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Trace Adkins is Keepin’ it Country:
Category Archives: List
Top 10 Live Tracks (2000 – Now)
There’s nothing we here at Keepin’ It Country love more than live music, so it only made sense to put together a list of some of our favorite live tracks to share with you all, our lovely readers! This particular list is made up of only live tracks from 2000 – 2012, mostly because trying to go through the entire live history of country music turned out to be a bit daunting. Also, all tracks in consideration had to have been released commercially at some point, so no bootlegs here! (Though that could easily be another list.)
Now that the fine print is out of the way, check out our picks below!
10. Love & Theft – “Don’t Wake Me” – Live in Savannah EP
Love & Theft’s performance of “Don’t Wake Me,” off of the band’s Live in Savannah EP, highlights everything that’s great about the group. Three (now two) great looking guys singing perfect harmonies on killer pop-country songs. Any cut from this album could have made our list, but this was a personal favorite. The band gained certain notoriety when Taylor Swift wrote “Hey Stephen” about member Stephen Barker Liles, but if Love & Theft can keep their moment going with live shows like this one there’s a good chance they’ll give Rascal Flatts a run for their money in a few years.
9. Kenny Chesney – “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy – Live Those Songs Again
Kenny Chesney has long ruled the country music touring circuit; one of the few acts in any genre that can consistently sell out stadiums, so it should be no surprise that he made our list. “Tractor” is a reminder of exactly what makes Kenny so fun to see live. It’s a fun summertime party with the best soundtrack.
Check out the rest of the list after the jump!
Top 20 Country Christmas Songs
Hey friends…
Happy Holidays!
Over the next few weeks we will be posting various ‘Top Songs’ and ‘Best Of’ lists. To kick us off, I am sharing my list for the “Top 20 Country Christmas Songs.” I am a big fan of Christmas music, and there are so many great songs out there by our favorite artists that it was difficult to even narrow it down to twenty.
Here they are in no particular order…
1) I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus – Reba McEntire
2) Silent Night - Blake Shelton
3) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Julianne Hough
4) Last Christmas - Taylor Swift
5) The Christmas Song - Martina McBride
6) Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Carrie Underwood
7) I’ll Be Home For Christmas – Rascal Flatts
8) Baby, It’s Cold Outside - Lady Antebellum
9) All I Want For Christmas Is You – LeAnn Rimes
10) Winter Wonderland - Brad Paisley
11) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Brooks & Dunn
12) Santa Baby - Kellie Pickler
13) Go Tell It On The Mountain - Little Big Town
14) O Holy Night - Faith Hill
15) Silver Bells - Kenny Chesney
16) Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer – Gene Autry
17) Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
18) Joy To The World - Dolly Parton
19) Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
20) My Grown Up Christmas List – Kelly Clarkson (I know she’s only “sometimes” country, but I had to include her.)
What are your favorite country Christmas songs? Want to share your playlist? Sound off in the comments! As always, we love to hear from you.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
Rolling Stone – “Best of 2011″ Lists
Rolling Stone editors have published their annual “Best of ” lists, including their favorite albums and singles of 2011. It is always noteworthy and an impressive feat to get recognition from the iconic publication. Check out which country artists made the lists!
Country favorite, Miranda Lambert, has had a year for the books both professionally and personally. She experienced career milestones and great success, as well as married her best friend and the other half of country’s most adored couple, Blake Shelton. She also brought us the current hottest trio in music with the Pistol Annies, which is made up of Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley in addition to Lambert. And now, Lambert and the Annies are getting some acknowledgment from Rolling Stone.
Lambert’s album, Four The Record, is number 31 on the “50 Best Albums” list and the Pistol Annies’ album, Hell on Heels, holds the number 29 spot. Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart” also was chosen as number 26 on the “50 Best Singles” list. What a way to end the year. Congratulations to Lambert, Monroe, and Presley! There surely will be more big things for them in 2012. Be ready!
The other country star to make the Rolling Stone lists is Eric Church. He had an impressive year of his own with his first number one album, Chief, as well as a “Best Country Album” nomination for the upcoming 54th Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone named Chief the 19th “Best Album of 2011″ and chose his song, “Springsteen,” as number 30 on the “Best Singles” list. Congratulations to Eric! I am sure he will see even more success in 2012 as well.
You can check out the full lists on Rolling Stone‘s website:
Billboard releases 2011 Country Charts
Billboard has just released all of the 2011 year-end charts and it’s no surprise that, on the Country Music Artists chart, Taylor Swift came out on top. Billboard came up with the rankings based on album and single sales, radio airplay, touring revenue, streaming and activity on social media platforms. Check out the full Top 10 below.
1. Taylor Swift
2. Jason Aldean
9. Brad Paisley
10. Luke Bryan
For Billboard’s Top 10 Country Albums and Songs of the Year, click through the jump!
2011 CMA Nominees Express Excitement Over Twitter
Once upon a time, fans didn’t know their favorite country stars every thought. They had to settle for occasional interviews on the radio or in magazines. Times have changed. Thanks to Twitter, fans can get a bit of insight into the everyday lives of the voices they hear on the radio. While sometimes celebs Tweets range from the strage to the mundane for those nominated for a 2011 CMA Award, the mood was decidedly celebratory. Check out what just a few of the nominees were saying below:
blakeshelton Blake Shelton - Wow!!! Five CMA nominations?!!!!! No way… So this is what it’s like to be Miranda Lambert….
Miranda_Lambert Miranda Lambert - Yay!!!! Nom’s Female and collaboration with 2 of my hero’s!!!! Thanks CMA’s. And congrats to my hubby for dominating!!!!:)
taylorswift13 taylorswift13 - Thanks to you guys and the CMA voters, we got 5 CMA NOMINATIONS THIS MORNING!!! I am flipping out!!!
martinamcbride Martina McBride - SO HAPPY to be nominated for CMA Female Vocalist this year! Thanks for all the sweet tweets!
KeithUrban Keith Urban - Crazy cool CMA noms this morning!!!! It blows my mind how sweet they are when we get them. I’m euphoric and moved!!! Thank you. Thank you.
ChrisYoungMusic ChrisYoungMusic - Literally got woken up by my phone ringing. Not a morning person. But then I found out I’m nominated for CMA New Artist. So I was ok with it
LBTmusic Little Big Town - We are honored and excited to be nominated for CMA Vocal Group of the Year. Thank you!
thebandperry The Band Perry - It was a great morning on Good Morning America – we’re so grateful for the nominations!
steelmagnolia11 Steel Magnolia - Yay! We’re up for a CMA! Woohoo! Xo Meg yfrog.com/nvmyyhj
Swift & Underwood Named “Queens of Pop”
Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift found themselves on the top of Rolling Stone’s “Queens of Pop” list. The magazine listed 16 female stars and ranked them. Swift came in second, one spot under Lady GaGa. Underwood landed the #11 spot, just shy of the top ten. The country superstars were the only country artists to make the list.
Rolling Stone’s list was based upon the combination of radio airplay, YouTube views, digital and album downloads, concert ticket sales, industry awards, and critic’s rankings from the period of 2009 t0 mid 2011.
Swift topped mega-stars Rihanna, Britney Spears in the touring categories with $73.9 million in touring sales.
