Here's my succinct review of Gary Allan's new one, out today. For a lengthier - and perhaps slightly more informative - treatment, check out the review I wrote for The 9513 a couple weeks ago. … [Read more...]

Sometimes, I'm just not feeling very loquacious... so I'll do these. … [Read more...]

I'm headed up to the mountains for an old-time family Christmas - possibly with some Christmas Vacation style escapades along the way - so I just wanted to wish everyone here a great holiday. I hope yours is filled with family, friends, and laughter, and not filled with any experiences more traumatizing than this picture (brought to my attention by commenter Jen from Tenn) of John Rich in full yule regalia. Happy birthday, Jesus. I'll be back with a cider-and-eggnog hangover next … [Read more...]

Posting always slows down a bit in December - family stuff and weather-induced lethargy - but it has slowed down a bit more than usual owing to various off-site blogging activities. Here are a few of the things I've been doing when I haven't been doing things here. Contributing to the ongoing Top 100 Albums of the Decade countdown (now entering the Top 20!) over at The 9513. It's a great read overall, and there are two more blurbs from me in each of the remaining installments, so go get … [Read more...]

Greetings, Wyomingites! Please to enjoy a Chris LeDoux interview and music video, followed by a slideshow tribute to Dick Cheney set to the tune of Blue County's "That's Cool" (I don't know why either). God bless Wyoming! (Explanation: What's this all about, anyway?) By the way, Cheney was born in Nebraska, another fine state. With lots of domesticated llamas. … [Read more...]

I got such a kick out of this humor(?) article by Roughstock's Matt Bjorke that I wanted to quote it in its entirety, but copyright law being what it is, I decided to do us both a favor by offering an abridged version of it instead. Great for the busy professional who wants to be infuriated on the go. MATT BJORKE ON MUSIC CRITICISM Paragraph 1 I was going to do an article about how cold-hearted music critics write from “an ivory tower of callous snarkiness and backhanded compliments,” … [Read more...]

Country artists are doing lots of interesting things on Twitter these days, from answering fan questions to advertising free tickets left at venue box offices to revealing their poor spelling/grammar skills. I know it's not cool to jump on a bandwagon once it gets the Oprah bump, but this might actually be worth your time. Need some additional incentive? Charlie Robison is currently running a contest that will ultimately give one of his Twitter friends a free concert... right in the … [Read more...]