Alt-country perennials The Old 97’s have been making the late night rounds to promote the release of their latest record Graveyard Whistling, and have been sharing that opportunity with some worthy east Nashville artists. Tuesday evening, The Old 97’s will be enjoying the company of Caitlin Rose on stage when they make an appearance on Conan O’Brien.
To show the great reverence that the ACM Awards take with these New Artists distinctions, and to shower incredible appreciation for the musical contributions of these fine performers, the ACM’s, with distinct honor, announced the winners of these awards on a random late Tuesday morning on freaking Twitter.
Dear Sally Williams, To begin, let me offer my sincere congratulations to you for ascending to the position of not just the new General Manager of the most esteemed and storied institution in all of country music, but as the General Manager, and Senior Vice President of Ryman Hospitality’s new Programming and Artist Relations Division.
Don Warden, who was one of the original members of the Porter Wagoner Trio, and spent nearly 50 years in service to Dolly Parton, passed away on Saturday, March 11th according to Dolly Parton and Don’s family. The news was revealed on Monday when Dolly paid tribute to her long-time manager and right hand man in a personal statement.
Saving Country Music has confirmed with the Austin Police Department that the three suspects are still at large, and the incident is still under investigation by the robbery division. The investigation is being called aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. It happened at 3:04 a.m. early Saturday.
Before we even listen to a peep of the music from this new album from Josh Turner, it already serves as an incredible illustration of the sheer incompetence, and creative immorality that so often still grips elements of Nashville’s Music Row. But what of the music on ‘Deep South’ after the incessant delays leading up to this final, triumphant release?
Jason Isbell has officially announced his sixth solo studio album called ‘The Nashville Sound.’ Produced by long-time collaborator Dave Cobb, recorded at the historic Studio ‘A’ in Nashville, and to be released by Thirty Tigers via Isbell’s own Southeastern Records, the album is highly-anticipated by many country and Americana fans.
There are so many unofficial parties, we could list 200 here and still leave some out. But in an effort to curate the noses of those Saving Country Music-oriented readers in the right direction, here is a smattering of recommended showcases presented in a similar fashion to SXSW itself, meaning a blobish mess.
Not only was it a DJ comprising the afterparty entertainment, of which attendees had to pay £15 to get in, but the music selected wasn’t even country. “DJ Bad Ash,” a.k.a. Ashlee Willis, who is a DJ from Los Angeles, thought Snoop Dogg, Miley Cyrus, and other non-country selections would be the perfect music for the afterparty.
Colter Wall will release his self-titled debut album via Thirty Tigers. Produced by Dave Cobb and featuring Cobb and other noted artists such as Robby Turner, the new album looks to put the Saskatchewan, Canada native in the spotlight in North America and beyond after first making waves with his 2015 EP, ‘Imaginary Appalachia.’
Many fans of Texas / Red Dirt station 95.9 The Ranch out of Ft. Worth spoke up, and now the radio station has responded. Usually such protestations don’t work, and are chalked up as one of the rigors of changing a radio format. But after such a spirited public backlash, The Ranch has reversed course, at least for the moment.
As much as Marty Stuart is a student of country music, he’s also a teacher. And with a refreshing boldness, and frankly a little bit of guts from running the risk of being misunderstood by some of the fuddy duddy fans of traditional country, Marty Stuart encapsulates a critical time in country and all of American music when country music became cool.
“Take This Job and Shove It” became an iconic country music anthem for a generation because it encapsulated the quiet desperation of the working man and the theater of the mind they would succumb to just to make it through another day to feed their families through lean times. Here, the Moonshine Bandits make it into an ode of the great American screwups.
Margo Price was surprised Tuesday (3-7) night when she was beckoned to the headquarters of her record label Third Man Records, and walked in the doors to find a throng of friends, band members, and other supporters there to congratulate her on winning the 2017 American Music Prize.
The Texas scene is still buzzing after the recent format tweak to one of the region’s premier radio stations, 95.9 The Ranch out of Ft. Worth. After adding a few more older catalog Nashville country songs, some classic rock and a little Americana, certain fans of the station were up and arms, hoping the station would stick more to its Texas-centric format.
Now 56-years-old, and having been absent from the country music scene for nearly 20 years, Supernaw is attempting to emerge from his troubled past, taking it one day at a time, and trying to mount a comeback. The once major country music star will release a Greatest Hits album of new versions of his older tunes, as well as two new songs.
In an effort to create more portals to recommend more music, Saving Country Music has launched a Spotify Top 25 Playlist. Unlike other playlists posted by SCM previously, this one will be regularly augmented as time goes on with new tracks deemed worthy of distinction. And no, there will not be any old country music songs on it, that is why it is called “current.”
Kudos to Blake Shelton for giving a hand up to traditional country music through his work on ‘The Voice.’ But if he wanted to show true leadership and really make an impact, he would show that same leadership with his own music.
Country artist David Nail has parted ways from MCA Nashville / Universal after a tumultuous period where his music was stuck in seemingly endless delays, and his last few singles stalled in the charts. In late 2015 / early 2016, Nail became one of many MCA Nashville-signed artists mired in endless delays for new music by the company.
There are few venues more historic than Gruene Hall in Texas, and few living country music artists more legendary than Loretta Lynn. This weekend in Gruene, TX (3-3 and 3-4), Loretta and her kin stopped in for a two-night residency at the legendary dance hall, and country music fans from around the area packed themselves into the nearly 140-year-old venue.
Sturgill made his first 2017 post-Grammy appearance at the Okeechobee, and many fans noticed there was no Laur Joamets, and no horns on stage with him. After the rumor mill got stirring in earnest, Sturgill addressed the issue directly on Sunday (3-5) afternoon.
Fans are so furious over the move, they have hammered The Ranch’s social media accounts with complaints, filled the station’s message board with missives of discontent, someone has set up a Facebook page boycotting the station, and program director/DJ Shayne Hollinger has even received threats of violence.
Joseph Huber now readies his fourth release overall ‘The Suffering Stage’ being self-released on April 21st, and has shared a new song “You Showed Me” that already has folks buzzing. Featuring steel guitar, which is a new sound for Huber, the new song and new album promise to expand the songwriter’s already devout following.
SXSW is an irresponsible mess that puts artists, media, industry, and local citizens in inhumane, and sometimes dangerous positions, even without activating any immigration rules. And hopefully this issue will expose the culture of control that ironically has allowed the event to get completely out of control, and will hopefully encourage SXSW to reform.
