Here’s a thought … are women to blame for the direction of country music these days?

Keith Urban
Here's a secret I think I've probably mentioned in the past … I often have crazy and wildly odd thoughts while doing completely mundane things. 

Case in point, while folding laundry just a bit ago a thought popped in my head … are women to blame for the direction of country music? 

Yes, amongst the Tide-scented shirts and towels, I had a thought about women unwittingly being to blame for current country. 

Go figure. 

So the direction of country music has been a hot-button topic of late. While I don't personally see much of a problem with today's music, many other people around here definitely do have problems with it. I hear a lot of people blame musical acts such as Florida Georgia Line and Taylor Swift while others believe that the Scott Borchettas of the musical world are to blame. 

But what if it isn't any of those people but rather women in general who are creating what we hear today?

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Cassadee Pope’s ‘Frame By Frame’ tracklist unveiled (from the mailbag)

FRAME_BY_FRAME
Titled FRAME BY FRAME, hot newcomer Cassadee Pope is
revealing details about her debut Country project … piece by piece. The dynamic
vocalist is today unveiling the official tracklist for her October 8 album on
Republic Nashville. Showcasing soaring melodies and edgy lyrics, Dann Huff
produced the 11-song album with Nathan Chapman, Max Martin and Shellback
contributing to select tracks. The empowering lead single, “Wasting
All These Tears,” is available on iTunes,
already selling over 230,000 downloads and catapulting into the #1 spot on the
iTunes Top Country Songs chart. 

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Trace Adkins has accepted his supposed radio irrelevancy

Trace-AdkinsPhoto courtesy TraceAdkins.com

I love me some Trace Adkins and so it makes me sad as sad can be that he has started talking quite frequently in interviews about how he knows he's on the downhill side of popularity. It's become a regular occurrence to hear him mention in that almost Eeyore-esque voice of his that his radio career is probably just about over. The newest sad quote comes from The Toledo Blade where he says:

“It’s like Toby [Keith] said to me, ‘One day radio is going to get tired of playing our stuff.’ And I’m probably there. I’ve probably been there for the last three or four years,” Adkins said in a telephone interview. “I’m not going to be bitter about it. When they started playing my record in 1996, they stopped playing someone else’s. That’s just the way it works.”

Yes, I know he's just being realistic but still …

He also mentions that his last album, "Love Will …," was definitely a disappointment in its lackluster performance.

“To be quite honest with you, the record really has been a big disappointment for me. I felt it would do really well. I felt radio would play that single with Colbie Caillat and myself. It just didn’t work out,” Adkins said. “Who knows what happened? I’ll shoulder part of the responsibility myself. I chose that single. I thought with Colbie on it that it would help. Truthfully, I loved that song. I think it’s one of the most profound love songs I’ve recorded.”

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Dierks Bentley ‘I Hold On’ – Single Review

I-Hold-On

What’s interesting about the circumstances of ‘I Hold On’ as
a single is that it is second in command to ‘Bourbon In Kentucky’, originally
the lead single from Dierks’ ‘Riser’ project. I say originally because after a
lack of success from ‘Bourbon’ (not enough trucks or cut-off jeans in it), the
label pulled it, and now his website states that ‘I Hold On’ is the lead
single. Bit embarrassed about the flop, are we?

‘Bourbon In Kentucky’ was much loved by fans and critics,
and there was plenty of disappointment on social media when it was announced
the single had been pulled. However, that’s not to say that ‘I Hold On’ is
lacking, at all. It dances around a
similar key and plenty of similar notes to its predecessor but it’s faster,
though it still fits into the emotional country rock ballad mould. Despite the
rock influence, however, they make sure to cover the whole spectrum of pitch,
with deep electric guitar strumming and driving adrenaline-inducing drums, juxtaposed
against bright acoustic guitar, pedal steel and dobro. This song has touches of
brilliance musically not in its technicality, but rather in its faithful
loyalty to country music yet the rock aspect that is perfect for stadiums, gets
your heart racing, and gives the track an ‘epic’ feel.

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