Ryan Bingham for cheap!

The new Ryan Bingham album, Junky Star is only $3.99 this week at Amazon (mp3 download). I've listened to it twice so far and I'm fairly certain it will find a high ranking on my next top albums chart. Seems to be much better than Roadhouse Sun. Give it a shot. Can't go wrong at that price!

Sugarland Face Swap

Hope I didn't ruin anyone's dinner.

Best of 2010 So Far: 2/3 Report

Here are FTM's Top 25 favorite albums of 2010 so far with links to listen to/buy some of them:

1. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song

2. Trampled by Turtles - Palomino

3. Austin Collins - Wrong Control

4. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

5. Joe Pug - Messenger

6. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights

7. Truth & Salvage Co. - s/t

8. Rodney Hayden - Tavern of Poets

9. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way

10. Dirty Sweet - American Spiritual

11. Paul Thorn - Pimps and Preachers

12. The Black Crowes - Croweology

13. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms

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

15. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

16. Sean McConnell - Saints, Thieves & Liars

17. Hellbound Glory - Old Highs and New Lows

18. The Roots - How I Got Over

19. Reckless Kelly - Somewhere in Time

20. Lissie - Catching a Tiger

21. The Dirty Guv'nahs - Youth is in Our Blood

22. Randy Rogers Band - Burning the Day

23. High on Fire - Snakes for the Divine

24. Great American Taxi - Reckless Habits

25. Against Me! - White Crosses

Snap Judgments: Promo Only Country Radio September

A summary of this month's comp: the big stars generally disappointed with lackluster releases. There are a few gems from big names and a couple from the never-heard-of-ems. The rest is mostly middling. Click the links for a full listen or sample of the song.

Snap Judgments - Promo Only Country Radio September

Josh Gracin - Cover Girl

2010's version of Sammy Kershaw's "She Don't Know She's Beautiful," except minus the charm. Cliché by every measure. Soft rock with guitars. Josh: "shake what your mama gave you" "sundress" etc. Me: "puke"

F

James Wesley - Real

Timely, if only because reality shows are still inexplicably popular, "Real" contrasts television's version of reality to the average American's reality. Besides leaning a little too hard on the gimmick (mentioning shows by name), this is a catchy (if sounding like it came from the 90's), memorable song with some definite hit potential.

B-

Kenny Chesney - Boys of Fall

Scru u h8ers. Ur jus jelious. Seriously though, I like this song a lot, at risk of my snarky blogger and alt-country lover credibility.

B+

Craig Campbell - Family Man

Another tune reminiscent of 90's country, "Family Man" is either cloying or heartfelt, probably depending upon your experience with the subject matter of the song... and your level of cynicism I suppose. Surprisingly, this jackass jerk of a blogger likes it. Feels honest.

B

Mark Chesnutt - Lovin' Her Was Easier

Mark's Waylon (Bare) cover is warm, but fairly unremarkable. That said, an adequate Waylon cover by Mark Chesnutt is better than the best Taylor Swift tune.

B

Miranda Lambert - Only Prettier

Hard to give a snap judgment of a song I've been listening to for months. Miranda's latest single is snappy, witty and full of attitude. This should solidify her spot on Nashville's A-List without sacrificing any "real country" cred.

B+

Burns & Poe - How Long is Long Enough

This may mark the end of the Burns & Poe experiment. This is the musical equivalent of a sigh. Or a yawn.

D

Jessie James - Boys in the Summer

Kinda late, eh? This reminds me of Laura Bell Bundy's "Giddy On Up" from a few months back. Very catchy, danceable, not that country, and entirely girl-centric. As a pop song, I'd probably give this a B-. As a country release, it's a:

D+

Blake Wise - Cornfields

Wise has a good voice, but this is a pretty unremarkable song, especially for an introductory (?) single. It's basically "Small Town USA" relocated to Iowa... with a much droopier tune.

C-

Train - Hey, Soul Sister (Country version)

Hell no. Make it go away! I hated the pop version, so adding little steel or banjo is like putting a cowboy hat on a cow turd. You know, Train's debut CD was actually really good. Since then, it hasn't been all downhill, it's been all valley.

D-

Joe Nichols - The Shape I'm In

Another song I've heard before now and I was hoping he'd put out as a single. I <3>

A-

Williams Riley - Sweet September

It's rare, but sometimes a song can mix overdone lyrics and an "I've heard that somewhere before" melody with a little "it" factor and come out with something much better than the sum of its parts. This song is proof. I should hate this but...

B-

Johnny Bulford - Don't Make Me Love You

A fairly catchy country tune, but JB's voice just isn't built for radio stardom if this is his best effort.

D+

George Strait - The Breath You Take

I don't dislike this quite as much as most reviewers have, but it's far from up to par for King George. For me it boils down to: the melody of the verses sounds like a funeral dirge while the chorus is bumper-sticker inspiration nuggets with swelling lovey-doveyness. Somehow, the chorus I don't mind so much - the verses are awful. As a whole, it's a very difficult listen.

C-

Brantley Gilbert - My Kind of Crazy

Brantley doesn't have the most powerful set of pipes, but it's a likable rasp. My Kind of Crazy is not the most memorable of songs on the first couple listens but I could see it growing on me.

C

Chris Young - Voices

I liked it well enough the first time it was released as a single and still do. I think Chris needs to vary the subject matter of his future singles to show the less serious side of his persona, but this is good enough to get him another top 10.

B-

Darius Rucker - Come Back Song

Darius is going the opposite direction I'd hoped he would take. Resting on your laurels, Hootie? This tune is an earworm, but it's not something Darius should be proud to have his powerful instrument of a voice ever grace.

C-

Reba - Turn on the Radio

Child please. Reba Reba Reba... c'mon girl... you're better than this. This song will definitely cause me to do the opposite of your bidding. Wow, the superstars on this comp have really turned in some crap-nuggets.

D+

John Rich - Country Done Come to Town

Paging Big Kenneth. The other half of your duo needs your help ASAP. John's dishwater thin voice does nothing to elevate this cliché-ridden tune, which could stand a good shot of attitude to make it anywhere near hit-worthy.

D

Todd O'Neill - Somethin' With Some Attitude

In stark contrast to John Rich's trite number, Todd kicks this fairly "been there, heard that" song in the ass with his crackin' vocals. While I don't love the song, I'm looking forward to hearing more from this guy. Cool voice.

B-

John Rich's Songwriting Tips #44

You need to consider your demographic for the song you're writing. If you're writing one for the fellas, throw in a truck or a punch in the face or a Copenhagen ring, and you're in business. But since there are so many young female fans new to the genre, I try to get in the panties, errr, heads of these lasses to find out where they're coming from. Are they into partying, love, sex, drinking, philosophy, sex, cars, social networking or maybe even sex? Get close to them and find out. KNOW your audience. Words to live by pardner.

*Not actually written by John Rich