Sweet Southern Comfort Remake for the 20-year Anniversary - Buddy Jewell and friends

Not many people can say they have the friendliest name, nickname or not, Buddy Jewell has the friendliest name I have ever heard, and it completely fits him. Earlier this Spring, Buddy and a few of his talented friends revisited Buddy’s single Sweet Southern Comfort as a 20-year remake. Clint Black, Marty Raybon (Shenandoah), and The Bellamy Brothers joined Buddy Jewell and lent their voices and talents to give this song new life for its 20-year celebration. Sweet Southern Comfort explains the daily habits and commonality of the Southern lifestyle, sending you daydreaming into the deep South.

Buddy Jewell photo by Grannis Photography

“Misty sunrise in my hometown, Rows of cotton ‘bout knee high,

Mrs. Baker down the dirt road,

Still got clothes out on the line,

Erwin Nichols there with Judge Lee,

Playin’ checkers at the gin,

When I dream about the southland,

This is where it all begins

From Carolina down to Georgia,

Smell the jasmine and magnolia,

Sleepy Sweet home Alabama,

Roll tide roll,

Muddy water, Mississippi,

Blessed Graceland whispers to me,

Carry on, Carry on,

Sweet Southern Comfort carry on”

Such a tremendous collective sound with these familiar voices representing their heritage and southern living in a song. Buddy Jewell realized in remaking this song with these artists, they represented 4 decades of country music.

Buddy reconnected with Clint Black who had produced the original album after Buddy won the first USA Network's hit reality show Nashville Star. Before winning the show, he was living in Nashville as one of the most requested demo singers and sang over 4000 demo songs.

Buddy talked about touring he is about to embark on into the European countries including Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Germany, and an Ireland trip he will be doing on tour this September. To date, Buddy Jewell has toured in 28 different countries. On an earlier trip to France, the jasmine was in bloom in Paris and once he arrived home, jasmine was planted in his own garden to replicate the scents of Paris.

I loved chatting about our faith experiences and hearing about the blessings Buddy has experienced with prison ministry and going overseas to play for the U.S. troops with Sergeant Major Kenneth O. Preston. It was refreshing to listen to Buddy share his faith and values of patriotism. He is a well-decorated artist and has been recognized by the Grammy's, ACM, ICMA, ICGMA, CMT CMA, ABC Radio Network, and also CMT for many awards and nominations.

Listen to Buddy Jewell on his Facebook page doing a Tuesday Tune segment.

you can also find him on Instagram and Twitter

what a blessing to get to know you, Buddy Jewell, looking forward to chatting again In A Country Minute.

Rose

Deeper Shade of Blue-Collar, a tribute to hard-working America by Brady Seals

It is hard not to list all of Brady Seals' accomplishments and it is impressive to hear how many things he is involved with, he is a busy guy. Brady agreed with that assessment saying he started his career on a full schedule with Little Texas who was known as the hardest-working band in country music back in the 90s, touring constantly and it has just continued that way since. When Brady is on the road driving to his solo shows, he is often recording himself singing or humming melodies.

Brady Seals - photo by Dieter Spears

Brady said he has been sitting on this latest release for a while. Brady Seals produced Deeper Shade of Blue-Collar, written by Bill Whyte, Kathy Whyte, and Brady Seals in appreciation of the hard workers in America, the backbone of our country. The lyrics and context of Deeper Shade of Blue-Collar hold a strong meaning to Brady. He comes from a family of blue-collar workers, so this tribute song is also for them. It is for his dad who worked for General Motors as a crane operator, and his grandpa who was a sharecropper in Kentucky. Brady found himself reliving the stories of his family's toughness by talking to me about them, what their lives were like, and what they endured. It is an anthem song for the American hard-working class.

Under all 10 fingernails

We gotta a lot of dirt and grease

Before that sun comes rollin' up

We're up and rollin' up our sleeves

Got some farmers tans and calloused hands

"Out here we folks work and play hard

Until way up in the night

And we got bloody busted knuckles

From the wrenches and the fights

Hangin' buck skin tough and we don't give up"

(segment of Deeper Shade of Blue Collar)

Seals and Crofts 2 -Photo by Bellalu Photography

Brady and I also talked a little bit about Seals and Crofts 2, it was interesting to hear the story of how that all started. In 2017, Brady had it in mind to put an album together with a collection of songs by his musical family members. During that process, reconnected with Lua Crofts. Brady and Lua toured together after his exit from Little Texas. Lua and Brady decided they should start a duo after her dad approved of them using the Seals and Crofts name (Lua Crofts is Dash Crofts's daughter) and became Seals and Crofts 2. Brady is touring with Seals and Crofts 2, touring independently, and is also involved in The Petty Junkies, a Tom Petty tribute band in Nashville.

Keep up with Brady Seals on his social media pages by clicking the buttons below.

Brady Seals, it was a pleasure...Thanks so much for sharing your stories and talents with me In A Country Minute.

Rose

Brady Seals Instagram

Brady Seals Facebook

Brady Seals Youtube

A Beach breakup song- When In Rum by David Adam Byrnes

David Adam Byrnes released the beachy breakup summer song, When In Rum, on July 7th, there are already 13K listens on Spotify as I write this on the 9th of July. So let's get to the details of this song…The title for When in Rum was saved on David’s phone for quite a while waiting for the right opportunity. He said that he thought that rum needed to have a song since beer and whiskey have many. Carlton Anderson, Jay Brunswick, and David Adam Byrnes are cowriters on this beachy song, and Bart Busch and David Adam Byrnes were producers, the engineering and mixing were also done by Bart Busch. The context of When In Rum is proposed as a solution to a breakup and that is - head to the beach!

"I’ve been here the last three days

Getting burnt by the sun in a Blue Chair haze

Rum running my cares away

I don’t know where she is now

She packed up and I went south

To get a little lost in a tourist town

I’m living like a local now

When in rum

You go with the flow, lay low in the tide

Take the hurt from a heartbreak, put it on ice

Pour a blue ocean view and time in a cup

Find an island girl and mix it up

When in rum…”

David took the long, winding scenic route to get to this stage in his career and it is paying off. He became an independent artist after a messy publishing deal fell apart. David Adam Byrnes gained the confidence in himself to write the music he wanted to write instead of fitting into what was popular in the country music scene. David explained, “There's never been more freedom to be yourself… I am doing what I want to do… the way I want to do it, making it about the music”. David Adam Byrnes gained fans through his raw effort touring across the country and grew a fan base with the Texas Music Scene after moving to Texas. The Texas Music scene welcomed the traditional country sound he was striving to express while in Nashville. David Adam Byrnes described the music scene in Texas as “Texas honkytonk on a Main Street level”.

David was nominated for “New Male Vocalist of the Year” at 2 award shows in Texas and is decorated with 7 #1 songs consecutively on the Texas Regional Radio Report.

Congrats on the release of When In Rum, David Adam Byrnes, I will catch up with you again soon!

Looking forward to seeing wedding pics in the fall.

In a Country Minute

Rose