Country cruise coming in '14
Friday, January 25, 2013 – The very first Country Music Cruise will launch in early 2014 and sail through the Caribbean with Vince Gill, Kenny Rogers, Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, Patty Loveless, Jo Dee Messina, Ronnie Milsap and Restless Heart with television personality Lorraine Crook hosting the entire journey.
The cruise will hold concerts every day aboard Holland America's MS Eurodam. All concert tickets, activities and meals are included, with further information available at www.CountryMusicCruise.com.
Clubs on the ship will host performances by Andy Griggs, Wade Hayes, Ty Herndon, Jamie O'Neal, The Warren Brothers, Bryan White and others. Chuck Mead from BR549 will be playing daily poolside. Amidst the music, guests will be invited to a beach party on their very own private island, line dancing events, cooking exhibitions, wine tasting, songwriter workshops, spirited trivia contests, exclusive screenings of country music films and documentaries, games and more.
The ship will stop at the Grand Turk (Turks and Caicos), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Philipsburg (Saint Maarten), and Half Moon Cay
"Country music fans are in for something really special," said Vince Gill. "Not only will they get to experience a luxurious ocean cruise, but they can enjoy exclusive concerts by country music's iconic superstars. The cruise is destined to become a vacation destination in the years to come."
More news for Vince Gill
CD reviews for Vince Gill
Guitar Slinger
It's hard to believe, considering what Vince Gill has accomplished over the past three decades, but the triple threat singer-songwriter-guitar picker may be in the most creative, productive stretch of his lengthy, remarkable career. Five years after Gill's Grammy-winning 4-album 43-song box set "These Days," his latest 12-song release again finds Gill tapping every ounce of his immense talents. The title song sums up his reputation as an ax man worthy of playing Eric »»»
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These Days
To put this release into perspective, it would take Axl Rose the better half of a century to issue the same amount of material. Fortunately, Vince Gill is about as prolific as they come these days, and this daring four-disc release only is further proof of that. Each disc is divvied up depending on his mood, with the opening "Working On A Big Chill" album being "The Rockin' Record."
And this album sets things off right with the lovely mid-tempo and groovy title track. »»»
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Next Big Thing
Vince Gill has nothing to be bitter about in the face of his declining success. His mantle groans with over a dozen Grammys and a boatload of CMA statues, and then there's the matter of 22 million in sales over the course of his career. If the massive hits are fewer and farther between, it's onlynatural in an industry that's always looking toward a youthful fire to stokeits furnace.
And that's essentially the message that Gill sends with The Next Big Thing. On the choogling roadhouse romp of the »»»
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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... »»»
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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).... »»»

Fossils
Aiofe O'Donovan has been on a roll. As lead singer of the well-regarded alt.-bluegrass band, Crooked Still, O'Donovan helped put the alt. in the bluegrass with her light, sometimes breathy vocals. She also gained attention for singing on two songs on "The Goat Rodeo Sessions." She's now on her own (Crooked Still is on hiatus) for her first full-length disc. »»»
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Pokey LaFarge
Although Pokey LaFarge is a relatively young 30 years old, his songwriting soul is as old as a Victrola crank. In the past seven years and across seven albums, LaFarge has paid homage to the American music that caught his ear as a teenager (hot jazz, swing, country blues and Appalachian folk), not with an idolator's slavish heart, but with the nervy spirit of an innovator. »»»
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Wrote a Song for Everyone
Considering that Creedence Clearwater Revival's back catalogue contains some of the most beloved and iconic music of the rock era, and John Fogerty himself - the man who made all those great songs great - will be dueting with you, an artist has to feel like he's got two strikes against him when he sets out to contribute to a cover album tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival and John Fogerty. »»»
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