In all my time writing for this stupid website, I can’t remember another moment when such a non-story story absolutely gripped the consciousness of the American music media, and polarized musical pundits with such spirited and sometimes vehement opposition that it permeated the entire media mindset.
It’s the real, true-to-life version of forgotten America that songwriter Nathan Kalish and his country band The Lastcallers from Grand Rapids, Michigan sing about in their new album Continental Breakfast of Champions; not some fairy tale to help prop up a false sense of escapism for bored suburbanites.
Randy Travis may still be battling back from the multiple health ailments he suffered in 2013 that left the Country Music Hall of Famer with difficulty speaking and walking without assistance, but fans will get a chance to see Randy the way he was right before his stroke when a new short film shot in 2013 called The Price is released.
It still seems a little strange to talk about “Outlaws” going on some swanky cruise out in the Caribbean. But it was apparently such a hoot the first time that organizers have put together a second installment, and once again the lineup is killer.
But even with Ballerini’s success, women are still very much fighting an uphill battle. Yet when asked recently by FOX about the issue of women on country radio, Ballerini didn’t show leadership for her fellow females, she trivialized the issue.
Some feel “She’s Got A Way With Words” is crossing the line in the way a woman is being portrayed by a major mainstream country music star, especially in the tenuous environment of today where the issue of equality for female artists and the objectification of women is high of mind with listeners and music pundits.
If you’ve been waiting for the Sturgill Simpson tour to head your way behind his recent album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, chances are you’ll be getting your wish soon. Tickets for most remaining shows in May and June are sold out. Many of the shows in Canada and the northern United States will go on sale on May 20th.
It was catching lightning in a bottle. And that is what we’re all searching for when we listen to a record, go out to a live show, pen or play a song ourselves, invite some friends over for supper and songs, and search for the manna of life with friends that is enhanced that much more through the incredible gift of music.
Well well well. There is finally some movement on the Josh Turner front. Fans of the traditionally-leaning mainstream-signed artist have been waiting months, and sometimes years for new music that has been long promised, and long delayed.
Legendary country music songwriter Guy Clark passed away early Tuesday morning at the ago of 74. Born in Monahans, Texas on Nov. 6, 1941, he went on to become one of the most revered songwriters in the history of country music, and beyond.
Believe it or not, you can draw a straight line between underground roots music, and Chris Stapleton becoming the most successful country music artist in the last two years in regards to awards and album sales. Let me explain how:
This year the event will be held for the second year in a row at the Austin 360 Amphitheater on the grounds of the Circuit of the America’s Formula 1 raceway just outside of Austin, and will feature an impressive list of talent, from Picnic mainstays like Johnny Bush, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and David Allan Coe, to newcomers such as Margo Price and Shakey Graves.
On Friday (5-13), it was announced that Billboard would finally be adding an Americana chart to their weekly albums chart roster. This is 10 years after the Grammy Awards began to recognize Americana, nearly 17 years after the Americana Music Association formed.
Hide your faces, and duck and cover because Al Scorch is here to prove the banjo is like the battle ax of American traditional string instruments, and he’s coming out swinging. With his chest puffed out and the energy of ten men, this Chicago native and Bloodshot Records signee turns his banjo into a bullhorn.
A lying, cheating, deceptive, narcissistic, self-centered buffoon. That is about the only conclusion one can come to when reading the news that pop country über DJ Bobby Bones spent $13,000 of his own money on a smear campaign against himself when he first showed up to Nashville to helm iHeartMedia’s flagship country music morning show.
If your real, legal name is Willie Nelson Waylon Jennings, the good news is you’re named after two of the most badass country music artists to ever suck air. The bad news if your Willie Nelson Waylon Jennings is that you were just arrested in Carroll County, Georgia on burglary charges after your getaway car ran out of gas.
The cancelling of Nashville has repercussions far beyond a few disappointed TV viewers. The show has been seminal to the spectacular growth in both population and tourism that Nashville has experienced over the last five years. It was an outlet for songs that were worthy of a larger audience.
Sturgill Simpson sat down with Marc Maron of the WTF podcast recently, and the hour or so interview was released on Thursday (5-12). If you’re a diehard Sturgill Simpson fan, it would be strongly encouraged that you listen. Here are some of the more interesting tidbits from the conversation.
The strange saga of what was once one of country music’s most promising trios and family bands continues. After parting ways with Nashville-based record label Big Machine in early March after the colossal failure of their latest single “Live Forever,” it has been announced that The Band Perry has signed with Interscope Records and is going full pop.
As Merle was suffering from complications due to a double pneumonia and was in a hospital recovering, he would pen what would become his final song, “Kern River Blues.” Even though Merle was barely strong enough to sing, he put out the effort to record the song at his “Hag” studio with his full band.
Early Wednesday evening (5/11), the nominees for the 2016 Americana Music Awards were announced via NPR’s live stream from the historic Mansion on O Street in Washington, DC. The event was hosted by the Milk Carton Kids, and featured performances from multiple Americana artists.
Ripcord is a synthy, shallow, rhythmic-centric gaggle of immediately forgettable efforts that is obsessed with the doings of early adulthood in an unhealthy manner for a 49-year-old perfomrer, and offers absolutely no type of statement or expression either sonically, lyrically, creatively, or otherwise.
Listening to this self-titled record is like taking a side trip to a forgotten roadside motel lost in time somewhere in California’s desert interior, where the glow of a neon sign beats back the dullness of modernity, and the turning of a room key is like the opening of a time capsule to a place much more accustomed and comfortable to old souls.
Here at Saving Country Music, if there’s anything we love more than baseball caps with perfectly flat brims being worn backwards at country shows (apparently called “snapbacks”), it’s a good contest. So when a press release arrived at headquarters announcing a “snapback” design contest for pop country group Old Dominion, you’re damn skippy I was game.
