Opry.com’s Guide To What’s New in the Country This week.
Own The Night
Lady Antebellum released their third studio album, Own The Night, on Tuesday featuring singles “Just A Kiss” and “We Owned The Night.” Other highlights of the twelve song album include “Cold As Stone,” “Love I’ve Found In You,” “Heart Of The World,” and more.
“We’re definitely more in tune with each other musically and personally than ever,” Dave Haywood (harmony singer and multi-instrumentalist) of the group said of the album to theboot.com. “It’s an exciting place to be. This album was created from the ground up – we are writing these songs, playing these instruments and creating these arrangements. With Own The Night, more than ever before, I think we share a real feeling of accomplishment both as a band and as friends.”
The Washington Post said of the album, “Lady Antebellum wants to take you to the prom. The country trio’s warmest songs hold you close like a doe-eyed dance partner while the achy-breakies grab an even tighter hold. And every night is prom night on the band’s third album – a ballad-heavy collection about falling in and out and back in love. It’s the Nashville group’s most impressive balancing act, tempering soft-focus schmaltz with heart-bruising harmonies.”
Gactv.com said, “Lady Antebellum continue to develop their sound. The album is an engaging and accessible set that showcases the trio taking another step while building upon the strengths of past hits like ‘Need You Now’ and ‘Hello World.’ While the chunky, pop/rock guitars of ‘Friday Night’ and the whimsical melodies of ‘Singing Me Home’ bring depth and varying sounds to the record, the special chemistry of Charles, Hillary and Dave is what shines most. Own The Night is an indication that Lady A is not ready to slow down, even after the monumental highs they’ve already experienced.”
Some Lessons Learned
“She has played a witch in ‘Wicked,’ a lush on ‘Glee’ and a deputy press secretary on ‘The West Wing,’ but actress Kristin Chenoweth’s latest project is nowhere near a Broadway stage or TV screen. She is returning to her Oklahoma roots, singing country songs,” yahoo.com said of her debut country album.
The album, Some Lessons Learned, features “What Would Dolly Do,” “I Was Here,” “What More Do You Want,” and more.
In an interview with CBSnews.com, Kristin said: “I have been singing country music my whole life. Today, I’m not really known for that, but growing up in Oklahoma that’s all I ever really wanted to do and those were the biggest influences I had musically.”
Kristin is not only singing country songs, but she’ll be debuting them on the Opry this Saturday as she steps onto the stage of the show that made country music famous for the first time. Click here for tickets!
“That’s a bucket list-er right there,” she said.
Love Don’t Run
Steve Holy released his third studio album this week featuring title track “Love Don’t Run,” (which is currently climbing the charts), plus “Heart Of A Hero,” “Let The Sun Shine In,” and more. The eleven song album also includes an acoustic version of “Good Morning Beautiful,” originally released on his 2002 album, Angel Eyes.
Speaking about the title track, Steve says, “It’s so reminiscent of ‘Good Morning Beautiful’ that it’s not even funny. We would hear from parents that it was their song to their child. It was a guy’s song to his girl, a girl’s song to her guy. It was always somebody’s song. It was the neatest thing in the world – to see how it moved people… I’m honored to be a part of that song.”
In an interview with billboard.com, Steve weighs in on the changing industry from buying records to digital downloads: “It’s really tough for me, growing up and loving music, and going out to buy records my whole life. It’s part of it, part of the experience — there’s something special about that to me. Seeing that go away has been tough to take, but at the same time, it’s the future, so you’ve got to jump on board.”
Gactv.com said of the release, “though it’s been five years since Steve’s last full-length studio album, Love Don’t Run illustrates that the Dallas native knows exactly where he’s headed, with an open and honest collection. Steve’s delivery works to convey what he feels deeply, and though songs range in their emotion, the message is simple – Steve is right where he needs to be.”
Halfway To Heaven
Brantley Gilbert also released new music this week. The album, Halfway To Heaven, features the lead single, “Country Must Be Country Wide,” plus “Back In The Day,” “Them Boys,” “Saving Amy,” and more.
Tasteofcountry.com commented on the album, “‘Kick It In The Sticks’ is by far the best of the loud-and-proud. It’s sort of like ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ – co-written by Gilbert and included on this album. Gilbert’s ballads come as naturally as the blue collar, guitar-driven rockers. ‘My Kind Of Crazy’ is a sweet love story sang with honesty over a delicate piano. The two about his life-changing car accident are the most memorable. ‘Saving Amy’ offers up his half of the conversation. On ‘Halfway To Heaven,’ the singer details what went wrong that night before sharing how it forced him to take his life and talents more seriously. Emotionally he’s as vulnerable during these ballads as he is confident and commanding during the bottle-raising rockers.”
The album’s first single was co-written by Brantley, Colt Ford, and Mike Dekle. “We had just got done touring and we had gone a little more north and northwest than we’d ever gone before,” Brantley said. “And we just started to notice that even people up North were a lot like us – that there were some country people up North, too, and they needed a little bit of country credit.”