McGraw, Williams, SteelDrivers out with new music
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 – Tim McGraw releases his first album for Big Machine, "Two Lanes of Freedom," after spending his entire career on Curb. McGraw and Curb were embroiled in a nasty lawsuit, but McGraw won the right to record for another label.
The SteelDrivers are out with its third disc, "Hammer Down." Gary Nichols is on lead vocals with the band including banjo player Richard Bailey, bass/vocalist Mike Fleming, fiddler/vocalist Tammy Rogers and mandolinist Brent Truitt. Produced by Luke Wooton, "Hammer Down" is a collection of 10 new tunes from original members Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson, as well as Rogers and Nichols.
Holly Williams is recording for a new label for "The Highway," Georgiana. The disc includes 11 songs and features guest artists like Gwenyth Paltrow, Jacob Dylan and Jackson Browne.
The late Townes Van Zandt's "Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions & Demos 1971-1972" (Omnivore) includes rare recordings from the singer-songwriter's career.
More news for Tim McGraw
- 03/07/25: McGraw enlists McCollum to make "Paper Umbrellas"
- 10/11/24: McGraw releases "People Like Us"
- 01/29/24: McGraw has "One Bad Habit," also names opening acts for tour
- 11/21/23: McGraw drops surprise EP
- 09/25/23: McGraw expands Standing Room Only Tour
- 07/31/23: It's Standing Room Only for McGraw's tour
- 06/26/23: It's "Standing Room Only" for McGraw
- 04/27/23: It's "Standing Room Only" for McGraw's video
CD reviews for Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw's collection, "Here on Earth," finds the country star sounding peaceful and down to Earth. He's more meditative than overly active, throughout. It's very much an adult album in that McGraw is speaking from the perspective of maturity, rather than pretending he's still a young man. If he's got any barbecue statins on his white t-shirt, he's not letting on here.
McGraw burns through five mellow tracks before he gets to anything with a discernable beat. ...
Tim McGraw said of his 14th studio album, "Damn Country Music," "It's is all about passion, (taking him back to 1989) "when I came to Nashville to chase my dreams."
Country music has richly rewarded him over the past two decades, and he honors the genre's tradition here. The album gets off to a very traditional start with Celtic folk. The flute and skillful acoustic picking on the opener "Here Tonight" bring a Mark Knopfler tune immediately to mind. ...
The banjo comes first out of the speakers, the opening strains of "Overrated," the lead-off song on Tim McGraw's latest. But with a "1-2-3-4" count, the mood changes and goes for a more modern country approach. McGraw does about the same on the follow-up "City Lights" with Michael Landau's steely, but rocking lead guitar taking over near the conclusion as it does later hard on "Sick of Me" where the protagonist contemplates a need to turn his life around. ...
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