Sarah Shook and the Disarmers are the hard-charging badasses of punk-inspired country music, and their last record from 2018 called Years ended up being named the Saving Country Music Album of the Year. Ever since then we’ve been anticipating the followup.
Horse racing and country music are two occupations where pedigree can often be a strong predictor of talent and skill. So word coming down that traditional country legend Mark Chesnutt’s son is leaning hard into making country music is a plenty good excuse to perk your ears up and pay attention.
Kyle Nix has revealed that he will start playing full band shows in the coming weeks and months, upping the ante with the solo project. he also took to social media to tell his fans that a few months ago, he’d checked himself into rehab.
Breland is back, and collaborating closely with Keith Urban in the hopes of giving him some credibility in country’s mainstream. Jokes on him though, because Keith Urban has no credibility to lend. Don’t believe me, just recall when he accidentally won Entertainer of the Year in 2018.
Blackberry Smoke is back on top once again with the band’s latest album You Hear Georgia. It’s a position the Georgia-based Southern rock outfit is used to, bolstered by a supremely loyal fan base. “You Hear Georgia” ended up at #1 in album sales in both country and rock.
The argument can be made that Ashley McBryde is the best thing going in mainstream country music at the moment. She certainly released a contender for the best mainstream country album in the last couple of years with her record ‘Never Will.’ Now she’s taking the act on the road.
June 2nd marked the 35th Anniversary of the release of the legendary debut album from Randy Travis, Storms of Life. Given credit for righting the country music ship in 1986 with its neotraditional sound while propelling Randy Travis to superstardom, it’s an important album in country music history.
Cody Jinks spent the better part of May sequestered in the studio at the infamous Sonic Ranch just outside of El Paso, TX with his band the Tone Deaf Hippies, recording his next album ahead of hitting the road again with the full band after a long period away.
Legendary songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker passed away on October 23rd, 2020 due to throat Cancer, but never got a proper send off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event sold out within minutes of being announced, but if you’re a die hard Jerry Jeff fan and still want to participate, you can.
Like Colter Wall, Corb Lund and others, Bo DePeña’s looking to keep the traditions of Western music alive, not just by singing them, but by living them out, so he can sing them with truth and authenticity. You hear that on his new album “It’s About to Get Western.”
Multiple country music radio stations owned by the Cox Media Group are being affected by a potential ransomware attack that occurred on Thursday, June 3rd. Though the radio stations are still able to broadcast, the live feeds on their websites and streaming networks have been disabled.
That’s right, Saving Country Music is brushing off this old feature, and featuring another name from the modern era of country music badasses in Cody Jinks after his recent run over the last few years has made him one of the most formidable names in independent country.
Many folks have been feverishly awaiting news on when the debut album from gypsy jazz Appalachian folk phenom Sierra Ferrell would finally emerge after signing to Rounder Records in 2019. Well now we’ve been made aware the album is coming, and it’s appropriately titled “Long Time Coming.”
Similar to a band like Lucero or maybe even some eras of American Aquarium, the music of the Michigan Rattlers is guilty of being country or roots only by association. But you’re not reluctant to embrace them because just like the rest of us, they’re refugees of the era.
With ZZ Top and Cody Jinks at the top of the card, Blackberry Smoke, Randy Rogers Band, Parker McCollum, and Robert Earl Keen filling out the top slots, and an impressive undercard that includes hard-to-get names like Zach Bryan, Born & Raised Fest will hit the bullseye of appeal for many.
The national Memorial Day concert each year broadcast on PBS doesn’t always include notable names from the country music world. But in 2021, it included three of them, who each turned in marquee performances. Here are the performances of Vince Gill, Mickey Guyton, and Alan Jackson.
Before the pandemic, whenever an important artist in country and roots music passed away, it was customary for folks to gather in a remembrance in Nashville. For obvious reasons, that couldn’t happen in a timely fashion for John Prine, who died on April 7th, 2020.
20 years in, Blackberry Smoke isn’t showing their rust. They’re hitting their stride, understanding their species is slowly becoming endangered, taking that prognosis personally, and doing what they can to keep the torch burning, and the memories of the sounds of the South alive.
Morgan Wallen’s fellow members of the performer class continue to step up and put their names behind him in small and large ways, giving him a window in which to slowly creep back into polite society, if he can continue to mind his p’s and q’s, which has been a challenge in the past.
Country, Christian, classic pop, and multi Grammy award-winning singer and performer B.J. Thomas has passed away. The 78-year-old died of lung Cancer on Saturday, May 29th at his home in Arlington, Texas. Thomas had announced the diagnosis in late March, and had been battling the disease.
As we head into the Memorial Day weekend when many will be letting loose, taking it easy, and remembering our fallen heroes, what better time to juice up the Top 25 playlist, especially with the round of great new songs that have just come down the pike.
What some studious fans of their music may have picked up on, and others may have missed, is a continuing story line across the band’s now three albums, with a recurring cast of characters and events, similar to the character “Lorrie” in Turnpike Troubadours songs.
Yes, it’s the fact that a woman is singing these songs is what makes this exercise so interesting, and more than just an average tribute record. Without really rearranging much of anything, the songs take on an entirely different though paradoxically similar inverted meaning.
It’s crazy how things sometimes work out, making it hard to doubt divine intervention. Marty Stuart selected the song “Skip a Rope” for his latest installment, releasing it on Tuesday, May 25th. Lo and behold, the next day we find out that the song’s writer has passed away.
