Country rap....are you ok with it?

Ok, I'll admit it now.  I'm getting old.  I just don't get country-rap.  A couple weeks ago we asked our facebook friends (www.facebook.com/1027wxbm) "What's your favorite new song on WXBM?".  The song that got the most votes was Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem".  If you haven't heard the song, he raps (or rhymes) the verse and sings the chorus of the song.  The lyrics to the song are really good, but I can't say I'm a fan of the delivery.  I'm a fan of Jason, and I really look forward to seeing him in concert and hearing She's Country, Hicktown, Johnny Cash, The Truth and Amarillo Sky.  As an artist, Jason is red-hot right now.  For years now, Kenny Chesney has been the people's champ, but he better start looking over his shoulder.  Jason has a great live show and he's had a string of big songs.  Four of his last six singles went to #1 and the other two peaked at #2.  He is really pushing the boundaries of the genre with this song, and I think he'll pull it off and have another hit song.  I just hope it's not a trend for country artists.  Maybe in five years country and rap will blend together the same way we have seen country and southern rock come together, and everyone will be doing it.  Instead of covering songs from the Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd, we'll have Brad Paisley doing a country-rap cover of "Baby Got Back" and maybe Trace Adkins will cover "Rump Shaker".  Can you imagine?  It's interesting to look back and see the way country music has evolved over the last 25-30 years.  For the most part, the changes are subtle....until now.  Pretty safe to say that us old timers aren't ready to hear country artists busting rhymes any time soon.

Kenny Chesney will play the Wharf this Saturday, May 21st, and WXBM has your chance to win free tickets ALL WEEK!  Marty will announce the Kenny "song of the day" at 7:20, and he'll post it on our facebook page at 9:20am each day this week.  Be the 35th caller when you hear it & you'll win tickets from WXBM!  In other Kenny news, he has announced that he, his band and his management team will all donate their fees from their May 25th show in Tuscaloosa to www.GiveTuscaloosa.com

Trisha Yearwood has a new daytime cooking show lined up this fall on the Food Network.  She says the show will focus on recipes from her two previous cookbooks.  Look for her new show in September, and look for a brand new cookbook from Trisha later on this year as well.  We'll keep you posted.

Brad Paisley's new CD "This Is Country Music" is set for release Monday, May 23rd.  He has booked a bunch of TV appearances to promote his new disc.  Look for Brad on Good Morning America, The Late Show with David Letterman and Hannity on May 24th, and The View on the 25th.  Brad will also be part of the Cars 2 soundtrack.  The soundtrack comes out June 14th and the movie will hit theaters June 24th.

Got a few new CD's on the list below.  Have a great week and thanks for listening to Your Country 102.7 WXBM!

(** = new listing)

Upcoming CD's

May 23rd
Brad Paisley - "This Is Country Music"
June 7th
Ronnie Dunn - "Ronnie Dunn"
Randy Travis - "Anniversary Celebration"
June 21st
Justin Moore - "Outlaws Like Me"
July 12th
**Blake Shelton - "Red River Blue"
**Chris Young - "Neon"
July 26th
**Eric Church - "Chief"
Ashton Shepherd - "Where Country Grows"
August
Dierks Bentley - "Diamonds"
August 23rd

**Martina McBride - (Teenage Daughters)

TBD

Sunny Sweeney (From A Table Away)

Lady Antebellum

Terri Clark (expected this summer or fall)

Tim McGraw (Emotional Traffic)
Rodney Atkins (Take A Back Road)
Josh Turner

Upcoming Concerts
May 20th
Kris Kristofferson - IP in Biloxi

May 21st

Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington and Uncle Kracker - Wharf in Orange Beach
Travis Tritt - Wind Creek in Atmore
June 5th
Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Lee Brice and Craig Campbell - Wharf in Orange Beach
June 16th
Keith Urban and Jake Owen - Mississippi Coast Colisseum in Biloxi

July 14th

Jason Aldean, Chris Young and Thompson Square - Wharf in Orange Beach

July 23rd

**Miranda Lambert and Gary Allan - Wharf in Orange Beach
August 12th
**Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson - IP in Biloxi
September 2nd
**Clint Black - IP in Biloxi
September 7th
**Trace Adkins - IP in Biloxi