Country Music Medicine

We can talk about the different sounds, sub genre’s and tastes of music that fall underneath the umbrella genre of what is country music. And while the duo I have been listening to all day most certainly don’t have the traditional sound that I consider “pure” country music and while their roots hail in Rock and Roll the two of them have come together (and apart) to make some of the best music in the last 14 years that have not only shaped country music but told the story of country music’s people no matter how raw and painful it is. (They make me cry a lot). An another thing that brings me to Big and Rich is the fact that these two are great Christian musicians and really stand in their beliefs and it comes out in so much of their music. I always believed that actors, musicians, writers, the people with fans and the ear of a nation had the responsibility to push for change, to make art that made people not just feel but think. Musicians can do so much good with not only charity...

This isn't exactly country music medicine but as good of a place as any to share my story and feelings on a matter that half the population is intently discussing these last several months and the other half is still too self concious, embarrassed or guilty to talk about. First off, I've seen people cry sexual assult and there are even some well known cases that I question. Because I've known of innocent men destroyed by false or extremely misled accusations. Have I been a victim of sexual harassment? Yes. Unfortunalty there aren’t many women, or men either, that can say they haven't been in one way or the other. An unwanted touch while dancing, lewd comments ect. Are far too common and I've been lucky enough to shut them all down quickly and was all the wiser never being scared for life. Depressing I just used the word lucky about being sexually harrased. Recently, an incident came into light that happened at a local drinking establishment a few blocks from...

People say church is the best way to find the Lord. I personally don't know how true that all is, most of my encounters happened on a country back road. For the girl in a popular song by Gwen Sebastian "Met Him in a Motel Room", that was just the case. While 43 year old Gwen was a contestant in 2012's 2nd round of 'The Voice'. Under Blake Shelton but was eliminated prior to the live shows. Despite the early elimination Gwen would go on to tour with both Blake and Miranda Lambert, staying part of Miranda's musical entourage through the release of her latest album released November 17th 2017 Once Upon a Time in the West: Act 1.  The cattle rancher from North Dakota had her first #1 with Blake during their release of "My Eyes". Shortly after 'The Voice' in 2012 Gwen released "Met Him in a Hotel Room" which peeked at number 58 on US Country charts. " Some people meet him a church at a service on Sunday as the preacher s...

This week was my grandmothers birthday (despite the fact she has never dared to attempt the internet I'll keep her age to myself), and in honor of her birthday, I decided to focus on her favorite singer, Conway Twitty. Born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, Conway Twitty found great success in not only country music but also in rock and roll and pop charts as well. Music wasn't Conway's only love. Selected right out of high school to play baseball for The Phillies, however he never got his chance to play. Instead he was drafted by the US Army and sent to the far east as an entertainer with the military group The Cimmerons. While Conway had a unique sound and style, he also had a voice similar to only one other - Mr. Elvis Presley. In fact, in the beginning of his career - shortly after adopting the name of Conway he found his musical success in "It's Only Make Beleive". The single released and convinced fans across the country that Conway Twitty was actually a pseudon...

One of the greatest perks of being a country music fan is some of the most amazing collaborations have belonged to our genre and "Bad Angel" is one of them. I have been a huge Miranda Lambert fan since the beginning. Falling in love with her and her bad girl attitude in "Kerosene" and the sweeter her in "Me and Charlie Talking". Jayme Johnson stole my heart with that rough and tough outlaw sound and I still remember where I was when I first heard "In Color". Dierks Bently could have been a crap singer and I probably wouldn't hate him with those curls. June 8th 2010 - ugh almost 8 years ago - Dierks gave us a bluegrass album Up on the Ridge. The album which included the single by the same name won the 2011 Grammy for Best Country Album as well as the same award in the 2010 CMA and again with the ACMs in 2011. However, although it wasn't a promoted or well known song from the album, Up on the Ridge  also included the collaboration of ...

It's January 1st, 2018.  We are supposed to have our resolutions for the new year and possibly be reminiscing the one we just had. It's only mid morning but I'm going to start this and probably put myself in one hell of a depressing mood for the rest of the day.  It's too early to break into the bottle of Jack so we will see how far I get. There have been years were country music fans have mourned a larger number of musicians, of artists, that we have lost.  The country music family said goodbye to a lot of dear song writers this year, and quite a few behind the scenes friends. We lost beloved entertainers that I will go into some depth on. Mel Tillis, Glen Campbell, Don Williams and Troy Gentry. And then the country music family suffered together with a Nation as we endured our darkest of days. A day where an attack was purposely carried out on our family. 58 country music fans were senselessly murdered on October 1st, at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. ...