Country Music Blog: George Strait

In an excerpt from author Joe Nick Patoski's new book, Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, you can start to see how Nelson's stubborn ways earned him his icon status.

There is nothing new about him, and that's just what The Tennessean digs about George Strait and his latest album.

Does marrying a musician increase your earnings? This story takes a close look at what star nuptials -- like Tim & Faith -- do to sales.

Lady Antebellum hits People.com to talk about meeting each other, stumbling onto a band name and stocking the bus with Sour Patch Kids. And band member Charles Kelley opens up to the Charlotte Observer about how he just wasn't cut out for the working life in North Carolina.

A trip back home to Ireland recently brought me face to face with my old CD collection and I remembered how much I used to love mainstream country music. I grabbed a few CDs for the trip back to Tennessee, and found a few albums that really formed the basis of my musical education as a teenager.

I remember my brother coming home one Saturday afternoon with an album by a guy in a cowboy hat looking out over a desert - Ocean Front Property by George Strait. After a few listens we were both hooked, and tracks like "All My Ex's Live in Texas" and "Second Chances" have been burned into my musical hard drive. When I listen to those songs again, I'm transported back to London, specifically sitting in my Dad's van as we drive to a gig on a dark evening.

Dwight Yoakam's Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. was unashamedly hillbilly honky-tonk, and it's only dated by the fact it probably wouldn't work in today's market. Listen to "Honky Tonk Man" and tell me it doesn't make you do a Dwight dance across the kitchen floor! Meanwhile, "South of Cincinnati" is full of and remorse and longing - heartbreaking stuff. There's also great fiddling on this record and of course outstanding guitar playing, providing an education for any country musician.

Country music evolves over time and speaks to a lot of people today, but rarely to me. In my early 30s, I feel a little rejected by the country mainstream, but I'm thankful that it did speak to me when I was younger. Maybe in years to come I'll be talking about the 1980s as the golden era of country music in the same way some folks now talk about the ‘40s and ‘50s, and when I do I'll pulling out these two albums as evidence.

Today is the one-year anniversary of a tragedy in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville - an incident that's already showing signs of becoming legendary. The former home of Johnny Cash and June Carter was undergoing a restoration by new owner Barry Gibb when it caught fire and burned to the ground.

The event is already captured in a piece of folklore on George Strait's new album, Troubadour. "House Of Cash," a duet with Patty Loveless plays with the facts and the symbolism to reach new levels of understanding. Cleverly crafted by songwriters Monty Holmes and Leslie Satcher, it suggests the ghosts of Johnny and June simply would not allow another soul to occupy the place. "No one sleeps in Cash's bed," says the chorus, "but the Man in Black and the woman he wed."

An appropriate thread of other-world spirituality runs through "House Of Cash." It's hellfire-and-brimstone dark in tone, and by incorporating a song June wrote about Johnny -- "The ring of fire comes full circle" -- it makes some interesting connections. Johnny, of course, believed in the afterlife and played with its images by remaking the cowboy classic "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky." June's "Ring Of Fire" was co-written with Merle Kilgore, who made a deal with Johnny Horton that whoever went first would send a specific message from the other side. After Horton died in a car accident, the exact, agreed-upon words were spoken to Kilgore, who believed it was indeed a sign from Horton's spirit.

Was the 2007 fire a parting message from Johnny and June? Probably not, but it makes for a friggin' great song.

See photos from the House of Cash.

Well, I can't believe Little Big Town is at the end of the George Strait tour. We have one show left in Baltimore on Friday night and that's it. It has truly gone by so fast. We have enjoyed getting to know the folks in George's band and crew. Can we talk about how good the Ace in The Hole band is? Some of these guys have been with George for 30 years. The chemistry between them and the tightness of the band is truly perfection. We are incredibly grateful that George gave us this platform and the opportunity to share our music with his fans. It has been thrilling to be able to share the stage with an icon. We have had a lot of new experiences, created some memories and we have made new friends.

We also want to say thanks to our own band and crew. They are the people behind the scenes and on stage that make it all possible. They represent us so well and we are proud to have them on the road with us. Sometimes we forget to thank them like we should. Our three band guys, Andy, Greg and Steve; and our crew, Bobby, Jay, Josh, Eric, Sam and Schlap. We appreciate you all so much and wouldn't want to do this without you. You make the music we write come to life every night. Thanks for all of your hard work. Most of all thanks to George Strait for the belief in our music and the chance. All hail King George! -- Karen Fairchild

I've been reading Three Dog Nightmare: The Continuing Chuck Negron Story, a book about the tragic fall and personal resurrection of one of the lead voices from the pop band Three Dog Night. In it, Negron makes a claim that the band was one of the first to pack stadiums with a rock show.

The Beatles had done it before, at New York's Shea Stadium, and there were other bands that played stadiums, though many of them fell far short of filling them out. But I'll bet no one in the Fab Four's mid-‘60s era -- or in Three Dog Night's early-‘70s prime -- ever thought country music would be capable of that.

So this week's anniversary of the first George Strait stadium tour is one worth celebrating. Strait brought in 56,000 fans on March 14, 1998, to Sun Devil Stadium in Arizona for a lineup that featured Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, John Michael Montgomery, Lee Ann Womack and others. And Strait continued doing stadium tours with massive talent rosters for several more years before pulling back to his traditional in-the-round arena format.

What's now amazing is that while the stadium date is still a country rarity, it happens much more frequently than anyone could have predicted in the past. Kenny Chesney is playing 14 of those dates this summer, supported by a rotating list of acts that includes Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Big & Rich, Gary Allan and Luke Bryan, among others. Toby Keith has offered a handful of stadium shows as well.

Strait could likely pick up and fill out stadiums again, if he chose, and you can imagine Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Brooks & Dunn and Shania Twain (remember her?) doing the same thing. In fact, when the Gridiron Bash -- a strange, college-football-related fan competition -- lined up stadiums across the U.S. for April, a surprising number of country lineups were employed: Alan Jackson in Alabama, Dwight Yoakam in West Virginia, Dierks Bentley and Wynonna in Kentucky, Montgomery Gentry and Taylor Swift in Tennessee.

At last week's Country Radio Seminar, one booking agent noted that outside of such longstanding classic-rock icons as the Rolling Stones and U2, there's no stronger genre for live shows these days than country music.

Considering that a lot of country artists were happy to play high-school gymnasiums and small county fairs at the time Three Dog Night was playing those stadium dates, it's tough to find stronger support for the upward transformation that's taken place in country music.

What's Tim McGraw gonna do with a 50,000-square-foot warehouse? Could the north Nashville property he rented for a month be a practice hall? Or just storage space for his upcoming tour merchandise?

Get some good Georgia cooking no matter where you live. Trisha Yearwood's new cookbook, with foreword by her husband Garth Brooks, is set for delivery in early April.

No, it's not an April Fool's stunt. Strait Country, the George Strait radio station, debuts on XM satellite on April 1.

Want some live music with that strip steak? Eddie Montgomery is planning to build a steakhouse and entertainment complex in the bluegrass region of Kentucky.

It's not quite official yet. But to unofficially kick off the Democratic National Convention, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Sheryl Crow are unofficially expected to play at an environmental concert in Denver. Unofficially, of course.

A bad review for Alan Jackson’s new album? Say it ain’t so. Jackson’s publicist asked Tennesseans for their translation of the explicit Village Voice review.

Looks like the old Strait and switch. George Strait’s moving his 3/29 California show from an outdoor venue to an indoor one to accommodate his in-the-round stage.

Former bodybuilder Keith Anderson bared his guns at a CRS performance, wearing little more than a toga and an acoustic guitar.

Get Randy Travis’ new single, “Faith in You,” absolutely free. Yes, you’ll have to register. But that 15 seconds is a small price to pay for this sweet little download.

When he wasn’t feeling well enough to perform at a charity golf tournament last week, Tim McGraw asked Lonestar to take his place. Wonder how that made the crowd feel?

Kenny Chesney Gone Wild! Catch him tomorrow (3/12) at the Spinnaker Beach Club in Panama City Beach, Fla., where he’ll put on a little spring break show at 4 p.m.

We were in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday night in what they call "The Pit." They call it the pit because the venue is actually built into the ground. It was definitely a unique structure. Better than the building though, was the dressing room accommodations that happened to have an old-school Galaga and Ms. Pacman game. Needless to say, Andy and I played for a very long time, as well as my wife who happened to be pretty good at Ms. Pacman. Yes, she beat me. By the end of the night, we attracted a crowd in the dressing room, mostly consisting of the Little Big Town crew and band. They said they could hear the yelling down the hall. That was me whipping up on Steve Dale (our bass player) in Galaga. This might have been my favorite dressing room of all time. Shouldn't we always have video games in the dressing room with endless free play? Maybe we can add that to our rider someday.

We weren't just playing games all night though. We actually started writing and have some new things we are really excited about. We always get inspiration for songs on the road and occasionally we have time to really focus on developing those ideas. We try to take advantage of those moments when we have them. These days our dressing room is full of music, games and baby toys -- of course, for Penelopi and Daisy. It's a rowdy place for these two little ones. The good news is they are going to grow up with lots of love and laughter. Last week on our tour with George Strait, Kimberly was sitting on the floor feeding Daisy carrots, and Andy and I were playing Galaga. Phillip was writing a song in the corner, and folks were coming in and out of the dressing room non-stop. The funny thing is that the chaos is so normal now that it doesn't feel like chaos anymore. If it wasn't like this, I think I would be bored. - Jimi Westbrook

If you've been waiting for new music from Lee Ann Womack, get comfortable because it's probably going to be a while. Last I heard, she wasn't happy with the album she turned in, so it was back to the drawing board. Luckily, I have never gotten tired of There's More Where That Came From, which won a CMA Award in 2005. But, as the title suggested, wasn't there supposed to be more where that came from? I do have a short-term fix - Some Things I Know, her outstanding 1998 album.

Ten years ago, the shy Texan was riding a wave of high-profile endorsements from George Strait and Alan Jackson, and was considered a torchbearer for traditional country music. I love the fiddles on the title track, which begins the album, and when Vince Gill comes in on harmony, it's bliss. Buddy and Julie Miller contributed harmony vocals on a song they wrote, "Don't Tell Me," and it's one of the saddest songs they've written. (With their incredible catalog, that's saying something.) Joe Diffie, ex-husband Jason Sellers, Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White lend their voices to the album too.

"I'll Think of a Reason Later" and "A Little Past Little Rock" did well at country radio, but after she scored a smash hit with "I Hope You Dance," she temporarily headed in a new direction. I liked the I Hope You Dance album, as well as "Blame It on Me" from the follow-up disc, but I really fell apart when I heard There's More Where That Came From for the first time. Seriously, I played it over and over at the office, and luckily my co-worker one desk over was just as obsessed as I was. We enthusiastically analyzed it inside out, and I still proudly display my vinyl copy above my desk. I can't wait to hear the new music, but at least I have a few albums to hold me over in the meantime.

My hubby and I were driving in Nashville last week when we heard George Strait's new single for the first time. It's called "I Saw God Today." We only heard the last verse, and when it was over, we were both blown away and said we couldn't wait to hear the whole thing. I have been excited for days now waiting to watch him sing it live.

We wanted to make sure we didn't miss it, so we found out from his management when he was going to sing the song in his set tonight. When it came time, we stood along with the rest of the crowd and watched him perform it. Wow! He, of course, brought the house down. He expresses the most genuine emotion as he sings. There's something very special about that song. It's my new favorite! I've been singing it in my head for the last two hours. I LOVE GEORGE STRAIT!!!!! I can't believe we're here!! -- Kimberly Roads