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Country music is the most American of musical idioms, alongside jazz. With a longer history than rock and roll or hip-hop, country has produced a powerful pantheon of memorable artists, albums, and songs. Growing up, I pretended not to like country music, even though it was the music I heard my dad listen to the most (while my mom turned me on to the incredible pop and rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s). Nowadays, I’ve shaken that youthful pretension and will admit to enjoying most types of country’s many subgenres. I also have to admit that compiling a list...

Looks like the Hollywood elite are going down faster than I though

Why do Hollywood leftists have to ruin everything they touch? – My first reaction when I heard that the great George Strait would be putting on a nationally televised hurricane benefit fundraiser was great! Awesome! Greatest country music artist ever, native Texan, truly good ol’ boy in every sense of that title, it’ll be a fantastic show and raise a ton of money. Good for George. But then I saw that he would be joined by notorious cop hater Beyonce’, and I thought, oh, no, here we go. But hey, Beyonce’ is also a native Houstonian, so I figured she...

Paisley and Underwood sang a little song mocking Obamacare. It was great.

That’s right, hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood had a special segment and even song mocking the failed health care rollout that featured the pair pretending to sign up for Obamacare and then crooning about the failure. It all started while the pair was singing a new version of “Why Can’t We Be Friends” that faked feuds between some of country music’s biggest stars (including Kenny Rogers) and Paisley stopping abruptly to complain about back pain. That’s when Underwood suggested trying to sign up for Obamacare. “I started signing up last Thursday and I’m almost done,” she said with a...

Blake Shelton captured album of the year, Miranda Lambert won female vocalist of the year and Taylor Swift was honored with the Pinnacle award for her achievements, but it was George Strait who won the night's top honor at the Country Music Awards — entertainer of the year. Strait, who is retiring from the road, nabbed his third trophy in the category but hadn't won the prestigious award since 1990. He capped a night where there was no clear favorite. Shelton, Swift, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw and Florida Georgia Line won two awards each.

On Thursday George Strait's New Song Inspired By Newtown School Massacre was a top story. Here is the recap: Country superstar George Strait has released his latest single "I Believe" which was inspired by the tragic school massacre in Newtown, Conn. last December. We were sent over these details: Strait co-wrote the song with his son, Bubba Strait, and songwriter Dean Dillon after watching the news coverage of the tragady. Having lost his daughter at a young age, George felt as if it was a song he needed to write. Yet, when he was working on the album, he didn't...

The last four times I have seen George Strait, he did the same thing: at the end of "Unwound," while the band is doing the ending, he thanks everyone for coming, then acknowledges the band. He then leaves the stage, then the band follows. After about three minutes, everyone comes back, and he does three or four more songs, ending of course with "The Cowboy Rides Away." Why does he do that? Are those last few songs supposed to be an encore? Is it really an encore if the whole thing is staged lol?

As expected, the King of Pop steps aside for the King of Country as George Strait's "Twang" replaces Michael Jackson's enduring "Number Ones" as the best selling album in the country. Strait's new set sold 155,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan, earning the country legend his fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. "Twang" follows in the footsteps of Strait's 1997 album "Carrying Your Love With Me," 2004's "50 Number Ones," 2005's "Somewhere Down In Texas" and 2008's "Troubadour." The last time one of Strait's studio albums opened with less than 100,000 was in 1994, when "Lead On" started...

I received this e-mail, which has instructions on how George Strait fan club members can purchase tickets for the Cowboy Stadium June 6 concert ahead of the public. Problem is, the e-mail is undecipherable. Why do we apparently have two different user names and two different passwords? How does the George Strait web site sign on relate to any Ticketmaster sign on we might need to create? Or do we need to create a Ticketmaster account? thanks. See below: To purchase tickets for the shows listed below you will be required to enter your George Strait Fan Club username and...

When other artists have come to Philadelphia area, WXTU 92.5 FM listeners have been able to buy tickets one day before general availability. However, I have seen no such offers with respect to George Strait. Tickets for the February 16 concert go on sale on Saturday, January 12 at 10 am. Is there a way to get tickets early? Also, why does Ticketmaster have no information on the Philadelphia concert, even though they sell for the other cities?

I already have "Somewhere Down in Texas." What is the "best" one besides that one? Thanks.