Tim McGraw could make a pretty strong Christmas album if he chose to do so. His new release 'Mary and Joseph' is a creative -- but not too creative -- interpretation of the story of Jesus' birth. McGraw tells it like he's told the best stories of his two decade-long career, with a sweet reverence for the struggles his characters are living through.
Kix Brooks takes a trip back to Lake Bistineau in his new semi-autobiographical single 'Moonshine Road.' The singer says the cut is based on a spot he and his trouble-making friends would take to at night. The steam is still fresh on this swampy, country-blues cut. Memories of his Moonshine Road aren't thick with moss, even though it's been a few decades since those hell-raising years.
Josh Abbott Band's new release to radio isn't as much of a single as it is a statement. The signature track from his 'Small Town Family Dream' album paints Abbott as a champion of outlaw country or a cantankerous whiner envious of greener grass, depending on one's personal view of music coming out of Nashville.
The new year will bring new music for fans of Texas country singer Granger Smith. The first single available for download is 'We Do It in a Field,' a wide-open country party song that paints a pretty familar picture to anyone who grew up unafraid of getting dirt on their jeans when having a good time.
Jason Aldean's new single 'The Only Way I Know' weaves from the same spool as his biggest hits. Themes of hard work, loyalty and small town values have been at the core of hits like 'Fly Over States,' 'Tattoos on This Town,' and most recently, 'Take a Little Ride,' even if you need to look beyond the cutie in the passenger seat to find them. On the new single from 'Night Train,' Aldean's message is more direct. but no less effective.
Two notes and two hand claps into the Band Perry's new single 'Better Dig Two' and one finds assurance that the sense of drama and danger the sibling trio infused into the best songs from their self-titled debut album will be back on album No. 2. Some ambient knocking combined with thin, haunting plucking make this song an instant soundtrack for Halloween. But it will likely have legs long after Oct. 31.
Kyle Park's new single, 'The Night Is Young,' is as straight forward of a country song as you'll find. Park sets off to tell a simple one-night story of a guy, a girl and a little trouble, and does so effortlessly. The Texas country singer has surrounded himself with a strong production team to make the first single from an upcoming new album easy to remember.
'Only God Could Love You More' is a song that doesn't leave many places for Jerrod Niemann to hide. The second single from 'Shinin' on Me' is vulnerable a la 'Stay' by Sugarland. Niemann steps up to the challenge and delivers what should be his biggest hit. This could be a career-defining song.
After just one episode of 'Nashville,' it's difficult to imagine how the show's first radio single is going to fit in with the storyline. 'Telescope' by Hayden Panettiere -- Juliette Barnes on the show -- is a rollicking pop-country song about keeping track of one's man as his eyes wander. After the pilot, it seems like women in 'Nashville' need to have telescopic eyes to keep an eye on Barnes, as she climbs aboard everything with a Y chromosome.
If four or five songs from Jason Aldean's new 'Night Train' album reach No. 1, does that mean it's indisputably a great country music record? This seems likely to happen -- the hits are there and Aldean is red hot right now -- yet from top to bottom, the singer's fifth project leaves one wanting some magic never felt before.
Former Smokin' Armadillos singer Rick Russell and guitarist Josh Graham have remained close enough to cut new music as Lucky Ned Pepper, a duo named after the villain in 'True Grit.' Their first single, 'I Remember the Music,' is catchy and polished, but likely not the breakthrough song they're hoping for.
