I Hold On

Lately I've had the Dierks Bentley song, I Hold On, stuck on repeat in my head.  Thankfully, it's a song with incredibly deep meaningful lyrics and a good beat!

I know people tell you to move on from the past.  But sometimes there are things worth holding onto.  There are memories you can't part with.  There are feelings.  There's hard work completed.  There are goals accomplished.

Sometimes you need to hold on to that part of the past so you can remember where you came from.

The chorus to I Hold On puts it all into perspective:

To the things I believe in

My faith, your love, our freedom

To the things I can count on

To keep me going strong

Yeah, I hold on, I hold on.

Holding onto my faith and those God puts into my life for a reason...yeah, I hold on.

Going against the flow and doing what I know is right for me, even though people don't agree....yeah, I hold on.

People say mean things to me in hopes of pushing me out of the way....yeah, I hold on.

Point blank, I HOLD ON.  God's got me.  And He's going to continue to guide me through life.  I just have to make the decision to HOLD ON to His will.

Question: What are you holding on to?

Friday Favorites

I only worked 4 days this week, but whew, I'm exhausted.  And I'm beyond excited that it's Friday!

Without further adieu, here's my Friday Favorites!

Favorite Craft Tutorial: Simple Christmas Art for the Artistically Challenged

This tutorial from JUST A GIRL and her blog makes me think that even I can could do this!  I can't wait to try it out sometime soon.

Favorite Design Idea: Candles Above the Bed

I'm loving this idea from Golden Boys & Me.  The candles above the bed.  Ahh....it's just perfect.  I think I may need to try this soon.

Favorite Quote: Don't Compare

We've all done it in life.  We compare ourselves to others.  We ask others for advice.  It's easy to not want to be different, but sometimes being different is the best thing you could do!  It leads to much better endings!

Favorite Bible Verse: Proverbs 31:25

How hard is it to go through life fearing the future?  We all do it.  But when we let it go...like really let it go...and allow God to guide, that fear of the future is gone!

Favorite Adoptable Dog: Sophie

Sophie is being fostered through Southern Cross Boston Terrier Rescue.  Her foster mom is awesome!  Poor little girl, she's tested positive for heartworms again.  I hear that she's one sweet Boston who would love an amazing family.  If you think you would like to open your heart and home to Sophie, please consider filling out an adoption application at Southern Cross Boston Terrier's website.

Favorite Song: Sunny and 75

It's no secret that I'm a big Joe Nichols fan, but my goodness...I cannot get this song out of my head.  It's so catchy and so good.  Have a listen.  I'm sure you'll be hooked to!

How's your week been?  Anything exciting happening in your life?  Any favorite things you'd like me to discover?  Leave me a comment!

Happy Friday ya'll!

Friday Five

Here's my top 5 favorite songs that have been stuck in my head all week.

Jake Owen ~ The One That Got Away

Dustin Lynch ~ Cowboys and Angels

Easton Corbin ~ Loving You Is Fun

Jason Aldean ~ Take A Little Ride

Hunter Hayes ~ Wanted

What were you top 5 songs for the week?

Neon

Is anyone else obsessed with Chris Young's song Neon?  I can't seem to get enough of it.  That's true country at its finest!  Don't you think?!

Aaron Lines

Do you remember the singer Aaron Lines?  He had a couple of songs out on US radio back a few years ago.  He's very popular in Canadian country music right now.  And he's one artist I'd like to hear more about here in the US.  I can't find a bad song by him.  Not that I'm trying to, but I honestly can't.  What song would you know him from?  You Can't Hide Beautiful.  If you don't know of him, you should.  So what are you waiting for?  Go on and check out his music!  I don't think you'll be disappointed at all.

Happy Brithday!!

Yes, I'm bad.  I completely missed Allison Krauss' birthday yesterday.  Here's her video with Brad Paisley for Whiskey Lullaby.

Now for today's birthdays!  It's Jerrod Niemann's birthday!  Here's his new video, which everyone seems to love, for Shinin' On Me.

And today is also Pam Tillis' birthday!!  She's one of my favorites.  If you're too young to remember her music, you should take some time and listen.  It's well worth it!  Here's her video for Maybe It Was Memphis.

So Happy Birthday Allison Krauss, Jerrod Niemann and Pam Tillis!!!

Happy Birthday Ricky Skaggs!

Today is also Ricky Skaggs birthday!  I could listen to him play bluegrass all day long.  His commitment to the Opry is unwavering and it's always fun to hear him sing with other members.  Here's his performance of Highway 40 Blues at the Grand Ole Opry.  Happy Birthday Ricky!!

Happy Brithday Elizabeth Cook!

Today is Elizabeth Cook's birthday!  If you haven't heard of her, you are missing out.  She's one amazing country singer.  Before I Go That Far was played on radio and there was a video.  But she's has plenty of other songs that you need to hear!  I was also very lucky to have met her parents.  The sweetest people ever!  I even danced with her dad!  A memory I will never forget.  Check out this video her dad made to sell her merchandise.  Isn't he the cutest thing?!  Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!

Does Anyone Sing Merle Better than Joe?

Have you ever heard Joe Nichols sing a Merle Haggard song?  If not, you're missing out.  I honestly don't know of anyone that can see Merle as good as Joe.  Let me give you some examples so you can see for yourself!  I'm going to give you both versions.  Merle's version and Joe's version of each song.  If you're not a Joe fan, but you are a Merle fan, you just might have a reason to like Joe after you hear this!  

Here's Footlights.  This is probably one of my absolute favorite songs.  If I could request this at every Joe Nichols show I go to, I would!

Merle's Version

Joe's Version

And here's Okie From Muskogee.

Merle's Version

Joe's Version

If I Could Only Fly

Merle's Version

Joe's Version

 

Well, what do you think?  Doesn't Joe sing Merle better than anyone else?  Any newly converted Joe fans after this?!

Happy Birthday Craig and Luke!

Today is Craig Morgan and Luke Bryan's Birthday!!  Let's celebrate by two videos.  Here's Craig Morgan's International Harvester and Luke Bryan's Rain Is A Good Thing.  Happy Birthday Craig and Luke!!!

Kitty Wells Has Passed Away

Kitty Wells passed away today at age 92.  I have to admit that I know she's a legend and I'm grateful for what she did for women in country music, but I honestly had no idea what she sang.  Thankfully I have a friend, with plenty of country music knowledge, that's always just a text message away!  I have now learned that her most popular song was It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.  Heaven has gained another angel today.  And we're grateful for the country music legacy she leaves behind.

One Of The Best Lines In A Song

There's one line in a song that is probably one of the best lines ever.  It comes from Taylor Swift's song Ours.  

"People throw rocks at things that shine"

It's true!  Some people can't stand for someone else's life to being going well while theirs isn't.  So what do they do about it?  They talk bad about them.  Sometimes to their face or sometimes behind their back.  They make life at work difficult for them.  Making sure they don't get a raise or a promotion or even the acknowledgement for a major project they did.  No matter what, people try to bring people down.  They try to make them look bad.  They try to dull their shine.  


Why do people do this?  I think it's because they have their own insecurities.  They want to look the best and if they can't, they want to make someone else look bad so it makes them look better.  They can't find happiness within themselves.  


So how do we avoid getting hurt by these people?  We have to know who we are.  We have to be prepared for these people.  They are everywhere and in every job and in every situation in life.  We have to be happy with ourselves.  We have to know who we are.  We have to know exactly what we want in life.  We have to know our boundaries.  We have to know our morals.  We have to know how far we will let someone push us before we say enough is enough.  We can't let our shine be dimmed by their insecurities.  


Make sure you're shinning so brightly that it makes these people look away and not attempt to throw rocks at you!

Sounds Like Life To Me

Darryl Worley's song Sounds Like Life To Me is one of my favorites.  It's just a reminder that even though we think life is complicated, it's just life!  God gave us one life to live.  He didn't say He wouldn't give us trials and tribulations.  He just said that if we keep our eyes on Him that He will walk through the darkest times with us.  Life isn't always perfect and there's always going to be hard times.  There's going to be times where we don't know where our friends are, where money is going to come from, where we will find work, where we will find the support we need, where we will find the will to carry on.  But if we can remember to keep the faith and know that God is in control and that He wants us to find the joys even in the bad we have to go through, He will get us through it!

To us, some things may seem horrible.  Like the song says...here comes another baby and you have no idea how you are going to financially support someone else.   But that's life!  Or our job might not be what we want, but it's a job.  Our house might not be exactly what we want, but it's shelter.  Our car might be falling apart, but it's transportation.  Dinner might not have been great, but we got to eat.  We need to celebrate the joys in life and realize that not everything happens the exact way we might want it to.  But it's happening the way God wants it to!  He is in control and wants us to see the happiness in the little things!  

Doesn't this song make you look at the hard times in life a little differently?!

Congrats to Brantley Gilbert

Yet again, Brantley Gilbert has another #1 for You Don't Know Her Like I Do.  This makes two #1 songs for Brantley.  The first was Country Must Be Countrywide.  It looks like he's onto a pretty good roll.  He also announced his new tour dates yesterday.  This is one guy I'd love to see in concert.  Wouldn't you?!

5-1-5-0

Is anyone else as obsessed with Dierks Bentley's new song 5-1-5-0 as much as I am?!  The thing I'm loving about this song is that Dierks is successfully putting bluegrass into country mainstream and radio is playing it like crazy!!  I will say that I'm not a big fan of just sitting and listening to bluegrass music, but watching it amazes me!  But for some reason, I can't get enough of listening to this Dierks Bentley song!

Mountains to Climb

I think we all go through hard times in life.  Times where we have to learn to find ourselves.  Times where we have to do things on our own.  We tend to try new things until we learn what we really love and what we need to do to achieve it.  Lonestar's song Mountains really puts it into perspective.  We are always climbing a mountain to reach the goal.  But in our climb, there's always a tree limb in the way or there's a loose rock.  There's always something hindering us from reaching the top.  But we can't take our eyes off of the goal.  If we do, we loose sight of where we are and we wonder aimlessly trying to piece it all together. 

Sometimes that goal could be changed along the way.  Some of those tree limbs in our climb can make us see something we have never seen before.  It can set us on a completely different path, but we still have to climb to the top of that mountain.  It just doesn't always have to be the climb we dreamed of.  In every step of the way, we are finding ourselves.  Finding who we truly are.  Finding where we belong in this world.  Finding our passion in life.  Finding who we are meant to be with.  Finding who we are meant to be without.  Finding who to trust.  Finding strengths and weakness in ourselves.  Finding people that are meant to be in our lives to help shape them.  Finding love.  Finding happiness.  Finding our joy.  Finding you have room in your heart to love something you never thought you could.  Finding peace within ourselves.  Finding patience.  Finding hope.

Read the words of this chorus:

There are times in life when you gotta crawl,
Lose your grip, trip and fall
When you can't lean on no one else,
That's when you find yourself
I've been around and I've noticed that
Walkin's easy when the road is flat
Them danged 'ole hills will get you every time.
Yeah, the good Lord gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb

God did give us these mountains so we can learn who we really are.  Let's put on our climbing shoes and see where this mountain of life takes us!

Who Sings Keith Whitley The Best?!

By now you know how much I love traditional country music.  There are some artists that can sing Keith Whitley so well it can bring a tear to your eye.  So here's a few of my top picks for who sings it best!

Here's Chris Young singing "Don't Close Your Eyes".  

And "When You Say Nothing At All"....

Thanks to Tony and Kris (www.tonyandkris.com)...they got Chris Young to do several Keith Whitley songs!  I don't know which one he does better....  Any thoughts?!

Then there's Bradley Gaskin.  Here's his version of "Don't Close Your Eyes".  And if you're not familiar with Bradley, you need to be.  Check out Tony and Kris' website or YouTube page to see him sing "Mr. Bartender". 

And I have recently realized that Lorrie Morgan and Keith Whitley's son, Jesse Keith Whitley, sings some of his father's song.  Holy smokes!  We may have to watch out for this guy.  With both his parents being amazing singers, it's bound to be in the genes.  What do you think?

Who sings Keith Whitley best?!  Or are we all just happy to have any of them sing Keith Whitley?!  

It's A Great Day To Be Alive

It's Monday.  When means I need some motivation.  So today, how about some Travis Tritt's It's A Great Day To Be Alive!  Just read the lyrics to the chorus. 

And it's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shinin when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neigborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?

We have to remember that no matter what we are going through, each day is a gift.  And aren't we glad we get to live it?  I know times might be hard, but at least we can find the positive in each moment.

I know on my drive into work this morning I was so mad at all the cars around me.  Why can't they drive the speed limit and not 20 under?  Why are they slamming on their breaks when no one is in front of them?  All the things that are easy to get mad about.  But when I look at another perspective, what if God was trying to keep me safe?  Here I am getting mad at all these other cars, but it could have been God keeping me from being at a certain place a minute earlier.  What if He was saving my life?

It makes me look at life a little differently.  I'm grateful to be alive.  Even if that means having to be behind the slowest driver in Nashville...I'm thankful He still has me here on earth!

So moral of this story...or well, song...  Enjoy every moment that God gives you breath to live.  Find the positives among all the negatives in your life.  Dwell on the positives and you will be much happier.

Happy Birthday Toby Keith

In honor of Toby Keith's birthday, here's one of my favorite old Toby songs...Should've Been A Cowboy.

New Artists Bringing Traditional Country Back

I love when new artists come out and are just about a country as they can be.  And they embrace that old school country sound.  There's nothing better to listen to than that!  I have a list of several artists that I think are doing just that.

JOE NICHOLS

Yes, I know...I'm a bit partial.  He is my favorite, but what he does to introduce his fans to music from Merle Haggard and Keith Whitley is amazing.  He doesn't try to sugarcoat what a real country artist he is.  If it's country, he's gonna sing it.  If it's not, by the time he sings it, it will be!  His career isn't based on what will be the best radio friendly song, it's based on what he feels is good country music.  If you need some good traditional country music to listen to, go buy every single one of his albums.  I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed!

Check out this video for She Only Smoke's When She Drinks.  If that's not country, I don't know what is!

CHRIS YOUNG

Chris Young knows how to bring traditional country back.  He does it without even thinking.  That voice can deliver a flawless performance of about any song.  And he can sure melt a girls heart when he sings some Keith Whitley.  He's a young artist that the younger generation of country fans love and he's showing them what real traditional country music is all about!

The perfect example....his song Tomorrow.

JOSH THOMPSON





For whatever reason, after his first single, radio hasn't stayed with this artist as much as I would like.  And that's sad.  Because he's COUNTRY.  There's nothing about him that isn't country.  I think even Hank Jr. said it himself that Josh is what country is all about.  He doesn't just sing the songs, he lives them.  Every performance can make you feel like you're listening to his story.  Just the true grit of an average American working hard to get what they deserve. 

Doesn't this song "Way Out Here" make you feel like Josh lived the life and is actually singing about his experiences?

SCOTTY MCCREERY

Yes, I know what you're thinking....why did I add Scotty in this list?!  Well, let's face it.  He loves traditional country.  But what I love about Scotty is that by staying true to who he is as an artist, a whole new generation of music listeners are finding out what traditional country is all about.  Young girls that are flocking to him because they think he's "so cute" are actually getting a music history lesson. 


You have to admit, even in the song "Trouble With Girls", he's through and through country.

TRENT TOMLINSON

Okay, this guy might not have the look of a traditional country artist, but holy smokes, he's amazing!  If you haven't bought a CD from Trent Tomlinson, you're majorly missing out.  Yes, at his concerts, he can take you from a rap song to a pure traditional country ballad, but he does it so well.  And you feel like you were at the best country concert you've ever been to.  This guy knows how to make traditional country music rock!


To me, this is one classic traditional country song..."Just Might Have Her Radio On".

So there you have it.  My list of artists that are doing their part to bring traditional country music back!  And thank goodness for them!!!