Posts Tagged ‘Country’
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we find a track from an artist or band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. The Texas-bred, Nashville-based country crooner Sunny Sweeney is a straight shooter. The onetime aspiring comedienne gets serious on this twang-tinged tune that pulls at heartstrings with confessional lyrics and a moody balance of pedal steel and orchestral accents. The title says it all — when a rocky relationship has hit rock bottom, “Staying’s Worse Than Leaving.”
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we find a track from an artist or a band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. The son of a Nashville tunesmith who’s penned hits for the likes of Garth Brooks, Jo Dee Messina, and Sara Evans, singer/songwriter Randy Montana has been building his own songbook with music that’s rooted as much in country’s rock and Western past as its popular present. Referencing both contemporary coffeehouse lingo and timeless interpersonal themes of love and locale, “1000 Faces” details a compelling narrative amid a swirl of guitars and crescendos.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we find a track from an artist or a band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. “My Heart Skips a Beat” is a Buck Owens tune interpreted by a pair of sisters from Muscle Shoals, Ala. Under the tutelage of T Bone Burnett, Laura and Lydia Rogers recall the heart-melting and wholesome sound reminiscent of America’s most beloved musical kinfolk: the brothers Louvin and Everly and the Carter Family. Their harmonies alone hatch butterflies in tummies and get folks murmuring about the vocal chemistry embedded in the Rogers’ shared DNA. If you find yourself in love with the Secret Sisters, you’re in good company with Jack White, Elvis Costello, and Jakob Dylan. “My Heart Skips a Beat” appears on the Sisters’ self-titled album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
This Nashville group perfectly illustrates the mixture of twang and commercial rock that helps keep country music alive and thriving with a new generation. “Don’t Wake Me” is a cut from Love and Theft’s upcoming World Wide Open album. Members Brian Bandas, Stephen Barker Liles, and Eric Gunderson intertwine their vocals to create excellent harmonies, and there’s a fiddle not too far off in the mix of what’s primarily an uptempo rock ballad with country soul. If you like the track, check out the EP.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Missouri’s David Nail has been releasing solid, no-frills country music since 2002. He’s blessed with a confident vocal style that gives a little heartland sincerity to his poetic examinations of the day-to-day. “Red Light” is a perfect example of his charms; instead of launching into a road-rage diatribe when stuck at a stoplight, Nail finds the simplicity and beauty of those passing by, crossing the street, and otherwise involved in this ritual. Granted, his whole world outside of this street corner is crashing down around him, but still — it’s a nice image.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
This four-piece country pop act was formed in Nashville last year and they’ve quickly been assembling their debut album. The group is made up of brothers Tom Gossin and Mike Gossin, Rachel Reinart, and the winner of the 2002 TV show, America’s Most Talented Kid, Cheyenne Kimball. Together they’ve whipped up a new party anthem in the form of “Wild At Heart.”
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
The Eli Young Band are a Texas quartet based around the soulful sounds of Mike Eli and James Young. The group puts forth a sound that is somewhere between contemporary country pop and the electric-guitar-driven classic rock of ’70s greats like the Eagles. “When It Rains” is a nice mix of acoustic rhythm guitars and slow-burning rock suitable for sunsets and long goodbyes. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Mississippi’s Randy Houser is a newcomer the country music world, the recording side of things, at least. He’s been working as a songwriter in Nashville the past few years (most famously co-writing “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” – the Trace Adkins smash). Now on his own, “Anything Goes” is country-rock barnstormer with a touch of New Orleans-creeping up through the keys. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
