The Word September 2013

THIS ISSUE:

Prisoners

How I Met Your Mother

Nashville

Kacey Musgraves

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

And Much More …

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Table of Contents

Movie Review: “Prisoners” (Philip Price) …. 3

Movie Review: “The Spectacular Now” (Philip Price) … 5

Marvel's 'S.H.I.E.L.D' Proves Entertaining, Gives Insight Into Unseen Marvel World (Philip Price) …. 8

'How I Met Your Mother' Begins Final Season Perfectly (Julian Spivey) …. 10

Keith Olbermann Hits It Out of the Park with New Sports Show (Julian Spivey) …. 12

Thrilled, Shocked Jeff Daniels Won Emmy ... Plus, Why He Deserved It (Julian Spivey) … 13

Album Review: “Same Trailer Different Park” by Kacey Musgraves (Aprille Hanson) … 15

Song Reviews (Aprille Hanson & Julian Spivey) … 17

Searching for the Real Nashville Cats ... Try 3rd and Broadway (Julian Spivey) … 18

Everybody Belongs at the Country Music Hall of Fame – Inside America’s Purest Hal of Fame (Julian Spivey) … 20

Edited by Julian Spivey

Additional Editing by Aprille Hanson & Wendy Spivey

Note: All of these pieces were previously published on thewordwebzine.webs.com

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Movie Reviews

‘Prisoners’

By Philip Price

“Prisoners” is as much a compelling drama as it is an investigation into the psyche of moral dilemma and how far is too far when the end goal is hope, but the road is littered with hate. It presents an interesting debate for the audience. Not only because it documents a gripping series of events, but because it begs you to ask yourself what you might do were you placed under the circumstances of the characters on display here. The film opens with a stark shot of a wooded area. The gray and light tints of green and brown are almost overwhelming, but we are soothed by the voiceover

of a man praying. He is saying the "Our Father," and though my first thought was somewhat dismissive of this being a cheap trick to try and be mysterious and vague by serving up the familiar words as a cautionary layout for where we were headed, there came to be no religious theme, but simply a characteristic that helped us better view the complexities and the eventual battered state of Hugh Jackman's body and soul. Director Denis Villeneuve makes his big studio debut with this film. He has picked an intricate and tightly plotted script from Aaron Guzikowski and filled it with massive talent. What at first seems to be little more than a story about two girls being kidnapped, with their respective families doing whatever it takes to try and find them, turns into something akin to the great crime dramas that have come out over the past two decades, mostly thanks to David Fincher. I mention Fincher specifically as “Prisoners” shares more than a tone with both “Se7en” and more appropriately “Zodiac” as it featured a subdued but impressive performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. This film gives us an equally subtle, but more intense showing from the actor. The film is a mystery, wrapped in the normality of middle America which allows it that extra layer that makes it all the more chilling, all the more close to home, yet doesn't flinch or back away from what it's committed itself to when it gets down to the tough spots. “Prisoners” is a brutally relentless, but consistently engaging film that stays with you.

Upon first seeing the trailer for this film, I was afraid it was yet another victim of those studio projects where they decided to show too much in the trailer and not trust in the star power they'd recruited or the project itself to advertise it without absolutely letting people know this was something they'd definitely be interested in. Those fears were put to rest by the fact that what happens in the trailer all takes place fairly early in the film, and I knew we were in for a two and a half hour picture. To say more than this would be to give away more than the advertisements do, so I digress. What makes “Prisoners” so effective though is essentially these opening moments because without them and without the craft that is applied to them we wouldn't care nearly as much for these people no matter how sad their situation or desperate their plight. We are introduced to the Dover family made up of Keller (Jackman), his wife Grace (Maria Bello) and their two children Ralph (Dylan Minnette) and Anna (Erin Gerasimovich) as they prepare for Thanksgiving at their friend and neighbor’s house, the Birch's. Where the Dover's are pure middle class, scraping by from paycheck to paycheck the Birch's are veterinarians and just a tad

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more upscale. Patriarch Franklin (Terrence Howard) and his wife Nancy (Viola Davis) are more than humbled to share their home with what naturally come off as close friends during the holidays and their kids are close in age and get along to boot, so why not? It is when Anna and the Birch's youngest of two daughters, Joy (Kyla Drew Simmons), disappear without anyone seeing where they went that things begin to get tense. Before that there is a relaxed, comforting vibe that is reinforced by the chosen wardrobe for each, the football game on TV, and the abundance of pies on the kitchen table. After the families search the neighborhood, the police are brought in and represented largely by Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal), a man with a bit of a vague history himself, but a proven investigator with a passion for solving crimes. The trailers indicate a seemingly spoiler character in that of Paul Dano's suspicious Alex Jones and his RV that was parked in the neighborhood when the girls went missing, but the intricacy of the plot will leave you questioning his vitality until the last moment. There was always this inherent feeling that the film may not add up to be more than a melodramatic piece that took a horrible incident, such as child abduction, and surrounded it with crying parents while ultimately adding up to nothing more than a police procedural. I'm sure it would have been very easy to go down that road, but thankfully for us Villeneuve has crafted a more layered film that is just as much about how well the story is told as it is about who these characters are, and how far they will allow themselves to be pushed. There is a dark quality to the film. It is always drenched in the same color palette, always raining or covered in ice and snow. The chilling weather is meant to reiterate the chilling realities of the situation at hand and it is shot beautifully. The king of cinematographers, Roger Deakins, worked on this film and his photography elevates the material on its own. There is no shot or line of dialogue, it seems, that is without intent, not meant to elicit some type of meaning or give the audience some kind of indication as to what the bigger picture is. That is as much a testament to Deakins as it is Villeneuve for as much as the director influences the set-up and frames what he wants the audience to see it is the way in which these images are captured that speaks unnoticed volumes to the audience and gives them a sense of atmosphere and of things that word encompasses you can't capture on film. The smells, the textures, all of these elements come together as we feel the invading anxiety of Jackman's character closing in on him not only because of the great performance he is giving, but because we fundamentally understand the world he is existing in and that it's not just his current circumstances, but the whole tone of this space around him that forces him to go places he may have otherwise not thought himself possible. And, while the look and performances of the film are clearly top notch, what really struck a chord with me is the way the film was put together. It is briskly paced, but operates in long shots and few cuts. Not often are we given several different angles of a character or scenario, but simply left with an impressionistic framing of a scene that was wholly more effective and powerful than had it been over-complicated with fancy camera work displaying distrust with the performers.

One can only do so much with technical aspects and the written page though. To bring the words to life

effectively, no matter how frightening, is to have people with the ability to transcend the stock reactions

we'd expect parents to have to their child going missing and dig deeper into what makes them tick in

light of such a tragic event, what is their process, how would they deal with it? While the focus is clearly

on Jackman's character each of the supporting characters contribute a different idea of what there is to

resort to. Whether it is Howard's trepidation towards Keller who thinks before he acts and thinks it

through or Maria Bello's lost mother who is so lost she seemingly doesn't know what to do, so she does

nothing at all. One of my only qualms with the film is that Davis is criminally underused, getting barely a

handful of scenes where her commanding presence is used to conduct the actions of those around her.

She is a strong woman, as determined and level-headed as her husband, but with a longer string of

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nerve. Both Dano and a barely recognizable Melissa Leo give chilling and subtle performances that are

not to be overlooked, but this is really Jackman's show all the way. We can see not only in how the bags

under his eyes grow deeper and more red with each passing day, but in his voice, in his slowly degrading

posture that it may only be a matter of days before he has no energy left to exert. He is a force to be

reckoned with, and his Keller is the type of man who takes things to heart and acts on them rather than

letting them ruminate. He is a worker, he is prepared, and he is accustomed to doing things for himself

and making things happen, thus the reason it is so difficult for him to sit back and watch as Loki asks him

to do that exact thing repeatedly. While Jackman will get the well deserved praise for his emotionally

taxing and morally complex portrayal, it is Gyllenhaal who stands out as a mysterious man in his own

right. We learn no background about his detective and we don't really get to know him on a personal

level throughout the film, but it is the small hints, the precise details such as the ring he wears or the

fact he is sitting alone at a restaurant when we first meet him, on Thanksgiving night. They all add up to

an unclear picture of a human being who seems to constantly be looking for some kind of redemption,

some kind of worthy penance to make up for his unknown past. It is as layered a performance as the

film is and it represents the best aspects of a movie that makes us question ourselves and if our

suffering would be enough to justify that of others.

‘The Spectacular Now’

By Philip Price

If there is one positive thing remembered about the summer movie season of 2013, it will certainly be the number of coming-of-age tales released and received with generally positive criticisms. Beginning with the late April release of “Mud” and continuing into the heart of the season with both “The Way, Way Back” and “The Kings of Summer” (which I missed in theaters, but have heard nothing but great things about and can't wait to catch when it hits home video) and continuing into the final stretch we now have “The Spectacular Now.” Each of these films

have a certain approach to the nostalgia of crossing the threshold from childhood to real maturity, but none of them likely hit you in the heart the way “The Spectacular Now” does. Naturally, this is a safe assumption as it is the only one of the films I've seen that deals with the budding relationship between two high schoolers, and seniors nonetheless. Still, while “Mud” and “The Way, Way Back” took a hard look at their central figures finding themselves and realizing who they wanted to be while allowing them to take a step back and evaluate what they need to do to get to where they'd like to be, “The Spectacular Now” does this by having its young couple help each other accomplish these goals and overcome the obstacles in their way. Director James Ponsoldt, who also made last year’s overlooked, but well-received “Smashed,” directs his film with such an honest touch and feeling of authenticity that paints a clear picture of who these characters are and why they have become the people they are when we meet them. This touch of truthfulness runs through every word and action that occurs in the film.

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While the freewheeling, almost improvised tone Ponsoldt implies certainly contributes to how well we are able to accept everything and admire the film for not attempting to glam up what are essentially extremely personal situations, it is the lead performances from Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley that solidify the heart of the film and how well it connects with its audience. It isn't the heart-wrenching, consistently moving film I expected it to be a la “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” but it is a well made coming-of-age story that contains performances convincing us we've seen the beginnings of true love.

As this is as much a film about love and progression it may truly be a film about the self-destructive Sutter Keely (Teller) who, as the film opens, is writing a letter to the dean of admissions at an unspecified college explaining a hardship in his life that he has overcome. As the deterioration of his latest, blissful seeming, relationship with popular girl Cassidy (Brie Larson) is fresh on his mind, Sutter instinctively resorts to this as the hardship he hasn't completely overcome, but feels confident enough to discuss. Sutter, in all honesty, doesn't care much for school though, and he certainly doesn't have an abundance of ambition for going to college or doing what it takes to get there as it becomes clear in the opening montage that he cares for nothing more than living in the moment, being known as the funny guy and the party animal who is always down to have a good time. He is only serious about not being serious, and this lifestyle where he is allowed to do as he pleases because he has no father figure and his mom works constantly to support the two of them has led him to this binge of living for nostalgia. He also has an older sister, Holly (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but they aren't overly close and don't see much of each other. This streak must come to an end of course, and I think Sutter realizes that early on. If he actually did learn anything from he and Cassidy's break-up, it's that he has to at least grow-up in a few ways. It is when he meets Aimee Finicky (Woodley) that Sutter's world begins to change. Unlike him, she is a quiet, intelligent girl who doesn't go to parties, doesn't wear make-up and doesn't hang out with the popular crowd. She is his antithesis, and as unlikely as it is, they come together as a couple. What they do best is that they come into each other’s lives at the necessary time to help balance the good and the bad they see within one another. It is through the small moments that Sutter learns he's not what he thought he was and that Aimee is not simply just another girl he will date. It is through Teller's performance we better understand his arc and gain insight into his realizations. Giving off the vibe of a young and charismatic Vince Vaughn, Teller brings to the table a completely believable high school charmer whose mouth is sometimes faster than his brain and someone who isn't completely honest with himself until someone forces him to try and confront what they need help with. Sutter is an alcoholic. He can barely go any period of time without a drink. He has one handy in nearly every scene of the film, hiding a flask in his pocket to spike his Big Gulp becomes an inside joke between he and Aimee. Aimee even joins in on Sutter's drinking, not seeing it as something necessarily bad, but something that is a part of the person she is truly falling for. Sutter is all at once trying to hold it together while falling apart on the inside. As much as he comes off as the carefree, cool, funny and confident party-guy that everyone likes, he is all too eager to make sure everyone shares this opinion. In order to cement his status by actually being the life of every party he can attend, he makes up a story to cover the pain that is most likely the truth about his father and he even works in a men's fashion store so he himself is always well-dressed and presented in a mature fashion. While I won't say that none of this fools Aimee, she is certainly the only one to get past all of that and catch a glimpse at the real Sutter Keely, which only makes us root for their relationship all the more. It seems easy for the young couple to veer off course with Aimee so reserved and Sutter still swaying between his affinity for Cassidy and trying to figure out what it is he has with Aimee and what it could possibly turn into. As much as Teller offers a whirlwind performance, (it is the showier role here) it is Woodley who made this individual see the honesty of what was being put on screen. She plays Aimee with such humble means, to take a term from the aforementioned film I hoped to compare this to, she is a wallflower and someone who is as apt

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to understand why she could be good for Sutter as she is simply smitten with him. She's vulnerable, without being dumb. She's complex, without seeming to try. She is simply put: a real human being, and that she comes off as genuine and real. It is a true credit to the work of the actress behind her.

The film eases into its story and successfully adds layer upon layer to its characters while subtly

providing justifications for the paths they've chosen and the decisions they might make from this point

out. It also does well to not create forced circumstances to make the story more engaging because it

does this through the conflicts the characters create out of their personalities. In one of the more

heartbreaking scenes we see Sutter have a conversation with his estranged father. (Kyle Chandler) As

the scene progresses, we watch Sutter come to realize who he is through who is father is, and what his

future is looking like. It is a truly affecting scene, and it demonstrates the best of what the film has to

offer at its character’s lowest points. The only issue the story faces is when it decides to throw a wrench

in the machine during the third act, and then not address it at all or at least recognize it in a fashion that

satisfies the audience. There is real tension building in the film, and though I have no intention of

spoiling what happens in the final act, it is something that gave me a genuine shock and then was

passed over as if we took it more seriously than necessary. I was really into the film, I knew these people

and I came to care about them and then it all falls apart and wraps up faster than I could have

anticipated. It was a rather disappointing conclusion despite the fact I thought I knew where the film

was going. Although it still didn't necessarily take the road most traveled, it ultimately wasn't able to

close on such promising beginning and middle sections. This doesn't make “The Spectacular Now” a bad

film. It only means that, like its characters, it is flawed and not yet perfected or ready for the world. It is,

in that fashion, a perfect example of being able to encapsulate the mood and moments in life that its

characters are experiencing and thus gives us that authentic sense of reality the performances and

direction so accurately capture.

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Television

Marvel's 'S.H.I.E.L.D' Proves Entertaining, Gives Insight Into Unseen Marvel World

By Philip Price

There has been much hype around Marvel's transition from the big screen to the small and we finally have our first idea about how Joss Whedon and Kevin Fiege will satisfy the super hero appetites of fans in between their massive feature films. I have always been weary of TV shows that originate as spin-offs from movies (or from other TV shows for that matter), but as this was simply going to fall into a rather familiar primetime genre and wasn't going to try to make a super hero miniseries, but a look at the little-seen government agency in the background of the big movies there was reason to believe it could

work.

That and Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson has become somewhat of a fan favorite by this point and that he would be heading it up lent the series a whole other level of credibility (and hey! even Cobie Smulders shows up for a few scenes as Maria Hill). Though it is impossible to gauge how the entire series will turn out by simply watching one episode it at least gives us an indication of how the makers plan to structure this and how it will intersect with the movies it will be correlating with. I highly doubt that “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” will directly tie-in or effect any of the events that occur in “Thor: The Dark World,” but we may see some Easter eggs in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and most certainly in “The Avengers” sequel should the series be successful enough to make it more than two seasons.

Given that idea I think it's necessary to give these characters a shot and see how well they can expand the Marvel cinematic universe as that is after all, the point. Whedon, who created the show and wrote the pilot with his brother Jed and his wife Maurissa Tancharoen, is a series that sports his signature humor (which I've never been particularly attracted to), but does well to manage a large cast of characters and keep the audience engaged and on its toes enough that I will continue to watch if not simply because it has "Marvel" above the title, but because I want to be in the know when I walk into their movies in the future. That may sound like a rather bad justification, but as of right now it is the only strong kind I can find. I realize I just stated that it kept me engaged and on my toes which makes it entertaining, yes, but not out of the ordinary. I like the Marvel movies and I like how the powers that be continue to push for ways to expand this universe they are intent on building, but despite these aforementioned positive attributes that keep it from being boring, the show so far seems little more than an excuse to put its name on something and throw in a minor supporting character from the films that might bring in a few more bucks.

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I would like to think that this material is closer to Whedon's heart than that though and this alone gives me hope that the show won't simply turn out to be another government agency procedural with S.H.I.E.L.D. on the back of their jackets rather than C.I.A. The silver lining to this doubtful nature is the way the pilot involved elements from the movies. In fact, if you saw “Iron Man 3” (which was coincidentally released on DVD & Blu-Ray the same day as the premiere) you'll know the mention of Extremis played largely into the plot of that film as well as hearing plenty of other references that include the super soldier serum that created Captain America and even some talk of radiation that would pertain to a certain green monster. This was all well and good and I was glad to see the opening scene of the series deal directly with the fact this followed the aftermath of the climactic battle in “The Avengers.” That the series will embrace its origins rather than trying to stray from them is what will determine if this show lives or dies.

Maybe the biggest issue I have with the show so far is that we have a cast of young, good looking people who don't seem to embody the experience they are supposed to have that have earned them these positions in the coveted S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. Brett Dalton is hot shot secret agent Grant Ward who keeps acting like he isn't interested in working as part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s team that Coulson is putting together needs to hurry up and get over that archetype and admit he is in the coolest division he could hope to be a part of and enjoy it. He seems to be coming around to this realization by the time the show ends which bodes well for us in that we might not get tired character types for too long.

Where this doesn't seem as likely is in the tech support duo for Coulson's team. "Cleverly" called Fitzsimmons both Fitz (Ian De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) are specifically nerdy techies with accents who don't fare well when placed in social environments, but would rather be sitting with their computers in a clean office somewhere. They aren't asked to do too much in the pilot, but should they grow more prominent the act could grow tired while if used sparsely they might suffice as comic relief while not being completely original or funny upon first impression.

We also don't see much of Ming-Na Wen's Melinda May here, but I'm guessing her layers will slowly be peeled back over the course of the season as there is clearly a reason her name resonates with her fellow agents. I was surprised at the inclusion of J. August Richards’ Mike Peterson as he is the first character we are introduced to and right off the bat we are set to believe that there might be some inclusion of beings with other-worldly powers included in the main through-line of the show. That his character goes through a serious arc in this first episode sets up what will no doubt be a major plot line this season and at least hints at the fact that Whedon and his crew have an idea of where they'd like this show to go given the opportunity. While “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” may not have immediately struck me as a great show or even a promise of great things to come it was nothing short of entertaining. It also has the distinct advantage of being the closest thing to a guaranteed success these days and so there is a budget here that allows for bigger set pieces and special effects that don't look cheap and are executed with real skill.

Chloe Bennet gets the meatiest role up for grabs (naturally, as this is the type of role Joss Whedon writes best) in the same vein as Buffy, as she is a hacker known as Skye that is eventually revealed to have given us the ominous opening monologue. Besides her computer skills though, Skye has a serious fascination with the newly revealed super heroes that exist in the world and when she gets wrapped up in the plight of Mike Peterson she also gets wrapped up in the going-ons of S.H.I.E.L.D. and deciding whether or not she trusts them and wants to help them figure out the truth behind Peterson's abilities. I'm hoping that the show continues to give Bennet's character and the rest of Coulson's team the

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emphasis and how their actions tie into helping the big picture problems at the hands of Nick Fury and The Avengers rather than making the heroes the highlight of the show.

It is known people would be more than excited to see Iron Man or Bruce Banner show up at random at some point and kudos if they can get Downey Jr. or Ruffalo to do so, but this should be a show about the people who don't seem to matter as much, who don't have all the influence and are ignored for the most part. This show is reason to shine a light on those people and push them to the forefront. If the show is able to expand the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, great, but if it is also able to help us see the inner-workings of what goes unseen on the big screen more power to it.

'How I Met Your Mother' Begins Final Season Perfectly

By Julian Spivey

The final season of the massively popular CBS sitcom

“How I Met Your Mother,” one of the last decade’s best

comedies, got off to a really nice start Sept. 23 kicking off

with two episodes – “The Locket” and “Coming Back.”

It appears as if the show’s creators — Carter Bays and

Craig Thomas — are going to let the entire final season (or

at least a good portion of it) play out over the span of a

weekend, the weekend of Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and

Robin’s (Cobie Smulders) wedding. It’s an interesting idea

and one that will probably be met with questioning by

many fans of the show, but I think it could be to the show’s benefit after watching the first two

episodes. It gives the series more of a serial feel, which is fairly uncommon on network television,

especially from a sitcom. It’s also not like the show can’t show us what happens to the characters in the

future, as it will utilize flash forwards — which it does to perfection in the second episode, but we’ll get

back to that.

The final episode of season eight finally introduced us to the mother of Ted’s (Josh Radnor) children or

his future wife, a yet to be named character played by Cristin Milioti. In the first episode “The Locket”

Milioti gets some decent screen time as she meets the first of the ‘HIMYM’ gang, Lily (Allyson Hannigan),

on a train to the wedding in Farhampton. Milioti and Hannigan instantly have great chemistry and many

of the first episode’s biggest laughs come from their scene together. Milioti doesn’t appear too much in

the season’s second episode, but again we’ll get to that.

The other funny moments of the first episode include a far-fetched, but still hilarious plotline in which

Barney and Robin find out that they share a cousin and begin to panic that they might be related and

Marshall (Jason Segel) struggling to get back from Minnesota to the wedding while fighting with a

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supremely funny Sherri Shepherd along the way. Shepherd appears in the season’s first two episodes

and hopefully will turn up for at least a few more.

The most serious plotline comes from the episode title (“The Locket”) and last season’s revelation that

Ted has Robin’s lost locket and may or may not have plans to return it to her in hopes of winning her

back one last time. The episode talks about the chance of a “wild card” ruining the wedding and it could

turn out to be Ted, who happens to be Barney’s best man.

The second episode (“Coming Back”) continues Marshall’s fight with Daphne (Shepherd) over the last

rental car to get to New York in time for the wedding and Lily’s fears that Marshall may not make it. The

episode also sees Wayne Brady return as Barney’s gay, half-brother James, who breaks the news to

everybody that he’s gotten a divorce, which worries Robin as Barney claims it’s James’ marriage that

made Barney believe in marriage in the first place.

The best part of the episode comes at the very end with that previously mentioned perfect flash forward

and Milioti’s small role in the episode. It’s the very first scene between her and Ted, but not the coveted

scene where they meet. I thought it was very interesting how the creators of the show decided to make

their first scene something other than their initial meeting and I have a feeling the show will continue to

do this during the season. I just wonder how long it will be before the two actually meet for the first

time and how long it will be before the show gives us the name of the “mother” (I bet there’s a good

chance both or at least one of these is saved for the finale) — these could be the last two major secrets

revealed on this extremely secretive series.

This scene was the highlight of the season’s first two episodes, because even though it’s not their first

meeting, it’s still one of the most important scenes and moments in the entire series. It’s the moment

that we get to find out as fans what the chemistry between these two is like and thankfully it’s

impeccable. After about 20 girlfriends (and no disrespect to Robin, who will likely always be my favorite)

this definitely seems to be the right one for Ted, which is incredibly important because we’ve already

learned that she is indeed “the one.”

I was thrilled by the first two episodes of the show’s final season and can’t wait to see how the rest of

this season unfolds. I think it’s going to be one of the funniest and all-around best seasons of the last

few years, and maybe the series as a whole. The beginning of the end of “How I Met Your Mother” has

really piqued my interest.

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Keith Olbermann Hits It Out of the Park with New Sports Show

By Julian Spivey

Keith Olbermann has only been back on television and back

at ESPN for a little over a month, but he already has the best

sports show on all of television.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody familiar with

Olbermann’s passion for sports and body of work. He is

incredibly smart, witty and capable of forming and telling a

story with the best journalists (not just sports journalists

either) in the history of the medium.

Olbermann’s only real issue is that sometimes his ego takes over and problems arise. This isn’t so much

a problem on the air, but with his bosses/networks off the air. This is why a guy of his caliber has moved

around so much from network to network and job to job in his career and why he was jobless for over a

year before recently reuniting with ESPN.

“Olbermann,” which airs Monday through Friday on ESPN2 generally at 10 or 11 p.m. depending on the

network’s schedule, follows roughly the same format each night. Olbermann begins with a monologue

covering one subject, followed by a serious-style interview generally about the subject from the

monologue, followed by game highlights, a segment called the ‘Worst Persons in the Sports World,’ a

second interview, usually lighter in tone, a wild-and-wacky segment called “Time Marches On” and the

show wraps up with more game highlights.

The biggest highlight of “Olbermann” is the show’s opening monologue, which generally runs for about

six to 12 minutes of the episode and features seemingly whatever Olbermann wants to intelligently riff

on from the day in sports – topics have ranged from the Boston Red Sox’s odd tribute to retiring New

York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and inept sports reporters essentially making up news to the NFL’s

concussion suit and the infamous play that made Fred Merkle famous from all the way back in 1908. The

first glimpse into what this show truly could be – and that’s the greatest thing for sports journalism in a

very long time – came on Olbermann’s second night back on air when he told the story of a little known

football running back by the name of Doug Kotar, who suffered major head trauma from the game he

loved and died at an early age. It was purely fascinating storytelling, which seems to be the key to the

Olbermann brand.

Olbermann’s interviews are certainly another highlight of the show as they don’t lead to horrendously

laughable debates and arguments the like that you’ll see of somebody like Skip Bayless on the tripe that

is ESPN’s “First Take.” Olbermann has smart conversations with some of the brightest minds in the

sports world, many of whom are colleagues of his at ESPN, like Jeremy Schaap, Tony Kornheiser and

Michael Smith.

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As for the game highlights, that first made Olbermann a star in the ‘90s on “SportsCenter,” well, there’s

nobody in the business who can do highlights like Keith Olbermann. He brings his own brand of humor

and intelligence to highlights and makes them incredibly fun, as well as informative.

Simply put, “Olbermann” is a smart sports show for the smart sports fan … something that we just don’t

see very often in the world of sports broadcasting. Olbermann definitely hits the ball out of the park.

Knowing his history though there’s really no telling just how long this wonderful program will be on the

air, so you had better enjoy it while you can.

Thrilled, Shocked Jeff Daniels Won Emmy ... Plus, Why He Deserved It

By Julian Spivey

I will preface this by saying that I haven’t yet seen Bryan

Cranston’s work in “Breaking Bad” or Kevin Spacey’s work in

“House of Cards” or Damian Lewis’ work in “Homeland” or Jon

Hamm’s work in “Mad Men” or Hugh Bonneville’s work in

“Downton Abbey” so this isn’t coming from a “most deserved”

standpoint.

All of these men, along with Emmy winner Jeff Daniels for “The

Newsroom,” honestly “deserved” the honor of Outstanding Lead

Actor in a Drama Series. If they didn’t deserve the honor they

wouldn’t have been nominated for it in the first place. The debate of “more deserving” is one that I

understand (if you’ve seen most or all of the nominated performances), but Daniels does deserve this

award.

Sometimes when watching award shows you are taken aback by incredible surprises that you just didn’t

see coming. They don’t happen a lot, in fact they rarely do, but when they do they are often pleasant

surprises.

This is how I felt when Jeff Daniels won the Emmy on Sunday night for his excellent work on Aaron

Sorkin’s HBO drama “The Newsroom,” where he plays Atlantis Cable News network anchorman Will

McAvoy. I wanted Daniels to win the award, not only because as I previously mentioned he’s the only

nominee I’ve seen, but also because he’s one of my favorite characters on television. He’s well-written

and well-acted and honestly is one of the few fictional TV characters that I can look up to as an idol. I

didn’t think Daniels stood a chance in hell of winning. In fact, if I had to rank the nominees from most

likely to least likely of winning he would’ve been dead last – I think most people felt this way. I even saw

one media publication (I unfortunately forgot which one) saying that he was in the “it’s just an honor to

be nominated” club. It felt like it really would’ve taken a miracle (or perhaps some voting mistake) for

Daniels to win the honor over frontrunner Cranston or very possible winners Spacey and last year’s

winner Lewis.

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This is exactly why the first words out of my mouth in a high pitched squeal when that envelope was

opened and his name was read were “holy shit!” I just did not see this coming. It’s the most pleasantly

shocking Emmy Award win I’ve ever seen, surpassing Kyle Chandler’s win in the same category in 2011

for “Friday Night Lights.” Much like that night with Chandler, the win for Daniels completely made my

night (the much deserved Emmy for Abi Morgan for Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or TV Movie for

“The Hour” just added to it — damn, I wish that show wasn’t canceled).

For those confused as to how Daniels could beat Cranston here’s a theory I will offer up, which (again)

has nothing to do with the actual acting performances of each. Many people don’t realize this, but

Emmy Award nominations aren’t for an entire season’s body of work. Each actor (or his/her people,

show or network) submit one or two (I’m pretty sure it’s two) episodes for consideration to the voting

committee. Therefore the committee is getting the “greatest hits” of each performer’s season meaning

that there’s a possibility that a performer having two great episodes could surpass that of a performer

who may be more solid throughout the season.

I almost guarantee that one of the episodes submitted to the voters for Daniels was the pilot of “The

Newsroom,” which is honestly one of the all-time greatest episodes I’ve ever seen and his performance

in that episode is just as fantastic. Again, I haven’t seen Cranston, Spacey, Lewis, Hamm or Bonneville do

their things, but I can definitely see how Daniels’ performance in that episode would be worthy of

winning an Emmy Award.

This is really why many of those clamoring that Daniels was unworthy and stole Cranston’s award are

full of it. Daniels was exceptionally worthy of his Emmy, but again I can’t (and most others can’t for that

matter) determine who’s “more worthy.” You would have had to have watched all six nominees’ work

to do so.

It would be really nice if the voting committee could watch entire seasons of every series before voting

for nominees, but that’s simply not feasible. They wouldn’t have time for anything else in their life if

doing so and even then it still might not be enough.

I have no doubt that Daniels is worthy of his Emmy win. I’m sure the other five nominees probably

would’ve been too. I understand fans wanting to see their favorites win awards; I had many nominees

that I wanted to see win come up short on Sunday too. However, it’s not really fair to blast Daniels, who

seemingly became the most hated man on Twitter for something completely out of his control, for

winning an award just because you thought someone else deserved it more.

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Albums

‘Same Trailer Different Park’ by Kacey Musgraves

By Aprille Hanson

When I last wrote about Kacey Musgraves, the girl didn’t even

have a Wikipedia page. Her first big single, “Merry Go Round” had

just hit the airwaves and it was clear – she’s going to be one of the

best artists to emerge on the country music scene in a long time.

In the sea of cut-off jeans, pick-up trucks, backwoods, redneck

tripe on the radio today, it’s refreshing to hear a strong, young

woman tell the other side of country life. She did it bravely on

‘Merry,’ which was perhaps the most important single of last year.

Why? Because small town life is hard; It’s not all beer and

bonfires. It is in many cases, as the quiet, contemplative tune

stresses, “Same hurt in every heart, same trailer different park.”

Besides the play on the rosy, nursery-rhyme lifestyle that many country songs try to push, the best lines

come at the end of the song: “Jack and Jill went up a hill / Jack burned out on booze and pills / Mary had

a little lamb / Mary just don’t give a damn no more.”

With that song alone, she filled a void. Similar in sass to Miranda Lambert, closer in style to Lambert’s

girl group Pistol Annies, Musgraves stands on her own two feet in a genre filled with Taylor-Swift-pop-

wannabes. It’s hard to compare her solely to anyone, because she is her own artist.

It would have been easy for Musgraves to hang up her unique style of grit and poise to let loose a song

that would get more radio play. But that just wasn’t the goal for Musgraves, who co-wrote all the songs

on her 12-track album, “Same Trailer Different Park.”

Her second single, “Blowin’ Smoke,” is the closest this girl is going to get to something that would be

radio-friendly. Even that song, though fun, chronicles the drab life of waitresses, presumably at some

unknown diner off of Route 66.

“Between the lunch and dinner rush, Kelly caught that outbound bus to Vegas / Now we’re all out here

talkin’ trash, makin’ bets, lips wrapped ‘round our cigarettes, she always thought she was too good to be

a waitress,” opens the song, which sets the scene for this common-woman imagery. While they all say

they’ll quit someday, it’s obvious they’re just blowing smoke.

Making perfect use of the harmonica, another song that may stand-out as a radio hit is “My House,” in

which she sings, “A KOA is A-OK as long as I’m with you.” It’s a song about traveling the country in a

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camper, seeing the world and wherever her love is is where she will call “home.” It’s an adorable little

ditty that would make traditional country fans smile.

Her album includes the basic country theme of love on tracks like “I Miss You,” “Back on the Map,” but

shines most on tainted love tunes like “Dandelion,” “Step Off,” “It Is What It Is” and the rock-infused

“Stupid.”

Lyrically, the best of those tunes is “Dandelion,” about a woman who has done everything she can to fix

a relationship, but is now going to let, “summer fill my lungs / superstition fill my brain,” by blowing on a

dandelion. It’s tracks like this where Musgraves shows her keen observation when it comes to

songwriting. I’m personally attracted to writers that can take an old theme — love, heartbreak, etc. —

and just find a new angle, which is so hard to do in country music.

Her two stand-out songs on the album are “Silver Lining” and “Follow Your Arrow,” both great songs,

but stand-outs for different reasons.

‘Silver’ is a play on several different clichés about luck – finding a four leaf clover means getting dirt on

your hands; if you want to see the forest, look past the trees; and my personal favorite: “If you wanna

find the honey, you can’t be scared of the bees.”

Again, Musgraves knack for tapping into raw human emotions by use of imagery makes her a master of

her craft: “If lemonade keeps turning into lemons / And you wear your heart on a ripped / Unraveled

sleeve / Been run through the wringer / And pushed on to your limit / Say you're just unlucky / But luck

ain't what you need.”

This next stand-out, ‘Arrow’ you will never hear on the radio. Let’s just get that statement out of the

way now. It’s a bold song because it buffs off some of the traditional country standards, particularly in

the chorus: “Make lots of noise / Kiss lots of boys / Or kiss lots of girls / If that's something you're into /

When the straight and narrow / Gets a little too straight / Roll up a joint, or don't / Just follow your

arrow / Wherever it points, yeah / Follow your arrow / Wherever it points.”

It’s a song about how it’s not worth it to please everyone because you can’t. She points out societies

inconsistencies in the first lyrics: “If you save yourself for marriage you're a bore / If you don't save

yourself for marriage / you're a whore-able person.”

It’s songs like this that make Musgraves an outlaw of country music, right alongside the ranks of other

artists who spent their careers pushing the envelope like Waylon, Willie and Loretta.

Country music is clearly at a crossroads and the nominations for the Country Music Association awards

are the perfect indication. It is the 25-year-old outlaw Musgraves leading the way with six nominations,

including for Female Vocalist, Album of the Year and a nod for songwriting on Lambert’s hit “Mama’s

Broken Heart,” versus the 23-year-old pop princess Taylor Swift, tied for the most noms.

It’s a confusing time in country music, a struggle between traditional and pop and these days, it appears

pop is winning. But Musgraves’ nominations give hope to those fans of traditional country, Red Dirt and

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Americana music. She’s making relevant, thought-provoking music that’s actually being played on the

radio and becoming popular despite her resistance to conforming.

Musgraves is not just an artist — she’s the start of a new resurgence of what it means to be a true

country singer and damn if she’s not going to save the whole genre.

Songs

‘When I See This Bar’ by Kenny Chesney

By Aprille Hanson

It's no secret that Kenny Chesney is the Jimmy Buffett of this generation. While many might interpret that just to mean he does a lot of beach songs, really don't know the true Buffett or Chesney. Both have released or written songs that are more than just beach ballads and will/have gone down in country or rock music history. With that said, no one captures the escapist nature of the ocean better than those two. In Chesney's latest single, "When I See This Bar," he's speaking to everyone, not just beach bums. Yes, it's centered around a bar in a tropical location (the reference to tourists at Christmas time and beers with a hint of lime give that away), but what the song's message really is about is that special place in each of our lives that holds the memories of our past. The first verse is a perfect balance of that emotion and imagery, talking about the souls of friends, the Rastafarian one-man band, sandy floors and songs "that fill my memories like a tip jar." It's more than a beach song, despite the fact that it includes "pirates" and other references to Chesney's favorite things. The song is a plea that each of us has to remember a time in our lives that was so carefree and surrounded by those that may have moved on in their lives. It's more romantic tragedy set at a beach bar. It's another stellar single from the beach-bum creative genius that is Chesney.

‘Carry Me Back to Virginia’ by Old Crow Medicine Show

By Julian Spivey

Old Crow Medicine Show is good Americana, folk, bluegrass, country (whatever you want to call it)

music played at lightning speed as if the entire group had been possessed by string instrument picking

demons. The group is among the truest and most talented musicians in any genre of music, but is still

rather unknown despite being around for a decade and despite their recent induction into the Grand

Ole Opry.

Their most recent album, 2012’s “Carry Me Back,” features a rip-roaring, fiery Civil War tune called

“Carry Me Back to Virginia.”

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The thing that hits you first about the song, even before the exquisite musicianship from the entire

group, is the rapid fire spitting of lyrics from Old Crow vocalist and fiddle player Ketch Secor, who also

writes many of the group’s songs. It’s truly unbelievable how somebody can rattle off this many lyrics in

such a short time, but Secor does so perfectly and with obvious glee. It’s almost like it is two minutes

and 41 seconds of Secor rapping without taking a breath.

The song about a Civil War veteran longing to return to his beloved home state of Virginia is a really fun

tune, whether or not you can catch all of the lyrics which are rather horrific portrayals of war, because

of the rapidity of the vocals which have to be sung at lightning speed just to keep up with the

unbelievable quick instrumentals. The song carries on a unique tradition of this type of music where you

sing about depressing topics, but do it so quickly that you can’t help but stomp your feet and clap your

hands along to it.

“Carry Me Back to Virginia” is a song that has serious subject matter like much of the groups’ terrific

“Tennessee Pusher” album for 2009, but is done in a manner of earlier songs like “Wagon Wheel” and

“Tell It to Me.” It’s an interesting mixture of wonderful musicianship and direly mature lyrics that only a

group as talented as the Old Crow Medicine Show can truly pull off.

Music

Searching for the Real Nashville Cats ... Try 3rd and Broadway

By Julian Spivey

Well, there’s 1,352 guitar pickers in Nashville, John

Sebastian once wrote and sang. I don’t have an exact

number of guitar pickers in Nashville, but I do know that

they inhabit every joint, saloon, restaurant or what have

you in the entire city, especially in its bustling downtown

area.

You could hear ‘em in Tootsie’s, hear ‘em in Legends,

hear ‘em at The Wildhorse Saloon, hear ‘em at the

Bluebird Café, hear ‘em at Margaritaville. All had talent.

All had probably come to Nashville from somewhere else

seeking fame and fortune, getting their name and sound out there and some just wanting to play. They

all play for tips, taking requests in hopes that you’ll pay for them to play your favorite song.

Even though Nashville is the country music capital of the world it’s not all you’ll hear flow out onto the

streets of Nashville as you walk past packed bar after packed bar. For every Brooks & Dunn and Alan

Jackson classic you’d hear a rocking cover of The Beatles and Stevie Ray Vaughan … most of it cool.

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Then there were the clowns who thought they were really cool playing schmaltz like Journey and

Whitesnake. It’s upsetting and downright perverse to hear more Journey while perusing the sights of

Nashville than Waylon Jennings. But, I quickly realized that you don’t get into the bars and saloons of

Nashville anymore, at the very least you don’t stay there long, by playing real country music, just as you

don’t get on country radio anymore by playing real country music. You have to play what the crowd

wants to hear. And, these wannabe cowboys and slutty dressed cowgirls, who think country is the way

you dress and not the way you feel, don’t want to hear Waylon and Willie. They want to hear Luke Bryan

and Jason Aldean. They don’t want substance and beauty, they want to shake it and learn how to Diffie

(whatever the hell that means). Mostly, though, they just want to get drunk and act like jackasses.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t really a condemnation of Nashville. I had an extremely wonderful

time in Nashville and it seems most of who walked the downtown strip while I was there did too. It’s just

a condemnation of what the current state of country music has done to Nashville and to the people who

think that Nashville is puke-inducing covers of already puke-inducing Journey and the monotonous,

stereotypical tripe of Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan.

Nashville has become a great contradiction. It celebrates the great history of country music in its

museums, which are truly all must-sees, and helps its continued descent bar by bar by bar, night after

night after night.

But, damn it, you can still hear real country music in Nashville if you can find it on the right street corner.

Third and Broadway was that street corner for me and there I heard what true country music is and

should be. A group of eight or so men, ranging in age from early 20s to mid-40s, playing guitars, banjos,

fiddles, washboards and a string attached to a tub tearing through Carter Family, Flatt and Scruggs,

Louvin Brothers tunes way older than any of them. There wasn’t any “Don’t Stop Believing” or “Dirt

Road Anthem,” but “Keep on the Sunny Side” and “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” with their fingers

picking and scratching and strumming 90 miles an hour in unison, smiles slapped across the face of each

and every one of them — many trying to sing without letting their cigarettes fall from their lips. They

looked like hobos in their dirty clothes and sweaty smudged faces playing instruments that looked as old

as the songs they played.

Damn it, this was what I’d hoped to see in Nashville! This is what I hope never fades away from

Nashville, even when every last one of those bars is filled with hick-hop and late ‘70s through ‘80s soft

rock cheese.

People just kept on filling those bars where they could drink and dance to a newly learned cover of

country top 40, but every night I returned to 3rd and Broadway where the real talent stood and played

for a small gathering of people wanting to get the same things out of Nashville that I did — just wanting

to hear some real damn music for a change. Some drunken idiot every now and then would stop and

mock the old-timey string band at 3rd and Broadway before stumbling into the nearest bar, but the band

would continue to smile and play knowing that no drunken fool could ever do what they do. You see it’s

easy to mock what you don’t understand and if you think you’re being macho and cool poking fun at a

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banjo picker then I truly feel sorry for you, because those dancing fingers plucking those five strings on

that calf skin have more talent then you’re whole body could ever know.

This is the kind of stuff that made Nashville what it is, before many in the town looking for the most

bucks turned their backs on it. This was what packing up your bags and driving to Nashville to busk for

tips and a hopeful future is supposed to look like.

Country music won’t ever truly die as long as these guys stick around, because somewhere somebody

will hear the whining fiddle or twang of a banjo and think it’s badass. They’ll realize the talent and hard

work of those just trying to earn a buck picking out an old Jimmie Rodgers or Hank Williams tune. They’ll

want to find the original recording of these fantastic songs they’ve heard and develop a love and care

for the history of one of America’s truly great art forms.

Just before leaving Nashville we (my girlfriend, Aprille, and I) witnessed a new Nashvillian, a country boy

just arrived from Arkansas armed with his guitar and probably just the clothes on his back. He’d had

enough of life back home, failed to do anything but get drunk and party at Arkansas State University and

set out to do what thousands of others before him did – find a street corner or a doorway and make it

his own. He had a good, strong voice and a charismatic awe-shucks charm, he spit and cursed almost

incessantly between songs, but he promised to sing you a real country song “and not that shit you hear

on the radio.” Intrigued we stopped and listened. He played Waylon, he played Willie, he played Hank

and he played Cash. He asked if we wanted to hear anything special. I hadn’t heard a single Merle

Haggard song the entire time I’d been in town, truly dumbfounding. So, he played “Mama Tried.” We

gave him a few bucks, he smiled and winked and we left Nashville having heard some real country music

… and not that shit you hear on the radio.

Everybody Belongs at the Country Music Hall of Fame – Inside America’s Purest

Hal of Fame

By Julian Spivey

The term and concept of hall of fame is something that’s become somewhat of a joke over the last few

years – whether it’s a hall of fame for sports or entertainment purposes.

It doesn’t seem like there are any hall of fames out there that are 100 percent pure in their hallowed

halls. The professional baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. is pretty close because the baseball

writers take their job very seriously, but at the same time as long as all-time greats like Pete Rose and

“Shoeless Joe” Jackson are banned and the writers decide to punish almost certainly clean players like

Craig Biggio just because they were unlucky enough to have played in the game’s “steroid era” it will

remain somewhat tainted. If the writers one day determine they should let in players who they know

used steroids then it will become completely tainted. I hope that day never comes.

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The professional basketball hall of fame in Springfield, Mass. will never be 100 percent pure, because

they decided a long time ago that they’d basically let anybody who was ever good in the game into the

hall. The professional football hall of fame in Canton, Ohio could never be 100 percent pure because of

the unusual biases held by those who induct players, such as wide receivers seemingly not being of the

same caliber as other players. That one has never made much sense to me.

But, enough with the sports hall of fames, as this is an entertainment website isn’t it?

Hall of fames in the entertainment world often seem even less pure than those of the sports world. I

think the main reason for this is that in sports you often have particular numbers or accolades that are

almost automatic qualifiers for the hall of fame. If you’re a baseball player and you had 3,000 career hits

without the aid of performance enhancing drugs than you’re a hall of famer. If you’re a quarterback and

you win multiple Super Bowls then you’re usually a hall of famer. But, this isn’t the case for

entertainment hall of fames. Entertainment hall of fames are typically much more subjective than their

sports counterparts.

The biggest example of an entertainment hall of fame being impure is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in

Cleveland. It wasn’t always this way, but has become so over the last decade or so with the inductions of

people like Michael Jackson, Madonna and other pop and even hip hop acts. If you’re going to have a

hall of fame called the Pop Music Hall of Fame or Music Hall of Fame all of these acts would certainly be

welcomed because there’s no doubt they have all played a huge role in pop music, but this particular

hall of fame is called the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and really should consist of just rock acts.

There is one entertainment hall of fame that is seemingly still pure and looks to be that way for at least

a little while longer. That hall of fame is the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, which I recently

had the great pleasure of visiting after wanting to for quite some time. The actual genre of country

music today is far from pure – in fact, almost nothing you hear on country radio actually sounds like

country music these days – but, the hall of fame representing the genre hasn’t been corrupted yet, and

likely won’t until the likes of Taylor Swift and company are eligible for induction many, many years from

now.

Sure, you could argue that the Country Music Hall of Fame is just as impure as other hall of fames

because you could say there are certain inductees that don’t belong. Some would say that 2012

inductee Garth Brooks doesn’t belong because they blame him for ushering in pop music to country

music, but I don’t agree with those people and don’t even understand why they believe Garth lead to

Taylor and the like. I don’t even really agree with every single inductee in the Country Music Hall of

Fame. I wouldn’t have inducted 2009 inductee Barbara Mandrell personally, but I do believe that’s me

being a little nitpicky, and I won’t really argue with her induction.

When you go to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, your tour begins on the third floor of the

massive building with a basic timeline of the country music genre from its roots in folk and Appalachian

Mountain music all the way to today with artifacts from everybody like Jimmie Rodgers, the first true

country music star, to the stars of today. The tour ends on the floor below with a wonderful rotunda

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room filled with plaques of all of the country legends – Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard,

Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, and on and on.

As you’re walking around the circle of legendary faces – and you’re so enamored by the history and

greatness you’re looking at, you don’t even realize you’re walking in a big circle – you notice that there

aren’t any impurities. There’s no Madonna plaque in the same room as a Bob Dylan plaque. At the

Country Music Hall of Fame everybody belongs.

It won’t always be this way. Someday in the future there will be a puke-inducing Taylor Swift hall of

fame plaque near the Hank Williams’ plaque. That same day, there will be many who attend the Country

Music Hall of Fame who don’t even know Hank Williams. That will be a sad day, but that day is still a

long way off.

Enjoy the purity of the Country Music Hall of Fame while you can. It may be the closest hall of fame to

being 100 percent pure in the country.

Also, if you plan on visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, I highly suggest doing it before the end of

the year so you can see their wonderful Bakersfield Sound exhibit featuring the great music of Merle

Haggard and Buck Owens. It’s definitely a can’t miss.

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