Engine 145 - A Roots Music Publication

Songwriters: Brad Paisley, Luke Laird and Chris DuBois And now, ladies and gentlemen, commentary on a new Brad Paisley song other than “Accidental Racist.” With all of the attention around that LL Cool J collaboration, it could be easy to lose Paisley’s second single in the chaos. Luckily, the only commotion around “Beat This Summer” [...]

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Songwriters: Gretchen Wilson and Vicky McGehee If you’re looking for a reason to start caring about Gretchen Wilson’s music again, new single “Still Rollin’” ain’t it. The redneck woman who made white trash cool again–just to watch Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert usurp her territory–turns to classic rock for inspiration here, drawing out the titular [...]

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Songwriters: David Lee Murphy, Ross Copperman Even though a good chunk of the country has been buried under snow or bailing out because of rain lately, it’s close enough to summer that the “fun” beach-y summer singles are starting to trickle in to country radio stations. Kenny Chesney’s “Pirate Flag” is leading the charge this [...]

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Songwriters:  Carson Chamberlain, Ashley Gorley and Wade Kirby Despite being self-titled, Easton Corbin’s 2008 debut album drew many comparisons to established country names with similarly deep voices and tight, clever songs wrapped in steel guitar. And while sounding like George Strait or Joe Nichols doesn’t hurt the buzz around a new artist, it certainly sets the [...]

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Songwriters: Nicolle Clawson (aka Nicolle Galyon), Jimmy Robbins, and Chris Tompkins Last year, Blake Shelton managed to nab the coveted CMA Entertainer of the Year award by leveraging his larger than life personality, social media savvy, and a spot on one of primetime television’s most popular talent shows. It was an interesting shift in the [...]

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Songwriters: Bob Dylan, Ketch Secor The year is still young, but this is likely to be the oddest pairing of song and singer that country music will have to offer in 2013. On one hand, you have “Wagon Wheel,” the ragged-but-right traveler’s anthem that Old Crow Medicine Show recorded in 2004 and are probably sick [...]

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Songwriters: Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction, no? What might work as Newton’s third law of motion does not, regrettably, apply to the law of emotion. On her new single, “Mama’s Broken Heart,” Miranda Lambert peels back the disguise of prim and proper women [...]

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Songwriters: Blu Sanders, Natalie Hemby and Lindsay Chapman No longer content with slight traces of pedal steel and fiddle, country-leaning American Idols have taken to teaming up with traditionalists:  Carrie Underwood with Randy Travis, Scotty McCreery and Josh Turner and, now, Kelly Clarkson and Vince Gill. Credit goes to Clarkson for pairing up with one [...]

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Songwriters: Mark Bright, Phil O’Donnell and Tim James Like the smitten suitor he’s playing, George Strait doesn’t so much sing his new single as he does slowly sink into it. The tingly anticipation and excitement of new love (or lust) is palpable in the opening lines of “Give It All We Got Tonight,” tumbling out [...]

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“Merry Go ‘Round” isn’t just the best debut single shipped to country radio in 2012, it’s one of the best singles of the year in any genre. Kacey Musgraves, who also co-wrote Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart,” writes with a maturity beyond her 24 years, delivering an unflinching look into small-town life that’s more nuanced [...]

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