Country Music

Jason Aldean and Jamey Johnson are both country singers who were born in the mid-1970s. Both hail from the Deep South. And both men have new albums out on Tuesday, in each case the anticipated follow-up to a profile-boosting 2010 disc. But that's about the extent of what these two share: With "Night Train" and "Living for a Song," respectively, Aldean and Johnson are positioning themselves at opposite ends of the current country-music scene; their records reflect vastly different ideas about the meaning (and the usefulness)

A series in Sunday Calendar about what Times writers and contributors are listening to right now... In early 1964, Jerry Lee Lewis' career couldn't have been in worse shape. The Beatles had exploded on U.S. shores, igniting the British Invasion that rendered the seminal American rockers who preceded - and profoundly influenced - them virtually obsolete. In addition, Lewis was a pariah in many circles for having married his 13-year-old cousin Myra, leaving him off-limits to disc jockeys, TV show hosts, record company executives and many fans who had originally supported him a few years earlier when he was one of the prime architects of rock 'n' roll.

Here's a cautionary tale to anyone thinking of posting unlicensed song lyrics on their homepage: A U.S. district court judge has ruled that Web operator LiveUniverse Inc. must fork over $6.6 million in damages to music publishers for posting copyrighted lyrics without permission of songs including David Bowie's "China Girl," Van Morrison's "Moondance" and Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends. " That's according to a statement released Thursday by Arent Fox IP, a firm representing a group of music publishers involved in the lawsuit.

It seems fitting that one of the earliest scenes in the premiere episode of ABC's music drama series "Nashville" is set in a recording studio. An excited producer tweaks the controls on the mixing board during a session with a bratty young country-pop singer. He drops everything out of the sound mix but her voice, which is noticeably off-pitch. "Don't worry," the producer says, "we can fix that. " The singer's manager, sitting nearby on a couch reading, nonchalantly responds, "Thank God for Auto-Tune.

Dwight Yoakam's jeans had been pressed and his eyes moistened with Visine. But as the country star stood last month in a rented Malibu mansion - the hilltop set of a music video for Yoakam's song "A Heart Like Mine" - the director requested one more adjustment. "Can you smile?" she asked. Nothing. "A little bit more?" Strike two. "How about a chuckle?" "Nah," Yoakam finally replied, courteous but firm. "I don't like to indicate. " He never has. Since emerging more than 25 years ago from the rock clubs of Los Angeles - where he shared bills with X and Los Lobos - Yoakam has established himself as one of country music's foremost stoics, a straight-faced enigma (and perpetual Nashville outlier)

Less than a year ago, Florida State running back Chris Thompson lay in a North Carolina hospital with two broken vertebrae, an injury he sustained in a game against Wake Forest. It looked as if his career might be over. Turns out, far from it. Thompson returned to the Florida State backfield against Wake Forest on Saturday, getting his first extended playing time of the season for the fifth-ranked Seminoles. He celebrated by running for 197 yards in nine carries -- including touchdowns of 74 and 80 yards -- in the first half as Florida State won, 52-0.

One would think that L.A.-based electronic producer Skrillex would stick closer to home for his just-announced festival, "With Your Friends. " But instead, he and fellow producer Pretty Lights on Friday planted their stakes in the country music capital of the world, Nashville. Could new subgenres bass twang and country-step be far behind? Skrillex in the last two years has risen to superstar status and nearly singlehandedly propelled his noise-heavy version of dubstep into the mainstream.

The Grammy Awards are getting cozier with country music in 2012. The Recording Academy revealed Tuesday morning that the nominations for the 2013 Grammy Awards telecast will be unveiled in a prime-time special to be held for the first time Nashville. The concert/press conference will be staged in Nashville's Bridgestone Arena and air live on CBS on Dec. 5 at 10 p.m. EST.  This marks the first time the  cumbersomely titled CBS special  "Grammy Nominations Concert Live: Countdown to Music's Biggest Night" will be held outside of Los Angeles in its five-year history.

ABC is really warming up its vocal cords. Just as the network recently joined the singing competition arena with "Duets" this summer -- following in the footsteps of Fox and NBC -- this fall it will try its hand at integrating music in its scripted fare ... just as Fox did with "Glee" and NBC did with "Smash. "  ABC will delve into the country music world when it rolls out its soapy drama "Nashville. " The series comes from Callie Khouri, who earned an Academy Award for her "Thelma & Louise" screenplay.

Country singer Kitty Wells had been recording, touring and broadcasting without major success for more than a decade when she accepted an offer in 1952 to record one more song before she planned to turn her attention to staying at home and raising a family. Mostly she was interested in the $125 union scale pay she'd get for the session, at which she recorded "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," a song that not only turned her career around but also helped upend stereotypical thinking about men who strayed and the women they strayed with.