Bob Dylan is pretty notorious for not speaking publicly very often, either in speeches or to the press. But after being honored at a Grammy Awards’ MusiCares event a week ago, and the impending melee that resulted from the 30-minute speech in which he specifically criticized Merle Haggard and Tom T. Hall among others, Dylan was forced into another public disposition with Rolling Stone on Friday.
Written by Johnson and Dan Couch somewhere around 2004 or 2005, “You Can” was kept on the sidelines as Jamey’s major releases The Dollar, That Lonesome Song, and The Guitar Song came out, never making the final cut. But now that Johnson is out from under the thumb of the industry, if he wants to randomly release a single on a cold day in February, he can. Whether it suits his best interests or not.
Tired of seeing Sturgill Simpson news? Well then tell it to stop happening. If you can fathom this, the Kentucky-born singer is currently experiencing a renewed increase in interest, even while in the more long-term perspective he continues a meteoric rise which could have big implications on the country music community at large.
Blackberry Smoke comes rip rearing out of Atlanta, GA with their asses on fire, delivering this power packed, rockin’, country-fried brand new offering called ‘Holding All The Roses’ that doesn’t let up, doesn’t give in, and keeps spitting out flavorful hooks, delicious riffs, and infectious grooves one after another, all adding up to one hell of a good time worthy of immediate repeat.
Why do the Grammy Awards matter? Well even if you don’t win anything, the exposure as a performer is just about priceless for those that get the opportunity. Brandy Clark was up for Best Country Album for her ’12 Stories’ release, and Best New Artist, and walked away with neither. But her performance with Dwight Yoakam on her song “Hold My Hand” landed Brandy the largest single percentage gain in song sales.
It’s about that time of year again to start considering who the Country Music Hall of Fame will include in their list of 2015 inductees. That said, this announcement seems to inch later, and later (and later) each year. Nonetheless, if you want your opinion to amount to anything, you better get it out there early in the year as the people who make the picks for the final ballots and eventually inductees are doing their homework.
To get everyone geared up for the impending Valentine’s Day festivities on Saturday the 14th, the Beagle Street Insurance Company out of Great Britain commissioned a poll to see what wordsmith was worthy of being lauded by the distinction of writing the “Greatest Love Letter of All Time.” And forging ahead and beating a field of stiff competition was America’s Man in Black.
The music epicenters of Muscle Shoals, AL and Lubbock, TX find their native son and daughter melding their respective talent offerings into a tempest of love and emotive expressions in this two-song, surprise release called Sea Songs. Maybe as a stop gap from both halves of this super couple as we all endure through the dark moments between proper LP releases, this 2-sided single satiates the belly…
While nobody was paying attention, the Dickey Brothers of Cumulus Media added yet another tentacle to their increasingly tentacle-rich country music venture known as NASH. NASH TV boasts videos and programs from some of NASH radio’s biggest shows. Then you can get extremely niche-like with shows such as “Picks From The Sticks” and “HickXtreme.” Cue the incidental comedy.
“The surgery has a 95% chance it will fix it. It’s pretty heavy duty though. By the third month they gave me the heart-sinking words that I’d officially lost my hearing in my left ear. So I was one of the 5% that lose their hearing as a result of the surgery. I wanted to throw all of my guitars away. It was the most depressing time.”
In every sense, “Gentle On My Mind” has become an American standard by sharing the sentiment of a generational mood ever present in the human experience. And its 2015 Grammy is just more validation for the song’s timeless impact, and the timeless impact of the song’s writer, John Hartford.
Taylor Swift right now is at that same juncture as your favorite little company that has grown so big their founding philosophy begins to flounder, and they start to alienate the same customers and principles that got them to where they are. The problem with money is that you can always have more of it, and for many, the more money they have, apparently the more they think they need.
Welcome ladies and gentlemen as we join together as disenfranchised music fans to commiserate, contemplate, and at times downright mock the spectacle that will transpire in front of our very eyes at the 57th Grammy Awards, while not completely dismissing the idea of giving credit when something of merit occurs, or recognizing someone worthy of recognition when they actually get recognized.
All you need to know about the 2015 Grammy Awards. Despite the country genre rising to become arguably the biggest genre in popular music right now, there’s just not a whole lot of country to be featured on the show this year. This year’s country performance slots are cut in half, with the only collaboration being between Brandy Clark and Dwight Yoakam.
In the windup to Sunday night’s Grammy Awards presentation, Bob Dylan was the honoree at a Friday evening event (2-6) naming him the 2015 MusiCares Person of the Year. During Dylan’s 30-minute acceptance speech, he laid out much praise for his fellow songwriters, while unceremoniously lashing out at others, including Tom T. Hall and Merle Haggard. Merle has since responded.
Joe B. Maudlin, the long-time bass player for The Crickets and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, has died in Nashville according to The Tennessean. As the backing band for Buddy Holly, and an irreplaceable element of early American music, The Crickets helped forge the sound that would later become an essential building block for successful artists and bands such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and beyond.
According to sources, a deal is in process for iTunes to purchase the Big Machine Label Group for $250 million. Big Machine’s current distribution deal with UMG is up, and Taylor Swift has one more album left on the label before her contract expires, leading to speculation Big Machine wants to sell before they risk losing their superstar.
Hear ye hear ye all you old farts, all of you jackasses, all of you oldies who fall under Blake Shelton’s ire for only wanting to listen to grandpa’s music. Jim Ed Brown, the country music legend and Grand Ole Opry icon, known fondly for much of his career as a member of the family band The Browns, has released his first solo record in over 40 years, and he beat lung Cancer to do it.
As first reported by Saving Country music in November of 2014, Curb Records is back at it, regurgitating previously-released material from Hank Williams III and trying to pass it off to consumers as new music. As many labels are announcing many of the titles from their spring catalogs, Curb this week has released the cover art and track list for “Take As Needed For Pain.”
“Bro-Country”—the much-maligned sub-genre of country music that is defined most purely by acts such as Florida Georgia Line, Chase Rice, Cole Swindell, and a host of others, was recently featured on the Cambridge Dictionary’s “New Words” blog as a neologism, or newly-coined word. And it couldn’t come at a better time since many of Bro-Country’s perpetrators profess ignorance at the word’s meaning.
Fans have waited since October of 2013 from a new Matt Woods video he’s been teasing for a while, and today he premiers the visual accompaniment to “Ain’t No Living”—the opening track from his critically-acclaimed album With Love From Brushy Mountain released in 2014. It’s being released in conjunction with Woods embarking with Southern rock band Fifth on the Floor as the opener on their farewell tour…
The Forgotten Outlaw, and the man at the forefront of keeping American roots filled with the rockin’, gritty heart of the 60’s music revolution, has just announced a new album, and has released a new song in conjunction. Ray Wylie Hubbard will release his newest record “The Ruffian’s Misfortune” through his own label Bordello Records.
2015 just might be the year of American Aquarium, or that’s at least the popular sentiment being kicked around in certain circles. Written and recorded after a long hiatus between releases, American Aquarium took their time with this one, letting the songs maturate, and allowing a stylistic shift in their sound to emerge, something that would hopefully get them over that hump.
Rockin’ West Coast country music legend Dwight Yoakam has a fresh new set of tracks ready to be offered to the listening public under the collective title of “Second Hand Heart.” The new album is said to hearken back to Yoakam’s early cowpunk days, when the caramel-voiced singer was coming up in the ranks touring with punk and rock bands as a throwback country music artist.
