For the 10th year, Chely Wright is hosting her Reading, Writing and Rhythm benefit concert in Nashville, just before CMA Music Festival starts. Since its inception, her non-profit organization has raised more than a million dollars for music education in public schools, mostly through the proceeds of her annual all-star concerts. This year, funds will go to the Nashville schools that lost their musical instruments in last month's flood.
I love music downloads, but I especially love free music downloads. If you're a Rodney Atkins fan -- or a country fan, in general -- how can you resist a free download of "Get Together"? It's a brand new song that's never been on any of Atkins' albums. Aside from the new music, the Knoxville, Tenn., native has a busy tour schedule this summer, including a June 5 appearance at the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival in Enterprise, Ala. And on June 11, he'll be performing in Nashville on the CMA Music Festival's Riverfront Park stage during a day of music that also features Gretchen Wilson, the Eli Young Band, Jack Ingram, Craig Morgan, Patty Loveless, Sawyer Brown, Bucky Covington and The Band Perry. His tour is sponsored by VELVEETA Shells & Cheese, and at some of the stops, a "side shack" will provide a variety of family entertainment and the chance to win a VIP pass that allows winners the virtual reality experience of performing with Atkins on an interactive video screen and other prizes. In the meantime, download the song and let us know what you think of it.
Real-life fathers are rarely even remotely like the ones on television shows -- reality, sitcoms, dramas or otherwise. Real-life fathers are more often going to be the strong silent type, and Bucky Covington has captured that kind of dad in his new song "A Father's Love (The Only Way He Knew How)." When it starts out, you may be thinking it's going to be country's answer to Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle." Remember that one from the '70s? Where the dad is way too busy to be around for his son? But this song takes a different approach, because when the dad is busy checking the tires and spark plug wires and going back and forth to the hardware store and putting new locks on the doors, what he is really doing is saying "I love you" the only way he knows how. A lot like Covington's hit, "I'll Walk," this tune tells a story that keeps you hanging on until the ending -- a happy one. It is slated to be on his upcoming album due out in the fall, but you can hear the song now on People.com.
I've always liked a man with a good sense of humor, and if Bucky Covington's engaging personality is any indication of what to expect from his upcoming album, I'm Alright, due out next spring, it's surely a must-hear. Since he and his twin brother recently turned "32 years good," as he likes to call it, I asked him how they celebrated their birthday. He informed me that the two sat around a campfire at his new 80-acre farm and came up with the great idea of riding dirt bikes. "So, safety first, we took flashlights and duct-taped them to the front fenders," he laughed. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite enough light because Bucky crashed and hurt his left knee. Thinking on his feet, so to speak, he grabbed his nearest resource. "So I duct taped a ShamWow to my knee. It worked great, but by the time I got home, I was a pint low," he laughed. "ShamWow!"
Toby Keith and the tag team match of Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins head up a batch of seven videos that were screened by the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team. Joe Nichols says goodbye to a dear old friend of his. Bucky Covington takes a rock song live. Gene Watson and Rhonda Vincent look at a sad family situation. John Fogerty remembers the Everly Brothers. And you can meet the new sister group, the McClymonts.
Artist: Toby Keith
Video: "Cryin' for Me"
Director: Michael Salamon
Toby Keith has written a song and a video tribute to his late friend, basketball great and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale. He says goodbye to his friend in a very personal way.
Panelists' comments: "Damn, that was sad." "But so sweet." "Amen ... what can you say." "I think he did a great job with it."
Bucky Covington's latest single is actually a cover of Nickelback's "Gotta Be Somebody," but judging by the crowd's reaction in this video for the song, his fans like the idea just fine. I guess it shows how certain songs have a sentiment that crosses musical boundaries, because to me it sounds strikingly similar to the original (which was a top 10 pop hit), just a little smoother. The rasp in his voice is even a lot like Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger's, but Covington takes a bit of the edge off and replaces it with his trademark smile.
My whole family gathered around last night (Sept. 23) to watch Bucky Covington on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on CMT. And you know what? He is. He was even smarter than the smartest person in my house: my high school freshman daughter.
His appearance was part of the celebrity week on the show. And his winnings of $25,000 went to the charity of his choice, the Arthritis Foundation. (He said when he was a kid, his mother was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and he knows they need the help.)
Actually, he said he was very glad not to be working his old job at his dad's mechanic shop, so that's not entirely true. But as he prepares for the Oct. 13 release of his next album, Bucky Covington recently stopped by the CMT offices to play a few new songs, and one of them was the album's first single, "I Want My Life Back." It's a story about wisdom found in a homeless man's refusal of a handout, since money can't buy what he really wants. The former American Idol contestant also related that Mark Miller, vocalist of the group Sawyer Brown, returns as producer of the upcoming album and that it will feature an unusual choice of a cover song, Nickelback's "Gotta Be Somebody." Look for the video for "I Want My Life Back" on CMT.com soon. For now, though, you can hear an extended preview of the song on Covington's MySpace page.
Hindsight is 20/20. You don't appreciate what you have until it's gone. And all those other clichés about retrospectiveness. They all make for good country music. But now that Kenny Chesney has moved away from songs about wanting things to be like they used to be ("The Good Stuff," "There Goes My Life" and "Don't Blink"), it's time for someone else to pick up that lyrical slack. And Bucky Covington's just the guy. When you throw his rich drawl into this message of pining for the past, as he does on his new single "I Want My Life Back," it sounds so heartfelt that I can hear the yearning in his voice. He seems to have really mastered that throaty Kid Rock sound on this latest tune. Plus, any time you open a story with a guy who has holes in his shoes and is pouring whiskey in his coffee, it is hard to resist.
Three bona fide country videos, along with an Americana-country hybrid, showed up and threw themselves on the mercy of the CMT New Video Evaluation Team this week. There are pickup trucks in three of these four videos, and there would have been one in the fourth, if it didn't consist entirely of stage performance footage.
Artist: Billy Ray Cyrus
Video: "Back to Tennessee"
Director: Declan Whitebloom
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