Dale was the winner last year as well and at the time I said this should be called the Dale Watson Award and he should win every year. I listened to Pure Blue Heartache from this record over and over on a road trip between L.A. Jarrod is also a real bullriding cowboy so there ain’t nothing fake here. If I purchase more than half the songs from a single album upon first discovery, it’s most definitely a winner. This record had more Junkie-worthy songs on it than any other this year. Again, just discovered this year, so it counts.Īlbum–Jesus & Johnny Cash by Jarrod Birmingham. Drunk I Am comes from his 2005 album Tonky Honk and is a laugh-out-loud funny and brilliant song. More important, though, is the Junkie-worthy material he saved for himself. He wrote Riding With Private Malone for David Ball and he also wrote a bunch of great songs for Kevin Fowler who is another one of my favorites. Thom is a member of the Nashville songwriting establishment having had a few hits by mainstream artists like Bucky Covington and Craig Morgan among others. Song (for the writer) –D runk I Am by Thom Shepherd. Stellar vocals by East and amazing pedal steel by Steve “Rabbit” Easter. I played it over and over and cranked it as loud as it would go. This was one of those songs that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. This is a three-year-old song but since I just discovered it this year, it counts. Single (for the artist) - Liquor is Quicker by Johnathan East. If you haven’t picked up a copy of his new CD Ghost Train yet, you’re missing out. He’s also a long time country music historian with a massive collection of photos he took himself.
He’s got the credibility, the chops and oh yeah, he has his own music-heavy TV show on RFD-TV. Marty Stuart actually played with those guys. There are a lot of posers out there who claim Cash and Flatt as influences yet play pop country crap. He played mandolin for Lester Flatt as a child and played guitar for Johnny Cash as an adult. He’s been a favorite of mine since I first heard Hillbilly Rock back in the early ‘90’s. So there you have it, ready or not I give you the 2010 Junkies.Įntertainer–Marty Stuart. I need to mention that the Steel Guitar category is by no means a slight to any other instrument, it’s just been my personal favorite instrument for 35 years and I think it deserves some extra love. I also added a few categories like Favorite Steel Guitar Performance, Favorite Record From An Artist From My Neck of the Woods and Favorite Rediscoveries. I dropped the music video category because, frankly, I haven’t seen a whole lot of them this year. And third, I generally have the same categories as the CMA but I also took the liberty of making some changes. I try too keep it as current as possible but I base it more on music that I discovered this year and in some cases it goes back a few years. Second, the winners don’t necessarily come from music released this year.
There is none of this ‘It’s just nice to be nominated’ crap here. First of all, there are no nominations, only winners. My approach to the award process is quite a bit different then that of our mainstream counterparts. Yes, it’s Country Music Association (CMA) awards time again so of course that means it’s also time for the 2nd Annual Honky Tonk Junkie Music Awards.