Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the 2020 installment of the always-explosive Saving Country Music CMA Awards LIVE blog. As the presentation transpires, thoughts, prayers, pointed remarks, keen observations, and probably a few swear words and errant typos will be presented in real time.
The 2020 CMA Awards will transpire on Wednesday, November 11th (make sure to follow along with Saving Country Music’s LIVE blog), and this year it will be a tribute heavy affair. Tributes, remembrances, and the marking of anniversaries will be a big part of the presentation.
Morgan Wallen, Chase Rice, Brian Kelley and others were wrong to advocate for big shows. But when it comes to the claims of these artists of hypocrisy, they’re completely right. Since the beginning of the pandemic there has been a glaring double standard in how social distancing is demanded, and excused.
Combining the splendid messiness of Lucinda Williams, the warrior poet heart of James McMurtry, the rock and roll abandon of east Nashville alley cat Lilly Hiatt, and enough grit and groove to make ol’ Ray Wylie Hubbard nod in approval, Becky Warren turns in a rough and tumble travelogue.
I just know too much about the untold history of Barry Gibb and his dalliances with country music to be perturbed that at 74-years-old, he wants to make a country record. And the first song they released from it featuring Jason Isbell sounds pretty damn good to me.
Many gave credit to Garth Brooks for taking himself out of contention, and you can’t blame him personally for voters awarding him the CMA Entertainer of the Year. But there’s still some bad blood out there coming from many in the country community, including Miranda Lambert, apparently.
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats. New songs have just been added.
It’s almost eerie how when it comes to the death of certain country legends, circumstances and premonitions align in a way that makes it seem like they knew something way before the rest of us did. It’s because so much of country music is about addressing mortality.
Whether you remember her from her days on Rounder Records as one of the premier vocalists in bluegrass, or if she’s just now raising a blip on your radar, Alecia Nugent and her new album ‘The Old Side of Town’ is worth bending your ear towards.
At no point did the CMA Awards say, and most certainly didn’t decree anything to the artists performing on the evening. In fact the statement wasn’t even directed toward performers at all, but at the potential audience. It was simply a piece of promotional copy intended to get people to tune into their event.
The Bloody Jug Band released their latest record ‘Stranded’ on Halloween, which is only appropriate for a band whose majority of material leans towards the macabre. But you can also overlook this band as just a horror gimmick if you’re not careful, which would be to your detriment.
Five years ago today—on November 4th, 2015—the biggest event and paradigm shift in country music occurred most certainly in the last 10 years, likely in the last quarter century, and possibly one of the biggest moments in the totality of country music history.
Outlaw country legend Billy Joe Shaver died on Wednesday, October 28th after suffering a massive stroke on the morning of October 27th while in a rehabilitation facility. He was 81 years old. Details on a public viewing, graveside visitation, and memorial service with streaming option have been announced.
The challenge of traditional country is how adhere to all those tried and true traditions, while also asserting something unique. Bringing an authentic Australian perspective to the music, James Ellis and the Jealous Guys inject a distinctive flavor.
The Dallas Cowboys NFL football team has suffered yet another devastating setback in a season beset with them after it was revealed that Kane Brown will be this year’s halftime performer at the franchise’s annual Thanksgiving Day game.
Kalie Shorr started out trying to become a pop country starlet, and has now become one of the most pointed voices of dissent in Nashville. Now Kalie Shorr is like the embodiment of mainstream country’s guilty conscience coming to life, giving a voice to all of its sins.
Two of the adult children of country legend George Jones are suing multiple defendants in the United States District Court of Middle Tennessee. The lawsuit sheds new details on master recordings once used as bail collateral by drug dealers.
They Bloody Jug Band are the Gothic roots band that defies the niche and seasonal appeal of such an act with the way they take creepy music, and somehow make it so unbelievably infectious and appealing, you will be listening and grooving to it all year long.
It’s been a hard few weeks down in Texas and beyond as Texas music and Outlaw country have lost three titans of the golden era, with Johnny Bush, Jerry Jeff, Walker, and now Billy Joe Shaver all passing away in rapid succession. It has left the country music world reeling in an already unprecedented year.
Sometimes you just want to listen to something to help pass the time on a long drive, or to chill out to, but something that is still smartly composed. That’s what you get from Great Peacock’s latest album “Forever Worse Better.” It reminds you of all your old favorite alt-country records.
Billy Joe Shaver wasn’t just a musical legend and icon, or an “Outlaw” as we like to call the artists who work outside of the Nashville system. He was a hero, in both music, and in life. What is a hero? A hero is someone who illustrates a level of bravery well beyond what most would be willing to.
The heart and soul of the songs and words of the American country music Outlaw movement has passed on. Billy Joe Shaver, with only three fingers on his right hand and an 8th grade education left an indelible mark on country music that will never be worn down.
In 2013, rock icon Tom Petty had some unsavory words for what was happening in modern country music. “Well, yeah I mean, I hate to generalize on a whole genre of music, but it does seem to be missing that magic element that it used to have.” Chris Stapleton responded with a letter, and an offer.
To help in the COVID-19 recovery effort, the Hall of Fame is planning a special live streaming event that will match up many of the iconic instruments in the “Precious Jewels” collection and other displays with many of the best artists and players of today.
