Tennessee Times

[kev]

Pretty much a perfect day in Nashville yesterday! After a visit to the new (and very good) Johnny Cash museum in the morning, Dave Cox in Robert's Western World, just him and his guitar for a great mix of his own stuff and some choice oldies. He's going to be back on Thursday morning back by the John England Western Swing Band .... sounds like something I don't want to miss!!

I left there to head up to 3rd & Lindsley but was lured in The Stage on Broadway by some great steel guitar playing. Ended up there for about half an hour. Good stuff but it all got decidedly weird when the band offered to play anything for a $20 donation to their charity jar .... so we ended up with a country version of YMCA!! Very, very odd!!

Met some other people from the party at the top of the queue and asked them to save me a seat on their table. Ended up right at the front!! It's a bit trying having to wait from around 6pm to 9 for the music to start but it's always sold out well before the start time so you have to do it if you want to see the band. Once again they were fantastic!! Any fan of western swing, and particularly Bob Wills, would have gone away delighted. Highlight of the evening was a superb version of "Night Life" sung by Dawn Sears - what a voice!!

During the interval a woman walked passed our table and I recognised her as Elena James from Hot Club of Cowtown. I stood up and said hello, to which she replied, "Oh hi, how are you? How are the legs?" She remembered me from my Austin trips and the conversation we had about my accident last year! Amazing! Turned out she's a friend of Ranger Doug and his wife and was there as their guest. Hence the unusual photo opportunity of me, Ranger Doug, and Elena James!! I'm not sure what Doug's looking at!!

The choices start tonight - the Opry or the Billy Yates charity gig. Neither line up appeal greatly. But, either way, afterwards it's down to the Rodney Atkins street party. I figure I should be finished in time to see Atkins himself close the show. Nice!!

[Smudger]

Met some other people from the party at the top of the queue and asked them to save me a seat on their table. Ended up right at the front!! It's a bit trying having to wait from around 6pm to 9 for the music to start but it's always sold out well before the start time so you have to do it if you want to see the band. Once again they were fantastic!! Any fan of western swing, and particularly Bob Wills, would have gone away delighted. Highlight of the evening was a superb version of "Night Life" sung by Dawn Sears - what a voice!!

Was Vince on stage?

Great photo - who would have thought your legs were famous.................

[Moshe]

Very cool!
If I were you, I'd go to the opry. You may catch Carrie Underwood, or Miranda Lambert, or even both!
Talking of which, I downloaded "Platinum". Brilliant album!
Since ranger doug is in town, where are the other two? Riders in the Sky playing anywhere?

[kev]

Opry tonight. Enjoyed the show: Terri Clark and Jennifer Nettles were both OK but dull, new boy Charlie something-or-other impressed me, and the fact that he was charging around with a banjo rather than a guitar made for interesting viewing. The big stars of the evening was the old guard, Bill Anderson and The Oak Ridge Boys. Josh Turner and Trace Adkins were .... themselves - both great but pretty safe in their performances.

The evening finished with Carrie Underwood. I've never made a secret of the fact that I don't rate Underwood but tonight she reached a new low .... she was sh*t, absolutely terrible. It was interesting to see lots of teenage adulation whilst those aged 30 plus headed for the door. A disappointing finish to a very entertaining show.

When we got back to the hotel I headed down to Broadway for Rodney Atkins. He was playing when I got there and was excellent .... for 5 minutes, and then his set finished!! It was a rough old scene, real redneck city, and the only time I've felt threatened in all the time I've spent in Nashville.

Busy day tomorrow: some interesting acts on the line-up for the opening concert (The Grascals and Brazilbilly), the Tracy Lawrence 'tailgate party', and then Marty Stuart. Knackered just thinking about it!!

[kev]

Was Vince on stage?

No, he's holding a golf competition or something. I think I prefer it more when he's not there, he's too big a star to melt into the background. I understand that they have quite a bit of trouble with people trying to get their ticket money back when he's not there ....

Since ranger doug is in town, where are the other two? Riders in the Sky playing anywhere?

No, sadly not. Doug told me that it's his high school 50th anniversary reunion this weekend - far enough I suppose!

[kev]

Just back from the ROPE BBQ brunch concert. There were meet & greet opportunities first, with lots of older artists wondering round. I got to speak to Leona Williams and Ron Williams, which was great as I missed them on Monday by choosing to go to the Time Jumpers. I was also able to have a chat with Rhonda Vincent!

And I met UK Country Radio's favourite Allen Karl .... he's just as cheesy in real life as he looks in the pictures and I'm sure his teeth were bleached! Thankfully he didn't sing!!

The concert started at 12.30 and went through to 3pm. There were literally dozens of performers - some excellent (Rhonda - only one song sadly as she had to leave early), some sad (2 songs from a very frail Mac Wiseman, 89 but still sounding pretty strong), some offering strange contrasts (a young chap called David Church who had Hank Williams spot on and Jett Williams, sober for once, who didn't!), and some damn right awful (a 9 year old kid who's some sort of internet hit, singing the wildly inappropriate "Jolene" and threatened to be on the Marty Stuart gig tonight!!).



It's got very hot here today and there are big storms forecast for tonight, with a slight possibility of tornadoes! Excellent! Thankfully we're only 5 minutes away from the Ryman!

[kev]

Just back from the Marty Stuart jam. Had to leave before the end cos I couldn't stand any more of Travis Tritt's yakking! 10 minutes blahing to introduce a 3 minute song? What a boring, big headed tw*t!!

[livewire]

Just back from the ROPE BBQ brunch concert. There were meet & greet opportunities first, with lots of older artists wondering round. I got to speak to Leona Williams and Ron Williams, which was great as I missed them on Monday by choosing to go to the Time Jumpers. I was also able to have a chat with Rhonda Vincent!
And I met UK Country Radio's favourite Allen Karl .... he's just as cheesy in real life as he looks in the pictures and I'm sure his teeth were bleached! Thankfully he didn't sing!!

..... and we're off! I see they've just Alabama to the first night at the LP Field. That might have been interesting but I'll be up close and personal with Rhonda Vincent then, so too bad!

Just how close did you get!
In April the Bluegrass "phenom" / seven-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, was admitted to a hospital with scurvy after apparently subsisting solely on biscuits since 2000. When she signed a sponsorship deal with the Martha White flour company at the turn of the millennium, Vincent reportedly did not understand that the company intended to pay her only in free product for the duration of her professional life. But the singer’s Midwestern ethos of letting nothing go to waste kicked in, and the rest is history. She also caught a crook with hidden camera on her tour bus.
How are things with her now?



Was Marty Martel there who was the President of ROPE?
Allen Karl continues to be a favourite across Europe and generally is Top 10/5 on the International Mainstream Top 200 Artist chart. The whole thing seems rigged as they ignore many new artists in fav of veterans like Karl, T J Christian etc

With 500+ artists and 11 stages are there not some fresher artists to check out
Going to see the artists appearing on various shows CMR Nashville are staging?

[livewire]

Opry tonight. Enjoyed the show: Terri Clark and Jennifer Nettles were both OK but dull, new boy Charlie something-or-other impressed me, and the fact that he was charging around with a banjo rather than a guitar made for interesting viewing. The big stars of the evening was the old guard, Bill Anderson and The Oak Ridge Boys. Josh Turner and Trace Adkins were .... themselves - both great but pretty safe in their performances........The evening finished with Carrie Underwood. I've never made a secret of the fact that I don't rate Underwood but tonight she reached a new low ....she was sh*t, absolutely terrible It was interesting to see lots of teenage adulation whilst those aged 30 plus headed for the door. A disappointing finish to a very entertaining show.

The Jennifer Nettles album I didn't bother with, very low key, a far cry from the Sugarland Incredible Machine days.
Brand new Terri Clark single has too much name checking and cliché.
Its Charlie Worsham who has some very good tracks on his album. I play his "Tools Of The Trade" track most weeks through my HI FI (real music) with Vince Gill and Marty Stuart guesting, its absolutely superb and yet the BBC ignore requests for him



Traddies Yelping “That’s Not Country”
Another damning report on C2C2013 superstar Carrie Underwood one of the biggest country names.
Sounds like the kind of muted reception Juliette Barnes got at the Opry for her Edgehill Records roll out

I must say I do tire of the likes of UKCountryRadio.com force feeding her every time I seem to tune in. Too much wailing a lot of the time and they still push the OTT duet "Remind Me" with Paisley.
Kev, as you are someone who is "Much Respected" I'm wondering if you lead the mass exodus? If Kev walks the traddies walk with you?
a) McKay at Wembley when you headed out for a pizza b) C2C2014 when Zac Brown Band were doing their Metallica tribute and you left joined by Duncan Warwick, Moshe and as Bob Harris said "It was interesting to see the reaction of the traditionalists who didn't like it" who left in droves filling the stairwells.
c) Now at the Opry for Carrie as you headed out for a Papa John's Pizza?

Kellie Pickler got 10s what paddles did you hold up for Carrie

#CMAfest Week is Here!

CMA Close Up Stage (Schedule) -

Bud Light Stage(Schedule)

Big Machine Records full #CMAFest #FanFairX booth schedule

Discounted tickets to#GreatAmericanBreakfast during #CMAfest

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Kev, Have you met the Redneck Riviera babes yet?

[Smudger]

Just back from the Marty Stuart jam. Had to leave before the end cos I couldn't stand any more of Travis Tritt's yakking! 10 minutes blahing to introduce a 3 minute song? What a boring, big headed tw*t!!

Really?? Did he duet with Marty though - surely that would have saved the night?

Who was good on Marty's Jam this year?

[kev]

Just back from the Marty Stuart jam. Had to leave before the end cos I couldn't stand any more of Travis Tritt's yakking! 10 minutes blahing to introduce a 3 minute song? What a boring, big headed tw*t!!

Really?? Did he duet with Marty though - surely that would have saved the night?

Actually it was a duet with Marty he was introducing!

Who was good on Marty's Jam this year?

Apart from Marty and the band, the best person on last night was "Soul Man" Sam Moore. He sang a couple of soul classics, which sounded weird backed with fiddle, steel, and a horn section, and a great duet with Marty on "She Thinks I Still Care". He was obviously enjoying himself and really fed off the audience response. The opposite end of the scale was Leann Rimes - she trickled quietly on stage when Marty was introducing her, sang two (slow, dull) songs, and then left. Didn't say a word to the crowd. Very strange!

Connie Smith was .... Connie Smith ( ), the band were joined for the latter half of the show by Jerry Lee Lewis's guitar/fiddle player (can't remember his name) who also did a couple of numbers, and MC Eddie Stubbs gave us a couple of great fiddle breakdowns.

As ever though, even with Mr Tritt boring me towards the end, it was a great 4 hour show - all for just $40!

Weather was rough last night, we were on a tornado alert for most of the late afternoon/evening and then some very severe storms blew through from about 10 o'clock.

[kev]

Interesting thing that happened yesterday: dropped down onto Broadway to see the Rachel Hester band. She's the daughter of Hoot Hester, fiddle great and co-founder of The Time Jumpers, who also plays in the band. Sitting in on guitar? Kenny Vaughn!! Great couple of hours of western swing and classic country!

[Smudger]

Interesting thing that happened yesterday: dropped down onto Broadway to see the Rachel Hester band. She's the daughter of Hoot Hester, fiddle great and co-founder of The Time Jumpers, who also plays in the band. Sitting in on guitar? Kenny Vaughn!! Great couple of hours of western swing and classic country!

That's what I like about Nashville - you never know who's going to make an appearance. When I saw the Time Jumpers at the Station Inn, Gene Watson was in the audience. Of course he had to get up and do a couple of songs!

[Moshe]

Connie Smith! I had a bit of a crush on her when she played the Wembley fest back in the Eighties. I was in one of the side rooms at Wembley for the studio interviews Wally Whyton used to do for his country shows. Connie looked very cool & she kept smiling at me! Looks like she fancied me before Marty.

[kev]

Bill Anderson .... I don't need to add anything else!