10/31/18 Halloween

I’ve revised my Halloween list a good bit from what I posted a couple of weeks ago. There’s a good bit of “country” on the list, but also a bit of other styles: Halloween YouTube List.

In other news, USA Network announced 21 contestants for the upcoming “Real Country” television series. Travis Tritt’s roster is stacked with familiar names, but the other judges have some, too. Kylie Frey is on Shania’s team, and I used to stop at her family’s business in Louisiana when driving through the area, well before I had ever heard of her. Jake Owen’s team includes songwriters Jamie Floyd and Jaida Dreyer, and I saw Savannah Keyes at CMA Fest.

10/30/18 Western Albums

Colter Wall’s album is probably the most familiar to the “country music” community at large , so I’ll start with it: Songs of the Plains

The High Country Cowboys enjoy much critical acclaim in the world of western music. If you like yodeling, then be sure to listen to these guys: Great American Cowboy

Brenn Hill’s ReRides album was released in early January.

Dom Flemons’ Black Cowboys is part of the Smithsonian Folkways series.

The Riders in the Sky are a staple at the Grand Ole Opry, and the group has some members in common with Vince Gill’s Time Jumpers. If you get Sirius XM, be sure to check out Ranger Doug’s Cowboy Corral on Willie’s Roadhouse on Sunday mornings. Here’s 40 Years the Cowboy Way

Ranger Doug also released an album this summer: Songs of the Frontier. The first song on the record is one of the most famous western songs, Blue Juniata. The song was written in 1844 (!!!) by a lady named Marion Dix Sullivan.

Asleep at the Wheel is another of the longest-running and most accomplished western swing bands. Here’s New Routes

Cheryl Deseree’s western swing album Dreamy includes guest spots from both Riders in the Sky and Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel.

Wylie & the Wild West is another act that has been around awhile. Wylie Gustafson is the yodeler who sang the Yahoo jingle many years ago. 2000 Miles From Nashville

The Cowboy Way released an album just a few weeks ago: Go West

The Western Swing Authority’s brand new album features many guests: Big Deal

Lindi Ortega’s album sounds like a western movie soundtrack: Liberty

Sarah Vista also draws inspiration from the spaghetti westerns: Killing Fever

Tish Hinojosa’s ode to the west includes Mexican folk influences: West

10/29/18 A Few Overlooked Albums

There are so many albums flying into digital space every week that tons of music gets lost in the shuffle. Here’s a look back at just a few 2018 albums that haven’t gotten a whole lot of notice:

Comanche Moon: Country Music Deathstar

Matthew Douglas Simpson: Bluegrass Blues

Chelsea Nolen: Chelsea.

Colin Boutwell: Gas Station Roses

10/28/18 A Few Overlooked Songs

One of the problems with covering such a huge volume of music is that stuff gets lost in the shuffle. Here’s a look back at just a few songs on the 370+ song 2018 Country Plus Playlist:

Junior Brown: “Deep In The Heart Of Me”

Carter Sampson: “Hello Darlin”

Sedona Station: “If Today Was A Fish”

Leah Blevins: “Where The Goodbye Begins”

10/27/18 Recent Playlist Additions

Yesterday’s huge release day resulted in many additions to my gigantic list of songs.

Sarah Vista’s whole album would fit in my block of “death country” songs, but the one I picked for my 2018 list is Now You Are Sleeping , and the one I added to my International Country Playlist is Get Three Coffins Ready

Rambling Woman from Martha Spencer fits perfectly in a “battle of the sexes” block of songs on the 2018 list.

Carson McHone’s Spider Song doesn’t exactly fit in any of my blocks of songs, but it’s a welcome addition, nonetheless.

Josh Turner (featuring Bobby Osborne) anchors my block of religious country songs with I Pray My Way Out Of Trouble

The Western Swing Authority (featuring Carolyn Martin) anchors a short block of western swing songs with In the Middle of the Song

The Feralings check in with Humming Machines

Nick Dittmeier joins the list with I Can’t Go Home

William Michael Morgan is in a block of mainstream artists with Brokenhearted

Cody Johnson joins in with “Monday Morning Merle”

Charlie Daniels and the Beau Weevils join the death country block at the end with Everybody’s Gotta Go Sometime

I already had songs on the list from Dillon Carmichael, Jamie Lin Wilson, Whitey Morgan, Carter Sampson, and Town Mountain, all of whom released albums yesterday.

Yesterday was one of the best release days this year, and there are still several of yesterday’s releases I haven’t had any time to hear.

 

10/26/18 New Albums

There’s something for everyone this week – traditional country, outlaw country, pop country, southern rock, bluegrass, western swing, gospel,etc. I try to cover a bit of it all here. Let’s see what we’ve got:

The Western Swing Authority, Charlie Daniels, Jamie Lin Wilson , Carter Sampson,Sarah Vista, Josh Turner, Whitey Morgan, Carson McHone, Dillon Carmichael, Martha Spencer, Nick Dittmeier, Kelsea Ballerini, Blackberry Smoke, Bryan Eggers, Reatha Pitman, Roland White, Levi Hummon, Angela Harris, Future Cowboys, Halden Wofford, The Krickets, High South, Town Mountain,Kaylee Starr, The Feralings, Kelly Pardecooper, and Eddie Heinzelman.

Dillon Carmichael, Jamie Lin Wilson, and Whitey Morgan released a few songs early, so I can recommend those based on what I have heard so far.

Here’s a video of Martha Spencer.

Also, here’s Chris Stapleton honoring Ricky Skaggs with a solo acoustic version of a Ralph Stanley tune: The Darkest Hour.

10/25/18 Videos and Performances

Jessie & The Gents won “best song” at the Swiss Country Music Awards this year with I Ain’t Gonna Ride With You

Beat Root Revival’s new one: Ready For Change

Pistol Annies, Interstate Gospel (acoustic)

A reader yesterday suggested Garrett Bryan’s recent album. Here’s a live version of one of the songs on the album: Deon, Delray & Daddy

Zack Logan’s album came out a couple of months ago. Here’s Annalee

Alison Krauss & Kelsea Ballerini at CMT Artists, Ghost In This House

Carrie Underwood, Maddie and Tae, and Runaway June at CMT Artists, Classic Women of Country Tribute

The Bluegrass Babies video, Blue Ridge Mountain Blues

Mountain Home IBMA Bluegrass All-Stars: Come See About Me

South Park, On A Colorado Farm

Sarah Vista’s album comes out tomorrow, but here’s the video for the title track from last year: Killing Fever

Cover of “Amarillo By Morning” on Mongolia’s Got Talent 2016: Enkh-Erdene

Dwayne Haggins, Where Have All The Shoe Stores Gone ?

I missed Haggins’ album when it came out October 14th, so I’ll mention that here.

 

10/24/18 India and Sri Lanka

I scour the globe for country music. Here’s the 2006 album from Bobby Cash of Clement Town, Dehradun, India. The Indian Cowboy enjoyed some success in Australia: State of My Heart

He has also recorded albums in Hindi that don’t sound country.

Anyway, here’s a brand new video from Ricky Cash, whom I’ll assume is Bobby’s son: Kar Liya

Ramesh Weeratunga was born in Sri Lanka, but moved to Germany as an adult, and has since passed away. In 2009, he released an epic Bollywood version of Ring of Fire.

Here’s my International Country Music 2018 YouTube playlist. It’s heavy on Europe, but Australia, Asia, South America, and Mexico are represented, too. I put the couple of songs that aren’t in English at the end.

 

10/23/18 The Paulo Nunin Band

Here’s a country album released this year that I haven’t seen covered by other blogs:

Paulo Nunin Band – “The Road I’m On”

Also, while we’re doing Italy, here’s an instrumental from the Andrea Cesone Trio: Texas Beans

Give ’em a listen !

 

10/22/18 More New Albums

Since I was on the road a lot last week, my Friday list was a little shorter than usual.

Here are many more artists who released albums in the last week:

Kendall Beard, Sweet Yonder,  Tim Allen, Walker Montgomery, James Durbin, Uncle Ben’s Remedy, Elliott Peck, Catherine McGrath, Mitch Bradford, The Pammie Kakes Ensemble, Sedona Station, Morning River Band, Wildcat Rose, Nick Miller, Erinn Peet Lukes, Hardy, Ty Thurman, Tyler Babiuk, Katie Armiger, Max and the Wild Things, and The Flying Spider Revival.