Country Music Blog: John Rich

If I'm interpreting a sidebar on the People magazine Web site correctly, Barbara Mandrell is tabbed in the publication's annual "Most Beautiful People" list, which this year is being expanded from 50 to 100. That's a nice compliment to Babs, who turns 60 this Christmas.

During her heyday, she was one of country music's greatest ambassadors, in part because her television show, Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters, put the genre on prime time every Saturday night. The show was dismissed by critics, but the public loved it, and Barbara stopped only because it took time away from her family and her music.

Read more...

Dierks Bentley, John Rich and Gretchen Wilson remember the Station nightclub fire, which occurred five years ago, with an acoustic concert in Rhode Island.

Did you bite into something crunchy at Country Radio Seminar? The health scores for the Nashville Convention Center might explain why the lights were so dim.

Speaking of country radio, is your favorite station among the off-camera nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards?

Sam Bush, Natalie McMaster and Chris Thile will be playing RockyGrass this summer in Telluride, Colo., and the single-day lineups have been announced.

This rock star produced Loretta Lynn's Grammy-winning album and lives in Nashville. Now, Jack White is rush-releasing a CD by his new band, The Raconteurs.

I was not greatly surprised that Julio Iglesias Jr. won the CMT Gone Country competition. As John Rich posts in his CMT shows blog, Iglesias' Hispanic heritage was a factor in Iglesias' appeal and in Rich's decision-making process. People in the country music industry have been saying for years that they wish they could find the "next Johnny Rodriguez." He was a dynamic, handsome Mexican-America singer with a great voice and a real ear for country and he attracted multi-racial audiences across the board. As has Rick Trevino, who has had many country hits. And Freddy Fender, the late singer who had several No. 1 country hits. Julio Jr.'s father, of course, had two Top 10 country duets with Willie Nelson, including his No. 1, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before." So, Julio Jr.'s career will be watched closely.
 

Vince Gill gave the Washington Post some totally awesome quotes about Taylor Swift, and how she's like so completely seriously amazing or whatever.

Another teen who's super awesome? Miley Cyrus, for rescuing a lost dog and comforting him until his owner was retreived.

If you're a Kenny Chesney fan, you won't want to miss tonight's premiere of Biography on A&E. Even though Chesney didn't speak to the A&E crew for the show, his manager and songwriters did.

The soldiers in Fort Bragg better get ready to rock. Miranda Lambert's going to perform just for them and their families on Saturday (3/1) night at the Ritz-Epps center.

As if he wasn't busy enough educating B-list celebs on country music, now John Rich is going to conduct monthly talent contests at 12th & Porter in Nashville.

Curiosity got the best of me last night, so I dropped into the Wildhorse Saloon for a taping of Gone Country, a new series coming to CMT in early 2008. John Rich is the host, and besides talking a whole lot, he ends up choosing one of seven singing celebrities to introduce to country radio. At this taping, the cast members sang for a country audience for the first time, trying out something co-written with some of the city’s finest writers.

Personally, my favorite song of the night was the first one – “Smile That Smile,” about the moment when your resistance falls away. Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips sang it with her co-writers, Marv Green and Leslie Satcher. (I guess Wendy and Chynna couldn’t make it.) She sparkled in a beautiful white rhinestone jacket, clearly loving her moment in the spotlight again. Julio Iglesias Jr. has … well… he has a great smile. Sisqo earned the most applause of the night, and his original song was a standout too. Am I the only one who never heard “The Thong Song”? Must be. So I had nothing to judge him against. If you like Martina McBride, you’d like Diana DeGarmo, a strong singer and American Idol runner-up. For a quieter performance, give a shot to Maureen McCormick (Marsha Brady on The Brady Bunch), who is taking another stab at a music career and did herself proud.

Bobby Brown – of New Edition and The National Enquirer -- offered a song about changing his ways. He told the audience he just got out of a long marriage, even though he wishes it wasn’t over. What would Whitney Houston say to that? Bobby was quick to add that he’s got a new woman and says he’ll be on his best behavior from now on. Considering the rumors about his behavior in the Nashville house where he and the castmates lived for two weeks, I seriously doubt that. Meanwhile, the original song by Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider was more rock than country, but what isn’t these days? Although I’m partial to country music, at the end of the night, I couldn’t resist singing along to “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Of course, in the long run, we are gonna take it, because one of these artists is going to have a shot at country stardom, but we’ll have to wait until early next year to find out which one.