THE HOSS RADIO
CHANNEL 19 - THE COUNTRY MUSIC BLOG

You're on the Hoss's Channel 19.  This ain't no Alligator Station.  Read a transmission and come back, you hear?  Just keep the language clean so the Big Charlie doesn't shut us down.  Contact us at info at the hoss radio dot com.  
O Tannenbaum
You wanted it again and you got it.  The Hoss Christmas Extravaganza is back on the air.  Your favorite Christmas tunes by Dwight Yoakam, Buck Owens, Dale Watson, Del Reeves, Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn, Mike Ireland, etc, etc, etc.  It's Christmas time in the Honky Tonks, too, you know.  Tune into the Hoss at our main page to hear it all.

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 12/11/2009 12:13 PM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
CMA Awards Nominees
It looks like we missed the announcement of the annual CMA Awards Nominees.  This time they didn't do anything really stupid like nominating Reba McEntire for Best New Artist.  Jamey Johnson The Raconteurs were nominated for "Event of The Year" and if they win, we'll return the favor to the CMA's and play a day of Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Sylvia, et al.

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 9/17/2009 10:53 AM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
Too many ants in house
If you got too many ants in your house, tell your unkles to take them home.

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 7/13/2009 10:27 PM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
Grammies Drop Polka Award Add Americana
Well, the Grammies just got a little lamer.  They dropped the Polka award and added a "Country Music for people who think they're too good for Country Music" (aka Americana) award.  Don't get me started on the Americana business.  It's not a genre with history but rather a marketing strategy.  Don't like the pablum on country radio?  Take your ball and go home to a hipster musical ghetto to ensure the common man will never hear anything good and leave the Hoss alone to fight the good fight.  Maybe you'll get a taxpayer subsidized radio station like an idie rock fan.  Gotta love the wealthy 30-something urbanites who can get it off the backs of others.  I digress... this is supposed to be a post about Polka.  Polka is one of the grandpas of pop music.  It may be one of the few still primarily regional popular music forms left.  Plus, its never been anthropologized by the hippies.  This is just my opinion but it is a truly underappreciated gem of a genre.  There are radio stations that still dedicate time to the music.  The Grammies gave an annual award (to Jimmy Sturr) for the best polka album.  They've announced it to be discontinued.  Polka or Old-Time Music is high energy, passionate accordion and brass music for dancing and partying.  Great stuff.

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 6/5/2009 11:46 AM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
Best Country Albums of 2008
Another new year and another look back at the previous year...  In 2007, we named Dan Colehour's "Straight To The Highway" as the #1 album and in 2006 it was Chris Knight's "Enough Rope".  Who'll be #1 from 2008?  Let's keep our feet on the ground and reach for the stars to find out...

35.    Carrie Hassler - CHHR2
34.    Chris Sprague - Diesel Made For Two
33.    Austin Lucas - Putting The Hammer Down
32.    Rusty Brothers - Love, Guitars & Whiskey
31.    Aaron Watson - Angels & Outlaws
30.    Randy Rogers Band - Randy Rogers Band
29.    Dan Tyminski - Wheels
28.    Doc Marshalls - Honest For Once
27.    Hank Williams III - Damn Right, Rebel Proud
26.    Jason Boland - Comal County Blue
25.    Dave Insley - West Texas Wine
24.    Melonie Cannon - And The Wheels Turn
23.    Owen Temple - 2000 Miles
22.    Blue Highway - Through The Window Of A Train
21.    The Derailers - Guaranteed To Satisfy
20.    Justin Trevino - Take One As Needed For Pain
19.    Rodney Parker - Lonesome Dirge
18.    Lee Ann Womack - Call Me Crazy
17.    Amber Digby - Passion, Pride, and What Might Have Been
16.    Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof
15.    Steeldrivers - Steeldrivers
14.    Catherine Britt - Little Wildflower
13.    Chatham County Line - IV
12.    Hacienda Brothers - Arizona Motel
11.    Zac Brown Band - The Foundation
10.    Eleven Hundred Springs - Country Jam             
9.      The Dixons - Still Your Fool
8.      Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
7.      Tejas Brothers - Tejas Brothers     
6.      Rodney Hayden - 12 Ounce World
5.      Ashton Shepherd - Sounds So Good
4.      Jim Lauderdale - Honey Songs
3.      The Wrights - The Wrights
2.      Chris Knight - Heart of Stone
1.      Hayes Carll - Trouble In Mind

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 2/12/2009 2:09 PM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
Stuart Hamblen for President 1952
Stuart Hamblen was the Prohibition Party candidate for President in 1952.  He was best known for being in some old westerns and a string of country hits from the 40's and 50's.  Mark Steyn writes about his signature song "This Ole House" inspired by Hamblen finding a dead body in an abandoned house on a hunting trip.  Sounds morbid but the song is actually more about the fellow going to heaven and thus a bit celebratory.  He quit drinking in 1949, which lead to his running for office as a Prohibition Party candidate.  As Mark Steyn wrote in "The Passing Parade":

"Marvelling at his old drinking buddy’s newfound moral rectitude, John Wayne wanted to know how Stu was managing to stay off the bottle. “Well,” said Hamblen, “it’s no secret what God can do.” “That sounds like a song,” drawled the Duke. So Hamblen made it one – “It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)” – and he had a hit with it, and so did Red Foley and Jo Stafford, and later Elvis."

Hamblen finished 4th in the popular vote.

 

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 10/24/2008 10:32 AM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
Texas Governor Pappy O'Daniel
Another historical Country Music figure that made his mark on politics was Pappy O'Daniel.  Mr. O'Daniel was known for being the radio announcer behind the Light Crust Doughboys, which is the band that launched Bob Wills and Milton Brown to western swing fame.  O'Daniel was elected Governor of Texas in 1938, re-elected in 1940, and then went on to beat future President Lyndon Baines Johnson for a U.S. Senate seat in 1941.  He retired from the Senate after one term and made unsuccessful gubernatorial runs in 1956 and 1958. 

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 10/15/2008 1:16 PM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
Gov. Jimmie Davis, Country Music Pioneer & Politician
It's that silly season again.  People are doing crazy things.  It's all got to do with the coveted seats of power in government.  Movie stars have become politicians before but what about country music stars?

Mark Steyn, author of the American Songbook recently wrote a nice little piece about former Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis and his legendary song, "You Are My Sunshine".  Jimmie Davis recorded the song in 1940 and it became his most notable hit.  CMT named it the #72 greatest country song of all-time in 2003.  (Only 35 spots behind Faith Hill's "Breathe", which the Hoss doubts will be as fondly remembered even if Hill becomes a governor.)  He served two terms as Louisiana Governor, elected in 1944 and 1960.  He ran again in 1971 but lost.

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 10/9/2008 7:53 AM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
Zac Brown Band
The Zac Brown Band has the #1 Live365 country song of the week with "Chicken Fried".  We've been playing that song off and on for about 2+ years.  Told ya so.  If you want to find a place where the stars of yesterday mingle with the stars of tomorrow, keep it double nickle, between the lines, and on the Hoss.  Currently, Mr. Brown is at #19 on the Radio and Records Chart.  With other songs we've been spinning, Ashton Shepherd's "Sounds So Good" is at #29 and Jamey Johnson's "In Color" is up to #21. 

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 10/8/2008 12:58 PM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
More Problems
Yeah, we know that our website looks jumbled up on some of your browsers.  Would you really expect us to know how to make a decent web page?

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Posted by The Hoss Radio at 10/8/2008 12:55 PM | View Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks
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