Bentley, Shelton, Jackson join CMA field
Thursday, March 8, 2012 – Dierks Bentley, Brantley Gilbert, Alan Jackson, Scotty McCreery and Blake Shelton joined the performance lineup for the Nightly Concerts at LP Field during 2012 CMA Music Festival.
The event will be held in Nashville on Thursday-Sunday, June 7-10.
Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Faith Hill, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, and Zac Brown Band were previously announced as performing at the Festival. Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks.
More news for Dierks Bentley
CD reviews for Dierks Bentley
Up on the Ridge
Dierks Bentley takes a left, turn, sort of, on his fifth studio disc. Bentley has built a solid reputation as a country artist with a slew of hits and catchy songs with edge. But here, Bentley goes bluegrass or at least 12 songs steeped in that sound. This is nothing new for Bentley, who previously has recorded bluegrass songs.
Much to his credit, Bentley does not come off as a dilettante, but, instead, someone who feels comfortable with the music from the lead-off title track to the closing sad »»»
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Feel That Fire
Like it or not, music is a business. And when an artist as vital to the country world (so-called commercial country and beyond) as Dierks Bentley releases a new record, you can be sure that somewhere, someone in a suit is looking at graphs. So, in that unholy spirit, let's look at "Feel That Fire" in those terms. If it were a pie chart, it'd be dominated by two equally big old slices, one labeled Rockers and one labeled Ballads. The songs making up the former never fail to work »»»
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Greatest Hits: Every Mile A Memory 2003-2008
The idea of letting your fans pick the front and back cover photos and title of your greatest hits package could strike the casual observer either as gimmickry or a thank you to the hardcore. Not to mention having thousands of your fans fork over a few bucks to be listed as executive producers, albeit for charity. Fortunately, for Bentley, this effort does not come off as calculated.
He accumulated a slew of excellent songs in a career continuing on the upward trajectory. »»»
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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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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).... »»»
Wilderness
"Wilderness" is another twisted menagerie of The Handsome Family songs. Once again, husband Brett Sparks sings their songs, sometimes in a bellowing gravedigger voice, after adding music to wife Rennie's lyrics. This time out, each and every tune is named after an animal, insect or other such nature creature. However, Rennie studies animals the way Flannery O'Connor wrote about humans, which is with the weirdness and character flaws in primary focus. »»»
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