Now that we’re almost halfway through the year, I thought I’d check up on how things have developed so far, with updated commentary on the original Questions for 2010 I posed back in January. Without further ado:
Will Lady Antebellum prove it?
I don’t think they have, but their sophomore album is selling in huge numbers, so who am I to judge? I wonder how long they’ll be able to sustain this sort of momentum with the songs being as unmemorable as they are.
How will Jamey Johnson follow That Lonesome Song?
The double-disc Guitar Song doesn’t come out until September 14, but early comments from those who’ve heard it are promising. “Macon” seems an encouraging sign that Johnson won’t fall into the rut of simply trying to remake That Lonesome Song over and over again. Billboard has more details:
Johnson wrote or co-wrote nearly all of the tracks, collaborating with Bobby Bare, James Otto, Rivers Rutherford, Buddy Cannon Vicky McGehee, Shane Minor, Charlie Midnight and Alabama’s Teddy Gentry, among others. Bill Anderson co-wrote and guests on “The Guitar Song’s” title track, while Randy Houser and Mac McAnally also appear on the set. “The Guitar Song” also includes covers of Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times,” Mel Tillis’ “Mental Revenge,” Vern Gosdin’s “Set ‘em Up Joe” and the Keith Whitley/Don Cook/Chick Raines co-write “Lonely at the Top.”
Ashton Shepherd, Gretchen Wilson, or neither?
“Work Hard, Play Harder” is already Gretchen’s biggest hit since “All Jacked Up,” so we’ll see how much higher it climbs and what happens with that momentum when she starts pushing her next single. Shepherd is still in the studio with Buddy Cannon working on her next album. Wikipedia says a single will be out in July.
Brooks & Dunn solo?
Hold your horses, cowboy. They’ve still got some awkward touring to do together.
What about Strait?
“I Gotta Get to You” climbed as high as #3. Wikipedia says “The Breath You Take” is the next single. Ugh.
Chris Young set for a breakthrough year?
As I predicted back in January, Young has already had a huge 2010, with tons of favorable press and his first ever multi-week #1 in “The Man I Want to Be.” Now they’re rereleasing “Voices,” an underperforming 2008 single that was the subject of derision in one of Country California’s earliest posts. I wish they’d go with “The Shoebox” or “It Takes a Man” or “Rose in Paradise” instead.
Who will rule the summer?
We still don’t know. Now I’m just praying it won’t be Uncle Kracker.
More from Joey + Rory?
The simply-titled Album #2 is due later this year.
What’s next for Taylor Swift?
Swift is already a pop phenomenon based in the country format, and she has already seemingly won everything there is to win. Where’s her next challenge? And as she continues on her path toward world domination, what role (if any) will country music play in her future?
That’s what I wrote in January. While you couldn’t exactly say that Swift’s star is on the decline – she’s still one of the most popular figures in all of music – there have been some signs that some of her glittery magic might be wearing off, including the previously inconceivable Swift shutout at the fan-voted (!!) CMT Music Awards. But Swift-mania should be ramping back up as her new single and album come out in the second half of the year.
Will Lambert release “The House That Built Me” as a single?
Yes, thank goodness. And she’s been rewarded handsomely for doing so.
New music from Ashley Monroe?
One can always hope. Jason Aldean’s cut of “The Truth” (written by Monroe and Brett James) looks to be headed for the top of the charts, which should certainly help the cause.
Please, can we get on this?
Dierks Bentley bluegrass album?
It’s pretty darn good.
Joe Diffie bluegrass album?
It won’t be released until August, but I just got the advance recently and it’s pretty darn good too. Expect to see a review coming up in the next couple months.
Bucky Covington bluegrass album?
Word is that Bucky’s been boning up on his banjo skills.
New music from The Steeldrivers?
Fans who were understandably disappointed by the departure of vocalist Chris Stapleton should be pleased to learn that the band’s upcoming sophomore album – Reckless, due out September 14 – features the original line-up. In the meantime, new lead singer Gary Nichols seems to be doing a pretty fair job out on the road:
Sarah Buxton releases a whole album?
It actually happened! Then the label got shut down.
Elizabeth Cook with Don Was. How great?
I have a review of Welder coming up at The 9513 pretty soon. It’s good, but scattered.
(The review, I mean. Ba dum bum. But seriously…)
What have you enjoyed so far in 2010? What are you most looking forward to in the second half of the year?
I’m really looking forward to the new Jamey Johnson; those covers sound like great choices. Also anticipating new music from Joey + Rory, Ashton Shepherd and Joe Diffie’s bluegrass record.
At the moment I’m expecting to be horribly disappointed in Trace Adkins’ upcoming release.
Pleased to see that your questions/predictions for Dierks Bentley and Sarah Buxton reigned true (well, sans label collapse).
Like Occasional Hope, I am also anticipating new material from Joey + Rory and Jamey Johnson,
I really like the Joe Diffie album too. His voice is well suited to bluegrass.
I like the Bentley album as well. I’m glad it exceeded my admittedly lower expectations.
I like the Elizabeth Cook album quite a bit now, but didn’t at first. I guess I just had to get used to the changes.
I’m looking forward to the Jamey Johnson album.
I have to admit that I’m curious about the Taylor Swift album.
As for Ashton Shepherd, I’m kind of surprised that they’ve been so slow about getting out a new album. I liked the first one, but she does have a lot of room for growth, as far as song selection.
I’m going to have to really give that Chris Young album another try. It’s just really not sticking with me at all.
I’m sure I’ve got more to say, but I’ve said enough for now.
I can’t wait to hear more from James Otto, I love him SO much!!! (big smile)
God bless you and him always!!!
Holly in East Tennessee
I’d like to read that Ashley Monroe has reconnected with the co-writers, like Brett James, from her “Satisfied” album days and not rocker types with poor taste in music! The songs with Trent Dabbs were marginal and when I heard Brendan Benson as a guest radio DJ he didn’t play one single country song and most of what he did play sucked! On the other hand Jakob Dylan has excellent taste in music and would be a much more suitable songwriting partner for Ashley! The final product may not be country, but at least it wouldn’t suck…
Ashton Shepherd’s songs on her first album tended to fall into two distinct types that were repeated with slight variations, although “The Bigger The Heart” broke the standard molds and was the best track on the album. I’m not usually big on co-writers for talented singer-songwriters, BUT Ashton needs more variety to her new songs if I’m gonna bite next go round. (I think its a miracle her label is releasing a second album at all since her first couple singles peaked at best at # 20 on the charts.)
Jamey Johnson is no longer in the deep, dark pit of personal despair that fueled his songwriting behind “That Lonesome Song”. It will be interesting to see if he progresses forward or back towards his indie debut “They Call Me Country”. I think his “The Dollar” album has been banished from his memory banks! (lol)
If Lady Antebellum can keep cranking out little pop-rock gems like “Need You Now” (or “Looking For a Good Time”), they should be able to maintain their momentum for awhile. If the quality of the singles drop, so will their place at Top 40 country and pop radio stations. Maybe they need to collaboarate and tour with Justin Beiber and the cast of GLEE! I think they are reaching the same audience demographic these days…
I think it might’ve been even cooler to check back on these questions toward the end of the year, since too many of the ‘answers’ only just recently happened or haven’t happened at all yet. But this is a really great feature all the same, and one I hope you’ll do for next year, too.
As for ruling the summer, I’m betting Jerrod Niemann’s “Lover, Lover” is going to become the definitive track. I definitely like it more than the Kracker, even if its country bona fides are equally suspect.
My favorites for the year include Joe Pug’s “Messenger,” Drive-By Truckers’ “The Big To-Do” and Jakob Dylan’s “Women & Country.” I’ll throw in Chris Scruggs’ “Anthem” as a 2009 album that I really, REALLY wish I had discovered earlier. I haven’t heard Dierks Bentley’s full album, but the bits I have heard have got me looking forward to it. Still anticipating the new releases from Marty Stuart, Jamey Johnson and Jaron & The Long Road to Love (it ain’t country, but it’s pretty good pop music).
And as usual, there will be three or four great releases this year that I won’t discover until 2011 or 2012.
I hope Gretchen Wilson has a comeback of some kind. I’ve seen her live and her shows are up there with some of the best Country acts. I read she was nominated for Favorite Female in Country Music on the Teen Choice Awards. She won’t win because she’s up against Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift, but it’s good to see she’s getting nominated again, even if it is the Teen Choice Awards.
I remember the original post here. I honestly didn’t expect it to be released, but your line saying “she should release it. It’s the best track on her new album” always comes to the back of my mind every time I hear ‘The House That Built Me’ on the radio. Good call on that one.
Continuing on Miranda Lambert, I think she could be the artist to ‘rule the Summer’. She’s poised for superstardom at this point, and I think she’ll be the top contender for Female Vocalist in the Fall and watch her star continue to rise with a major headlining tour soon.
Great post … I really like this feature.
Best thing “House” did for Miranda was break her out of that “redneck girl with gun, ready to blow something up” mold. She’s said as much, herself. It got to show people a whole different side of her, and probably caused some people to listen to her album, who otherwise wouldn’t. I think this one-dimensional typecasting is part of what hurt Gretchen Wilson’s career. Ok, you’re a Redneck Woman…what else you got? I think Gretchen was on the right track with “When I Think About Cheatin’”, but maybe didn’t follow up, as she should have. Of course, I’ve also heard lots of stories about how difficult Gretchen can be, and how a lot of radio people were on the receiving end of that. You know what they say about payback…
How difficult would Gretchen be?
Maybe difficult enough to get dropped from a few playlists. Gotta make nice to Country Radio. That’s how the game is played.
The story from Gretchen’s end is that she didn’t stay on the ball about promoting to radio because she got so many big national media opportunities right out of the gate when “Redneck Woman” was a smash. That media legacy allowed her to keep a fairly high profile even after radio suddenly cooled to her, but to get back in rotation she’s had to go back and play the same game as everyone else (which she’s apparently freer to do at her own label than with the team Sony had for her post-Here for the Party and post-Underwood).
A few short answers. Lady A has turned me off. CANNOT FREAKING WAIT FOR THE JJ ALBUM and he’s coming nearby in September so I hope to get out and see him. Miranda seems to be the ruler of the summer with her smash “House” and the forthcoming smash “Only Prettier.” George has bored me with his single selections. Dierks’ album is better than expected. My favorite albums of the year so far: Trampled by Turtles – Palomino (blue/newgrass); Band of Horses – Infinite Arms (indie rock with some definite country rock leanings); Rodney Hayden – Tavern of Poets(!); Austin Collins – Wrong Control. Favorite commercial country album so far: AJ’s Freight Train.
I saw Jamey at the Country Throwdown, and he performed “Lonely at the Top” and “Mental Revenge.” The whole time I was thinking, I would love to hear those on an album. Now, I’m thrilled to hear they will be included. It would also be nice if he included “Give It Away.” I love his live version so much more than George Strait’s version.
I prefer more of the rock country sound to the pop country sound. With that being said, I’ve really enjoyed the new releases from Matt Kennon, Reckless Kelly, Gretchen Wilson.
Kind of a surprise for me has been the Laura Bell Bundy CD. There’s some good stuff in the “Achin’” portion of the CD.
I listened to George Strait’s “The Breath You Take,” and it’s a big disappointment. It’s built around a tired old adage that we’ve all heard countless times. He could have done much better. But it will probably still be a hit because George Strait is George Strait. It seems like King George might be getting a bit lazy.
I wouldn’t say that this album shows that Strait may be getting a bit lazy. In fact, it almost seems that there’s some ambition in on it, considering it’s the first time that he’s made an effort to write songs in a very, very long time. Likewise, there are some very good songs on the album, but they just don’t seem to be released to radio.