CMT Blog: Recent Posts

If the country music industry was looking for a major success story for the final quarter of 2008, Taylor Swift provided it when her new album, Fearless, sold 592,000 copies during its first week out to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the chart that tracks sales of all styles of music. That means she’s simultaneously topping Billboard’s country albums chart, although that happens routinely with titles that sell far less than 100,000 copies in a week. There’s a lot of competition among country record labels, but the entire Nashville music community really loves it when a country artist debuts atop the Billboard 200. That’s a bragging right that can be claimed by only a select few, and its worth noting that Fearless sold more copies than the combined numbers for the new CDs debuting in the second, third and fourth slots. Those include the new projects from American Idol’s David Archuleta and R&B artist T-Pain. No doubt, the people at Swift’s label, Big Machine Records, were expecting a big week, but nobody’s likely to say how accurate their projections might have been. After thinking about it, let us know if Swift’s initial sales exceeded your expectations? Or was it lower than you imagined?

I love this article. Every. Single. Word. Because it sums up how and why country music has such a massive appeal. Not just in elusive subjective terms, like how country is so relatable and tells stories and has anthems for the everyman. But in real, quantifiable, undeniable terms. With the data to back it up.

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With boughs of holly, yes. But they’re also decking said halls with comedian Sandra Bernhard for this holiday commercial for the Gap. It’s part of the chain’s Merry Mix It campaign, one that aims to put unlikely singer/comedian pairings together in order to sell unlikely fashion pairings together. So if you think it’s weird to mix stripes with argyle and fingerless gloves with rolled-up jeans, that will seem like nothing when you watch Bernhard try to fit in with the Chicks. The whole concept is a little out there, but I’ll pretty much wade through anything if it means I get to hear Natalie Maines singing again. ‘Tis the season to be twangy, after all.

For the first time in a few years, I pulled Elizabeth Cook’s album, Hey Y’all, out of my CD cabinet and gave it a spin. I had forgotten how much I dug her fresh take on country music when the album first came out in 2002. And then I thought, you know, this is the kind of album that Kellie Pickler ought to be aiming for. Both singers wield a vibrant soprano, and their mutual affinity for Dolly Parton is well-documented. In Cook’s case, a song named “Dolly” details all the struggles that Cook faced trying to get a music career up-and-running. Surely, Kellie Pickler can relate to that.

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Sure, he likes his chicken fried. But Zac Brown likes his tri-color potatoes roasted, his whole rib-eye smoked and his poblano chili peppers stuffed. And he does all these cooking demos from his kitchen in Smyrna, Ga. Complete with his baby girl Justice crying in the background and his wife Shelly helping him make the guacamole. It’s half down home goodness and half serious culinary expertise. Who knew the Zac Brown Band had a frontman who could cook just as good as he sings? The folks at www.eatdrinkordie.com did. And now, I’m guessing a whole lotta country fans are gonna try their hands at some of Brown’s masterpieces. If there was a chart for country star’s recipes, I think the lemon caper chicken would hit No. 1.

If there were any doubts that Kid Rock was trying to establish himself even more firmly as a Nashville star, this could help assuage those doubts. In Entertainment Weekly’s “25 Entertainers of the Year” issue, Kid Rock is pictured chilling at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge on Lower Broadway in Nashville. He is quoted as saying, “The music industry wants to categorize you, and every category wants to own you.” That may be true, but I think an artist has some say in how he’s labeled. And after a country hit with Sheryl Crow (”Picture”) and now another with “All Summer Long,” Kid Rock can say that he straddles that genre fence. But it seems obvious to me that this former Detroit rapper feels right at home with everything about Nashville. By the way, check out Kid Rock’s live performance of “All Summer Long” from the VH1 Storytellers episode premiering Nov. 27. He shot the show in Nashville.

Lynn and Graeme were married on the CMT show My Big Redneck Wedding. Read their blog about the big day.

Our wedding was AWESOME! What more can I say? From the dresses to the cake, to the animals participating, the ceremony rocked. We had the family ceremony to include Graeme’s daughter! Graeme got to flip a car, it was just great. I would do it all over again and never think twice. My dream came true on June 8th, 2008 and I got a pig to boot! God is so great, we are so blessed to be able to share this with Him, our loved ones and everyone who watches. God Bless!

Lynn & Graeme

Music City Madness is down to its final eight competitors and the talent is truly rising to the top. Almost three million votes were cast during the Sweet 16 and much of the action came down to the final night of voting. Here are the matchups we’re left with:

Cassidy Lynn of Nolensville, Tenn., with her rocking tune, “Down By The Bonfire,” versus Kurt Thomas of Smyrna, Ga., with the poetic “Follow Your Lead.”

The Electric Cowboys of San Antonio, Texas, with their sentimental “Because I Love You” against Jackson T. Gardner of Waynesbug, Pa., and the candid “I’d Go Again.”

Michael Allen Magliulo of Alhambra, Calif., with his anthem, “American Dream,” matching up against Maddie Georgi of Allison Park, Pa., and her thoughtful “Gone Away Again.”

Toby Bradley of Moxee, Wash., with his spirited song, “Bill Mack Won’t Play My Track,” versus Kayleigh C. Jack of Eagle, Idaho, and her melodic “Stuffed Animals.”

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His fans only know the half of it. But Reese Witherspoon was willing to let the world in on the other half of Tim McGraw. The Hollywood-actor side. Music City TV caught up with Witherspoon while she was in Nashville for the CMAs. And she dished about what it was like working with him on the new movie, Four Christmases. First of all, she refused to sing in front of him. And second of all, she claims McGraw has a good sense of humor. “Tim’s a great actor, but he’s also really funny. And he got really into the character. Everybody on the set loved him” she said. (Although she also said that he gave everybody guitars, which may be why there was so much on-set love.) The movie, due out next week, features McGraw as an amateur UFC Cage fighter. And that alone is enough to get me to avoid my Thanksgiving preparations for a few hours and go see it the day it comes out.

In “Everything is Fine,” his third single off the album of the same name, Josh Turner sings that he’s “feelin’ good, and everything is fine.” And I believe him. It’s such a descriptive and casual feeling song that it reminds me of little tunes that I sometimes fumble with over the course of a good day at work or maybe while spending a nice day outside and by myself. I’ll just sing about whatever I’m doing (my lyrics never really rhyme, though). And that reminds me that sometimes the best moments are not when something monumental is going on, but just when things slow down enough to look around. Like when Turner sings, “I’ve got a home down on the river/I’m married to the woman of my dreams/Got a good truck that gets me down the highway/Everything is perfect, or so it seems.” Personally, those brief moments of contentment are my favorite. Judging by his easy smile at the end of this video, he knows the feeling.