This new album is a combination of simple compositions that convey sweet little vignettes from Texas life, and deep reverberative works and leave one shaken to the core from the impact of their stories. This combination makes Vincent Neil Emerson easy to warm to, but lasting in effect.
The places a song can take you, the realizations a song can impart, this is the reason we cherish music so much, and we cherish songs specifically as the kernel root of all musical experiences that we remember forever. These are the best country and roots songs of 2021 so far.
If there was a songwriter out there with the acumen and muster to bust through all the bleeding-heart platitudes and overwrought sentimentally that makes so many of these songs immediately disposable, it would be Jason Eady. That’s what he does with “French Summer Sun.”
Throwing it all the way back to the era when you had no choice but to be good if you wanted to make country music, Hannah Juanita turns in this classic country record of eleven original songs backed by some superior musicianship that works like manna for those old souls out there.
when it comes to the Opry picking its next contemporary member—meaning not someone past their commercial prime that could instill a little youth and vigor into the institution—there’s just about no better pick than Carly Pearce. Only fitting that Dolly Parton was the one to dole out the invitation.
A lot of folks are raving about Blackberry Smoke’s latest album You Hear Georgia as possibly on the the best in their catalog, and maybe one of the best so far in 2021. One of the songs that’s really resonating with folks is the song “Lonesome for a Livin'” featuring Jamey Johnson.
On Monday (6-21), Tyler Childers celebrated three decades on this mortal coil as the birthday boy of June 21st, 1991. But it was him doling out the gifts, not receiving them. It started by Childers sharing a remastered live stream of his 2019 Red Rocks performance.
Even without a big label or major radio play, Colter Wall continues to swell in prestige and popularity. You want to be on top of these tour dates, because they’re likely to sell out. Though the tour announcement did not include venues, yours truly tediously tracked many of them.
One of the most iconic and longest-lasting traditions in country music will be taking a second year off: Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic. But Willie Nelson has plotted his return to live music with a select run of shows, and the Outlaw Music Festival Tour.
They were previously called Hill Country. Now they’re called The Wilder Blue. But whatever you call them, most folks lending them an ear call them damn good music. They’ve earned many fans since releasing their self-titled album in 2020 from the country.
For his Hall of Fame career, Randy Travis’s ace-in-the-hole behind-the-scenes was his manager, his biggest believer, his staunchest champion, his eventual wife, and eventually, his biggest and most catastrophic adversary, Elizabeth “Lib” Hatcher. This is their story.
Now that the summer has commenced in earnest and the COVID-19 pandemic is mostly behind us, it’s time to hit the road, and hang out with friends, and listen to the country songs from artists that the mainstream won’t mess with, but that define the best that country music has to offer.
I’m just warning you right now folks, similar to the warnings issued for Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Billy Strings and the like. See your favorite independent artist in an intimate setting when you can, because sometimes these guys catch fire, and next thing you know…
A washed-up jingoist, a normcore corporate songwriting dork with astigmatism, and a roided-out stove-headed tough guy in motorcycle garb walk into a bar … stop me if you’ve heard this one. Yeah, I’m mad as hell about this new Brantley Gilbert single.
Well if you were like most of us and couldn’t be there in person when Tyler Childers slayed at the iconic Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado on September 30th, 2019, or perhaps you missed the live stream presented in real time, perhaps this 3rd opportunity will be your charm.
As an up-and-coming artist from Texas, Miranda Lambert once played there to five people when she was just 14, just trying to get her name out there. The Firehouse Saloon was that kind of place that would give local performers and up-and-comers a chance. Ironically, it’s now gone up in flames.
It’s the utilization of space that has worked to Lord Huron’s advantage over the last nearly 10 years. But on Long Lost, they also add the much deeper dimension of time, sending you not just up, but also away, facilitating that fully immersive experience only the best of music can.
Even if you weren’t particularly into country music or whatever the awards show was covering, you didn’t want to be the only person standing around the water cooler at work or in the lunchroom at school the next day who didn’t see the CMAs or the ACMs, even if it was just to hate on them.
As we near the halfway pole in the musical year, it’s time to suss out the best albums that have been released in 2021 so far. There’s already some very strong contenders for Album of the Year, and the first albums highlighted should be considered early candidates for Album of the Year.
Nikki Lane and Brent Cobb entertained us with their anti-acrimony ode “Soapbox” off of Brent Cobb’s 2020 record Keep ‘Em on They Toes, and now they will be hitting the road together on a joint tour later this summer and into the fall dubbed the “Soapbox Derby Tour.”
“Javelina” is still graced by the presence of the grit-edged cowboy poetry that was so emblematic of his earlier records. But the music comes blazing out of your speakers, alive and enthused until you catch all those feels that only the old iconic classic rock albums gave you.
The first time Randy Travis showed up to a Cody Jinks show, it was a surprise, as was Randy’s endorsement of Cody Jinks in his autobiography. The way Randy came out this time, you could tell a friendship has developed between the two country stars.
The good news is that nobody was killed. But for the 13 injured and the two currently in critical condition—and everyone else in Austin’s iconic 6th Street entertainment district Friday night (6/12) trying to enjoy an evening out—it was a nightmare scenario nonetheless.
A new lawsuit filed in the Dallas County Probate Court in Texas has revealed that Pride had a fourth child from an extramarital and interracial relationship that was kept quiet for decades. 41-year-old Tyler Tines Pride is a police officer from Tyler, Texas.
