Canaan Smith, Cole Swindell, Chase Bryant, Chase Rice, Chris Lane, who are these clowns? It’s like one douchebag with many faces. Their songs, their styles, their personalities are indistinguishable and interchangeable. They might as well be the same person. Nashville’s overcrowded enough these days. Pick one of these guys and release all the music through them.
Old, forgotten memories get stirred to the forefront. Theories on life are recalled and reflected upon. And you don’t end up more happy like music is supposed to do, you end up a little sad and nostalgic, but in a way that’s strangely comforting in a manner simple happiness is incapable of delivering.
Songwriter and performer Dean Dillon has more skins on the wall than Kodiak Jack, and just his handlebar mustache is more manly than all the moronic Bro-Country songwriters on Music Row lumped together and tied in a bundle. Your favorite George Strait songs? There’s a good chance they were written by Dean Dillon.
You’re not quite sure exactly what message Angaleena Presley is trying to drive home when you first pull up the track. But things get turned up a big notch when Nashville resident and hip-hop artist Yelawolf, who is a well-known critic of arena rap and corporate country, goes careening into a tirade.
It’s not very common that you can preface a 70-year-old folk country songwriter that never had a big hit and the 14-year-olds in your family have probably never heard of as a “hot commodity,” but that’s exactly what John Prine feels like these days. “Beyond Words” is a songbook combined with a photo anthology in big, coffee-table form.
Willie Nelson played the second night of a two-night stint at the Whitewater Amphitheater just outside of New Braunfels, TX on Saturday night (4-22), and left many fans concerned after he had to leave the stage for an extended period, and also appeared disoriented at times during the set.
Saving Country Music’s official Top 25 Current Playlist has just been juiced with reinforcements and fresh horses to spirit listeners into the heart of spring with some of the best country music selections overlooked by most of popular media, but holding an appeal that is deemed worthy enough to be heard worldwide.
For decades Tammy Sullivan and her father Jerry played their unique blend of American roots music self-described as “bluegrass Gospel” at folk festivals, bluegrass gatherings, college campuses, at the Grand Ole Opry, and in front of congregations as the duo “Jerry and Tammy Sullivan.” Now she has been reunited with her father.
Jason Eady can do what they can do, but they can’t do what Jason Eady does, which is strip it all back and have the appeal for the music rest entirely on the written composition of a song. Even the most minimalist of performers have to rely a little bit on style, groove, or some sort of window dressing. But for Jason Eady, it’s like a type of Zen.
The 2nd Annual Tumbleweed Festival set to transpire on the Missouri River in Sugar Creek, MO on July 28th and 29th, 2017 has just added to their already-impressive lineup. And the festival is not done there. Soon they will announce a contest to fill a final after hours performance slot for the fans of emerging Outlaw country artists to vote on.
The truth is we have no idea why Bill O’Reilly was fired from the most prominent seat in cable news commentary. The allegations against him could all be false claims from money-grubbing hussies looking to take advantage of his celebrity. But in country music, the way women are looked upon, and the way they’re spoken to is spelled out right there in the songs.
These Shania Twain fake-out’s about how new music is on the way, or surprise appearances that never occur, and the farewell tours or appearances have been going on for well over a decade now have finally got her fan base fed up. But let’s not entirely lay these new music shell games at the feet of Shania Twain.
Make way you mamby pambys for the steel-jawed and fully-cocked musical madness coming at you like a face full of claws from the unhinged and wild-eyed “Dirty Ol’ One Man Band” known as Scott H. Biram. That grit in your eyes and those shotgun pellets you’re spitting out is how you know this is the real deal.
Twitty Burger was first launched in 1968, and included some pretty high-profile investors from country music, including Merle Haggard, Harlan Howard, and Sonny James. What separated the Twitty Burger from other burgers was Conway’s signature burger ingredient: the gram cracker-encrusted pineapple ring that was included on each sandwich.
So Sam Hunt’s latest single “Body Like A Backroad” is really taking off, and could be a major crossover success in pop? Well superb, I say. Then make like Taylor Swift and get the hell out of country Sam Hunt, you carpetbagging, interloping, country music misnomer, that’s making millions off of gullible country music fans.
Sam Outlaw didn’t become one of the fastest-rising artists in independent country because of his name. He did it in spite of it. Everybody wants to hide behind layers of forced authenticity in country music these days, and bray about how country they are because of where they were born, or what kind of bad things they’ve done.
The poem “Gold All Over The Ground” was first composed in March of 1967 about Johnny Cash’s wife June Carter, and was published in 2016 in the posthumous Johnny Cash poetry collection called Forever Words. It’s not just Johnny Cash’s 50-year-old word that make Brad Paisley’s “Gold All Over The Ground” traditional though.
A traditional like few others will transpire once again this summer when Willie Nelson celebrates the 4th of July by gathering together friends and family for his annual 4th of July Picnic. For the third year in a row, the event will be held at the Circuit of the Americas speedway just south of Austin, TX, and will include many long-standing invitees.
With 75 years of history hanging thick in the air, Floore’s Country Store booked two nights of stellar talent Easter weekend to celebrate their 75th Anniversary. Friday and Saturday evening saw Robert Earl Keen and the Randy Rogers Band taking the stage, with Bruce Robison joining them on Friday, and Red Shahan opening the show on Saturday.
Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2011, and subsequently announced a farewell tour for 2011 and 2012. After the tour is when Adiós was recorded to “[capture] what magic was left” according to Glen’s wife Kim. The album features songs that Campbell loved, but never had a chance to record in his career.
Country music songwriting legend and performer Billy Joe Shaver has been forced to cancel his show Friday evening (4-14) at Riley’s Tavern in Hunter, TX near New Braunfels, as well as Saturday night’s (4-15) show at Love & War in Lindale, TX near Tyler, due to a heart issue. Shaver is currently in the hospital.
It may be a stretch to call My Own Way Aaron Vance’s “Outlaw” album, but he certainly uses it as his opportunity to tell Nashville, his fans, and maybe himself that he’s not changing for anything. He came to Music City to make country music, and that’s what he’s going to do. He’s not changing course, or shifting what the term “country” means just to make his way easier.
There continues to be smoke about how Taylor Swift’s new project will potentially have a few country, or country-oriented tunes on it. That doesn’t mean she’ll make a full-on country album, release singles to country radio, or will even call the material country herself. But it could have big ramifications for the genre.
Late Thursday evening (4-13), the full studio version of the opening track from the new album called “Broken Halos” populated across all major digital distributors of music and is now available for sale or streaming. Stapleton fans finally have a full song to lay their ears on from Stapleton’s upcoming album “From A Room: Volume 1.”
