I didn’t mean to make myself look so much like Kenny Rogers (I look nothing like Kenny Rogers, for the unacquainted - for one thing, I’m nineteen), but once I had done it I found it too funny to change. So happy Independence Day from him, too!
Can’t be negligent toward the readers who don’t care for country music.
This summer has been immensely satisfying in every respect except one: I haven’t made good on my promise to myself to practice guitar religiously. And I can’t tell whether that’s because I’m making too big of a deal about it in my head or not a big enough deal. But it really sucks, because essentially half the summer is over and I don’t feel as though I’ve made a lot of progress. It’s just overwhelming; I don’t know where to begin learning the more detailed ins and outs of the instrument. If you want specifics (probably no one who will read this does, but whatever) I am perplexed when it comes to moving between strings - I just can’t seem to get a good feel for the intervals involved with doing so; it feels like there’s so damn many.
Ahhhhh.
But that’s my only source of stress right now, really. My job gets more boring by the day…but my co-workers get more interesting, which is nice. Today, inspired by Anna’s post on crazy customers she’s encountered while working at an Irish pub, I took a log of every noteworthy conversation my colorful co-workers had with one another and me. I’m pretty happy with the results. Note that I’ve changed the names to protect everyone’s reputation, and that the vignettes are ranked in descending order (again, like Anna’s set) from least funny to funniest:
(DrinkMore Water delivery boy - an awkward-looking kid a little younger than I wearing glasses and an embarrassingly loud lime-green t-shirt emblazoned with the company logo - pushes a cart with two gigantic water-cooler bottles over to the lunch table where Jan, a brassy forty-something, and Jose, a male Hispanic version of the same, are sitting and eating).
Jan: (Looks over to kid, who she has clearly never met) ‘Sup DrinkMore?
Delivery Boy: Um…(Looks around, slightly panicked, for someone to sign his delivery sheet so he can get away from whoever this lady is).
Awesome country music journalist Chet Flippo offers some interesting commentary on the upcoming Sugarland release, Love on the Inside. I wasn’t a huge fan of the group-turned-duo(-but-really-just-Jennifer-Nettles-minus-one-back-up-singer) initially but they’ve grown on me recently, and I’m legitimately excited to hear this album.
CMT Blogger Tom Roland chronicles some of the music-industry impact of Nashville college Belmont University (and the school’s fave-person-ever besides maybe Vince Gill, Bob Mulloy). I mention this piece purely for its news value, as I have no affilation with Belmont University whatsoever. This is an unbiased site. I swear. Totally.
And finally, in a piece of news that may be more relevant outside of country music but is nonetheless provokes some interesting thought, Creation Records founder Alan McGee quips about what he feels is the swiftly-flagging value of record labels. It’s starting to sound like pretty considerable counsel for non-radio-driven genres.
If you don’t visit icanhascheezburger.com on at least a semi-regular basis…well, I don’t really know that we have anything in common.
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First things first: I love America - it’s not perfect, but there’s a lot to like about it - so that’s not the problem here. The problem is that this particular ode to the stars and stripes is unoriginal, crass, poorly sung, and completely tedious; the same ground has been covered about one jillion times before, and far better. I don’t appreciate the transparent attempt to capitalize on the 4th of July, either - if you’re going to do it, you’d better do it with a damn good song.
These past few months have seen the rise of what I consider the most promising crop of up-and-coming talent in recent years. Phil Stacey has his work cut out for him trying to prove himself worthy to compete; amid the Ashton Shepherds, James Ottos, Emily Wests, Darius Ruckers and Lady Antebellums, I’m afraid he’s beginning to stick out like a sore thumb. Grade: D-
EDIT: For a solid list of patriotic songs that do the theme (more) justice, check this out.
Hey hey my Squinties. I’ve made some changes to the layout of the right column of the site to help keep stuff organized as the site accumulates more and more junk. The Browse section links will direct you to archives of the various entry categories (in list form, for your convenience); The Squinty Filter (which I am dubbing “Squi-Fi,” although it’s unlikely I’ll ever get a chance to use the name again) will cause the site to only show entries of a certain category (good for feed subscribers who are only interested in some of the content here), so that’s cool; then we have Top Posts, which will show the five posts most-viewed posts (recently, not overall); then, finally, I split up the site’s blogroll into Squinty Fellows, which lists the blogs of my personal friends (feel free to request that I add your blog if we’re friends and you’ve got one), and Squinty Links, which lists all of the special-interest blogs that I also read.
And that’s about it.
Surely this is some sort of strange, marvelous dream I’m having. Surely the Swiftmeister isn’t going to be filming an episode of CMT’s Crossroads with British hard rock band Def Leppard. Could there really be an occasion on television with the potential for not only some rewarding sight-gags as Swift attempts to “rock out,” but several golden moments of middle-aged humiliation as 48 year-old Joe Elliott chews over the science-class poetry of “Teardrops On My Guitar” or “Picture to Burn” or really any Swift song besides maybe “Should’ve Said No” (which probably has the most potential to not suck)? Could this be some sort of belated birthday present from the Divine?
Ah, country music comedy done right. Thank you, CMT.
The third single from Yearwood’s mostly-killer set, Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love, has been announced, ladies and gents. It’s a typically strong number with some nice personality straight from The Matraca Berg Catalogue of Typically Strong Numbers With Some Nice Personality. This time the spirit of the piece comes in the form of a breezy, acoustic guitar-driven rhythm and a snappy set of lyrics that incisively articulate all of strange sensations associated with falling in love (”he had me spinning like a girl in the circus in a trapeze act”). Yearwood’s vocal is sturdy as ever, though she wisely keeps the focus on the song, and the production is nice and simple - just the way ol’ Dan likes it. (And wow, I just managed to creep myself out…so I’m keeping that aside in!)
I do have to quibble about how the chorus’ melody puts the biggest emphasis in the titular line on the word “they” instead of on “falling” since it sort of throws off the meaning of that central phrase for me (”I guess they call it ‘falling’ for a reason” would have a different implication if you said it to someone than “I guess they call it ‘falling’ for a reason”). But of course, that’s nitpicking; the only thing really keeping the song from greatness in my book is that it’s just sort of boring on repeated listens. Eh. Grade: B+
Sigh with me. It was inevitable. For those out-of-the-loop, Cook was on American Idol this past season, and though I didn’t watch most of the season, I heard enough of and about Cook to gather that she wasn’t all that great in her time on the show (and many have put it less kindly). But literally every Idol finalist who shows any real semblance of a country leaning on the show gets signed. Such is life.
Still, it’s not as though she’s new to the game:
“Sounds So Good” - Ashton Shepherd
The link to the video at CMT, since apparently UMG’s YouTube clips can’t be embedded.
She makes motherhood seem kind of sexy. I think I may have a crush.
“I Love This Song” - Marcel
This song is so fun; the video ain’t bad either, though it’s a bit jerky for my taste.
