierks Bentley, Feel That Fire – 219,000
- Martina McBride, Shine – 104,000
- John Rich, Son of a Preacher Man – 103,000
- Eric Church, Carolina – 94,000
- Rodney Atkins, It’s America – 88,000
- Jake Owen, Easy Does It – 81,000
2009's Remaining Release Schedule Comes into Focus
Thus far, 2009’s releases have done little to fire up the charts, with most of this year’s strongest-selling albums being holdovers from 2008. While Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, and Keith Urban have sold strongly, the chart remains dominated by last year’s releases from Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, and Jamey Johnson.
So what’s left for 2009? Here’s what we know so far:
New Releases
- Carrie Underwood will release her third studio album on November 3, with a lead single going to radio this fall. Her previous set, Carnival Ride, is nearing sales of 3 million, and produced four #1 singles and a #2 single, all five of which were certified gold in their own right.
- George Strait will release Twang on August 11. It’s the follow-up to his 33rd platinum album Troubadour, a set which produced his 43rd #1 single and earned him the first Grammy of his career, along with a pair of CMA trophies (Single and Album)
- Miranda Lambert is readying Revolution for September 29. Lead single “Dead Flowers” is struggling at radio, but that’s never slowed her down at retail anyway.
- Reba McEntire’s Valory debut Keep on Lovin’ You arrives August 18. Lead single “Strange” is approaching the top ten.
- Willie Nelson releases another standards collection called American Classic on August 25.
- Brooks & Dunn’s new studio album streets on September 8, preceded by lead single “Indian Summer.” The duo’s previous set, Cowboy Town, was their first to fall short of gold certification.
Sugarland, “Joey”
Thought: being Jennifer Nettles allows you to get away with a lot of things that would wreck lesser singers. Her co-write “Joey” is certainly one of the more interesting songs getting shipped to country radio this year, with its drunk-driving scenario and unique “what if” narrative, but it’s also a bit of a mess, with verses that promise much and a chorus that delivers practically nothing – lyrically, emotionally, even melodically. Coming from a less soulful voice box, you know the thing would never float.
Lucky for Sugarland, Nettles’ surging performance manages to keep the track chugging along for longer than it probably deserves to, offering some interesting moments amid all the more underwhelming ones. With her in tow, plus a nice arrangement reminiscent of Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May”, even the song’s hiccups manage to sound like something worth hearing.
Eli Young Band, “Radio Waves”
Eli Young Band’s latest sounds like a hit from top to bottom, with crisp pop-rock production, likable vocals, and a brisk tempo that allows the song to breeze by pleasantly, even as the chorus just misses its intended melodic mark.
As I’ve said before, they’re basically just playing Rascal Flatts’ game with a little less drama, and the result here is pretty enjoyable, the kind of musical comfort food you expect from summer radio when it’s behaved.