I got a press release yesterday that I wanted to pass on to you guys. The release will introduce you to Lee, with a bit of what he’s been doing, and what he has planned for the near future.

Curb Records recording artist Lee Brice is heating up the Billboard and Country Aircheck country singles charts, cracking the Top 30 this week with his latest single “Love Like Crazy” and it is about to ignite.

Written by Doug Johnson (Mike Curb Music/Sweet Radical) and Tim James (Warner/Chappell Music) and produced by Doug Johnson, this inspiring mid-tempo song tenderly captures sage advice on how to make young love and a career last a lifetime.  The record is from his forthcoming debut album Picture Of Me to be released in 2010.

The song is already getting rave reviews from fans, critics and country radio who are all stepping up to show just how much they Love Lee Like Crazy.

 “Lee is an amazing singer and songwriter.  We’ve been playing ‘Love Like Crazy’ for awhile on KNIX, and this is the week to step on the gas…to prove once and for all this is a hit!” – Mark Medina, KNIX Phoenix, AZ

“It sounds great on the radio, holy moly!” – Nate Deaton, KRTY San Jose, CA

“Lee just moved up to POWER.  We’re hearing some great feedback and it’s an excellent song!” – Captain Jack, WKMK Monmouth Ocean City, NJ

When Lee Brice first entered the country consciousness with the Top 30 hit “She Ain’t Right” in 2007, his voice carrying over FM radio waves like honey trickling through lines of melody etched in leather, his rugged sound and raw emotion spoke for a new generation of Nashville recording artists.  As follow-up singles “Happy Endings,” “Upper Middle Class White Trash,” and current Top 30 hit “Love Like Crazy” have doggedly climbed the charts, Brice has continued to change the landscape of country with images inspired by the Carolina backcountry where he was raised—of a tightly packed car heading from Myrtle Beach into the sunset, of a trailer park full of Cadillacs, of 58 years of marriage lived in a 2-story house on Maple Street.

Not only has Brice established himself as one of the most promising new voices in country, he has proven himself as one of Nashville’s top tunesmiths, with cuts by Jason Aldean, Adam Gregory, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, and Garth Brooks to his credit.  “More Than A Memory,” the Garth Brooks smash that became the first song in Billboard chart history to debut at #1, seems more like a dream to Brice.

And, the dream continues to realize as Brice is currently on the road headlining shows and opening select dates for Country Music superstar Clay Walker.  In between tour dates, he is putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming debut album Picture Of Me.

More later – I’m off to work! Have a super Thursday!
Country

You may remember we had a contest back where several lucky winners won a copy of Brantley’s first album, “A Modern Day Prodigal Son.” You can read the review for that CD, and find out more about Brantley by clicking here.

As soon as I get a review ready, I’ll get that posted for you. In the meantime, I hope you will visit Brantley’s web site and listen to some of his music. He’s got a bio, a lot of pictures, and of course a show schedule. Over the next few months, you’ll find Brantley everywhere from Texas to South Carolina – and a lot of places in between.

More later! Enjoy the rest of your evening!
Country

Since then, I have received my own review copy of Gary’s new CD. I couldn’t wait to listen to it. I’m a Gary Allan fan. The first thing I remember Gary for is “Smoke Rings in the Dark.” I’m not sure Gary has done anything since that I consider ‘that good.’  But for the most part, I like all of Gary’s music. So I enjoyed listening to the new CD, and it’s going to be fun to review.

You already know “Smoke Rings” is my favorite Gary Allan song, and I don’t see anything changing my mind about that. That thing is just poetic. Love those lyrics, and will never, ever understand why that thing didn’t hit the charts and take off straight to the top! I do have a lot of other favorite Gary songs, too … some are “She’s So California,” “Watching Airplanes,” “Tough Little Boys,” and “Today.” And of course, that’s just some of them.

There are 14 tracks on this Deluxe Edition CD. The first is “Get Off On the Pain,” and it wouldn’t surprise me if this one becomes a single for Gary. It’s a fast song, leaning very much toward being a rock song – but it’s all Gary. That song, and the ones that follow, seem to be telling stories of what happens when you make decisions – that turn out to be less than great decisions. The second track is “I Think I’ve Had Enough.” He didn’t waste any time slowing us down. This is a slow song, and it’s one that makes you want to listen to the lyrics. This one is definitely a Gary Allan song.

The third track is “Today.” There’s nothing I can tell you about this song. It’s Gary’s current single. It’s No. 18 this week on the Top 40 Country Chart, and it’s a great song. The fourth song isn’t one of my favorites on the CD, it’s called “It Ain’t Gonna Fly.” This is a fast song, that just doesn’t sound like anything I would expect to hear out of Gary Allan, and I’m not even sure why I think that. Listen to “Kiss Me When I’m Down,” the No,5 track – That’s Gary Allan! I love this one.

“We Fly By Night” starts out with that same guitar sound that I loved so much at the beginning of “Smoke Rings in the Dark.” But after those first few chords, it is pretty much new, and very much good. “When You Give Yourself Away” starts with the line “When you give yourself away, Love becomes something that you do, not just something that you say.” I’ve that before – well, maybe not those exact words, the the idea. I think it was Cling Black’s song “Something That We Do.” Now forget I said that – because this song is nothing like that song, but it is a good one.

"The album definitely has a theme, and that theme continues with “Along the Way.” Another song about choices and decisions made that weren’t always the right ones.  “She Gets Me” starts off with the line “This life I choose it’s always been hard.” The 10th song on the CD is called “No Regrets.” It makes sense – after nine songs about choices he’s made in his life, some not great ones – he ends the CD with “No Regrets.”

But wait! That’s the end of the regular CD, and I have the Deluxe Edition here – which means we have four more of Gary’s songs to listen to and talk about. It doesn’t get much better than this. The last four tracks are “Long Summer Days,” “Right Where I Need to Be”, “Best I Ever Had,” and “Watching Airplanes.” The last three of these were recorded live.

My only complaint about the CD is the jacket. Some graphic designer sitting in his plushy office somewhere obviously likes the work he did on the cover, but I don’t. The front is ok, we have a picture of Gary – you just can’t mess up Gary. But the lettering is ‘broken’ partial letters), and the little designs that resemble “doodling” are really distracting. The back is worse – It is too hard to read the song titles, and again – the ‘doodling’ graphics spill over to the back of the CD. Inside, however, on the little booklet thing with the lyrics to the songs … we’ve got Gary pictures! You gotta love that part.

The title of this post includes the word CONTEST – so here it is! Along with my Review copy of this great Deluxe Edition CD, I received a copy to give away to one of my readers. To enter the contest, all you have to do is fill out the entry form below. One winner will be drawn at random from all entries received. The Deadline to enter is 11 a.m.. Saturday, March 20, 2010.

Have a great Sunday!
Country

“My Best Days” is the name of the new single we’ve been hearing all over country radio recently. It’s also the title of Danny Gokey’s debut album. The former American Idol contestant turned country singer, seems to be making quite an impact on the country music world. It will be very interesting to see what happens with the next single Danny releases.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to the entire album yet. And while I think “My Best Days” is a good song, I’m still not sure that Danny is a great country artist. It’s easy to look back at the country charts over the past 20 years, and see how many singers had one song that pushed it’s way up the charts – after that, we rarely heard from them again. They might have had a second release that didn’t go anywhere, and some even tried a third single. After that, they just kind of drifted out of the picture, and off to wherever it is all of our “one hit wonders” end up.

I don’t think Danny is going to be one of those “one hit wonders”. He’s too good a vocalist for that. But I’m not sure we’re going to see him staying within the boundaries of country music. I expect him to push over into pop – a transition I think he could make easily. And while I’m sure he will at one point open up for some of country’s major artists, if he ever headlines his own tour – I’m not sure it will be in country music. And I’m not sure it will be any time soon.

I just checked Danny’s list of upcoming shows, and I see he’s going to be at Cotton-Eyed Joes in Knoxville on April 1. That’s a Thursday night, and I don’t usually make plans to go to Knoxville on a weeknight, but it is just 90 miles away – so I might try to see Danny live for the first time. I’m sure all of Danny’s fans will want to keep their eye on his schedule to see when he’s coming somewhere near them.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful one!
Country

Here’s the press release for you all:  With a self-titled debut album that has gone on to sell nearly 500 thousand copies and a string of top 10 hits including “A Different World,” “It’s Good To Be Us” and “I’ll Walk,” Lyric Street recording artist Bucky Covington returns with his newest single, “A Father’s Love (The Only Way He Knew How).”

Beginning Monday morning (March 1), Bucky Covington will give PEOPLE.COM an exclusive FIRST LISTEN to “A Father’s Love” which tells the story of a father who shows his children how much he loves them by taking care of all the little things in life.  Written by Liz Hengber, Thom Sheperd and Steve Williams, the featured track is from his upcoming sophomore album, I’m Alright, releasing fall 2010. 

"We were basically done with the new CD when this song came across the desk…the minute I heard it I knew that I had to cut it," said Bucky.  "It reminds me of my dad when I was growing up and I think many people will relate to it too!"

The single will be available beginning Monday at 2pm central via PlayMPE for airplay on country radio.

ABOUT BUCKY COVINGTON: Bucky Covington’s self-titled debut CD opened at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in April 2007 with the biggest first week sales for any debut country artist that year.  He’s the best selling debut artist of the 2007 class and is one of only three male country artists since 2005 to have three consecutive top 10 singles from his debut album.  In addition to competing on the fifth season of “American Idol,” Bucky’s national television appearances have included Live with Regis and Kelly, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Morning America and Fox & Friends.

I need to get ready for work. You guys have a great Tuesday, and I’ll talk to you soon. Drop me a line when you get a minute. I always look forward to hearing from you!

Later!
Country

That show was Nashville Star. And the first season winner was Buddy Jewell. I’ve written about Buddy often. I’ve seen him live at two local fairs, and always found him to be entertaining, fan friendly, and a really good vocalist, with a controlled voice that he has always been able to maintain from the beginning of a song to the end. His new song proves nothing has changed for him vocally.

Buddy has a new song out – which I haven’t heard on the radio yet, but I would like to – it’s called “Somebody Who Would Die For You.” And  like it.  You can listen the new song on Buddy’s MySpace page.

We have so many artists out there right now – new ones, returning ones – and the ones you hear every day on your favorite country music station. And while I really don’t know how much difference we make when we call and request a song on the radio, I always figure – it can’t hurt. So I hope after listening to Buddy’s song, you will put that on your call list and request it, too.

While everyone is starting to make plans for CMA Music Fest, here’s a fan club party you can add to that list – the 2010 Buddy jAm will be held on Saturday, June 12, from 2-4 p.m. at Lakeshore Christian Church in Antioch, Tenn. Ticket information will be coming out, soon – so I’ll keep you guys informed about that. Ticket information will be coming soon. It’s one I’m definitely hoping to be a part of!

Talk to you all soon. Plan to have the photos and post form Matt Stillwell at Capone’s in Johnson City on Friday night going up in the morning.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Country