iCF Music Update (7-19-08)

Hey there.  If you did not read yet in my last entry, right now my internet is not working, so I cannot make any more blog entries for the moment (it sucks, I know).  I’m at the library right now, for just a while, and thought I’d inform you before you grew concerned and got in a disarray over my absence (haha).  I’ll try to make some new ones offline on my laptop and upload them when I come to the library next time.  I wanted to again thank you all again for visiting my blog and reading whatever.  I checked the site stats and it was getting a lot of visitors a few days ago, so I’m very appreciative.  Hopefully you continue to visit, and just read old entries, and check out other blogs for the meantime!  (or I think you can subscribe to the blog, and get informed by email when I write a new entry, but I’m not sure how to do that, exactly).

Anyway, until then, no fancy pictures, or other entries.  I’ll see what I can do.  I’m exhausted this week after so much working!  I need me a Good Time (Alan Jackson-style):  “G with an O, O with a D, T with an I, and a M with an E! “

Recommendation XXVIII: Brooks & Dunn (double-shot)

Oh yes, time for another dose of double-shot. This one was tough, tough, TOUGH, to decide for, but eventually, I made my decision.  But, let me get to that in the third paragraph.  Since I like to take some time before my recommendations to give you a slight update on myself, here it goes: some serious news was broken to me some days back – I would not be able to return to college for my fall semester this year (or possibly, ever again).  With the economy these days and the job market, it’s a tough world to make it in, and it hit my family hard.  Thank God I still have a roof over my head.

I was kinda expecting it as a possibility (even last summer, I was a bit iffy on if I’d return last year), so I was not too taken back.  I’m a positive guy, and I believe God makes everything happen for a reason, whether or not you can see it at the moment, even if it looks bad.  In a way, I’m kinda relieved because it gives me more time to relax and take my mind off school stuff, but the thing that bothers me most is not being able to spend time with my very good friends back there, so it’ll take a while to adjust to not see them for some time.  I’m hoping I can return in the Spring semester in 2009, so I’m doing O.K.  That’s one reason I’m working so much right now.  Anyway, onto the double-shot feature…

My twenty-eighth recommendation is: Brooks & Dunn’s “Don’t Look Back Now” from their 1999 Tight Rope album AND “Caroline” from their 2003 Red Dirt Road album.  I chose to do a double-shot with them because of the obviousness that they’re a duo.  Also, because while they’re considered a duo, their songs usually switch off with either, Kix Brooks, or Ronnie Dunn, singing lead vocal, and rarely these days, do they sing together in a studio-recorded song (except in concert).  I really wish they’d switch off lead vocals in their songs, like Montgomery Gentry does, and pushed their radio singles that way (though Kix and Ronnie’s music, IMO, is miles better).  Brooks & Dunn rarely fail to impress me with their work.  I’ve been a fan of their’s since the ’90s when I was a young kid, and I can remember hearing their music along with many great memories.  Though, they have moved quite a bit from their more honky-tonk traditional country sound from then, they continue to prove how they’ve still got a lot to offer after all these years (but I have to comment, the fiddle has been lacking in their records after 2000- what’s up with that?).  I don’t own all their albums: I own the first Greatest Hits album and about everything else after that (I own seven of their CDs).  The cuts chosen for this recommendation confirmed to be one of my hardest choices, but I think these two songs are perfect for it.

iCF Music Blogroll…

For this entry, I wanted to highlight my side blog links (just because they inspire me so, and if you read this blog, I’m sure you’ll like these too!).  I am lovin’ how popular blogs are these days.

(the above pic was taken with my camera phone because I couldn’t find any pics online that I wanted to use for this entry, so I just took a pic of Country Universe – the Pam Tillis feature to be exact lol – and as you can see, and what I just realized, is that my room is not lighted too pleasantly haha and it’s messy, but just ignore that.  It may be the cheapest looking pic I’ve ever used on this site, but it works… I think.)

From my Blogroll:

> City Girl, Country Girl :

- I dunno what happened with the site.  Now it’s a protected blog, and you need to login to get access.  I really like it.  I’m going to keep it up, anyway, because hopefully someday it is open to the public again.

> CMT Blog :

- I really like CMT.com’s blog, because it has a lot of different viewpoints (though some of them, I strongly disagree with, and the “Link Ray” posts can be annoying because those ones seem to highlight the already overrated artists – how many times do we have to read about Taylor Swift, seriously? -  but there is interesting news in them, regardless).  Lots of cool stuff available there.

> Country Mike :

- This is Mike Sudhalter’s blog, a fellow country music fan, who shows a lot of enthusiasm for the music he likes, and offers cool insights on different things.  I usually agree with him, and he likes most of the same artists as me, so check his blog out (I wish there was a “comment” section to his posts though!).  His blog is part of Country Standard Time (I’ll get to them later).

> Country Music Central :

- All entries are written by “cowboybleau”, filled with plenty of detail and lots of reviews (so many that I don’t have enough time to read them all!).  He recently redid the look and format of his blog and it looks even better.  His most recent entry is about Ray Scott’s latest album.

Recommendation XXVII: Dan Colehour

Whew, today has been a long day: waking up, working, eating, walking, napping, driving, tennis-playing, eating, music listening, and web surfing. I’ve got a full schedule set for the rest of the whole year: three jobs and I’m already feeling exhausted (I’m currently training for one job, and will start my third job next week).  Right now, it’s a bit late, and while I do have to get to work tomorrow (or, should I say, later this morning since it’s like 1:30am here lol), I felt like writing a new entry right now. Today, I finally received a CD I’ve been wanting for quite a while…

My twenty-seventh recommendation is: Dan Colehour’s “Father’s Son” from his 2007 Straight to the Highway album.  You’re probably like “who’s that?!?“.  He’s probably the only artist I’ve reviewed so far that you haven’t heard of, yet.  Dan is an artist I only know of through one of the album’s special guest vocalists, Ms. Lee Ann Womack (I know, I mention her all the time, get over it.  And I also notice how I call these artists’ by their first names, but whatever lol).   Back when this album was released almost a year ago, I saw that Lee Ann contributed her background vocals to the project but I didn’t know for what songs, so I took a listen to the clips, and liked what I heard.  I could never really find out which song/s she was on, but it didn’t really matter then, because the music was really catchy and worthy of purchasing alone – this Dan Colehour‘s voice was amazingly good.  I figured eventually I’d buy the CD when I had more money, and that time finally came to be this month (though, I don’t really have much money at the moment.  I used a Best Buy gift card my aunt gave me from Christmas that I had forgotten about – it had some credit left on it).  I received the album today and finally got to hear the whole thing.  I’ve been trying to find out more about Dan, and the names, Bruce Springsteen and Chris Knight, kept popping up, when compared to Dan’s style.  I just looked up Chris Knight (I didn’t know who he was, I’m embarrassed to admit) and their voices/styles are similar, and that’s good.  “Father’s Son” is one of the songs on the album that hooked me immediately, as well as the song, “Leaving Meridian” (a heartbreak steel-guitar drenched slow shuffle about leaving a Texan town because of the memories it has).

Recommendation XXVI: Ashton Shepherd

Here I am, posting late again near midnight lol.  I’m really a night person and it doesn’t help that I don’t have to get to work until about 11am (just gives me more of a reason to stay up later!).  I’m very happy to see that a good amount of people visit the blog and come back regularly (probably has to do with the fact that I now blog more often than the past – gives you all something to look forward to with each visit).  I know how that is with blogs, checking back everyday to see new content and there’s not – annoying, because what else are you gonna read? haha.  I now try my best to stay dedicated to the blog.  It’s like my new child, and I must make it grow with fresh substances and improve over time, just like a fine wine (oddly worded, but you get the idea).  Anyway…

My twenty-sixth recommendation is: Ashton Shepherd’s “The Whiskey Won the Battle” from her 2008 Sounds So Good album.  I don’t know where to start with Ashton.  I’m pretty sure the first time I heard her music was during my winter break, with her debut single, “Takin’ Off This Pain”.  I thought that song sounded good, but I was not in the mood for tough, redneck-themed girl songs at the time, and her voice was too Gretchen Wilson-like (who I love too, but at the time, it seemed like an imitation).  Eventually my interest in her got the best in me, and I remember reading somewhere online that her album was very traditional, that she wrote or co-wrote most of her work, and that she had some songs posted on her myspace page to showcase it.  So, of course, I checked them out and first heard the title cut, “Sounds So Good” (this being her second and current single at the moment, and also let me make it clear, this was before the album came out in March 2008).  I liked it a lot: very catchy and full of steel and twang.  What really sold me on Ashton Shepherd, though, was her song, “I Ain’t Dead Yet”.  That one is stone-cold country (and you know that’s what I like the most ;) ), and I’ll all about quality country music that’s real, sung by a distinct female voice these days, and even more, if they write it themselves, so I was definitely hooked to Ashton then.  She’s almost 22 years old, married, and has a baby as well!

iCF Single Reviews #3 (Week of July 6, 2008)

I don’t want to overwhelm you with too many posts, because this massive amount of posting within days is not the norm around here lol, but I just felt like writing tonight. Just felt inspired by other blogs that I read today. Blogging can be very…therapeutic and admit it: it’s pretty fun (just like in real life, I like to express my opinion when I feel like it). O.K. Here’s Numero Tres… and just like last time, the numbers I chose are kinda odd, but I’m going to pick up where I left off last time: #17 and go to #36 (since that’s my lucky number ;) ). I’m getting my chart rankings from Radio & Records‘ site once again, though it is last weeks’ chart I’m using since they have yet to post the latest, but it doesn’t matter. On with the show…

17. “Learning How to Bend” – Gary Allan:

- When Gary started coming out with more rock/pop-sounding material, I was a bit weary. I did love his remake of “Best I Ever Had”, but I missed his more countrier stuff. With his new album, Living Hard, and its first single, “Watching Airplanes”, I initially didn’t like that song. I grew to love it because of the video and its footage of my Colorado’s Red Rocks and now I’m loving it. With this new one, it sounds good, and keeps with the heavy rock sound with strings and such, but I’m not feeling it totally. The chorus, especially, feels too much like the previous single. I don’t consider it “country”, but otherwise, overall, it’s not a bad tune. I wish Gary all the best (btw, does it bother anybody else when people misspell his last name into “AllEn”? I guess I’m nitpicky lol). 3.5 out of 5 stars. Buy here!

18. “Holler Back” – The Lost Trailers:

- I read a review somewhere a while back that mentioned that the idea of the song came from Gwen Stefani’s pop hit, “Hollaback Girl”, and that was interesting. I think this uptempo is somewhat catchy but for the most part, just sounds “B-A-N-A-N-A-S” and kinda annoying like the pop song (funny side note: coincidentally No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” is on the radio right now as I’m writing this haha). Hopefully, The Lost Trailers have more offer than this, and can distinguish themselves from the other groups with similar names (too many of them!). 2.5 out of 5 stars.

19. “Every Day” – Rascal Flatts:

- Yeah… already reviewed that one last time. Still… 1.5 out of 5 stars.

20. “Do You Believe Me Now?” – Jimmy Wayne:

- I’ve come across this single several times on the radio and seriously thought I was listening to a rock station or something. The song could totally be played there with its heavy use of loud electric guitar and drums, even with it’s slight mandolin usage. Sounds like something Rob Thomas would release, which is not particularly bad because he’s a good singer, but does it belong on country radio? I really like Jimmy’s voice a lot and will forgive him for it, and the song alone is pretty good, so I’ll let it slide. 3.5 out of 5 stars. Buy here!

21. “That Song In My Head” – Julianne Hough:

- The beginning of this song reminds me Jo Dee Messina’s current single lol (I like to make a lot of connections, you see. And Jo Dee’s tune will be reviewed later on in the post). I think the song is alright. The voice is Kellie Pickler-ish (which is not good in my books) but I won’t hold that against her because Hough’s voice is better (she’s also very easy on the eyes). I do understand how it is to have a song stuck in your head all day: even bad ones do, and that’s when it drives you crazy. I like this dancer/singer’s effort but this is not a song I’d want stuck in my head: it’s too ehhh for me. 2 out of 5 stars.

22. “Troubadour – George Strait:

As anyone should know by now, I love George’s music (he’s my #1), but his current single fails to impress me. Even when I first heard it, I thought it was O.K. and even Vince Gill’s harmony wasn’t enough to change that. I dunno… I like what the lyrics say but something about it doesn’t grab me. I wish they didn’t release it as a single, but I may change my mind if I hear it enough and I like it more. I really hope the next single is his duet with Patty Loveless, “House of Cash”! (Oh btw, I also wish George would write more… he said he isn’t motivated, but his older songwriting work was good, especially the greatness of “I Don’t Want to Talk It Over, Anymore” from his box set.) 3 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation XXV: Josh Turner

Today for 4th of July, I wanted to do a recommendation that was connected to the day in some way, shape, or form. I went through my list of potential recommendations to post about, and then went through my iTunes to see songs and artists I might have missed, and I didn’t have any typical patriotic songs set up, but then I saw it and knew it was about perfect.  I’ll get back to that later in the post, though. What are you up to for today?  Any special festivities you’ve got planned/already celebrated so far?  All I’ve done so far is worked, deposited my paycheck, and am now online reading things lol – no fireworks, no barbecues, or the like for me – definitely not an exciting Independence Day for me, but everything is fine.  I was going to take my mom out to dinner tonight but my plans fell through and it will not work out, but I still plan to celebrate the day as an American and probably watch TV tonight to check out what’s going on in the nation.  Back to the music… last year, my post was “Recommendation #13: Lee Ann Womack” and now here’s my latest…

My twenty-fifth recommendation is: Josh Turner’s “The Longer the Waiting (The Sweeter the Kiss)” from his 2007 Everything Is Fine album.  Back last year in late 2007, I won a free album download from The 9513 in a contest (along with 39 other people) and I chose this album from Josh Turner (there were some other choices but from what I heard of this one, it sounded good and plus, I loved “Firecracker”).  I’ve been a fan of Josh’s since I heard his deep baritone voice gravel through his bluegrass-ish debut single, “Long Black Train”, and I’ve liked all his singles since then – he’s pure country and couldn’t be taken for anything else (I say “pure country”, meaning, despite some of his songs having a pop/ac-sound to them, his heart and soul are dedicated to country, and most of his catalog is traditional stuff anyway).  He, and Brad Paisley, I’d say, are our younger modern-day real country saviors who keep the mainstream format from going to hell, and I’m proud to be a fan of this South Carolina guy.

Updates on iCF Music, music in general, and me!

(The title is a bit over-excited but whatever lol) I’m currently sitting on my bed at home, and it’s 2:43am in the morning, and I don’t wanna go to sleep until maybe an hour later (I don’t have work tomorrow, so I don’t have to worry about that, though I am getting tired…:p ).  I’ve spent a good portion of the night working on this blog because I want to show I’m committed to it and will update whenever I can (plus, I’m really enjoying it…I love using WordPress – much MUCH better than Blogger.  (If anybody’s thinking of blogging, start with WordPress.  Thank God Kevin suggested the switch.)

What’s with the picture on the left you ask?  I just thought it looked cool and wanted to use it lol.  Tonight, I made a new recommendation entry (#24) with Trisha Yearwood that you can read by scrolling down AND I spent a bunch of time fixing all the old blog entries and adding some new links to them as well.  They look much better IMO (I don’t know how it looks on Internet Explorer though, because recently I made the browser switch to the new Mozilla Firefox 3 and let me tell you: incredible! and I ain’t looking back ;) ).  This blog looked weird on IE and I noticed it looked fine when I switched over, and I’m very impressed with everything so far.  Another thing I worked on with the blog is the new “Recommendations Directory” page, which can be found at the top right of the blog anytime.  I created it so it would be easier to navigate through all the recommendations.  It took me a while because of all the links and stuff, so I hope it comes to good use :) .

Recommendation XXIV: Trisha Yearwood (double-shot)

I know what you’re thinking (“oh, I’ve been thinking about you ;) “) since you saw the pictures of Trisha right here: “Wtf took him so long?” lol (well, that might not be the direct quote you were thinking but it’s probably close)… anyway, I understand, and as you can see, I finally decided to post about Mrs. Garth Brooks.  I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time but I had such a tough time choosing one particular song to recommend, so over my vacation break (I’ve been gone for the last few days, if you hadn’t noticed), I decided that since this is my site and I’m able to break any “rules” I’ve set up, I’m going to do it my way, and just set up a double-shot series for my recommendations for whoever I wanted to (that name didn’t take long to come up with ha).  I was all caught up in keeping to my own restrictions with the posts, but now I know it doesn’t matter lol.

So here is a new series of recommendations in which I’ll cover two (“double-shots”) or maybe three (“threesomes”) or possibly even more, if I feel like it.  I want to go back and do it for some artists I’ve already used, so watch for that.  I’m glad my first will be with Ms. Yearwood.

My twenty-fourth recommendation is: Trisha Yearwood’s “River of You” from her 2005 Jasper County album AND “Drown Me” from her 2007 Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love album.  Both of the albums listed are Trisha’s most recent album releases and offer a lot of great material.  Most of her fans prefer her ballad/slow-tempo stuff because vocal-wise, she hits them all outta the park every time and doesn’t overdo and over-sing them like some of her contemporaries, but for me, I prefer her more uptempo/mid-tempo tunes like “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)”, “Believe Me Baby (I Lied)”, and “Perfect Love”.  That’s why I have a strong attraction towards these two songs (they also happen to be about heartache lol).  Trisha Yearwood is definitely one of favorite singers of all time and consistently releases amazing work and has a voice like no other.  It will be tough to keep my entry short and concise because I’ll be tempted to write more and ramble on, so here it goes.