The Grammys
Sunday, February 10, 2013 – Blown Away took home two Grammys on Sunday: for Best Country Solo Performance by Carrie Underwood and Best Country Song for songwriters Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins.
"Wow," Underwood said. "Country music has always been so good to me, and I thank the Good Lord that I've been always part of such an amazing, talent family."
Underwood also had the chance to sing the song with different reflections going on her dress.
Zac Brown Band won the Country Album Grammy for "Uncaged." Brown gave thanks to various people associated with the group's career including "the fans."
Little Big Town won Best Country Duo/Group Performance for Pontoon at the Grammys awards.
LBT took the honor over Young Band's Even If It Breaks Your Heart, Taylor Swift & The Civil Wars for Safe & Sound, The Tim Jumpers for On the Outskirts of Town and Don Williams Featuring Alison Krauss on I Just Come Here For the Music.
Blown Away took Best Country Song for writers Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins. Carrie Underwood, of course, sang it. Other nominees were Cost of Livin' by Phillip Coleman and Ronnie Dunn (Dunn sang it); Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Will Hoge and Eris Paslay (Elio Young Band); So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore, by Jay Knowles and Adam Wright (Alan Jackson) and Springsteen by Eric Church, Jeff Hyde and Ryan Tyndell (Church).
Bonnie Raitt took home Best Americana Album for "Slipstream." The vet took it over Mumford & Sons for "Babel," The Avett Brothers for "The Carpenter," virtual unknown John Fullbright for "From the Ground Up" and The Lumineers for their self-titled disc.
The Steep Canyon Rangers won Best Bluegrass Album for "Nobody Knows You." Dailey & Vincent were nominated as well for "The Gospel Side of Dailey & Vincent," The Grascals for "Life Finds a Way," Noam Pikelny for "Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail" and Special Consensus for "Scratch Gravel Road."
Best Folk Album went to "The Goat Rodeo Sessions" for Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile. Carolina Chocolate Drops for "Leaving Eden," Ry Cooder for "Election Special," Luther Dickinson for "Hambone's Meditations" and Various Artists for "This One's For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark" also were nominated.
The disc also took Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Richard King, engineer and Richard King, mastering engineer.
Mumford & Sons took Best Long Form Music Video for "Big Easy Express" with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show.
The show included a tribute to the late Levon Helm with a rendition of The Weight. The tribute included Mumford & Sons, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, Mavis Staples, Elton John, Zac Brown and T Bone Burnett.
More news for Little Big Town
CD reviews for Little Big Town
Tornado
When the chorus to Leavin' in Your Eyes kicks in with some lovely layered vocals, it's tempting to compare Little Big Town to Fleetwood Mac. After better sense kicks in, though, it's more reasonable to categorize LBT as Fleetwood Mac-lite, at best. All that '70s cocaine and infidelity made Fleetwood Mac so much darker than anything modern day Nashville could ever produce. To its credit, though, Fleetwood Mac could never produce anything nearly as catchy as Pontoon, easily the »»»
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The Reason Why
Little Big Town has bounced around the country music industry through no fault of their own, but when it comes to the music, LBT moves beyond its role as the country successor to Fleetwood Mac. Similar to that touchstone, LBT has the two male, two-female line-up, including a married couple (Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook). More importantly, soaring harmonies rule as evidenced from the get go on the bouncy title track.
But on their third label (Monument Nashville for their self-titled debut »»»
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A Place To Land (re-release)
Little Big Town's third studio album was recently re-released by the group's new label after they split from Equity Music Group and took the CD with them. Those already familiar with the quartet will find a dozen tracks from the original recording, but there are also four new tracks to enjoy including a live coda - a cover of The Dream Academy's Life in a Northern Town - recorded with Jake Owen and Sugarland that has charted on its own. Highlights include That's Where I'll »»»
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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: Steve Earle doesn't rest (on laurels) –
If you didn't realize Steve Earle had a new disc out, "The Low Highway," it would have been no problem realizing that quite and quickly.
That was because Earle started the two-hour show with three straight tracks from "The Low Highway," and he would not be done for the night. The title track of was a midtempo effort... »»»
Concert Review: The Howlin' Brothers leave the radar behind –
The Howlin' Brothers - this trio, in reality, contains no brothers - are about eight years into their career and on their fifth album. To say they've been under the radar screen may be an understatement. You couldn't even say they've been flying under that screen because they have stuck very close to their Nashville environs.... »»»
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Country News Digest
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Elsewhere in the news
Currently at the CST blogs

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Wilderness
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Love Is Everything
George Strait may have reached his seventh decade, but he shows zero signs of slowing down. In fact, Strait seems to be getting even more consistent as he gets older. Strait doesn't stray all that far from the formula that has resulted in superstar status. First and foremost, that means his sonorous voice is mixed far above the music, a very good thing. »»»
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Dark Dirty Mile
Jason Boland and the Stragglers have released a new country album that sounds old. This isn't to imply that the sound is aged in a negative way; they have a classic country maturity that isn't heard too much these days with the exception of Jamey Johnson. For those not familiar with the music of Boland, the first track is a great way to decide whether this is your kind of country music. The title track is a mid tempo country song reminiscent of the late Waylon Jennings. »»»
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Golden
Lady Antebellum probably needed a change in direction after "Own the Night" dropped in 2011. The material was overly geared towards taking dead aim at the radio jugular. That isn't the case this time out on the trio's fifth release because most of the songs veer away from being obviously radio fodder (except for the current single Downtown with its soulful beginning and strong vocals from Hillary Scott), but that also doesn't man that this was the right change. »»»
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Annie Up
For those who thought "Hell on Heels" was a one-off side project for Miranda Lambert (along with sidekicks Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe), think again. The Annies, aka "Lonestar Annie" (Lambert), "Hippie Annie" (Monroe), and "Holler Annie" (Presley), are no novelty act. Instead, they tackle material that you just are unlikely to hear on mainstream country radio both in subject matter and sonics. »»»
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