How Country Popped Its Way Into the Mainstream

The Golden Hour: Brad Paisley
Pleasant enough in the main, some duets with Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton and Keith Urban.

Music Icons: Glen Campbell
The usual story, the young prodigy who went on to be an ace session musician, tour with the Beach Boys, and finally make his mark as a solo star. His politics were not quite as carefree as the image he sometimes offered. But he won his share of Grammys even before he started working with Jimmy Webb. And when he did, he really hit big. He had his own telly show, and even made movies like True Grit and Any Which Way You Can. His later years were clouded by Alzheimers, but he kept recording to the end.

Toby Keith on Toby Keith!
The laddish legend talked about the ideas for some of his videos, but also sad moments such as having to learn a song for a funeral, and then being unable to perform it because it was too emotional. He seemed to err on the side of the jovial, from tracks like Red Solo Cup to Beer For My Horses, to the bittersweet A Little Too Late.

Larry King Now - Kellie Pickler
She featured on the 5th season of American Idol, but Larry never said how she got on. She's doing some acting, and has done 12 USO tours. She came from small-town Carolina, and hasn't released a new album since 2013. She lives in Nashville, and is still adjusting to social media. She keeps her politics private. She did some daytime show for 2 years, but it's now been cancelled. She was sad not to have met Tammy Wynette, but did a charity gig with Dolly Parton, and would like to work with her in the studio too.

Country Music
A mammoth 9-part series by Ken Burns, relating the history of the genre, from the mid-20s to roughly the mid-90s, hearing from pretty much anyone who was anyone (including Merle Haggard, and he's been dead for years), to relate the stories of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Marty Stuart and many more. A really solid example of the form, perhaps a shade more impressive on the lesser-told earlier years than some of the later stuff (how you tell the Cash story without mentioning the Nickajack Cave story, or even Chicken in Black, I don't know).

Ellen: Blake Shelton
He's a coach on The Voice these days, as is John Legend, Jennifer Lopez, and Blake's other half Gwen Stefani. He's not won any Grammys. Nick Jonas is replacing J-Lo. Blake has his own vodka range, spends Christmas in LA, and sang "Hell Right" just to remind us he does have a career.

After the debacle of Keep It Country being rebranded as Spotlight TV, its rival Total Country closed down after just a year too.

The Golden Hour: Brooks & Dunn
Unsure how I could have missed this before (unless it's new), a decent hour with the duo, and guests who included Reba McEntire and Billy Gibbons.

misery guts wrote:
Sad news for Kenny Rogers, having to curtail his farewell tour for health reasons

Kenny's died. He was 81. RIP 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51986611

I'd still pick Coward of the County as my fave of his.

Extremely saddened to hear that Kenny Rogers has passed away....

Kenny Rogers, Country and Pop Legend, Dies at 81

The Quay Sessions: Country at the Quay
A compilation of themed acts, from the familiar like Ward Thomas and The Shires, to less regular names like Chris Stills, Olivia Lane, Sam Outlaw and The Wandering Hearts.

Remembering Kenny Rogers
A smoothly put together (or rebranded update) of Kenny works, including some chat from an interview with Dolly Parton. Most of the main hits though.

Meet The Logans
A Scottish trio of sisters, from a brood of eleven. Their goal is Nashville. Various songs played briefly throughout the half-hour show, and they did support gigs for Royal South and King Of Birds. A big London gig was cancelled so they did their support slot in the street. Another time, their stuff was stolen from their car and they had to improvise at short notice. So maybe not the luckiest band. They got advice from an American agent, Evan Morgenstern. Their social media presence is important. Will they make it big?

TOTP2 Country Jukebox
An hour-long compilation from 2007 from the obvious big names, through to a few more unfamiliar, and the odd one which seemed very likely a marginal inclusion (the Mavericks, the Proclaimers, the Eagles).

MTV Unplugged at Home: Jewel
Another case of someone who probably wouldn't get considered in normal circumstances. She did one of her oldest songs (Who Will Save Your Soul) and a much newer one (Grateful).

Keepin' 'er Country
A 6-part series on various aspects of the country scene in Northern Ireland. So a show on the truckers, on priests, on would-be cowboys, on animal shows, on romance, and on the 50th year of the Clonmany festival. Various stars cropped up from time to time, such as Pamela Gilmartin, Derek Ryan, Robert Mizzell, and veterans like Philomena Begley and TR Dallas. An entertaining enough show.

Rock N Roll Road Trip w/Sammy Hagar - Rocker Went Down To Georgia
Sammy visited Charlie Daniels down in Tennessee to talk about his 60 year career, coming to Nashville in 1967. Took 'til his 5th album to find his own style. A harder-edged country sound. Modern country has evolved toward pop. He worked with Bob Dylan in the late 60s and it was a big break for him. He also toured with Leonard Cohen. Elvis did one of his songs, though they never got to meet. Has no thoughts of retirement. He enthused about Yitshak Perlman, and met him once. They did "Long Haired Country Boy" together for the finale.

The Big Interview w/Dan Rather - Billy Ray Cyrus
He's done 15 albums, but I suspect most only know the big first one (I've seen a 2nd one once). He talks about his big chance when he wrote three songs from that first album in the same week, and hooked up with a Vietnam vet who liked his "Some Gave All" track, and gave him what turned out to be "Achey Breaky Heart". He talked about his daughters, and his acting sideline, and winning over some industry critics. Mercifully it was before the awful Old Town Road.

Showreel: Alan Jackson
Is this just the Focus On/Golden Hour stuff reformatted? Time & further episodes will tell. A few unfamiliar tracks, but Jackson isn't someone I know much about.

Showreel: Faith Hill
I do assume these are mostly new efforts, though there's not that much different material to choose from.

Showreel: Carrie Underwood
Another predictable and underwhelming choice for this series.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie Daniels dies at 83 RIP

Charlie Daniels, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame best known for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," died Monday morning after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. He was 83.

Sad news, I only watched him on that Sammy Hagar show lately. The Devil Went Down to Georgia will play forever. RIP 

Showreel: Shania Twain
She's not really bothered the charts lately, but I suspect it busier and more successful in Vegas shows or wherever. Nice to hear a few less familiar tracks here, one with Elton John for example.

Rock N Roll RoadTrip w/Sammy Hagar - I Love This Bar
Down to Norman, Oklahoma, to meet and greet Toby Keith. A meeting of minds. He's 59 today, as it happens. Toby talked about the merit of songwriting, which drew him in as a child. Oklahoma is a great country state, apparently. He's invested in a local eaterie, has a car collection and a stage at the back of his home on his big estate. He and Sammy did a couple of acoustic numbers, then shared drinks.

Showreel: Dwight Yoakam
A lesser light, but still a prolific hit-maker.

Showreel: Reba McEntire
She's got a long career to summarise, and this set included duets with Vince Gill, with Kelly Clarkson, with Linda Davis, and with Brooks & Dunn, as well as many of her solo works.

Ellen 17 - The Highwomen
Wouldn't you know, a female counter to the Highwaymen concept, with Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, Brandi Carlisle and Natalie someone. Their album was a #1, and Redesigning Women was the big single they performed on this show. They claimed the idea was somewhat put to them.
(Also on this show were Cardi B, TI and Chance the Rapper to discuss some project).

misery guts wrote:
Ellen - Garth Brooks
Voted Entertainer of the Year for the 6th time. Has some kind of anthology series out, or rather the 1st in a series of 5. Had to lip-synch at the CMAs because it fell in the middle of a run of 12 tour dates in 10 days. He tours with his wife. He sings "Ask Me How I Know" at the end of the show.

Ellen 17 - Garth Brooks
Promoting a new "Legacy Collection" box-set. He was last on on Nov 2017, when Ellen failed to shock him. He's a fan of Hallowe'en. He's played surprise gigs in dive bars with Black Shelton, and worked on the Habitat for Humanity project with former US President Jimmy Carter. He sang Callin' Baton Rouge to close the show this time.

The Big Interview w/Dan Rather - Kiefer Sutherland
In 2017 he was pushing his fledgling country music career, love for Merle Haggard, respect for Johnny Cash and others, making his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2016, how music was always a love other than acting, his unusual singing voice, his time in prison, getting a guitar at the age of 10, preferring small bar gigs, providing banter as required, needing to wear glasses.