Category Archives: video

Joshua Hedley’s ‘Mr. Jukebox’ is the classic country song we all need right now

Posted on by wolffkurt

When it comes to music, country is often a dividing line. Many love it, others hate it, and there are few on the fence.

Johnny Cash was one singer who could bridge the gap between country and rock, without alienating either side. Gram Parsons couldn’t get there. Merle Haggard didn’t even really bother trying – though he won over many rock fans eventually, just with the sheer power of his voice and songs.

Joshua Hedley isn’t aiming to bridge that gap in the same was as Cash. But his song “Mr. Jukebox” has a sort of universal appeal that few current country songs – ‘old school’ or Top 40 – have achieved. Just ask my 9-year-old daughter (who knows every word).

You just hear a song like “Mr Jukebox” and can’t help but smile. Listen below.

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Merle Haggard Looks Back

Posted on by wolffkurt

So many complex emotions in a single song. This is a quality that set Merle Haggard apart. And a big reason why his songs resonate so strongly, even many decades past when they were written and first released.

My favorite Haggard album is Someday We’ll Look Back. His 14th studio album, he released it in 1971,  just two years after the massive success of “Okie from Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me.”

The songs here, however, are a lot more introspective and represent the wide range of material that Haggard wrote and recorded throughout his long career.

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New Discoveries: Woodkid’s ‘The Golden Age’

Posted on by wolffkurt

I just spent several hours going through a list of this year’s GRAMMY nominees, finding videos, for each nominated song, a task associated with my day job at Radio.com. It was at times tedious but also, in many cases, fun and eye-opening. There’s a lot of, shall we say, less-than-inspirational music on the list, especially among the categories that wind up on television. But dig deep and you’ll find some gems.

For instance, I knew nothing about Woodkid, a French singer-songwriter and director (real name Yoann Lemoine) who’s probably best known for the video work he’s done for artists like Katy Perry, Pharrell, Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift. Woodkid was nominated for Best Music Video for his song “The Golden Age” (featuring Max Richter).

Taken from Woodkid’s 2013 album of the same name, both the song and the black-and-white video are quiet, dreamy and melancholy, sharing nothing much at all with the pop of singers like Perry or Swift. Carve out a few minutes (OK, actually more like 11) and watch it below.

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Mickey Newbury, “She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye”

Posted on by wolffkurt

One of my all-time favorite artists, Mickey Newbury had a knack for sad, slow, soulful songs that cut deep — but do so gently and thoughtfully. Newbury also had one of the finest voices in country music — a whole different style from someone like George Jones, but I would argue he was up there in that league.

Below is “She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye,” one of Newbury’s finest songs. It’s a live version he performed on the Johnny Cash Show:

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The State of Mainstream Country in 2013

Posted on by wolffkurt

Even diehard mainstream country fans can’t deny that so many of today’s songs have similar themes, both melodically and lyrically. Much has been made lately of so-called “Bro Country,” with songs (sung by men, of course, who still dominate the charts) about tailgating, beer drinking, tight jeans and partying out in the country — often down a dirt road, by a river, or under the moonlight.

Nothing against beer, trucks or dirt roads per se, but things are clearly getting out of hand. Take a look at the video below that was put together by Entertainment Weekly critic Grady Smith — it makes the point pretty clearly.

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5 Essential Ray Price Songs

Posted on by wolffkurt

On Dec. 16, 2014, country legend Ray Price passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 87 years old, and he left behind a huge catalog of recordings and a musical legacy that is among the most impressive in country music history.

Price was a contemporary (and friend) of Hank Williams, and his early recordings reflect that sharp-edged honky-tonk sound. As the 1950s progressed, though, Price found himself more and more attracted to smoother countrypolitan stylings. You can hear it working its way into songs like “City Lights” and especially on his album Night Life. And it finally comes to full fruition on Price’s 1960s songs such as “Danny Boy” and “For the Good Times” — the latter a Kris Kristofferson composition that Price turned into a signature song.

Price and his band the Cherokee Cowboys developed a dance-friendly rhythm that became known as the ‘Ray Price shuffle.’ The band was an early starting ground, too, for such later legends as Roger Miller, Willie Nelson and Johnny Paycheck.

Price also co-owned Pamper Music, a publishing company that helped boost the careers of Harlan Howard and Hank Cochran, among others.

Price was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. And he continued performing up until very recently, when his health wouldn’t allow it.

Because it spans so many years and includes so many great songs, Price’s catalog is well worth exploring in depth. Below are five key tracks to help you dive in.

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‘Oxyana’ soundtrack features Jonny Fritz, John McCauley

Posted on by wolffkurt

Alt-country artist Jonny Fritz (aka Jonny Corndawg) joined up with Deer Tick’s John McCauley to create a moody soundtrack for the documentary Oxyana, which is about the oxycontin epidemic in Appalachia.

As the New Republic explains, Oxyana “seeks to capture the ravages of prescription drug addiction in Oceana, a town of 1,370 deep in impoverished coal country, not far from the Kentucky border.”

And the film’s stark point of view didn’t go over well with everyone in Oceana. Some felt the depiction didn’t show a fair and full picture of the town.

Still, as the New Republic points out, at a local town hall meeting about the film, “it was plain that local ire over the film was going to be paired with frank acknowledgment of the region’s prescription drug problem. Of all the issues that came up at that meeting, none was the subject of as much concern as drug abuse.”

Watch a trailer for Oxyana (above), or watch the whole thing on Amazon.

And the Oxyana soundtrack is haunting, too. Hear it via a Soundcloud link below.

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Video: Line of Fire

Posted on by wolffkurt

A song that’s been haunting me this year is “Line of Fire” by the Swedish group Junip.

The band features singer/guitarist José González. Mesmerizing — I can’t stop playing it.

The video for the song, is directed by Mikel Cee Karlsson. Watch it below:

(Featured image at top is a video still that initially appeared on Trendland)

Classic Songs: Bill Withers, ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’

Posted on by wolffkurt

Bill Withers wrote “Ain’t No Sunshine” and released it back in 1971 on his album Just As I Am. The song was a hit at the time (reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100), but since then, it’s taken on new life and found vast new audiences, thanks to many cover versions.

Here’s a version of Bill and his band performing the song in 1972 that shows just a powerful (and subtle) a performer he was — and how much he owned this song.

This was Withers’ first hit song — it even earned him a GRAMMY in 1971. After this, he went on to reach No. 1 in 1972 with “Lean on Me” and then No. 2 with “Use Me” later that same year.