Taylor Swift

By Brandon Jonson

When a genre of music becomes popular it seems that it is distorted in every way possible so that everyone can fit into the genre and market it to the masses. This is what is happening now with country music as you had the success of Taylor Swift who is a mix of country, pop, and folk but she was definitely not the first country act to use a pop edge to make her point and gain new fans.

As country music came into the forefront in the early 90′s it had always before been seen as only something that those who lived in rural America could listen to and was seen as corny to many of the so called mainstream music fans. The early 90′s country music brought artists such as Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, and of course the funny but catchy Billy Ray Cyrus song “Achy Breaky Heart.” It only continued throughout the 90′s with over twenty pop influenced artists logging top ten hits.

There have been many artists who have started their careers before the country music pop revolution and still maintain relevancy. You could argue that these are the real artists of country music as they have not followed trends but instead stood up to the test of time and still create music that is as popular as ever. You cannot start mentioning these types of artists without talking about artists such as George Strait, Alan Jackson, and more. You also have newer country artists who are more traditional such as Brad Paisley who is selling out tour dates all over the country and has been for years now. To call Brad Paisley newer is a stretch as he has been in the music industry for almost two decades now but if you compare him to George Strait and others he is fairly young.

There are many new country music artists who have been popping up for a year or so and then fade into oblivion where you do not ever hear a mention of their names. There have been a few country artists as of late who seem to be in it for the long run such as Blake Shelton, Ashton Shepherd, Miranda Lambert, and others. It is tough in the music industry today to stay relevant and have a successful career. This is why Taylor Swift’s story is so intriguing because even though she is not completely country she still has many country values and a slight twang in some of her songs but yet still appeals to a massive fan base of mostly younger listeners. The lyrical content of country has not changed over the years as it is still about love, hard times, and family but that is something that will probably never change in country music.

Brandon Jonson is a writer for BusinessRaid.com a business and product review site that has an Instyler Review [http://businessraid.com/instyler-rotating-hair-iron-review], Ally Bank Review [http://businessraid.com/ally-bank-review], and more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brandon_Jonson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Kings-of-Country-Music-and-the-Future&id=1970157

Hosts with The Hits

Country music’s hottest and most prolific songwriters have announced a return to hosting duties.

Arista Records artists Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood have signed on to act as The Country Music Association’s  affable hosts again in 2011.   The singers announced the date during the filming of their smash hit duet “Remind Me” from Brad Paisley’s Latest project “This is Country Music.”   Country Songs Online has a hunch they’ll be performing that one on the show too. See the Youtube clip below.

The 45^th Annual CMA Awards” airs live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, Nov. 9 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Paisley and Underwood have received positive reviews for their hosting skills the past three years.

Paisley

CMA Entertainer of the Year Brad Paisley announced his 2011 tour, H2O II World Tour presented by Chevy. The first date of the tour will be May 28 at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The 33 city tour includes five stadiums and an international trek that includes London’s O2 Arena, Dublin, Stockholm, Oslo and more.  Special guests on the tour will be Blake Shelton and Jerrod Niemann.

H2O II World Tour will bring back the very popular and fan favorite “Water World Plaza,” turning every city into a water festival.  Focal point in the Plaza area will be the “Water World Plaza Stage” featuring emerging new stars Brent Anderson, Edens Edge and Sunny Sweeney.  The tour extravaganza will open each day at 4:00pm with music starting at 5:00pm.  In addition to the music stage there will be multiple water-themed activities – including a Chevy H2O FLW fishing simulator, dunking booth, slip n slide, and other various water games.

Chevy will be providing a Corvette driving simulator for concert goers to test the latest Corvette ZR1 series as well as their individual driving and racing skills against Paisley himself.  The fan having the highest score each day will meet Paisley later in the evening.

Reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year and Grand Ole Opry member Brad Paisley is a consummate singer, songwriter, guitarist and entertainer, which has earned him three GRAMMY’s, 14 Country Music Association Awards and 13 Academy of Country Music Awards.  He has 18 #1 singles with the last 14 consecutive.  Paisley has released nine critically acclaimed studio albums, the most recent Hits Alive which is a two disc release of original studio hits as well as live performances from concerts.   Paisley’s innovative and entertaining H20 World Tour played to over 879,000 fans in 2010 and placed #1 country tour for attendance by Pollstar.  Paisley’s current single “This Is Country Music” is the title track from his next album which will be in-stores May 24.

About Blake Shelton:

CMA Male Vocalist of the Year and one of the “most versatile of contemporary country singers” (The New York Times), proves he is a force to be reckoned with as he’s set to co-host the 46^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards this April with Reba. In just 10 months, Blake has won six awards, has had three consecutive No. 1’s (“Who Are You When I’m Not Looking,” “All About Tonight” and “Hillbilly Bone”), sold out shows on his first ever headlining tour: “All About Tonight Tour,” his first No. 1 album with All About Tonight, his first GRAMMY nomination, his first ACM Award nomination for “Top Male Vocalist of the Year” and a chart-topping greatest hits CD, LOADED: The Best of Blake Shelton. The release catapults Shelton into an elite group of artists who have charted three records in one year (among those are Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson). Shelton’s eight No. 1 hits are “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking,” “It’s All About Tonight,” “Hillbilly Bone,” “She Wouldn’t Be Gone,” “Home,” “Some Beach,” “The Baby” and “Austin.” Shelton has not had a single peak outside the Top Ten since 2007.

About Jerrod Niemann:

Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville recording artist Jerrod Niemann is on the radio now with “What Do You Want,” the hit follow-up to his #1 smash and RIAA-certified Gold Digital Single, “Lover, Lover.”  Niemann co-produced and was a writer on 10 of the 12 songs on his acclaimed album,Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury, one of The New York Times’ Top 10 Albums of 2010.  Upon release, the album debuted at #1 onBillboard’s Top Country Albums sales chart and remained the only major label debut to hit #1 on the chart all year.  Niemann’s multiple award nominations in 2010 included his first CMA Award nomination as New Artist of the Year.  www.jerrodniemannofficial.com

About Brent Anderson:

Newcomer Brent Anderson is a Pascagoula, Mississippi native and a fresh voice on the national music scene.  At age 13, Anderson was fronting his own band, and by age 16, his gift for songwriting caught the ear of Nashville, earning him his first publishing deal in 2005.  Now a songwriter for Sea Gayle Music, Anderson is currently working on his debut album with noted producer Frank Rogers.

About Edens Edge:

Comprised of Hannah Blaylock (lead vocalist), Dean Berner (harmony vocals, guitar, dobro) and Cherrill Green (harmony vocals, mandolin, banjo, and guitar), Edens Edge composes a unique musical blend deeply rooted in Country and Bluegrass.  Growing up about an hour from each other in Arkansas the members of Edens Edge never met until they were introduced through mutual friends in college.  After entering the CMT/NSAI Songwriters Contest in 2006, the band was discovered by Kye Fleming who helped further develop the group’s writing and artistic talents.  In recent months the trio has opened for such Country stars as Lady Antebellum, Gloriana, Lonestar and Ronnie Milsap.  Recently profiled as one of Billboard’s “Artists to Watch in 2011” the trio’s debut single on Big Machine Records, “Amen,” will be at Country Radio on March 28^th.

About Sunny Sweeney:

Hailing from East Texas, Sunny Sweeney is a singer/songwriter with musical instincts that are stone-cold country. She is a Top 10 Female Country Artist of 2010 with the highest charting debut single of a female country artist in the last four years. Her lead single, “From A Table Away,” is a Top 15 hit on the Country Charts and rising. Sunny co-wrote all of the songs on her current EP and a full album is slated for release later this year. Though relatively new to the scene, she has already been featured in Country Weekly, AOL’s The Boot, Last.fm, Arizona Daily Star, Country Aircheck and MusicRow as well as on WGN-TV, CMT and GAC. Sunny has also landed on multiple “Ones to Watch in 2011” lists, including MSN and AOL. She is a favorite guest of the Grand Ole Opry, playing more than 20 times since her debut in 2007, and has warmed up the stage for County Music icons Loretta Lynn and Hank Williams, Jr. Recently she lent her voice to The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, dueting with another idol, Jessi Colter, on ”Good Hearted Woman.”

About Chevrolet:

Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Live Nation is the national tour promoter.  Log on to www.bradpaisley.com and www.livenation.com for on-sale and up to date information onH2O II World Tour – dates to be added.

*Paisley only shows.

**Paisley, Shelton, Niemann only

*** Paisley, Shelton, Niemann and Darius Rucker

May 28                  Heinz Field                                           Pittsburgh, PA ***

June 3                    Virginia Beach Amphitheatre                 Virginia Beach, VA

June 4                    Comcast Theatre                                  Hartford, CT

June 11                  Progressive Field                                  Cleveland, OH

June 16                  Riverbend Music Center                       Cincinnati, OH

June 17                  Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre             St. Louis, MO

June 18                  Verizon Wireless Music Center             Indianapolis, IN

June 24                  Wild West Arena-Nebraskaland Days North Platte, NE**

June 25                  Tuttle Creek State Park                        Manhattan, KS**

July 2                     Lavell Edwards Stadium                       Provo, UT*

July 9                     Cavendish Beach Music Festival           Cavendish, P.E.I.**

July 15                   PNC Band Center                                Holmdel, NJ

July 16                   Comcast Center                                   Boston, MA

July 17                   Scarborough Downs                             Scarborough, ME

July 22                   Toyota Pavilion                                     Scranton, PA

July 23                   Darien Lakes PAC                               Darien Lakes, NY

July 30                   Pizza Hut Park                                      Frisco, TX

August 4                 WE Fest                                               Detroit Lakes, MN**

August 6                 First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre         Chicago, IL

August 7                 Columbus Crew Stadium                      Columbus, OH

August 17               O2 Arena                                             London, UK*

August 19               Olympia Theatre                                   Dublin, IRE*

August 20               V Fest                                                  Chelmsford, UK*

August 21               V Fest                                                  Staffordshire, UK*

August 24               Cirkus                                                  Stockholm, SWE*

August 26               Spektrum                                             Oslo, NOR*

August 27               Lisebergshallen                                     Goteburg, SWE*

August 28               Forum                                                  Copenhagen, DEN*

September 9           1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre        Tampa, FL

September 10         Cruzan Amphitheatre                            West Palm Beach, FL

September 23         Susquehanna Bank Center                    Philadelphia, PA

September 24         Jiffy Lube Live                                      Washington, DC

September 25         Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion       Raleigh, NC

Paisley

Brad Paisley just delivered the exciting news that not only will he have a new album, called This Is Country Music, set for release on April 19th, but that beginning now, and for one week (through December 20th), you can get a bit free. Paisley’s giving away a free digital download of the title track, his new hit single, “This Is Country Music.” Anyone can go to the website — www.ThisIsCountryMusic.com — and take it without a charge.

The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year wanted to do this, and he’s thrilled to be able to offer the week long download because, he says, ”This is a song about country music. It’s a song about how much this format means — and this style of music means — to people, how much it mirrors their lives. And the fact that the fans have allowed me to be able to do this for a living, it’s my gift to them.”

While on the website, you’ll also have the option to pre-order Brad’s upcoming album, in digital or physical form, at a limited-time special price. Any pre-orders on the site will also entitle you to periodic exclusive content, which might include early listens to new music or video greetings from Brad prior to the album’s April release date.

More from Sony:

If you miss the free download week — but don’t let that happen! — you’ll still be able to get an immediate download of the song, “This Is Country Music,” with an album pre-order. You could also buy it when it goes on sale as a digital single, beginning December 21st, at participating digital music retailers, as well as on ThisIsCountryMusic.com.

For anyone who takes advantage of the album pre-order, Brad says it’ll be a fun kind of pressure for him to know that fans are already committing to buy the album — while he’s still making it! But for all of us who know Brad’s music and the great albums he’s done in the past — and that little accomplishment of 18 number-one singles and 14 in a row — well, we can rest assured that when the CMA Entertainer of the Year says he’s really excited about how his new album is coming together, there’ll be another winner from Brad Paisley coming next April.

On May 15, PEOPLE Country will publish its latest newsstand–only issue dedicated to the Country music scene and Country lifestyle.  This edition, the second of five special Country issues to be published by PEOPLE in 2009, names “Country’s Hottest Guys” and explains why these 12 sexy men know how to turn up the heat and make female fans swoon.  Country’s Hottest Guys, according to PEOPLE Country are, in alphabetical order:

Trace Adkins – The Roughneck                    Jake Owen – The Catch

Dierks Bentley – The Free Spirit                   Brad Paisley – The Charmer                         

Luke Bryan – The Smooth Talker                  Blake Shelton – The Joker

Kenny Chesney – The Heartbreaker            Josh Turner – The Family Man

Jack Ingram – The Marathon Man                 Keith Urban – The Heartthrob

Tim McGraw – The Great Romantic              Chuck Wicks – The Leading Man

Trace Adkins shares with PEOPLE Country his take on why the ladies love country boys:  “It gets down to the caveman basics – women know a guy raised in the country can provide for her, feed her and shelter her no matter what the circumstances.  That boy from the country is going to take care of you.”

Paisley Makes The List... and The Issue

 Brad Paisley credits his sense of humor with helping him snag his wife of six years, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley.  “It’s probably 98 percent of why she’s with me,” he says.  “Humor is the great equalizer, just like music.  If you can make a woman laugh, you’ll get to talk to her longer.  For me it was a vital thing, especially in my awkward high school years when I was 98 lbs.  When I learned how to be funny, it was life-changing.” 

PEOPLE Country asked Keith Urban’s female colleagues to sum up his sex appeal.  Sarah Buxton says that “Keith walks that fine line between bad boy, risk taker and family man.”  Heidi Newfield adds, “He’s got an edgy, organic, rock-and-roll vibe to him.  He walks onstage and my eye is drawn to him.  He’s just hot!”  Single at 27, Jake Owen is still looking for the one.  “When I find the right girl…the woman that I marry, I’m going to make her the happiest person ever.  She deserves to be,” says Owen.                                                                                                                                                                    

Tune-in to PEOPLE Country on CMT for a 30-minute CMT special that will bring the pages of PEOPLE Country to life, with exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of photo shoots and interviews (Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Paula Deen and Chuck Wicks).  The special premieres Friday, May 15 at 1:30 p.m. ET/PT, and will encore on Saturday, May 16 at 1:30 p.m. ET/PT and Sunday, May 17 at 11:00 a.m. ET/PT.   

Paisley also waxes about cars, “There were so many songs on this record that had to do with some vehicle in your life and sort of travels and cars. You know, you’re talking about a car in the first song with ‘All I Wanted Was a Car.’ It’s guitar driven and it really just made the statement I wanted to make, and so I was looking for car titles. I realize this album—whether it’s ‘Online’ or ‘Some Mistakes’ or ‘Letter to Me’ or ‘It Did’—they all talk about it. A car plays a role at some point in all of those songs.”

Paisley has a knack for infusing a wonderful sense of humor into his traditional sound and it’s made for a must listen cd.  My only complaint is that Paisley’s pop culture references (In Better Than This — "if Emeril Lagasse showed up with Kilbasa"?) can be a distraction at first listen.  Then again it’s refreshing to have music with a depth that requires multiple listens.

Overall the future of mainstream country music is bright.   Brad steps up to superstar status as a songwriter penning almost everything on the disk (all the real gems anyway).   I actually got misty eyed listening to "Letter To Me."  Simple, clever, and Brad is the sole songwriter.    On lineCD is predicataKielbasable pop country fare like "Celebrity" was and watch out for what I hear is an equally great video.  I can assume it’ll be his next video.

I also respect that Pailsey continues his tradition of including a Gospel song ("When We All Get To Heaven") and and instrumental ("Throttleneck").  Plus – just like his previous records – he has his Opry buddies "The Kung Pao Buckaroos" in for some comic relief (nice "stunt casting" with Vince Gill!)

My Grade: Solid A

Don’t Miss: The brilliantly written "Letter To Me", and very end of "OnlinepredictablePaisley" where Brad salutes band geeks everywhere with a fun marching band version of the soon to be hit (I’m sure radio will fade out early!).

I Can Live Without: the stuff Paisley didn’t write.

Hear Paisley’s 5th Gear Free HERE