And in neither case does the fact that both gals are nice looking have
>anything to do with how I hear the records.
>
>But speaking of nice looking: (!)
All subjective of course, one person's goldmine is another's tar-pit.
But, I cannot help but think of one k.d. lang who does have a superior voice
and who did put out a really good album "Absolute Torch & Twang" and who saw
Nashville abandon her due to her non cover-girl looks and the rumors that
she was gay. Lang gave up, left her brand of western swing/country and
donned a "pop" hat with "Constant Craving" and admitted that she was gay.
Looks/lifesytyle does matter to today's country crowd. Maybe not you and
maybe not a lot of us here, but mainstream country likes good-looking women
and good-looking men and a lifestyle complete with the opposite sex.
You said, "Clearly, if music don't move you, it just don't". Heather Myles
does not "move" me and neither does Kelly Willis. Gillian Welch depresses
the heck out of me and Iris DeMent pounds me to the ground with her voice.
Know what I'd like to see? I'd just love to hear Wynonna lighten up with
her voice and deliver a non-pop album.
I'd love to hear Chely Wright strenghten her voice with lessons and do a
"real" country album. I'd love to hear Trisha Yearwood get out of the
basement with her back-of-the-throat Wagnerian style and find country for
once in her singing career and I'd really like to teach Raul Malo how to hit
the note the first time.
Tera .
>
>>And that's pretty much a dime a dozen here in Nashville. Not Kelly Willis.
>>That's
>>another story. Excellent songwriting and inspired cover choices.
>
>I've got all 3 previous Kelly Willis records and the EP. Checking over the
>last two and the EP that I have at hand, I see that she split a writing
>credit on one of BANG BANG's 10 tracks, on 3 of KELLY WILLIS's 10 tracks
>though she does split 3 of the 4 tracks on FADING FAST. I am anxious to
>hear WHAT I DESERVE, but I don't know what proportion of the tunes are
>written by her. I've read some promo stuff that mentions other noted
writers.
>This not to rag on the wonderful Ms. Willis, but to point out that while
>she does indeed have great taste in the tunes she sings, she doesn't write
>the same proportion of her own stuff as Heather Myles. I'm scrambling
>around here looking for the records and can't find them, but a check of
>HIGHWAYS... shows that Ms. Myles wrote all but the two covers on the
>record, 10 of 12 tracks. (And smilin' Jim thinks the covers are her best
>stuff. He's WRONG, but just sayin'. <g>)
>This says nothing, of course, for the fact that you don't care for Heather
>Myles songwriting vis a vis the songs of other people's that Ms. Willis
>does that you find to be excellent. I just give a little extra credit to an
>artist who performs their own songs, particularly when they strike me like
>these often do.
>
>>I've been
>>listening
>>to her new cd pretty much non-stop for about 3 months now. I'd even hand
>over my
>>woodchipper
>>to sing like Kelly Willis for just one day. <g>
>
>Lay that woodchipper down Marie. Kelly Willis is my favorite female singer
>these days. I saw her for the first time in St. Louis last October and she
>was even better than I thought she'd be. But she's not really directly
>comparable to Heather Myles, and it's an apples and oranges comparison.
IMHO.
>
>b.s.
>
>
>
>
>"The truth ain't always what we need, sometimes we need to hear a beautiful
>lie." -Bill Lloyd
>
>
>
