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Main Featured Artist /
Band |
Extra Reviews &
Stories |
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 Carrie
Underwood - Play On
By: Brianna
Nightingale
In a local Nashville radio
interview, Underwood revealed that she feels more
open now that this album has been recorded. “People
will learn more about who I am when they hear this,”
she said...
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Sylkie Monoff
- Genuine
Review By: George Peden
German born and Nashville working, Sylkie Monoff has a new
album. It’s melodic, well crafted and engaging. It has a
host of musical hard-hitters, and the tunes quickly become
familiar. Look for a description. Be precise. Make it real...
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 Holly
Williams - Here With Me
By: Jim
Moulton
Holly Williams sounds great on
her second CD, titled Here With Me, where she
has turned her full attention to a real country
sound with pedal steel, country guitars, heartbreak
songs and great upbeat honky tonk songs...
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Adam
Steffey - One More For The Road
By: Jim Moulton
Adam Steffey is a powerhouse mandolin player who has been
around for quite awhile, playing lots of sessions and
currently in Dan Tyminski's band. Steffey was also in Alison
Krauss's Union Station for a number of years...
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 Miranda
Lambert
Revolution
by Cheryl Harvey Hill
All fifteen tracks on this album,
whether an uptempo barn burner or a sultry, slow ballad, will manage
to strike a chord somewhere within your subconscious, either
lyrically, melodiously, or both...
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 Susie
Warley - Naked Dreams
Review By: George Peden
Easy on the senses is how I would describe it. The second
album from Texas songbird Susie Warley is an easy toned
album. First: there are the vocals...
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 Joe
Nichols
Old Things New
by Cheryl
Harvey Hill
Choosing “An Old Friend of Mine” as the
final cut was brilliant on so many levels. The lyrics
are incredibly visual and Nichols is accompanied only by
a piano on this track. “My hands were shaking / and my
knees were weak. / As I poured my last shot / and I
drank my last drink"...
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James
Talley - Heartsong
Review By: George Peden
There is a quality to the music of James Talley. It’s a
quiet and honest style. It comes with a lyrical veneer,
which rightly has Talley tagged as an Americana pioneer...
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 David
Nail
I'm About To Come Alive
By: Brianna
Nightingale
After
several colleges approached him about playing on
their baseball teams, it was like a switch flipped
in Nail’s head. He decided to visit Nashville and
see what opportunities would arise for him.
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Alana
Levandoski - Lions And Werewolves
By: Jim Moulton
Alana Levandoski did her first CD a
couple of years ago called Unsettled Down, as I remember it,
it had more of an acoustic sound, but it was a very good
debut CD. Levandoski's second CD has a more eclectic mix,
with a couple of hard rockers starting it out...
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 Jamey
Johnson -
That Lonesome Song
By: George
Peden
For those who like
their country gift-wrapped and stylishly commercial, the
kind of music that comes with the seal of fashioned Stetsons
and Colgate smiles, stay away from Jamey Johnson. Stay well
clear. He’s not for you. And his latest album, the riveting
That Lonesome Song (Mercury Records)...
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Charlie
Robison - Beautiful Day
By:
Jim Moulton
The new CD out
from Charlie Robison titled Beautiful Day is the
best alt/country CD that I have heard in quite
awhile...
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 Crystal
Sands - The Hard Times
Interview by: Cheryl Harvey Hill
Her
new album may be titled The Hard Times but hard times may
be a thing of the past since lady luck was definitely smiling on
Crystal Sands when she was named Female Vocalist of
the Year at the 2009 Texas Music Awards...
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Patty
Loveless
Mountain Soul II
By: Jim Moulton
Patty Loveless picks up where she left off with the first
Mountain Soul CD with Mountain Soul II. The high
lonesome sound of harmonies and old time acoustic
instruments...
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 Tanya
Tucker
- My Turn
By: Jolene
Downs
If you miss the days of real honky tonk
country, then this album is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Tanya Tucker's first studio project in seven years, aptly titled
My Turn, is an incredible collection of classics that
will almost let you hear the clink of glasses at the bar and
smell the cigarette smoke and the sawdust on the dance floor...
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Scott Hisey
Half Empty & Seein' Double
Review By: George
Peden
Let
me show my hand early. I’m a big Scott Hisey fan. It started
in 2002 with the release of his debut album What Will The
Good Times Do.
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 Tracy
Lawrence
The Rock
by Cheryl Harvey Hill
For whatever reason, there is
considerable speculation as to why Tracy Lawrence recorded this
particular album at this point in his career and why he chose
the songs he chose... |
 Angela
Siracusa
By: George Peden
Angela Siracusa is a new talent, one who has grabbed
this reviewer’s ear. With the surge of music hitting the CSO
Central desk daily, it’s easy to overlook the new for the
established. That was nearly the case here. My eyes (and
eventually my ears) locked on...
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 Rodney
Atkins - It's America
By: George
Peden
Ah, the power of
patriotism. In these troubled times, it’s a comfort to know
the American dream is alive and well. Just ask Rodney
Atkins. Recently settling in, and nicely thank-you, at the
pole position on the Billboard country music charts with
“It’s America”...
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 Cowboy
Crush
By: Jim Moulton
Cowboy Crush is the type of CD you like to review. Why?
It is a truly great set of songs that sound like good
Nashville modern country that takes no prisoners. All it
takes is a few listens and you are singing the songs to
yourself because of the great hooks...
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 Martina
McBride - Shine
By: Jim Weaver
Martina McBride has released yet another in a long-line of
vocally amazing albums, this one titled Shine. Let
there be no illusions here, the lovely and talented McBride
will most likely never get a bad review from me. I think her
talent out-"shines" most female vocalists...
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 Jonathan
Singleton and the Grove
By: Brianna Nightingale
Jonathan Singleton proved himself as a talented songwriter
when he partnered up with Jim Beavers shortly after moving
to Nashville...
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 A Tribute to Loretta Johnson - 1/3 of the heart of IFCO
By Cheryl Harvey Hill
This past week, Loretta Johnson lost her long, and devastating,
battle with cancer. For those of you who don’t know, Loretta was one
third of the "Johnson sisters;" founders of the International Fan
Club Organization...
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 BrokeDown
Cadillac
By: Jolene Downs
BrokeDown Cadillac is a new duo that consists of Corri English and
Randy Dunham. They crossed paths when English stopped in at a club
in LA where Dunham's band was playing...
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 Willie Nelson / Wynton Marsalis
Two
Men With The Blues
By: George
Peden
Over his iconic
career, Willie Nelson has shared stages and recording
studios with many. His collaborations are renowned. And,
along the way, he’s anchored memorable partnerships and
music...
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 New
Riders Of The Purple Sage
By: Jim Moulton
A lot has been springing up from the the thirty plus year old
culture of the Grateful Dead, including a tour of their own this
spring...
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 Dierks
Bentley
Feel That Fire
By: Brianna
Nightingale
When I
saw Dierks Bentley for the first time at Joe’s Bar
in Chicago, Illinois, it was a show unlike anything
I had ever witnessed before. The years of performing
on Second Avenue in Nashville must...
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 Spotlight
On...
Ashton
Shepherd
By: Juliette Vara
On stage one minute, getting dirty milking cows the
next. That’s what Ashton Shepherd calls a perfect day... |
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 Keith
Urban -
Love, Pain & The
Whole Crazy World Tour DVD
By: George
Peden
You can’t help but like Keith Urban. Cheeky, brash, impish
and talented, the former New Zealander, who now calls
Nashville home...
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 Misti
Long
By: George Peden
Misti Long has a lot more going for her than just good looks.
Talent, for one thing, comes to mind. She may hail from small town
Dawson Springs, Kentucky...
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 Kellie Pickler -
Self-Titled CD
By: Brianna
Nightingale
When
Kellie Pickler recorded her first album, Small
Town Girl, she said it was a blur. She recorded
it while traveling with the American Idol Tour...
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 Levon
Helm
By: Jim Moulton
Two years ago, after barely surviving throat cancer,
Levon Helm, one of the founding members of The Band,
recorded a very successful, folk sounding, acoustic record
called Dirt Farmer. Helm's new CD, Electric Dirt...
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 Eli
Young Band
By:
Brianna Nightingale
A few years ago, when CMT and GAC
got a hold of the band’s video
single “When It Rains,” fans became
interested and began flocking...
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 Mark
Karan
By: Jim Moulton
I became interested in reviewing Mark Karan for one reason
only, because He played in Ratdog, Bob Weir's Band...
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 Brad
Paisley -
Play
By: Jim
Moulton
This is the CD that I have been waiting on for Brad
Paisley to release. Paisley is the most tal ented
telecaster player out on the country circuits these
days...
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 Bryan
Clark
By: George Peden
It’s been an ambitious project.
Bryan Clark, and to be honest, he’s someone I hadn’t heard
of, is a guy who not so much strums a guitar, but plays it
...
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 The Best Of 2008
By:
Cheryl Harvey Hill
To sum up this
past year through a drugged haze from a hospital bed is a real challenge, but I have to say that Joe Nichols
is still the best there is and one of the
most underrated entertainers in any genre of music...
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 Richie
Allbright
By: George Peden
There is much today that passes as country music. There are
many who pass as country music singers. The atrocities are
all there. Just listen to modern radio...
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 The
Best Of 2008
By: George
Peden
As we quickly move
into the new year, it’s that time again to reflect, ponder
and try to name the best albums of 2008. And that’s not too
easy, given the amount of music that hits the turntables at
CSO Central...
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 The
Greencards
By: Jim Moulton
I have loved the Greencards for quite awhile, I have
reviewed Weather and Water, a tone laden new grass CD
with lots of good songs.
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Looking Back at 2008
By:
Jim Moulton
Well,
another year has literally flown bye here in the world
of Country and Americana music. It was another
interesting year with lots of good stuff...
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 Darryl
Holter, Stella Parton and Bobby Flores
By: George Peden
Here at CSO the time is right for some needed
housekeeping. The vaults are stacked and stuffed. We
have music, which for reasons of time and space, is
still in need of a review...
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Todd Sterling’s Top Ten Albums of 2008
By: Todd Sterling |
 Jeff
Cook
By: Jim Moulton
Ex- Alabama lead guitarist Jeff Cook has not stopped
playing since Alabama officially broke up in 2004.
Cook's Allstar Goodtime Band...
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 Tuxedo
Country
By: Cheryl Harvey Hill
Tuxedo Country is a delightful compilation, splendidly
performed by the Tom Houston Orchestra...
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 KWNR
95.5 First Annual Guitar Pull for the Kids
By:
Cheryl Harvey Hill
Adam Gregory, Heidi Newfield, Chuck Wicks, Jack
Ingram, James Otto, Chris Young, Randy Houser and Richie
McDonald crank up the fun for charity event.
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 Cherryholmes
III
By: Jim Moulton
Well, here we are at the third CD of this
very talented group already. I loved their first CD very
much...
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 Joanna
Smith
By: Jim Weaver
If you looked up "refreshing" at merriam-webster.com you
would find the following definition; refreshing: agreeably
stimulating because of freshness or newness...
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 Danielle
Tucker
By: Juliette Vara
Crank up a good country song and just wait for
Danielle Tucker’s smile to flash. Trust me, it won’t
take long. Now combine that with a fresh cup of coffee,
and it’s likely you’ve just made her day...
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 Sunny
Sweeney
By: Jim Moulton
Sunny Sweeney is a very attractive young lady who has an
exciting old time sounding country record, an emotive
country voice ...
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 Megan
Munroe
By: George Peden
Remember the name, as she’s sure to make a lasting
impression. Her latest, “One More Broken String”, is a
12 track confident arrival at your music store...
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 NEW
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:
Zac Brown
Band
On one wall in the Zac Brown Band’s rehearsal space,
there’s a whiteboard covered with details of their many
upcoming gigs... |
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 Jeanette
Williams
By: Jim Moulton
Jeanette Williams has been singing and writing music for
quite some time, and she is one quality singer, with
quality material. Yet she is different, one listen to
this CD and you are headed for another era...
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 The
Wreckers
By: Jim Moulton
Some groups are around for years to make great music to
encourage us and to get us up. Unfortunately, this is
not the case with The Wreckers, the tremendous
combination of Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp.
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 Jay
Sims
By: George Peden
Friends, there’s country music. And there’s country
music. In a modern and broad sense, and for popular
radio play, there are two types... |
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 Dan
Tyminski
By: Jim Moulton
This latest CD by Dan Tyminski titled Wheels, is
delightful and a joy to listen to. |
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