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Walkin' A Country Mile

Walkin’ A Country Mile!

by Scott Stem

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The final nominations for “The 39th Annual CMA Awards” will be announced on September 7 by Keith Urban and Lee Ann Womack. Will your favorites make the cut?

Tune in to CMT for live coverage at 10:15 AM/ET (don’t worry – they’ll repeat it often). The CMA Awards themselves will be held on November 15 live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on CBS. Brooks & Dunn return as hosts.

Alabama, DeFord Bailey and Glen Campbell have been announced as the 2005 inductees for the Country Music Hall of Fame. The official induction takes place on the CMA Awards.

There are a ton of new albums you need to know about. All of these are notable. I’ll give my highest recommendations to those by Eddy Arnold, Hanna-McEuen, Nickel Creek, Marty Stuart and Trisha Yearwood.

Two legendary artists have released their first albums in quite some time.

The first is Eddy Arnold, who has released the beautiful After All These Years, a wonderful collection from a man who wrote the book for every artist who came after him. It has been 60 years since Arnold first came to national attention for his smooth voice and great songs. He has inspired generations with his talent and his character.

The second is Bobby Bare, who returns with The Moon Was Blue, his first new solo album since the mid-1980s. The album was co-produced by his son, Bobby Bare Jr., and Mark Nevers, and showcases Bare in true form.

Brooks & Dunn return with Hillbilly Deluxe, featuring the hit, “Play Something Country.”

Chris Cagle will be back soon with his latest album, Anywhere But Here. The first single is “Miss Me Baby.” Cagle is known as a strong live performer – be sure and catch his tour when it comes through your town.

The Greencards are an amazing band who opened for the Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson tour earlier this year. Find out why these musical legends love the band by picking up their new album, Weather and Water.

Musical duo Hanna-McEuen released their self-titled debut album, and it is a gem. Jaime Hanna and Jonathan McEuen are cousins whose mothers are twin sisters and fathers are members of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Hanna and/or McEuen co-wrote each song on the album. This is a near-masterpiece of an album and highly recommended.

Faith Hill recently released Fireflies, featuring the hit “Mississippi Girl.” The album debuted at #1 on the pop and Country charts. Faith will have an NBC television special in November - be sure and look for it!

New group Hot Apple Pie releases their self-titled debut album featuring the hit, “Hillbillies.” But the lead vocalist, Brady Seals, is a familiar name. Seals started out as an original member of Little Texas, performing such hits as – “What Might Have Been,” “God Bless Texas,” “My Love” and more. After leaving Little Texas, Seals went solo for a few years before starting up Hot Apple Pie.

George Jones returns with Hits I Missed…And One I Didn’t, a great concept album featuring Jones’ version of hits by other artists. Included on the album is “The Blues Man,” done as a duet with Dolly Parton; “Funny How Time Slips Away;” “Today I Started Loving You Again,” “On The Other Hand,” “Busted,” “Too Cold At Home,” and more. In addition, Jones has re-recorded his classic, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” for this collection as well.

Singer/rodeo star Chris LeDoux died earlier this year, but his music lives on in The Chris LeDoux Anthology Vol. 1. This 20 song collection showcases many of LeDoux’s best loved performances, including: “Copenhagen,” “This Cowboy’s Hat,” “Life is a Highway,” “Tougher Than The Rest,” “The Fever” and more. LeDoux’s exciting stage show was a huge influence on Garth Brooks, who in turn, introduced LeDoux to a larger audience with his single, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old).”

Lonestar returns with their new album, Coming Home, featuring their hit, “You’re Like Comin’ Home.” The superstar band features amazing vocals from lead singer Richie McDonald.

Nickel Creek returns with Why Should The Fire Die?, their most mature album to date. This group is just amazing – mixing Country, bluegrass, jazz, rock, and more into their own unique sound. Chris Thile, Sean Watkins and Sara Watkins are virtuosos who only get better with age.

Brad Paisley is back with Time Well Wasted. The album debuted at #2 on the pop charts. Paisley is an amazing guitar player, a fine vocalist, a great songwriter and an all around good guy. This album features the hit “Alcohol” in addition to “When I Get Where I’m Going” with Dolly Parton and “Out In The Parkin’ Lot” with Alan Jackson. The funniest part of the album is “Cornography,” a radio-theater performance featuring Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones and Dolly Parton that has to be heard to be believed. Married men will love “Waitin’ On A Woman.”

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives are about to release Soul’s Chapel, an amazing album of gospel-tinged music. Mavis Staples joins Stuart on one song. The entire CD is so full of life and, well, soul…it’s an instant classic.

The Warren Brothers have released Barely Famous Hits, a great collection of their singles and other songs. The Warren Brothers are best known for their CMT reality series “Barely Famous” as well as frequently opening for their pal Tim McGraw. The collection features their hit duet with Sara Evans, “That’s The Beat of a Heart,” as well as their singles – “Guilty,” “Sell A Lot of Beer,” “Hey Mr. President” and more. This is a project that doesn’t make sense from a corporate perspective – one of the many reasons why I love it.

Trisha Yearwood returns with Jasper County, her first album in several years. Her voice has been missing from Country radio for way too long. The first single is “Georgia Rain.” Country Music needs artists like Trisha Yearwood….let’s hope she doesn’t stay away so long again.

That’s it for this month. Keep your eyes open this Fall for upcoming new albums from Big & Rich, Kenny Chesney, Terri Clark, Gretchen Wilson and more.

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