http://www.countrystandardtime.com/cdreviews.asp Country music CD reviews from CountryStandardTime.com Copyright 2007, Country Standard Time 11 Mar 2010 01:52:13 GMT 11 Mar 2010 01:52:13 GMT 60 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4398 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4398 John Hiatt has been roots rocking long enough that it bears remembering his folk/pop beginnings in the early '70s and his tough/tender new wave angle into the '80s. But like any decent gunslinger, Hiatt never forgets how many bullets he has left and his chambers are full on the 19th studio album of his storied career.... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4367 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4367 Blake Shelton has always been known for fun, tongue-in-cheeks songs with some good ballads thrown in as well. This six-song EP that accurately reflects the normal balance of selection on most of his full-length albums. Shelton goes straight for the country dance club crowd with Hillbilly Bone , on which Trace Adkins added his vocal... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4352 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4352 You may not always be able to judge a book by its cover. But the image of a north Florida country boy playing a guitar and sitting next to a dog on a front porch perfectly describes what the mood of the 11 songs will be. Corbin recalls George Strait on several songs, but none more than the hit A Little More Country Than That. It's his debut song and firmly establishes him on the traditional side of the country/pop-country canyon.... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4394 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4394 It's more than a little bittersweet to note that this is one of the final releases on Pinecastle, which for some three decades prior to closing its doors on Feb. 1 was the epitome of the independent bluegrass label, dedicated to the integrity of traditional bluegrass. The good news is that this solo release from Josh Williams (a former... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4365 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4365 On his debut, Josh Thompson shows he is capable of writing songs in his own voice even while sometimes bowing to the wishes of Nashville radio programmers. On his hit, Beer on the Table , Thompson sings of being a hard working everyman who breaks his back all week for the chance to blow off steam with some brews on the weekend. Throw in some banjo laced electric guitar hooks and a sing-along friendly chorus, and you have a radio ready country/pop song.... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4364 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4364 Sarah Buxton had to wait for the chance to release her own music after a few singles misfired, but she did not sit still. She wrote a hit song ( Stupid Boy ) for Keith Urban, chalked two ACM noms for Best New Vocalist and got personal encouragement from Stevie Nicks and John Rich. So here is the actual record, after her digital-only 2007... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4356 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4356 To say that this is the death knell from Johnny Cash would be an understatement. That was made clear by the aging, withering Man in Black when he recorded the title track with the opening words "There ain't no grave that can hold my body down." This CD surfaces seven years after the death of Cash and is said to be the final of a... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4349 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4349 Much like those of Kate Campbell and Meg Hutchison, Carrie Newcomer's coffeehouse folk, late-'70s songwriter-influenced sounds refuse to serve as background music. This is folk roots impressionism mixing spirituality, questioning and vision without obviousness or a hint of sanctimoniousness; through her words, the singer encourages reflection and personal efficacy.... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4340 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4340 From the growing Boston music scene that produced Crooked Still comes another group with their own unique take on string band music, Joy Kills Sorrow with their debut national release. Fronted by the soulful soprano voice of Emma Beaton, the group produces an atmospheric sound that utilizes the award-winning guitar playing of Matthew Arcara, the... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4396 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4396 It's no surprise that when former Texas Playboy fiddler Johnny Gimble is putting together a new record that the likes of Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Merle Haggard and even "Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor are more than happy to lend their vocal talents to the project. What is so impressive is that Gimble, who joined... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4390 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4390 Throughout Josh Abbott Band's new 12-song recording, there's an undeniable strain of joy and excitement running through the songs that is palpable. This Lubbock, Texas-based group has risen quickly within the Texas/Red Dirt music scene over the past couple of years. "Scapegoat," their 2008 release, was an impressive album. In between that record and this new one, JAB released the "Brushy Creek" EP, which held folks over for a few months.... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4385 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4385 On Brandon Rhyder's last album, "Every Night," there was an underlying slickness that was appealing on the surface, but when you got right down to it, it didn't come across as wholly authentic. Really, it was 2005's "Conviction" that got Rhyder a lot of attention. Rhyder hit a home run, having employed Texas treasure Walt Wilkins to produce. On his latest, Rhyder and Wilkins work together again, and the results are musical magic.... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4384 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4384 As he makes clear in the liner notes, Kasey Anderson has some things to get off his chest on this album. Eight years' worth of things, in fact, the amount of time he spent doing singer/songwriter time in Bellingham, Wash. On paper, that sounds potentially off-putting, like sitting one barstool over from That Guy, the dude who goes on and on... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4383 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4383 Daniel Martin Moore became a sensation on the folk scene when he scored a Sup Pop contract with his unsolicited demo and followed up with his astonishing debut, 2008's "Stray Age," earning deserved comparisons to everyone from Nick Drake to Mojave 3 mainman Neil Halstead. Ben Sollee came to the folk community by a different route;... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4378 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4378 There is a mix of traditional country and rockabilly on Memphis singer/songwriter Nancy Apple's latest. Recorded over four days in the historic Sun Studio, there are nods to some of the legends who recorded there. One of the more effective tunes is Apple's Sun Will Always Shine on which she recalls hearing the news of the death... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4351 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4351 Not long ago, Joe Pugliese had an epiphany before embarking on his senior year as a budding playwright at the University of North Carolina. Recognizing a deep dissatisfaction with his life, Pug (as he came to call himself) took a bold step, left school and headed for Chicago to work as a carpenter and revisit the guitar he hadn't played since... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4406 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4406 Michael Martin Murphey is certainly best known for his cowboy western music. Including his most popular song, Wildfire , Murphey helped to re-define the genre after it seemed to wither in the past. Country music had left the old west behind and stepped into a more modern era. Now, Murphey is attempting to breathe more life into those... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4371 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4371 If Rascal Flatts is country music's clean cut, commercially palatable Beatles, then Reckless Kelly is the genre's Rolling Stones; grittier, more authentically influenced, rawer at the core even when their output is every bit as polished. The brainchild of Idaho brothers Willy and Cody Braun, Reckless Kelly was crowned Austin's Best... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4337 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4337 Allison Moorer is known as much for her own material as she is for her family in sister Shelby Lynne and hubby Steve Earle. However, here, Moorer seems to move from previous Americana albums for a haunting, jazz-accented approach on the opener Abalone Sky . Think of Cowboy Junkies' Margo Timmins fronting a seasoned jazz trio, and you... Country Music News http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4253 http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4253 There are two versions of Josh Turner's fourth CD - standard and deluxe. The deluxe has the same 11 tracks as the standard, plus (among other goodies) live versions of previously released songs Long Black Train and Your Man . But don't spend more money than you have to; if it's redundancy you're looking for,... Country Music News