It’s been another great year in country music…and as we get ready for 2009, we’re looking back at some of the highlights of 2008.
IN SEPTEMBER…
• Jessica Simpson released her debut country CD, Do You Know, featuring 11 songs, eight of which were co-written by Jessica, including the hit first single, “Come on Over.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Brad Paisley hit number-one with “Waitin’ on a Woman,” the fifth chart-topper from his 5th Gear CD. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Season seven American Idol finalist Kristy Lee Cook released her album, Why Wait, including the single, “15 Minutes of Shame.”
• Craig Morgan paid a visit to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to play a special show for the military personnel and their families. The trip mixed Craig’s past and future, since he was stationed at Bragg for two years during his military days, and during the show for the troops, he was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Craig’s emotional reaction was caught on tape as part of the filming of the GAC special, Craig Morgan: Back to Bragg. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Kellie Pickler released her sophomore CD, Kellie Pickler, featuring “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” and her current single, “Best Days of Your Life.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
008 HIGHLIGHTS: September" width="16" height="14" /> Jessica Simpson thinks of her new album as a book of her life. (:18)
“The whole record is about experience. My experiences with love and life and perseverance and just kind of where I’m at now in my life, where I’ve been, what I’ve been through. It’s like you’re readin’ and listenin’ to a book of Jessica.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: September" width="16" height="14" /> Brad Paisley says there’s lots of romance to be found in his number-one hit, “Waitin’ on a Woman.” (:33)
“I am a big, big, big believer in just respecting your elders and learning from them, and this is a song that is all about that, and the advice, and the romantic notion of the man going on…first of all, being patient in his life with a woman who deserves it, but then going on to the Great Hereafter with the same — exhibiting the same patience — sitting on a bench in the middle of nowhere in Heaven, waiting, is just as romantic as it gets.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: September" width="16" height="14" /> Craig Morgan described the “standards” for being a member of the Opry. (:25)
“I think the Opry standard — for me, personally — it’s a truth…it’s an honesty…it’s a sincerity…it’s a sense of heritage…it’s a sense and feel of America like nothing else. You know, it’s like being with my wife, you know? I don’t want to be the guy that screws that up, you know? I want to be that right guy.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: September" width="16" height="14" /> Kellie Pickler loved the freedom she enjoyed in the various aspects of creating her sophomore album, Kellie Pickler. (:25)
“With this album, I was a part of the songwriting, picking the songs. I actually picked the producer. I picked the photographer to do my artwork, and I picked all the pictures in the artwork, and you know, I was a part of the whole packaging of the record. So it’s really great that I was able to have that kind of freedom to be me with this album.”