Taylor Swift – Page 18 – Country Universe

Women of the Decade

October 18, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 16

reba-mcentire Country Universe contributor and reader Cory DeStein flagged this rundown from Billboard regarding women on the charts this decade:

PERFECT 10: On Country Songs, Carrie Underwood ropes her 10th top 10, as “Cowboy Casanova” climbs 11-8. With the advance, Underwood now stands alone in first-place for most top 10s on the chart among solo women this decade.

Here are the solo females with the most top 10s on Country Songs since 2000:

10, Carrie Underwood
9, Faith Hill
9, Martina McBride
8, Taylor Swift
7, Sara Evans
7, Reba McEntire
6, Jo Dee Messina
5, LeAnn Rimes
5, Gretchen Wilson
4, Shania Twain

Notably, the artist who led the category among women last decade did so with almost three times as many top 10s. Reba McEntire ranked first among solo women in the ’90s with 27 top 10s on Country Songs. Trisha Yearwood placed second with 18 between 1990 and 1999, and Faith Hill, Patty Loveless and Tanya Tucker each posted 14 in that span.

The decline in fortune for women at radio this decade is even more pronounced when you compare the above top ten to the previous decade:

bomshel At the intersection of Taylor Swift’s present-tense teenage angst and Kenny Chesney’s trademark “those were the good old days” rememberings of carefree youth, you’ll find the new Bomshel single.

They’re old enough to be looking back on being 19 and crazy, but aren’t quite so old that those days seem completely idyllic. There’s a refreshing perspective here that those days were just stepping stones toward becoming who they are today. While they seem to say that they’d love to be 19 and crazy forever, the fact that they’re already figuring out how to explain that tattoo to their future children suggests that they’re not quite so eager to turn back the hands of time.

The song has an incessant driving beat that straddles the fence between urgency and just plain annoyingly fast. Also, like just about all the B-list singles out there these days, there’s far too much going on in the production. It would be nice to see more producers in Nashville show their confidence in the artist and the song by easing down on the clutter, but you’d have to be 19 and crazy to think that has a chance of happening.

CMA Noms ’09

September 9, 2009 Dan Milliken 78

cma_award

It’s that time of year again! For each category, we’ll look at who’s broken in since last year, who’s been booted out, plus some initial thoughts. As always, we invite you to share your own opinions in the comments. Without further ado:

Taylor Swift, “Fifteen”

August 28, 2009 Leeann Ward 11

taylor-swift When you’re a teenager, parents can give you all the advice in the world, based on their wealth of experience, because, after all, they were once teenagers too. But will you listen? Is it really possible to separate parents’ advice from parents’ perceived restrictions? It’s a rare teen who can.

So, Taylor Swift’s advice to 15-year old teens, though specifically targeting an age, is likely a godsend for parents, as Swift’s young age is much more relatable to the high school demographic than they can ever hope to be. As Taylor has comported herself very respectably so far, she has become an ideal role model for teens experiencing the angst of high school life. She’s been there, not so long ago, and she has done a remarkable job of remaining relatable to the population to which she sings. Therefore, she likely feels much more relevant than the parents and other well meaning adults who are forced to speak from somewhat distant memories.

A Conversation with Katie Cook

August 21, 2009 Tara Seetharam 7

Katie Cook has been a staple on Country Music Television since 2002, hosting various series and specials such as CMT Most Wanted Live, the MWL concert series, MWL Star, MWL Stacked and the popular weekly entertainment magazine show, CMT Insider.

But her experience with country music is actually three-fold: along with being embedded in the industry as a television host and interviewer, she’s also the daughter of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Roger Cook, and she’s both a singer and songwriter herself – she released an album in 2000 as part of a band called Reno and continues to hone her songwriting skills. Cook took some time to share with Country Universe her opinions on the state of country music, the evolution of CMT and her recent White House visit, among other topics.

Reba McEntire, “Consider Me Gone”

August 7, 2009 Leeann Ward 15

Reba One of Country music’s most respected female artists, Reba McEntire, has had an expansive career that has spanned three decades. Those who have assessed McEntire’s longevity have rightly concluded that she has reinvented herself several times within her long career to adapt to the ever changing climate of country music.

By in large, she has been successful in finding ways to stay relevant, including associating herself with one of the hottest, though still relatively young, record companies in the business thanks, in part, to the meteoric success of Taylor Swift.

While this union with Valory Music (sister label to Swift’s Big Machine Records) may seem odd at first glance, the fact that Reba had once worked with label president, Scott Borchetta, when he was MCA’s Senior Vice President of Promotion, helps it all make more sense.

Incidentally, McEntire’s second single from her anticipated debut album with Valory Music sounds much like the Reba McEntire singles that Borchetta had promoted in the nineties, as far as production is concerned. With an easy melody, listenable production and McEntire’s typical quality vocal performance, “Consider Me Gone” is a solid effort by an artist who has managed to remain relevant on the public’s radar, in one way or another, in a time when it is difficult for both older and/or female artists to receive significant attention in the world of country music.

Picking the CMA Nominees: Music Video of the Year

August 6, 2009 Dan Milliken 25

Ah, Music Video of the Year. The awkward stepchild of the CMA Awards. Aside from provoking fewer blog wars than the bigger races, it’s also the category that apparently takes the least effort for voters to fill up, since predicting the nominees is often as easy as asking yourself, “well, which songs are probably going to be nominated for Song and Single?”

Nevertheless, music videos remain an important aspect of an artist’s public image, and sometimes even rise to the level of legitimate art. Keeping in mind the eligibility period (July 1st, 2008 – June 30th, 2009), below are the five videos I would most like to see recognized as such by CMA voters. Interestingly, four of them were breakthrough videos for their artists:

Picking the CMA Nominees: Album of the Year

July 31, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 31

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.

Picking the CMA Nominees: Female Vocalist

July 27, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 115

As I work my way through these categories, it’s becoming apparent to me that this was a very weak year for country music. I’m struggling to come up with a list of five women who actually made a musical impact over the twelve months that make up the eligibility period.

Only two women have made any serious commercial impact this year, so I’m filling up the category with the women who put out solid music that also did reasonably well:

Patty Loveless

If the Grammys can acknowledge her, I don’t see why the CMA should overlook her. She made an excellent covers album that has sold as well as several major label efforts. She was a surprise nominee in 2003 on the strength of Mountain Soul, and it would be nice to see the CMA show such good judgment again.

Michelle Branch, “Sooner Or Later”

July 24, 2009 Dan Milliken 11

…Or as I’m going to call it, “Michelle Branch copying Taylor Swift copying Michelle Branch.”

For real, though. It’s like the thing has passed through so many levels of self-consciousness that most of the personality just got rubbed out of the mix at some point, leaving behind only a flimsy song and recycled production.

It’s not unpleasant listening, but it’s difficult to avoid comparing to Swift’s similar (and superior) “You Belong With Me,” and even harder to enjoy in the context of Branch’s own body of work, which has seen both pop and pop-country with much more passion, maturity and distinction.

Remind me why we can’t have The Wreckers again?

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