Tuesday 10/27/2020 12am ET: Feature LP: Charlie Daniels – Full Moon (1980)

Full Moon is the eleventh studio album by Charlie Daniels and the eighth as the Charlie Daniels Band, released on July 18, 1980. It produced two hit singles for the band, In America and The Legend of Wooley Swamp. The group dedicated the album to Tommy Caldwell, who had died on 28 April 1980.

“The Legend of Wooley Swamp” – 4:18
“Carolina (I Remember You)” – 5:13
“Lonesome Boy from Dixie” – 4:45
“No Potion for the Pain” – 4:25
“El Toreador” – 3:26
“South Sea Song” – 4:32
“Dance, Gypsy, Dance” – 3:34
“Money” – 3:58
“In America” – 3:21

 

In Memoriam: Jerry Jeff Walker (1942 – 2020)

Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known for writing the 1968 song “Mr. Bojangles”.

Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles” (1968) is perhaps his best-known and most-often covered song. It is about an obscure alcoholic but talented tap-dancing drifter who, when arrested and jailed in New Orleans, insisted on being identified only as Bojangles (the nickname of famed dancer Bill Robinson).

In his autobiography, Gypsy Songman, Walker made it clear the man he met was white. Further, in an interview with BBC Radio 4 in August 2008, he pointed out that at the time the jail cells in New Orleans were segregated along color lines, so his influence could not have been black. Bojangles is thought to have been a folk character who entertained informally in the South and California, with authentic reports of his existing from the 1920s through to about 1965.

Walker recorded songs written by others such as “LA Freeway” (Guy Clark), “Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother” (Ray Wylie Hubbard), “(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night” (Tom Waits) and “London Homesick Blues” (Gary P. Nunn).[citation needed] He also interpreted the songs of others such as Rodney Crowell, Townes Van Zandt, Paul Siebel, Bob Dylan, Todd Snider, Dave Roberts, and even a rodeo clown named Billy Jim Baker. Some have called Jerry Jeff the Jimmy Buffett of Texas. It was Jerry Jeff who first drove Jimmy Buffett to Key West (from Coconut Grove, Florida in a Packard). Walker and Buffett also co-wrote the song “Railroad Lady” while riding the last run of the Panama Limited.

Walker had an annual birthday celebration in Austin at the Paramount Theatre and at Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas. This party became an enormous event in Texas and brought some of the biggest names in country music out for a night of picking and swapping stories under the Austin skyline. Jimmy Buffett attended the 2004 birthday bash.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Jerry Jeff Walker among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.

Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017 and passed away on Friday, October 23, 2020, from cancer-related complications.

 

Monday 10/18/2020 12am ET: Feature LP 2020: Eagles – Live from the Forum MMXVIII (2020)

Live from the Forum MMXVIII is a live album and concert film from the Eagles. It records the concerts at the Forum in Inglewood, California that took place over three nights in September 2018. It is the first release to feature new band members Deacon Frey and Vince Gill alongside Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit. Deacon, son of former band member Glenn Frey, and Gill joined the band following the passing of elder Frey in 2016. It was released on October 16, 2020 in a variety of formats, including CD, DVD and Blu-ray.

In 2016, after Glenn Frey died, the Eagles went on a hiatus as Don Henley decided that the band would not play again. However, Henley reversed his decision and it was announced in March 2017 that the Eagles would perform in two festivals featuring classic rock bands jointly organised by their manager Irving Azoff, starting with The Classic West festival held at the Dodger Stadium in July that year. Henley brought in Frey’s son Deacon to perform with the remaining members of the Eagles in these shows. According to Henley, in order for the band to continue, “the only way it felt justified to me was to have family blood in the band”. They were also joined by Vince Gill after he performed at the Kennedy Center Honors in tribute to the Eagles in December 2016, and who “fit like a glove” according to Henley.[7][6] The band then announced that a North American tour featuring Deacon Frey and Vince Gill would begin in March 2018 in Chicago,[8] followed by a world tour in 2019.

The tour included a three-night stop (September 12, 14, and 15, 2018) at the Forum in Los Angeles, California where the concerts were recorded. The recordings of the concerts were compiled into a 26-song live album and a concert film.

The film of the concert was directed by Nick Wickham and filmed on 14 4K cameras. It premiered on ESPN on July 5, 2020, the first time a concert was aired on the sports network.

The recordings were released on October 16, 2020 in multiple audio and video formats and in various configurations, including a super deluxe box set with Blu-ray, two CDs and four LPs.

“Seven Bridges Road”
Joe Walsh: “How ya doin?”
“Take It Easy”
“One of These Nights”
Don Henley: “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen”
“Take It to the Limit”
“Tequila Sunrise”
“In the City”
Timothy B. Schmit: “Hey, everybody, that’s Joe Walsh”
“I Can’t Tell You Why”
“New Kid in Town”
Don Henley: “Just want to thank all of you…”
“How Long”
Deacon Frey: “Hello, everybody…”
“Peaceful Easy Feeling”
“Ol’ ’55”
“Lyin’ Eyes”
“Love Will Keep Us Alive”
Vince Gill: “How about a nice hand for California, man…”
“Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away”
“Those Shoes”
“Already Gone”
“Walk Away”
Joe Walsh: “Is everybody OK?”
“Life’s Been Good”
“The Boys of Summer”
“Heartache Tonight”
“Funk #49”
“Life in the Fast Lane”
“Hotel California”
“Rocky Mountain Way”
“Desperado”
“The Long Run”

Friday 10/16/2020 2pm ET: Feature Artist – Chely Wright

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Patrick P. Evenson/Released)

Richell Rene Wright (born October 25, 1970), known professionally as Chely Wright, is an American country music singer and activist. On the strength of her debut album in 1994, the Academy of Country Music (ACM) named her Top New Female Vocalist in 1995. Wright’s first Top 40 country hit came in 1997 with “Shut Up and Drive”. Two years later, her fourth album yielded a number one single, the title track, “Single White Female”. Overall, Wright has released seven studio albums on various labels, and has charted more than fifteen singles on the country charts. As of May 2010, Wright’s previous eight albums and 19 singles released had sold over 1,500,000 copies and 10,000,000 digital impressions to date in the United States. In May 2010, Wright became one of the first major country music performers to publicly come out as lesbian. In television appearances and an autobiography, she cited among her reasons for publicizing her homosexuality a concern with bullying and hate crimes toward gays, particularly gay teenagers, and the damage to her life caused by “lying and hiding”.

She has written songs that have been recorded by Brad Paisley, Richard Marx, Indigo Girls, Mindy Smith and Clay Walker, among them Walker’s top ten hit, “I Can’t Sleep” that won her a BMI award. On May 4, 2010, Wright simultaneously released her memoir, the LAMDA nominated Like Me, and her first album of new songs since 2005, Lifted Off the Ground.

Wright’s eighth album, I Am the Rain, was released on September 9, 2016, by MRI/Sony and was produced by Joe Henry. It entered the Billboard country chart at 13, the second highest debut of her career. It was also her first appearance on the Americana album chart, where it reached number 9.

Wright released her first Christmas EP in 2018 titled “Santa Will Find You.” She released an EP titled Revival in May 2019.

Friday 10/16/2020 12pm ET: Feature Artist – Shelby Lynne

Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album I Am Shelby Lynne (1999) led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist (despite being her sixth studio album). She released a Dusty Springfield tribute album called Just a Little Lovin’ in 2008. Since then she has started her own independent record label, called Everso Records, and released three albums: Tears, Lies and Alibis, Merry Christmas, and Revelation Road. Lynne is also known for her distinctive contralto voice.

Thursday 10/15/2020 4pm ET: Feature Artist – Alan Jackson

Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. He was known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as “neotraditional country”), as well as penning many of his own songs. Jackson recorded 16 studio albums, three greatest hits albums, two Christmas albums, and two gospel albums.

Jackson was one of the best-selling music artists of all-time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide, with 44 million sold in the United States alone. He had 66 songs appear on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart; of the 66 titles, and six featured singles, 38 have reached the top five and 35 have claimed the number one spot. Out of 15 titles to reach the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, nine have been certified multi-platinum. He was the recipient of two Grammy Awards, 16 CMA Awards, 17 ACM Awards and nominee of multiple other awards. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2001. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017 by Loretta Lynn and into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.

Monday 9/28/2020 1am ET: Feature LP 2020: Kenny Chesney – Here and Now (2020)

Here and Now is the nineteenth studio album by American country music singer Kenny Chesney. It was released on May 1, 2020 via Blue Chair Records and Warner Records Nashville. The album includes the singles “Tip of My Tongue” and “Here and Now”.

Chesney announced the album’s title and track list in March 2020. At the time of the announcement, the project had already produced two singles: “Tip of My Tongue” and the title track. The album is Chesney’s second for Warner Records Nashville. Chesney co-produced the album with longtime producer Buddy Cannon. Of the songwriters chosen for the album, Chesney said that he wanted to “bring a lot of [his] favorite writers together” to tie into the album’s central theme of “how different people are around the world, yet how entirely similar they can be”.

1. “We Do” 3:26
2. “Here and Now” 2:52
3. “Everyone She Knows” 3:25
4. “Wasted” 3:49
5. “Knowing You” 3:46
6. “Heartbreakers” 3:17
7. “Someone to Fix” 3:32
8. “Happy Does” 2:49
9. “Tip of My Tongue” 3:20
10. “You Don’t Get To” 3:37
11. “Beautiful World” 3:11
12. “Guys Named Captain” 4:03

Thursday 9/24/2020 1pm ET: Feature Artist – Five Man Electrical Band

The Five Man Electrical Band (known as The Staccatos from 1963–68) is a Canadian rock group from Ottawa, Ontario. They had many hits in Canada, including the top 10 entries “Half Past Midnight” (1967) (as The Staccatos), “Absolutely Right” (1971) and “I’m a Stranger Here” (1972). Internationally, they are best known for their 1971 hit single “Signs”.

 

Thursday 9/24/2020 12pm ET: Feature Artist – Bellamy Brothers

The Bellamy Brothers are an American pop and country music duo consisting of brothers David Milton Bellamy (born September 16, 1950) and Homer Howard Bellamy (born February 2, 1946), from Darby, Florida. The duo had considerable musical success in the 1970s and 1980s, starting with the release of their crossover hit “Let Your Love Flow” in 1976, a Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Starting in the late 1970s, the Bellamy Brothers found success in country music as well, charting 20 number one singles and more than 50 hits overall on the country charts. To date, they have released more than 50 albums, primarily on Curb Records. They have also enjoyed success in continental Europe, with a compilation album topping the Norwegian charts in 2011 and over two dozen hit songs that were released outside the US market. In 2013, their album Bellamy Brothers & Friends: Across the Sea landed at No. 5 in the Swiss music chart and took the top spot in album sales for weeks in Switzerland. It was their third major release in Europe in three years. Their album Mermaid Cowgirl, recorded in Switzerland and released in 2014, won them Gold Record status in Switzerland. They also recorded four albums in Germany with Ralph Siegel for release to the European market.

 

Tuesday 9/22/2020 4pm ET: Feature Artist – Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith.

Between 1978 and the present, Carter has recorded 12 albums, primarily on major labels. In the same timespan, she has released more than 20 singles, including three No. 3-peaking hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

In 2014, she released her tenth studio album Carter Girl for Rounder Records. The album features 12 tracks written or co-written by members of The Carter Family: 10 pre-existing songs and two new originals. Carter Girl received universal acclaim and includes collaborations with Elizabeth Cook, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Kris Kristofferson and Carter Family members Lorrie Carter Bennett, Helen Carter, Anita Carter, June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash.

Carter was the opening act on John Mellencamp’s 80-date Plain Spoken tour in 2015. Additionally, Carter collaborated extensively with Mellencamp on his 2017 album Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, providing vocals on five tracks as well as writing one (“Damascus Road”) and co-writing another (“Indigo Sunset”).

Thursday 9/17/2020 12pm ET: Feature Artist: Faith Hill

Audrey Faith McGraw (née Perry; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and record producer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.

Hill’s first two albums, Take Me as I Am (1993) and It Matters to Me (1995), were major successes and placed a combined three number ones on Billboard’s country charts. She then achieved mainstream and crossover success with her next two albums, Faith (1998) and Breathe (1999). Faith spawned her first international success in early 1998, “This Kiss”, while Breathe became one of the best-selling country albums of all time, led by the huge crossover success of the songs “Breathe” and “The Way You Love Me”. It had massive sales worldwide and earned Hill three Grammy Awards.

In 2001, she recorded “There You’ll Be” for the Pearl Harbor soundtrack and it became an international success and her best-selling single in Europe. Hill’s next two albums, Cry (2002) and Fireflies (2005), were both commercial successes; the former spawned another crossover single, “Cry”, which won Hill a Grammy Award, and the latter produced the singles “Mississippi Girl” and “Like We Never Loved at All”, which earned her another Grammy Award.

Hill has won five Grammy Awards, 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, six American Music Awards, and several other awards. Her Soul2Soul II Tour 2006 with McGraw became the highest-grossing country tour of all time. In 2001, she was named one of the “30 Most Powerful Women in America” by Ladies Home Journal. In 2009, Billboard named her as the No. 1 Adult Contemporary artist of the 2000s decade and also as the 39th best artist. From 2007 to 2012, Hill was the voice of NBC Sunday Night Football’s intro song. Hill received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019. Hill is married to American singer Tim McGraw, with whom she has recorded several duets.

 

Wednesday 9/16/2020 12pm ET: Feature Artist: Trish Yearwood

Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American country recording artist, actress, author, television personality, and celebrity chef. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single “She’s in Love with the Boy”, which became a number one hit on the Billboard country singles chart. Its corresponding self-titled debut album would sell over two million copies. Yearwood continued a series of major country hits during the early to mid-1990s, including “Walkaway Joe” (1992), “The Song Remembers When” (1993), “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)” (1994), “Believe Me Baby (I Lied)” (1996) and “How Do I Live” (1997).

Yearwood’s 1997 single “How Do I Live” reached number two on the country singles chart and was internationally successful. It appeared on her first compilation (Songbook) A Collection of Hits (1997). The album certified quadruple-platinum in the United States and featured the hits “In Another’s Eyes” and “Perfect Love”. Yearwood had a string of commercial successes over the next several years including the hit singles “There Goes My Baby” and “I Would’ve Loved You Anyway”. She released her tenth studio record Jasper County in 2005, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the top ten of the Billboard 200. It would become her fastest-selling album in the United States. Yearwood signed with Big Machine Records in 2007 and released the critically acclaimed Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love the same year.

Yearwood spent several years on hiatus from her own musical career to focus on other projects. She published three successful cookbooks, which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2012, she began a culinary television series on the Food Network called Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, which later won a Daytime Emmy Award. Yearwood has sold over 15 million records worldwide, her work has earned her several awards and nominations, including three Grammy Awards, three awards from the Academy of Country Music, and three awards from the Country Music Association. Yearwood has also been a cast member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1999.

 

Thursday 8/27/2020 11pm ET: Feature LP 2020: Josh Turner – Country State Of Mind (2020)

Josh Turner just announced Country State of Mind, a new album of country music covers teaming Turner with peers and heroes.

The headline-grabber has to be Turner’s version of “Forever and Ever, Amen” which came from Randy Travis’ first recording session since his 2013 stroke.

“Randy has always been my hero. He was the reason I wanted to become a country singer,” Turner says in a press release. “He’s an inspiring figure, not just to me but to a lot of people, so to have him sing on this record is pretty special.”

The album also includes covers of Vern Gosdin’s first chart-topper “I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You’re Gonna Love Me Tonight),” Johnny Cash’s “The Caretaker” and Hank Williams’ “Alone and Forsaken.”

Other standout tracks include Turner and Chris Janson’s take on the title track (a Hank Williams Jr. hit from 1986) plus members of Runaway June taking George Jones’ part on “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me.” In addition, country music icons Kris Kristofferson and John Anderson duet with Turner on songs they made famous: “Why Me” and “I’ve Got It Made”, respectively.

The newest song on the album, George Strait’s 2004 single “Desperately,” features the vocal talents of Maddie & Tae.

Country State of Mind arrives Aug. 21 via MCA Nashville. It’s available for preorder now through Amazon and other online retailers.

1. “I’m No Stranger To The Rain”
2. “I’ve Got It Made” (Duet with John Anderson)
3. “Why Me” (Duet with Kris Kristofferson)
4. “Country State Of Mind” (Duet with Chris Janson)
5. “I Can Tell By The Way You Dance”
6. “Alone And Forsaken” (Featuring Allison Moorer)
7. “Forever And Ever, Amen” (With Special Guest Randy Travis)
8. “Midnight In Montgomery”
9. “Good Ol’ Boys”
10. “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me” (Featuring Runaway June)
11. “Desperately” (Featuring Maddie & Tae)
12. “The Caretaker”

Article Ctsy of https://www.wideopencountry.com/

Thursday 8/27/2020 2pm ET: Feature Artist – Shania Twain

Shania Twain, OC (born Eilleen Regina Edwards; August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Twain has sold over 90 million records, making her the best-selling female artist of country music history and among the best-selling music artists of all time. Her success garnered her several honorific titles including the “Queen of Country Pop”.

Twain’s second album, 1995’s The Woman in Me, brought her widespread success selling 20 million copies worldwide, spawning hits such as “Any Man of Mine” and earning her a Grammy Award. Twain’s third album, Come On Over, became the best-selling studio album of all time by a female act in any genre and the best-selling country album, selling around 40 million copies worldwide. Come On Over produced several singles, including “You’re Still the One”, “From This Moment On” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”, and earned Twain four Grammy Awards. Her fourth and latest studio album, Up!, was released in 2002 and, like her previous two albums, was also certified Diamond in the U.S., spawning hits like “I’m Gonna Getcha Good!” and “Forever and for Always”.

Twain has received five Grammy Awards, 27 BMI Songwriter awards, stars on Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. She is the only female artist in history to have three consecutive albums certified Diamond by the RIAA. Altogether, Twain is ranked as the 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era.

In 2004, Twain retired from performing and retreated to her home in Switzerland. In her 2011 autobiography, she cited a weakening singing voice as the reason for not performing publicly. When both her singing and speaking were affected, Twain consulted the Vanderbilt Dayani Center in Nashville. Specialists discovered lesions on her vocal cords and diagnosed her with dysphonia, which she attributes to Lyme Disease, all treatable with careful rehabilitation. In 2012, Twain returned to the concert stage in her critically acclaimed show Still the One, exclusively at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. In 2015, Twain returned to the road for what she has billed as her farewell tour. The Rock This Country Tour kicked off on June 5, 2015 in Seattle, Washington and originally concluded in Fresno, California on August 23 but was extended to include additional dates and ended October 27, 2015, in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. – Wikipedia

Tuesday 8/25/2020 5pm ET: Feature Artist – Billy Ray Cyrus

Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his number one single “Achy Breaky Heart”, which became the first single ever to achieve triple platinum status in Australia. It was also the best-selling single in the same country in 1992. Due to the song’s music video, the line dance rose in popularity.

Cyrus, a multi-platinum selling recording artist, has scored a total of eight top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. His most successful album to date is his debut Some Gave All, which has been certified 9× Multi-Platinum in the United States and is the longest time spent by a debut artist at number one on the Billboard 200 (17 consecutive weeks) and most consecutive chart-topping weeks in the SoundScan era. It is the only album (from any genre) in the SoundScan era to log 17 consecutive weeks at number one and is also the top-ranking debut album by a male country artist. It ranked 43 weeks in the top 10, a total topped by only one country album in history, Ropin’ the Wind by Garth Brooks. Some Gave All was also the first debut album to enter at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album has also sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling debut album of all time for a solo male artist. Some Gave All was also the best-selling album of 1992 in the US with 4,832,000 copies. In his career, he has released 36 charted singles, of which 17 charted in the top 40. In 2019, Cyrus earned his first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 as a featured artist on a remix of Lil Nas X’s song “Old Town Road”, which has spent a record-breaking nineteen consecutive weeks at the top spot (eighteen of them credited to Cyrus). It also spent a record-breaking twenty consecutive weeks (nineteen of them credited to Cyrus) at the top spot on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Billboard Hot Rap Songs. Thanks to the song, Cyrus won his first two Grammy Awards, in the categories Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video.

From 2001 to 2004, Cyrus starred in the television show Doc. The show was about a country doctor who moved from Montana to New York City. From 2006 to 2011, he co-starred in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana with his daughter Miley Cyrus. From 2016 to 2017, he starred as Vernon Brownmule on the CMT sitcom Still the King.