''Pickin' on Nashville'' is the debut studio album by American

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

/ southern rock band the Kentucky Headhunters. It features the singles "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine", "Oh Lonesome Me", "Dumas Walker", and "Rock 'n' Roll Angel", all of which charted in the Top 40 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts. "Oh Lonesome Me" was also the highest charting, at No. 8. The album won a Grammy Award for

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: * In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group * From 1971 to 19 ...

for the band in 1991. "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine" is a cover of a Bill Monroe song, "Skip a Rope" a cover of a Henson Cargill song, and "Oh Lonesome Me" a cover of a Don Gibson song. After brothers Ricky Lee and Doug Phelps left the band in 1992 to form the duo

Brother Phelps Brother Phelps was an American country music duo formed by brothers Ricky Lee (guitar, vocals) and Doug Phelps (bass guitar, vocals). Prior to the duo's formation in 1992, both brothers were members of The Kentucky Headhunters, a Southern rock-inf ...

, they recorded "Ragtop" on their second album (1994's '' Any Way the Wind Blows''). Doug rejoined the band in 1997.

Critical reception

The '' Tulsa World'' noted that the band "have more in common with the Georgia Satellites than just a similar name—their bar-band, three- and four-chord boogie has the same loose, endearingly sappy quality."

Track listing

Personnel

;The Kentucky Headhunters *Greg Martin - lead guitar *Doug Phelps - background vocals, bass guitar *Ricky Lee Phelps -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

*Fred Young -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion *Richard Young -

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

;Additional musician *Richard Ripani - Hammond B-3 organ on "Oh Lonesome Me", "cheesy organ" on "Rock 'n' Roll Angel" ;Technical *Mike Bradley - recording, mixing *The Kentucky Headhunters - production, arrangement *Glenn Meadows - mastering *Jim Zumwalt - executive production

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1989 debut albums The Kentucky Headhunters albums Mercury Nashville albums