Quotable Country – 01/11/09 Edition

Click the bullet after each quote to visit the original source.

Q: Can you, tell me if James Otto is related to Glen Campbell?
(Vee, Eldorado, AR) ●
– - Can you tell me where to find the kookiest country music questions online? GACtv.com, of course.

He’ll keep all the guys on the bus sane. We’ll have somebody to go talk to that doesn’t talk back. Plus the breeder said, ‘You know bulldogs pass gas a lot, and they drool, and they snore.’ I was like, ‘Perfect, he’ll fit in great on the bus with all the other guys.’ ●
– - Charming. Jake Owen on taking his new dog out on tour with him.

In country music, if you’re not telling a story and you’re not moving the 34-year-old mother of three who sits in her house and listens to the radio, you’re not going to have a hit and be successful. I think that’s why so many people are trying to crossover to country music because that’s the place in music right now where the song is still the most important thing. ●
– - Actually, the song’s the second most important thing, right behind the 34-year-old housewife.

I’ve always had a lot of respect for friends of mine in Nashville who can write a certain type of song. It just isn’t the way that I do it. Those of us who have been country music fans for years see those carpetbaggers come in and say, “Hey, I’m just gonna come over here from rock ‘n’ roll and clean out!” It doesn’t work that way. It’s a really condescending attitude. I’ve had to just write the kind of songs that I write. Some of them are pretty sad, and some are a bit of an anachronism, but I look at it as my calling card. ●
– - Amen, Bruce Robison.

I forget how traditional it sounds in so many ways. It’s still kind of contemporary compared to old country music. But when you listen to it after listenin’ to the radio a lot, you go, ‘Wow, this is pretty country!’ ●
– - Ashton Shepherd on her debut album. This should mean more than it does, but even Hootie sounds pretty country compared to most of what’s on the radio, so…

When stuff don’t make sense and you’re looking for an answer, you want to know there’s somebody out there who feels the same way. So I think we’re heading into a time when it’s going to take more than just the feel-good song they play on the drive home to help people understand what’s going on around them. ●
– - Jamey Johnson might not cure what ails you, but he’ll be right there with you in your misery.

You can hear Waylon Jennings, you can hear Vern Gosdin, you can hear Dale Watson, and you can hear U2 in Dierks Bentley, and that’s why he stands out. He’s gone from being a frat kid — a guy who makes music from the heart of a frat boy for other frat boys — to an adult. He’s really grown up. ●
– - Waylon maybe and U2 probably… but Vern Gosdin and Dale Watson? Not likely, Mike Dungan. But, by all means, please do prove me wrong.

There is a tear in Marty’s voice that touches your inner being like nothing else. The harmonies are spectacular, and no one can deliver a song like them. I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘I like country music because of the stories,’ and no one could tell them like Shenandoah. ●
– - Gary Levox’s all-time favorite singer is Marty Raybon of Shenandoah. Discuss.

It would break my heart to see [traditional country] go away. Nothing excites me more than to see a young person who loves twin fiddles and steel guitars and stuff like that, so I’m looking for those people. ●
– - Reason #495 you should enter the Lee Ann Womack CD Giveaway by noon today (Sunday).

[Startin' Fires] is a strong song, as are several other tracks on the album.
Thanks. I appreciate you saying that. We feel like there’s at least four or five on there, none of them would bother me as a single choice. ●
– - This interview is obviously a rerun, but it’s worth revisiting: Blake Shelton is happy with four or five of the tracks on his latest album? That’s like 42% of the album at best. Seems he’s as ambivalent about it as I am.