2016 was a difficult year to be a traditional country music fan in many respects, and not just from the death of so many legends. In independent circles, it was a year of having to settle for albums prefaced with explanations of why the artist decided to move away from their country influences, even if it was just slightly, or just on a temporary basis.
For those who profess that it takes an army of songwriters, producers, programmers, and samples to make a hit record, let’s hold up George Michael’s ‘Faith’ as a prime example of why that mentality is folly, and the downfall of modern American anticlimactic pop music.
You certainly can find better bluegrass albums released in 2016, but it might be hard to find one more remarkable or historically significant. For generations now, the true devotees of the Grateful Dead have known that Jerry Garcia’s passion for bluegrass, old time, and country music was much more than some simple lark or a passing era in the legendary jam band’s lineage.
‘Twas the party before Christmas, when all through the home
One creature was dancing, on a truck covered with chrome;
The beer cans were stacked on the chimney with care,
In hopes that Luke Bryan soon would be there;
Merchandise sales are the manna of the independent music world. With no disrespect to the musical efforts of your favorite artist, you can boil them down to glorified T-shirt salespeople in the way the lion’s share of their profits come from the merch table. It’s what puts gas in their tank and food on their table, and allows them to make a respectable living.
You can put any concerns away that the historic Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos, TX will either be razed or turned into a Karaoke Bar anytime soon. Randy Rogers of The Randy Rogers Band has purchased the property from the heirs of the founder and owner of the building, Kent Finlay, who passed away in 2015.
Deep breaths everybody, deep breaths. You can put your pitchforks away. Yes, The Randy Rogers Band will be playing in Washington D.C. for a function that runs parallel with the Presidential inauguration in February, but it is a long-running event that’s been held since 1953 by the Texas State Society.
It was either feast or famine for country singles in 2016. As the rigged singles system that almost guarantees #1 songs for any releases from big-named artists metastasized at radio—creating an incredible volume of singles hitting #1 for a solitary week before immediately falling off a precipice—if a song happened to not fit into that rigged system…
Andrew Dorff was the kind of mainstream country music songwriter Nashville needed more of—someone who wrote the sleeper hits of surprising depth and humanity compared to most radio singles, and the solid album cuts from mainstream artists you may otherwise write off.
New details have emerged in the bizarre scene that resulted in the husband of the late Jean Shepard being taken to the hospital with a stab wound, and two people found dead in the home he shared with the country music legend.
West Virginia is as good a place as any to find huddled masses of hard working folks who are constantly facing down hard times, or having to work jobs many of us would not wish on our worst enemies. Union Sound Treaty from Morgantown speaks to those burdens and fears better than most in their debut album called ‘Next Year.’
Country throwback traditionalist and east Nashville music organizer/rebel rouser J.P. Harris has announced a unique duets project with Nikki Lane, Kelsey Waldon, Leigh Nash, and Kristina Murray called ‘Why Don’t We Duet in the Road.’ This vinyl-only gatefold double 7″ 4-song project will consist of classic country duets.
Covering female country artists has all of a sudden become a perilous enterprise. Even when you’re putting out efforts to highlight female artists, simply referring to them by their gender can be a no no, along with a host of other seemingly spanking new, and frankly unintuitive rules that will put you in the doghouse with a host of socially-conscious media members
There’s no stopping the Turnpike Troubadours. The mainstream country music industry may continue to turn a blind eye to their regional and national success, but that won’t slow them down at all. As they continue to put on one of the most engaging live shows in country music, the crowds at their shows continue to swell.
The husband of the late Jean Shepard is recovering in the hospital Sunday evening after being stabbed at the home he shared with the country legend in Hendersonville, Tennessee. 79-year-old Benny Birchfield was found by police in his front yard, suffering from a stab wound at 3 a.m. Saturday (12-17) morning.
Add yet another accolade to the list of Sturgill Simpson’s growing accomplishments. Announced late Saturday night (12-17) during the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, the surprise contender for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in February will be the musical guest on the venerable TV staple January 14.
Willie Nelson will be one of the principle actors in what is being dubbed as the first “live movie” ever, orchestrated by Willie Nelson friend and fellow celebrity stoner Woody Harrelson. The idea is to shoot a feature-length film from multiple locations, and beam it directly into theaters through the miracle of technology.
A 43-year-old West Texas man named Lamar Barry Andrews is in the pokey tonight for shooting a television. The incident occurred Friday (12/16) morning in Horizon City, TX, just outside of El Paso after Andrews and his girlfriend got in an argument over a country music video playing on the TV.
On Saturday, 12-17, Music City Roots, Yee-Haw Brewing Co., and Ole Smoky Moonshine are organizing a benefit for the fire victims called Mountain Tough that will include performances by Jim Lauderdale, Mo Pitney, The Secret Sisters, Sam Bush, Chuck Mead, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, and headliners the Zac Brown Band.
Just like Saving Country Music’s Song of the Year candidates, this is not just about entertainment, this is about putting together words, music, and in this case, a visual representation, that can shake the viewer out of their daily routines and make them realize something that previously was either lost or never discovered about themselves or their world.
As if we needed another reason to love Dolly Parton, the Queen of the Smoky Mountains made good on her promise to help her friends and neighbors significantly affected by the recent wildfires in eastern Tennessee that ravaged Gatlinburg and surrounding areas, and came within yards of Parton’s Dollywood resort.
Yesterday amid many calls for my opinion and participation, I finally tuned into The Voice finale to see what all the hubbub was about … just in time to see Sundance Head performing with KISS. I promptly returned to the Dolly Parton telethon.
If 90% of mainstream country music is garbage, then it stands to reason that 10% of it is at least decent, if not good or great. That calculus hasn’t really changed much recently, even as mainstream country has improved. What has changed is that 10% is actually finding traction on radio, at awards shows, and is making fierce inroads into the 90%’s monopoly.
Chris LeDoux’s son Ned, who started playing drums in his father’s backing band Western Underground way back in 1998, has stepped up to take the reigns from his father. Though first a bit timid to take center stage in his father’s absence, he now sees it as his duty to introduce a new generation of country fans to his father’s music.
