Brad Paisley

After attending three Brad Paisley concerts, I would have to say that he is one of the most special guitarists in country music.  At each show, he played the guitar for each song.  His set was a little over two hours.  Each time he plucks the guitar, the notes are flawless.  The visual effects specialists on his tours are some of the best in the country music business.  His video screens are very appealing to the eye.  The last time I saw him he had a hologram of Carrie Underwood when they sang 'Remind Me' together.  At first, many people in the audience really thought she was there in person at the arena.  But after awhile, I noticed that she was still standing in the same spot, not moving to walk up and sing next to Brad.  But that was one of the neatest things I've seen at all of the concerts I've been to.  The stage set as a whole is usually pretty simple, but it gives Brad the freedom to be close to his fans, no matter where he is wandering around.  During one of his tour stops in Knoxville, Tennessee, Carrie surprised him.  They sang the song together, but it took Brad awhile to figure out that she was really there, as he was used to singing with the hologram of her!

Many of his songs are humorous, like 'Ticks' and 'I'm Gonna Miss Her'.  The first is about a trip out into the country with a girl, and the second is about a guy going out on a fishing trip, and he is thinking more about the fish that he is about to catch than his girlfriend.  A song like 'Mud On The Tires' tells the story of what it is like to drive a Jeep out into the country.  The two people in this song eventually are all covered in mud, and have a great time while doing it.  A song like 'This Is Country Music' shows why he is a true country artist.  He sang the song at the 2010 Country Music Association Awards.  When he got up on the stage to accept the Entertainer Of The Year Award, he became emotional and told the audience that he appreciates country music fans because they are not just loyal to him; they are loyal to many of the other country artists, too.  One of the verses from the song is "It ain't hip to sing about tractors, trucks, little towns and mama, yeah that might be true.  But this country music and we do."  He also has some love songs in his collection including 'She's Everything', 'Then', 'The World', and 'We Danced'.

Brad is married to Kimberly Williams and they have two boys, Huck and Jasper.  Kimberly is best known as the sister of of Cheryl on the television sitcom According To Jim.  She appears in Brad's music video for "I'm Gonna Miss Her".

The next artist to be profiled will be Carrie Underwood! 

Martina McBride

Martina McBride was one of the first female artists I heard on country radio.  Her voice blew me away the first time I heard it.  Her songs range from advice on the stages of life, as heard in 'This One's For The Girls', to the fragile topic of child abuse in 'Concrete Angel'.  Martina's most recent hit, entitled 'I'm Gonna Love You Through It', was written for anyone who is going through cancer or any other threatening disease.  In the music video for the song, some news celebrities like Robin Roberts from Good Morning America and Hoda Kotb from The Today Show, told their stories about survival and the special people in their lives who helped them through the rough time.  Many of her songs have a positive message and they inspire me to be an even better person than I am, and to chase my dreams, as anything is possible if you work hard toward it, as this song talks about.

I've seen her twice in concert, and both of the shows were amazing.  The second time I saw her with a friend, we had really good seats in the lower bowl of the arena.  Martina flew across the stage riding on a half-moon.  She got down and stood on the stage that was near the side of the arena.  Many people, including my friend and I, were able to get pretty close to Martina while she sang part of her set near us!  She was born to sing as you can see from this video.  She sang the song 'Anyway' at the Country Music Association Awards in 2006.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr_iNfxZl0I

When my family and I visited Nashville this past March, we went on a tour of the stars' homes.  Martina's home from the outside was beautiful, and her tour bus was parked in the driveway!  She lives there with her husband John and her three daughters: Delaney, Emma, and Ava.  They were featured on the Top 20 Countdown last year on the television channel Great American Country for a Mother's Day special.  They all seem to be a very happy family.  All three of her daughter's resemble her in one way or another.

The next artist to be profiled will be Brad Paisley!

Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney was the first artist I ever listened to in the country music genre.  I immediately enjoyed his laid-back songs and the way that each of them made me feel.  The first two songs I ever heard were 'When The Sun Goes Down' and 'I Go Back'.  The first is a Summer party anthem, while the second song profiles Kenny's life before he became a singer.  Some of his other party anthems include 'Beer In Mexico', 'Keg In The Closet', and 'Summertime'.  Another favorite song of mine is 'Don't Blink'.  It describes how fast life goes by, with lines such as Don't blink,  just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you wake up and your twenty-five and your hig school sweetheart becomes your wife."  This song showed me too that Kenny was able to sing about other topics other than party songs.

I've seen him in concert twice.  His shows are very laid-back.  Most of his fans know all of the words to his songs, which made for two memorable concerts at Van Andel Arena.  This Summer he is going on tour with Tim McGraw, which is said to be one of his biggest tours yet.  He plays a lot of football stadiums, as well as arenas across the country.

I love his care-free spirit in his songs, and each of his songs paint a picture in the listener's mind of what it would be like to take part in a certain situation.  I think he will continue to make more music like this in the near future.  I don't see any signs of him stopping anytime soon!

In this blog, you will be able to find out about what is happening in the world of country music, YouTube videos, and information that you have always wanted to know on your favorite stars.  I hope to write for Country Weekly Magazine in the near future, and I figured starting a blog would give me some practice for when I write real articles someday.

I was introduced to country music in High School, and have been listening to it ever since.  One of the artists I heard first was Kenny Chesney, and after hearing some of his music, I knew that country music was a genre that I would probably be listening to for a long time.  In either seventh or eighth grade, I saw him live in concert for the first time (this was the first concert I had ever attended, and several more would be added to the list in the future).  His laid-back spirit and party songs made it a fun-filled evening.  Since middle school, I have seen Kenny twice.  I've also seen Brad Paisley three times, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, Martina Mcbride twice.  These artists have very elaborate stage designs, yet these do not get in the way of their singing.  They complement their singing.

In the next several blog posts, I will profile my favorite artists and all of the things about them and their music!

-Stacy