Last Saturday (12-22), as many people were hanging out with family and preparing for the Christmas holiday, Tyler Childers was at the Roy F. Collier Community Center in Inez, Kentucky in a Carhartt coat and toboggan to personally deliver 500 cases of water for residents of Martin County.
2018 was another stellar year for great country and roots records, and this is reflected in Saving Country Music’s 2018 Essential Albums List, which has expanded once again to include a total of 78 albums, each of which was reviewed in-depth during the year.
Saving Country Music unapologetically leans towards the independent and traditional side of country music. But that doesn’t mean the mainstream of country doesn’t get it right every so often. It’s important that we highlight those positive albums and artists too.
Mile 0 Fest taking part in Key West, Florida January 29th to February 2nd has just released it’s final lineup, expanding to a total of 68 names. With the expanded names, and with most performers playing multiple shows across the island, this will bring the sum total of performances to well over 100.
It should be the imperative in every sector of society that the most skilled, the most resonant, and the most inspiring works are hoisted to the forefront, not to turn society into some sort of endless skills competition, including between creative types, but to celebrate examples of human achievement to motivate us all.
“Twelve Days of Country Radio Christmas” as set to the final verse of “Twelve Days of Christmas,” orig. composition 1780, England. Modern composer © Frederic Austin circa 1909. Current composer Kyle “Trigger” Coroneos © 2018.
Late 90’s-early 2000’s country star Mark Wills will be the 193rd member of the Grand Ole Opry. This was the news coming out of the Opry Friday Night (12-21) when Vince Gill invited Wills to join the historic country music institution near the end of the evening’s presentation.
Country Music legend and Hall of Famer Alan Jackson recently announced the first round of tour dates for his upcoming 2019 arena tour to the excitement of many. And now three other names have been added to select stops which you may have not heard before, but you should be paying attention to.
Of course people are different. We learn that at six-years-old. Of course everyone should be respectful to each other, and try to see other people’s perspectives. But this is the premise for a nursery rhyme, not a country song. Adults use subtly, nuance, and story to get important points across they wish to convey in music.
Music is just one of the many factors to weigh when naming the Artist of the Year. Unlike Album of the Year nominees, and Song of the Year nominees, this is not a distinction that is put up for a vote to the public, and it’s not just about the appeal any particular artist might garner for their yearly musical output, live or recorded.
The Tumbleweed Music Festival set to take place just outside of Kansas City May 30th through June 1st has just announced their full lineup for 2019, and this year’s installment will have a strong Southern rock flavor to it. A strong contention of women will also be on the lineup.
“Some Of It” was written by Eric Church with common collaborator Jeff Hyde, along with Clint Daniels and Bobby Pinson. The song explores how you gain wisdom and knowledge as you go through life, some through experience, some from what you read or learn, some that you pick up and cherish for life…
Tyler Childers is currently one of the top artists from the wave of Kentucky musicians making a positive difference in country music. And just like many of the artists from one of the most impoverished and forgotten regions of the United States, he’s using of his good fortune in the music business to give back.
Most will recognize Ted Russell Kamp as the long-time bass player for Shooter Jennings, starting off with Shooter way back in the .357 days with Leroy Powell and Bryan Keeling in what many consider as one of the best backing bands of the era. But Ted Russell Kamp is so much more than just someone’s bass player.
The future looks bright for Texas music, and that’s partly due to the promising prospects of groups like Flatland Cavalry. Led by singer and songwriter Cleto Cordero, the Lubbock-based band gives your ears something to feast on when you’ve worn out your Turnpike Troubadours records for the moment.
We took the time to celebrate some of the Best Songs Released in 2018, as well as some of the Best Albums, so now it’s time to place a clothespin firmly on our noses, slip on some elbow-length rubber gloves, and go digging through the cesspool that is radio country to dredge up the absolute worst offenses.
The Americana Music Association has released the Top 100 Albums and Songs for 2018 according to the amount of radio play each album and song received. The annual report gives listeners a glimpse into the albums, songs, and artists that gained traction in the format over the year, and is a good tool to see what you missed.
Naming the best live performances of a given year is not the same exercise as naming the best songs, albums, or artists, because it is specifically dependent on the experiences of the individual making the list. But it’s still an important exercise.
“ ‘Organic’ is a good word,” Gary Allan says. “I feel like somebody needs to stick out and turn this thing back toward something more organic. Country music used to be the most organic stuff out there, and now it’s become super pop-influenced. We used to influence pop. Now I feel like we’re being influenced by pop.”
As we get near the end of the year and the amount of new releases begins to slow down, it allows us to look forward at what might be ahead for 2019. One artist and album that is already emerging to be on the lookout for is Charles Wesley Godwin’s ‘Seneca’ that is due to be released on February 15th, 2019.
If you didn’t have a physical copy, or perhaps matured during the streaming era of music, then you’ve possibly never experienced what is considered one of the greatest works in country music history—‘Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music’ by Ray Charles.
The one thing you can point to that makes a song decidedly not country is the presence of electronic drums. The human operated element of country music is one of the last great differences between country and the rest of popular music, and more frequently electronic beats have been creeping into the pop country soundscape.
Christmas is officially cool again after years of American popular culture being too cool for Christmas. But there was never a time when Christmas and music was cooler in America than in the 1950’s. JD McPherson proves himself uniquely qualified to tackle the difficult task of recording a Christmas record.
Cute, Florida Georgia Line, cute. Call your latest album Can’t Say I Ain’t Country and act as if this somehow insulates you against what any country music fan worth their salt already knows inherently. I can, and will say you ain’t country if I damn well please, as will the rest of us.
