CMT Blog: 2008 December

Imagine listening to your voicemails one day and hearing this amid the litany of nonsense from friends and family: "Hey, everyone, this is Keith Urban." At first I thought he was just calling me, which would've been totally weird. Awesome, but weird. Then I quickly realized I must've signed up for some mobile update club at a concert somewhere. Still, it's a cool message. He goes on to say "We're at Castle Recording Studio in Franklin, Tenn., working on the album." And then, "I'm sort of jonesing to get back on the road right now. As soon as record's finished, before we know it, it will be February, March and than we'll be into rehearsals for the tour." He thanks everyone for the cards and letters from his fans -- and especially one that says he's the entertainer of the year forever and always. "Eat that, Kenny Chesney," Urban jokes. Nothing like a little healthy competition right there in my voicemail inbox to brighten my day.

Hearing the news of Delaney Bramlett's death Saturday, a co-worker and I began talking about his accomplishments and realized we were at something of a loss to succinctly describe his contributions to music, even though those achievements were considerable. Yes, he was a singer, songwriter and record producer. But more than that, it almost seems like he was a force of nature who always attracted great musicians -- Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Leon Russell, just to name a few. He and his then-wife Bonnie founded the band Delaney & Bonnie & Friends and gained considerable attention when Eric Clapton joined the group for a brief stint around 1970. And that's just a small part of Bramlett's story. But what was it that these rock icons found so appealing? As a native of Mississippi, he was well-versed in all sorts of roots music -- blues, country and gospel -- factors that come through on two of Delaney & Bonnie's most famous recordings, "Never Ending Song of Love" and "Only You Know and I Know." His music was always filled with soul and joy and honesty. And maybe that was the attraction for the rock superstars who had been spending their lives trying to top their own successes. Perhaps his greatest contribution was reminding the world that the thrill of making music is its own reward.

How do you even begin to review a free concert in the Paktia province in Afghanistan? You don't. You just sit back and enjoy the music from Kellie Pickler, Zac Brown and Kid Rock and be grateful that the USO holiday tour came to your military installation. Those three entertained with a handful of other musicians and comedians in a show right before Christmas as part of a military tradition dating back to 1941. One that lifts morale and gives soldiers something peaceful and recreational to look forward to. It's no surprise the three artists went to the Middle East for this special event, because country stars usually always play a big role in the USO tours. But what does surprise me is how the shows persevere despite the dangers that exist every day.

I could be wrong, but I think today's country fans have a basic human need to know about what the artists do when they aren't onstage or in the studio. So in an effort to keep those folks well informed, you should know that there are reports that Taylor Swift got bangs. And that Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley got engaged. And, Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman took baby Sunday Rose to mass on Christmas day in Nashville. Seeing Urban in a coat and tie and jeans, with a cumbersome car seat awkwardly hanging from the crook of his elbow, makes him seem every bit the hands-on father I knew he'd be. That said, I'm sure plenty of people around Urban and Kidman had sweaty palms when it came time to share the sign of peace.

Yesterday morning, on a snowy trudge to my local Starbucks, I ran into my former next-door neighbors, an elderly couple who moved into a retirement community a few years ago. After exchanging some holiday pleasantries, they told me love reading my articles, and that they always cut my stories out of the Chicago Tribune. Like a little country music scrapbook. How adorable is that?

Then they said they'd actually cut my Top Five Country Albums list out of the paper, and taken it with them when they went Christmas shopping this year. I was so touched, and so honored, that my story was folded up in this 82-year-old woman's purse like a shopping list. The problem was, though, they had a hard time finding those albums. And it's not like I had obscure music on that list, just Sugarland, Ashton Shepherd, Darius Rucker, Keith Anderson and Lady Antebellum. However, Rucker's Learn to Live was the only CD they could find.

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It's pretty hard not to feel Christmasy today of all days. Not just because it's Christmas Eve, but because I just finished watching Lady Antebellum sing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" on the Today show. All dressed up in their holiday finest (well, Hillary Scott was in a red satin mini dress at least), they crooned their way through the classic duet. Even though Ann Curry and Matt Lauer kept referring to them as the hottest thing to hit country music, and raving about their country Grammy nominations, the song itself didn't feel all that country. Just vocals and two guitars. But they saved their truer Nashville sound for later in the show when they performed their hit, "Love Don't Live Here."

Back in September, Craig Shelburne blogged that Jack Ingram was poised for the next level. And that when a label rep played CMT staffers some cuts off Ingram's new album, Shelburne thought that "if any song is going to do it, I'd pick ‘The World Ain't Slowin' Down.'" I have to agree, since I just heard the original singer-songwriter Ellis Paul play that tune live last weekend. I've been hearing him play it at every show for years, ever since it gained some notoriety when it was featured in the Jim Carrey movie, Me, Myself & Irene. But when Paul announced that Jack Ingram was putting it on his next album, the song took on a whole new meaning for me. I cannot wait to hear what kind of a Texas country spin Ingram puts on this one. And the rest of the album, for that matter.

Eighty percent. That's how much of LeAnn Rimes' body was covered by psoriasis by the time she was only 6 years old. "I remember being called ‘scaly girl,' and never ever wanting to go out in a bathing suit," she admits. And it stayed that way even when she was breaking into the music business -- which would explain why she was always wearing long pants and dresses on the red carpets, and why she wore pantyhose when she performed. But thanks to some new treatments, she hasn't had a problem in five years. Therapy helped, too. She told health.com, "It has taken a mental toll on me, but it is something that I am getting through day by day. I am slowly, slowly coming out of the hole that it puts you in." (That sounds so much better than the coal tar treatments she went through in the past.) Rimes is now working with StopHiding.org, so people better understand the disease and how to cope with all the symptoms.

When I see an album that doesn't meet my exact definition of the perfect country record, I usually just see it as a vanity thing -- something artists do to prove they can. I never thought it was a way to keep the artists artistically fed. In a recent interview with Country Aircheck, though, that's how SonyBMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante referred to Kenny Chesney's work with the Wailers on Lucky Old Sun. It's Chesney's way of looking beyond the run-of-the-mill albums, he said. (Some longtime Chesney fans might argue that they still want his particular brand of run-of-the-mill, and aren't too sure about this beachy departure. But as long as he eventually gets up onstage and sings the old hits, they will probably take the new with the old.)

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There's a must-see show for Faith Hill fans on TV tonight, although anyone who's passionate about adoption and fostering will want to tune in as well. It's The 10th Annual A Home for the Holidays With Faith Hill on CBS. Tim McGraw and a long list of celebs will be there too, performing and telling inspirational stories of adoption. Because it's the 10th anniversary of the show, foster children featured on the show's previous years will be brought back for the special with their new adoptive families. Right now, 129,000 children in the U.S. foster care system are up for adoption. If anyone can help create awareness and inspire loving families to adopt, it's Faith Hill.