Shooter Jennings Reinvents ‘Walk Of Life’ For Country Music Audiences

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/11/05/shooter_jennings_reinvents_walk_of_life_

Singer/songwriter Shooter Jennings lead single “Walk of Life” off his introspective third studio album – The Wolf, originally made famous by Dire Straits, was chosen as the first single for its lyrical content and to help familiarize audiences with the sound of this third disc.

“I’ve loved this song since I was a kid, but when I actually read the lyrics, I was fascinated by the line ‘he do the song about the sweet lovin’ woman, he do the song about the knife,’ because it’s a struggle that I can relate to as a musician,” explains Jennings. “Hopefully this song will make people let their guards down, and it will open the door to the rest of the album. Then the more personal songs I wrote will speak for themselves.”

Jennings wrote nine of the 13 tracks for The Wolf showcasing his extraordinary songwriting skills while giving fans a revealing look at the singer’s personal struggles and triumphs. Other standout tracks on The Wolf, which was produced by Dave Cobb, include the autobiographical country blues tinged title cut, as well as “Slow Train” featuring guest vocals by iconic country music group The Oak Ridge Boys and the tribute to best friends everywhere, “Old Friend.”

“Dave and I were able to live out some of our musical fantasies with this album, which includes horn sections, and some of the Grand Ole Opry background singers,” added Jennings “It’s a country album that shows my influences from guys like Hank Jr. and my dad, and a lot of the country from the 70’s and 80’s. We also got a cool drum sound for the whole record that almost has a disco sound to it, as strange as that may sound. I think my fans are really going to dig it.”

-Watch the video for ‘Walk Of Life’

Country Music Pioneer Hank Thompson Retires

from CMT

Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Thompson has announced his retirement from a career that has spanned seven decades. Thompson, 82, was released from the hospital Wednesday (Oct. 31) after being diagnosed with an undisclosed illness. He is recovering at his home near Fort Worth, Texas. A honky-tonk singer and leader of his band, the Brazos Valley Boys, Thompson scored a total of 29 Top 10 singles, including “The Wild Side of Life,” which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 in 1949. Other hits include “Humpty Dumpty Heart,” “Rub-a-Dub-Dub” and “A Six Pack to Go.” Thompson, who has canceled all of his tour dates, last performed on Oct. 8 in Waco, Texas, his birthplace.

Roseanne Cash to undergo brain surgery

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/06/AR2007110600756.html?hpid=entnews

By TERESA WASSON

The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 6, 2007; 1:02 PM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Rosanne Cash is facing brain surgery for a rare but benign condition and must cancel the last four dates on her “Black Cadillac” tour.

The announcement was made Tuesday by Manhattan Records, the 52-year-old singer’s music label. Cash is expected to make a full recovery and resume recording and touring next spring.

“She does want everyone to know that it’s a benign condition, and it’s not life-threatening,” said her manager, Danny Kahn. “It’s nothing like a tumor or hemorrhage or anything. It’s elective surgery.”

Kahn said Cash has been diagnosed with chiari I malformation.

According to the American Syringomyelia Alliance Project, a nonprofit clearinghouse for information about chiari and related disorders, the disorder is a congenital malformation of the skull that affects the brain and spinal cord.

Symptoms, which include severe head and neck pain worsened by coughing, sneezing or straining, often don’t show up until adulthood, the organization said.

“She’s somehow accepted many of them through the course of her own life, the sort of discomforts that you learn to live with,” Kahn said. “She’s noticed them more over the course of this last year.”

Cash, who lives in New York City, will have the surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital, her record label said.

Cash is the daughter of the late country star Johnny Cash. Her hits include the crossover “Seven Year Ache” and “The Way We Make a Broken Heart.” She signed with EMI-based Manhattan Records earlier this year.

She has been touring in support of her latest album, “Black Cadillac.”

Her career was interrupted for more than two years by vocal cord polyps, but she recovered and resumed recording.

Cash has written a book of short stories and collaborated on a children’s book