New TV Show

I watched the premiere of the new series, Sons of Anarchy on FX last night. While I’m not a big fan of rebel bikers and drugs & guns shows, I actually enjoyed this show. Katey Sagal was excellent in her role as Gemma, a tough matriarch-type, who will do anything for her family. I saw one review that referred to it as the “hellcat role”. That title suits the role perfectly. Charlie Hunnam plays her son, Jax, one of the ‘Sons’ gang. It also includes Ron Perlman – whom many might remember as ‘the beast’ opposite Linda Hamilton in the “beauty & the beast” tv series in the late ‘80s. This role suits him to a “T”. Plus, I also saw appearances from Mitch Pileggi (whom most will remember from The X Files), and a guest role for Drea DeMatteo as Jax’ pregnant crack-whore ex. Sprague Grayden also was in the premiere. I remember her from the short-lived series, Jericho.

So, as a whole, it seemed that even with the guns & drugs subjects, there seemed to be enough ‘other stuff’ to keep my attention throughout the show – mainly the wonderful character that Katey Sagal has created here. And, from what I hear, we’ll be able to hear her singing voice in the next episode. For those who haven’t heard Katey’s music, I direct you to my albums uploaded thread to take a listen to the two albums she’s released – “well” and “room”.

Also earlier this week, I had a chance to watch the new legal series on TNT, Raising the bar, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar (who shall forever be known as SBTB's Zach Morris) and Jane Kaczmarek. I'm not a big watcher of legal-type shows, but I did actually enjoy the premiere episode. It's probably not something that I'd watch every week, but I might tune in every now and then. The last legal-type show I actually watched was "Philly" with Kim Delaney, James Denton, and Kyle Secor. I was bummed when it was cancelled so quickly.

Another show that is slated for cancellation is The L Word, following the upcoming season 6. However, Leisha Hailey's character, Alice Piezecki, is slated for a spin-off. It doesn't really make much sense to me. Why quit a successful show, and start a spin-off?

Speaking of TLW, Lauren Lee Smith, who played Dana's 'soup chef' girlfriend, Lara Perkins, on the show is added to the new season of CSI. I'm excited about her addition, as well as the departure of William Petersen's Gil Grissom - a character whom the writers have turned into an unethical hypocrite in the past few seasons and I have no love left for that character. Good riddance, Grissom.

Continuing on the "new shows" subject: My own worst enemy, with Christian Slater seemed interesting in the previews I've seen. Not sure how much I'd actually tune in, though.

I also saw a premiere of a show last week with Christina Cox called S.I.S. I'll have to find out more about that. It was intriguing.

Until my next ramble...

That song stuck in your head

It seems to happen all the time - I get that one song stuck in my head that forces me to put the mp3 player or computer on constant 'repeat' of just that one song. For me it usually seems to happen with songs that have great harmonies.

Currently, that song stuck in my head is "Another Try" by Josh Turner & Trisha Yearwood. "The reasons I'm alone I know by heart, but I don't want to spend forever in the dark. I swear next time I'll hang on for dear life, if love ever gives me another try." You can take a listen to it at my LJ.

And I'll say a "Woo-Hoo!" to my Minnesota Twins for 10 straight wins! Keep it going, guys!stuck in my head

The country music singer-songwriter

The music board at the cmt.com forums has a discussion currently going about the singer-songwriter era in country music.

As the subject is brought up, it makes me realize that's the main problem with today's mainstream country music. There are basically no female singer-songwriters in the mainstream country genre today. Very few of the females even know how to play an instrument, let alone know how to write a song. There still are a few male singer-songwriters in the mainstream country world, but it's becoming much rarer than in previous decades. Most of today's singer-songwriters are in other genres - most notably Alt-Country, Roots, Folk, Rock or Indie.

If you think back into the history of country music, there have been few female singer-songwriters who made it to the forefront, namely Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. While on the other side of the gender scale, there have been a lot of male singer-songwriters throughout the history of country music. However, that number has decreased significantly in the past two decades.

I'm guessing the singer-songwriter decline in country music is the reason why the mainstream country sounds no different than anything that's played on the pop stations. The songs are all written by the same people.

Stories

I read today on YahooNews that Shawn Colvin is writing her memoir, and it is to be published early next year. It will be titled "A few small repairs", which is also the title of one of her albums. I'm looking forward to reading it.

While I'm on the subject of books, I'll just mention one of my favorites:
Maureen O'Hara's auto-biography, 'Tis Herself. She's had a wonderful (and sometimes colorful) career as a leading actress in the Golden Age of movies. She's not afraid to tell it like it is.

I like reading bios & autobios. Some of my other favorites include "The Mandrell Family Album" by Louise Mandrell, "Sheryl Crow: No Fool To This Game" by Richard Buskin, and "Patsy: the life and times of Patsy Cline" by Margaret Jones.

I also enjoy books from movies or tv shows, mainly to see how the books compare to the shows. Being a big fan of CSI (the original show), the CSI novels are some of my favorites, especially "Sin City", where Catherine & Sara work a case of a dead dancer at a strip club. I like the books because they're basically a new episode of the show, and you are able to use your own imagination as to how it would look on screen.

I've read Thomas Harris' novel, "Hannibal", but still haven't seen the movie. And I think Fannie Flagg's "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" helps clear up some questions that I was left with after seeing the movie.

Something to check out

Just a quick look at what music has been catching my ear recently:

First of all, Brandi Carlile's album, The Story, has been constantly playing on my mp3 player since the beginning of the year, when I finally discovered the fabulous album. There are some great songs - including the title track, as well as josephine, cannonball, turpentine, and basically the rest of the album. The Indigo Girls also make an appearance.

Brandi has opened a few shows for Sheryl Crow this spring/summer, which brings me to another album that's been in constant rotation for my music listening - Sheryl Crow's Detours album. There are a few songs on it that will get stuck in your head, including "out of our heads", and "diamond ring". Sheryl seems to have a renewed vigor with this album. Sheryl's The Globe Sessions, is probably still my favorite album by her.

Another album I'd recommend to check out is the new Emmylou Harris offering, All I intended to be. She does some great covers, including Merle Haggard's "Kern River", Tracy Chapman's "all that you have is your soul", and there's a great rendition of "old five and dimers like me". The album is really growing on me as I continue to listen each day.

There's a lot more great stuff out there to take a listen to, but I'll get to more of them later.

Welcome!

Hi y'all!
It's nice to have you stop by. It's just a lot of random stuff around here. I like everything from good country music (not the mainstream stuff), Americana & Roots music, singer-songwriter music, television (CSI!), and movies to everyday random stuff. Usually, whatever catches my eye or ear.

Since this is the beginning here, be sure to check out my Live Journal to see what's been on my mind up 'til now. And be sure to take a look at the albums uploaded post to check out some great music.