What makes a country boy like Vince Gill think he has the ability to fill some of the biggest shoes ever rendered vacant in American music? Well, 21 Grammy Awards, and incredible voice, some of the most underrated guitar chops in music, and a longer lineage with the music of The Eagles than one might think.
The problem with the whole Texas Music/Texas Country/Red Dirt “scene” is just that—what to call it. Texas Country is not really Red Dirt, even though the two regularly get lazily lumped together. Texas Country and Texas Music are separate things as well, but once again get summarily bundled. Yet all of these things are intertwined.
Chris Stapleton fans were greeted with the unfortunate news Wednesday morning (5-31) that Chris Stapleton will not be making scheduled appearances at eight separate shows, and has also canceled his appearance at the upcoming CMA Fest in Nashville.
Eric Church has always said the right things. Or, he’s said the right things most of the time at least. The question with Church has always been where the marketing ends, and where the real Eric Church begins. Really, where Eric Church is at his best is when he doesn’t say anything, and lets his music and his actions speak for him.
Now Nashville’s decided to try and make the Geico Caveman a superstar it appears, and it’s only appropriate, because to find anything fetching in this anthem to American devolution, your forehead has to stick out over your eyebrows so far that you don’t need to wear a hat in the rain.
The 4th Annual Westport Roots Festival occurred this Memorial Day weekend in Kansas City’s Westport District, with over 80 bands participating on six separate stages. One of the most anticipated and talked about moments of the festival was the reunification of Jayke Orvis and The Broken Band.
The Tumbleweed Festival, which is set to transpire in Sugar Creek, MO, just outside of Kansas City on July 28th and 29th, has just launched the always dicey proposition of an online poll to see what band will fill the festival’s final slot for their 2nd season beside headliners such as Jamey Johnson, Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, and Billy Joe Shaver.
Gregg Allman, a towering pioneer of Southern rock, roots jazz, and country, has died at the age of 69. Along with his brother Duane who died tragically in a motorcycle accident in 1971, they fronted one of the most pioneering bands in American music history, straddling the lines between rock, improvisational jazz, blues, and country.
Based out of Brooklyn, The Brother Brothers is the closest thing you can find to Simon & Garfunkel in this century, yet with a primitive country sound. Incredible singing, some of the sweetest fiddle playing and cello accompaniment I’ve heard, and songs that are amazing in their simplicity, and their ability to put rhyme and reason to complex human emotions.
The Outlaw Country Cruise has just announced the lineup for their 3rd Annual voyage, and it’s a doozy. As opposed to leaving from Florida this year, the Outlaw Country Cruise’s Norwegian Pearl will set sail from New Orleans on its way to Costa Maya, Mexico and back, leaving on January 22nd, and returning January 28th.
Folks who just hopped on the country insurgency train when they heard about Chris Stapleton or Sturgill Simpson may wonder what the deal is with a guy like Justin Townes Earle. Maybe they recognize the name and draw the connection to his famous father, but is he something special, or just another name in “Americana,” whatever that means?
It’s not just the songs and the music. It’s the men and women who sing them with authenticity and authority that makes country music an exceptional exercise in art form and insight not just any form of music can rival. Billy Joe Shaver would be and exceptionally interesting human being even if he whittled sticks for a living.
The Americana Music Association has just announced the initial 100 names of showcasing artists who will be gracing stages all around Nashville September 12th-17th for the 2017 AmericanaFest. Eventually the names of performers will likely swell to over 200, but this first batch already is enough to salivate over.
In yet another sign that Sturgill Simpson is moving up in the world, it has been announced he will be opening select tour dates on the Guns & Roses’ “Not In This Lifetime” stadium tour that has been extended well into the summer.
Left Lane Cruiser has now released nine of these ornery sons of bitches, and each one spitting venom and hitting the groove with the same ferocity. Where so many hard charging bands lose their edge as they age and their output gets stale, or they decide they need to wisen up and start singing lullabies, Left Lane Cruiser keeps on digging.
Hank Williams III, the grandson of Hank Williams and the son of Hank Williams Jr., has been named as one of the principal defendants in a lawsuit by a concertgoer who is claiming he was assaulted by the crowd at a concert for the heavy metal band Superjoint, formerly known as Superjoint Ritual. The fan claims the band incited the crowd to assault him.
For 21 years, The Americana Music Jam has assembled some of the finest talent in Texas music to raise funds for worthy causes. Co-sponsored by Gruene Hall, and hosted by KNBT 92.1 FM out of New Braunfels, this year proceeds went to benefit Hope Hospice and Communities in Schools of South Central Texas.
For generations, and all around the world, a teenager’s first music concert, on their own, without parental supervision, has been a rite of passage. Maybe the kids (or the parents, really) are slowly acclimated to the concert-going experience by first attending the concerts of family-friendly performers with their parents…
Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort and the greater Music Valley portion of the city filled up this weekend with thousands of revelers in throwback duds celebrating the annual Nashville Boogie Vintage Weekender presented by Muddy Roots. Over 90 acts on 5 different stages and at three separate venues.
The husband, manager, and long-time right hand man of the Queen of Rock and Rockabilly has died. Wendell Goodman, who married Jackson in 1961, passed away on Sunday, May 21st after Wanda Jackson performed Saturday evening at the club Saturn in Birmingham, Alabama.
It’s like 2016 all over again, only centralized in its grief in the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, Texas. In a span of a few hours, the city, and music, lost two titans that may not rise to the recognition of household names across America, but were seminal to the sound and influence that Austin music is known for.
Lee Brice has built his career not off of catchy singles, but songs that straddle the lines between emotional substance and commercial aptitude, making him a bright spot of Music Row, despite a few blemishes and his spurious label situation. You really have to search for things to dislike about “Boy,” when you really should just sit back and enjoy it.
Gerry House, legendary country music radio personality who helmed The Big 98 WSIX-FM in Nashville for over a quarter century, is coming back. And I hope he creams the the everloving snot out of the sniveling Bobby Bones and his wacky morning crew in the ratings.
2017 is turning out to be a banner year for country and roots music, and we still have some of the most highly-anticipated titles still yet to be released. In an attempt to keep up and help you sift through the musical selection process, Saving Country Music has just juiced its Top 25 Current Spotify Playlist with some new selections.
