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Music

Pop Music in 2011: Country’s Dynamic Duo

We continue our discussion of mainstream music in 2011 with a look at the contributions of Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.
By Hunter Hauk |
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Fighting the music scribe’s uniquely annoying desire to make definitive lists, I’m instead sharing some informal thoughts about what I noticed, loved and despised about pop music in the year 2011.

Yesterday we discussed the perfect union between Jay-Z and Kanye; today we’ll move on to a real-life marriage that in 2011 became country music’s main fixation.

Back in May, 35-year-old Oklahoman Blake Shelton slipped a ring onto the finger of 28-year-old East Texas gal Miranda Lambert, cementing not only their love for each other but their status as country’s new power couple. Heavy-hitters in a genre that’s often at war with itself, Shelton and Lambert both straddle the fence between crossover pop and traditional twang.

Shelton’s the more ubiquitous, having risen to household-name status as the judge who wasn’t like the others on NBC’s breakout reality competition show, The Voice. Watching him bark out colloquialisms and raise his eyebrows at the antics of his fellow judges endeared him to the everyman. But his marketing folks were as shrewd as any in the biz, pushing the light-as-air single “Honeybee” and ramping up publicity for the new album Red River Blue just as The Voice picked up steam in the ratings.

His weathered baritone lends itself to different types of tunes, from silly redneck story songs to heart-on-sleeve ballads. He even ventured into pop soundtrack territory with a rousing (if slightly unnecessary) remake of “Footloose.” And while he doesn’t display the natural skill of fellow country men Jamey Johnson and Zac Brown, his material’s not nearly as tiresome as the schlock-buster releases of Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan or Kenny Chesney.

Shelton’s wife can be counted on for greater depth and authenticity. Raised around the tawdry tales of private-investigator parents, Lambert’s a kind of anti-Taylor who’s comfortable singing about darker subjects like alcoholism, gun-toting and pill-popping.

Her fourth full-length album, Four the Record, came out last month, led by a countrified update of Erykah Badu’s “Tyrone” called “Baggage Claim.” (The closing line is, “So come and get your shee-it.”) Four the Record offers some crossover-courting pop tunes, as well, including the open-minded statement song “All Kinds of Kinds” and a power-ballad duet with her hubby called “Better in the Long Run.”

Lambert’s nowhere near leaving her grittier side behind, though, as evidenced by her role in the country trio Pistol Annies. This summer she joined lesser known singers Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley on the group’s debut album Hell on Heels. Truth be told, that record trumps everything else released by country artists this year. It helps to fill a void left by the Dixie Chicks’ ongoing hiatus. Can’t get enough of those hell-raising, honky-tonk devil women.

 

Be back tomorrow to talk about Bon Iver’s musical chicken soup, among other things. Don’t be afraid to start throwing out your favorites from 2011 in the comments. 

 

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