Music Industry Sees Slight Revenue Increase; New Hot Club of Cowtown Album Due in May; Caitlin Rose Premieres New Video
- Global music sales increased last year for the first time since 1999. From The New York Times: The increase, of 0.3 percent, was tiny, and the total revenue, $16.5 billion, was a far cry from the $38 billion that the industry took in at its peak more than a decade ago. Still, even if it is not time for the record companies to party like it’s 1999, the figures, reported Tuesday by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, provide significant encouragement.
- Mindy McCready’s funeral was yesterday.
- Hot Club of Cowtown’s next record, Rendezvous in Rhythm, will be released May 28. It’ll be the band’s “first-ever dedicated foray into the Gypsy jazz and French swing of Paris in the ’30s.” (via press release)
- Marcus Mumford and Justin Timberlake have collaborated on music for the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, a film based on Dave Van Ronk.
- Steep Canyon Rangers are working on their next record at Levon Helm Studios in upstate New York.
- Jim Beviglia of American Songwriter takes a look at the story behind “Long Black Veil.”
- Check out the new video for Caitlin Rose’s “Only a Clown.” http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/archives/2013/02/26/caitlin-roses-only-a-clown-fresh-vid
- Lynn Anderson chats with Joe Leydon in a Cowboys & Indians Q&A. An excerpt: I met the Carpenters, Richard and Karen, at a presidential reception. And I asked Richard what they were going to do with “Top of the World,” which had been a cut on their most recent album. They’d already had four other singles off the album, and they had a new album about to be released. And Richard said, “Please, go ahead and do it. Karen calls it ‘that stupid hillbilly song.’ ” So I released my version — and it immediately went to the top of the country charts. And it went up to about No. 40 on the pop charts — before the Carpenters dropped their own version. I was told that they went back into the recording studio, took my record into the studio in L.A., played it for [the producers] and said, “Make it sound like this. Put a steel guitar on it, and all that kind of stuff.” See, that was at a time when a song could be No. 1 on the country charts and No. 1 on the pop charts — by two different artists.
- Joe Diffie, Sammy Kershaw, and Aaron Tippin have teamed up for the “Roots & Boots Tour.”
- Noah Berlatsky of The Atlantic on Old Yellow Moon and Emmylou Harris’ skills as a collaborator: She’s willing here, as so often, to step aside for other writers, other producers, other musicians, other singers, and other’s visions. Yet, after all, music is in most cases a group venture, and if Harris’s gift is in part a genius for collaboration, that doesn’t make the gift any less a kind of genius. On the contrary, her ability both to listen and to share has made her career one of the most generous and satisfying in popular music.
- Bob Boilen of NPR’s All Songs Considered posted My Morning Jacket’s cover of “Leaving on a Jet Plane” from an upcoming John Denver tribute record.
- Monroeville has added fiddler Rachel Mayanovic to their lineup.
- Chris Gray reviewed Toby Keith’s recent Houston show: He didn’t come to preach. He came to celebrate preachers’ daughters, and did so on “God Love Her,” one of several songs aided by a robust Stax-style three-man horn section. The free and easy country-soul of “Who’s Your Daddy” and “Beers Ago” was among the evening’s musical highlights, to go with two two-steps right in a row, “Good as I Once Was” and the Urban Cowboy-ish “I Love This Bar.”
- Doyle & Debbie are bringing their show to Denver; it’ll run from March 2 to July 14.
- Saving Country Music’s Trigger gives two guns up to Paige Anderson & The Fearless Kin.
- Who are the Nashville characters’ real-life counterparts?
- Darryl Smyers of the Dallas Observer profiled singer-songwriter Nicholas Altobelli.
- Steve Martin on the banjo: “I am completely fascinated with the sound of the banjo. I find it to be melancholy, it can be driving. There are a lot of emotions in its voice…To this day, if I hear a song with a banjo, my brain can part away the vocals and the guitar, and all I hear is that banjo.”
- Here’s a video of Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell singing “Dreaming My Dreams” on Letterman earlier this week.
Tagged In This Article
Aaron Tippin // Caitlin Rose // Dave Van Ronk // Doyle and Debbie // Emmylou Harris // Hot Club of Cowtown // Joe Diffie // John Denver // Levon Helm // Lynn Anderson // Marcus Mumford // Mindy McCready // Monroeville // My Morning Jacket // Nicholas Altobelli // Paige Anderson and the Fearless Kin // Rachel Mayanovic // Rodney Crowell // Sammy Kershaw // Steep Canyon Rangers // Steve Martin // Toby Keith
Current Discussion
- Rick: Why Leeann, I'm all for "charity" when I am the recipient! (lol)
- Rick: I'm glad to see Miss Leslie was able to raise enough funds to record a new album. I can't wait ...
- J.R. Journey: Congratulations to Trisha Yearwood and Little Big Town. They join Hank Williams Jr. in the country-stars-with-Emmy-awards category.
- Juli Thanki: They're no Tracy Jordan.
- Luckyoldsun: Here he is with Mr. Johnny Carson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5QC9ZJkM8
- Blake Boldt: Trisha and LBT for the EGOT.
- Barry Mazor: I thought Luckyol was kidding--and he may have been. The Ames Bros charted dozens of times, and Ed Ames ...
- bob: Before going solo, Ed Ames was a member of the Ames Brothers. The brothers had some hits in the 50's ...
- Luckyoldsun: "My parents’ record collection consisted of Ed Ames, Perry Como..." Ed Ames made records? I did not know that. I thought ...
- Leeann Ward: Old Town, where Griffin is from, is just a few minutes away from me.
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February 27, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Tonight Music City Roots is presenting yet another evening chock full of artists you’ve probably never heard of (except on previous MCR shows)! The line up includes The Vespers, Luella and The Sun, Shelly Colvin, Mandi Rae, and Andrew Duhon. When are they having another bluegrass show? Crikey!
Link: http://musiccityroots.com/
So after Paige Anderson reads Trigger’s review, do you think she will sit down and write a song titled “Restraining Order”? Hmmm…lol
That Slate article providing psychoanalysis of the Nashville characters is a fun read just because it is so preposterous! Who cares whom the artist characters on the show might be real life composites of? For instance Rayna cannot be based even partly on Shania Twain because she is so much taller! I mean, come on now…(lol)
I wish that Joe Diffie and Friends tour was playing honky tonks and county fairs rather than concert halls. It somehow just seems wrong, but what can you do.
I’ve been a big fan of the Hot Club of Cowtown for years and this new project sounds interesting. Sadly it won’t hold a candle to Lilly of the West’s 2012 album “Swings and Heartaches”, but then few other recent albums in that vein do.
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