This CD commemorates Willie Nelson's 70th Birthday (April 30, 2003). The catalog of Willie Nelson is so vast and rich that assembling an "essential" collection of only one or two discs seems nearly impossible. RCA's single-disc 1995 attempt was admirable and ...

It's no coincidence that maverick country star Dwight Yoakam rose to prominence in Los Angeles during the 1980s, playing clubs with the likes of Los Lobos, X, and the Blasters. Yoakam's roots revivalism, which borrows equally from the Bakersfield honky-tonk ...

Favorite Country Hits is a condensed, 18-track single disc of Floyd Cramer's mid-'90s double-disc set, which was only sold through television. On the album, Cramer runs through a number of country classics, including his trademark "Last Date." Though Cramer's talent ...

Shedding some of the big-booted affectations and sticky sentimentalism of his 2009 debut while sharpening his musical attack, Justin Moore takes a leap forward on his second album, 2011's Outlaws Like Me. Which isn't to say Moore can't resist succumbing ...

The Zac Brown Band's third major-label studio album, Uncaged, is the first with new member percussionist Daniel de los Reyes, and features guest spots from Amos Lee and Trombone Shorty, as well as songs co-written with Jason Mraz and fellow ...

Miranda Lambert struck gold with her third album, Revolution, which sent two songs to the top of the country charts. Four the Record looks to continue her winning streak, mixing sassy country-pop with a handful of rustic, bluegrass-influenced songs. Despite ...

Includes liner notes by Mickey Raphael, Booker T. Jones and Willie Nelson. Digitally remastered by Chris Athens (Sterling Sound, New York, New York). 15 years before Tony Bennett made the Great American Songbook safe for the MTV generation, there was Willie Nelson's ...

Iris DeMent isn't a pop star, although she probably could have been had she been at all interested in playing that game. She's a careful, detailed songwriter with a confessional edge and a good sense of narrative, and her voice ...

Florida Georgia Line (Georgia's Tyler Hubbard and Florida's Brian Kelley) broke onto the contemporary country scene in the spring of 2012 with the infectious summer single "Cruise," a song that blended cruising country back roads and farm towns with ragged ...

The '60s C&W sound is still great in the '90s. ~ David A. Milberg Live Recording

Want to hear part of the reason why Johnny Cash is an icon, a singer respected and influential in country, folk, and rock & roll? THIS is it! In 1968--one of the most tumultuous years in American history since the ...

From the early 1980s onward, there's been no greater champion of traditional country-music values in the mainstream (and none more successful) than George Strait. Like a virtual Ramones of country, he's remained unshakeable in his devotion to a straightforward, no-frills ...

Over the course of these 20 tracks, listeners get to encounter the rare and focused genius that was Gary Stewart. Covering his career from the late '60s through the 1970s while he was with RCA, these songs testify to a ...

After the success of their first two singles -- "If I Die Young" and "Hip to My Heart," the Band Perry issued a self-titled teaser: a five-track EP that featured a different mix of the latter track. This is confusing, ...

On 2006's PRECIOUS MEMORIES, country superstar Alan Jackson ventures into gospel territory, offering up a set of warm and inviting faith-themed songs. These spare tracks feature no percussion and rely almost solely on piano and acoustic guitar, allowing the focus ...

Kenny Chesney insists the title song for Welcome to the Fishbowl, his 13th studio album, isn't specifically about his own celebrity, but even at that, he's handled that part of his job with grace and good humor. Fishbowl shows a ...

Changed, Rascal Flatts' seventh studio album, and the first with the Big Machine Label Group, was recorded in bassist Jay DeMarcus' studio, and includes tracks produced by the band and the group's longtime producer Dann Huff. Recording information: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, ...

Maybe it's just the times but Toby Keith has had drinking on his mind, calling his 2011 album Clancy's Tavern, which rode up the charts on the back of the boozy hit "Red Solo Cup" and now, for its sequel, ...

Jerry Clower's clean, country humor gets proper representation on this well-assembled Greatest Hits, a collection that, since its release in 1994, has launched many a hunting season with some down home laughs. All of Clower's most colorful characters are here, ...

Although country icon George Jones had made gospel albums before this 2003 recording, both solo and with duet partner Tammy Wynette, this one bears a special significance. The two-disc set of spirituals marks the first time he'd tackled such material ...

One of the most comprehensive Conway Twitty collections on the market, 2006's two-disc GOLD spans the country star's entire career, from his late-1950s rock-&-roll days to his final recordings in the early '90s. This impressive 40-track set acknowledges Twitty's short-lived ...

Even though he also cut a slew of country ballads and honky tonk tunes, Horton's fame rests with these folk saga songs. After spending the majority of the '50s reworking the classic sound of Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Webb ...

16 TRACKS ECO-DIGIPAK Audio Mixers: Howard Willing; Julian Raymond. Liner Note Author: Robert K. Oermann.

Contemporary country singer and songwriter Eric Church has been on a roll since 2006. He's had a slew of charting singles and albums, won Top New Solo Vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards for 2010, and in early ...

Blake Shelton's sixth album (not including compilations), Red River Blue features production by the in-demand, award-winning Scott Hendricks. It is preceded by smash single "Honey Bee," which reached number one on the Billboard and Mediabase country single charts within seven ...