NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville celebrity gossip

‘Nashville’, Episode 20 – RECAP

2013-05-22T06:21:54-06:00

Juliette is being blackmailed by Dante, who has their sex tape and wants $2 million for it. Juliette sends security to give it to him in exchange for the SD card, but Dante bails, and decides he wants $10 million instead. She knows he’ll never stop asking for more, and decides to get ahead of the game by recording an explanation video and appearing on The View to discuss it. Constantly being treated badly by her daughter, Jolene still wants to protect her, so she goes to her old drug dealer, gets some oxy and a gun, and goes back to the apartment to snort it. Once high, she calls Dante telling him Juliette’s given up, but that she has the $2 million if he wants to come over. He does, but when confronted Jolene shoots him, before phoning her daughter (she’s about to go on The View), and telling her how special she is. She then deliberately overdoses on drugs, and is already dead by the time Juliette has rushed back home to find her.

Rayna, meanwhile, is still in bliss with Deacon, but things start to crash down around her when she begins to ease Deacon back into her personal life. She invites him over for dinner with the girls, and it’s all going fantastically (including a Deacon & Maddie duet on ‘Ho Hey’!), when Teddy bursts in unannounced. He fumes at Rayna for letting Deacon hang around the girls, and later files a restraining order, stating that Deacon cannot be within 100 feet of them. Rayna goes to Lamar and asks him to help her get a court date, and she and Teddy fight it out in court a little bit. The judge decides to cover it in more depth at a later date, and resets custody arrangements. Rayna promises Teddy that no matter what she would do nothing to compromise his relationship with Maddie.

Rayna is also looking for a second act for her label. She holds auditions, but no-one really stands out, until Will drops in without an appointment and boldly convinces them to let him perform for them. She really likes him, and announces the creation of the label just before Scarlett’s performance at the Grand Ole Opry. Scarlett is really nervous, and really wants Gunnar to be there, but after being called out on his non-outlaw status at a gig he gets into a fight and ends up in jail with Will, with whom he makes up. The outlaw image is getting out of hand, involving lots of recording sessions with his producer trying to get it right, a persona on stage and a radio interview where he tries to act all tough and pretends to be a ‘player’. Scarlett hears the interview and is upset with him.

While she is waiting at the Opry to go to stage, she receives a box from someone in the audience, and it holds the whisk that Avery handed her as a makeshift microphone, when she was too shy to sing on her demo much earlier on in the season. This gives her the confidence to go out and give a great performance. When she bails Gunnar and Will out of jail, she breaks up with Gunnar, as she tells him she cannot be around this anymore, that she loves him, not his brother.

Tandy is worried about Lamar’s health, and whether him being at the head of the company is the right thing anymore. She organises with the board to take over (and I suspect she’s been waiting for this her whole life), but on the official transfer meeting, Lamar enters, and kicks Tandy out of the CEO seat, putting her in her place. Elsewhere, the episode draws to a close on Maddie, intrigued after finding out that her mom is dating Deacon again, and Teddy’s reaction to that, goes snooping and finds a box full of important papers. She finds the paternity test that says Teddy is not her father.

The season finale is tonight, and judging by sneak peeks and spoilers it’s going to be one hell of an episode! Tune in at 10/9c on ABC. You will not want to miss this!

Posted by Vickye.
If you want to check out my own blog it's For The Country Record, and you can follow me on twitter @planmymistake. You can email me at vickye.countrymusic@gmail.com.

Is Carrie Underwood the best living Country singer?

2013-05-22T05:55:30-06:00

With the tragic passing of legend George Jones, Country music now has a void.

Who can possibly fill his shoes? With the Possum no longer blessing us with his gorgeous voice, who is now the best living Country singer?

Well, Brad Paisley recently weighed in on the topic (in an interview with Country 92.5), and he says Carrie Underwood is the best. Do you think he's right on the money?

"I think Carrie Underwood," he says. "No doubt about it. I really think nobody sings better than her."

As a vocalist, Carrie is certainly one of those rare voices, regardless of genre, that can make the hairs stand up on your arm.

I present to you Exhibit A (and her finest vocal performance to-date):

If, however, you are more into subtle performances, I give to you Exhibit B:

Why, yes, it might be true that I am a big Carrie fan, but I'm not quite sure she is the best living singer. Her voice is stellar and simply out of this world, but I would put several living legends ahead of her in line for the title.

There's Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Alison Krauss and Patty Loveless who are far more deserving, just off the top of my head. When I think of great singers, I not only look at vocal talent, but lyric interpretation and conviction. The names I just mentioned are some of the best singers that Country music has ever seen. If you dig a little further, several more names can be added to that list, such as Vince Gill, Pam Tillis, Willie Nelson, Mel Tillis, Tanya Tucker, Dolly Parton, Ray Price and Glen Campbell, among many others.

Here are just a few of their finest live performances (or music videos, in some cases):

Merle, "Mama Tried"

Loretta, "Coal Miner's Daughter"

Reba, "Whoever's In New England"

Alan, "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning"

Alison, "When You Say Nothing At All"

George, "Amarillo By Morning"

Patty, "You Don't Even Know Who I Am"

Vince, "Go Rest High on That Mountain"

Pam, "Maybe It Was Memphis"

Willie, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"

Mel, "Lonely Girl"

Tanya, "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane"

Dolly, "Jolene"

Ray, "For the Good Times"

Glen, "Wichita Lineman"

Photo Credit: Youtube

Now, I turn it over to you.

Do you agree with Brad? Is Carrie the best living Country singer right now? Who IS the best living Country singer? Is it someone I've mentioned above? Or do you have another singer in mind? Sound off below!

Chat with me about this topic on Twitter, if you like. Also, feel free to email me to keep the conversation going.

Kellie Pickler wins Dancing With The Stars!

2013-05-21T21:32:31-06:00

Aaaaahhhhh!!!!! I'm so darn happy for Kellie Pickler!

Sorry if you DVR'd tonight's Dancing With The Stars episode and didn't want to hear who won because I'm going to tell you anyway.

It's Kellie Pickler!

After dazzling the judges Monday night with her gravity-defying freestyle dance, it was pretty evident who should win the show, but on Tuesday it became official when Kellie and Derek were awarded the Mirror Ball trophy.

Disney Channel star Zendaya and Val Chmerkovskiy came in second while Baltimore Raven Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff came in third.

Yay Kellie!

Check out Kellie's dance from Monday's show. It really was inspiring.

Cassadee Pope, "Wasting All These Tears" - Single Review

2013-05-20T10:02:30-06:00

As Cassadee Pope's solo debut single, "Wasting All These Tears" is a sufficient offering, perfectly straddling the line between pop and Country.It samples the boisterous production of her contemporaries, namely Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, and offers up a guitar-laden arrangement that will fit perfectly at radio, both Country and Top 40. There won't even be a need for a remix, honestly. The instrumentation skews to the extreme of pop-rock with a dash of down-home banjo.

With females (save for Taylor, Carrie and Miranda Lambert) struggling to find radioplay, Cassadee's future remains in limbo, even with this stellar pop affair. The hook is infectious and should lead the singer to at least gain traction with a Top 30 hit.

The song's intro takes notes from The Band Perry's similarly structured guitar plucking No. 1 hit "Better Dig Two" but quickly shifts into Avril Lavigne territory. That's not to say the track isn't fresh enough. It certainly is, at least in regards to what Country music is serving up right now. It's the love-child hybrid of Carrie and Taylor at their best, a singularly concocted anthem of a former flame. The song plods along, reading like a diary entry, quite like something Taylor could have written for 'Red.' The only difference is is that Cassadee has the vocal prowess and nuance to slowly build the story from the harrowing first verse to the mountainous crescendo towards the song's end, culminating in rich power notes. The song, a co-write with Caitlyn Smith and Rollie Gaalswyk, is rather vivid in its metaphors, a great way to introduce her to the general Country music listening crowd as a true singer-songwriter.

"I try to find you at the bottom of the bottle, lying down on the bathroom floor," she sings on the first verse. "My loneliness was wrattling the windows. You say you don't want me anymore."

Cassadee's vocals aren't particularly Country, which is perhaps her best assest. She interprets the honest lyrics from her own personal experience, allowing the song to speak for itself, without overdoing it. Each fist-pumping chorus builds upon the verses, laying down a glossed-sheen throughout the entire recording. I'm not completely sold on this song as "Country" per-se, but it's catchy enough to surely build momentum for the singer as she preps her Big Machine debut album this fall.

The hook is crafted around simple pop-confection (see: Kelly Clarkson circa "Breakaway"). It reads:

"Standing on the corner crying / Feeling like a fool for trying / I don't even remember why / I’m wasting all these tears on you."

Whether Country radio fully embraces the song remains to be seen. Can she have a major breakthrough with this offering? Possibly...if promoted correctly (aka if Scott Borchetta works his magic).

Overall Grade: B+

Love or hate this review? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter. Of course, you can also email me to continute the conversation.

Kellie Pickler ‘Someone Somewhere Tonight’ – Review

2013-05-20T07:00:00-06:00

‘Someone Somewhere Tonight’ is Kellie Pickler’s first single on Black River Entertainment, but it existed for some time before Kellie chose to record it. Previously performed by Kenny Rogers and Pam Tillis among others, to give Kellie the radio hit she so utterly needs and deserves they needed to update the song a bit musically.

And that is exactly what they have tried to do. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it doesn’t work. The song begins with delicate mandolin and acoustic guitar, with electric guitar beginning to make its appearance, with the occasional strum to build atmosphere. That’s all fine and good, but it continues to build and build, until the second verse sounds like a mess. It doesn’t help that the sound they’re using is quite a dirty, rough guitar sound, and it absolutely overpowers what should be a gentle, humble song. However, they’ve tried to make a sweet, thoughtful ballad into a big, powerful country rock ballad, and it’s just not one that can be belted vocally. That results in Kellie straining to be heard above the noise, and the other aspects of the production get totally lost.

It drops completely down for the second chorus, using fiddle to carry it, back to where it should have been in the first place, and it sounds much better. But then the solo (the biggest mistake I think), seems to hold a guitar-off, using too many pedals, too much distortion, too much overdrive, and too much tone. It shrieks unnecessarily in a song that should be a focus on the meaningful lyrics. These lyrics tell the stories of so many people all over the world, yet brings it back to the simple love felt between two people during the chorus. The third chorus is again trying to be big, and I can see why they would do that if they had chosen to make the rest of the song gentle, but that is not the case. Then yet again they drop it down to close, and it seems they simply couldn’t make up their mind what they wanted the song to be. Whilst trying to remain relevant, different and edgy they ruined a brilliant song that didn’t need to be over-done. It totally distracts from the premise of the song and erases any emotional effect it may have had.

Kellie’s vocals, however, are the song’s saving grace. Although more wavery than I’ve heard them before, there’s a vulnerability and a truth-telling in them, carrying the song and making some twists and turns without over-doing it. If it hadn’t have been for the over-production, I would have rated this song highly.

I was worried about the use of a ballad, and one that had been done many times before, to give Kellie the sales and radio boost that she was denied during her ‘100 Proof’ era. I was worried that it might come across as more “old-fashioned” and thus wouldn’t translate well with a young audience lapping up the likes of Florida Georgia Line and Hunter Hayes. However, clearly it would have been better off like that! I’m not sure how this song will fare, although I’ll tentatively make a prediction of top 20 on her fanbase alone. But as someone who had high expectations for new music from Kellie, I’m disappointed, and hoping for better when her album comes out.

You can watch the lyric video for ‘Someone Somewhere Tonight’ here:

Posted by Vickye (Guest Writer).
If you want to check out my own blog it's For The Country Record, and you can follow me on twitter @planmymistake. You can email me at vickye.countrymusic@gmail.com.

Big Machine & Outnumber Hunger Reach for Rewards..You CAN Help

2013-05-19T19:26:49-06:00

I may be behind in my things to do; but the work to support and erase hunger never stops. Since the inception in 2012 of the Outnumber Hunger program 6,825,375 meals have been secured, not too far from the goal of up to ten million that has been set. Can they meet and exceed such a large undertaking? I believe they can.

In April of this year the first ever Outnumber Hunger LIve concert event took place in Las Vegas on Friday night, during the 2013 Academy of Country Music weekend. The event brought awareness for the Outnumber Hunger Program in their quest to secure meals for its network of local food banks. This marks the second year that Big Machine Record Label is working alongside Feeding America, and General Mills to reach their goals. There is also no shortage of support from the label's roster of artists which include The Band Perry, Brantley Gilbert, Justin Moore, Florida Georgia Line, Cassadee Pope and Greg Bates who put on a wonderful night of music to kick off the 2013 campaign. There will also be other support from artists such as Rascal Flatts, Reba, the Eli Young Band, Thomas Rhett, Raelynn, The Mavericks and Ella Mae Bowen throughout the campaign.

But after all the glitz and glamour the work still continues. As part of the 42nd Annual CMA Fest taking place in Nashville June 6-9 country artist Thomas Rhett has invited fans to volunteer at the Second Harvest Food Bank for the 2nd consecutive year. Volunteers will be participating in helping sort and pack food alongside Thomas to help hungry Middle Tennesseans . This event filled up very quickly and it will give those involved a chance to learn more about hunger issues throughout Middle and West Tennessee followed by sorting food for Second Harvest's Emergency Food Box Program.

There is a misconception that hunger only relates to the very poor. This has led people to think it could not possibly be someone they know like a neighbor or a family in their church or childrens school. Yet it is true; it could be anyone you least expect. Please take the time to read these startling facts and dig deep into the ways you can help this program. It is so easy and totally affordable. You purchase certain products with the Outnumber Hunger banner on the front; find the code in the back of the packaging; go to the website; enter your code; follow the instructions and you are done. You will feel so good knowing you helped. http://www.outnumberhunger.com/hunger-in-america

There are many programs to help fight hunger which are very easy to work into your life. You don't have to be a big star to help; the bottom line is: JUST HELP DO WHAT YOU CAN...The rewards outweigh the awards.

(Pictures by Deb Sixta)

Taylor Swift's new neighbors really don't like her and the stalkers that come with her

2013-05-17T12:30:24-06:00

Sheesh. Looks like the rich folks that live near Taylor Swift's shiny new house on the beach in Rhode Island aren't digging their new famous neighbor.

After a crazed Taylor Swift fan decided to take a couple mile swim to Taylor's new pad at 2 in the morning earlier this week, one of Taylor's neighbors decided to write to CDAN to gripe.

"I want to remain completely anonymous, but as someone who lives where Taylor Swift just bought a summer home, it's already a circus. Apparently there has been a stalker scare so a section of the beach is roped off. We live here all year, pay taxes all year, to enjoy three months at the beach...and now that might be in jeopardy. I don't want to speak for everyone, but you're kinda not welcome."

Completely anonymous? Sounds like someone doesn't want to jeopardize an invite to any of Taylor's sure-to-be-amazing summer barbecues that I'm sure she'll be throwing.