Artists with the true love of country music in their hearts, they don’t make country music for money or fame. They make it for life. They make it because they have no other choice. They make it whether they succeed, or it costs incredible sacrifice to keep doing it. It isn’t an option, it’s an obligation to themselves, and the music.
On Saturday, July 29th, during Jamey Johnson’s headliner set at the Tumbleweed Festival just outside of Kansas City, Jamey Johnson stopped the show down when he saw an American Flag in black and white. “I’m $ucking serious, I will stop playing,” he said.
Jason Isbell is still riding high after hitting career marks for his recent album The Nashville Sound, which topped the Country Albums charts. But if you expect the mainstream level of success of his career to change the songwriter, or his penchant to speak out, you’re sadly mistaken.
Nominees for the 28th Annual, 2017 International Bluegrass Music Awards were announced Wednesday in Nashville, with The Earls of Leicester and Balsam Range leading all nominees with eight nominations each, and Entertainer of the Year noms for both. Flatt Lonesome also picks up big nominations for Entertainer and Vocal Group of the Year.
For twenty years and for two separate hosts, senior music producer for The Late Show Sheryl Zelikson has been a key behind-the-scenes champion for under-the-radar country and roots music performers who otherwise may never have been afforded an opportunity for a national television debut.
Even people who despise country music see Willie Nelson as a beacon of light in the world, as a guidepost of infinite wisdom, and as an irreplaceable soul on this mortal coil. For decades now, music has simply been the excuse to pay attention to what a gift it is to have Willie Nelson inhabit planet Earth.
Part rockabilly maven, part honky tonk shit kicker, part heroin-era Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers revivalist, for going on 16 years now the moniker ‘Moot Davis’ has been synonymous with the top shelf of cool in the underground country and roots scene with those smart enough to know where to look to find the best stuff.
This story has been updated. Jamey Johnson’s show on Sunday, July 23rd at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was abruptly cancelled after Johnson reportedly refused to either disarm, or to go through metal detectors to enter the venue. Though accounts of the incident vary, what is undisputed is that the show […]
The incessant march of political revelations in a purposeful trickle that won’t allow the public or the media to regain a sense of the normal news cycle is causing long-term, damning affects on how Americans fundamentally live their lives, and how they interface with each other, their communities, and engage in entertainment and leisure.
What sucks about “Doing It To Country Songs” is that there’s actually a lot of positives going on here, and it could have turned out to be something decent. But the innuendo here is worn out in the first 30 seconds, and the double entendres just don’t have the potency or levity to land a punch or crack a smile.
Not caring whether his music earns him any notoriety or financial gain is what gives an artist like Justin Dean Payne the power and latitude to explore the inner depths of his own soul like the deepest regions of a coal vein until a mother lode of the purest, most lucrative strains of human expression are discovered, and unearthed for the world’s benefit.
Just this week Saving Country Music inquired if there would ever be any new episodes of The Marty Stuart Show—the long-running RFD-TV staple that saw Marty share the stage with his backup band The Fabulous Superlatives, as well as a host of special guests, including many great country music oldtimers.
Country music artist and American Idol winner Scotty McCreery is in legal hot water after being caught carrying a loaded gun through airport security. The incident happened on Thursday, July 13th, but was made public on Friday (7-21). It occurred at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina.
Calling this year’s race the “Big Machine Brickyard 400” is probably not the most savory development for true country music fans in itself. But Big Machine has announced they’re going the extra mile with their 2017 Brickyard sponsorship, at least for one of their artists: Brantley Gilbert.
The crazy and wild-eyed Col. JD Wilkes and his backup band of wily misfits known as the Legendary Shack Shakers will be returning with their 9th studio album called ‘After You’ve Gone.’ Their decidedly lo-fi sound mixes the influences of the deep and derelict blues with the fearful prayers of primitive Appalachian country.
To put it bluntly, the ability of Blackbird Presents to curate talent for events is pretty terrible, and appears to be done without any true understanding of the layout of the current country music landscape. Some of the invites for these Blackbird Presents events seem so incredibly blind to the realities present in country music fandom, it’s remarkable.
‘The Marty Stuart Show’ has logged a total of 174 episodes, but not a single new episode has aired since 2014. It’s been three years now, and fans of the RFD-TV program are getting restless for some fresh shows. So has the show been cancelled, put on indefinite hiatus? When can fans expect new episodes?
It’s hard enough for side players in any genre to receive the recognition their contributions to the music deserve, let alone ones who choose a discipline that is a dying art. Kayton Roberts had it hard enough as a steel guitar player. But Kayton’s instrument of choice—the pedal-less steel—was in even less demand throughout his career.
Ever since former Old Crow Medicine Show member Willie Watson released his debut solo record ‘Folksinger, Vol. 1,’ we’ve been waiting impatiently for Vol.2, if there would even be one. With only himself and a guitar, Willie Watson was able to accomplish what entire bands struggle to do their entire careers.
This is a formulaic, Mad Lib-style, paint-by-the-numbers, women as a possession truck rap with fake piano imposed on a generic pop song, propped up solely by the perfectitude of Dylan Scott’s pectoral muscles and the come hither sturdiness of his jaw.
Americana songwriter and performer Jason Isbell is now an honorary Texan according to the office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Isbell received the distinction on Sunday night (7-16) during the 3rd night of a sold-out run at Austin’s Moody Theater, also known as the home of Austin City Limits.
In the continuing effort to keep you abreast of some of the best music coming out in the true and independent country realm, some new selections have just been added to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Spotify Playlist including Parker McCollum, Hayley Thompson-King, and more.
Some might think this will sound like a broken record or a tired topic, that all the Chris Stapleton praise and plaudits for his remarkable sales numbers have run their course. But the argument can be made that we’re still not making a big enough about what Chris Stapleton is accomplishing in country music right now.
If you like barbecue and badass music in a cool place, then you’re gonna want to get your ass to interior California’s Bandit Town in early September. Though the details are still being finalized, Whitey Morgan has let it be known that he’s planning to throw an annual Birthday BBQ at Bandit Town USA in North Fork, CA.
