Country Music Blog: 2008 January

Yeah, it's good old American capitalism and supply-and-demand economics, but where do you draw the line on how much you're willing to spend for a concert ticket? A case in point is Van Morrison's March 13 concert in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium. With a seating capacity of less than 2,400, the Ryman really is one of the best places in the world to experience a concert. And you expect to pay a premium price for the opportunity to see an artist perform in such an intimate setting, as opposed to the Enormo Dome. However, with peers such as Bob Dylan somehow managing to keep their tickets below the $100 threshold at the Ryman, I thought it was outrageous in 2006 when Morrison charged up to $125 for tickets to a show promoting his country album, Pay the Devil. This time around for Van, it's $130 for the "cheap seats" -- with prices topping out at $200.

Granted, the $200 price tag is in line with what some veteran rock acts are charging for tickets to arena shows, but then you get into the gray area of ticket brokers and scalpers. (Some would argue the two are the same.) For Morrison's 2006 show, scalpers outside the Ryman were asking as much as $1,000 per ticket, although I never heard if there were any takers at that price.

Maybe Van Morrison actually has the right idea. Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks are two country artists who, to their absolute credit, have always tried to keep their ticket prices within reach of working class Americans. To the best of my knowledge, Chesney has never surpassed the $100 mark for primo seats to his all-day, all-star stadium shows. However, one ticket brokering firm recently confirmed that their clients paid an average of $161 for tickets to Chesney’s concerts in 2007. And that's just an average. And the extra money goes to the ticket brokers -- not the artists. So maybe Morrison figures he should take his fair share of what the ticket market will bear.

The scary part, though, is the thought that attending a concert will eventually become an elitist activity open only to those who have a limitless amount of money or available credit on their charge cards.

Australia's Herald Sun reports that Keith Urban is in the midst of a collaboration with another woman. Urban and pop sensation Nelly Furtado are recording a duet together.

If you're going to be in New York City during Super Bowl XLII, and you like country music, consider joining Kix Brooks and some of Nashville's hottest songwriters at one of the hottest eateries.

It seems rehab is the new spot for country artists to start starting over. Joe Nichols is the latest to leave an Arizona facility with a renewed commitment to country.

Is Darius Rucker, front man of frat-rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, finally ready to unveil his country sound? You'll have to hit Nashville's Bluebird on Friday night to hear for yourself.

Quick. There's less than a week to get your hands on Kenny Chesney’s boxers. All for a good cause, of course.

Kellie Pickler has been hanging around in men’s lockers rooms and managed to convince a Giants fullback to try on her red high heels.

Ever wanted to create a set list for your favorite artist? Here’s your chance, starting with Trisha Yearwood.

Watch Faith Hill one-up Elvis Presley with this spirited video premiere of her take on “That’s Alright Mama.” 
 

Oops!

There’s nothing more embarrassing as a journalist than to have a story that’s factually incorrect. It damages the credibility of the entire story when readers see any information that is wrong, and it can also cast doubt on other stories in the same media outlet or by the same writer. And yet, journalists are people, so mistakes happen. Been there, done that, lost plenty of sleep over it, too.

One of the funniest stories (to me, probably not to the reporter or to the artists who were in the article) occurred 25 years ago, on Feb. 4. The Oak Ridge Boys’ bass singer, Richard Sterban, decided not to go through with his planned wedding, and a Knoxville paper reported -- erroneously, it turned out -- that he jilted disco queen Donna Summer. The problem was in spelling: Sterban walked away from Donna Summers. The paper missed the “s.”

It was quite a shock to the singer Summer, and probably to her husband, Bruce Sudano. The couple had just had a child the previous August. There was some crossover between the pop and country worlds, because Summer wrote the Dolly Parton hit “Starting Over Again” and the Oaks sang on Paul Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away.” However, Sterban and Summer as a couple should have raised a red flag somewhere before the story ran. Sterban, by the way, did marry Donna Summers five years later. They had a child and are still married.

There’ve been other miscues since. NBC reported briefly on Christmas Day 1994 that Chet Atkins had died earlier in the year. The real celebrity in question had the same initials, actor Claude Akins. A fan magazine reported in the fall that “Ready, Set, Don’t Go” singer Miley Cyrus was pregnant. She was not. This month, Slim Whitman was reported in several media outlets to have died. He is, in fact, alive and well and living in Florida, a robust 84 years old.

There are two morals to the story. One, reporters need to always check their facts. Two, if you’re unhappy that you’re not a celebrity, don’t be: Imagine how much time you might have to invest in clearing up the reports of your demise.

Country stars always talk about paying their dues, playing for tip jars night after night in Nashville’s honkytonks. But to go country after you’ve done American Idol, you have to work that much harder to break on through to the other side.

That’s what former AI contestant Phil Stacey’s up to now: courting county radio, one conference room at a time. If you thought it was hard to shine when you sang for 18,000 fans in an arena, try doing it in a 20’ x 20’ meeting room at 10 a.m. He has the vocal chops and the easy charm to pull it off, but it ain’t easy singing to an industry crowd. Actually, "crowd" is the wrong word. More like 20 employees sitting around a conference table with bagels and coffee. It couldn’t possibly be as nerve-wracking as auditioning for Simon, Paula and Randy. Still, it is an audition of sorts. Just more like a try-out for country radio success.

Yesterday at Chicago’s US99, Stacey sang without a mic, with just two guys on acoustic guitar backing him. First came his debut single, "If You Didn’t Love Me," which was co-written by Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox, so it’s sure to be a hit. "No Way Around a River" showed off the gritty voice we came to love during last season’s AI. And the last song of his mini-set was Keith Urban’s "Where the Blacktop Ends." While Stacey spent his Idol days singing more old school R&B, he says, "country is part of who I am," because of the Deep South bluegrass he loved as a kid. "I had to do country," he said. "I’d have been a poseur if I’d done rock."

It’s hard to imagine a tougher audience that Simon Cowell. But now that Stacey’s made it past Cowell and a few country radio conference rooms, I’m guessing he can make it anywhere.

Patriots and Giants fans will soon be Sara Evans fans when they hear her belt out her best at the Super Bowl tailgate party this Sunday in Phoenix.

Dolly Parton's brother is in a whole mess of trouble over a tourist attraction in North Carolina.

Maybe it's just a phase, but Miley Cyrus is changing her name to give a shout-out to her dad, Billy Ray.

Brad Paisley's wife Kimberly slept with soap while she was pregnant. She shares other advice for moms-to-be. Nicole? Are you listening?

Barack Obama voted for Keith Anderson when "Sunday Morning in America" was heard playing at his last rally.

Now that the Writers Guild of America has granted a waiver to the Grammy Awards, the show will go on in Los Angeles on Feb. 10 and I’m glad it will. Although it must be said that the idea of the WGA granting waivers, as it has been doing, somewhat diffuses the impact of a writers strike. Even so, I think not having a show this year, which marks Grammy’s 50th anniversary, would be severely detrimental to a music industry that’s in enough trouble of its own. I enjoy going to the Grammy Awards for its attempts to honor good music across all genres. Year in and year out, the Grammy voters consistently try to honor the best music, and generally do a pretty good job of doing so. Even so, there have been some curious lapses in Grammy judgment. For example, how many Grammys do you think the following rock artists have won -- Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Marley, Janis Joplin, and the Doors? Answer: none of them ever won a Grammy.

What about the following country artists – George Strait, Patsy Cline, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, and Ernest Tubb? Answer: zero. Not a single Grammy among them. Strait is nominated again this year, for country album and country male vocal performance. He’s had nine Grammy nominations. Maybe this will be his year.

Who says there aren’t many albums coming out in January? Thanks to the abundance of independent labels out there, my relentless hours in rental cars this month have been put to good use. Here’s a playlist of songs that are worth sharing. Some of these artists are new faces in the field, but I just had to include Ricky Nelson’s "Poor Little Fool" (oh yeah), since it showed up on a compilation of his love songs a few weeks ago. Let me cut to the chase -- Willie Nelson’s new song is really cool too. I’ve been told that there’s a duet album with Shelby Lynne and Willie Nelson in a vault somewhere, and if it ever surfaces, I will be a very happy fellow. But in the meantime, I have Shelby’s fantastic new CD, Just a Little Lovin’, which I have been listening to pretty much every day since I received it. Ironic, then, that I chose the song I did.

Here’s the playlist:

Ray Bonneville – "So Long Blues"
Drive By Truckers – "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife"
Andy Hall – "The Chase"
Malcolm Holcomb – "Baby Likes a Love Song"
Patty Larkin – "Waterside"
Shelby Lynne – "I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore"
Anne Murray and Jann Arden – "Somebody’s Always Saying Goodbye"
Ricky Nelson -- "Poor Little Fool"
Willie Nelson – "Always Now"
Jason Ringenberg – "One Less Heartache"
The SteelDrivers – "Heaven Sent"
Owen Temple – "Rivers Run From Many Waters"
IIIrd Tyme Out – "New Faces in the Field"
Rhonda Vincent – "Who’s Cryin’ Baby"
The Wrights – "Rewind"

Back from the Sierra Tucson treatment center, Billy Currington is over his issues and ready to make music once again.

Los Angeles had a Garthathon over the weekend. Read what the local paper thought of his string of shows.

Blake Shelton proves he can croon his way through anything on his version of Michael Buble's "Home."

Keith Urban and wife Nicole Kidman are using their pet names for each other to brand their upcoming line of fashion wear.

The New York Times gives Willie Nelson credit for his open mind on his new album, which was co-produced by Kenny Chesney.

A few weeks ago, in an odd deviation from my regular gig as a country journalist, I reviewed a Barry Manilow concert. Pop has never been my thing, but he puts on quite a show. It was virtually impossible not to sing along with all his catchy hooks. About halfway through the show, he announced he was going to cover some of his favorite songs. I prayed like I have never prayed before that he wouldn’t sing a country song. “Please, God, if you can hear me over the screams of these middle-aged women, do not let Barry Manilow sing ‘She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.’” There’s a time and a place for covering songs outside your genre, but there’s never one for a non-country star to sing a country tune.

While I think it’s perfectly acceptable when Sugarland does Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable,” it would not be OK for, say, Fall Out Boy to do Brooks & Dunn’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” When Tim McGraw does the Steve Miller Band hit “The Joker,” he claims it as his own, but if Avril Lavigne were to cover a 70’s song, like Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” it wouldn’t work. Why? Why is it OK for country artists to get their rock/pop/rap on, but it doesn’t work both ways? My thoroughly biased theory is that adding a country vibe to any song just sounds good. Banjo solo in a Fergie song? Hell yes. Twangy vocals on a Sean Kingston song? Why not? Steel guitar backing a Matchbox Twenty song? Totally.

There are plenty of good examples already out there: Kenny Chesney doing John Mellencamp’s “Hurts So Good,” Johnny Cash doing Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” Carrie Underwood doing Guns ‘N Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and now Keith Urban doing Steve Forbert’s “Romeo’s Tune.” Each artist reworked the song and one-upped it, at least to my ears. I can go from hating to loving a song in about 30 seconds if you add a fiddle or threw a cowboy hat on the front man.

As for Manilow, he never did do a country song that night. Eight years ago, he did a show in Nashville and had artists like JoDee Messina and Trisha Yearwood join him on his own hits. He didn’t do theirs. So he must’ve known then what I know now: country can cover pop, but it just doesn’t work the other way around.