New Music Out Today:
“Lucky Me“, old school country artist Moe Bandy. His guests are the Oak Ridge Boys, Ricky Skaggs, and Riders in the Sky.
“Down In A Hole“, the debut country album from Kiefer Sutherland.
“Pure and Simple“, Dolly Parton.
How Do You Make a Christmas Album in May?
All day yesterday, BRETT ELDREDGEwas teasing a ‘big announcement.’ Well, he finally made it last night. And . . . he’s making his first Christmas album.
He posted a promo video from the studio recording “Let It Snow”, and he sounds great. Think ‘classic rat pack’ more than ‘country version of Christmas classic.’ There’s a full orchestra with a big band sound.
That’s because he’s a HUGE Sinatra fan, and prefers Christmas classics by Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, andBurl Ives. He says he likes, quote, “the swing jazz kind of ‘smooth’ . . . that you turn while you pour a glass of bourbon and sit in a cool bar.”
But he recorded it in New York in mid-May, so I’ve always wondered . . . how do you get into the holiday spirit and make a Christmas album that far from the holidays? I know Christmas starts earlier each year, which sucks. But still . . . May. It just feels wrong.
He says he didn’t tell anyone he was doing the album . . . hung Christmas lights in the studio . . . and then spent ALL his time there. He says he just LIVED Christmas.
Apparently it worked. Here’s what he said. Quote, “It was the best experience I’ve ever had in the studio. It was magic.”
The album will be out in the fall . . . it’s all holiday classics with one original.
The Ten Nastiest Break-Ups in Country
Did you see the list of “Nastiest Break Ups” Taste of Country did this week? Not in the romantic sense . . . as in groups who got so sick of each other they had to call it quits. Here’s their top ten . . .
1. Brooks & Dunn. But you knew that.
2. Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner . . . after she wrote “I Will Always Love You” for him and his band.
3. Kristen Hall leaves Sugarland. Was it over “image reasons?” Or money?
4. Mark Herndon and Alabama. Yep, money issues.
5. Heidi Newfield leaves Trick Pony. Yeah, we hadn’t heard of them either.
6. The Everly Brothers split up. Involving a smashed guitar DURING a show.
7. The Mavericks fire Robert Reynolds. But it was way late in their career, during a reunion tour.
8. The Louvin Brothers break up. One of them drank too much. But they left us one of the all-time ‘so bad it’s good’ album covers . . . “Satan is Real”. Google it.
9. Lonestar parts ways with John Rich. Who went on to form Big & Rich, obviously. So . . . no loss for him.
10. Cheyenne Kimball and Gloriana. She just didn’t return to the tour bus one night.
JASON ALDEAN is hosting a four-hour salute to America’s work force Labor Day weekend, called “Workin’ Hard Country”. Sadly, that’s only TWO weeks from now. I know . . . we can’t believe it either.
His guests will include Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Kelsea Ballerini,Keith Urban, and Carrie Underwood. They’re going to play music and share stories about the jobs they held before they were famous. Stay tuned for more details. (Full Story)