"Tuskegee" Lionel Richie Duets Review

I've been a fan of Lionel Richie as long as I can remember.  Singing " Easy" and " Three Times A Lady" to girls on the telephone late at night as a teenager, when I was supposed to be sleeping. The words from his pen are like strokes from Rembrandt's brush.  Timeless.

His new album "Tuskegee" gives us some of his best work, with some of the best that country music has to offer, and I for one, feel it's the perfect marriage.  Nashville's backbone comes from a great song and Lionel was smart to bring his suitcase full of classics to town.

A few highlights include Tim McGraw on "Sail On", This was one of my favorites from Richie and Tim did not disappoint with his smooth vocals. Women will faint when they hear Kenny Chesney sing " My Love" and Willie Nelson leaves his Texas blend on " Easy".

The groove of the album missed a beat or two for me, I would've arranged a little differently, but then I can't seem to match socks sometime.  So who am I?   Still the music is fantastic, production value high, as you'll hear on Shania joining Lionel on " Endless Love" and when  Darius Rucker sings "Stuck On You" as if he wrote the song.

 Kenny Rogers on "Lady" had to be a no brainer when pairing up songs with the artist, same goes for Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles and " Hello".  Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town and Jimmy Buffett round out the 13 cuts, that will surely please not only country fans young and old, but fans of Pop and R&B.

This is a win win for everyone involved, Lionel, all the great Nashville artist, the fans of country music and those girls that are now women that I used to sing to on the telephone.  I'll be calling again real soon ladies!  Thanks for "Tuskegee" Lionel and thanks for coming to Nashville and being Country to the Bone!

Let's Go To Church

Eric Church is without a doubt, one of the hottest commodities in Nashville these days! The album " Chief" is one of the best albums I've listened to from start to finish in a long time.  Taking today's hot new country twang to a whole new place.  A Place where we've been wanting to go..needing to go in country music.  Taylor Swift might have the hearts of the young girl fans, but it looks like Eric has started to grab the attention of most all the others.  Not saying the girls don't love Eric as well...so let's just say, he's well on his way to having them all!

He's nominated in a couple of categories at this year's ACM awards in Las Vegas next weekend, and it is my humble opinion he should win the Album of The Year trophy for " Chief".  No other album nominated delivered what Eric did with this record. This album changes lives and I don't just mean Eric's, cause that's already happened.  It takes you on a journey and you're riding along every beat and every lyric.  I find myself riding down the highway listening to " Drink In My Hand" and making the knocking on the door gesture with my fist, each time the beat calls for it!  I'm sure other drivers think I'm insane..but I don't care, because I'm listening to my favorite album right now. 

Some call Eric the new outlaw of country music...I just call him Country To The Bone!  Good Luck at the ACM's!