Garth Brooks comes out of retirement

[Caliga]

Hopefully he means Garth Brooks himself is coming out of retirement, and not 'Chris Gaines'.

Garth Brooks says he will resume music career
Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:35am EDT 
 
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Garth Brooks, the best-selling solo musician in U.S. history, said on Thursday he was coming out of retirement and was expected to announce an extended concert run at the Wynn Las Vegas casino and hotel.

"I know this is a young industry, so I'm not sure I'll be welcomed back but, if the fans want me, I still want to pursue my music," Brooks told reporters at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.

A two-time Grammy winner and winner of 11 Country Music Association awards, Brooks' brand of rock-tinged country music topped the charts in the 1990s. He has sold 113 million albums, putting him second to the Beatles in all-time U.S. sales.

Brooks, 47, hired a private plane to transport reporters to an unnamed site where he will announce his immediate plans.

The destination was widely tipped on websites and in newspaper gossip columns to be Las Vegas and Steve Wynn's casino hotel. Brooks was expected to announce a four-month run of two to three shows a week.

Wynn Resorts Ltd said in a statement it would be announcing a new music schedule.

The hotel's Encore Theater has not had a permanent headliner since the death of comedian Danny Gans from a combination of prescription painkillers and a heart condition in May.

Brooks officially retired in 2001, saying he would devote himself to his three daughters at his home in Oswasso, Oklahoma, until his youngest turned 18. She is 13 now.

He said on Thursday that coming out of retirement offered him the freedom to do as he pleased but he did not expect much to change over the next five years. He divorced in 2001 and wed country star Trisha Yearwood.

In 2005, Brooks began performing occasionally, mostly at charity events.

(Writing by Andrew Stern; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

[Grey Fox]

What we need is Taylor Swift in skimpy clothes.

But I do love my country. How an entire genre can be about : 1. drinking 2. girls 3. pick up trucks is simply awesome.

[Caliga]

What we need is Taylor Swift in skimpy clothes.

But I do love my country. How an entire genre can be about : 1. drinking 2. girls 3. pick up trucks is simply awesome.

Taylor Swift needs to gain at least 20 pounds first dude.

Also, she's not really a country singer despite her billing as such and nonstop airtime on country music stations.  If you listen to her music, there's absolutely nothing 'country' about it.  Thematically, it's about teen angst bubblegum shit.  Dialectically, she sings like she talks, with a Northeast accent (she's from Pennsylvania).  Muscially, I've never heard a pedal steel or a dobro once in any of her songs.  It ain't country music.

[Strix]

Garth won't be happy until he croaks on stage.

[Eddie Teach]

What we need is Taylor Swift in skimpy clothes.

But I do love my country. How an entire genre can be about : 1. drinking 2. girls 3. pick up trucks is simply awesome.

Also God, Family and America don't forget. :USA:

[Eddie Teach]

Also, she's not really a country singer despite her billing as such and nonstop airtime on country music stations.  If you listen to her music, there's absolutely nothing 'country' about it.  Thematically, it's about teen angst bubblegum shit.  Dialectically, she sings like she talks, with a Northeast accent (she's from Pennsylvania).  Muscially, I've never heard a pedal steel or a dobro once in any of her songs.  It ain't country music.

She's as country as Faith Hill, or Shania's Come On Over album. Which is to say, you're mostly right.

[Caliga]

Also God, Family and America don't forget. :USA:

The "USA!  USA!  USA!" theme is dominant right now.  IIRC the most recent country song at the top of the charts was "Smalltown USA", which followed "American Ride".  Sandwiched in between them might have been "Big Green Tractor", or it might have come before "Smalltown USA".

[Caliga]

She's as country as Faith Hill, or Shania's Come On Over album. Which is to say, you're mostly right.

At least Faith Hill is from Mississippi and sounds like it, though.  I mean, if Keith Urban can fake a Southern accent, why can't Taylor? 

[frunk]

Ugh, worst news I've heard today.  This summarizes my thoughts pretty well.

Professor: Well, class, I’ve been poring over demographic and consumer research for months now, and I have a remarkable theory: It appears that the “Urban Cowboy” phenomenon of the past few years has created a huge untapped market for the genre that, when combined with the rapidly growing income, education level, and discretionary income of this new breed of potential consumer, bodes well for country’s commercial future.

The exponential growth of hip-hop and metal and the increasingly divisive, confrontational, and alienating forms its most popular acts will take will likewise feed into the market for mainstream country that appeals to this “silent majority” turned off by more extreme, aggressive styles of music. The rise of chain stores like Wal-Mart, which are able to undercut the competition by operating in bulk quantities, and which cut exclusive deals with major country artists, will similarly fuel country’s commercial ascent, as will major, long-overdue changes in the way pop charts and album sales are tabulated.

Of course, in order to maximize earning and sales potential, these country mega-stars of the near future will need to distance themselves from some of genre’s rough edges and hardscrabble roots, and embrace elements of rock showmanship. They’ll need to bring a little Vegas razzle-dazzle to their tours. They’ll also need to tour often. They’ll need to appeal extensively to the female demographic and the adult-contemporary crowd. A Billy Joel cover wouldn’t hurt every now and then.

Why, if my calculations and predictions are correct, an artist who took advantage of these new cultural and music-industry variables could sell more than a hundred million albums in a relatively short amount of time.

Student: But this artist would have to be incredibly talented, right? Like Sinatra, Beatles, Michael Jackson, George Jones-level gifted and charismatic, right?

Professor: Astonishingly, no. In fact, he might even sell more records if he weren’t particularly talented at all, if he was, as Bill Murray once legendarily accused Chevy Chase of being, a “medium talent.” Audiences might actually identify more strongly with an artist who wasn’t especially talented, good-looking, or young. It’d make him more approachable. Ah, but what form will this country messiah, this unlikely savior of the music industry, take?

Garth Brooks [Sheepishly raises hand.]: Gosh, I play guitar, sing a little, and write some songs. I’m not much to look at, and I’m already developing a paunch, but maybe—just maybe—I could be this man.

[Class guffaws uproariously.]

Professor: Yeah, that’ll probably work.

[Caliga]

 

[Eddie Teach]

She's as country as Faith Hill, or Shania's Come On Over album. Which is to say, you're mostly right.

At least Faith Hill is from Mississippi and sounds like it, though.  I mean, if Keith Urban can fake a Southern accent, why can't Taylor? 

Country is not synonymous with Southern.

[Josephus]

What we need is Taylor Swift in skimpy clothes.

But I do love my country. How an entire genre can be about : 1. drinking 2. girls 3. pick up trucks is simply awesome.

Taylor Swift needs to gain at least 20 pounds first dude.

Also, she's not really a country singer despite her billing as such and nonstop airtime on country music stations.  If you listen to her music, there's absolutely nothing 'country' about it.  Thematically, it's about teen angst bubblegum shit.  Dialectically, she sings like she talks, with a Northeast accent (she's from Pennsylvania).  Muscially, I've never heard a pedal steel or a dobro once in any of her songs.  It ain't country music.

New country, but I sort of agree. I actually "discovered" her about a year ago, and thought her songs could just as easily be sung by some chick on an acoustic guitar in a cafe. But they're not. They're defiantely countrified. There's a lot of banjo and steel and twang if you listen closely. And she does sing about trucks on occasion.

Here;s one example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjoXAauW8S4

And she is hot.

[Caliga]

Country is not synonymous with Southern.

No but it's dominated by Southern artists and has a very large Southern audience.  Yes, I know it's very popular in Canada as well.

[Caliga]

New country, but I sort of agree. I actually "discovered" her about a year ago, and thought her songs could just as easily be sung by some chick on an acoustic guitar in a cafe. But they're not. They're defiantely countrified. There's a lot of banjo and steel and twang if you listen closely. And she does sing about trucks on occasion.

Although she is not quite as 'edgy' as Avril Lavigne, she does remind me alot of her.

[Eddie Teach]

Disappointing, that little black dress didn't show up in the video.