CMT Blog: Albums

If you think you know Michael Sarver (he finished 10th on season nine of American Idol) just as an oil rig worker, you may not know the whole story. He told USA Today that while many assumed he'd go country, he also has gospel and soul in his roots and that's kind of where his debut album ended up. In fact, one song comes right out and says his dreams stretch far beyond the country line. But as you sift through the track-by-track review from the paper, it still sounds like there are a lot of country influences going on. The ones that sound like the best bets to me are "Safe," a waltz about how he will always be your home, and "Ferris Wheel," about the weightlessness you feel when you are falling in love. Then there's "Always Surviving," which I know I will love no matter what it's about, because it was written by two of Nashville's most gifted tunesmiths, Rachel Thibodeau and Rivers Rutherford.

John Daly has new country album out now, I Only Know One Way. Yes, THAT John Daly. The legendary golfer who has had a lifetime of ups and downs both on and off the course has poured his heart and soul into a collection of 11 songs that are as much autobiographical as they are solid country songs. And it doesn't hurt that he wrote and sings the title track with his friend, Darius Rucker.

Daly told me today (July 27) that their song in particular hits close to home. "When we wrote that song we thought, ‘Man, life is so short and you're just so close to death every day. You could get hit by a car, or have a heart attack," Daly said. "You just never know." So the lyrics about living so many lives, having too many wives, being through hell and back, and being so happy to be alive send the message that living his life his way is the only way.

Read more...

Just because you marry a guy doesn't mean you have to love him, right? You just have to love how he looks in a tux. And how well he can act like the marrying kind. That's kind of how Taylor Swift ended up walking down the faux aisle with actor Toby Hemingway in her video for "Mine." She had seen Hemingway in Feast of Love and thought he was great. Then she watched him in The Covenant and he was wearing her favorite number 13 on his sweatshirt, so that cemented the deal. Since the video shoot in Maine, the two have been seen out and about off-set, like when Swift was in Los Angeles recording some of her upcoming album, Speak Now, due Oct. 25. But during her live Ustream chat with nearly 60,000 fans on Tuesday (July 20) she admitted that the song "Mine" is NOT really about getting hitched. "It's a song that is about my tendency to run from love," she said. That's too bad for Hemingway.

Photo credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

In a city filled with songwriters, Nashville-based Griffin House has continued to stand out. He doesn't use a dozen words to convey what just a handful can say, so you don't end up wondering what the heck he's writing about. In other words, he's quick to get his point across and his steady, emotive vocals always give his songs an extra weight. His newest album, The Learner, kicks off with the wise "If You Want To," which offers some straight-shooter advice on how to let yourself be loved. It's a common theme here -- figuring it all out -- so the album title fits pretty well. Although the production comes across with rock influences like Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, I feel like his concise writing is ripe for Nashville's country artists. Plus, he possesses that rare gift of singing what guys want to say and what women want to hear, especially on tunes like "Just Another Guy" (uptempo and driving) and "Native" (perhaps the most tender song I've heard all year). Apparently he's a forward-thinker when it comes to his work ethic, but here's hoping that adventurous music fans will find the time to learn about The Learner.

Here's something for country fans to look forward to: Toby Keith and Reba McEntire are returning to the racks this fall with new albums, along with Taylor Swift's Speak Now and new projects from LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker and Sugarland. The first big release in October will be Keith's Bullets in a Gun on Oct. 5. He's already pulled the trigger on its first single and video, "Trailerhood." Rimes' Lady and Gentleman will be presented that same day. Due Oct. 12, Rucker's Charleston, SC, 1966 takes its name from a seminal Radney Foster country album from 1992 that stamped Foster's hometown and birth year right into its title. A week later, Sugarland rolls in with The Incredible Machine, influenced in part by steampunk, an industrial science fiction/fantasy vision based in the Victorian era. (That explains this particularly striking photo.) As widely reported earlier this week, Swift's Speak Now is due worldwide on Oct. 25. For now, the last big release of the year will be McEntire's as-yet-untitled project, due Nov. 9. As always, release dates are subject to change. In the meantime, here's more information about August and September releases.

When Taylor Swift explained the idea behind her next album, Speak Now, due out Oct. 25, she said it was going to be full of songs that are "made up of words I didn't say when the moment was right in front of me." So it's literally kind of a speak-now-or-forever-hold-your-peace kind of thing. But does that make it a concept album? MTV.com thinks so. They are loosely comparing this album of what Swift calls open letters to other concept projects recorded by "an interesting club of unlikely artists." Among them, they cite Garth Brooks' 1999 experiment in recording an album as a fictional Australian rock star, Chris Gaines. I think that conclusion is a stretch. Swift's album will likely just be more of what she does best -- opening her heart and telling one person what is on her mind while the rest of the world listens in.

So while Carrie Underwood is off soaking up the French Polynesian sun with new husband Mike Fisher, back here in America she's breaking records again. USA Today is reporting that her debut album, Some Hearts, has now sold 7 million copies. Which is reason to celebrate in and of itself. It's hard to even picture 7 million albums -- CDs or digital. But what that number also means is that she is the first American Idol winner to ever to go seven-times platinum. I'm not surprised, because think of all the hits that album brought us, like "Jesus, Take the Wheel," "Before He Cheats," "Don't Forget to Remember Me" and my favorite "We're Young and Beautiful." I wonder if she ever dreamed, back when she was just auditioning for Idol, that one day she'd sell 7 million copies of her first album and find out about it while she was hanging out with her brand new hockey-star husband.

From the first few fuzzy steel guitar notes on Band of Horses' "Older," you know you're about to hear a song ripe with emotion. Silky harmonies and a loping beat speak to an easy love, while the repeating lyrics describe it as one that never fades. But with the sadness in the guitar part, I wonder if this love has already moved on. Although it's reminiscent of the early Californian days of country-rock, "Older" is still moving the genre forward with a sound that might appeal to fans of bands like My Morning Jacket and Kings of Leon, as well as Eagles and Byrds buffs. Their latest album, Infinite Arms, keeps following that meandering path between country and indie rock and you can watch a couple of new videos on their website, but check out "Older" streaming on NPR Music's website, if only for that whining steel guitar. Somebody should write a song about how that sound never gets old.

"I can't wait for you to hear it!" That's the exuberant message that Taylor Swift emphasized repeatedly when she revealed that her new album, Speak Now, will be released worldwide on Oct. 25. In the meantime, the lead single, "Mine," is expected in mid-August. More than 55,000 online viewers heard the news first during a live chat on Tuesday afternoon (July 20) -- and they're probably just as eager as she is for her new music. Here are some of the highlights of her 45-minute chat:

• She's spent 99 percent of her summer working on the new album, and one percent of her time officially moving into her new condo in Nashville.

• She wrote all the songs by herself for the record, because her inspiration would strike on tour, when there were no co-writers around. The album will include "Sparks Fly," a fan favorite that she's played only a handful of times on tour. Later on, she said she's thinking there will be 14 songs on the album.

Read more...

Well, I may not have been all that crazy about the video for John Rich's "Country Done Come to Town," but I have always thought of him as one of county music's gems because of the songs he writes. Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" and Faith Hill's "Mississippi Girl" are two of my favorites. So I was thrilled to find this story about what to expect on his next album. Then bummed to find out it has more of what Gibson.com calls "ZZ Top swagger" and what Rich himself calls "the most aggressive rock and roll music I've made."

Read more...