CD review: Dierks Bentley “Home”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Country
Dierks Bentley “Home” (Capitol Nashville)
After earning widespread critical acclaim with his 2010 progressive bluegrass album “Up on the Ridge,” Dierks Bentley returns to commercial country with “Home,” a solid collection of party songs, ballads and anthems anchored by the well-crafted title track.
The Arizona native wrote “Home,” his latest top 10 hit, with Dan Wilson and his album’s co-producer Brett Beavers in the days after the 2011 Tucson shooting spree that killed six people and injured 13, including former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The trio avoids both jingoistic chest-pounding and soppy sentimentality, creating a rare patriotic ode that promotes unity, expresses loyalty and still acknowledges the flaws in the “place that we all call home.”
Due out Tuesday, the album already boasts a No. 1 hit with the rollicking “Am I the Only One,” which Bentley penned with Jim Beavers, who co-wrote his previous party smash “Sideways,” and Jon Randall.
The funny warning “Diamonds Make Babies,” the swaggering come-on “Gonna Die Young” and the zippy toe-tapper “5-1-5-0” all show off Bentley’s fun-loving good nature. He drowns his worries about for sale signs on Main Street and low-yield farm fields with the bluesy country-rocker “Tip It on Back.”
The singer-songwriter makes romance with the seductive “Breathe You In” and walks the fine line between love and obsession with “In My Head.” He and Little Big Town singer Karen Fairchild beautifully blend their voices on the slow-dance ballad “When You Gonna Come Around.”
Bentley reunites with celebrated bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Tim O’Brien on the album highlight “Heart of a Lonely Girl,” and his daughter Evie, 3, appears as a guest vocalist on the closer “Thinking of You,” his touching love letter to his wife and two girls.
— BAM
Carrie Underwood’s fourth album to be released May 1
Carrie Underwood (AP file)
Country music star Carrie Underwood, who hails from Checotah, will release her new eagerly anticipated new album Tuesday, May 1, her publicist announced this morning.
Produced by Mark Bright, Underwood’s forthcoming album was featured in Entertainment Weekly’s recent “10 albums we can’t wait for.”
It will be the fourth studio album on 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville for the five-time Grammy winner. The title was not revealed in this morning’s announcement.
The debut single co-written by Underwood, “Good Girl,” will be released to country radio on Feb. 23.
Underwood’s February schedule is already filling up with numerous appearances, performances, and events. She will appear on a special “CMT Crossroads” with Aerosmith rock legend Steven Tyler, with initial airings at 10 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. and 9 a.m. Sunday on CMT.
Also, the 2005 “American Idol” winner will make appearances at the 54th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. She will perform at the Nordstrom Nashville Symphony Fashion Show and celebrate the digital release of “Good Girl.”
Since releasing her debut CD “Some Hearts” in 2005, Underwood has sold more than 14 million albums with “Some Hearts,” 2007’s “Carnival Ride” and 2009’s “Play On.” She’s amassed 14 No. 1 singles, six of which she co-wrote, and became the first country artist in history and the only “American Idol “winner ever to achieve 10 No. 1 singles from their first two albums.
Underwood is a current Grammy Award nominee and a five-time Grammy Award winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time Country Music Association and ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry.
-BAM
Cameron Crowe’s Leon Russell and Elton John documentary “The Union” airing tonight on HBO
“The Union,” a documentary directed by Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous”) capturing musical legends Elton John and Lawton native Leon Russell as they collaborated on their 2010 duets album, debuts at 8 p.m. tonight on HBO, reports NewsOK TV blogger Melissa Hayer.
Here is a summary of the film, provided by HBO:
After 38 years of not seeing or speaking to Leon Russell, Elton John listens to Russellʼs greatest hits album while on safari in Africa with his partner David Furnish. He is moved to tears. Distraught at the thought that Russell – whom John considers one of his greatest musical influences – has seemingly fallen into obscurity, he vows to contact his idol and propose that they collaborate on an album together.
So begins “The Union,” an unprecedented personal look into the making of John and Russellʼs acclaimed album of the same name. Stepping into The Village studio in Los Angeles, director Cameron Crowe captures a myriad of intimate moments involving the two artists, including the first-ever filming of John composing music to lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, his longtime collaborator. Underscoring Johnʼs desire that the new album sound like one of Russellʼs classics, the film is filled with concert footage of John and Russell throughout their careers, including Johnʼs first U.S. appearance at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, a show attended by Russell.
-BAM
All-American Rejects to appear on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” tonight
The All-American Rejects, who have Stillwater roots, will play tonight on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” The show airs at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.
The Rejects are promoting their forthcoming album “Kids in the Street,” due out March 27.
Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and “30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan also will be on Fallon’s show tonight.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Damn Quails reach top 10 on Americana Music Chart, earn 3 Lone Star Music Award nominations
Gabriel Marshall and Bryon White of The Damn Quails has certainly ruffled a lot of feathers with the release of their debut record “Down the Hatch” on 598 Recordings. The phenomenal duo from Norman has spent the last few months basking in rave reviews that unanimously proclaim the record as one of the best to be released in 2011.
Soon after their debut on the Americana Music Chart at No. 26, “Down the Hatch” has now broken the seal on the Top 10, coming in at No. 9 this week. The record’s first single “Fools Gold” has also arrived at No. 9 on the TexNet50 Chart.
“It’s amazing to be in company with some of the folks that paved the way for us to do what we do. We are honored to help carry the torch of independent music and I am as proud as I can be of the guys I get to play with in this band,” Marshall says in a news release.
And the praise keeps on coming for this very deserving Oklahoma duo! The Damn Quails have just been nominated for three Lone Star Music Awards in the categories of Best Americana/Roots-Rock Album, Emerging Artist of the Year and Best Album Artwork. Vote for the Quails at www.lonestarmusic.com.
Plus, the Quails continue to kill it out on the live circuit with performances across Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota. The Damn Quails will play with the Josh Abbot Band in Chicago on Friday, at the seventh annual Randy Rogers Band “For The Sake of the Song” Festival in Concan, Texas, on March 16, with the legendary Robert Earl Keen in Austin, Texas, on April 14, and at the 2012 Braun Brothers Reunion Festival in Challis, Idaho, on Aug. 11. For more tour information, go to www.thedamnquails.com.
After you check out these live videos from the duo performing here in their home state, please read my recent interview with The Damn Quails by clicking here.
-BAM
Luke Bryan reteams with Jason Aldean for 2012 tour, coming Thursday to Oklahoma City
Luke Bryan
A version of this story appears in Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Luke Bryan reteams with Jason Aldean for 2012 tour
The Georgia natives will bring their rising star power to Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena Thursday night for a show that also will feature “American Idol” runner-up Lauren Alaina.
About 15 months ago, Georgia boys Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean teamed up to bring their raucous down-home country-rock music to Oklahoma City.
Fans can expect an even rowdier party when the pair makes their triumphant return Thursday night to Chespeake Energy Arena. With its 360-degree setup, the show not only will take place in the round, but also showcase two performers who have turned the corner into superstardom.
“Where we were two years ago vs. now is night and day. … We used to do shows and hopefully we would sell ‘em out, and now we go in there with ‘em sold out 10 minutes after the tickets were offered up. So it’s a lot more confidence and a lot more fun being out there like that,” Bryan said in a phone interview last week from a Nashville, Tenn., studio, where he was working on his fourth spring break EP.
“We’re grinning and got big smiles every night. It makes it completely more exciting.”
Since their October 2010 Oklahoma City tour stop, Aldean and Bryan have both dropped smash albums. Aldean’s multi-platinum “My Kinda Party,” released in November 2010, spawned four hits that reached No. 1 or 2 on the country charts, with his fifth and final single, “Fly Over States,” on the climb. The album and “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” his duet with Kelly Clarkson, won prizes at the 2011 Country Music Association and American Country Awards.
Last week, the Macon, Ga., native earned six nominations for the April 1 Academy of Country Music Awards, and he will compete for three awards at the Feb. 12 Grammy Awards, on which he and Clarkson will perform together.
The ACM’s top new artist of 2010, Bryan released his third full-length album, “Tailgates & Tanlines,” last August, and it already boasts two platinum singles: the rollicking “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” and the current hit “I Don’t Want This Night To End.”
“I’ve got the No. 1 song right now, so things are good. It’s doing really well and I certainly can’t complain,” Bryan said. “The album’s almost platinum, so it’s pretty good times.”
Although he now has four No. 1 singles to his name, Bryan, 35, said hitting the top of the charts isn’t routine for him.
“It’s the same feeling if not better every time. It’s always very, very rewarding,” said Bryan, who has also toured with Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts in the past few months.
The singer-songwriter has scored much of his success with musical tributes to rural living, anthems rooted in his upbringing on a peanut farm in Leesburg, Ga., a small town 100 miles from the Alabama border.
“I think it ultimately speaks to the heart of true country music fans, which they’re not bouncing back and forth between different types of music that they follow. You know, they wake up and their radio station stays on country all day. I think you start by getting them as your main fan base and then it kind of grows from there with more people experiencing your music. But the main thing is I think it’s just the true fabric of what country is and then you’re able to hopefully take it and go a little bit beyond that but still stay true to your roots,” he said of his singles.
“I think they’re young and fun. I think they’re what hit songs need to be: Catchy … and easy to sing along with.”
He will make even more music that appeals to young fans with his as-yet-untitled fourth spring break EP, due out in March. He annually celebrates the EP release with shows in Panama City Beach, Fla.
“It’s an opportunity to put new music out every year, and we just target college kids,” he said. “It’s just fun to write music about spring break. This is our fourth one, and we’ve had a really good time doing it. Sold quite a few tracks and kind of figured if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. So we just keep on rockin’ with it.”
After wrapping his first headlining tour last fall, Bryan is excited about opening again for his pal Aldean. The tour, which also features “American Idol” runner-up Lauren Alaina, broke three venue records in one weekend when it opened last month in Greenville, S.C., Fayetteville, N.C., and Orlando, Fla.
“He and I are really, really good friends, really close. And I think our crowds are very similar,” Bryan said. “It’s obviously a bigger scale each day and each month, anytime you know you’re out there selling a lot of copies, your live show’s gonna be that much better too ‘cause more people are gonna be singing the album cuts and certainly singing the hits. …
“We get onstage and the band has a blast the whole time, and the energy level never seems to come down at all. It’s certainly fun being onstage. That’s why I want to make fun music so I can enjoy playing it.”
IN CONCERT
Jason Aldean
With: Luke Bryan and Lauren Alaina.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W Reno.
Information: (800) 745-3000 or www.chesapeakearena.com.
-BAM
New releases for Jan. 31, 2012: “House of Night” novella, “Drive,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Leonard Cohen, Aranda
P.C. and Kristin Cast
Tulsa mother-daughter writing team P.C. and Kristin Cast have released “Lenobia’s Vow,” a new novella in their “House of Night” vampire book series.
Oklahoma City rockers Aranda have released the digital edition of their album “Stop the World.” The physical CD will be released Feb. 14. Leonard Cohen, Ringo Starr and Lana Del Rey have released new albums, while Metallica has dropped a new EP.
In the new cinematic home releases, my all-time favorite movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” debuted on Blu-ray today. Plus, one of my favorite movies of 2011, “Drive,” which was sadly overlooked by the Academy Awards, arrived on DVD and Blu-ray today.
Here is a list of more CDs, DVDs and books out this week, from Amazon.com and VideoETA.com:
CDs
Aranda, “Stop the World” (digital only)
Leonard Cohen, “Old Ideas.”
Ringo Starr, “Ringo 2012.”
Lana Del Rey, “Born to Die.”
Metallica, “Beyond Magnetic” EP.
“The Fresh Beat Band,” “Music from the Hit TV Show.”
Gotye, “Making Mirrors.”
New Broadway Cast, “Godspell.”
Simone Dinnerstein, “Something Almost Being Said: Music of Bach and Schubert.”
DVDs
Arthur
The Big Year
Chalet Girl
The Double
Dream House
Drive
In Time
Janie Jones
Spork
Texas Killing Fields
The Thing
Thunder Soul
To Kill a Mockingbird (Blu-ray)
Treasure Buddies
You and I
Books
Lenobia’s Vow: A House of Night Novella by P. C. Cast, Kristin Cast
Final Fantasy XIII-2: The Complete Official Guide – Collector’s Edition by Piggyback
Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh, My! by Alan Richardson, Karen Tack
Defending Jacob: A Novel by William Landay
Home Front by Kristin Hannah
White Girl Problems by Babe Walker
The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae (Cynster Sisters Trilogy) by Stephanie Laurens
How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America by Otis Webb Brawley MD, Paul Goldberg
-BAM
JD McPherson to release Rounder Records debut “Signs and Signifiers” April 17
Named as an “artist you should know” in 2011 by NPR, singer-songwriter JD McPherson will make his Rounder Records debut April 17 with the release of “Signs and Signifiers,” “a rockin’, bluesy, forward-thinking album that subtly breaks the conventions of most vintage rock projects,” according to All Music. (His first album on Rounder Records actually will be the re-release of McPherson’s 2010 indie album.)
Known for energetic live shows, McPherson and his band will hit the road in support of the release this spring with stops in Austin (SXSW), New York, Boston, Chicago, and other cities.
Hailing from Broken Arrow, the former art teacher and his band traveled to Chicago to record “Signs and Signifiers” at Hi-Style studio, which is housed in the attic of producer/bassist/studio owner Jimmy Sutton’s home and is 100 percent analog. “I have recorded this style of music in the digital realm, and it just doesn’t quite ‘sing’ as much. Slamming that ¼-inch tape really hard produced the most beautiful distortion I’ve ever heard,” says McPherson in a news release.
Featuring JD McPherson (lead and backing vocals, guitar), Jimmy Sutton (bass), and Alex Hall (drums, piano, organ), the album was recorded through a collection of vintage microphones into an old 1960’s Berlant 1/4-inch tape machine. The 12-track album kicks off with the fervent pulse of the first single, “North Side Gal,” and segues into one of the albums two covers, McPherson’s take on “Country Boy,” an old R&B number originally written and recorded by Tiny Kennedy.
Preferring not to be painted into a corner with labels, McPherson asks, “What is retro? Is Adele too retro? Is La Roux too retro? To me, Adele sounds like a product of her influences… as is the case with anybody else. With the recurring interest in soul or even R&B, there seems to be a line most artists won’t cross—that line into the world of the swinging, visceral abandon of real rock ‘n’ roll.”
The album hosts an array of guest musicians, including Scott Ligon on piano (NRBQ’s Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet); Jonathan Doyle (Nick Curran & the Lowlifes, White Ghost Shivers); Chicago’s Josh Bell (The Del Moroccos) on tenor and baritone saxophones; Susan Voelz (Alejandro Escovedo, Poi Dog Pondering) on violin; Allison Chesley (Helen Money) on cello, and Joel Paterson (The Modern Sounds) lends choice guitar work to the Joey Simone classic “Your Love (All That I’m Missing).”
With more than 350,000 YouTube views, McPherson’s self-directed video for “North Side Gal,” was shot by the band in the Hi-Style studio and features the classic gear used for the recording of the album. Check out the video here:
-BAM
All-American Rejects releasing new single “Beekeeper’s Daughter,” appearing on “90210″ tonight
The All-American Rejects, who formed in 1999 in Stillwater, are releasing their new single “Beekeeper’s Daughter” today.
“Beekeeper’s Daughter” is the first single from the band’s long-awaited new album “Kids in the Street,” due out March 27 on Interscope Records.
“Kids in the Street” is the band’s first album since 2008′s “When the World Comes Down,” which spawned the smash “Gives You Hell.”
“[The] music climate has changed so much for bands, especially bands with guitars in their hands… Our contemporaries, our colleagues, have burnt themselves out, it seems,” frontman Tyson Ritter told Billboard.com during a visit to the set of the music video shoot for “Beekeeper’s Daughter.”
“The great thing about our position as a rock band on a major label, we’ve had this confused place for so long, that 10 years later, we’re still sort of making people scratch their heads going, ‘Why am I still loving this band?’”
In addition, the Rejects will perform in tonight’s episode of the TV series “90210,” airing at 7 p.m. on the CW. Here is a preview:
-BAM
Cady Groves to release “This Little Girl” EP, tour with Hot Chelle Rae in February
Emerging pop singer-songwriter Cady Groves, who grew up in Marlow, Cache and Yukon, will release Feb. 7 her “This Little Girl” EP.
Featuring tracks including her popular first single “This Little Girl” the digital EP will be available at all digital service providers and will include fan-favorite track “We’re The Sh*t” as well as Groves cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You”. The physical version will be available www.cadygroves.com and will include the same tracks as the digital version with the addition of Groves duet “Oh Darlin’” with Plug in Stereo.
Groves, who was just spotlighted in Seventeen Magazine’s “Ultimate Guide To Music” will be joining her labelmates and friends Hot Chelle Rae in select North American markets in February and March. (See the full list of tour dates after the break; it looks Dallas will be the closest she comes to Oklahoma.).
Late last year Groves, who PopCrush named one of their “Artist to Watch in 2012” teamed with BUZZMEDIA to premiere the music video for “This Little Girl,” which features a cameo from Oklahoma country music star Blake Shelton. In an unprecedented partnership, a set of BUZZMEDIA’s taste-making music sites and pop-culture destinations such as Idolator, PureVolume, Buzznet and JustJared unveiled a stream of exclusive interviews, photos and video leading up the premiere.
Signed to RCA Records last year, Groves, 22, has been in the studio writing and recording songs for her debut album which is due out later in 2012.
