Sketches: My Favorite Christmas Albums

Remember last week when I said I’d get this post out “today or tomorrow”? Or earlier this month when I planned a grand round of Christmas-themed festivities (aside from the Holiday Songs of the Day that I’ve thankfully already posted, for your reading & listening pleasure)? Ha. Like I can be expected to hold to some crazy, unattainable blogging standard like posting regularly. Posting regularly is for the little people. I scoff at people who update their blogs regularly. Ready? Do it with me. Scoff in disdain. SCOFF, I SAY!

OK, so most of that paragraph was kind of ridiculous. Moving on…I’ll do my best to make this week of Christmas Eve/Christmas a lovely one, at least blogging-wise. Look for some Christmas Cover Stories to come before Saturday, something I’m holding myself to. You saw it here. If I do not deliver on my promise, feel free to send me copies en masse of particularly distressing rap albums or something. Unless, of course, you don’t know my address, in which case I shall be able to escape unscathed.

And I have now spent two paragraphs spouting nonsense. What else is new? Anyhow, this post is a (hopefully concise and pithy) exploration of a few of my favorite holiday albums. They’re not even close to touching even part of my Christmas music tastes (and they’re even farther from covering all of the wonderful, even definitive, holiday albums there are out there)…but they’re records that have touched me, inspired me, or warmed my heart in some way. It’s not a Christmas season for me without them, that’s for sure.

Harry Connick, Jr. — “Harry For The Holidays” (2003)

I’m a huge Harry Connick, Jr. fan, so when I got this album back in the day (early 2000s ftw!), it was pretty much a given that I’d enjoy it. However, years later, I probably never could have expected I’d still love it this much. Harry has recorded 3 holiday albums over his career, and while I like what I’ve heard of his first one (which came out back in 1993), and I own and enjoy his latest one (2008), this is the Christmas album of his that I keep coming back to. The selection of songs is top-notch, a great balance of holiday classics both secular and sacred. He includes an outstanding selection of original tunes (my favorites include his buoyant “The Happy Elf” and a heartstoppingly touching ode to the Savior’s life, “I Come With Love”). And best of all, his arrangements and voice are in peak form. From the opening trombone wails of “Frosty The Snowman,” I’m always absolutely hooked. Harry doesn’t phone anything in on this album…he brings a daring sense of reinvention and life to a fine collection of Christmas melodies, all while keeping the innate charm that made them chestnuts in the first place. You really can’t get much better than this, whether it’s Christmastime, or anytime in the year.

Check out a track from the album, “Frosty The Snowman”:

Ella Fitzgerald — “Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas” (1960)

It took me a scandalously long time after I fell madly in love with Ella’s voice in her music to discover this Christmas gem, but rest assured that after I did find it (and buy it on eBay) a few years ago, I have cherished it completely since then. Recorded at what was in many ways during the height of her career, this is a holiday album that’s darn near perfect. Accompanied by Frank DeVol’s orchestra (his arrangements are both thoughtful and timeless), she doesn’t do as much scatting here as her other work, but her improvisational skills are still on full display, and what’s more, her warm, captivating voice is an effortless fit with the Christmas music canon. You’d be hard-pressed to find lovelier versions of oft-covered songs like “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” (done here with a bit more swing than most takes on the song), “Sleigh Ride” (featured in the hilarious Will Ferrell film “Elf”),  and “Jingle Bells” (the album’s jaunty opener). Check out the 2002 reissue and you’ll also find a wealth of bonus tracks, including a lovely holiday obscurity, “The Secret of Christmas,” and 3 intriguing alternate takes of songs on the album that would have fit inperfectly had they been released instead. All in all, if you don’t have this album in your Christmas collection, you’re seriously missing out.

Want to hear a taste? Here’s Ella’s spin on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”:

Any Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra at Temple Square Christmas album (2000-2011)

A bit of a cop-out, I know, but they’ve released eight Christmas recordings since 2000 (a majority of them being live recordings from their long-standing annual Christmas concerts, a practice they experimented with in 2006 and began in earnest in 2007), and if I went over all of them individually, they’d overtake this list in a hurry. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Christmas have long been synonymous for many, but thanks in part to Mack Wilberg’s stunning arrangements (and since taking over the baton as director in 2008, his conducting), along with the richness that the Orchestra at Temple Square provides, plus a cornucopia of great guest artists (Angela Lansbury, Bryn Terfel and Frederica von Stade, Audra McDonald, Renee Fleming, Sissel, the King’s Singers, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Natalie Cole, and David Archuleta, oh my!), they’re better than ever when it comes to holiday music. Their performances of Christmas classics new and old are vibrant, dynamic, and full of warmth and heart. It’s bigger than a choir, than a song, than a season. They give us pure, beautiful, enduring music.

Just one of the many highlights of their Christmas repertoire…their traditional Christmas concert closer, a rousing arrangement of “Angels From The Realms of Glory” (Special Note: I was in attendance for this specific performance):

Jane Monheit — “The Season” (2005)

Jane Monheit’s vocals are rich, smooth, and dare I say sexy, but distinctive, top-notch vocals do not a great Christmas album make on their own. But when they’re paired with an excellent collection of songs and fine arrangements ranging from gorgeous to fun to everything in between, you’ve got a recipe for a holiday classic. From her delicious opening take on Donny Hathaway’s seminal “This Christmas” to a hauntingly spare rendition of “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day” done with just guitar, this album is captivating, warm, and beautiful, and I really can’t get enough of it. Jane’s vocal skills are close to peerless, and here they’re certainly very well showcased. She includes a nice selection of uptempo numbers as well as ballads, and the result is an album I’m very proud to have in my holiday collection.

Jane’s sizzling rendition of “The Christmas Waltz,” coming right up:

She & Him — “A Very She & Him Christmas” (2011)

Seeing as I’ve only had this album since the end of October, I’ve been kind of asking myself whether it really belongs on this list yet. However, even considering the short time it’s been around, I think it’s worthy of inclusion. Yes, my great admiration for Zooey Deschanel is a big factor, but that aside, this is a lovingly crafted throwback to days of Christmas past that still has a lot to offer to the holiday music world today. Zooey’s voice has a real classic quality…I remember when “Elf” came out and she sang in it, that it reminded me a bit of Judy Garland’s in a way. It’s soft and fragile at times, but also very rich and distinctive as well. And the new spins on holiday tunes Zooey crafts with M. Ward are gorgeous and smooth. The only clear misstep is an awkward rush through “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” that seems like it was included only because this is a Christmas album done by a duo, but otherwise, this is a piece of Christmas gold that will last for years to come.

Haven’t checked out the album yet? Hear Zooey & M. Ward take on the Beach Boys’ sunny tune “Christmas Day” here:

Diana Krall — “Christmas Songs” (2005)

Backed by the incomparable Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, along with her own top-notch piano playing, Diana Krall is an absolute delight singing a lovely assortment of Christmas tunes here. The album’s opening track, a firecracker of a take on “Jingle Bells,” is one of the best holiday tunes I’ve ever heard, and things rarely let up from there. Diana’s well-known for having a very sultry voice, but it fits like a glove on songs like “Let It Snow” and “Sleigh Ride,” as well as tender ballads like “The Christmas Song” and “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”. The big-band arrangements are vibrant and dynamic (thank one of the best arrangers and musicians of all time, John Clayton, for those), and the intimate combo settings for the ballads work beautifully as well. There’s even a tune included at the very end that’s not often associated with the holidays, but closes the album nicely…a tender version of “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep.” This is a treasure of a Christmas record, a heartfelt homage to the past and a full-on embrace of the future, full of holiday warmth and spirit.

Hear the album’s ebullient first track, “Jingle Bells”:

Johnny Mathis — “Merry Christmas” (1958)

And I’ve saved the best for last. By “best,” I don’t necessarily mean that I enjoy this more than all the other albums I’ve listed…on the contrary, true to form, I love them all the same, for the most part. However, this album holds a special place in my heart, and that’s all thanks to my dad, who made it a Christmas tradition to have it played frequently each December. I’ve grown up with this album…it’s a holiday institution in our house (well, now it’s technically houses, but you get the point), and I haven’t gone a year without listening to it fondly. The nostalgia is a huge element in my love for this record…but it’s more than that. There’s a perfect storm of song selection (there’s not a bad track on the album), vocal delivery (Johnny was in peak form, and his singing is beautifully heartfelt and tender), and instrumental backing (Percy Faith & His Orchestra provide gorgeous, rich arrangements that stand the test of time, yet never seem phoned in) at play here. It’s the quintessential embodiment of Christmas spirit. When I hear the opening strains of “Winter Wonderland,” when I hear Johnny’s soaring high notes in “O Holy Night” (a song that you really can’t get wrong*), when I hear the tinkling sounds of “Silver Bells”…I’m home, and I feel Christmas in my heart. When it comes to holiday music, you really can’t ask for anything more.

Just one of the many terrific songs of this album…a lush version of “The Christmas Song”:

And there you have it. Just a taste of the Christmas music that soothes my soul. Feel free to take to the comments to share your favorite holiday music, or comment on my choices. I’ll see you later this week (remember…hold me to it!) with some more Christmas music goodness. Hope your holidays are going splendidly so far!

(*For someone who DID get it wrong, in the most awful but oddly wonderful way, click this link if you dare. You may have heard it already.)

Sketches: Wake Up

(‘Tis been quite a long time since I last posted. I’m not entirely sure I have regular readers yet, but in case there are any of you out there, sorry for not writing anything for a few weeks.)

So last night I went to see Arcade Fire’s concert in Phoenix. It was kind of a last-minute decision…I had no idea they were coming until Monday. Monday night I thought about it, and since I had the money for a ticket, and I’d missed all the great concerts I wanted to go back in the fall, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go to this one on kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. Wednesday morning I bought my ticket, I hurriedly arranged transportation and everything, and thus yesterday evening I was on my way to see Arcade Fire.

I’m not a huge rock-concert guy. In fact…before last night, I’d only been to one, and it wasn’t entirely my choice of band (it was Rush, a band my dad absolutely LOVES and I’ve grown to love as well, even though I don’t really listen to a lot of their songs on my own that much). Rush is an absolutely terrific band, and it was a great night that night (even including the fact that we got stuck in huge traffic afterwards because there was a crazy shooting next door…), but…it was kind of more ‘spectacle’ than ‘musical experience’ for me. Like it was outstanding music (and there were a lot of cool moments…Neil Peart’s epic drum solo, for example), but the whole rock-concert atmosphere (beers, the outdoor thing, and potential drugs??) kind of took center stage a bit.

Which come to think of it, makes it kind of interesting that I threw myself so quickly into the decision to go to the concert last night, especially since I’ve only been a big fan of Arcade Fire for less than a year. (I decided to check out their latest album, “The Suburbs,” back when it came out last summer, and I fell madly in love, even though I had tried seeing if I liked their music years ago, and wasn’t impressed. Weird.) I guess I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, since Arcade Fire’s music isn’t entirely conventional rock by any means.

Anyways, I got inside the building right at the time the concert was supposed to start, and after I wended my way through the crowd, I started to hear something familiar. A little something like this…

Yep, that’s right. Local Natives (coincidentally enough, the subject of the second artist spotlight here on Harmony Avenue), a band I already knew and loved, was opening for Arcade Fire, something which I totally had no idea about. Ultra score. They played about half of their debut album, and it was awesome. So awesome. The band totally got into it, and even though people were trickling in (and all the people not in the pit were sitting down), they still kept the energy in the room at a pretty fun level. The crowd loved them, and I was already having a blast.

And then later came Arcade Fire…and that’s where the magic started. I thought about making this more of a concert review-type post originally…but I couldn’t really think of a way to approach that angle without it turning into a lovefest. They started off with an interesting video opening featuring a musical number from an old movie, with a woman singing about May…and it segued into a song from “The Suburbs,” naturally “Month of May.” It’s one of their hardest-rocking, kind of cacophonous songs, and it started off the night on a very high-energy note.

And things just kept getting better from there. I totally have their setlist open right next to me, but I’m not going to just go through all the songs, but give kind of a more general feel, with some song mentions thrown in. The atmosphere was just…electric. Maybe it’s because it was indoors, or because I haven’t gone to rock concerts that often and thus this was a different experience for me, or maybe it was just adrenaline kicking in since I wasn’t on much sleep…but the energy in the room felt special, exhilarating. Win (Butler, of course one of the lead singers of the group) commanded the stage, but it never felt like he was doing something manufactured or affected. At the same time, though, even though Arcade Fire’s music is kind of introspective in some ways, he never came off as shy or depressing or introverted. It was the perfect balance of confident and free, and calm and unassuming. Meanwhile, Regine (Chassagne, the other lead singer and Win’s wife) had this kind of earthy, uninhibited free-spirit persona on the stage that was riveting to watch. During the songs she fronted (“Haiti” and “Sprawl II,” which closed the encore, were two of them), she would dance during the instrumental parts of the songs, and it would be a spirited, unique kind of movement that you really couldn’t take your eyes off of. When she was singing (whether lead or backup), you could see the wild passion in her eyes. It definitely added to the performances. The same went for the rest of the band…you could tell they were totally and completely into the music and the whole experience.

Like I said earlier…there was just a really cool atmosphere. Everyone was getting in the music…bobbing their heads, dancing, singing along (I couldn’t always tell if they were, since it was so loud, but looking at a few YouTube recordings afterwards last night, it was very clear a bunch of people knew all the words)…normal rock concert fare, but with a different undertone to it, almost. It was powerful and uplifting and just…wow.

Seeing as I’d only heard a little more than one album of Arcade Fire’s music, there were a fair amount of songs I’d never heard that popped up throughout the concert. I was kind of surprised to see that every single song worked extremely well in a large venue setting…it filled up the theatre (which wasn’t, say, arena-size, but was still pretty large) and then some. Even though Arcade Fire’s songs aren’t quite happy-go-lucky, peppy material, they still brought a huge amount of electricity (sorry to use that term again, but it fits well) to the room. It was pure sonic bliss, and some of the best kind of music for a live concert setting. By the time they got to “Wake Up” at the end, one of their traditional closers…me and everyone else were so into the music you couldn’t have gotten us out of it. Everyone was smiling, clapping, cheering, belting out the lyrics at the top of their lungs…an amazing feeling. The three encore numbers they did afterwards were just as exciting.

So maybe this wasn’t any different than your typical rock concert, you could argue. I’m sure there are a LOT of bands that could create this same type of setting. Regardless of that, though, I think that an experience like this…one that I still can’t stop thinking about, one that was worth the money I spent on the ticket, the 2 hours I spent standing on my feet and moving to the music like the awkward person that I am, and so, so, SO much more…needs to be celebrated and cherished. I took a listen to the songs I’d heard for the first time at the concert afterwards on YouTube (the original studio versions)…and even though they all sounded amazing, after seeing and hearing all of those songs firsthand, in a sonically expansive live setting, it just wasn’t the same.

You can’t have musical moments like this every day. It’ll probably be a long time before I’m able to go to another Arcade Fire show, and when that happens, it will be completely different. So in essence, this was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing in some ways, which is kind of crazy to think about. I’m completely grateful that I got to have that kind of an experience, and to take a break from my usual concert-going fare (jazz and singer-songwriter-ness, mostly) was very refreshing. Even though the band doesn’t write much ‘happy’ stuff, per se…I couldn’t help but feel uplifted afterwards. It brought me joy, even if the music was deep and reflective.

I’ve been thinking about this post since last night, and it kind of turned out a bit different from what I planned it to be, but there you go. If you haven’t seen Arcade Fire live, I highly recommend it. (And if you haven’t checked out their music in the first place, I highly recommend that as well. Look past the “hipster band” label they’ve been slapped with and dive into their songs. They’re energetic and definitely rock-driven, but written with such care and beauty that they’re anything but boring or pretentious.) And now for something completely different…here’s a photo I took after the concert with the lead singer of Local Natives, the amazing Taylor Rice. Note how my eyes are so attractively closed, and the random Live Nation lady in the background as well. See you soon with another new post (I won’t leave this blog alone for so long anytime soon!), and many thanks for reading.

Sketches: Yellow

My first Sketches (AKA the part where I blog about something random and music-related, in an informal fashion) post in a while, beginning with a video:

As I might have stated on this blog before, I’m a HUGE covers guy. One of my favorite types of music to look for is that of one artist covering another artist’s song (preferably one that I know). So when I saw this video of Sara Bareilles singing “Yellow” (the early Coldplay hit) on my YouTube homepage the past week or so (one of the handful of random YouTube subscribers I have…or something…had “liked” the video), and a few nights ago I had some time to watch it, I was expecting something nice…Sara Bareilles is one of my favorite artists, and “Yellow” is a beautiful song. I had a feeling she’d do a good job with it.

My expectations were modest ranging to fairly high…and yet I was still blown away. It was simple, heartfelt, breathtaking, and…it just felt special. I listen to a lot of great covers all the time, but for some reason this one stood out.

I’ve been thinking since then about why in particular it had such an effect on me. Music certainly isn’t a mindless endeavor for me…I mean, hello, I have a blog dedicated to it…and I do think about what I listen to a lot, but I think a lot of times it’s subconscious. Anyways, one of the things that really struck me about her version of the song was how the vocal seemed to come from the heart. Yes, that’s a quality I see a lot of good musicians have…soulful vocals that aren’t just words and notes, but truth and expression. (It’s also a quality I’m trying to work on myself as a musician. Right now, I often feel I sing too much like a robot. ) But it’s a quality that should be treasured, and Sara really let me as a listener (and viewer, in the case of this video) that this song truly meant something to her. (The little anecdote at the beginning, about how the record that “Yellow” comes from…AKA “Parachute” by Coldplay…meant a lot to her during her time studying abroad, helped hit home that aspect.)

Something else that really hit me hard was the simplicity of the arrangement. The piano line essentially consists of only driving quarter-note chords…throughout the entire 4-minute song. Of course the chords change, and Sara builds some stuff in the left hand as the song progresses, and the dynamic rises and falls as it needs to…but it’s pretty bare-bones stuff. Yet, rather than make the performance feel flat or empty…it makes it stronger. It builds beautifully, and the fact that someone can do that with just a piano and their voice…wow.

Simplicity. I think that’s something that sometimes gets taken for granted in music. In fact, sometimes it even goes unappreciated. An example: Katelyn Epperly on the “American Idol” semifinals last season (embedded below).  Her performance of, coincidentally, another Coldplay song (in this case “The Scientist”) was very similar to Sara’s…slow, deliberate, driven by a very simple piano part…and just as powerful and meaningful. It didn’t go over entirely well (the judges were lukewarm; she was voted off the show just a week later), and I’m still not quite sure why. Simplicity, with the right song and the right artist, can bring a song to life, and that’s what Sara and Katelyn both did. Now, you just can’t go to the piano, sing a song, and call it great music. Not every tune works with that treatment, and of course, if an artist was to try to make a career out of just that, they wouldn’t get much of anywhere artistically (not to mention commercially, but that’s a whole other story). But when it’s done right, it’s almost like magic. (Sorry to use a bit of a cliche, but that comparison feels pretty accurate to me. And J.K. Rowling. ) It’s a haunting effect, and one that helps make music great.

K, so hopefully I didn’t get too preachy/rambly/pointless. (Let me know in the comments if any of those sentiments occurred. ) In other Harmony Avenue news…my Grammy predictions were kind of off. But I got some of them right. P.S., I’m still riding a huge, huge high off the Grammy wins of Esperanza Spalding and Arcade Fire, among others. The fact that those two were able to win in those incredibly competitive, high-profile categories is a huge step forward for music in my eyes. I think I might be doing an Artist Spotlight on Esperanza in the near-future, so stay tuned for that. (I’ve absolutely loved her music for a while, and the Grammy nom and subsequent win helped remind me how terrific she is.) Thanks for reading, make sure to subscribe, and I’ll see you later on in the week with yet again more blogging and more music.

Sketches: Country Strong

Hi there! Once again, there’s been a bit of a gap between my last post and…now. Here’s another new feature…and this is one kind of without much bells and whistles. It’s where I want to basically just write. About a music-related topic that’s on my mind. For fun. And I might ramble. But with good intentions. I’ll call it “Sketches” (since that term is sometimes used in music for improv-type stuff, and that describes this fairly well). So let’s go!

This past Wednesday, I made a point of watching the CMA Awards on TV. It was years since I last saw them…I always see the commercials on TV and go, “Hmmm, that might be nice to see…” and then end up forgetting about it. This year, they were on a Wednesday, on a channel & time when I normally would be watching TV (ABC’s awesome Wednesday night comedy block…I love “Better With You” and “Modern Family”), so I decided to sit down and view my first CMA Awards in years.

Oh, by the way. I love country music. It’s a side of me that doesn’t often poke out too much nowadays…but country is what I grew up with. My love for jazz came on late in life, and any pop and rock songs I liked as a younger kid were spotty at best. We always listened to 107.9 FM (KMLE…”Camel Country one-oh-eight!”) in the car (we never cared for the Valley of the Sun’s other country station, 102.5, and we still don’t), we had the greatest hits of Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and Collin Raye (those are just off the top of my head), and I always simply always HAD to get the new Shania Twain/Dixie Chicks/SHeDAISY CD. Country was what I lived and breathed then.

So what changed? I’m not entirely sure. I discovered jazz in 3rd grade…my elementary school music teacher (an awesome, awesome guy named Paul Anderson who plays in a jazz band called the Yaman Jazz Syndicate) played Diana Krall once in class, and from then on, I was hooked…but I didn’t truly get into it until I was about 12 or so, and even then it was kind of slow going at first. But I guess it was probably the catalyst for me drifting a bit away from my country obsession. I slowly started actively seeking out and listening to a lot of different kinds of music, and for a while, country got shifted to the side. It went from being all I listened to, to being a tiny part of my music listening diet. I couldn’t really tell things were shifting then, but looking back now, it’s an interesting journey.

But as time has passed on, I’ve realized my love for country is still very much alive. I still treasure the Dixie Chicks, SHeDAISY, Shania Twain (the aforementioned trifecta of female country acts that I’ve always loved to pieces) collection I have, and have even added to it in the case of SHeDAISY in the past few years. (The only physical SHeDAISY CD I have is “Knock On The Sky,” which is by far my favorite of theirs. It’s terribly, terribly underrated. I might review it soon…anyways, all the music I have from their other CDs came from downloading songs individually over time.) There’s stuff peppered all over my iPod from Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Jamie O’Neal, Brad Paisley (a few days ago I realized I only have two songs of his, and they’re both melancholy duet ballads ), Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Terri Clark, Rascal Flatts…the list goes on. It’s all kind of random in some places. I still haven’t recovered all the country songs I lost when we switched computers (I had a LOT more songs), so that accounts for a few missing areas, but mostly, my taste (as with any music) is kind of all over the place when it comes to country. I absolutely loved Rascal Flatts when they first came out (I remember my first thought upon hearing “Praying For Daylight” for the very first time on KMLE was, “Whoa! They’re like a cool N’Sync for country!”), but their newer stuff has left me a little cold. I love Brooks & Dunn’s CD “Steers & Stripes” (one of their mid-period albums), but I haven’t got around to putting any other music by them on my iPod. And so it goes for my whole collection. Even now, years after the fact, with me at 18, it’s still a work in progress.

I could go on and on about my country-related thoughts and memories…blasting Toby Keith’s “The Angry American” (a song I couldn’t stop listening to years ago, but now can’t really stand) with the windows open; going to my very first mainstream concert (by SHeDAISY) at the Arizona State Fair, and literally dancing in our way-in-the-back-of-the-coliseum aisle; being annoyed that my mom wouldn’t let us listen to “Goodbye Earl” and “Sin Wagon” off the Dixie Chicks’ “Fly” album (I still haven’t touched either of those songs in years); singing a Shania Twain song to a crush I had in elementary school in someone’s backyard at night. Those are just a few. Country has a special place in my heart. It always will, no matter how much at odds the country music field may be with most of the rest of my current tastes.

So back to the CMA Awards…I missed most of the first half because I had a previous engagement (I watched most of it later), but I caught some great performances: Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, and even Gwyneth Paltrow (singing a song from her new movie, “Country Strong”…I thought she did wonderfully) among them. I especially loved Miranda Lambert and Sheryl Crow’s tribute to Loretta Lynn (a country music legend, but only a recent find of mine), who even came out and surprised everyone, and rocked it (her voice sounds outstanding!) at the age of 76. All three of those powerful, talented women all on one stage? And then seeing Miranda Lambert getting the Female Vocalist of the Year award from Loretta Lynn, one of her idols? I almost cried, doggone it. No joke. (And by the way, afterwards I bolstered my Miranda Lambert collection on my iPod quite nicely. It went from 2 songs to…quite a lot more. She’s one ferociously talented artist. I’ve always been more inclined towards female vocalists…they’re just generally cooler…and Miranda is certainly no exception.) Plus Brad Paisley got Entertainer of the Year. I don’t have much of his music, like I said, but he seems like such a great guy. So all in all…a great night of music, one that stirred the old country boy in me once again. You just can’t keep a country music lover down.