CMT Blog: 2009 August

When you've sold 10 million albums in a really, really short amount of time, you'd never dream of retiring. You'd play on. And on. And on. How perfect, then, that Carrie Underwood has named her third album Play On. It doesn't come out for another 64 days so I don't have an advance copy yet. But I did just see her in concert last night (Aug. 30) and she gave no indication of "new stuff." She played a long list of her hits and a couple of covers but not once did she ask the audience if it was OK to try out some of her new songs.

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I'm a sucker for a good ol' lyrical rearrangement. And in this promotional spot for MTV's VMA show on Sept. 13, Taylor Swift has taken "Tonight" from West Side Story and turned it into her own funny-but-true thing. Like when she sings, "Tonight, tonight, I'll sing my song tonight/There will be no teardrops on my guitar." But the best is her dramatic lean out of the New York City cab backseat window as her voice soars on the line about making this VMA song take flight. I just hope the show itself lives up to the hype in these Broadway-style promos.

Steve Wariner has a new album coming that salutes his mentor and friend Chet Atkins, and he shared some of it during a Saturday afternoon (Aug. 29) performance at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Wariner led his set with "Leaving Luttrell," followed by "Sails," with its beautiful melody brought to life by Wariner's tender touch. Along with the exceptional picking, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Wariner and fellow c.g.p. (certified guitar picker) John Knowles swap stories about Atkins' wry sense of humor, his humble nature and his desire to keep learning. It made me wish I had met him. Fortunately his legacy is evident in My Tribute to Chet Atkins (due Nov. 10), which balances Atkins' songs with Wariner's new compositions.

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Snakeman

Today CMT's All Jacked Up is taking a drive about an hour outside of Dallas to meet Jackie Bibby, also known as "The Texas Snakeman." As I arrive at the location, a group of handlers are beginning to build a wooden-sided pit to hold more than 100 Western Diamondback rattlers. Now, I am not a snake lover. All right -- the damn things scare me to death. As the pit is finished, the handlers begin to unload pallets of snakes ranging in size from little to downright scary. They pile up in the pit with the sound of the snakes filling the air. They don't sound happy. Apparently they become more agitated in the heat and it's starting to get warm out here under the Texas sun. The handlers are casual as they walk among the coiled rattlers, the snakes striking at their leather boots angrily. A crowd is beginning to gather on the small ranch location. I'm beginning to sweat....

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First, he got a taste of the TV bug on Celebrity Apprentice. Then he had a part in last year's An American Carol. And now the multi-faceted Trace Adkins is going full-on silver screen. He's joined the cast of this cool new film called Lifted, which is about a talented singer named Henry Matthews who has to find a different road to success when his Marine dad is deployed to Afghanistan. His road is through a faux show, Teen Starquest, where Adkins plays a country star turned singing-competition judge. (Sound familiar?) Ruben Studdard, of American Idol fame, is in the movie, too. It's currently being shot in Birmingham, Ala., even though Adkins is currently on tour pretty much everywhere else. The film is expected in September 2010.

I was at a Carrie Underwood concert last night (Aug. 30) and got into a deep conversation with the guy sitting behind me all about which artists are truly country. His point was that today's country is really pop. I completely disagree, because really, when was the last time Britney Spears had a steel guitar on her tour? Or the Fray was rocking a banjo? So as long as the right instruments are in place, as they are here, country is country enough for me.

"The More Boys I Meet," Carrie Underwood
"All I Want," Darius Rucker
"Our Song," Taylor Swift
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In new videos screened for the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team this week, George Strait is as live as he ever gets, Craig Morgan takes his song to some unlikely locales and Matt Stillwell squeezes out a little more summer.

Artist: George Strait
Video: "Livin' for the Night"
Director: Shaun Silva

George Strait does here what he does best. He gets up on a stage and sings a good country song, as he's done for decades. Straight-ahead. No frills.

Panelists' comments: "Yum!" "I love that." "It's George Strait. It's already classic." "What else can you say? It's George."

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I was a cheerleader in college, so I've done my time on the sidelines and at countless pep rallies. We'd always be pretty moved watching the team give the game everything they had. But I've never been as moved as I was when I heard Kenny Chesney's "This Is Our Moment." It's the song he put together for ESPN that will debut during the College Football Kickoff Weekend on Thursday (Sept. 3). When you hear it, you'll hear how he finds these parallels between his attitude and that of the players.

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They unfortunately shared a bond no one wants to have. Tim McGraw's late father, Tug McGraw, and Sen. Edward Kennedy both suffered from brain cancer. So when Kennedy passed away earlier this week, Tim took to the Tug McGraw Foundation's Web site to send his condolences to the Kennedy family and to make readers aware of Kennedy's strong commitment to making sure no American would ever be denied medical treatment. Calling him a dedicated public servant and a longtime champion of universal health care, McGraw says that Sen. Kennedy was "a model of strength and courage during his year-long battle with brain cancer." Then he quotes a Newsweek article that said Kennedy was fighting his cancer at the same time he was fighting to create a healthcare system that would never turn anyone away. There's a special place in heaven for people like that, I think.

Photo credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Reba McEntire is enjoying the top perch of the Billboard 200 this week, with her newest album, Keep On Loving You, outselling everything else in the stores. "Over You" reminds me of a classic Reba song, the dramatic sort where she stabs you in the heart, then twists the knife around. (See also: "And Still.") In addition, I've added some new tunes from George Strait, Love and Theft, Jack Ingram and a bunch of cool tunes on various indie labels to this playlist.

"Over You," Reba McEntire
"Living for the Night," George Strait
"It's Up to You," Love and Theft
"Free," Jack Ingram
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