Top 13 Country Album Picks of 2013!

A lot of great country albums were released this year and I've found myself compiling a list of my favorites. A lot of my favorite albums actually came from a lot of new-comers to country music, releasing their very first albums to the masses. There are also a good mix of artists that have been around for a few years then quite a few years!

*DISCLAIMER* These thoughts are my own and not intended to offend anyone....just my opinion on these artists and albums! :)

13. Luke Bryan- Crash My Party

Starting off at the bottom of my list is Luke Bryan. I love Luke but sadly I wasn't impressed enough with his album to put it right at the top of my list. His lead single from this album, "Crash My Party", was alright but not to the amount of annoyance to me that his second single brought called "That's My Kind Of Night". His current single though, "Drink A Beer" has to be one of my favorites from this album. That song he wrote about the tragic loss of his brother has been a current radio favorite. Overall, the other album songs are traditional picks for Luke, singing songs about love, trucks, and beer. Other favorite songs include "Roller Coaster" and "I See You".

12. Gary Allan- Set You Free

I felt like I didn't hear enough of Gary Allan this year for him to have a new album out! He has to be one of the most underrated country artists and I feel like he deserves more recognition than he gets. This album is a classic example of why he is still around making amazing music. There has been a lot of pain let out in his music due to his wife's tragic death. It feels like since then, you can't have a Gary Allan album without it. Wrong. There is one song on the album called "No Worries" that feels like he is channeling a little Kenny Chesney/ Jimmy Buffett vibe and I love it!! The rest of the album though is pretty depressing, but that's how we like his music!  

11. Ashley Monroe- Like A Rose

This album by Ashley Monroe channels a lot of classic country. I love the vibe and creativity of the songs on "Like A Rose". Her voice is so amazing! A duet with Blake Shelton called "You Ain't Dolly" is pretty humorous, a perfect song for her and Blake. My personal favorite has to be "Weed Instead Of Roses", it's very suggestive and to the point. Probably not a "G" rated song for the kiddos though folks! 

10. Brad Paisley- Wheelhouse

I'm not sure if anyone agrees with me but for years I thought most of Brad Paisley's songs were starting to sound the same. Until now. On Wheelhouse, I thought there was a lot of diversity in the songs he chose. The song that drew me in was "Beat This Summer". I was totally thrown off that it was him at first but it was a good thing. I got the deluxe version of the album on Itunes that included a song called "Facebook Friends". I'm not sure why, but I'm starting to like songs that sound humorous to me and this was one of them. I think Brad redeemed himself well in my opinion with this album! 

9. Parmalee- Feels Like Carolina

Parmalee's debut album just came out earlier this month along with having their single "Carolina" becoming their first #1 country hit! I am obsessed with their song "Day Drinkin'" and can't get enough of it! This is a pretty solid start to their career and am expecting to hear more from them next year. Parmalee has a country sound that is rockin' with "Musta Had A Good Time" and "My Montgomery". 

8. Charlie Worsham- Rubberband

Another debut album from Charlie Worsham, leaves me very impressed. He is very talented with the combination of his songwriting, instrumental-ism and singing. His first single was "Could It Be" and his new single "Want Me Too" is very catchy and I'm hoping that song takes off! His sound includes a lot of his signature banjo that I've seen him play a lot of in concert when we saw him in July. I'm hoping that Charlie's music stays around for a long time! 

7. Thomas Rhett- It Goes Like This

Yet another debut album! Not only a solo artist now but a hit songwriter, Thomas' first album is full of energy. This whole album with the exception of a few songs just makes me want to dance. I think "Beer With Jesus" might be the only slower song on this album. The title track "It Goes Like This" was his very first #1 song and his current single now is called "Get Me Some Of That". I'm pretty tossed on my favorite song for this one. It's between "Make Me Wanna" and "Front Porch Junkies". It's a great record and hope to see more from him in the next coming years also! 

6. Lady Antebellum- Golden

Lady A's new release was great and got even better when they repackaged it with a few more new songs including "Compass". There is a pretty good combination of fun songs like "Downtown" and a little more serious songs like "Goodbye Town". I think they pick a lot of great songs based on not only what they like as artists but what their fans would listen to. 

5. The Band Perry- Pioneer

Every artist fears the dreaded "sophomore slump" after their first album was such a success. Not the case for The Band Perry! Pioneer is one of the newer albums that I could listen to over and over again and not get tired of it. Hits so far that have emerged from Pioneer include "Better Dig Two", "DONE", and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely". I'm hoping for an uptempo as their next single....maybe "Forever Mine Never mind" or "Night Gone Wasted". Either way, I don't think they will disappoint with their next single. 

4. Kacey Musgraves- Same Trailer Different Park

Another debut album, but already a huge fan favorite, Kacey Musgraves busted out onto the country airwaves with this one. Her country-folk sound is amazing and each song tells a different story. I am very excited that my personal favorite "Follow Your Arrow" was released as a single and hope it does well! That song and "Merry Go Round" both tell stories of life and how it was or how it could be. 

The top three albums were pretty hard for me to rank.....but I had to do it! 

3. Days Of Gold- Jake Owen

It pains me to not put one of my favorite artists at the top of my list! If I could have three number one's then I would......anyways....Jake's new album came out earlier this month and am always excited to hear new music from him! Following his last album, I think there is a lot of trying to stay with his Floridian roots with summery sounding songs like "Beachin". "Tall Glass Of Something" is infectious and as I type this it gets stuck in my head (help!). "What We Ain't Got" is going to be the game changer for Jake if and when he releases it as a single to country radio. That's it, that song HAS to be a single. That song is pretty serious and Jake nails it with outstanding vocal ability. Dude, you make me proud :) 

2. Brett Eldredge- Bring You Back

A country newcomer makes it into the top 3!! I've listened to this album enough times, forwards, backwards, upside down, sideways........you get the point. Brett just has such an amazing raspy voice and all of the songs on his album fit together nicely. If I could pick a favorite it would have to be the title track off the album called "Bring You Back". "Don't Ya" was his first #1 single but the song that made me a fan of his is called "Raymond". It's a very sentimental song about a woman that has Alzheimer's and seeing the video for it on CMT one day got me interested. If you haven't gotten this album yet and call yourself a country fan then what are you waiting for?!?!? 

And my #1 pick for best new country album of the year goes to.......

Keith does it again and you can find "A Little Bit Of Everything" on this album! This has to be one of the best albums that he's ever released. I just can't stop listening to it! The duet that he did with Miranda Lambert called "We Were Us" was amazing because I love them both. Was so excited when I saw they did a song together! His new single hitting airwaves now called "Cop Car" is such a good song and is so so clever. "Even The Stars Fall 4U", "Good Thing" and "Gonna B Good" are such great uptempo songs and I can't stop listening to them. I could go on and on about Fuse and it's greatness. 

That basically sums up my favorite country albums from 2013! Did some of your favs make my list? Did I leave some out? Let me know what you think! 

"Musta Had A Good Time"

Last night we saw Parmalee and Chris Cavanaugh at the Rodeo Club in San Jose, CA!! It was another great concert filled with lots of memories. It was a packed house on a Friday night and everyone was there to party! Chris Cavanaugh was up first and he is a fantastic opening act! He got the crowd going with a lot of his original songs and covers from Kenny Chesney, Brooks and Dunn and Garth Brooks. We saw him before earlier this year at the Rodeo Club opening for Florida Georgia Line and he was great then too! I just got a new phone so I was playing with Instagram taking a few videos last night, which I couldn't do before. Here is one I took of Chris sing Hillbilly Deluxe by B&D. http://instagram.com/p/h5Dcjqivgd/

I was really excited to see Parmalee! Not only did their new record "Feels Like Carolina" come out this week but their song "Carolina" is #1 on the country charts this week! We saw them for a little bit at CMA fest in Nashville in June but it wasn't a full show. They played mostly all of the songs from their brand new album and a few covers. The general manager Nate Deaton from the radio station KRTY had his birthday yesterday so Parmalee brought him up on stage so we could sing to him! Another crazy thing that happened last night was when this girl came up on stage to dance during their song called "Dance". It was not planned of course and lets just say the guys got a little show.......of course she got a little too into the dancing and got pulled off stage. It was crazy and totally unexpected! I'm sure all the guys in the room loved it though haha!

Girl dancing on stage........:/ 

Chris Cavanaugh came back up to sing with Parmalee

Another cool thing that happened was when Nate came back on stage to present them with something to celebrate their #1 single Carolina. Every time KRTY has someone new come to the Rodeo Club for a show, they have them sign a condiment bottle. When or if they get their first #1 single, they send the condiment bottle back in the mail. This was the first time ever that they gave the condiment bottle back in person. It was also their 23rd time doing this! I think it's a really awesome thing!! 

Nate presenting the condiment bottle! 

I took a couple videos also of Parmalee and here they are :) 

Parmalee- Musta Had A Good Time (Instagram Video)

Parmalee- Carolina (Facebook Video)

Parmalee- Day Drinkin (Facebook Video)

Had a great time last night!!! Can't wait until the next concert but sadly I don't think that will be until next year! 

"It's times like these you learn to live again"

Last night Dave, Andrew and myself went to see the Zac Brown Band last night at the SAP center! We bought the cheaper seats and ended up sitting almost up by the rafters.....but it was such a great show!! It was the first time for me actually going to a concert at a place that I work at...I just started working concessions a couple months ago at the SAP center. Of course when I heard the Zac Brown Band was coming to town, I had to ask for the night off! The opening act was Trombone Shorty and I believe he is signed to Zac Brown's record label called Southern Ground. I'm not normally a fan of music that does not have many words but I thought Trombone Shorty was an exception to my rule. He was very talented playing the trombone (obviously how he got his name) and the trumpet. I loved his jazzy sound and how long he could hold a trumpet note during one of his final songs!

The Zac Brown Band went on a little earlier than I remember other concerts starting, but I think it accommodated the 2 hour plus set! They opened the show with Keep Me In Mind and kept it going throughout the night with energizing songs along with a little more of their meaningful, slow songs like Colder Weather and Free. One of the highlights of the show for me was when they brought out Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters to do a song with them! I believe he is currently working with the Zac Brown Band producing their new album which is due out soon! He also appeared with them at the CMA awards last week! The Zac Brown Band did not disappoint and had the crowd in the frenzy when they pulled off a few cover songs from Metallica and Charlie Daniels. One of my favorite songs they do live is "It's Not Ok", which is instrumentally phenomenal! Also Zac's precision during the cover of "Devil Went Down To Georgia" on guitar is out of this world amazing! I could never move my fingers that fast like that! I always thoroughly enjoy seeing the ZBB and hope they come back to the bay area soon! Next time I will for sure get better seats! ;)

                                               Dave Grohl( bottom) playing with Zac Brown Band

Videos:

ZBB- Opening of Show/Keep Me In Mind

ZBB- Enter Sandman (Metallica cover)

ZBB with Dave Grohl- Times Like These

  

Aftershocks

        Today I learned that 24 years ago in 1989 a massive earthquake had hit the San Francisco Bay area. I attend San Jose City College and today as a prevention we were notified that we were going to be doing an earthquake drill. My Chicano culture class professor was in the middle of lecture when this happened. He didn't follow through with the drill but assumed everyone knew what they were supposed to do. Basically crawl under your desk and pray for the best.
        I grew up in Illinois and have experienced a few earthquakes there as well, but a bigger fear of mine was tornadoes. After educating myself on wikipedia about the great 1989 earthquake, I'm more afraid of earthquakes now. They are unpredictable and unknown how much damage they can do. It's not like you can look at a forecast and see how big it can be or the location which you sometimes can do with hurricanes and tornadoes. I can see why this kind of natural disaster can put so much fear into people.
       The earthquakes I have felt while living in Illinois because of the fault line there are trivial to what can happen here in California based on history. The San Francisco bay area (where we live) has seen two great earthquakes in 1906 and 1989 that did major damage and caused many casualties and injuries. We have been told many times by our friends and family that they would be scared to live here because of the earthquakes. We would usually laugh at them but now I'm rethinking that and might slightly agree with them.
       My uncle Rick was living out here in the Willow Glen area of San Jose when the quake of 1989 hit. He said his bicycle flew across the room! Its scary to think that a family member was out here during that time. Now I know how my family and friends must feel.
        In preparation for a big quake I think it would be a good idea to put together an earthquake emergency kit just in case.
Water- Stockpiling multiple gallons of water in case underground pipes seize. You can survive without water but only to a certain extent.
Flashlights with extra batteries- The electricity will probably go out and might be out for days. Navigating your house or even on the streets at night can be very difficult or unsafe when everything is pitch black.
Food and a medical supply kit- Keeping some perishable food items on hand is a good idea just in case you are stuck at home. Medical supplies would be extremely helpful if there were any injuries to you or your family.

This list is just a general idea of what I think might be needed in case of an earthquake. If you have any additions to make please let me know in the comments section!



     

Let's go listen to the Night Train.....

Last night was the night that the Night Train tour finally made it to Mountain View, CA! Deejay Silver, Jake Owen and Jason Aldean did an amazing job keeping the sold out crowd at Shoreline energized. Before the show started my boyfriend Dave and I got to go backstage to meet one of our favorite artists, Jake Owen. It was great to finally see him at Shoreline and opening for Jason Aldean on one of the best tours of the year! It was so good to see Jake again and hope to see him headline this amphitheater next year!

                                                                         Jake and I!

Dave and Jake! 

After seeing Jake, we went and found our seats. 7th row again but on the other side of the stage from where we saw Keith Urban. We scored these tickets from the Jason Aldean fan club and were phenomenal seats! 

Deejay Silver took the stage first and got the crowd dancing. His setup was typical for a DJ with a laptop and a couple record spinners. He was a great addition to the tour because he got the crowd amped up for the show by playing a lot of country hits mixed with a little rock and rap. He took the stage again after Jake was over to keep things going while they were setting up for Jason's set. 

Jake took the stage next and with a bang he had the crowd on their feet dancing and singing along. I have been a fan of Jake's since he first came out in 2006 and saw him on tour with Kenny and Dierks Bentley. It was so amazing to see all the people there for his show last night and know it will be like that for when he goes out on his headlining tour next year! He played a lot of his recent hits off his Barefoot Bluejean Night album, along with stuff from his new album coming out December 3rd called Days Of Gold. His set also had a good mixture of songs from his first and second albums and his EP he put out on itunes called Summer Jam. I'm really so excited and happy for him that he could be possibly headlining a show here next year! I so hope so! I got a few videos of him singing some songs from his new album. Hope you enjoy!
Jake Owen- We All Want What We Ain't Got
Jake Owen- Days Of Gold

Now time for the Night Train to unload the main act, Jason Aldean!! We haven't seen Jason in about 3 years or so and it was so good to see him again. He came out and blasted the crowd away with three high energy hit songs of his. The sold out crowd was frantic with energy and Jason was soaking it all in. He played a lot of his hit songs along with some non released songs from previous albums and his new album Night Train. While introducing the crowd to his band, he showed pictures of how they used to look before he met them. It was pretty hilarious when Jason was talking about Justin Beiber's haircut and the crowd booed. He then showed a picture of himself with a haircut like that back in 1994....to which then he broke out into that song! Dave and I stayed until he finished Dirt Road Anthem, and left early so we would beat the enormous crowd out of the parking lot!! 

Videos:

Jason Aldean- When She Says Baby

Jason Aldean- Fly Over States

Jason Aldean- Night Train

Jason Aldean- Dirt Road Anthem

What a great show and sadly the last outdoor country show at Shoreline for 2013 :( See you next year Shoreline!! 

Time to "Get Some" on the "Booze Cruise"!

Last night I went to see Blackjack Billy at the Rodeo Club in San Jose! It was kind of a spur of the moment decision to go see them but I'm glad I went! They are quite new to the country music scene but their high energy set shows that have a lot of potential! They know how to work a crowd and that is one of the things I think is important for building a fan base. They played a lot of their original music along with some cover songs that kept the crowd movin' and groovin'! Their latest song to radio called Booze Cruise is a pretty good party anthem along with their next single going to radio soon called Get Some!
Here is a small clip of Get Some: Blackjack Billy- Get Some
Video of BJB covering some Tim Mcgraw: Blackjack Billy- Somethin' Like That (cover)

 I also had the pleasure of meeting the guys of Blackjack Billy after the show and they were so nice!! I hope to hear more from them soon!! Thanks KRTY for having them out!!

Light The Fuse Tour!

Had an amazing time last night seeing Keith Urban, Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA!! Still on a concert high, it was so good! Dave and I had 7th row seats, the closest we have ever been seeing Mr. Urban! I've lost track of how many times I've seen Keith but I know it's more than 10+ times. A few of his shows top my list of best concerts ever, two of them include when it started down pouring rain and lightening. Those were just magical moments that added to the show that made them special! Anyway.....here's my full review of the show!

Dustin Lynch was up first. It was our first time seeing him and I have to give my honest opinion here. I just thought he was ok.....his live show was pretty good and full of energy though! Maybe he will grow on me but I'm not too sure......Love his songs Cowboys and Angels and Wild In Your Smile!

Then there was Little Big Town!! Always love seeing them perform live!! One of these days I would like to see a full show of theirs and not them opening in the middle slot! I felt like it was too short! Their stage setup was so cool! Loved the artwork and the lighting and of course their voices and performances we phenomenal! Towards the middle of their set they sang a couple cover tunes including Elvira! I got a couple videos of them too, one of them singing Sober and one during Tornado. You can find them here:

Little Big Town- Sober (Live Video)

Little Big Town- Tornado (Live Video)

Time for Keith!!!!!!

 I'm not sure what to say other than what an amazing performer he is! He started off his show a little bit different from what I remember. In the past he always came out on stage with a bang. This time he just walked right out on stage and picked up his guitar! I thought that was pretty cool. Keith can do pretty much anything and still be awesome lol! He played quite a few new songs from his new album Fuse along with a lot of his hit songs! I got a few little videos of him singing new songs like Cop Car and Even The Stars Fall 4 U. The videos aren't the best quality because I was dancing/shaking haha! But thought I would share them anyway......

Keith Urban- Cop Car (Live Video)

Keith Urban- Even The Stars Fall 4 U (Live Video)

                                                      One of my fav pics of the night!

                                     Keith and the fan he brought up to play his guitar with him!!

                                       Keith brought out Little Big Town to sing You Gonna Fly!

And Brought Back out Dustin Lynch!

Confetti shower!!!! Had a purse full by the end of the show and was still finding it in my clothes while changing into my PJ's LOL!

Tonight I wanna Cry

All the lights during Tonight I Wanna Cry! 

There were a few times he came to our side of the stage, which then he got pretty darn close to us. He went up into the back section to sing a couple songs and came back. He brought a guy and his girlfriend on stage because they had a sign saying that the guy wanted to play Keith's guitar. So he and Keith played a little bit of Somebody Like You together and the guy fan was so good playing his guitar!! So cool when Keith does stuff like that!! For the encore, Keith came back out and played a few songs on piano along with Tonight I Wanna Cry. He said he wanted to see everyone with their flashlight app on their phone and it was beautiful to see all the lights in the crowd. Here is a short video of Tonight I Wanna Cry:

Keith Urban- Tonight I Wanna Cry (Live Video)

He ended his show by going up into the crowd again during You Look Good In My Shirt. He always gives a lucky fan a guitar too at the end!! I moved up a little towards the stage at the end in hopes of getting a pic or autograph from Keith but didn't succeed :( But he waved to us on the way out!! What an amazing show and I think it ranks among the top favorite concerts I've ever seen!! Can't wait to see Keith again!!