Recommendation XXXXI: Ashley Monroe & Trent Dabbs

I’m back… been a long week and I am tired (yawn express). Long long day at both jobs. I still cannot believe that it’s December already and ’08 is almost over (I will not not be doing a “Best Albums of 2008″ edition, sorries… maybe a best single thing. I dunno.)  Anyway, no real big update on me.  Just started paying off some loan stuff, and other payments (total craziness.  I should be spending the money on Christmas gifts! haha.)  Btw, I just recently watched The Happening on DVD, and it really really sucked.  Horrible, horrible movie in every way possible.  Now, every time I see and hear Mark Wahlberg talk, I think of that SNL bit.  Here’s to forty-one…

My forty-first recommendation is: Ashley Monroe & Trent Dabbs’s “Laying Low” from their 2008 Ashley Monroe and Trent Dabbs – EP album.  Yes, I am on a duo craze right now.  I have mentioned them before, in my Brooks & Dunn recommendation, and I discovered their music in July earlier this year.  I was real curious to know what Ashley Monroe was doing ever since her exceptional (but never released) debut album fell through with Sony Nashville.  From the clips I heard of that album, I seriously think it could have been the best debut album from anyone, that I’ve ever heard (even rivaling Lee Ann Womack‘s debut, whom Ashley somewhat sounds like.  She also reminds me of Dolly Parton and Jewel).  Country radio had a big play in us never hearing it, and they missed a huge opportunity by not playing Ashley’s music.  At least, she’s doing decent as a songwriter, but her singing is just incredible and should be heard by everyone.  I was excited to see she was making new music on her myspace page, and even more thrilled to see she created new tunes with a person I had never heard of: Trent Dabbs.

Recommendation XXXI: Ricky Skaggs

Man, going to sleep so early (12am midnight) feels so weird because I’m totally a night person (or at least, I was, until I got back home from college), but now I gotta get up at like 8am or earlier. Just very strange. I remember going to bed at like 3am or later lol. Times and responsibilities sure do change. August came pretty quickly and lots of events are coming up sooner than I think, so I’m excited and also nervous at the same time, so I’m hoping I can motivate myself to do the best that I can and get ready for them when they come. Anyway, I just got done watching some of the Olympics on TV, and I’m very proud of Michael Phelps and his accomplishments he has done for himself and for the U.S. Very, very cool. Nice to see such great things happening past China’s Great Wall… which is also a nice segue to my recommendation (somehow I was able to make a connection, coincidentally haha)…

My thirty-first recommendation is: Ricky Skaggs’s “Walls of Time” from his 1999 Ancient Tones album.  During the ’90s, I don’t think I even knew who Ricky Skaggs was or had even heard of him.  It was not really until the 2000′s that I discovered all the great stuff he has done with country music and bluegrass.  I found out more about him through his appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and countdowns and such.  I didn’t find out until later that he helped sing harmonies on Vince Gill‘s “Go Rest High On That Mountain” and on Lee Ann Womack‘s “Never Again, Again”, two of my favorite songs ever.  His high-pitched mountain vocals are instantly recognizable and his dedication to the preservation of the bluegrass genre is remarkable.  I may not own much of his music, but I respect and admire him a lot (as well as his wife, Sharon White, and The Whites‘s work).

Recommendation XXI: Pinmonkey

Hello hello – I am back. Since the blog site change, I have noticed that some of the older post entries have small font and I have no idea why that is (must be a html thing), but if you click on the title of the entry, the font is the normal size and readable. I actually was planning on making a new entry (#21) last week but I got held up with something else (college will do that to ya haha) and I did had some new ideas, but with the little feedback I receive from guests, I don’t have total motivation to write new entries more often lol (so, if you do read this blog, and want more, then comment so I know you exist! Thanks!). I also updated my links area with some new cool sites, and added stars next to my two most favorites (Country Universe and The 9513 ), but those other sites are really sweet too, so check them out.

My twenty-first recommendation is: Pinmonkey’s “I Drove All Night” from their 2002 Pinmonkey album. I’ve been wanting to use them for quite a while, like I mentioned in my old Dixie Chicks recommendation entry from 2007, and I thought it was time to utilize a group again. I first heard Pinmonkey (a group who got their name from a Simpsons episode when Homer worked at the bowling alley place haha) when their debut country radio single came out years back, called “Barbed Wire & Roses” , which was full of bluegrass soul and harmonies, and was pretty damn catchy. Some people – like my sister – commented that the male lead singer, Michael Reynolds, sorta sounds like a woman (a la Mary Chapin Carpenter or something), but I disagree because I never thought that lol. Anyway, when I heard this group, I was really interested in them and their music, so when “I Drove All Night” came out, I was pretty much sold (so yeah, “…Drove…” was their second radio single, if it sounded familiar).

Recommendation XVI: Porter Wagoner

Right now, I’m sitting in the lounge of my dorm residence hall typing this up late Sunday night/Monday morning because I feel like I need to put up my tribute to the late Porter Wagoner as soon as I could. Once I read the news a few hours ago, I was shocked and very saddened, though I knew it was coming some time. I do have class tomorrow (or I should say, later today), but it’s not until about noon, so I should be fine, and I really want to do this.

My sixteenth recommendation is: Porter Wagoner’s “Committed to Parkview” from his 2007 Wagonmaster album. Right away after reading of his passing, I felt the urge to listen to his music, because I, unfortunately and regrettably, did not own any of his music before this, even while excellent reviews from sites such as The 9513 and Country Universe raved about the album. When I did listen to the clips of Wagonmaster when it came out earlier this year, I liked it a lot and of course, was thrilled by Porter Wagoner‘s devotion to the traditional, classic country sound and I loved that Marty Stuart produced it. For some reason, sometimes with these older country singers/legends, I shy away from their work at times because I feel like my ears only have enough time for my favorite artists and ones I know better. I know that’s a terrible way to be and it’s a plague that hits a lot of the younger generation of mainstream country music listeners and it’s not good. It seems like it’s only until the singer turns for the worst, or dies, that people pay attention to them, and I admit I did that right now. I knew about Porter’s recent health issues but didn’t really think much of it, other than I hope he’ll be fine and make it through. The country music industry and the listeners should learn by now that an artist should be honored for their contributions to the genre before it’s too late, and there’s been so many times when they had their chances to but waited too long until after they were gone to honor them (Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, etc.). There are, of course, exceptions, and I’m glad that the Grand Ole Opry gave Porter a very worthy tribute some months ago for his 50th anniversary with his friends: Dolly Parton, Patty Loveless, Marty Stuart, and on – that was a great show! I always thought that the Porter & Dolly duets I’ve heard before were really cool, and I’m glad I did know a good amount about him before all this. I just didn’t own any of his music, until now.

Recommendation VII: Dolly Parton

First of all, let me send out my condolences to all the people who have been affected by and/or lost a loved one in today’s tragedy at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. I’m in college right now and just reading about it, just makes me shocked and horrified. I still cannot believe how terrible this world can be at times and I hate when I am reminded of it like this. I know that deaths and murders happen everyday all across the world, but it’s not something I really think about. I had to make a new post today, and comment about it, and choose an appropriate song to fit the circumstances, but it can apply to lots of things in this world. Music can be a great way to help heal oneself from a loss and combining that with God’s assistance through prayer, your pain can begin to go away.

Having said that, my seventh recommendation is: Dolly Parton’s “Hello God” from her 2002 Halos & Horns album. I believe that this song is one of best songs ever written. I first heard it years ago when she sang it at the CMA’s or ACM’s one year (probably 2002). I remember that night pretty well too. The power had gone out where we lived, and I needed to get my homework done, so my mom drove me to the closet library So I could work on it. Our local radio station was airing the award show, and since the TV wasn’t working and I really wanted to see it, I just did my work in the car in the parking lot with my mom right by me, listening to the audio broadcast of the show. I remember hearing Dolly’s performance and I was really moved by the power of the lyrics, her vocals, and her emotion. Dolly Parton basically said what it seems like everyone in the world must be thinking (with the exception of some people), especially in this post-911 world where we question a lot of things that are happening then before (at least, I see it that way).