Massive country stars making charitable donations are nothing new. In fact it can feel like a daily occurrence as they work to polish up their public personas while also making their accountants smile with tax deductible write-offs. But it’s very rare that a country artist makes a donation without some big check exchanging hands at a public ceremony.
20 years ago this month, Marty Stuart released his conceptualized 20-song magnum opus The Pilgrim as his final album on a contract with MCA Nashville. A commercial flop that rendered no radio singles, it nonetheless went onto become one of the most revered releases in the Marty Stuart collection.
Don’t ask Charlie Daniels a straight question unless you want a straight answer. Recently while celebrating the 40th Anniversary of his signature song “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” Daniels was asked if he was okay with bands like Florida Georgia Line changing the sound of country, to which he responded emphatically and succinctly, “No.”
Like the landscapes and experiences one may encounter on a lengthy journey, ‘Hail Mary’ guides the audience through a wide range of moods and moments, from fears to euphoria, with Shane Smith composing involved stories and lessons in songs that are made to feel even more monumental by the earnestness of the music.
Jon Pardi continues to prove himself as one of the most staunch traditionalists in the country mainstream, and though you can be assured that his upcoming record ‘Heartache Medication’ will have a handful of songs that will pander to radio play, his latest release from the album “Ain’t Always The Cowboy” will not be one of them.
Country and Americana producer extraordinaire, and multi CMA and Grammy Award winner Dave Cobb can now add Country Music Hall of Fame board officer to his resume. He was announced with a host of other new officers by the Country Music Hall of Fame this week, along with the reelection of Vince Gill as the board’s President.
It felt quite significant this week when Miranda Lambert revealed that she’s doing something that she hasn’t done over the 14 years and six major studio albums of her career, which is switch producers. A long time collaborator with Frank Liddell, Miranda has let it be known she’s now going with well-known mainstream country producer Jay Joyce.
If you’re eyes are solely affixed to Texas and Kentucky, and the Outlaw and underground scenes for who may rise up among the ranks of musicians and help save country music, you’re gaze is overshooting one of the most impressive classes of young bluegrass musicians the subgenre has birthed in history. Right at the top is Billy Strings.
Feeling the spirit in the Ryman Auditorium, Cody Johnson addressed the sold out crowd about what country music means to him, and the commitment it truly takes to consider yourself a country artist. Cody Johnson was dead on about the importance of supporting country artists who don’t just use the word “country” as a sales tactic.
Southern Rock revivalists Blackberry Smoke have been touring like mad in 2019, and they’re not stopping anytime soon. Now they’ve added a bunch of new dates for this fall appropriately called ‘Till The Wheels Fall Off Tour, taking them through the South and Midwest, and named after one of the songs on their latest album, ‘Find A Light.’
Jerry Carrigan’s handiwork was featured on iconic songs such as George Jones’s “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors,” Waylon Jennings’s “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,” Kenny Rogers’s “The Gambler,” Jerry Reed’s “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” and many more.
Pop country artist Jason Aldean was scheduled to take the stage at the Country Stampede Festival in Topeka, Kansas Saturday night (6-22) as the 3-day event’s 2019 top headliner act. But God was having none of it. Saturday afternoon saw strong storms roll into the area right as Morgan Wallen and his atomic mullet were finishing up their set.
Everyone has a strong opinion about Koe, at least those that have heard about him, which few outside of Texas and Oklahoma have. He’s definitely not a country act. But as a principle headliner in the Texas music scene who sells out huge venues and is handling up on radio like a uninhibited coed, he can’t be avoided.
Yes, you read that headline correctly. Sam Hunt will be heading into the studio soon to start recording his long-delayed second album. And according to the man himself, he says the music he’s working on is more oriented towards traditional country music than the R&B pop of his previous album released now nearly five years ago.
A few choice cuts have just been added to the Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist meant to keep you up-to-date with latest songs and albums that should be on your listening radar. Leading the pack is the unexpected, yet very welcome return of Sturgill Simpson to the traditional country realm with his song “The Dead Don’t Die.”
The first question many will have is just how honest and thorough a book like this can be with Randy Travis still rendered unable to speak due to his 2013 health problems, including a massive stroke. If you want the definitive and unabridged perspective into the life of Randy Travis—from the victories to the falls from grace—it’s all here.
“All Your’n” has been a fan favorite live for the last many months. Similar to one of Tyler’s signature songs from his first record, “Feathered Indians,” it’s a sincere love song delivered with soul and conviction to his wife and fellow performer Senora May. It’s the arrangement of the studio version that makes it come across as less than ideal.
‘Red Bandana’ is anything but typical, for Aaron Watson or anyone else. When Watson says this is his most involved and personal work that he rates at the top of the heap, believe him. When others say they’re shocked or ecstatic about how good this record is, take their word for it. With Red Bandana, Aaron Watson defies his own odds.
Miranda Lambert has a new album coming, and the word is it will be a return to the old Miranda in large measure. “I would call it old Miranda, but a Miranda at a whole new level, if that makes any sense,” she says. “And yeah, there is this vibe of being happy that goes through this album. I am really, really happy.”
Those who don’t know the name soon will. Those who do know the name have probably been wondering why it’s been so long getting here. But the moment has arrived for Jason Hawk Harris to go from an obscure country songwriter and performer, to a name to look out for.
Independent fans might be both shocked and jubilant to turn to the very final page of the memoir to see Randy Travis talking about upsurging country artist Cody Jinks. When it comes to the other performers mentioned in ‘Forever and Ever, Amen,’ it mostly involves artists signed to major labels.
Singer, songwriter, performer, and Pistol Annies member Ashley Monroe is no longer singed with Warner Music Nashville, Saving Country Music has confirmed. Monroe exited the label on May 1st. No reason has been given by Monroe’s management, or Warner Nashville for the departure.
“As fans of Yellowstone, we have been engaged with the storyline since the show began,” Blackberry Smoke frontman, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Charlie Starr says. “What Taylor Sheridan, Kevin Costner and their whole team have created is fantastic and we’re humbled to have Blackberry Smoke’s music be such a big part of season 2.
An album is something you listen to. A song is something that can change a life. The places a song can take you, the realizations and perspectives it can impart, the way it can touch something inside of you to make you feel something you never have before, or haven’t felt for a long time is the reason we cherish music so much.
