Top 10 Favorite CM Radio Singles of 2009

“I’m just a ghost in this house. I’m just a shadow upon these walls. As quietly as a mouse, I haunt these halls…”

… Totally describes my activity amongst these parts the second part of this year! I didn’t even bother to lurk.  I’m hoping to change that and post again.  I really got disinterested and I chose to dedicate my time towards other things, even though the blog was probably the most popular when I left it.  It just gets hard to post so often, so I apologize for my self-imposed exile, but alas I am back (I will make a personal blog entry in the future with my new discoveries).

Anyway, over the last few days I’ve been thinking of which songs to put on my list.  I really didn’t listen to too much commercial country radio this year, because XM Radio and my iPod are superior in all ways possible to that, and my ears craved other genres’ music a bit more. That said, what I did hear on today’s country was not very good anyway haha. My list is based on the songs I did hear and enjoyed and I’m sure there are some great tunes I missed, but this is what I’m gonna give you, so you better like it!

Top 10 Favorite Country Music Radio Singles of 2009:

• 10. “Seein’ Stars” – Jack Ingram w/ Patty Griffin:
  • I’m well aware that this single was kinda just released but since it doesn’t seem to be doing that well, I decided I might as well bunch it onto ’09 (though I hope it turns around and becomes huge in 2010).  The reasons I like it is why it will probably bomb: because it’s more alternative country than mainstream, it’s slow-paced and radio probably doesn’t have any idea who Patty Griffin is! I love the simplicity of it and their vocals go together really well in the chorus.  I hear this on XM and every time, I like it more.
• 09. “Busted” – Patty Loveless:
  • People are probably going “what?” with this one.  I know it wasn’t really a single single and had zero airplay on the radio, BUT it says on Wikipedia that it was a single, so that’s good enough for me for this one! Loveless’s album, Mountain Soul II, is THE best country album of the year, in my opinion, and seeing as I’m not doing anything album-related for year-end countdowns, this is my way of honoring it.  This highly covered Harlan Howard song hasn’t been done exactly like this: above the cotton-picking to coal mine lyric change, Patty’s emotional mountain voice really shines here.  Despite the depressing state of the narrator’s life, the song makes me smile through how good it sounds. The addition of Del McCoury for sure makes that smile bigger.
• 08. “People Are Crazy” – Billy Currington:
  • I’ve read reviews saying that the production of this isn’t that country, and though maybe it’s just my 90′s-radio-upbringing messing with my ears, it sounds super country to me, compared to everything else. I appreciate the fact that Billy is recording different styles of music and this one was a pleasant surprise.  I agree that some of the lyrics, like the so-called chorus, could definitely be better done however the song as a whole is very nice.  His phrasing in certain parts recall classic country pieces, which I think is pretty cool, and the steel-usage is too.  I think if I sang this song, I would probably change “crazy” with an expletive though haha.

ACM’s “Artist of the Decade”: George Strait Review (Aired 05.27.09)

Rumors of my death are not clear, nor are they true.  I’ve been wanting to post but kept putting it off and did not have the time to execute it.  This review was a good way to get something in, without it being a recommendation.  I’m hoping this does not take too much time to write lol (but hopefully, still be long), so here goes!

Yeah my review is a bit postponed… it’s about a week and a half later and people probably don’t care about it anymore.  I ended up watching the tribute show the next evening after it aired because my eyes were glued to the Nuggets vs. Lakers game that night (my team lost, of course lol)…but anyway, I’ve been looking forward to this tribute show ever since I heard about it months ago.  The taping for this show took place the night after the ACM Awards in April.  George Strait is THE man and my favorite artist of all time, and it’s so cool to see this (sometimes) fine lineup of artists honoring him by performing his songs from throughout his career.  Overall, I immensely enjoyed and wish CBS would air re-runs so more people could see it.

Sugarland opening the show with their version of “Adalida”.  I usually don’t care for Jennifer Nettles‘s voice, but it worked really well here and you could tell she and the guy were passionate about it.  Though the lyrics are more suited for a male, it didn’t matter.  Love that Cajun feel!  YouTube performance video link.

Toby Keith followed with “Unwound”.  It had noticeably a slightly updated production but still kept the same basic sound, and Toby did an excellent job.  I haven’t heard his voice sound this good and spirited in years!  You don’t hear this song too often (unless you play it on iTunes), so it was a treat to hear it on here.  YouTube performance video link.

One of my personal favorites, Brooks & Dunn were next.  They chose, well Ronnie Dunn chose, for them to sing “The Cowboy Rides Away”.  This is a fine example of how well traditional country, a theme of cowboys, and B&D go together.  It even got Kix Brooks to sing along, in more than just harmony, equally on the chorus.  I really loved that, and Ronnie sang the hell out of the song.  YouTube performance video link.

The following performance was unique.  First, because the song choice is one of my least favorite Strait songs ever, and a song I don’t ever really listen to: “It Ain’t Cool to Be Crazy About You”.  The production on the original song, IMO, is so so boring and poppy, but with the second surprise, that being a duet of the song with Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, it was given new life and a more than tolerable listen.  They did a sweet job and it was nice to watch (Blake was also really funny in his opening words in regards to his Pure Country ode).  YouTube performance video link.

In a change to a non-Strait part of the evening, in a nod to past Decade Artist honorees, they added them into the show, with Keith Urban performing a medley of Marty Robbins‘s hits ["Singing the Blues", "El Paso", "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)"].  I admit that Urban’s voice sounded good, but I still don’t buy him as a country singer, so the covers, to me, felt awkward and took too long.  He did better than three other people though, so I’ll consider it “OK”.  YouTube performance video link.

iCF Single Reviews #6 (Week of December 11, 2008)

Wow wow wow.  I’m so neglectful of this blog sometimes lol.  I actually had started writing this post like the day after Christmas, but I never finished it and just kept it as a draft until now (I also erased some comments I made that wouldn’t make sense today lol – I just left the pic of Toby there).  Anyway, I’m here to review some singles I have yet to have voiced my opinion on, so far.  This is based off of the current R & R chart rankings.

10. “Down the Road” – Kenny Chesney & Mac MacAnally:

- Can’t believe I’m saying this, but this song isn’t too bad.  I like the acoustic and simplicity it has and I’m glad Kenny experimented on something kinda different here and introduced us to MacAnally.  Not an incredible song or anything, but gotta give this Jimmy Buffett-wannabe some credit (and credit for ditching the puka necklace – that was getting so old, man).  2.0 out of 5 stars.

12. “Sweet Thing” – Keith Urban:

- I kinda reviewed this in my CMA Awards reaction post, and it was actually favorable.  Urban did a solidly gripping performance of his new single and it stood out.  I would not consider it country at all, but damn, is it catchy.  I think some of the verses’ sound are reminiscent of Rascal Flatts’s (horrific) remake of  “Life Is a Highway”, but Urban is miles better than them (but just as pop, IMO) and the comparison with those songs only lies there.  This single’s chorus, as mentioned in other online reviews, is similar to Urban’s other songs, like “Better Life” and “Somebody Like You”, however it is still pretty fresh.  Surprisingly, I like the “do do do do do“s, and I think a lot of my likeness for the song began with the CMA performance, in which I first heard the song debuted.  Not country at all, but I like it, and bought the Mp3 on Amazon.com (well, I used my Pepsi free points to get it, so I don’t feel so guilty supporting him lol).  4.0 out of 5 stars. Buy here!

13. “God Love Her” – Toby Keith:

- This is actually my first time hearing this (btw, that is a nice pic of Toby above), and I don’t think it’s great or horrible – kind of in the middle.  Definitely a more mainstream-rock/poppier sounding Toby, with a similar feel of “Whiskey Girl”.  It’s catchy, though a little overproduced.  I wouldn’t call myself a Toby fan anymore, by no means (I think that shipped sailed several years ago – he just got annoying).  Nothing special here.  2.0 out of 5 stars.

14. “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” – Brooks & Dunn with Reba McEntire:

- Like I’ve said before: I’m lovin’ that B&D brought back the fiddle to their music! It’s been absent way too long.  This song is classic Brooks & Dunn, like their old stuff in the ’90s and I love it.  Bringing on Reba made it even better (though, I think this new recording sounds too “live” and it was edited in somewhat oddly).  I would comment more, but I’m considering another post on them in the future, so I don’t wanna repeat myself.  Cool music video too! 4.5 out of 5 stars. Buy here!

16. “River of Love” – George Strait:

- Don’t want to say much about this huge disappointment of a single (and a song), especially since Strait is my #1, because it’s just a bad choice of a song to record.  Nice steel guitar but not even the King could get me to like this.  Now, I really see how radio stations will play just about anything from certain people, regardless of the quality, even from some of my favorites.  This is a shipwreck, in my eyes, but of course it will be a top 5.  1.5 out of 5 stars.

Top 16 Favorite CM Radio Singles of 2008

It took me a while to think up of a list.  I wanted to keep it mainly mainstream-based (my excuse for not including alternative country/americana singles, those of which I really couldn’t list lol).  I didn’t listen to a whole lot of mainstream country radio this year, as compared to past years, because of, of course, XM Radio and my iTunes/iPod.  My list definitely includes, and excludes, singles that other sites have placed on their year-end lists.  For my own, I was bent on making sure that the tracks considered were mostly 2008-played singles, and so I came up with these.  Some of these are surprises and others maybe not so much.

Happy New Years to everyone and hopefully your 2009 is much better (I know the first half of my ’08 was much better than the second, but I am satisfied with the time I got the spend the time with my family over this time – and kinda crazy – but it’s been a great year).  Btw, the pic above I chose because I was pretty green the whole year and I thought it looked nice, especially as a negative, as it is now)

Time to reveal my:

Top 16 Favorite Country Music Radio Singles of 2008:

• 16. “No Air” – Rissi Palmer:
  • Call me surprised as well.  When Rissi first came about, I supported her, but didn’t particularly care for her debut single (“Country Girl”).  It wasn’t until I heard her “countrified” remake of Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown’s pop hit, “No Air” that I became really interested.  Though Rissi’s version is still very poppy, I find myself lovin’ the heavy fiddle, mandolin, and steel production with the catchy vocals.  Too bad it wasn’t a hit.  Woulda been sorta cool if she maybe made this a duet with Keith Urban or something.

• 15. “Workin’ for a Livin’” – Garth Brooks & Huey Lewis:
  • Hahaha, another remake, I say?  Yes.  I find this a very catchy track, and it’s classic Garth: full of bluesy harmonica and rockin’ fiddle.  It’s like a hybrid of “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)” and “Beer Run”.  To be quite honest, before this, I didn’t really know who Huey Lewis was, but had heard of him.  The music video is really cool and liking the NASCAR-theme.  Definitely a fun number to listen to and the lyrics are totally true.  I could do without the “working” female background vocals, however.  They’re annoying lol.

• 14. “Sounds So Good” – Ashton Shepherd:
  • The song title explains itself on how I feel about the track.  I love her über-twangy accent (I used to hate when people used that term, but it’s fine if I do it) and it confirms how much she loves being at home in the country.  Reminds me of the summer and of being out in the Arizona desert.  It’s contemporary country with traditional country soul.  I’m glad this song got played a decent amount, which was more than expected since radio kinda sucks.

• 13. “You and Me and Time” – George Jones & Georgette Jones:
  • I don’t think this song went anywhere on the charts, and was one of the best songs of 2008, IMO.  Georgette has such a beautiful voice and it’s very reminiscent of her mother, Tammy Wynette.  The song is about her childhood relationship with her father, and his absence that shadowed those times, and now, they’ve got time to be closer than ever.  It’s a sweet and pure country duet.  In the chorus, I love the pause after “time” and before “finally got together“… awesome.

• 12. “Rocks In Your Shoes” – Emily West:
  • Another one gone… newcomer Emily West really impressed me this one.  Very poppy, but as proven, country-pop can be done well, and she did it.  She got the title of the song from a phrase her grandfather used to say, if I’m not mistaken, and it took a big meaning.  Her voice reminds me of a younger, playful Patty Loveless.  One of the most catchiest songs of the year.  Check out her EP.

• 11. “His Kind of Money (My Kind of Love)” – Eric Church:
  • My favorite single from this guy.  I’ve never been too big on him, but have always liked this singles.  I really like the message of this song…money can’t buy everything, and you’ll realize that.  It can’t replace real and good love.

myTunes 36 Most Played Songs (12.10.08)

I’ve been thinking about doing this for quite some time – revealing what my top played songs are on iTunes.  By default, the most played playlist is set at 25 or something, but since 36 is my lucky number and 36 just happens to fit perfectly in the height of laptop screen monitor (to where I didn’t have to scroll down to see the whole list), it worked out so so good.

Revealing this list, for me, feels like letting out my public tax return information to the public lol (well, it wouldn’t be big at all, but just imagine that I’m a celebrity and this is now common knowledge).  I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, though some of my choices and rankings of some songs and artists might surprise/turn off/turn on some people, so it’s your choice on what you’ll decide to think of me from now on hahaha.  Whatever, though.  We all have our guilty pleasures/inner demons :p.

I’ll list it backwards, from #36 to #1.  It’s pretty accurate (well, these are based on plays from when I uploaded the tracks to my laptop’s iTunes in summer 2006, and from iPod plays, so it’s based from then).  You will see my varying tastes, from traditional/pop/alternative/rocking/country,bluegrass, rock, pop, and alternative rock.

These below are my stats, as of this moment, Tuesday night, December 9th. 2008 @ 11:23pm (out of about 39,000 plays):

iCF Music Site Rolodex (11.19.08)

I am loving the new amount of traffic that’s been coming through here lately (I had about an average of 35-40 different people per day reading the site this week, which is pretty impressive for this blog).  July had the most visitors for the month, but it died down as my blogging lagged, and that makes sense since people lose interest when there’s nothing new lol.  We’ll see how the end of this month does compares to then!  I actually had lots of visitors for the CMA Awards entry (probably because of all those artist tags ha).  I gotta thank Ken Barnes from the “LISTEN UP” USA Today Blog, for linking to this site for this week’s playlist for his Crystal Shawanda recommendation (there are others on the list as well)  Anyway, for this entry, I wanted to recommend the links from my “Other cool music sites” heading on the right, and explain why I chose them to be there.  This is one of my tributes to them and their great work (you can see my “blogroll” tribute here).

(I chose this picture because it was cool and kinda signified the link between my site and these other sites.  They are part of the puzzle that makes the online music world greater.  We may not always “fit in” with others, but we make it work, somehow.  A “necessary connection”, if you will.  Alright, enough with all the corniness.  It’s mostly because I think it’s cool to look at!)

So, let’s get to it.

iCF Music Site Rolodex:

> .::Strait-LAW Forums::. :

- O.K. I admit; this is a shameless plug for one of my own other sites lol, but why not?  It needs more traffic especially with all the info that’s been posted on it.  It’s a message board dedicated to two of my favorite artists, George Strait and Lee Ann Womack.  I spent lots of time on it over the years (the forums officially started July 2004!) and it has changed much since then.  It used to be only a Womack board, but became Strait too, in May 2005.  It’s had its in and outs, but I called it everything but quits ;).  Anyway, not to give a history lesson, but you can read more about the history here and check it out!  Tag-line is: “It’s where you’ll get the good news and the bad news (and anything in between)” - a reference to their first duet.

> All Music Guide :

- One of my absolute favorite sites I go to.  I constantly visit them to read their reviews and listen to audio clips for music.  I used their clips for this site because they’ve got tons of music to sample.  I really like the way all the information is organized and I’ve learned a lot, musically, from there.  They’ve got a music blog too, but their entries about country music seem to be lacking…

> Angry Country :

- This is an online magazine with plenty of country album/concert reviews, interviews, news, and such – “Honest Country Music News” is their tag-line.  I enjoy this site, though I do remember when it was different in the past and a bit more critical (which is more to my liking lol) on artists and a bit more traditional-sided.  Guess they’re not as “angry” as they used to be.  Still a worthy place to visit, for sure.

> Country Interviews Online :

- Just like it says, this is the site to go to for interviews and Q&A’s and also, CD/concert/video reviews and lots more!  There are a good amount of pages I still need to get through!  So much.  The site is structured around frames, so it’d be kinda hard for a visitor to link to a specific page if they didn’t know the whole “right click, copy properties” method, but it’s a nice set-up, overall.

> Country On-Demand :

- This site always impresses me with its colorful, diverse images and consistency with the latest country news.  I believe the site is run by Derrick and Dustin, both gentlemen who I’ve run across and talked to online many times and they’re good guys and have a huge commitment to the site and are also huge fans of country music (how’s that for a run-on sentence, but it’s true).  I’m so glad the site seems to be going strong and I’m a big supporter of it all.  They be goin’ places! Definitely check it out.

42nd Annual “Country Music” Association Awards

Just read some interesting live blogs (CU & The9513) covering last night’s award show and while my opinions lined up with their’s at times, I also had disagreements.  I did actually watch the whole show last night, “live” as it came to my Mountain Time home (so, in other words, an hour behind), because I wanted it to be fresh this year for me, and I know going online would mess up any surprises.  I also actually watched the live red-carpet show on CMT.  Since I did not do a live blog, I thought I might share my opinions right here as a day-after analysis.  And I ain’t gonna hold back…

(you like my picture above?  I made it green because, you know, after all is done and said, that’s what the awards were all about.  The green… and I don’t mean the environmentally-friendly kind)

On the red-carpet pre-show.  It was decent, but I was kinda wanting to see other people than the ones they interviewed. Remember, I’m going by my memory here, so I might miss out on some details.  Two things I remember: Jack Ingram‘s wife, Amy’s, oddly short dress: wow… don’t know what she was thinking lol, but no worries (I’m a guy, yes, but I thought it was a strange choice).  And I guess Alan Jackson‘s daughters are all into the pop-country craze, which I found interesting.  So cool to see him and his family, though.

For us, the awards didn’t televise until an hour after the red-carpet show, which I always hate because I wish I could see it live live.  Brad Paisley and Keith Urban started into the show with their duet, “Start a Band”, which I thought was cool that it was the first time they performed it together live, but I wasn’t too impressed, and waited for what was next.  When Brad finally performed his own song, “Waitin’ On a Woman”, it was nice too, but I wasn’t crazy for it.  Keith’s new song is anything but country, though I found myself liking it, for some reason (like I’ve noticed and posted before, I seem to like his really pop singles lol).  Not country at all but not bad.

I thought Paisley and Carrie Underwood, overall, did a fine job as hosts.  Of course, could have been done better, but it is a tough job to do, so I give them props for that.  Carrie did an amazing execution of “Just a Dream”.  I think it was a good idea to have the war widow speak before that because it gave it more meaning.  Definitely one of the best and moving performances of the night.  Also, congrats on her “Female” win.

I was stoked that George Strait won for “Single of the Year” for his excellent song, “I Saw God Today”.  I was pretty sure that “Stay” was going to win.  While we’re on the topic of King George, I gotta say his win for “Album of the Year” was even greater because I really like Troubadour and it was even more special that Lee Ann Womack got to present it to him (with Josh Turner) because they have such admiration for one another and George is one of her biggest heroes and she had won that award for the amazing There’s More Where That Came From years before.  I bet she’ll be accepting the award next year for Call Me Crazy.  Even better that producer, Tony Brown, went up there too! (he produced Strait’s & Womack’s latest projects).  Moving further in the program, honestly, George’s performance of “River of Love” was definitely not something I was looking forward to because I don’t really care for the song (too Kenny Chesney-like) but I think his vocals and the steel guitar save the song from being a total failure (in anybody else’s hands, it would be really bad).

Kellie Pickler.  I really don’t know what people see in her, to be honest.  Her personality is really cute, but dumb blondes don’t really do anything for me, unless I know the person and can’t tease them up front.  I thought her performance was the worse of the night.  I think she tries too hard and the music was way louder than her vocals.  Just a bad performance through and through.  Horrible.

Recommendation XXXIV: Sheryl Crow

All I can say to this site’s audience: thanks so much for waiting.  It means a lot to me that people still check out this site regularly even when I don’t post too often.  With my time off from school, I’ve got my good times and bad: it’s nice not having to stress over work and papers (my film class woulda been so fun though), but it is killing me not being able to hang out with my many buddies and others back there.  I feel like I’m missing out and will miss out on lots of stuff, and I’m thinking I might not be able to return in 2009.  But I came up with a plan to visit my friends early than planned before 2008 is over, so I’m excited about that (will be kinda expensive though…lol).  Anyway, I can guess what most of you are thinking when you saw the picture on the side: what’s she doing on the site?  She’s not country! I know she may not be considered “country”, but she’s done several works within the genre and she has integrated it somewhat in her style throughout her whole career.  She’s worked with Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Cash, the Dixie Chicks, Jack Ingram, Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, and others, and even her duet with Kid Rock (“Picture”) sounded more country than most songs on country radio, so I think she’s earned at least a recommendation (She even had another single on the country charts with the poppier single, “The First Cut is the Deepest”, if you can remember that.)

My thirty-fourth recommendation is: Sheryl Crow’s “Anything But Down” from her 1998 The Globe Sessions album.  Sheryl is one of my favorite rock/pop artists and I like a fair amount of her work.  I’d have to say that “All I Wanna Do” (the much much better of the songs with that name.  Yeah, I said it, and I do mean it, Sugarland.) is my favorite song of her’s because it’s so catchy and reminds me of the ’90s.  It’s got a slight country feel to it with the steel guitar that’s used prominently in the track, and her voice is always easy to notice.  Even when she turned pop with “Soak Up the Sun”, she was still as good as ever (though, her rockier, edgier stuff is preferred).  I remember when I was young, I confused her with Martina McBride when I saw her lol, especially with her music video for the James Bond movie, “Tomorrow Never Dies” (now I don’t really see any similarities, except that they had real short hair in the past).  My only complaint about Ms. Sheryl Crow is that she seems to kinda mumble when she performs live and while it it part of her style and isn’t done on purpose, it gets somewhat distracting.  But whatever, she’s still a great music icon.

Recommendation XIII: Lee Ann Womack

Happy 4th of July! I seem to have a tendency to make new blog entries on holidays lol (the last one was on Father’s Day). Today, my Independence Day is not as exciting or action-packed as past years in my life, as I have not done much at all – that’s why I’m making a new entry now and also, I owed it to you all haha. Today’s recommendation is not related to today or have any theme like that: it’s just a song I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time and from an artist who puts out some of the best music out there, so it was tough to choose one song from them to do.

My thirteenth recommendation is: Lee Ann Womack’s “I Know Why the River Runs” from her 2000 I Hope You Dance album. This is the country album that got me back into country music years ago. I’ve really got to thank my sister mostly, because she bought this CD for my mother (my mom loved the title track), and we used to listen to it all the time in our old vehicle. That was like the only CD we really listened to haha…and none of our road trips would be complete without hearing some of the songs from this album and especially “I Know Why the River Runs”. Anyway, people need to realize that this album is much more than the hugely-ginormously popular title track, “I Hope You Dance” (which is my favorite Lee Ann Womack song of all time) and I’d definitely recommend people and fans check out her other music. This album has so many styles of country music on it mixed together: traditional, honky-tonk, bluegrass, contemporary pop-country, and I think the other songs are majorly overlooked by people who love the title song.

Recommendation XI: Jack Ingram

Right now, I’m writing this from home because my college semester ended about a week ago, and I’ve been feeling really weird since being back. I definitely am happy to not have to do any more school work until about three months, but when I left my dorm, I was sad to leave my friends behind (well, actually, they left before me, and I left later so I was alone for quite a while, waiting to check out of my room lol). My buddies and I had done a lot within the time we had and had a lot of fun, and I’m not afraid to admit it here, but I do miss them because they live in other states and I can’t spend time with them and next year may be different. This leads me to my next song selection…

My eleventh recommendation is: Jack Ingram’s “Maybe She’ll Get Lonely” from his 2007 This Is It album. When I first got this album (it had all this bonus stuff that came with it because I got it from his site), I had high expectations because the clips I heard from the album were excellent and I do love his remake of “Lips of an Angel” (any nay-sayers, don’t hold that against me lol), but after I listened to the full album originally, I felt a little disappointed. As time went by and I kept listening to the CD day-by-day, I became to love it. Jack Ingram has become one of my newer favorites and I enjoy hearing his music, old and new. It was his Electric album that got me to be interested in him initially and my interest has grown from there with his recent radio singles. I could go on and on about him and the album, but I really want to get to the story with the song.