NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville celebrity gossip

I blame Garth Brooks

Danity Kane.  If you only listen to country music than this is a name that wont mean a thing to you.  If you listen to other types of music then you may know Danity Kane as the all-girl group formed on MTV's Making The Band 4 helmed by rapper P. Diddy or Sean Combs or Puff Daddy or Sugar Bubble or whatever he's going by these days.

Well the group went their separate ways not too long ago and now are doing their own projects.  In a move that's become common place among people who can't make it in their own genre of music, one of the members has decided to give country a whirl.

Shannon Bex has decided that country is her passion and the way her career should go.  And her inspiration?  Why Garth Brooks of course.

"He's such an honest performer," she told The Tennessean. "I went to his concert for the first time ever, and I was in the 300 level, but it felt like he was performing right to me."

Shannon's been spending time in Nashville working on her debut solo studio album. "I'm just working on kind of finding my solo sound," she said. "I have been with a group for an amazing five years, and you know, it kind of happens, things move on. I want to do it right, though. I'm not jumping into anything."

Okay, I get tired of hearing all these people "going" country, but I'll give Shannon a bit of slack considering her name ROCKS!!! 

No word on when we can expect a new single or album. 

Not country, but here's Shannon performing on Fame.

Another Idol alum going country?

Sigh.  Please don't shoot the messenger, I just post 'em as I find 'em.

Danny Gokey, the bespectacled third place finisher on last season's "American Idol" is apparently considering country as his musical outlet.

After listening to him butcher Jesus Take The Wheel on the show I'm more than a little blah about the prospect. 

American Idol contestant Danny Gokey was in Nashville last week meeting with country music record labels, including the same label that's home to Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. Danny admits he doesn't really think of himself as a country artist, but he says he wouldn't mind recording country music because, "I love the message." He also thinks that artists like Carrie, Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts have, "brought a new taste to country, which I'd be more more interested in."

Hey, whatever pays the bills I guess.

Here's the studio recording of JTTW Danny did.  Strangely I couldn't find a video of Danny singing it on the show - of course I didn't spend that much time looking so that may have something to do with it.

 

Just in case you were wondering who WASN'T going country

 

 

Last week I had talked with Don over on Wow 104.3 about whether Kris Allen (American Idol's winner) would be good at country music after his great performance with Keith Urban on the show last week.  Well never fear all my cross-over-phobic readers, Kris has no plans to go country.

 

Well not until his career's in the toilet anyway.

 

Kris says he respects Keith Urban, but "that's not my cup of music and not the feeling I want in my album." He says he plans to stick with the songs that helped him win "American Idol."

So there you go, he's not a country boy...at least for now.  We'll check back in with him if and when his 15 minutes of fame are winding down. 

Woman beaters are hopefully not welcomed

Back a few months ago we heard that Tim McGraw had recorded a song called Humanwith Chris Brown.  Then Chris Brown and his then girlfriend Rihanna missed the Grammy's due to an altercation they had.  Later police pictures emerged along with the story of how Chris beat the crap out of Rihanna.

The song that Chris and Tim McGraw recorded has never surfaced but Chris has his sights set on recording another song with a country singer, and this time the song would actually be country.  

Ugh.  Another example of "my careers in the toilet, let's give country a try." 

During yesterday's BMI Pop Awards, Robert Allen, a writer and producer who is working with Brown, told Us Magazine that Trapped in a Dream is a song that's being considered for Chris' new album.  He even planned on maybe getting a couple of country acts involved.

"Maybe we'll see an appearance from Carrie Underwood or someone like that," Allen said.  "It's that kind of song."

Somehow I don't think Carrie will be too interested - at least that's my hope anyway. 

Maybe I should just start a website composed completely of people wanting to give country music a try

 

I confess, I had no clue who Snow Patrol was until I watched the video below.  I must also confess that I like this song. 

Now that that's out in the open lets discuss the fact that the lead singer, Gary Lightbody, has a little side project going that will involve, of course, country music. 

Yep, Gary is the latest in a long line of "let's give country a try" singers.  In a recent interview with the BBC, Gary says he's working on a country record called "Tired Pony." 

"I’ve written that and I just need to record it," said Lightbody to Radio One. "I always thought I had a country album in me and it turns out I did, but I don’t know whether people will dig it or not. It's just something I wanted to get out of my system."

Speaking about the solo material Lightbody continued,"A lot of the stuff we’ve written recently is just so leftfield that it just wouldn’t fit, so we’ve had to kind of invent other ways for getting that out."

I don't know you guys but I'm just so tired of fighting the influx of people wanting to try out country music.  Maybe I should just go with the flow and stop fighting it, I mean who would've thought Hootie would be a good country fit?  Definitely not me. 

What the hell is this blasphemy?

I have just four words to say to you.  Taylor Hicks country song. 

Ugh.  Taylor Hicks, winner of American Idol at some point in the past, has decided that his adult contemporary career is essentially fubarred so why not give country a chance.

Oh sure, because country fans are going to be oh so welcoming.  Ha ha.

Okay, I must confess that I voted for Taylor when he was on AI because I loved his voice and he was such a goofy character.  He was a novelty and I was so excited when he won.  Didn't mean I actually wanted to listen to him on the radio - especially didn't mean I wanted to hear him on my country station. 

Anyway, Taylor's song, Seven Mile Breakdown, is from his newest album "The Distance" which was released in March.  The song is set to be released in May to country stations. 

Here's the problem with "Gone Country"

I've never watched an episode of "Gone Country," but that doesn't mean I can't gripe about it.  The problem with the show is that it takes these noncountry people and turns them into quasi-country stars and then when the show is over some of the contestants don't want to go away.

Newest "Gone Country"contestant who wants to stay country is Tara Connor.  She posted in her MySpace (via Perez). 

"Both of my shows have come to an end so once again i am a has-been….hahaha j/k but i've been working for the past 4 months on a country album and it coming together beautifully!!!!! I LUH IT!!! seriously it's my therapy!!!! my song-writing partner Mark Renk and i have been writing away with some other very esteemable songwritersand we've written about 15 songs so far and we just keep on truckin'……i feel so lucky!

i used to sing all of the time back in the day but never felt confident enough in myself to reach for my ultimate goal!! i used to watch jason, adam, pat, stuart, luke, mikey, chapman…..even mike and star foley and just envied them so much!!! my dad and brother would play bass and drums and all i could ever do was sing…..until gone country i had never been put in the position to write…and when i did i knew thats where i belonged!!!

i've been recording a lot lately and at the end of april im heading to Nashville to shop record labels…im taking 5 or 6 of my tracks and im praying that they love it as much as everyone else does so far! i'll keep you posted on how it goes im just trying so hard to pay my dues before walking into it!!! if there was any type of success that would make me feel like "i have arrived" this will be it!!! please keep me in your prayers!!!! im tired of RC being overlooked!!! im on a mission from GOD!!! hahaaha"

Hmmm, a mission from God, where have I heard that before?  Didn't Jessica Simpson say something similar?  I guess if I can't say something nice, I shouldn't say nothin' at all.  Uhmm, she has nice hair. 

Oh. My. God.

It's being reported that Lilly Allen may be trying to go country.

I'm hoping this is an early April Fool's Day joke. 

In any case, here is her song Not Fair.

Please don't shoot the messenger.

Please say it ain't so!

Sigh.  I knew this would probably happen, just wished I was wrong.

In a new interview with MTV, Miley says that she'd love to follow in her papa's footsteps and record a completely country record - although more than likely a Taylor-esque country album.

"I would love to," she said of the prospect of releasing a record of country-music songs. "That's something I would want to do."

And who would she want to work with?  You'd think with Christmas coming, she'd say her dad, Billy Ray, but nope. 

"I would love to work with Dolly {Parton}. If I would do anything, I would want to collaborate with her."

"I would love to do something, at one point, if I get to go back to Nashville. I would love to work with her again 'cause she's just fabulous. She's always so done-up. I think that'd be fun to work with someone as legendary as she is."

As luck would have it, Dolly just happens to be Miley's Godmother so this may be something that's quite attainable for the 16-year-old. 

Heck, Miley might as well join the club.  I talk about her enough as it is with all her little exploits, I might as well talk about her country album too. 

Expect more from Sebastian Bach

Sebastian Bach won the second season of Gone Country and released his song right afterwards.  Well he hasn't given up on country and is in the studio working on a full album. 

"Greetings from Nashville, Tennessee! We have been completely ensconced in the studio here for the last week, woodshedding in a big way, writing and demoing our asses off. I am happy to say that the writing team of Jeffrey Steele, Vicky McGehee, and myself, the team that brought you 'Battle With The Bottle', have been been locked in Jeffrey's studio, with our intention being to come up with a full album sometime in the near future.

"Since the ending of 'Gone Country 2', we now have between 10 and 15 songs 'under construction,' and we will not stop writing/demoing until we all feel we have a killer record. We all love the song 'Battle With The Bottle', but that is only the beginning. We are in the midst of assembling a whole new 'team' down here in Nashville that will be able to bring a song to the radio, which we did not have at the time of filming 'Gone Country 2'.

"Hey, you don't have to ask me twice to make music!

"I am so very fortunate to have met Jeffrey and Vicky, and the songs we are working on now are truly new and fresh for me as a musician. I really can't wait for all of you to hear this stuff! Here is a little taste [see video below]."

No word on when the album will be out in case your on the edge of your seat in anticipation.  You can check Bach out on stage with John Rich and Cowboy Troy on December 10th and 11th in Vegas to get your Bach fix if you need. 

Just a side note here, did anyone else read the above and wonder what the heck demoingwas?  LOL.  I sat and looked at that word wondering what the hay 'til I figured out it's demo-ing.  Yeah, I just admitted that outloud, go ahead and laugh. 

You can read more plus watch a video of Bach in the studio here.