Tag Archives: country

Music Reviews

Thomas Rhett– Be A Light (feat. Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin & Keith Urban) – Single

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Big Machine Label Group

Release Date: March 30th 2020

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Thomas Rhett– Be A Light (feat. Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin & Keith Urban) – Single (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

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Momentous Mondays: Influential artists of the next 5-10 years – Week 17: Lauren Alaina

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I think my favorite artists are honest artists and as a songwriter, that’s what you have to do. You have to be willing to put yourself out there in a really vulnerable way. I really wrote the album accidentally [laughs]. I wrote it to make myself feel better and process what I was going through. When it was time to put the album together, it had kind of written itself because I had a collection of songs that told my story and kind of reintroduced me. Which I think is super important for someone like me, coming from a TV show — people don’t really get to know who you are as an artist on something like that because you’re doing cover songs. You’re showcasing your personality and things like that more than the artistry. It was six years ago, which is crazy for me to even say, but I wanted people to know where I’ve been and what’s changed about me. That’s the thing with the music business is, I’m on stage a lot and I’m in front of people, but they don’t know me unless I tell them who I am. It can be a really lonely business. [On Idol], we never talked about my dad’s alcoholism, we never talked about my eating disorder — I felt like my life was a big secret and I just couldn’t do that anymore. I needed to free myself from secrets, and this album [Road Less Travelled] helped me do that.

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MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 42: LADY ANTEBELLUM

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Have you realised that the more and more you try to explore something there’s more and more to discover, and you find out that there’s more that you know that you don’t really know at all? Let me explain for a bit. If you haven’t been around regularly on our website 365DaysofInspiringMedia.com since last year, then let me tell you this- we’ve decided to undertake a series that is bold to say the least, unique and challenging, and a chance to explore music that we as a site may not initially check out from the get-go. Yes, we’ve decided to write a list of our own- 100 Influential Artists of All Time, 50 Up-and-Coming Artists, and 30 Classic Artists, each entry and post discussing a band/artist from one of these categories as we delve deep into the artist, their songs and what it means not only in our lives, but in terms of shaping music, culture and society as a whole. And about a year in, our site has unpacked a lot of artists and their music- from Josh Groban, Avril Lavigne, Casting Crowns, for KING AND COUNTRY, Switchfoot, Rascal Flatts, Tina Arena and Carman, to Maren Morris, Selena Gomez, Zach Williams, Matthew West, Echosmith, Marc Martel and Rachel Platten; this site has been stretched, in a good way, in relation to music and what we believe are such music that have shaped culture to a point where God Himself has shown up in a lot of these songs and has changed our own perceptions about what we believe inspirational and uplifting, challenging and thought-provoking music to be or even to look like. Which brings me to yet another artist I’m about to discuss and delve into today- Lady Antebellum. And yes, you guessed it- another country artist/band. You scratch your head and wonder- why haven’t you discussed a lot of country artists before? Yes, yes I have- artists like Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, The McClymonts, Faith Hill and Martina McBride have all been artists that I have decided to deem worthy of being within the confines of the top 100 influential list, and maybe, just maybe, I’m becoming more and more biased towards country than I was when I first started this blog series. And maybe that’s ok.

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MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 31: RASCAL FLATTS

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If you were to tell me a year ago that one of my frequented genres of music over the year would be country music, I’d tell you to rack off, laugh in your face, and say ‘you got the wrong guy’. No seriously, prior to this year, I was dead-set opposed to quite possibly a lot of things country- except for a few Carrie Underwood songs here and there. For me, I assumed what country music would be and what it would be like. I didn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, and so when the time came for me to compile a 100 top influential artist’s list, it was always interesting and eye-opening to say the least, whenever a country artist came around. Now here I am in October, 30 blog entries into this year-long (and most certainly longer!) project, and I’ve listened to my fair share of country music in that time period- Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, The McClymonts, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, even some odd few Kelly Clarkson songs. And what is my assessment of country music as of right now? It’s not too bad. In fact, the country that is indeed influential today, the artists that have left a stamp on music history- their music’s not that bad. Now my opinion about country music from people who are up-and-coming today may be a different story, and maybe I won’t be a great judge of artists of the ‘new’ country music. Nevertheless, what I have observed about country music from the 1990s/2000s (much of the country artists I’ve heard are from that particular era!), is the authentic and emotive nature of the songs and melodies. And now here in my 31st entry, I’ve decided to unpack yet another country artist- this time, trio Rascal Flatts have been blasted through my ears through the last week or so. In this short, albeit quick time that I have been able to make an holistic judgement, I’ve come to enjoy and appreciate the band and their undertakings of songs that are fun, but also songs that mean something too. A group that is standing tall in country music today, I’ve been further reminded of how real, honest, and emotive such a genre as this can get, and that my assumptions about country were dead wrong. A reminder that all of us can be better people whenever we assume less; Rascal Flatts are indeed a band to check out if you enjoy more older-school country music, artists who would’ve started out in the early 2000s than the artists currently in the Billboard charts today!

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MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 26: FAITH HILL

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Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve gained a bit of insight over these last few months. And it is this- there is no pattern to how I listen to my music, or rather, what genre of music that I like. Even when I was enjoying a lot of CCM during my younger days, I’d listen to a wide variety of styles- rock, pop, worship, acoustic, folk, singer-songwriter…basically anything that wasn’t screamo. Now here as I branch out into different music styles and appreciate music in a general sense of the word, I see the exact same thing- virtually no pattern as to how I enjoy my music, or what I do listen to. Phil Collins, prominent in the 1980s, delivers to us an eclectic mix of pop-rock mixed with a high energy drum-beat undertone, while Kelly Clarkson is your traditional pop-rock with an inspirational edge in there. Owl City is close enough to EDM that I did embark upon, while Andrew Peterson utilised a lot of acoustics and focussed a lot on the lyrical side of things. Add to that the hard rockers of Skillet and DC Talk, and the ever poignant and motivational Tenth Avenue North; and you see that my musical tastes have broadened much over the weeks and months ahead. That is, until I’ve searched deeper into the patterns behind my very own choices for these blog posts thus far. There is indeed a pattern. Out of 26 artists I’ve decided to write about thus far, quite a fair number (5) are of the country variety. Yes, there, I’ve said it. Unknowingly, and maybe even unintentionally, I’ve favoured country music ahead of basically every other music genre thus far, inclusive of this artist I’m about to delve into today- Faith Hill. And there’s nothing wrong with country. Far from it. In fact, upon listening to music time and time again this year, I’ve noticed that country music in particular tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves a lot more, and that’s ok. Never have I initially thought that I would resonate a lot of country music, yet I have. Artists like Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, The McClymonts, Shania Twain, and now Faith Hill, have all influenced the genre of country over the years, and by and large, have shaped what music is currently today as well. Maybe not so much The McClymonts, but considering that they are indeed an Australian country trio, and they have been charting top honours for best country band every year since their release of their debut album 12 years ago, makes their inclusion very much more settled and certain. Nevertheless, here I am with another post discussing Faith Hill and her music- and to be honest, I don’t really know much about her life…and maybe that’s a good thing. All I know is that she’s married to country artist Tim McGraw, released 8 studio albums, and is now declared one of the best country artists at the moment.

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