YouTube Gems: The Fox Hunt

From their new album (which will surely land in my top 20 of the year after I've had time to give it a good listen), Long Way to Go, here's The Fox Hunt with "I'll Drink Cheap." RIYL: The Felice Brothers, The Avetts, Old Crow Medicine Show, Justin Townes Earle, The Steeldrivers.

Best of 2010 So Far: 1st Quarter Report

It's been a good year for music so far. I always say that though. If you look (listen) hard enough, there's plenty of great stuff to listen to out there... and most of it isn't played on your local country or rock station.

What's this list missing? Let me know in the comments!

01. Joe Pug - Messenger

02. Austin Collins - Wrong Control

I've been playing this one about twice a day since I got it. Great great stuff!

03. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights

04. Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do

I wasn't that impressed with this after a few listens but it's really growing on me.

05. Great American Taxi - Reckless Habits

06. Retribution Gospel Choir - 2

07. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast

08. Tim Barry - 28th & Stonewall

09. Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain't No Grave

10. Hellbound Glory - Old High and New Lows

Country songs about heroin and heartbreak, chock full of profanity. I like it!

11. Reckless Kelly - Somewhere in Time

12. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart

13. Drew Kennedy - Alone, But Not Lonely (Free here!)

14. Dirty Sweet - American Spiritual

15. Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C)

16. Gary Allan - Get Off on the Pain

17. The Brothers Comatose - Songs from the Stoop

18. Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig

19. Whispering Pines - Family Tree

20. Murder By Death - Good Morning, Magpie

21. Freedy Johnston - Rain on the City

22. Rogue Wave - Permalight

23. I See Hawks in L.A. - Should've Been Gold

24. Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here

25. Easton Corbin - s/t

John Rich's Songwriting Tips #32

Love songs aren't really in fashion, but happily, ass tappin' songs are! Jake Owen, Josh Turner and Dierks Bentley have pooled up the legal tender by wetting the, um, check that, whetting the appetites of lovers all across the land. The good thing about this trend is that you don't really have to work that hard, errrr, don't have to put that much effort into these simple little ditties. Just take an old Conway song or your favorite 80's R&B ballad, change up the melody a little and describe your last nookie encounter in a rhyming fashion. Make sure to throw in a nifty hook like "I been waiting all day, so here I come" or "let me take the worry off your mind, and the silk off your behind." See how simple it is. You'll have the curvies eating out of your hand and a big ol' fat hit on your hands. Get some, baby.

*Not actually written by John Rich.

Honest Movie Posters #2

In the Year 2030

This is the debut of a brand new series in the spirit of Conan O'Brian's old "In the Year 2000" bits. FTM looks into the cracked crystal ball and tells you what's going on in the world of music (and other things) 20 years from now.

Without further adieu....

In the Year 2030:

•Governor Tim McGraw signs facial hair tax breaks into Louisiana state law

•Autotuner a mentor on latest season of American Idol

•Rising country singer Hank Williams IV (Real name Carlton Eubanks Williams, product of a Hank III one-night-stand in Tulsa) signs with Curb Records just to spite his estranged father; debut album scheduled for May 2036 release

•Huck Paisley, much to his father's dismay, records his first country album which is entirely devoid of novelty songs

•Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore put out a duets album in the style of George Jones and Tammy Wynette

•Parental Advisory label phased out; Pink "Sissy Songs" warning label phased in for niche market of profanity-free music

•Snoop/Dre record The Chronic: 2030, featuring songs "Nothin' But a AARP Thang," "Gin and Cialis"

•Cowboy Troy opens for Big & Rich for 27th consecutive summer despite not having a charting single since "I Play Chicken With the Train"

•Taylor Swift Behind the Music episode shows the extravagant lifestyle and the over-generosity to her extended family, large dance troupe and entourage that led to her current destitute state

•P Diddy changes his name to an unpronounceable symbol that looks a lot like The Notorious B.I.G.'s face with a dollar sign as the nose

•Justin Bieber still trending on Twitter