Hayes goes Double Platinum for "Wanted"
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 – Hunter Hayes recently earned Double Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling more than 2 million copies of his multi-week number one hit single Wanted.
After a performance on Ryman at the Opry last Friday, Hayes was also surprised with a plaque from Warner Music Nashville to celebrate his self-titled debut album selling over half a million copies and receiving a career first RIAA Gold album certification.
Hayes is up for the Academy of Country Music’s New Male Vocalist Award. Voting for the ACM Awards started Monday and ends Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. eastern. The winners of the three newcomer categories (New Male, New Female and New Vocal Duo/Group) will be announced in early February during the annual ACM Award nominees press conference. The winners in these three categories will go on to compete for overall ACM New Artist of the Year, which is also fan voted and will be announced live on the ACM Awards on April 7.
More news for Hunter Hayes
CD reviews for Hunter Hayes
Hunter Hayes Live
There is one reason why a Hunter Hayes live album is a bad idea. It's not because of his music, which is pop-country with a severe emphasis on "pop," but very catchy. It's not because of his vocals, which are reminiscent of Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox after inhaling helium but pleasant nonetheless. It's because of the audience.
If you love the sound of hundreds of teenage girls screaming in unison, this is a must-buy for you. They scream at the beginning and ending of every song. »»» |
Hunter Hayes
Read the album liner notes and you ca,n't help but to be blown away by newcomer Hunter Hayes' credentials. The Louisiana native plays every instrument on his self-titled major-label debut. He's listed as lead or co-writer on every cut. And he co-produces the record with Dann Huff - heady stuff indeed for a 20-year-old on his initial offering.
Yet, that's where Hayes's impressive debut mostly ends. For one so young, there's nothing daring, innovative or even »»» |
Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»
Concert Review: Music City goes (Boston) Pop(s) –
On the face of it, the idea of top shelf country songwriters coming up from Nashville to play with the Boston Pops may seem incongruous. The idea of the venerable Boston institution and fixture on the July 4 scene, playing patriotic songs doesn't have all that much to do with country.
The idea isn't without precedent, of course.... »»»
Concert Review: O'Donovan goes home –
Aiofe O'Donovan had plenty of reason to be filled with good cheer. This was a hometown gig, after all, and only three days before the release of her first full-length solo debut, "Fossils."
Joking that the audience was filled with people she knew from high school and her parents' friends, O'Donovan made it clear that Boston... »»»
|
|
Country News Digest
 CST
 CST
Elsewhere in the news
Currently at the CST blogs
Some folks listening to Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison's new duet album, "Cheaters Game," may well exclaim, 'Well, it's about time!' after finally hearing these two talented country singer/songwriters recording music as a pair for the first time. Willis has built quite a following for her independently-minded feminine perspective, while Robison has written hits for the Dixie Chicks ( Travelin' Soldier) and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ( Angry All the Time), as well as penning the ultimate Willie Nelson tribute, What Would Willie Do? and recording it as a solo act.
... »»»
Last fall, singer/songwriter Steve Forbert dropped the 14th studio album of his 35-year career, the impeccable "Over With You." Critics recognized the album as a return to the form Forbert displayed on his earliest works - 1978's stripped back and personal "Alive on Arrival" and 1979's more lushly produced and commercially accessible "Jackrabbit Slim" - but the fact is that Forbert has never strayed far from their basic folk/rock tenets.... »»»
Over the course of the past 20 years or so, Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller have both experienced a certain rise in their respective rootsy country profiles. Miller has become one of Nashville's hottest speed dial numbers, as an artist, a guitarist-for-hire (a role he has performed for Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris and Robert Plant, among others) and an intuitive producer (he's currently working with Executive Music Producer T Bone Burnett to provide the soundtrack for ABC's "Nashville" television series).... »»»
Still Fighting the War
Few artists exude pain in their voices the way Slaid Cleaves can, and there are moments during his strong new full-length, "Still Fighting the War," when he seems a little like the male equivalent to Lucinda Williams. With Rust Belt Fields, Cleaves speaks up for most anybody that's been laid low be America's recent recession, from those dealing with home foreclosure to the ones laid off from their jobs. »»» |
|
