Country Music Artists That Served in the Military

There is something about Country Music that captures the heart and soul of America. There is also something else that seems to go hand in hand with Country Music and that is a love for our Country and for the men and women who serve in the military.

Over the years there seems to be a slew of patriotic or military typed songs performed by Country Artists.

It may surprise you to find out of all the Country Artists WHICH ONES actually served and wore this nation’s uniform. I know I was upon doing research when I was first inspired to write this book. It truly was an inspirational and rewarding journey finding out who they were. I hope you feel the same way after reading HEROES OF THE STAGE. Some you will already have known about and others may come as a complete surprise to you. Some are more famous and well known than others, but all of them served this Nation for us and deserve our sincere thanks as well as our respect. As you become acquainted with the featured artists who have served you might just become a new fan or a fan all over again.

- Travis L. McVey is the author, Veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and Army Reserves, founder of and Chief Veteran Officer at Heroes Vodka. McVey is currently serving as the Regional Advocate for Tennessee’s chapter of the National Veteran-Owned Business Association (NaVOBA) and the Buy Veteran Campaign.

Title: HEROES OF THE STAGE
Sub Title: Country Serving Country
Genre: Biography
ISBN: 978-0-615-45434-4
Publication Date: August 1, 2011
Price: $19.99
Publisher: Hero Spirit Publishing

Media samples are available upon request. HEROES OF THE STAGE/Country Serving Country is now available through Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and at www.heroesofthestage.com

A portion of all proceeds are donated to Operation Troop Aid.

For more information or to set up an interview with an autographed give-way contact: Sharla McCoy (Cell) 615-504-1268 - (Office) 615-683-5025

“Oh, Wow?” Or, “Oh, Crap?”

Clear Channel’s WMZQ/Washington’s 3.8-3.6 October-November 12+ ARB trend of course can’t be attributed to any one thing, but the station’s 3.7 (July)-3.9 (August)- 4.3 (September) moves in the wake of going commercial free every Tuesday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm since August, among other things, may underscore that keeping a station constantly fresh, even when you’re doing something you know listeners really love is an important part of the game.

Is it saying that they even get used to a full day commercial free and it can become old news after a couple months? If so, can ANYTHING be kept fresh and top-of-mind enough??

With that in mind, a client PD asked me this week if A&O has an "oh wow" oldies list for country after reading online about the pros/cons of maintaining freshness of destinational formats by maintaining/platooning spice songs in and out.

We do, and also could, of course, start a comments thread in reply to this thought of the many, many country novelty songs, could-a/should-a been's and one hit wonders of the format over six or more decades.

There are hundreds of them.

But, country is a transitional format with a constant need to keep a great balance of male, female, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44 and 45-54 appeal, let alone the right mix of “P-1” music vs “P-2” appeal songs, I recommend looking for “oh wow” songs from new music rather than opening up marginal gold songs that one age group might find exciting to hear but another group will simply not get the musical reference point from before they came to country music.

The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young,” which of course has turned into a breakthrough #1 hit for an exciting new group started for me as an “oh wow” song which added a nice quality of freshness to our sound because it was so different from everything else when it first came out 30+ weeks ago.

Zac Brown Band, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Chris Young, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum and many others got their first traction on country playlists with an “oh, wow, what/who was that?” song. Taylor Swift’s “Tim McGraw” not only did that on radio, but also on the ACM Awards TV show when she went into the audience and sang it face to face to Tim.

Now, THAT moment was a WOW.

Look at the playlist of some of country’s most-successful PPM stations and you’ll see “buzz record” new music being used very cleverly.

Consultant playlists, by definition are “safe,” since we build our national recommendations on consensus research, but A&O sometimes adds new music right into heavy rotation when we hear music that creates sizzle.

So, for me, country’s “oh wow” category is built most often on exciting new songs that resonate with the values and universal life stories of all the ages we need to energize every age and gender.

How about you? What songs do you use to keep your rotations fresh? How do you play them?

History Repeats Itself, But Why Does It Have To Wait So Long?

On April 29, 1996, I wrote to clients in a "Winter ARB status report":

Two things are already obvious 1) country is having a harder time holding onto P-2 and P-3 listeners in the wake of growth at CHR, AC and pop alternative and 2) ARB's 25-34 male sample improvement techniques appear to have caused sample buffering in the last month of the fall book, and that (buffering? or simply more men in the sample now?) may have hurt country's 18-34 showing. Thirty-five-plus the format appears quite stable.

Sound familiar?

Of course, by 2006, we were on the "high" propelled by (among numerous others) "Live Like You Were Dying," "Redneck Woman" and "Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy," which didn't last quite as long as past historical peaks in country popularity both with the traditional core and interested outsiders too, thanks to Lady Gaga, Beyonce and American Idol's popifying influence on Top 40. And, as usual, those formats are stealing country's biggest songs as quickly as we familiarize our cume with them.

All you need to do is look at how depressed country radio's shares are in highly ethnic PPM markets right now - Las Vegas is the most breathtaking, since it was just two U.S. census reports ago back in those 1990's when two country stations consistently ranked in the top five and now together they have a combined 5.5 12+ share - to become hopeful that we don't have to wait until 2016 for the next "bump," which inevitably is coming, as it always has about every seven to ten years - from Hank Sr., to Patsy Cline, to Glen Campbell, to "Urban Cowboy," to the class of 1989.

Any Article That Includes Gregg Swedburg Is Worth A Read

.. even if it quotes me quite a lot too. (click to read it)

“There are no free passes for these artists. If an artist makes a truly awesome song as good as the stuff that got him here then we play it,” says Gregg Swedburg, program director of KEEY/Minneapolis. “But every time I play a mediocre song from an established artist it means I’m not playing somebody new who has a great song.”

With new talent constantly emerging, programmers must decide which older singers to let go as their fans age out of the station’s target.

That challenge has been around at least since I took mt first country programming job in 1973.

When I took over I was greeted by a ton of calls asking, ‘Where is Stonewall Jackson or Jack Green.’ At the time country was crossing over with artists like Buck Owens and Glenn Campbell so the older acts of the '50s and '60s were no longer being played.

Similar cycles repeated approximately every 10 years until 1989 when a group of new artists including Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, George Strait, and Alan Jackson burst onto the scene, pushing country radio’s popularity to new heights.

But now the fans who championed the class of 1989 are 20 years older and the question of when those artists should move along, like Stonewall Jackson did in the early '70s, is looming large.

They’ve lasted longer than any group in the history of country that I’ve been aware of.

The key to it all, and what makes country also different from other formats, is that country radio isn’t about artists, it’s about songs.

Any artist can have a hit if they pick a great song. That’s what’s cool about country.

Many thanks to Chicago-based Media Life writer Mike Stern for helping us tell the country story so lucidly.

Yikes! I Am A "Celebrity"? (blush)

Notice: when you pick up the phone and CelebrityAccess MediaWire's Larry LeBlanc is on the line, get ready for a Vulcan mind-meld. He dug up info about me that I had forgotten and asks great questions (click that link to read a lot more about me than you ever wanted or needed to know):

LL: You have seen a lot of changes in radio over four decades.

JA: It’s a completely different business in every way.

LL: Country radio ain’t our grandparent’s format anymore?

JA: Country is a format where, every 7 or 8 years, there’s a new set of younger artists that come in. Randy Houser is the George Jones of today. There’s a lot of others as well, but the format doesn’t stay the same. Hank Thompson saw that more clearly than George Jones did. There are certainly a lot of artists that have a lot of sour grapes as (the format) moved away from them. George is certainly one of those who went through a tough time. In any pop music form, you have to be pretty adaptable, and be a pretty good marketer. You have to listen to where the audience is going and try to be where they are. Some artists will do that while others couldn’t care less where the audience is, “This is me. You can kiss my ass if you don’t like it.”

LL: Many people say that today’s country sounds like bad ‘70s pop.

JA: I think there’s truth in that. That’s Kenny Chesney’s music you just described. But, there’s more than that going on (in country). That is only part of the mix. It’s always been like that. You would have said the same thing about Stonewall Jackson’s “Waterloo” or Pat Boone (in the ‘50s). Country music has always been watered down chicken rock, to some degree, but that is only part of it. There was George Jones and Johnny Paycheck years ago, and that (traditional country style) still exists today with an artist like Jamie Johnson. (Country is) not just one thing. It’s a variety of sounds that is more inclusive than most people think it is.

There’s a mix of sounds in country today. Have you heard Jamie Johnson? Oh, my goodness. He and Montgomery Gentry are in the mix. At the same station, they will add Taylor Swift. So I think that there is always a balance. There’s that sort of rock sound that today’s boomers like from when they were kids—that’s part of a country mix—and, yet, the more acoustic, natural and authentic sound is also part of it as well.

LL: Will there ever be an oldies country format playing those ‘50s and ‘60s vintage country hits?

JA: No I don’t think so. I think it will always be a variety.

LL: The Classic Country format comes the closest to being an oldies’ format.

JA: Classic Country has always been there, and continues to be there. We have some Classic Country stations that are #1 or #2 in their markets. A new Classic Country station just signed on in Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago. The definition of Classic Country has changed. Country Classic today starts at about 1993 where at one time it was the ‘50s and ‘60s.

I think what keeps country (radio) from fragmenting, is that the older folks who like country seem to like the new music too. They like the older music, but they don’t dislike the new music. That’s true today.

A Down Period As Seen By An Optimist

Heard last week at the Billboard-CMA Country Music Summit in Nashville:

“In chaos there is opportunity.” - CMA chairman Steve Moore

But, the writers covering the meeting reported that the panic is palpable and quote Anderson Merchandisers CEO Charlie Anderson predicting that the industry will “implode” within three years if it continues to operate in the same manner.

Is this the current decade's equivalent of the legendary 1986 New York Times Robert Hilburn piece which pronounced the country music business dead?

A reminder: that pronouncement came at the very same time that Garth was marrying Sandy and “the class of 1989” was recording and starting to release their early music, which by 1993-1994 drove the format to its highest heights in history!

If so, it seems - while the patient certainly has seen better health nationally than right now - the early signs of a strong recovery are already becoming visible.

Even after all these decades since then, Country remains the #1 adult music format that hasn't fragmented in any major way, still hanging onto very loyal leading edge boomers while attracting passionate teens and 20-somethings too.

More cause for optimism:

Taylor Swift continues to prove that Country can still sell plastic albums as well as digital downloads when the product and the marketing is right.

While numerous 'wannabe' acts are no-doubt struggling in the 20’s and 30’s on the charts, just this week in Fresno a KSKS-presented $5 concert series show featuring Bucky Covington, Matt Kennon and Jerrod Niemann was a complete sell-out.

“It was incredible,” notes PD Tom Jordan, “This is the first time KISS has ever sold any concert out!”

On the summer superstar touring circuit, a dozen or so major Nashville acts still are packing concert venues.

Give them something that excites them, and they still do respond.

Early indications from the first month's rating trends of spring are that country's national average losses were more in time spent listening, not as much in cume, meaning that - again - the market is largely still there, we simply need to give 'em a reason to spend more time with us.

Country needs a Lady Gaga?

We may already know the names of some of them who will join Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Sugarland and Carrie Underwood, among others, who even now are drawing as well or better than Tim, Toby, Reba, George, Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson or Kenny Chesney.

Lady Antebellum? Zac Brown Band? Easton Corbin? Billy Currington? Jason Aldean? Dierks Bentley? Blake Shelton? Miranda Lambert? Luke Bryan? Chris Young? All/any of the above? Someone whose name we don't even know yet?

It's a good time, as always, to listen very carefully to everything.

The country format's issues are nothing that great songs won't solve. It seems to me that we have plenty of very talented artists in the in-basket.

There’s tremendous cause for optimism for country’s future, thanks to the changing of the guard happening on right now.

Who are you excited about?

It's Novelty Time Again (And, That's A Good Thing?!)

Nashville generally listens to radio very well. 51% of those sampled agreed in research released earlier this year that stations play certain songs to the point that it “becomes annoying.”

Many of us complained to music executives following the presentation that listeners were telling us that "everything sounds the same and there's a lack of variety" not just in the songs but also in the sounds and even artists coming at us.

So, what happened?

Every label now has at least one novelty ditty, if not two or three.

I Still Like Bologna, Rockin' The Beer Gut, That Thang, Moo La Moo, Skinny Dippin', White Liar, 15 Minutes, Toes, etc, etc.

Of course we can't play them all, or even many of them. That could potentially make the situation worse, since repetition complaints typically come when core listeners aren't loving all of our musical offerings.

However, here's the good news in this development, which seems to happen in all forms of music as they start to get stale, novelties "have the power to change people’s listening assumptions and have often turned out to be precursors of new music styles."

Let's hope something even more exciting is coming soon, right behind this latest change in our newest music.

"The Best Book on Country Music"

That's quite a name for an award. And, this year's winner of the Belmond Book Award is Dr. Patrick Huber, associate professor of history and political science at Missouri S&T. He received just that recognition in May.

"Linthead Stomp" takes its title from a 1946 bluegrass instrumental on the Essex label, recorded by the obscure mandolin virtuoso Phebel Wright. “Linthead”—along with “factory trash,” “cotton mill trash,” and the more obscure “ignorant factory set”—has long been used as a derogatory term for textile workers. I have borrowed Wright’s colorful title to serve as the title for this study because it evokes the sense of condescension and disdain with which hillbilly music was once regarded (both in mainstream America and in academe) and at the same time captures the textile mill origins and cultural dynamism of this music.

I finally got my hands on a copy, and can assure you that it's worthy of the hyperbole if you care about the foundations 70+ years ago of what ultimately grew up to become known as "America's music."

Things We Love/Hate About Country

Tom Taylor at Radio-Info is putting together a special feature for their CRS-40 issue. He's asking lots of folks two questions, and here are my responses, to get the discussion started:

* 40 Things We Love About Country
How accessible and radio-friendly the artists are.
The incredible broad demographic reach.
The core values of country fans.

* Tough love – 40 Things Country Radio (or Country Music) Needs
If it hopes to grow with 20-39, it simply must expand beyond America's Southeast in its content. The fact that Kid Rock was able to successfully sing about Northern Michigan is a hopeful sign.
We need a fashionable Hispanic female and an Asian male to release a wonderful song duet which becomes a big hit. We need a Hispanic country superstar or two, yet sadly the chances of that getting played are about as good as the core welcoming back the Dixie Chicks.

I hope this generates lots of comments! And, Tom, thank you for opening this thread which is sure to get folks talkin' and thinkin'.

A Nice Review Of Robert K. Oerman's New Book

Terri Schlichenmeyer writes of Oerman's latest:

"For going on 100 years, the Grand Ole Opry has been home to dozens of talented country music performers. Becoming a member is by invitation only, and while it might seem as if they’re joining a double-secret Club, the truth is that new inductees are being enfolded into a family."

Anyone who talks on the radio needs lots of tales to tell about the impact of our music, and this book is full of great ones.

The Boot: Country's Countriest Lyrics

Brian Mansfield's picks:

#1: "In the summer time, we didn't have shoes to wear, but in the winter time, we'd all get a brand new pair/From a mail-order catalog, money made from selling a hog/Daddy always managed to get the money from somewhere" --'Coal Miner's Daughter,' Loretta Lynn (1970)

#2: "You can't starve us out and you can't make us run/'Cause one of them old boys raise old shotgun/And we say grace, and we say, 'Ma'am,' and if you ain't into that, we don't give a damn" --'A Country Boy Can Survive,' Hank Williams Jr. (1982)

#3: "Some people look down on me, but I don't give a rip/I'll stand barefooted in my own front yard with a baby on my hip" --'Redneck Woman,' Gretchen Wilson (2004)

#4: "Well, you can see the neighbor's butt crack nailing on his shingles/And his woman's smokin' Pall Malls watching Laura Ingalls" --'Hicktown,' Jason Aldean (2005)

#5: "Down by the river on a Friday night/A pyramid of cans in the pale moonlight/Talking 'bout cars and dreaming 'bout women/Never had a plan, just a-livin' for the minute" --'Chattahoochee,' Alan Jackson (1993)

Country's Content Has Always Been About Storytelling

So, the only question is: why didn't someone write this book a long time ago??

You don't have to be a country music fan to enjoy these stories, but it doesn't hurt. Among the familiar names: Charlie Daniels ("The Devil Went Down to Georgia"); Tom T. Hall ("Harper Valley PTA" and "Song of the South"); and Kris Kristofferson ("Me and Bobby McGee," "Help Me Make it Through the Night," "For The Good Times," "Sunday Morning Coming Down"). Plus a host of music makers whose work you've undoubtedly heard whether you're a novice or a veteran. But this isn't just a good ol' boys' club. Four contributors are women: Marshall Chapman (the first woman to front a rock band); Janis Ian (who wrote "At Seventeen" and has been part of the larger musical template for a long time; Tia Sillers (who co-wrote "I Hope You Dance" with Mark D. Sanders, another of this book's contributors), and Hazel Smith (who coined the phrase "outlaw music").

Eddie Arnold Made Chart History Today

In anticipated celebration of what was to be the 90th birthday of country music legend Eddy Arnold, his longtime recording home – RCA Nashville – had planned to approach radio stations with a request: to play the song, “To Life” – a track from his 2005 album, After All These Years – with the intention of earning one more chart hit, and a historic milestone, for the country gentleman who recorded such classics as “Make the World Go Away” and “Bouquet of Roses.” Eddy Arnold’s passing on May 8, just days before his 90th birthday on May 15, brought a special poignancy to the effort, and radio honored the man and his music by granting the Country Music Hall of Fame legend the 147th chart single of his career.

With the appearance of “To Life” on this week’s Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, Arnold becomes the only country artist in history to enjoy chart success in each of the past seven decades. He also acquires the career distinction of having the longest span of charted country singles, beginning with “Each Minute Seems a Million Years” on June 30, 1945, and now with “To Life,” nearly 63 years later.

In praise of Arnold, Sony BMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante hailed, “He is one of those rare singers whose voice is timeless … his success on the charts is now the same.”

RCA Nashville Vice President, National Promotion, Keith Gale offered, “We are so thankful that Country Radio joined us in this tribute to Eddy Arnold. We honored the man and his music. And we did it together.”

Initiated by the RCA Nashville promotion department, “To Life” was made available to radio in its original version as well as a special edit that included comments Arnold had made in an interview done for the label at the time of the album. Everyone at RCA had a special fondness and tremendous regard for Arnold, having spent time with him at events through the years, and the RCA Nashville staff was present at the public services held for him at the Ryman Auditorium this past Wednesday, May 14.

Arnold, who years ago earned the nickname “The Tennessee Plowboy,” was 87 years old when his final RCA Nashville album was released in 2005. At the time, Galante recalls him saying that RCA was his home, and indeed, his passion for music-making never faded – even recently expressing interest to Galante in recording yet another album.

Truly a towering figure in the history of country music, Arnold was the Country Music Association’s first Entertainer of the Year in 1967, and in 2005, he was presented with a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. In a career with record sales in excess of 85 million albums, Eddy Arnold earned more Top 10 hits (92) and more consecutive Top 10 hits (67) than anyone in country history. Ranked as Billboard’s #1 country artist of all time, he also earned 28 chart-topping singles that collectively spent an astounding 145 weeks at #1 – an accomplishment unmatched to this day.

Hats off to the RCA/Nashville promo team, who put the above press release out this morning .. and to all of country radio, pulling together to do something truly historic.

Dick Shuey Is Right. Let's Reinstate Hank Williams.

I can't even believe this is a "flap!" Here's Shuey's Opinion on the current Opry flap on Hank Williams...

"It's short n' sweet. We have the Hall Of Fame for the greats....now don't we...??? The Opry Makes the History...the Country Music Hall of Fame is the History. Hank Williams made his fare share of Country Music History and was at one time a integeral part of the Opry making History just like so many other great country music stars.... and his music plays on n' on. Who ever came up with idea to protest on such a cause as reinstatement to the opry for Hank Williams doesn't know much about Country Music & it's History."

Is there REALLY anyone who can possibly disagree with that?