Loretta Lynn In Concert

The Academy of Country Music Awards will be presented tonight so this is a good a time as any to talk about country music.
On Friday evening we journeyed up to the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank to see country music legend Loretta Lynn in concert.
Loretta appeared with 11 musicians including her son and twin daughters in a program that was at times inspiring, curious, and surprisingly spontaneous.
Through it all, Loretta was Queenly in the sort of gown, makeup and jewelery that you'd expect from a country music great.
For over four decades Loretta Lynn has fashioned a body of work as artistically and commercially successful—and as culturally significant—as any female performer you’d care to name. Her music has confronted many of the major social issues of her time, and her life story is a rags-to-riches tale familiar to pop, rock and country fans alike. The Coal Miner’s Daughter—the tag refers to a hit single, an album, a best-selling autobiography, an Oscar-winning film, and to Lynn herself—has journeyed from the poverty of the Kentucky hills to Nashville superstardom to her current status as an honest-to-goodness American icon.
Of course, Loretta Lynn will soon celebrate her 74th birthday. In 2006, Lynn underwent shoulder surgery after injuring herself in a fall. And since she's had back problems she sings part of her set seated in a comfortable chair.
No matter. Because when the full-throated Loretta is performing one of her classic tunes there's no one quite like her, even now. She sang many fan favorites on Friday including [When You're Lookin At Me] You're Looking At Country, You Ain't Woman Enough To Take My Man, Don't Come Home 'A Drinkin [With Lovin On Your Mind], I'm A Honky Tonk Girl, The Pill, One More On The Way and of course Coal Miner's Daughter.
Yes, there were times when this legendary country music sensation seemed all too human during her performance but she's still got the makings of a star and she kept the legend alive once more.
The country music greats don't simply fade away. They keep doing what they do best: taking their shows on the road and performing just as they are. Loretta's still on the road with her bus, her family and her accompanists. That's what she does. That's who she is. And that's what makes country music stars genuine; that's what makes them country.
No, we wouldn't have missed Loretta Lynn for the world.
Because, when you're lookin at her, you really ARE looking at country!

Willie Swings With Wheel

I've always loved the music of Asleep At The Wheel.

This group, under the direction of Ray Benson, lovingly perpetuates the music of western swing - the sound that was orginally poularized by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.

Western swing is intoxicating - a lively blend of western music with a dance-to-it swing beat. Wills made the sound his own in the 1930s.

But in recent decades (even though a group named The Texas Playboys still exists) Ray Benson and Asleep At The Wheel have become the keepers of the western swing flame.

Now, The Wheel has teamed with the legendary Willie Nelson on a just-released album called Willie And The Wheel.

This long-overdue concept album takes Willie Nelson back to his musical roots. Teamed up with Ray Benson and the master musicianship of Asleep at the Wheel, this instant classic celebrates the timeless appeal of a most unique and spirited American music genre.

A concept thirty years in the making, Willie & The Wheel is a collection of classic western swing songs hand-picked by the late producer Jerry Wexler.

Better known as ‘Mr. R&B’, Jerry Wexler was a great fan of the original western swing bands like Bob Wills, Milton Brown, Cliff Bruner – all first introduced to him while he was studying journalism in Kansas City. Willie Nelson also had grown up on western swing and it has always figured heavily into his approach to music.

Finally Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel (hailed as the modern kings of western swing) were added, resulting in a sublime album, surefooted in its mastery but still as playful and daring as the originals.

No April Foolin!

They'll be no April Foolin come Tuesday.
This is the real deal: George Strait hits stores April 1 with his 37th album, Troubadour.

The “King of Country Music,” continues to raise the standard as he follows up his CMA Album of the Year, It Just Comes Natural. This new album’s first single, “I Saw God Today,” already set a personal mark when it debuted at No. 19 on the country radio charts—higher than any other song he’s released in his career. Currently it sits at #4 on R&R/Billboard.

“It’s a great record to start it out with,” says Strait. “Anyone who has had a kid can relate to seeing them for the first time and know that it is really and truly is a gift from God.” From a creative vantage point, the album as a whole promises to be remarkable. We're told that Strait explores new musical turf with the calypso R&B in “River Of Love”; opens up to meaningful—and rare—guest appearances by Patty Loveless, Vince Gill and songwriter pal Dean Dillon; and delivers the 12-song set with a voice that continues an extremely graceful evolution.

“He’s always good,” friend and co-producer Tony Brown says, “but he sang really good on this album.”

“His vocal tone has progressed very, very nicely in the last five or six years,” observes Dillon, who should know: He’s written 13 of Strait’s hits, dating back to the first, 1981’s

George Strait has more gold and platinum albums than any other country artist. He joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006, making him the only performer who’s earned a plaque in the hallowed halls while still consistently racking up hits.

“Troubadour…you know it does tell a pretty good story that fits my whole career from start to finish,” admits Strait. “cause that’s really what I’ll be when I grow to an age I can’t do this anymore. I’ve always wanted to be around as long as I could for sure. I’m still after longevity. I want to make records as long as I can cause I still enjoy it just as much as I always did.”

'Good Time' Had By All

Country great Alan Jackson’s
"Good Time" will debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Top Country Albums charts this week, with first-week SoundScan sales of 119,151, marking his fourth album to hit the top spots simultaneously on week of release. You’d think that Jackson was a closet numerologist since God Time is his 17th album and contains 17 songs, all written by Jackson (a first) over the course of 71 satisfying minutes. The first single from the album, “Small Town Southern Man,” is Jackson’s 51st single, and has been steadily climbing the charts – it’s #2 this week.
Is anybody really surprised that Alan Jackson continues to top country and pop charts with his laid-back sweet southern way with a song? Jackson makes it all seem effortless. And yet, to maintain a place as part of country music royalty year-after-year is no mean feat. And in addition to writing may of his own songs The Big Guy from Newnan, Georgia continues to tour month after month playing to packed houses wherever he goes.
USA Today has called Alan Jackson "one of country music’s true masters, the kind who can make life’s most mundane circumstances carry emotional heft and make it look easy.”
Keep on keepin on, Alan. You make country music resonate with the heart and soul, the hopes, dreams and wishes of the everyday folk who make America great!

Strait Stuff

Speaking of George Strait, we would be remiss if we did not observe the maturity, depth and range and his performance.
George Strait makes Kenny Chesney seem like a lightweight. He makes The Rascal Flats seem like a tennybopper group. Strait doesn't need the swagger of Toby Keith to make his point. He doesn't have to jump all over the stage and yell like Big & Rich. He doesn't need to levitate and/or swing from wires the way Garth Brooks once did. In fact, he'd look silly doing any of these things.
George Strait is Real Music for Real Adults.
Strait doesn't insult the intelligence of his audience. He doesn't pummel you with his performance. He understands that when you've got The Right Stuff you you don't need bravado. With Strait the talent shines brighter than any pyrotechnics and the words of the songs do almost all of the talking that needs to be done.
In the shrill world that we now call "entertainment" this is refreshing beyond belief.

Legend & Legion

The Legend and his legion were united last night as George Strait played Philadelphia's Wachovia Center to a near-capacity crowd in a post-Valentine's lovefest.
With the nine piece Ace In The Hole band and two backup singers on stage with him King George delivered a rousing collection of classic country hits that included "How 'Bout Them Cowgirls," "It Wouldn't be Texas," "The Chair," "The Fireman" and "I Just Wanna Dance With You."
Strait also delighted and surprised the audience with an intoxicateing honky tonk version of "There Stands The Glass (Fill It Up To The Brim)" and a Texas swing version of the Johnny Cash hit, "Folsom Prison Blues."
Speaking of Texas, Strait played homage to his home state with "Amarillo By Morning" and as always he entered the arena to the strains of "Deep In The Heart of Texas." The King also introduced a new song, "I Saw God Today," which seems destined to become a chart-topper.
The show was sheer simplicity: all music and light on the special effects and videos. This guy dosn't need smoke and mirrors. This is the Real Deal.
After his customary encore Strait lingered with adoring country fans circling the large center stage smiling, shaking hands and signing autographs. The man who they call "The Frank Sinatra of country music" left, as always, to the strains of "This Is Where The Cowboy Rides Away."