Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1037 in the Series)  is Lyle Lovett, Pontiac I was a music distributor in 1987 and was sitting at my desk when a Senior Vice President named Dennis Sinclair walked in and tossed “Pontiac” on my desk. He said, “Carta,check this out, This is all you. I think you’ll really like it.” Senior VPs always got their hands on the goodies first. As I jumped in my Pontiac and headed on Route 83 southbound I popped the disc into the player. The first song I heard was “If I had a Boat” second up was “Give Me Back My Heart” then “I Loved You Yesterday” and on an on. OK, Lyle, you got me!...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#965 in the Series) is Tim Finn, Escapade By the time 1982 ended, the Split Enz where a hot band.  Their album Time and Tide had done quite well for them, thank you.   Neil Finn was looking forward to getting a follow up on the street. His brother Tim had other ideas. Tim wanted to get a solo release into the market.  Both things ended up happening. In later 1983, the Split Enz would release Conflicting Emotions, while Tim released, Escapade.  Both fine albums.  As it turned out, Tim did spend much of his time completing this album. This left Neil to pretty much completely compose Conflicting Emotions. I’ve always loved this Escapade. I...

Today’s Cool album of the Day (# 928 in the Series) is the self-titled debut from Lyle Lovett Lyle Lovett burst into national prominence with his Pontiac album in 1987. That was the release that gave us some of his best known tunes such as “If I Had a Boat” and “She’s No Lady.”  Some people never looked to see that he had another spectacular record the year prior. I’m referring to his debut, which was simply called Lyle Lovett. I’ve always been a fan of debut albums.  To me it seems that the one thing that many of them have it common is that they are rarely overproduced.  Why, because most of these new acts don’t have the budget...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Foolin’ Around” by Vince Gill & Paul Franklin Paying homage to those who have come before you is nothing new in Country music. Merle Haggard paid tribute to Jimmie Rodgers on his classic 1969 album Same Train Different Time, and also recorded tribute albums to Bob Wills and Elvis Presley.  Buck Owens also did it on albums that saluted the influence that Tommy Collins and Harlan Howard had on him. It’s a tradition that has continued throughout the years with one notable entry being Dwight Yoakam’s 2008 Buck Owens tribute album Dwight Sings Buck. Dwight and Buck were also very good friends who toured together in 1988 (I was lucky enough...

  For quite some time now I’ve been harsh on today’s country music, or more specifically, the state of today’s country radio. Now I’ve been joined by Vince Gill in its critique. It’s sad when Taylor Swift can dominate country radio and Merle Haggard can’t get a sniff. And I’m not talking about Merle’s old great albums I’m referring to his last couple of albums. They’ve been great yet completely ignored. Justin Townes Earle’s “Harlem River Blues” also did not receive any country airplay. — Larry Carta Vince’s career began with country-rockers Pure Praire League. He recently spoke with Great American Country’s Sarah Wyland. This appeared on their website. ———— Vince Gill released his latest album, Guitar Slinger, in...

      OVER 30 OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST GUITARISTS PLAY SIDEMEN TO EACH OTHER OVER TWO NIGHTS AT THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS ARENA, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, APRIL 12-13 Two-Night Festival To Feature Legendary Music And Collaborations Including: Allman Brothers Band, BB King, Brad Paisley, Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr., Jeff Beck John Mayer, Keith Urban, Vince Gill and many more (November 19, 2012) – Widely considered one of the world’s all time greatest guitarists and known amongst his peers as a great collaborator, Eric Clapton announced today a major U.S. tour culminating in his fourth Crossroads Guitar Festival presented by Chase.  The Festival, which has become legendary in its own right for hosting performances and impromptu collaborations from the...

This was their debut album. I actually started this write up planning to do their second release, Faster and Llouder, but I couldn’t find many videos for that album. I really wanted you to be able to check out some of the album. I was able to find some for the first album so I made the switch. One of the things I’ve always liked about Foster and Lloyd was the little taste of The Everly Brothers that they’ve thrown in.  Make sure you listen to ‘What Do You Want From Me This Time.’ You’ll hear some heavy Everly Brothers influence in that track! ‘Crazy Over You’ did well for the band as well.  As did ‘Sure Thing’ and...

  For quite some time now I’ve been harsh on today’s country music, or more specifically, the state of today’s country radio. Now I’ve been joined by Vince Gill in its critique. It’s sad when Taylor Swift can dominate country radio and Merle Haggard can’t get a sniff. And I’m not talking about Merle’s old great albums I’m referring to his last couple of albums. They’ve been great yet completely ignored. Justin Townes Earle’s “Harlem River Blues” also did not receive any country airplay. — Larry Carta Vince’s career began with country-rockers Pure Praire League. He recently spoke with Great American Country’s Sarah Wyland. This appeared on their website. ———— Vince Gill released his latest album, Guitar Slinger, in...

Today’s Cool Album of the day (#144 in the Series) is the self titled album by, The Notorious Cherry Bombs. OK, who knows who these guys are? I’ll explain.

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#431 in the Series) is Joe Bonamassa, Dust Bowl Joe Bonamassa seems to be having a lot of fun these days. He gets to explore his metal head banger side with his dynamic side project Black Country Communion with pals Glen Hughes and Jason Bonham, and is fresh off his excellent 2010 release Black Rock that features a gutsy version of “Spanish Boots”, a surreal reading of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird On a Wire”, and a jubilant rendition of ”Night Life” with his idol B.B. King, and now, in 2011 he gives us Dust Bowl. Upon first blush, this prodigious output rivaled perhaps only by the pre Mandy Moore moved to France Ryan Adams,...