Newcomer Nate Barnes did a Rising Star Showcase for us last week here at WQMX, and man did it feel good to hear live music again. Nate is an interesting guy and story.  He is from Michigan, and once worked at a nuclear power plant. And somehow in the course of about two weeks his life went from normal  -  to this!

Sarah and I With Nate Barnes

You Ain't Pretty is a fantastic new song and a great way to get to know Nate Barnes.  It's a powerful song, a timely song and one that's easy to remember.  I have always felt that to really get noticed, you need "that song."  And this is one of those. (Most big stars have had them)  Plus, this video does an incredible job of introducing you to Nate Barnes who has all the amazing attributes lined up for stardom.  This is a song that could really make a move and be a very big hit.  It's traditional - but with strong backbone, a thump and a poignant message.  That is where we are going.

Nate - Our First Rising Star Showcase In A Year!

He's talented, personable, relatable, and accessible.  To me, that is the perfect formula that poises you for a good long run.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and chatting with Nate, and I feel he has the right idea at the right time.  You can go a long way if you have great songs, and get to know your fans.  Nate Barnes is right on time, after this very difficult time. A new and exciting new star to root for, with gratitude in his heart.

GREAT New Song!

Grab a coffee, and check out this amazing new song, by Nate Barnes!

This course goes on the list of, this is really a nice place to play - again. 

Seneca is in the Brecksville/Broadview Heights area, and is an historic golf course built in 1940. Historic is not too dramatic of a word either.  In its Heyday, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and many other pro legends played Seneca as there were smaller PGA events there. There are 27 holes there and a very seasoned clubhouse.  I played there years ago, and again late last fall.  Being honest, I thought it was just OK. I have always liked the design, but there were issues.  Years ago it fell into tougher times, but it is now a MetroParks Course over the past number of years and it is back!

This is a well designed course with challenging greens and a bunch of sand protecting most if not all of them. This course has as much sand as any public course you will play these days as many courses are eliminating traps for cost issues.  Elevated greens too on many holes, as it goes traditional, and I love that.  If you hit the greens on this course you are rewarded. If not, it can be a long day.  It's in a very nice setting, and the entire place was in really terrific shape.  Many tee boxes that can accommodate most any skill level, but no matter how long you play the course, you still have to deal with the approach shots to the very interestingly shaped greens.  Fairways were amazing, and the condition of the course was same. 

This place has come a long way back and there is still some journey to go.  You can see that in years to come if the good things continue there, this will be an incredible track.  Seneca is a very nice place to play, and we can't wait to get back there and try it again.

Seneca - Darn nice place!

Seneca Website

Seneca Facebook

Metroparks Courses

About Half – Of us feel good about returning to a movie theater  (Cinemasafe)

Mortal Kombat - Barely beat out Demon Slayer at the movies  (Story)

Oscars - Sunday – Nomadland was the big winner!  (Story)

Oscars  - Sunday Ratings  - DISASTER!  (Story)

Bridesmaids – Turns 10 this week!

New This Weekend – Separation

New This Weekend – PRIME! -  Without Remorse

Hallmark - Starting in May, Thursday and Friday nights on both Hallmark and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, you can watch Christmas movies.  (Story)

Like Love On The Slopes

Making Another - The next Mad Max movie is going to cost 350 MILLION to make  (Story)

A Jim Henson - Biopic is in the works for Disney.  (Story) 

Alright -  carbs are a problem, I get it.  But when I saw this, I said "Fine, just this one.....OK, many times." 

Sometimes something you run across just looks so darn good you just have to try it.  Over the past year we have all been watching a lot of Food Network and many now have a new appreciation for really great food. 

So, here we go -  I present

Bacon Cheddar Chive Biscuit Recipe

Delish, I know what you're making this weekend!

Recently I have featured a lot of great Country Women here. I thought it might be fun to recap some of them, just in case you missed the posts the first time around.   (We'll feature a new artist next week)

It is so good to remember these amazing women, and their equally amazing music and contributions to Country!  Here are the most recent articles I have written - enjoy!

Crystal Gayle

3 Important Songs, 3 Amazing Women

Janie Fricke

Barbara Mandrell

Tanya Tucker

Kathy Mattea

Also - The Entire List Proceeding These Most Recent

We played Cossett Creek this weekend, and we always like playing there.  The former Brunswick Hills, Cossett Creek is a fun place to play that gives you a bit of everything.

Cossett Creek is the story of two completely different nines.  The front is a bit forgiving, as it is flatter and far more wide open.  The back is very tight, and very hilly and is the part of the course you have to survive to score well.  It makes sense to score well on the front, as that's where all good rounds can be traced back to here.

It's on RT 303, just west of RT 42 in Brunswick so it's not far from anyone. Always in good shape, and a very nice and quiet place to play.   It's worth a small drive.

Check them out!~

Cossett Creek Website

Cossett Creek Facebook

Country Again  - Thomas Rhett

This weeks SOTW  belongs to one of our biggest stars, and songs like this show you why he is.  After his last single, (that I loved) What's Your Country Song, I was really encouraged about the direction was going.  That song, and this song, is a throwback to the 90's kind of feel and sound, and I feel there will ALWAYS be a crowd to listen to that.  That decade gave so many of our listeners their very first taste of our music, and it takes us back to some of the best times in our lives.

Being very honest, and completely understanding that he is a huge star, there have been singles by him in recent years that have gone right by me.  Not because they're not good songs as they were hits, and found an audiance and I always respect that. But more because I felt at times they were not really who we are at our core. But with that said, this song is what he does the very best.  This video too is very well done, and sells me totally on his direction for the foreseeable future. I love the simple presentation of this song to us!

This terrific song, from this talented guy, done this way, and packaged this well is the kind of stuff that wins Song Of The Year.  Stating that you are "country again" leads me to think that maybe there was straying a bit too far from the roots, and now something is pulling you back, and that's great to see, great to hear and great to know.

 What A Song!

I can listen to this song over and over. Grab a coffee and take a listen to this masterpiece!  This will be one of the best songs of the year -  for ANY year.

Well, well done!

About Half – Of us feel good about returning to a movie theater  (Cinemasafe)  Good information here.

#1 - Godzilla / Kong Top Grossing movie since pandemic began   (Story)

Mortal Kombat - Release Date is this week!   Theaters and HBO MAX   (Story)  Trailer Inapproriate

Also Demon Slayer  -  New in theaters only 

Oscars - Sunday On ABC – Speeches will be longer this year   (Story)  Worst ratings year ever for award shows.

Amazon Prime - Added 50 million subscribers during the pandemic and now has over 200 million viewers   (Story)

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Wants Sylvester Stallone to star with him in the Commando reboot.   (Story)  Original 1985   

Vin Diesel - Is supposedly going to be starring in a movie based on the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots toy from back in the day.  (Story)  Didn't Real Steel already sort of do that with Hugh Jackman (2011) ?

Word Is – A Rod has warned Ben Affleck NOT to try to get back with Jennifer Lopez  (Story)

This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane (link)

My friend Monta from Nashville in a Facebook post last week on "Truckin' Songs", asked what ever happened to them in country music.  Wow did it take me back!  She is correct, they  - for now have disappeared off the country landscape but they have a real history and had a great run within our format.  I have given spins to hundreds of them over many years on great country stations around the country, and did so proudly.

Big Alabama Song -  Became One Of Thier Biggest Songs

Alan Jackson - One Of His Many #1's

Truckin Songs were not a trend in Country, they were far more. Unlike Pop-Country, Urban Cowboy, the Neo-Traditionalists, or Bro-Country. Those all had a definite "run"  as one era sort of gave way to another. Truckin' or drivin' songs were just kind of there for decades, as there always seemed to be room for a couple on the charts no matter the current trend. This went on for about 30 years.  Now though, it is out of favor, but if history is our guide, one cool new song, by a new, hot and relevant artist today, would spawn every act in Nashville to have their song too.

Jerry Reed's Classic - This Song Had a Lot To Do With The Movies Success  - Still In Pop Culture

Monta also asked peeps to comment and leave their favorite Truckin' Songs in her feed, and there were tons of them.  Most of course from the 1970's or so. In the 70's and some on either side, there was a truckin' song phase that spawned a ton of big hits. The C.B. Radio phase of the mid to late 70's fueled by the tremendous success of the movie, Smokey And The Bandit and a few others, gave new life to more trucking songs, like East Bound And Down by Jerry Reed which was from Smokey, and was a number two hit.  It has also lived on for years in commercials, and other uses.  I still turn it up loud when I hear it come on.

Kathy Mattea  - Won Song Of The Year With This Truckin' Song!

Truckin' songs are almost unique to country as far as having chart success.  They, at their core honor a sect of our workforce that sometimes can feel unappreciated for their work. And even though they sing about truckin', the sentiment is felt by other hard working, blue collar people in other fields that the work ethic in the song sings about.  I love that.  In country today we have a tendency to sing about love and relationships, partying, love and loss, and that's fine. But truckin' songs are many times poignant and powerful. That may sound strange to some, but they certainly are to those who live the songs, and not everyone does.  And true, they can also be simple escapism. Even though there will always be those who think that these songs are a stereotypical part of country that is silly, twangy and not for them, I am proud of the genre.

Six Days On The Road - One Of The Absolute Anthems Of The Genre

Six Days On The Road, originally by Dave Dudley (1962-Original), has been done by many artists over the decades, including Sawyer Brown (1997), and rocker Steve Earl to name a few.  It's one of the real truck anthems that has a life of its own.  Many artists have recorded huge truckin' hits, including Ronnie Milsap, Alabama, Alan Jackson, Kathy Mattea, Eddie Rabbitt, Garth, Dierks Bentley and old schoolers too like Merle Haggard, (Theme to a TV Show) Red Sovine, and Del Reeves.  Joe Stampley in 1975 may have recorded the ultimate truckin' anthem with Roll On Big Mama. It went number one and was a gigantic hit!  I interviewed him as a young broadcaster, and he told me he was enternally thankful for this song as he went on to a long run on the charts after. (I also think it's the only song ever that mentions "Coeur d' Alene)  (Idaho)

Joe Stampley - A Smash #1  (They even mic-ed up a Tractor Trailer for the Sound

These songs can also make you feel good. They take us to places that are very personal to those in the trucking industry along with their family and friends, as the life of an over-the-road trucker is far a more than a job, it's a lifestyle with extreme sacrifice.  They also are exceedingly visual for those that have never been in a big rig rolling down the road wondering what it would be like.  I think everyone on earth has done that in their mind.  These songs resonate deeply to those who feel taken for granted, or not as appreciated as they should be. But these are the same people that are always there, keeping us going when times are tough, as we have learned again over the past year or so.

Dierks Bentley - Modern Drivin' Song - His Rig Is A Bus!  - Bus Drivers Too, And It Captures The Essence

These anthems are also viewed as patriotic to a degree.  I feel they share a whole lot of the same audience that love songs that honor the military, as many of them applaud the commitment to a tough, and important job that doesn't just need to be done -  but has to be done. They are plain and simple songs of the working man or woman, and country loves that, as it is about the only genre that takes the time to remember that there are people that should be honored when it is easier to sing about something else. 

Garth Got Into The Act Too!

 Convoy - Was A Gigantic Record - Crossed Into Pop Culture

Yes, there are silly ones too that found their way to number one. C.W. McCall with Convoy in 1975 comes to mind, but he had the last laugh as it sold a few million, has been used in thousands of ways since, plus a movie was based on it.  Cledus Maggard And The Citizens Band went number one with The White Knight in 1976 a silly speed trap song that was a real novelty favorite. (BTW that entire album is hilarious - worth a download if you like silly humor)  And of course Red Sovine's, Teddy Bear, which actually has a silly title, but the song is anything but.  And is a real old-school favorite.

Forty Hour Week - Alabama - A Truckin' Song Inspired  - Working Man's Song

Truckin' Songs helped give birth to the working folks anthems, and that list is endless in country.  That is one of the most unique things we do.  True, they are not songs of "being in love," or worshiping the new person in your life. But they are love songs of a different sort. A love of their job, a love of the road, their country, a love of their rig, and above all  -  love to the spouses and loving family that is anxiously awaiting their safe return home after a long week on the road.

Eddie Rabbitt - A Real Favorite  - Took Truckin' To The Pop Charts

ROLL ON down the road truckers, Roll ON......But Look Out For Smokey  -AND THANK YOU!!!

 

I love supporting local businesses, and of course I play my share of golf. This week, I want to feature a locally and family owned golf course I have been playing my who life.  Royal Crest in Columbia Station, pretty much at the Strongsville city line.  If you know where SouthPark Mall is, it's just maybe 3 miles or so west of it on the same road, RT. 82.

I root for these guys every year.  Golf is a business where big companies or cities, the MetroParks own the many of the courses, and it is great to see a family operations thrive.  RC has been there since the 1960's and is still a fun place to play.  A course that is good for all skill levels too.  If you want to play a moderate length course it's good, or if you are a front line player, you can play the tips and have a go at it from almost 7,200 yards!

The course is honest, it is right in front of you, flat for the most part, with large greens that are always in great shape. No sand, some water, and a stretch holes where hitting is straight is a must.  Plus this is designed well, where good scoring can be achieved simply by good play.  To me, it is a short game course as the greens are large, so getting on the green isn't a par guarantee.  You can have some long putts here.

Mix in a quaint barn clubhouse and about the nicest staff you can imagine, along with a nice craft beer selection and reasonable rates and deals, RC is great place to play.  Outings too if you have a group that is looking for a place to have your outing.

These are very nice people that are worth supporting.  Make a Royal Crest run soon.  I have my entire life.

Royal Crest Website

Royal Crest Facebook