Archive for the ‘Music’ Category:
Clint Black
says his album, to be released October 4th, "Drinkin' songs and other logic" is "the kind of album my dad wishes I would make."
"His favorite record of mine has always been 'Killin' Time' . . . He said it's not anymore."
The honky-tonk album "Drinkin' Songs and Other Logic" is now his father's favorite, Black told the Kearney Hub by telephone in advance of his concert there on Friday.
Black said he decided on the album's name as a way to remind himself of his musical aim — honky-tonk — as he wrote.
Black also said he wanted to craft music that would remind him of what he grew up listening to, such as drinking songs by Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and others.
Oh, to hear Haggard and Cash in a Clint Black album again!
Don Erler, in the Star-Telegram today, writes about
the vast right-wing conspiracy, and liberal shortcomings:
The problem for pro-gressives is not IQ. I've argued for years that only bright people can be liberals, because imagination and a perverse kind of intelligence are necessary for denying the most obvious realities. One has to cogitate mightily, for example, to assert that subsidizing poverty cures it; that lowering standards will improve public schooling; that abortion does not take human lives.
And this leads to the biggest problem facing virtually all American progressives: Ordinary citizens do not exhibit the intellectual sophistication necessary to deny basic realities. Such Americans, however, are smart enough to know that "tough love" works, that high standards encourage excellence, that innocent human life deserves protection.
And the sure sign that he is right: he quotes the lyrics of Clint Black.
Similarly, Clint Black's I Raq and Roll takes on anti-military protesters: "You can wave your signs in protest/ Against America taking stands/ The stands America's taken/ Are the reason that you can."
I was fired up to log into the iTunes music store today and see
Clint Black's Killin' Time as a featured album!
"Mr. Clint Black!"
That's how the show opened last Saturday night, with a recorded message from Clint Black's 4-year-old daughter, Lily introducing her dad to the Elko Speedway stage, in Elko, Minn. Black opened with a fan-favorite, "A Good Run of Bad Luck," before playing a smattering of old, recent, and new songs. The crowd, lackluster for the previous three shows (including opening act Lonestar), stood for much of the show as Clint, as he is wont to do, made the relatively small crowd feel like this was the most important one of his summer tour.
For someone who has been to numerous Clint Black shows (with the name of this site as enough evidence of that), the highlight of the show had to be his revamped version of "We Tell Ourselves," and the constant throw of solos from electric guitar to fiddle to piano to bass guitar to steel guitar and back to electric guitar again. A treat was also had in hearing a few of Black's not-yet-released tunes of his October album release
Drinkin' Songs and Other Logic including "Rainbow in the Rain" and "Code of the West," a song he says is a tribute to the hard work of our armed forces, new and old.
This show reiterated Black's professionalism. There was no mention of October 4th (the release date of his new album), despite the opening act's mention of September 13th (the release date for their next album) numbering approximately the amount of #1 hits Black has (20). There were no sketchy jokes that made parents cringe. It was a show that Mrs. Black could feel safe and proud to bring their "Little Pearl."
Clint Black proved, once again, that he is the class of Country music. He proved, once again, this his show is one to see and one to hear.
Clint Black finally released a new single,
Rainbow in the Rain. I was happy to see it
available on iTunes and it is definitely worth the $.99 to download it and check it before the album comes out this fall. The album will be titled
Drinking Songs and Other Logic. If the first single off the album is any indication, the album is going to be a vintage Clint Black album. It has the feel of many of the songs off of his early albums,
Killin' Time and
The Hard Way. Not that his latest albums haven't lived up to the Clint Black standard, but Rainbow in the Rain returns to country music in the early 90s, full with steel guitars and fiddles. Even Black's vocals return to the free-flowing ease of yesterday. With a title like
Drinking Songs and Other Logic, how could the next album be anything but classic Black?
Napster is set to begin offering a package that includes
unlimited downloading for a "modest" monthly charge (whatever that will be). Hmmm.
As
Shelly mentioned at her site, we had the opportunity to see BNL Monday night at the Orpheum in Minneapolis. I had taken displeasure from some of the political crap we had to put up with from them (and many other artists independent of who they supported) but decided since we had such a great time at the last show that it wasn't going to keep us from enjoying the music. As it turns out, it really was an amazing show. Hopefully we got a few decent pictures (we haven't had the time to look at them yet, but we know many of them were blurry due to the frequent change in lighting that is obviously typical of concerts). There are many great pictures
here. It's about the same vantage point we had only from the opposite side. We had fantastic "Row B" seats, 10-15 feet from the stage and, consequently, a stack of speakers). As huge BNL fans like to reference, we were "Ed-side."
Shelly and I had a chance to see them last October (I think it was) as well, and it was also at the Orpheum. The Orpheum is a great place to attend a concert. The view's great from anywhere (we sat in the balcony last show) and, even more importantly, the sound is great.
Though I often regard my first show for any performer as my favorite, the guys seemed to have even more energy than the last time (the Everywhere for Everyone tour). Perhaps they were a bit more rested this time around -- I think the last tour was a bit more strenous as far as lacking off days. In any case, it's right up there with the last one -- especially considering our fortunate seats -- and it was the first time Shelly and I were able to hear $1000000 live. It was also fun to hear Grade 9, which is apparently played rarely on tour (though they often play a bar or two in a medley).
One great thing about the shows now is that they are recording them off the sound board and
making them available for purchase (mp3, flac or cd). They are fairly reasonable at $20 for the CDs, $13-14 for download (depending on what format). Sure, they are making more money off of a show they were going to do anyway, but if you consider the idea that adding $15-20 onto the ticket price and walking out with a copy of the show, it doesn't seem so bad. It's something I'd pay such an amount to get a copy of many different concerts I've been to (I'd love to have a copy -- sound board or not -- of the show we attended last October).
Songs I didn't hear that I would have liked to: Another Postcard, Unfinished, and Who Needs Sleep. As mentioned, we did get $1000000. I'm not one of those $100000 fans that only knew the band and liked the band for that one song, but anyone who's been to a show or listened to a live recording knows that this particular song is an event within the show. (I will admit it was the first song I heard from BNL -- or at least the first song I heard where I wondered enough who was performing it to ask someone)
I'm still dissapointed, somewhat, that we were subjected to a lot of political banter from the guys. It seemed that they beat the horse to death and back in that regard. I readily admit that I was probably a bit more disgusted with it because I like them more than most groups. In the end, though, it was a fantastic show without a mention of politics (the way it should be). I will look forward to the next.
« Newer Posts
