CMT Blog: Craig Morgan

I’m sure a lot of you, like me, get sick of the songs at the top of the charts if you hear them over and over and over again on the radio. Like when they say, “Here’s the brand new one from Keith Urban” and they play “Kiss a Girl,” which is not new at all. So what I did this weekend was checked out the songs on the lower end of the charts. And here’s what came out on the top of the bottom for me:

“Bonfire,” Craig Morgan
“Address in the Stars,” Caitlin & Will
“Up to Him,” Tracy Lawrence
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If you stumble upon country star John Michael Montgomery in a new infomercial, don’t assume he’s after Billy Mays’ job. He is selling something much better than OxiClean and Mighty Putty. Montgomery is the new pitchman for Time Life’s Country Music Explosion. This boxed set of CDs has 160 songs from household names like Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Craig Morgan, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Then there’s Montgomery’s own biggies, like “I Can Love You Like That”, “I Swear” and “I Love the Way You Love Me.” I can’t find the price tag for this Explosion on the Time Life Web site yet, but whatever it costs, getting 160 hit country songs has to be worth it.

Decisions, decisions. Who will you ever chose to leave your outgoing voicemail message? Should it be Dierks Bentley? Taylor Swift? Luke Bryan? Eric Church? Craig Morgan? Kellie Pickler? Keith Anderson? Or, if you’re really aiming high, Garth Brooks? It is just about the coolest thing a country fan can put on his/her cell phone. Each one says something like “Hey y’all this is (big country star) and my friend can’t come to the phone right now, but if you leave her (or him) a message, she (or he) will get back to you as soon as she (or he) can. Thanks and have a great day.” The directions are pretty high tech, so I couldn’t get all the right-clickiness to work. I just recorded mine the old fashioned way: with my phone’s microphone held up close to my laptop’s speaker. But for folks out there who know their way around MP3s, it should be a no-brainer.

Photo credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The CMT New Video Evaluation Team looked at three new music videos this week. John Rich tees off on Washington and Wall Street for abandoning the Motor City with “Shuttin’ Detroit Down.” Raul Malo waxes melodic in a barroom in “Hello Again.” And newcomer Sarah Darling plucks on the heartstrings with “Jack of Hearts.”

Artist: John Rich
Video: “Shuttin’ Detroit Down”
Director: Steve Lamar

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Thank you sooooooooo much CMT.com/Music Pass! The Craig Morgan concert was awesome!!!!! My sister and I had a great time. Craig has a long line of hits, and I think he performed most of them. He has great vocals, is a good songwriter and a great entertainer. He did, in fact, get the crowd to their feet, hooping and hollering (that’s a Texas term), clapping and singing along. We had amazing seats, but were on our feet much of the time. Isn’t that what seventh row seats are for? Standing in front of, that is. You sit after making your souvenir purchase at the sales booth during the break. I did not get to meet Craig, maybe someday :-) But, I did get my picture taken at his sales booth. What fun we had! I highly recommend everyone to attend a concert whenever possible. It will be money well spent!

Check out Craig Morgan’s upcoming tour dates.

It’s new departure time in videos this week for the Zac Brown Band, Miley Cyrus and Craig Morgan as the CMT New Video Evaluation Team considered this week’s crop. Never fear, though, Zac’s still got the stocking cap, Miley’s essentially spunky as ever and Craig keeps working on his hair.

Artist: Craig Morgan
Video: “God Must Really Love Me”
Director: Eric Welch

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Well, technically, it’s Craig Morgan who is asking for the help. But if we answer his request, we’ll really be helping his wife Karen. It seems that Morgan will be on the road when Valentine’s Day rolls around, so he needs ideas. Hmm. What to do, what to do? Well, I know what not to get her. An International Harvester. Ditto for those heart-shaped boxes of candy and anything from Kay Jewelers. Way too cliché. If my husband was traveling on Valentine’s Day, and he was a country star with loads of money, I’d love for him to send me a few helping hands for just one day: house cleaner, chef, personal trainer, massage therapist, dog walker, landscaper, homework helper and stylist. It may not be the most romantic day in our marriage, but at least one of us would be blissfully happy.

Ask enough hipsters, and you will find out exactly how uncool line dancing is. They will roll their eyes and give you the standard “Really? Seriously?” reply. Yet somehow, somewhere, two-stepping and line dancing have not lost their charms with country fans.

There’s a new survey out that names the Top 10 list of requested and played songs at country dance clubs. So this is not a list of songs played on the radio, songs downloaded or songs that made up the set lists at live shows. These are literally the songs people danced to all last year. And by dancing, I don’t just mean slight toe-tapping and uncommitted swaying. I mean dance dancing. Like step, turn, together, clap, cha-cha and shimmy. Or two quick steps, two slow steps, glide your boots across the floor. (The kind of dancing I’m going to do just as soon as that guy from Shania Twain’s “I Ain’t No Quitter” video asks me to dance.)

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When you wait your whole life for something, and it finally happens, how do you prepare? I’ve had big days in my life: college graduation, wedding day, my firstborn baby. But I don’t know how I’d feel if I was Craig Morgan right now.

He’s being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry this Saturday (Oct. 25). So I wonder how he feels right this minute. Is he nervous as hell? Or is he more of the “it’s-about-time” mindset? And how do you go about getting ready for such an honor? Read more…

In the back of my mind, I’ve always thought country artists might embellish their stories to make their lifestyles sound a little bit more worthy of song. I mean, how exciting is real life? But I never thought people actually did all these things, like shooting buffalos from 100 yards, salt-curing hams, taking Louisville Sluggers to headlights, drinking moonshine and smoking Pall Malls while watching Laura Ingalls. But this weekend, I went to a “Redneck Yacht Club.” And it was exactly like Craig Morgan said it would be.

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