Carrie Underwood has a new single out, released to country stations this week. The new track is titled Jesus, Take The Wheel, and it's one of those tearjerker songs that's bound to be a hit. Telling the story of a young mother who loses control of her car one night on a drive and cries out for Jesus to take the wheel from her hands, Underwood does a great job creating capturing vocals and mixing them with a story that touches the heart and a message that hits home. Her debut disc, Some Hearts, is bound for greatness is she can keep rolling out tracks like this.
Speaking of American Idols, where has Clay Aiken been? The man did better for himself as a runner-up than the two of the first three winners have, but he's seemed to have disappeared? Does he have a new disc in the making? And, if so, can his sophomore disc capture America's attention like Kelly Clarkson's did? And how about Kelly? I know sometimes I, like so many people, can forget exactly why we started watching American Idol in the first place. Say what you want about the talent (Or lack thereof) on Season 1, but Kelly is still the Idol to beat in sales (And, until Carrie's disc comes out, she's still the best vocally of the winners, though I can guarantee Carrie will be challenging for that title, if not taking it over with her debut disc, which hits stores November 15).
There's seem to be a return to traditional country in the more recent releases from big name artists, and no one (Myself included) seems to be complaining. Brad Paisley's spectacular disc, Time Well Wasted, showed off Brad's talent to create a disc full of modern sounds with a very traditional base. Then there was Sara Evans' Real Fine Place. Yeah, the disc's lead single and title track has a very country/pop vibe, but the new single, Cheatin', is more true to the disc as a whole. It's good ol' country with Sara's strong vocals, and people are continuing to buy plenty of Sara's discs. Then, of course, there is the recent release from Martina McBride, Timeless. The disc features 18 classic country hits, some of Martina's favorites. Martina breathes life into classic tracks that many of the newcomers to country probably have missed along the way.
Can the Detroit metropolitain area get a real Christian radio station, please? WMUZ (103.5 FM) simply does not cut it. Yes, I give them credit. They have improved (Very slowly) over the years. They do play tracks from some solid artists, like David Crowder Band, tobyMac and Jeremy Camp. Unfortunately, these artists are lacking in their play (Or, in the case of Camp, grossly overcompensated in his play time, as it is on every other Christian station nationwide). And they still play music that's aimed at a much older crowd, save a track here or there. They have completely missed the boat on a generation of Detroiters who don't comprehend the terms "great" and "Christian music" in the same sentence without a "not" thrown in there. And why have they missed the boat? Because the station and deejay's are too busy trying to make money by talking about all their sponsors. Look, I realize that a station needs to make money like any other business, but top priority should not be to shove 15 minutes of commercials down the listeners' throats at one time and then try to have them digest by playing two or three songs in between. That's one of those "Would you like some music with your commercials?" attitudes, and I can't stand it.