You may not get to see any of the talented musicians from Texas take the field during the halftime show or sing the National Anthem at the 2017 Super Bowl despite the game being held in Houston, TX. But leading up to the big game there will be a big gaggle of worthy Texas musicians taking the stage as part of the Super Bowl LIVE experience.
Is it too damn much to ask of the National Football League to find somebody to sing The National Anthem at the Super Bowl that has an established history of actually knowing the words to a song most 4th graders are tasked to recite verbatim before ascending to middle school instead of a performer with a sullied past of sliding by using subterfuge like Luke Bryan has?
The prog rock stylings of Pink Floyd are probably not the first segment of classic rock you would pick for translating well into the country format, especially with so much old rock stuff now sounding more like country than the country music of today. But “Wish You Were Here” is an exception to that rule with its acoustic heart.
One of the biggest concerns for the future of music that continues to fly curiously under the radar is concert promoter and ticketing giant Live Nation’s ongoing campaign to acquire majority stakes in smaller promotional companies all across the world until nearly all live music presented is done under the umbrella of the live music juggernaut.
I remember saying it myself when the Carolina Chocolate Drops first came on the scene. Excellent band, and great to see some diversity represented in country and Americana music in a way that illustrates the role African American’s played in creating roots music. But there was something a bit off about watching a black band playing for a distinctly white audience.
Once again in 2016, the current mainstream artist leading the pack of delinquent members is Blake Shelton who couldn’t find the time to make even one appearance in 2016 at the Grand Ole Opry, let alone the 10 or so appearances current members are expected to make. Country fans shouldn’t be surprised by this; it’s pretty much par for the course…
Don’t expect this to be just another Marty Stuart release simply because it’s been two years or so since his last record. This could be his most expansive work since his concept record The Pilgrim. To record Way Out West, Marty Stuart employed Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fame for the 15 tracks that include many originals…
Much of the attention of ‘Noisey: Nashville’ is expended when Zach Goldbaum embeds with country rapper Mikel Knight’s street team, which Saving Country Music has covered extensively in the past. Independent country artist Margo Price is also involved, and tells the story behind her song “Hands of Time.”
This is a pretty significant sales spike for A Sailor’s Guide, which has become a matter of great intrigue by the public after it shocked the world by getting nominated for the Grammy Awards’ Album of the Year. But what’s even more surprising is how the performance of Sturgill’s other records has been boosted by the SNL appearance.
And though we’re a good half decade from when Toby Keith was still relevant in the country mainstream, and a healthy 15 years removed from when he was telling would-be terrorists where he rudely wanted to ensconce his manly footwear, Toby Keith still has a reserved seat at the very top of these “highest paid” lists, despite not showing a Top 5 single since 2011.
Not one, not two, but three nominees for Saving Country Music’s 2016 Album of the Year have made the cut for the lineup of the 2017 Pickathon Music Festival just outside of Portland, Oregon in August. And that’s just where the list of distinguished country-oriented artists for the 2017 season starts.
The fact that the Grammy committee considered turning down ‘A Sailor’s Guide’ for Best Country Album shows how stringent the litmus test is for these country categories. This is important because of the controversy that erupted after it was revealed that Beyoncé’s song “Daddy Lessons” was turned down by the same committee for not being country enough.
She didn’t choose the title Puxico for the way it popped for focus group audiences. It’s the name of her less than 1,000 population hometown in southeastern Missouri that sets the scene for an album that feels devoutly personal, humble in approach, and eager to express things a professional songwriter just can’t with total fulfillment through the voices of others.
In the music business, they call it a “moment.” Some artists go their entire careers without ever having one, even quite successful artists. A “moment” is what caused Chris Stapleton to rocket to the biggest artist in all of country music. A “moment” is what rockets the obscure to the profound. And a “moment” is what Sturgill Simpson experienced late Saturday night.
That’s right, from the unsettled mind that brought us Beavis and Butthead, and one of the best-received primetime animated series in history in King of the Hill, comes a new animated series dealing specifically with country music. Called Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus, the series has been greenlighted by HBO.
Tanya Tucker has once again been forced to cancel tour dates and is recovering in the hospital after taking a fall that fractured a rib and a vertebrae in her back. While in the hospital in Texas, Tucker was also diagnosed with bronchitis. She is currently receiving breathing treatments for the bronchitis, and will also undergo physical therapy.
The checkered past of David Allan Coe often has country fans pontificating on if he’ll ever make it into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Though many Hall of Fame experts believe he’s a long shot, one Hall of Famer thinks he belongs. Loretta Lynn, speaking to Broadway on The Electric Barnyard recently, and asked if Coe should be in the Hall, answered…
Call it cautious or guarded optimism, but after the abomination that was the 2016 Houston Rodeo musical lineup led by folks such as Luke Bryan, Pitbull, and Florida Georgia Line, and where only one artist with Texas ties and only one female performer were booked (and both were Miranda Lambert), they couldn’t go any lower, that’s for sure.
Legendary rockabilly and Western swing guitarist Tommy Allsup passed away on Wednesday, January 11th according to his son Austin Allsup. The 85-year-old had been placed in Intensive Care earlier this month. No funeral arrangements have been made at the moment, but the family is asking for continued prayers.
Hearing loss is a serious matter people, especially when it comes to those enshrined with the responsibility of selecting what songs the teeming masses will be subjected to through the instrument of corporate radio. That is why the massive Country Radio Seminar (or CRS) has teamed up with Starkey Hearing Technologies to administer free hearing tests.
Folks like Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and Jason Isbell were not overnight sensations. It took years of effort and these artists reaching their mid 30’s before it all came together for them. And if you put your ear to the ground, you get the sense that a similarly shaped groundswell is building beneath Cody Jinks at the moment.
It was bound to happen at some point. It’s almost strange it took so long. Two guys who have long called Austin, TX their main haunt, and who have made careers out of steadfastly sticking to their guns in their particular styles of country music, be damned of the financial ramifications, what fleeting trends come and go, or what Nashville thinks of it all, joining forces on a duets record.
As the most storied institution in country, the direction of the Grand Ole Opry is always a hot topic, especially among traditional country fans. And many were unhappy with how the Opry functioned under the Pete Fisher regime. Of course the biggest question for Grand Ole Opry fans is who will be Pete Fisher’s replacement, and what direction will the new leadership take the institution?
Country music is not just a commodity or even a form artistic expression. It is an integral part of people’s lives and has been the foundation for their cultural identities for generations. It’s what binds them to their homes and ancestry, and is interwoven into the very fabric of who they are as people.
