Tag Archives: Brad Paisley

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Song of the Day #551: ‘He Didn’t Have to Be’ – Brad Paisley

As my Brad Paisley theme week continues, I will now move on to another aspect of the man’s music that contributes to his enormous appeal: Brad Paisley is sweet.

I’m sure numerous essays have been written about the appeal of cowboys to modern women, especially sensitive and polite cowboys. Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights has all the women I know panting like lapdogs because he epitomizes that concept, even if he generally trades the cowboy hat for a football helmet. He’s a little macho and a little blunt but he’s also charming as hell and deep down he’s a teddy bear.

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Song of the Day #550: ‘Me Neither’ – Brad Paisley

About once every two years I discover a new artist who joins the ranks of my favorites. Often it’s an established artist who’s just new to me… maybe somebody I’d heard of but never heard, or somebody who somehow managed to escape my radar altogether.

Over the past decade or so, artists who have joined this club include Josh Rouse, Lucinda Williams, Tift Merritt, Shakira and Stew. These are people whose collected works I quickly gobbled up in an effort to own and appreciate everything they’d ever recorded, people whose names were added to the growing list of all-time favorites.

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Song of the Day #540: ‘Welcome to the Future’ – Brad Paisley

Best Songs of 2009 – #1

Brad Paisley was my most welcome surprise of 2009. I lucked into purchasing his album after reading a discussion among music critics on Slate.com in which the first critic named his album American Saturday Night as her favorite of the year and effusively sang his praises.

This was the rare album that struck me as great the very first time I heard it… the album wasn’t even over before I knew it was rocketing up my own list. Many listens later, it settled into its perch at #1. I picked up another of Paisley’s celebrated discs, Time Well Wasted, a week later and I find it equally good.

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