Engine 145 - A Roots Music Publication

Songwriters: Brett Beavers, Jim Beavers, Brett Warren and Brad Warren Toby Keith’s new single “Red Solo Cup” is silly, gimmicky, and, according to the artist himself, pretty stupid. But after releasing a long line of singles that cornered the embarrassing country song market and ticked off every box on that grating checklist, it’s refreshing to [...]

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Songwriters: Jon Stone, Phil Barton, and Johnny Bulford Lee Brice is well aware that sometimes the little things eventually add up to something bigger. When the country music newcomer released his single “Love Like Crazy” last year, it took 46 weeks to reach the top ten. More than two months later it was still on [...]

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Songwriters: Dierks Bentley, Brett Beavers and Dan Wilson Patriotic country songs are a bit of a double-edged sword. While no song is an automatic license to print money, a rah-rah, pro-U.S. anthem is pretty close. Just release a single with “America” in the title, and watch it soar up the charts. Get really lucky, and [...]

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Songwriters: Sunny Sweeney, Monty Holmes Sunny Sweeney’s past two singles, “From a Table Away” and “Staying’s Worse Than Leaving” show her ability to deliver a damn fine country weeper. But Sweeney can also cut loose with the best of them, as she shows on this rowdy track. “Drink Myself Single,” co-written with Monty Holmes (who’s [...]

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Songwriters: Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip With his last single “Country Girl (Shake it for Me),” Luke Bryan finally forged a memorable identity in mainstream country music. Before the ubiquitous hit took over airwaves this summer, he came close with “Rain is a Good Thing,” a similarly lust-soaked tune about females [...]

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Songwriters: Luke Laird and Chris Young Unless you’re the candy aisle at Walmart, the children’s section of Target or Chris Young’s new single “You,” it’s still a little early to be getting ready for Halloween. And while the commercial push for the ghoulish holiday at your local big box chain is a little off-putting in [...]

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Songwriters: Rhett Akins, Justin Moore, Jeremy Stover Admit it, guys: there are times when we men are racked with indecision, hesitation and doubt. We may even stay up at night, pondering the ultimate question: Are we manly enough? Are we masculine enough to, say, be a character in a Justin Moore song? Fear not, because [...]

Continue reading "Justin Moore — “Bait a Hook”"

Songwriters: Brian Henningsen and Clara Henningsen The Band Perry has built its name on just a tad bit of crazy, stringing together a trio of radio singles that reached the top twenty – no small feat for brand new artists only two years in – while playing off the off-beat. Lead single “Hip to My [...]

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Songwriter: Troy Jones Back in the early and mid-1980s, country music was a vast wasteland of pop-country schmalz and synthesizers, completely devoid of any traditional sounds. And then Randy Travis rode into Nashville, drove the pop pretenders out of country music, single-handedly kicked off the New Traditionalist movement and launched country music into a Renaissance [...]

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Songwriter: Dave Barnes After the runaway summer hit show The Voice catapulted him into the mainstream vernacular, Blake Shelton may very well be country music’s biggest ambassador right now. After more than a decade of persistence – and perhaps a little help from his recent nuptials with fellow fan favorite Miranda Lambert – the stars [...]

Continue reading "Blake Shelton — “God Gave Me You”"