If it’s close to fall, then the heavyweights of the industry must be jockeying for position on the shelves of CDs for Christmas purchases. From a country standpoint, two of the more high profile releases in the next few months are Tim McGraw and Carrie Underwood. Carrie’s release Play On (due November 3rd) just got a nice PR bump due to a leak on the Internet, originally from a radio recording, but followed shortly after by a clean version. “Cowboy Casanova” has some similarities to “Before He Cheats”, but this recipe is 1/3 “Cheats”, spiced up with 1/3 “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” remixed, and blended in a 1/3 Shania Twain sassiness. At first listen, I was taken aback, but damn, if that’s not a catchy tune, I don’t know what is. Watch for this one on the Pop charts in the near future, as there’s got to be a non-country mix of this. (h/t Bill’s Top 40/Pop Blog)
Tim, on the other hand, is doing what he does best, with a clever set of lyrics talking about how much “pain” his relationship inflicts on him. The full-length disc out on October 20th is called Southern Voice, and it’s already up to preview on iTunes. You might recall the drama a year ago surrounding the release of this CD getting pushed back by Curb to make way for a miserably-selling Greatest Hits 3. We’ll have to wait and see what Tim’s next move is, now that his contract is fulfilled with Curb, but I can’t imagine he’s going to hang around. Originally I thought there might be a Live Nation deal in Tim’s future. Wouldn’t it be interesting if they set up a deal with Tim AND his wife, Faith Hill? Just food for thought.
Here’s the first single from Southern Voice entitled “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You”.
Stumble It!
Pop Music Notes 
Yes, but when is Shania Twain back?!
Once she’s done pillaging Mutt’s funds from their divorce, probably.
There won’t be a pop remix of ‘Cowboy Casanova’. Carrie blogged to reaffirm that she’s against remixing for other formats (she refused to remix ‘Before He Cheats’) and that there will only be one version of ‘Cowboy Casanova’ released.
Davilas, thanks for the input. My mistake on the term “remix”, but the record company can provide a version of the song that’s not as heavy on the fiddles, steel guitar, etc. And let’s be honest…this song sounds a LOT like the remix version of “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”, so in some ways, we are just splitting hairs over what is remixed, and what isn’t. To argue that Carrie isn’t going the Taylor Swift route is a slippery slope, as even in it’s current form, this song sounds pop already. Having said all of that, I’m a big Carrie fan, and I don’t have an issue with her reaching a wider audience. To expect an artist to always stay in one box is an unfair expectation.
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Carrie will never have the pop success that Taylor Swift has. Carrie’s too “manufactured” – in a sense that her career has been very calculated (thanks American Idol). Taylor, on the other hand, seems genuine and effortless in her approach to music. She’s adorable, young, and plays guitar, she’s a shoo-in for cross-over success.
But I’m sure Carrie’s new album will go to #1 on the country charts – that’s a given.
Yuri, I will have to respectfully disagree on this one. You only have to look at Shania Twain to recognize that both of these artists will succeed for different reasons. Carrie’s got the voice, and Taylor has the talent, but there is a bit of calculation in both of their approaches. Taylor actually reworks her songs instrumentally for pop radio, so I don’t know how that isn’t calculation.