Click the bullet after each quote to visit the original source.
Hopefully things will work out where we become friends. ●
- – Billy Joe Shaver on the guy he shot in the face (in self-defense, says the jury).
Junk songwriting and shallow lyrics and shorthand shopping lists of objects that supposedly should be desired by country fans have always existed in country songs, but I don’t think they’ve ever been as celebrated as they are now. Or as ubiquitous. Or as successful. ●
- – Chet Flippo thinks it’s worse than it’s ever been.
What country artist hasn’t been influenced by the Eagles? ●
- – Uhhh… Keith Urban.
He’s the prettiest man I’ve ever seen. ‘Dude (Looks Like a Lady),’ by Aerosmith. Great driver, and he’s really pretty. Really pretty! ●
- – Blake Shelton on NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne.
It’s a different ball game and there are only a couple out there I like. I think Keith Urban is very talented—and Taylor Swift. I’m glad for her because she writes her own stuff. More power to her. ●
- – Wade Hayes likes two people on country radio, and they’re not the ones you’d guess.
Trisha adds that the [breakfast] bowl is popular in their household because it contains three of their favorite ingredients: bacon, butter and cheese. ●
- – Garth’s doing the Vegas shows to save up for eventual his-and-hers quadruple bypasses.
His ’20 Greatest Hits’ was the first set of music I ever got in my life. And then I saw the movies ‘Six Pack’ and ‘The Gambler’ and ‘Coward of the County,’ and I just wanted to be Kenny Rogers. I even parted my hair down the middle like Kenny Rogers. [laughs] I just wanted to be him. ●
- – Continuing his quest, Billy Currington is now having his face-skin yanked back at a fierce angle.
It made me feel wonderful that Trace put his trust in me, because he could have gone anywhere. There’s a lot of major [labels] in town, and for somebody to put their career on the line and give it to a guy you would think is your competitor … it would be like [pro golfer] Phil Mickelson going to work for Tiger Woods. ●
- – Really, Toby Keith? Sure you want to be likening yourself to Tiger Woods at this point?
It was like 9:00 AM, and Colt came in with a box of fried chicken and biscuits! [...] We had no idea what to write about. Then I looked at what Colt was eating, and I said, “Dude, we’ve got to write a song called ‘Chicken and Biscuits.’ Who comes in at 9 o’clock in the morning eating fried chicken for breakfast?!” ●
- – Rhett Akins on cowriting “Chicken and Biscuits” with Colt Ford.
People are a bit confused by ‘The Long Road to Love.’ At first, they think it is my band name, but when I walk out on stage by myself, people quickly realize that it’s not my band. I tell them it’s my journey. It’s my way of letting listeners know that my songs are about my personal experiences of falling in and out of love. ●
- – Jaron & The Long Road to Love. See, I thought it was a band name. Now that I know it isn’t, I sort of want to punch Jaron & The Long Road to Love in the face for choosing such an annoying name.
I am a huge fan of Dean Dillon. He actually wrote probably my favorite country song that has been out in the past five or six years, and that is Lee Ann Womack’s ‘Have You Seen That Girl.’ ●
- – Here’s the thing about Kellie Pickler: I think she’s still a music fan, in a way that many artists aren’t.
From doing the Reba show, I felt like I had been in people’s living rooms. I really am the regular, everyday Reba I played on the show. I wanted people to know that this is me. I’m Reba, and we’re buddies. We’re friends. ●
- – Reba added: “But I’d appreciate it if some of y’all would stop trying to come over to my house.”
With the year that Lady Antebellum had and the year Zac Brown Band had and everybody in our category, I don’t think we have a chance in hell to win. But I will say that I’m throwing a huge party Saturday night (April 17). They will remember me by the party we throw. ●
- – Randy Rogers on being nominated for ACM Top Vocal Group.
Dick Williams, of Crye-Leike Realtors, tries to generate interest by connecting with his network of real estate professionals and clients through e-mail blasts and open houses, including a recent open house featuring the Carter Twins, a country music duo. ●
- – “I’ll buy the house on two conditions: Add granite countertops in the kitchen, and get those creepy metrosexual twins out of the family room.”
Alas, Boomtown isn’t much fun beyond “You Ain’t Much Fun.” Again, wimpy ballads like “Woman Behind The Man” and “Victoria’s Secret” prove Keith’s downfall. I had no idea he was such a g*dd*mned p*ssy. ●
- – The Onion A.V. Club’s Nathan Rabin on Toby Keith.
The kind of music we sing was born in the mountains of Appalachia, so we definitely want to do what we can as a band to help the cause [of ending mountaintop mining]. ●
- – Gloriana’s Mike Gossin. Who knew pop music was born in the mountains of Appalachia?
Kellie Pickler may win me over yet. She talks the talk pretty well, but the test is going to be that new album.
My thoughts exactly, Dan.
The Jaron thing is simply odd.
Since your name’s apparently supposed to encapsulate your journey, Taylor Swift will now be going by the name Taylor & The Boys Who Broke Her Heart.
That’s been the confounding thing about Pickler so far: Judging from her apparent (and, I think, honest) appreciation for good music, her own music should be a lot better than it actually is. Hopefully she’ll step it up considerably on the next album.
I was just talking about how much I hate The Eagles earlier today. What a coincidence.
Honestly, I am equally as confused by the name Jaron as I am by the long road thing. That sounds like the celebrity couple name for two guys named Jared and Aaron.
Unless Jaron bestowed that name upon himself, he can’t be faulted for it. However, The Long Road to Love is another matter.
I hear Jaron originally named himself “Jaron And The Short Path To Total Douchebaggery” but his label talked him out of it…
I guess Wade Haye’s current top 40 faves help explain why he fell so far off the country music map. The words “beyond redemption” seem to spring to mind at this point. Wade, buddy, GET A GRIP MAN! Crikey!
When Kellie Pickler performs on the Opry she usually loves to sing old Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette classics and always does a fine job. The only other younger female artist that does that on a regular basis is Sunny Sweeney. Kellie has good “handlers” at her label that help her select radio friendly, mass market appeal mainstream songs she has done well with. I wish they’d let her do the traditional country album as a “vanity” album not intended for mass appeal (like Brad Paisley’s instrumental album) so Kellie could “get it right”. Keith Stegall would be a nice choice for producer, or Carl Jackson (if he’d turn the treble up! Sheesh!).
With Colt Ford eating fried chicken for breakfast, he’s gonna need to borrow some of Trisha and Garth’s money for his own quadruple bypass surgery.
I think Mike Gossin of Gloriana is maybe confusing Appalachia with the Santa Monica Mountains, and especially Laurel and Topanga Canyons where their sound would be right at home. Or better yet the hills of Hollywood! The only reason they level hills and mountains around here is to build more high density condo developments or a new strip mall. When is Gloriana going to credit The Go Go’s and the Bangles as being their true source of musical inspiration? Hmm…
I did not know that about Jaron. That’s really doofy and douchey.
What country artist hasn’t been influenced by the Eagles?
That would have been a much better point if Don Henley had not apologized for that influence. He had this to say to the Los Angeles Times in 2002:
“It’s a constant source of irritation to me that great country artists like Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and George Jones don’t get airplay on a great many country stations today…What they call ‘young country,’ unfortunately, is an offshoot of what we used to do. It’s our fault. I’m so sorry. I apologize to the entire universe.”
That was almost as good as Mac the Mouth’s comments about Coldplay.
That’s a great Henley quote. I’m impressed.
Heh, thanks. I remember reading that when it ran in the Times and it stuck with me over the years, most notably when the biggest offenders (the artists, that is) and their fans popped up defending all their non-country influences. I came up with what I thought was a pretty good rant not long after I read it, too.
I missed those comments about Coldplay, Kim. Was that where he said Chris Martin needed to have a few drinks to take the edge off?