Top Ten Country and Bluegrass Music Sales

OUR PICK - Silver City by Sarah Borges

Sarah Borges mixes rock, country and rockabilly into something totally her own. You won't be disappointed!

- A stunning set of songs exploring American music in all its many aspects. You'll hear everyone from Hank Williams to The Pixies, but it never sounds forced. Legendary producer Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Uncle Tupelo, Hole, Pixies) pulls it all together into a muscular, rocking sound that has a sometimes surprisingly tender core. Borges' songwriting range is most impressive in someone so young, and the songs are given ample breathing room by her band, which includes ex-Blood Oranges multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Ryan. "Silver City" is sure to emerge as one of the most striking debuts of the year.Don't be fooled by the steel guitar on practically every track. This spirited debut by Boston's Sarah Borges owes more to punk rock than honky-tonk, with an attitude closer to Chrissie Hynde than Patsy Cline. "Good things come to those who can't wait," sings Borges on the opening "All This Weight." She proceeds to bring a breathy urgency to highlights such as "Daniel Lee" and "On the Corner," matching the joyride recklessness of her backing musicians (including Jake Brennan & the Confidence Men and Blood Oranges mandolinist Jimmy Ryan). Though propulsive rockers dominate this Paul Q. Kolderie production, there's a tender vulnerability to "Mellow Doubt" and "Pious Proud," ballads that suggest a softer side to Borges. Amid all the songs of fast living and hard loving, her torchy reading of "I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About in My Song" gives it a spin that gospel composer Thomas Dorsey never intended. --Don McLeese
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Top Ten Country Music

Twang - Twang is the follow-up to the platinum selling and CMA Album of the Year, Troubadour. The debut single, "Living For The Night" is the first single as a songwriter.

Strait was recently recognized by the Academy of Country Music as the Artist of the Decade and was honored in a primetime CBS TV special.
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Wilco (The Album) - Wilco's seventh disc, Wilco (the album), took shape quickly in January '09 after the band traveled to Auckland, New Zealand to participate in an Oxfam International benefit project. The band began cutting tracks for the new album, producing it themselves with the help of engineer Jim Scott. The sextet completed the disc at its Chicago studio and performed some of the new material in April at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; where the Times-Picayune praised the band's 'thrilling,
nuanced set.' Wilco (the album) combines the intimacy of its previous studio disc, Sky Blue Sky (2007), with the experimentation of A Ghost
Is Born (2004) in a set that boasts strong melodies and gorgeous, often unabashedly pop arrangements. Wilco has clearly laid out the welcome mat to admirers of all aspects of its career; in fact, the disc opens with 'Wilco (the song)' originally unveiled in the group's performance on The Colbert Report last October in which Tweedy & Co. offer their fans 'a sonic shoulder
to cry on,' promising,'Wilco will love you, baby.' Talking to a Rolling Stone reporter, drummer Glenn Kotche calls it 'a great, upbeat song professing our love for our fans.' That said, Tweedy's lyrics remain frank and fascinating; Rolling Stone calls them
'sly, insightful and often heartbreaking.' As with Sky Blue Sky, most of the tracks are concise in shape; 'Bull Black Nova,' however, features a dramatically building arrangement and thrilling guitar crescendo, more duel than jam. It's followed by the gentler 'You and I,' a duet between Tweedy and Canadian singer- songwriter Feist, and 'You Never Know,' a gloriously anthemic track that is the album's first single. The disc culminates with 'Everlasting Everything' a piano-driven ballad with delicate sonic nuances that lyrically celebrates love's endurance.
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Electric Dirt - Electric Dirt (Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard Records) is the second album in the last two years from American musical treasure Levon Helm. Its predecessor, the GRAMMY-winning Dirt Farmer, his first solo LP in a quarter century, followed Levon's near miraculous recovery from throat cancer, and as such represented a new lease on life for the legendary artist, who rose to prominence as the drummer and vocalist for Levon and the Hawks, which later became The Band. Electric Dirt again finds Levon steeped in tradition in his connection to the land and those who live by it, but this record goes deeper and wider, incorporating gospel, blues and soul elements in a bracing collection of originals and carefully chosen outside songs. As with Dirt Farmer, multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell took the reigns as producer and the album was recorded at "The Barn"- Levon Helm Studios. "Our objective here was to take the honesty, innocence and purity of the Dirt Farmer record which represents a true element of what Levon is all about, but also expand on that and explore deeper the goldmine of Levon's musical artistry" states Campbell.
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Fearless - Fearless is the 2008 sophomore album from Taylor Swift, the young Country singer/songwriter who charmed the hearts and charts of America beginning with her debut single 'Tim McGraw'. Her triple-platinum self-titled debut release has scanned over 3.4 million units and spent more weeks at #1 than any other Country album this year: 24 weeks! Taylor is the only Country female artist to have five Top 10 singles from a debut album and the only Country female vocalist this decade to reach the Top 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart. Needless to say, she's a sensation that has only just begun to show what she is capable of. 13 tracks including the single 'Love Story' and 'Change', first heard during the 2008 Summer Olympics. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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American Saturday Night - 2009 album from the Country superstar. A Grammy-winning instrumentalist and the reigning, three-time ACM and two-time CMA Male Vocalist winner with 13 career #1 singles to his credit, Paisley has amassed album sales in excess of 10 million units, including his two times platinum 2005 ACM and CMA Album of the Year, Time Well Wasted. American Saturday Night features the hit single 'Then,' produced by Frank Rogers.
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Learn To Live - As the front man of Hootie & The Blowfish, Darius Rucker has already experienced success - earning 2 Grammy awards and selling over 25 million albums worldwide. Now, embracing his country roots and a music he has always wanted to make, Darius is attracting the attention of country fans who are discovering his voice for the first time, and rewarding Hootie fans with new music featuring one of the most unique voices across any genre of music. Featuring his debut country single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", Learn to Live features 12 undeniable country hits and a voice that is unarguably Darius Rucker. "I have always written country songs...for me, this is really just part of the natural evolution of my career. I plan to be doing this for a long time. This isn't a one album deal - it's a career thing," explains Rucker.As the lead singer and co-writer for Hootie & the Blowfish, Darius Rucker always eschewed overt R & B, and fixed the band’s music in roots rock. Now on this solo album, Learn to Live, he immerses himself in the typical Nashville themes of home, hearth, and spirituality, with varying results. His sturdy baritone knows how to carry these messages, and he displays an ease with country phrasing. Furthermore, he's assembled a fine passel of pickers, from mainstream guests Vince Gill, Alison Krauss and Brad Paisley, to 'grassers Aubrey Haynie and Bryan Sutton. All this works fine on the radio—the album and the single "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," which logged the number one slot on the country charts. But while Rucker pays fine homage to Buck Owens with the intro to the humorous divorce declaration "All I Want," and nurtures his inner redneck on the barroom anthem "Drinkin' and Dialin'," too many clichés weave their way into his lyrics, and the overall sound is that of amiable, cookie-cutter, country pop. Next time out, let’s hope Rucker reaches farther back into his South Carolina roots for a more authentic backwoods connection. -– Alanna Nash
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American Central Dust - After spearheading the alternative country movement with his band Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar pursued his vision with Son Volt, who recorded three landmark albums in the '90s before the groundbreaking artist put the band on extended hiatus and cut three solo records. Now back with his third Son Volt album of the decade, Jay Farrar has delivered what may be his finest work yet, American Central Dust. The new album exhilaratingly carries on the tradition of the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Little Feat circa Sailin' Shoes, the Rolling Stones of Exile on Main Street and early R.E.M., with standouts like the exceptional "Down to the Wire," "Dynamite" and "No Turning Back." An epic lament for the heartland, American Central Dust is populated with readily recognizable characters, the most hopeful of them searching for love against a backdrop of rusted road signs and abandoned factories. Rarely does a musical work so powerfully capture the zeitgeist of its historical moment while also honoring the traditions of rock & roll with such rawboned grace
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The Foundation - Playing upwards of 200 dates a year, more than 2,500 shows in their career and selling more than 20,000 CDs independently, Zac Brown Band has only begun its ascent. The band's aggressive touring has helped it develop a fanatical grassroots following by winning over believers one person at a time. Driven by awe-inspiring musicianship, skillful songwriting and a dynamic live show that inspires word-of-mouth buzz, Zac Brown Band is already embraced by audiences who sing along with every word.
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Gloriana - Gloriana's self-titled debut reflects both the sheer talent of this up-and-coming group and the level of commitment that they have put into making every note count. Gloriana's soaring four part harmonies have been compared to music icons such as The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac.
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Lady Antebellum - There has been a buzz in Music City since mid-2006 when Lady Antebellum performed together for the very first time. The trio- comprised of Hillary Scott (vocals), Charles Kelley (vocals), and Dave Haywood (vocals, acoustic guitar, keys)- says their name, "Lady Antebellum," represents a sense of nostalgia found in the songs they sing. "It felt like magic," says Hillary, remembering their first performance together, "We all felt more comfortable onstage together than we ever had alone."

A year and a half later, the buzz on Lady Antebellum is as strong as it's ever been, and the rest of the nation will soon discover why. Hillary, Charles, and Dave, three young songwriter-musicians with varied influences and backgrounds, create a sound that is fresh and unique, yet still sounds like something you've known for a long time. The debut single, "Love Don't Live Here," is only the beginning for Lady Antebellum. The "Lady A" buzz is coming...April 15!
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Texas Swing

50 Number Ones - When George Strait's "She'll Leave You With a Smile" moved to the top of the country charts in early 2003, the handsome Lone Star crooner bested Conway Twitty for the most No. 1 singles by a solo artist. This collection of 50 chart-toppers, spanning 22 years, showcases the Cadillac of country singers at his best, blending traditional and contemporary stylings, but never straying too far from the core of his Texas barroom sound. "Fool Hearted Memory," from 1982, proves that Strait had his uncluttered production and straightforward vocal approach down from the start, no matter how many producers guided him to his peak. Through the years, the path to superstardom dictated that he trade the crisp Western swing of "Right or Wrong" and "Ace in the Hole" for squishy, mid-tempo crowd pleasers like "Check Yes or No" and "Write This Down." But he redeemed himself with such poignant heartbreakers as "So Much Like My Dad" and "…Smile." This retrospective's one new track, "I Hate Everything," about a man in a bar who's besotted more from pain than whiskey, doesn't match up with the singer's best material, but it's still got that irresistible Strait hook: average-guy sincerity wrapped in a down-to-earth heart. --Alanna Nash
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Willie and the Wheel - Asleep at the Wheel has been reviving western swing music for almost forty years and Willie Nelson has been playing, well, just about every type of music (except maybe rap) for well over forty. The two acts come together on February 3 to salute the western swing sound on Willie and the Wheel .

Ray Benson told the 9513 - Willie s our lead singer, and we do all the Western swing stuff and I mean the old stuff. Milton Brown, Cliff Bruner, Spade Cooley, Bob Wills. It s got Willie, the Wheel, and some horns. It s gonna be pretty cool.-

In a separate interview with Live Daily, Benson explained the origins of the album - Jerry Wexler originally came up with this concept back when Willie was on the Atlantic label but before the record could be made, Willie left Atlantic for CBS Records and so the idea was shelved.-

Jump ahead to 2007 when the Wheel went out on the Last of the Breed tour with Nelson, Ray Price and Merle Haggard. Wexler went to one of the shows and started pushing to do the album again.

- Jerry wanted us to do this album and I'm glad we got to do it for him, and that he heard it before he passed on,- Nelson said in a statement.

Benson says they are also planning a tour together starting February 11 in Red Bank, New Jersey. - Willie and I are cooking up quite a concert. Not only will we be playing songs from the new album, we'll also perform Willie's classics together with Asleep at the Wheel and a full horn section. There will be a few surprises too!-
- Vintage Vinyl News
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Tangled Tales - "Tangled Tales" features Dan's trademark outlaw swing music and insightful charm. His counter culture appeal has always been rooted in his songwriting. His lyrics have been touted as some of the sharpest-tongued, driest-witted, and subtly hilarious bits of irreverence ever committed to rhyme. He sets these lyrical gems to quirky tunes that trade on a bagful of jazz chords and an irresistibly propulsive rhythm. Hicks is revered by and has collaborated with the likes of Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Bette Midler, Brian Setzer, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Linda Ronstadt, and Rickie Lee Jones.
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Play - Brad Paisley, Play
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Lost Highway - Lost Highway covers nearly a decade's worth of music from over 12 albums including 3 previously unreleased gems.

Encompassing a broad spectrum of musical styles, Lost Highway features an amazing roster of collaborating artists while showcasing Willie's incomparable songwriting as well as his uncanny ability to take classic songs and truly make them his own.

Artists featured on this compilation include: Rob Thomas, Lee Ann Womack, Ray Price, Lucinda Williams, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Merle Haggard and Shania Twain
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Pure Country [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] - With the help of producer Tony Brown, George Strait redefined his relationship to the contemporary country mainstream with this 1992 soundtrack album, which became the bestselling single release of his career. In the movie, Strait portrays a country star who walks away from the smoke and mirrors to get back to his down-home roots. The ballad "When Did You Stop Loving Me" is as pure country as it gets in this day and age, while "The King of Broken Hearts" and "Where the Sidewalk Ends" introduced Strait's audience to an exceptionally gifted songwriter named Jim Lauderdale. --Rick Mitchell
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It Just Comes Natural - For the first time, Strait recorded NATURAL in a new setting - Jimmy Buffett's Shrimpboat Studio in Key West, Florida, where Strait and Buffett recorded "Sea of Heartbreak," from Buffett's LICENSE TO CHILL album, a few years ago. "I thought it might be a good idea to try something different," says Strait. "You couldn't tell that we cut this down there, there's no island flavor at all, but we just had a blast doing it. The studio is probably the smallest I've ever been in, with the musicians all crammed back in a little room - but we got a great sound, and it's such a relaxing atmosphere. I think I'll probably go back again." Recorded once again with Strait's frequent co-producer, Tony Brown, the sounds on the album reflect Strait's characteristic blend of traditional country structures shot through with a healthy dose of honky-tonk spirit and Western swing. Moods range from the introspective "Come On, Joe," in which a man's late wife tells him to be strong and move ahead with his life, to the raucous "Texas Cookin'," which is about just what it sounds like. An array of Nashville's finest songwriters contributed to NATURAL, including Bill Anderson, Bruce Robison, Lee Roy Parnell, and Guy Clark. "This album's got fifteen songs, which is more songs than I've ever put on a record before," says George Strait. "But I thought they were all so good, there wasn't one song on here that I would have felt right about leaving off. I really think we came up with one of the best albums I've ever done." The album in question, titled IT JUST COMES NATURAL, is being released in a year that marks Strait's 25th anniversary as a recording artist, and coincides with the announcement that he is the most recent addition to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It's also coming out alongside the jaw-dropping news that George Strait has become the all-time leader for Number One Country singles, as the album's opening track, "Give It Away," recently became his 53rd song to top the charts.When the announcement came that George Strait was to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, there were those who thought it was premature. After all, Strait is only in his early 50s, and with 53 #1s, more than anyone else in Nashville history, he is still an active working artist, not the sort who sits back on a million-acre ranch remembering when. But one spin through It Just Comes Natural and it's obvious why the quiet Texan deserved his induction now. He simply has no mainstream peer, for either his consistency on the charts or his continuing to raise the bar with his confident, nuanced performance. Here, on an album recorded in Key West, Strait sounds even more relaxed than usual, as if he took more time to live with the songs--15 in all--before he recorded them. Throughout, he amply demonstrates his ability to choose material that pushes the country genre beyond its core themes of God, family, and patriotism while still staying traditional. So many of the songs catch one off guard, either because of their different subject matter (the way the lyric of "Come on Joe" gradually tells us the dead never really leave the living) or in their sophisticated approach to a routine topic (the head-spinning recognition of an old flame in Bruce Robison's "Wrapped"). Then there's the artistry with which producer Tony Brown's handpicked studio cats elevate an already great song even higher (a sizzling cover of Guy Clark's folk/honky-tonk/Western swing classic "Texas Cookin'"). Twenty-five years after his recording debut, Strait is still as crisp as the crease in his Wranglers. Yet the leader of the Ace in the Hole band has yet another card up his freshly starched sleeve. The man who doesn't talk in concert and rarely speaks to reporters leads off with "Give It Away," a divorce-and-damage saga set off by--surprise--a recitation! --Alanna Nash
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Strait Out of the Box - Award-winning country superstar George Strait personally selected the 72 cuts on this epic boxed set. Spanning 1981-1995, this set includes 30 No. 1 singles, 11 rarities and three new tracks, including a never-before-released duet with Frank Sinatra.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: STRAIT,GEORGE
Title: STRAIT OUT OF THE BOX
Street Release Date: 09/12/1995
Domestic
Genre: COUNTRYWhen the hits come as effortlessly as they do to Strait, it's easy for an artist to lose interest. The man who ushered in country's hat-act era has spent a career bouncing from lifeless and fluffy to hard and soulful. This four-CD box tells the story from 1976 (when he cut the first of three singles for Houston indie D Records) through 1995. At his best--"Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind," for example--he defines the modern heart song, but lightweight stuff such as "Hollywood Squares" won't win him new converts. --John Morthland
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40 #1 Hits -

Merle Haggard Photos
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The Essential Marty Robbins -
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Top Ten Outlaw Country Music

Secret, Profane and Sugarcane - The record was produced by T Bone Burnett and recorded by Mike Piersante during a three-day session at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studio.

Joining Costello were Jerry Douglas (dobro), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Mike Compton (mandolin), Jeff Taylor (accordion) and Dennis Crouch (double bass), some of the most highly regarded recording artists and musicians in traditional American country music, Bluegrass and beyond.

The album includes ten previously unrecorded songs. "Sulphur to Sugarcane" and "The Crooked Line", were co-written with T Bone Burnett while, "I Felt The Chill" marks Costello's second recorded songwriting collaboration with Loretta Lynn.

Costello revisits two songs from his catalogue in string band style. Both songs were originally written for Johnny Cash. "Hidden Shame" was indeed included on Cash's album, "Boom Chicka Boom".

The album title makes reference to "The Secret Songs", Costello's unfinished commission for the Royal Danish Opera about the life of Hans Christian Andersen.

Seeking a new connection from the author to the Anglophone world, Costello wrote about the Andersen's relationship with the world famous singer, Jenny Lind in "She Handed Me A Mirror" and "How Deep Is The Red".

"She Was No Good", relates some of the chaotic details of Lind's famous "All-American" concert tour of 1850, which was promoted by P.T. Barnum. In its aftermath, "Red Cotton" imagines Barnum reading an Abolishionist pamphlet, while manufacturing cheap souvenirs of the adventure.

These four episodes were newly adapted for the instrumentation of this record.

Indeed these are first Costello compositions to be predominantly rooted in acoustic music since his 1986 album, "King Of America", which was produced by T Bone Burnett. He also produced the 1989 album, "Spike".

T Bone adds his distinctive Kay electric guitar to several of numbers, the only amplified instrument on the recording.

Jim Lauderdale takes the close vocal harmony part throughout the record and Emmylou Harris contributed a third vocal part on the chorus of "The Crooked Line" on the final day of recording.

The record concludes with the waltz, "Changing Partners", a song made famous by Bing Crosby.

The cover artwork of "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane" is an ink drawing by the renowned cartoonist, illustrator and author, Tony Millionaire.

Elvis Costello first recorded in Nashville with George Jones in 1979 and returned to the city for "Almost Blue", his 1981 album of classic country covers.

He returned to the city in 2004 to record a duet rendition of "The Scarlet Tide" with Emmylou Harris.

This song, co-written with T Bone Burnett, received an Academy Award nomination for Alison Krauss' rendition in the motion picture, "Cold Mountain" in 2003.

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From Elvis in Memphis - This is the Legacy Edition of one of Elvis most significant albums, the critically acclaimed June 1969 release, From Elvis In Memphis. This brand new 2CD set contains all tracks from the sessions recorded at American Studios in Memphis In January and February of 1969, newly remastered for optimum sound quality.
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The Essential Johnny Cash - Japanese Blu-Spec CD pressing of this classic album. The Blue Spec format takes Blu-ray disc technology to create CD's which are compatible with normal CD players but provides ultra high quality sound. Sony. 2009.It's a great and perhaps impossible challenge to encapsulate the highlights of Johnny Cash's vast musical catalog in a two-CD, 36-song collection like this. Yet, though it barely scratches the surface, 2002's The Essential Johnny Cash--part of a series of compilations and reissues celebrating Cash's 70th birthday--does present three-dozen satisfying and balanced snapshots of some of the Man in Black's most memorable work for the Sun, Columbia, and Mercury labels. Above all else, these 36 selections are wonderful reminders of Cash's rustic eclecticism. Cuts range from '50s Sun rockabilly classics like "Hey Porter" and "I Walk the Line" to '60s country-folk gems like "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" and Cash's memorable duet with Bob Dylan on Dylan's "Girl from the North Country." Also included are more recent samplings of Cash's celebrated collaborations, including "Highwayman," which he recorded in 1984 with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson as part of the on-again, off-again supergroup the Highwaymen, and "The Wanderer," a fervent gospel collaboration with U2 that appeared on the band's 1993 album, Zooropa. --Bob Allen
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Roadhouse Sun - Ryan Bingham has spent most of his life on the road, first on the rough-and-tumble rodeo circuit, then moving from town to town on the equally volatile roadhouse musical circuit. Those travels have given him plenty of material to draw from - and plenty of reason to stop for a moment to dig in his heels and take a stand.

That's exactly what the Texas-bred troubadour does on his second Lost Highway album, Road House Sun, a hardscrabble collection that's at once unblinkingly personal and unapologetically political - the latter a new and bracingly vivid addition to Bingham's palette.

Produced, like its predecessor, by one-time Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford, Road House Sun manages to capture a feel that's rootsy without being retro. That has a lot to do with the singer's preternaturally wizened voice - which Bingham laughingly attributes to "Too many nights in the whiskey house" - not to mention Ford's approach behind the board," which Bingham describes as "really old school. Those guitar tones and basslines, Marc knew how to get those down. He wanted to do it the way they used to do it."
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Song Up in Her Head - Seventeen-year-old Texas native Sarah Jarosz emerged on the scene about five years ago as someone to watch. Jamming onstage with bluegrass icons David Grisman and Ricky Skaggs, she played her mandolin with a sure touch and real joy. It looked and sounded comfortable in her then twelve-year-old hands. She started writing songs on the guitar and took up the banjo. While her instrumental talents are formidable, let's make one thing clear: Sarah is a singer. Her voice is velvety smooth, agile, and powerful, occasionally reminiscent of such disparate artists as Natalie Maines and Patty Griffin.
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At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash had been breaking new ground for a decade when At Folsom Prison suddenly made the world at large take notice. The interaction of a volatile prison population starved for entertainment and a desperately on-form Johnny Cash was electrifying. His somber machismo finally found a home. The songs, which included every prison song Cash knew ("I Got Stripes," "The Wall," "25 Minutes to Go," "Cocaine Blues," plus his own "Folsom Prison Blues") were tailored to galvanize the crowd. This set is all about atmosphere. Live at the Grand Ole Opry this ain't. The 1999 version drops the San Quentin portion of the original CD reissue, instead adding three cuts to complete the full and uncensored Folsom show. --Colin Escott
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The Essential Willie Nelson - With 41 tracks drawn from nine record labels, the two-disc Essential Willie Nelson is impressive in its breadth. Disc one is simply superb; it begins with 1961's "Night Life," recorded for the obscure Bellaire label, and moves on to several of Nelson's early 1960s Liberty recordings, an overlooked gem recorded for Monument in 1964 ("I Never Cared for You"), a cherry-picked selection of his RCA and Atlantic sides, and finally his mid-1970s hits for Columbia (where he found his greatest chart success, beginning, in 1975, with the No. 1 single "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"). Disc two, however, is hit-or-miss. Classics like "On the Road Again," "Pancho & Lefty," and "Nothing I Can Do About It Now" are offset by such lesser material as "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" (recorded with Latin pop star Julio Iglesias), the phoned-in "City of New Orleans," and the sounds-better-on-paper "Highwayman" collaboration with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings. (Just because they all made it to No. 1 doesn't make them "essential.") Nelson's two best albums of the 1990s, Across the Borderline and Teatro, are represented by a paltry two songs. The disc ends with collaborations with U2, Lee Ann Womack, and Steven Tyler and Aerosmith (the previously unreleased "One Time Too Many"). None is particularly worthy of a best-of collection. Still, while it doesn't quite live up to its billing, the Essential Willie Nelson offers an excellent career overview of one of country music's true legends. --David Hill
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Mescalito - Lost Highway will release Mescalito, the debut album from Texas singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham. Mescalito contains 14 songs written by Bingham, following in the tradition of some of the great Texas songwriters such as Towns Van Zant.
Mescalito was produced by former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford, who also plays on the album. Bingham's music, as well as his live performances have already made fans of acclaimed artists such as Patti Griffin and Texas legends Joe Ely and Terry Allen.
At 25, the bumpy course of Bingham's life has already surpassed that of many twice is age. From his bordertown upbringing to his years on the Southwestern rodeo circuit, Bingham's poignant songs, sung through his whiskey-soaked voice, reflect his experiences and the wisdom he has gained from them. His songs are raw, honest and born out of a genuine soul.
From the opening track "Southside of Heaven" to the bluesy slide of "Bread & Water" to the Mexican-flavored "Boracho Station", Bingham's songs come straight from the heart. His influences blend seamlessly with his own style creating a traditional sound that also sounds fresh and original. Bingham has the unique ability to transport audiences into the center of the place from which they came.
Listen to Mescalito and take part in the journey that is Ryan Bingham."A vagabond spirit permeates these tales of truck stops, tip jars, boxcars, and love left behind, with a slide guitar punctuating arrangements that range from acoustic folk to classic rock (amid hints of the Rolling Stones, Neil Young's Crazy Horse, and a young Tom Waits). Yet ultimately, the impressive debut by this Southwestern, raspy-voiced troubadour is more than the sum of its songs, as the sequencing almost amounts to a narrative of life on the road, with the world-weary, end-of-the-line "Long Way from Georgia" and "Ever Wonder Why," leading to the renewal of "Sunrise." Former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford produced and provides multi-instrumental support, with Texas honky-tonk legend Terry Allen offering guest vocals and piano on "Ghost of Travelin' Jones." --Don McLeese
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Lucky One - Former Mavericks leader Raul Malo presents his first album of original material in seven years. Malo wrote Lucky One over a two-year period at his Nashville home and was so happy with the results that several of his home demos appear as final versions on the CD. For the balance of the album, he once again enlisted Steve Berlin, best known for his work with Los Lobos and who worked on Malo's 2001 Today album, as co-producer. Drawing on his deep love of country, rock, jazz and Latin music, Malo displays not only his eclectic taste, but a crystal clear voice unmatched by any other singer today.
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Top Ten Bluegrass

The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo - Comedian, actor, author, and banjo player Steve Martin releases his first musical recording since 1978's number 1 hit "King Tut." This is no novelty record though. It's some of the best banjo music to come down the pike in a long time. The Crow features able assistance from some of Steve's pals, including Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Earl Scruggs, Bela Fleck, Tim O'Brien and Mary Black. Martin wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on this album, creating a new body of work that will stand alongside the classics for years to come.
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O Brother, Where Art Thou? - The best soundtracks are like movies for the ears, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? joins the likes of Saturday Night Fever and The Harder They Come as cinematic pinnacles of song. The music from the Coen brothers' Depression-era film taps into the source from which the purest strains of country, blues, bluegrass, folk, and gospel music flow. Producer T Bone Burnett enlists the voices of Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley, and kindred spirits for performances of traditional material, in arrangements that are either a cappella or feature bare-bones accompaniment. Highlights range from the aching purity of Krauss's "Down to the River to Pray" to the plainspoken faith of the Whites' "Keep on the Sunny Side" to Stanley's chillingly plaintive "O Death." The album's spiritual centerpiece finds Krauss, Welch, and Harris harmonizing on "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," a gospel lullaby that sounds like a chorus of Appalachian angels. --Don McLeese
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A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection - "A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection" is comprised of 16 tracks, highlighting Alison Krauss's career outside of her traditional releases with longtime band Union Station. The album features Krauss's collaboration with John Waite on the single "Missing You," as well as Krauss's contributions to film soundtracks, including the Oscar-nominated songs "The Scarlet Tide" and "You Will Be My Ain True Love," written for the motion picture "Cold Mountain," and "Down to the River to Pray" from the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Known for her collaborations, Krauss also includes several duets in the collection such as the 2003 hit with Brad Paisley, "Whiskey Lullaby," and her duet with James Taylor for the tribute album "Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers," "How's the World Treating You." The collection debuts five new songs: "You're Just a Country Boy," "Jacob's Dream," "Simple Love," "Lay Down Beside Me," and "Away Down the River," all of which feature Krauss as a producer.A Hundred Miles or More carries the subtitle A Collection, and what a curious collection it is--cuts from soundtracks, side projects, and tribute albums, plus guest duets on other artists' albums and five previously unreleased tracks. In other words, this is a collection of Alison Krauss performances that have never appeared on an Alison Krauss album, though it holds together better than such a grab-bag approach might suggest. Highlights such as her duet with Brad Paisley on "Whiskey Lullaby" and her a cappella rendition of "Down to the River to Pray" from O Brother, Where Art Thou? will be familiar to most Krauss fans, though it's doubtful that many share her infatuation with retro rocker John Waite (with whom she revives his "Missing You" and duets on a cover of Don Williams's "Lay Down Beside Me."). Other projects represented range from Disney to the Chieftains to the Louvin Brothers (she duets with James Taylor on their "How's the World Treating You." There's minimal contribution from her Union Station band--making this a solo release by default--and little information to indicate whether the previously unreleased tracks were outtakes from earlier releases or recently recorded for this one. --Don McLeese

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Alison Krauss & Union Station - Live - This two-CD, 25-song set, recorded in Louisville on two nights in the spring of 2002, finds bluegrass's most celebrated crossover band at the top of its game. Krauss's warm, feathery vocals, capable of conveying complex emotions in a single note, appear more full-bodied than in studio recordings, yet lose none of their sensual appeal or dramatic tension. She's perfect, for example, as the melancholy temptress on "Let Me Touch You for Awhile," coming across as both savior and seductress, while Jerry Douglas's Dobro echoes the searing strains of passion and pain. With banjoist-guitarist Ron Block, bassist Barry Bales, and guest drummer Larry Atamanuik anchoring the rhythm, the ensemble deftly blends bluegrass with jazz, rock, and folk, combining lightning speed (though rushing through "Forget About It") with sophisticated chops, tangible emotion, and thrilling vocal blends. The crowd, more spellbound with every note, doesn't even breathe on "Ghost in This House" and nearly tears the place down on Dan Tyminski's voice-of-George Clooney showcase, "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow." But who could blame them? It's only one highlight on an album of uncommon artistry, a moving testament to how good live music can be in the hands of world-class players. --Alanna Nash
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Throw Down Your Heart, Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3: Africa Sessions - Throw Down Your Heart chronicles banjo virtuoso and 18 time Grammy award winner B�la Fleck's musical journey to Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo. Bela's boundary-breaking musical adventure takes him to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, and provides a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of African music. Using his banjo, B�la transcends barriers of language and culture, finding common ground and forging connections with musicians from very different backgrounds.
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Destination Life - The seven time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year returns with a stellar lineup of new, original and classic bluegrass songs. Rhonda Vincent takes the music to new heights while maintaining her deep bluegrass roots. The new album features her award winning touring band in their first studio appearance. Grab your bags and get on board for a trip through Americana - Destination Life!
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Now That I've Found You: A Collection - A poll-winning fiddler since her teens, Alison Krauss was an established bluegrass star when her label persuaded her to step out from her usual projects with Union Station, her crack band, and sanction this compilation of various band and solo guest performances. The ploy worked, yielding a wonderful, odds-beating crossover hit with Krauss's cover of "Baby, Now That I've Found You," a carousing late-'60s pop chant transformed into a delicate, vulnerable declaration of love. Focusing on Krauss's lovely, yearning soprano, the track elevated the musician above her resolutely democratic role in her quintet, catapulting Krauss to the biggest bluegrass success story in over 30 years. Krauss has stayed true to her bluegrass roots, as well as to Union Station, but this cross-section of contemporary bluegrass songs, joyous gospel, and canny rock covers testifies to the young artist's luminous appeal. --Sam Sutherland
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Emotionalism - Though the banjo might seem to relegate this decidedly non-bluegrass trio to the alt-country fringes, the buoyant melodies and heart-tugging harmonies on the album-opening "Die Die Die" and "Will You Return?" owe more to the early Beatles. Despite the stripped-down, largely acoustic arrangements, the 14 cuts here cover an impressively expansive musical terrain, with "Pretty Girl from Chile" and "Pretty Girl from San Diego" full of twists and surprises. Elsewhere there are echoes of influence from the Band, the Burritos, the Everlys, and beyond, but the music of this North Carolina family band refuses to be pigeonholed. --Don McLeese
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Cool Water (& 17 Timeless Favorites) - From the Living Stereo Series, the Long Time Classic Completely Remastered.
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