contents
CMP JULY 2024
features
12 | Kaitlin Butts Reinventing Oklahoma !
18 | Kayla Ray
“ Amerikinda ” country
24 | Caylee Hammack
Taking the battle of love to The Hill
60 | Country Crooners Celebrating some of country ’ s smoothest vocalists
12 reviews
30 | Reviews
18
Country Crooners
BY JACK WATKINS regulars
4 | News
8 | Tour Guide
11 | The David Allan Page
22 | Corner Of Music Row
29 | The Hymn Sheet
55 | Americana Roundup
63 | Bakerspatch
charts
64 | Americana , Texas & UK
Country Charts
65 | Billboard Country Charts
Courtesy of Billboard Inc .
24
56 country music people
Crooning is an unfashionable art . The easy listening boom of the 1990s hinted at a renaissance , but when Tony Bennett made a comeback , the attention was on his jazzy phrasing , rather than where he stood in the great tradition of Italian-American crooners of the 1950s .
Country music also has a long and proud crooning tradition , though you don ’ t hear so much about it now . The dictionary says crooning means “ to sing in a subdued , soft voice .” Not exactly fashionable . Yet two of the biggest selling country
60
artists of all time , Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold , were crooners . Here are ten others to remind us that country singing can involve more than just three chords and the truth .