Georgia Spells Country Music

When you think of country music, more than likely Nashville, Tennessee comes to mind. And that’s rightfully so, as Nashville has been the main hub for not only country music, but for many various sounds of music in general. But there has been a major influx of singers, songwriters and producers from a particular state that can be to blame for the rise of popularity among country music.

I’d like to direct your attention to the great state of Georgia, which has supplied the country music industry with an all-star cast of famous signers, songwriters and producers. I’ve put together a list of just some of the high profile artists that have ties to the state of Georgia, check it out and you’ll see just how much they fill our airways with great music.

Singers, Songwriters & Producers:

Jason Aldean – Macon, GA

Luke Bryan – Leesburg, GA

Alan Jackson – Newnan, GA

Thomas Rhett – Valdosta, GA

Rhett Akins – Valdosta, GA

Cole Swindell – Bronwood, GA

Dallas Davidson – Albany, GA

Lauren Alaina – Rossville, GA

Billy Currington – Savannah, GA

Colt Ford – Athens, GA

Brantly Gilbert – Jefferson, GA

Lady Antebellum

            Hillary Scott – (Tennessee…)

            Charles Kelley – Augusta, GA

            Dave Haywood – Augusta, GA

Kip Moore – Tifton, GA

Craig Campbell – Lyons, GA

Florida Georgia Line

            Tyler Hubbard – Monroe, GA

            Brian Kelly – (Florida…_)

Sugarland

 Jennifer Nettles – Douglas, GA

Kristian Bush – (Tennessee…)

Travis Tritt – Marietta, GA

Zac Brown - Cumming, GA

* So please Georgia have a Music Festival with only artists from your state.... I think It would do alright...

New Music Video: Get Me Some of That - Thomas Rhett

Here's a brand new music video out by Thomas Rhett for his newest single "Get Me Some of That" off of his debut album It Goes Like This. Enjoy

New Album Release: Jake Owen - Days of Gold

RCA Nashville recording artist Jake Owen released his newest record today "Days of Gold". Make sure to check it out here on iTunes, also make sure to check out his Days of Gold Trilogy below, which is a set of three music videos that features the songs "Days of Gold", "Beachin'" and "Ghost Town".

Notable Music Videos

Here's a new video out for "When She Say's Baby" by Broken Bow Records recording artist Jason Aldean off of his album Night Train.

This is the music video for "We Were Us" by Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert. This song is off of Keith's latest record Fuse.

Here's a brand new song that hit iTunes today by UMG Nashville recording artist Kip Moore called "Young Love". Check out the Single on iTunes, here is a video of the song performed live as well as a video where Kip talks about it.

Song of The Day - "Get Me Some of That" Thomas Rhett

Here's a great new song out called "Get Me Some of That", off of Thomas Rhett's new record. If you haven't listened to his album yet, you're missing out so make sure to go check it out on iTunes here. This song was written by his dad Rhett Akins, Michael Carter & Cole Swindell.

STAGECOACH 2014

It’s been a week since Stagecoach released its line-up for their 2014 festival, and it’s definitely one to get excited about. Apart from the three big name headliners in Eric Church, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan, this line-up is jam packed with other well-known names that are sure to keep the party rockin’. I think it’s safe to say that you’ll get your money’s worth on Church, Aldean and Bryan alone as they all bring the perfect concoction of fun, entertaining, in your face party attitude, along with great music.

But what makes this years line-up so special is the second and third tier artists, that will keep you entertained and dancing throughout the three days. The lesser known artists that stand out to me on the first day are Brantley Gilbert, Easton Corbin, Thomas Rhett, Eric Palsay and Jon Pardi. To me the second day is the least to get excited over, but you still have Hunter Hayes and Tyler Farr. And the third day packs the punch with Chris Cagle, Dustin Lynch, Lee Brice and Florida Georgia Line.

In my opinion I would have to say that the first day is probably the best, and then you can’t really beat ending the weekend with Florida Georgia Line followed by Luke Bryan on Sunday night. There are two artists that I believe will catch you by surprise and have a great performance are Tyler Farr and Thomas Rhett. Tyler Farr released his debut album, Redneck Crazy a couple of weeks ago and is filled with great rhythmic, in your face, country type of tunes that are sure to excite a large crowed in “Hot Mess” and “Whiskey In My Water”. If I were to put money down on the best performance other than a headliner, it would go to Thomas Rhett. The dude is only 23 and just received his first #1 single for “It Goes Like This” and has an assortment of songs to get people grooving. With that being said, I’m also betting blind here because he has yet to release his first album but is expected to drop on October 29^th, and I’m  sure will be filled with hits.

If you are unfamiliar with the Stagecoach Country Music Festival, it’s time to get aquatinted as it’s one of the best country music festivals in the country, located in Indio, California. The weather is always sunny (and hot, in the 90s at least) and perfect for enjoying a beer and good music. General Admission tickets for the three days go for $250.

Encores These Days...

The dictionary definition of “Encore” is a repeated or additional performance of an item at the end of a concert, as called for by an audience.  I have attended a good amount of concerts, many of which have concluded with encores. Yet all of these encores were premeditated and not influenced or called for by the audience. Sure people were cheering loud for the band to come back on stage, partially because everyone was still waiting for them to play their hit song… My point is, when did encores become apart of the regular set list and why? The idea of an encore used to be a big deal and have this big impactful presence. But now its become normalized and people don’t think anything of it.
Ending your set, thanking your audience, and walking off stage only to hear the crowed going crazy for you to come back and play more should be the true cycle of events. Not play your set list (except for the two songs that everyone loves), walk off the stage, chill for a little bit (maybe sip some water), and then hear the crowed clapping & yelling a little louder than normal because they know you have no choice but to come back on stage is a little too fake for me. 
Now, I’m not trying to take any credit away from the artist and bands, they’ve been put into this position by us (the fans) and probably their management and labels because how much better does having an encore sound compared to just ending your set? I’ve been to one concert when the artist told the audience he was going to play his full set and not have an encore. It was a Ben Rector concert in Nashville and it was awesome because at the end of his set everyone was satisfied, he played his full list of songs and there wasn’t that awkward pause at the end where everyone was kind of clapping and expecting him to come back out, yet still not really sure kind of deal. I think Ben Rector knows two things that other artists ignore: 1. He knows he’s not the biggest artist in the world and maybe isn’t deserving of an encore, yet. 2. If the audience wants to hear him play more at the end of his FULL set, the audience will let him know.
All of this leads me to my conclusion in which I want to say that I’m not against encores, I’m against the artists that have ”kind of made it” in their music career doing one… I understand if the Kenny Chesney’s, Toby Keith’s and Taylor Swift’s of the world do encores, they’ve earned it, and they also have more songs in their repertoire than the Oregon Ducks have uniforms, so I think they’d do alright coming back on stage. A possible remedy for this would be maybe don’t plan out an encore until you experience a true call for by the audience… If you’re a good artist then you’ll be able to figure something out and keep the crowed entertained. After experiencing that, feel free to have all the premeditated encores you want because you’ve earned it.

Brett Eldredge Album Release

I’ve been waiting a while now for a record to drop by this particular artist, and the wait ended yesterday as Atlantic Recording artist Brett Eldredge released his debut album Bring You Back. Eldredge has been in the game for a while now, releasing his first single “Raymond” back in 2010. Eldgredge is a phenom on the web and has received most of his fame from his Youtube channel called The Couch Sessions where he plays some of his own songs, as well as many covers. He released his third single “Don’t Ya” about a year ago and it took off in the charts and is now #3 according to mediabase.com. This current album is loaded with great country songs and we can expect to be hearing a lot more out of this artist. Give his album a listen on iTunes and check out his Youtube channel. Also, CMT.com has a great assortment of live performances done by Brett, so check those out here!

Luke Bryan - That's My Kinda Night

Here is a new song out by Luke Bryan that will be featured on his upcoming album Crash My Party.

Keith Urban - Little Bit of Everything

Here’s the official music video for Keith Urban’s newest single “Little Bit Of Everything”. The video takes a clever approach in displaying the plot line and is worth a look. Urban is currently on his summer tour with Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch. We are anticipating the release of his newest album “Fuse” to hit stores on September 10^th.

Lady A - Downtown Acoustic

The following video is of Lady Antebellum taking part in a fun and low key performance of their hit song Downtown, off of their record Golden. The performance not only displays their pure musical talent, but it also shows us just how great live country music is. Now i'm not taking away from any other musical genres, but with the advancement of technologies that allow us to produce & alter artificial sounds (which I can respect because I surely can't do that), we sometimes lose sight of the pure acoustic sound that derives from a combination of a talented voice, guitars and maybe even a coffee pot solo every now and then. Enjoy

Greater Than Just Florida & Georgia

The announcement of a headlining tour leaked out of Florida & Georgia earlier this week and spread clear across the country. Florida Georgia Line released the schedule for their Here’s to the Good Times Tour. This is a major milestone for the duo of Brian Kelley (Florida) & Tyler Hubbard (Georgia) who released their FIRST record earlier this year on December 4^th. The Republic Nashville group (part of Big Machine Label Group) now finds themselves traveling around the nation performing their songs.

The single on that album, “Cruise” was an immediate hit and propelled itself to a top 10 song after just 14 weeks and has since sold millions of copies.  The hit song drew the attention of millions of fans, one of them being the rap and hip/hop legend Nelly, who helped boost the bands popularity by collaborating on a Remix. The duo isn’t dependent on just one hit though, as their album is full of other jams such as “Get Your Shine On” and “Round Here”.

FGL is apart of the new wave of country music that we are beginning to experience, bringing a strong presence of rock and rap, along with a unique combination of lyricism to their songs. These rookies are not a household name…yet, but it is crazy to think that they have their first headlining tour after releasing just one album. To put this in perspective, lets look at the headliners for the top country tours going on in 2013 according to gatv.com: Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith and George Strait…  These are the top artists in the game right now, and to throw FGL in there with their own national headlining tour means that these dudes are legit and here to stay.

Meet Cole Swindell

He’s an artist that not many people know about… yet. But Cole Swindell’s music has probably hit your ears at some point without you even knowing it. This Georgia boy has been in the music game since 2007 and has made a splash with his ability to write catchy country songs. Paired with fellow Sigma Chi Luke Bryan at Georgia Southern (not a bad friend to have in this industry), Cole took to tour with LB after college and worked merchandise as well as writing songs.

If you’re a Luke Bryan fan, then you’ve probably listened to his Spring Break records and heard the tracks such as “Love In A College Town”, “Shore Thing” and “Shake The Sand”. Those are songs that Swindell wrote along with an assortment of other songs, so there’s no doubt the dude can write. That ability led him to getting noticed and he eventually signed a publishing deal with Song/ATV Music. Cole has been hitting the stage recently doing shows of his own as well as opening for LB on his Dirt Road Diaries Tour.

Cole has made a big splash with his single “Chillin’ It” hitting iTunes in March of this year. If you haven’t heard it, you better check it out as it’s a perfect summer anthem to blast over your speakers. Swindell has a knack for creating a concoction of creative lines in his songs that tell a great story. He brings a new wave of sound to country music, incorporating rap like lines, heavy beats and even a little synthesizer to go along with the guitars and southern vocals. Give a listen to his songs “HeyY’all”, “Ready”, “Lemme See Ya Girl” and “I Hope You Get Lonely Tonight” and as your dancing around to them you’ll begin to realize while some of the top artists such as Chris Young, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan are all using his songs. 

Luke's new album release

Alright, so for this first post I’ve decided to write about one of the biggest names in country music right now, and what I think to be the most anticipated album release of the summer, if not the year. I’m talking about Luke Bryan and his album Crash My Party, set to hit stores the 13^th of August.  This will be Luke’s 4th studio album, not including his spring break one. Luke has propelled himself to the top of the charts and stardom within the country music industry and keeps producing hit after hit.

Accompanied by a wiz of writers, including Jeff Stevens and Dallas Davidson, this album is sure to be full of hits. After watching a YouTube video “Crashing the Party: Behind the scenes of Luke Bryan’s New Album”, Luke explains the variety of songs that we can expect to hear on the new record: “We got the big fun up-tempos… we got your ballads, your love songs, your sing-along’s…” It seems that with every album, Luke has upped his game and brought something new to the table, while still exemplifying his country roots and party characteristics.

There are three songs that I’ve heard that are set to be released with the album, those include his single “Crash My Party”, “What is it with you” and “That’s My Kinda Night”. Just among these three songs, we see a wide range of sounds… “Crash My Party” has the more mainstream contemporary country sound while “That’s My Kinda Night” is more on the rock side of things. I watched Luke, Dallas Davidson and Jeff Stevens perform “What is it with you” at an acoustic songwriters showcase at the Bing Lounge in Portland, OR  earlier this year and that song seemed to be more central to his country style with catchy lyrics.

Luke’s third studio album “Tailgates & Tanlines” was released in 2011 and received great success, earning double platinum. After hearing what Luke had to say about his new record, I think he can expect even greater success: “The Crash My Party album, I can honestly say that I’m positive that it’s better than Tailgates & Tanlines”. 

 *Below are the videos of "Crashing the Party: Behind the scenes of Luke Bryan’s New Album", "What is it with you" and "My Kinda Night" 

Link to "What is it with you" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUMjxuCguqU