I am tired of being embarrassed by being associated with country music. “Country” is our term, and our music. The “American Country Awards” have no right to it. Even more artists should boycott the awards next year, especially the beautiful and talented female artist who was dismissed by their “decade” award, and allow this thing to whiter on the vine.
In yet another crazy twist in the unraveling story of country star Mindy McCready, she has now been accused of kidnapping the reigning American Idol champion with a similar-sounding last name. McCreery was last seen lip syncing at a parade in Nashville, when right after his performance, witnesses say he was lured into an unmarked white cargo van…
When I sat down to name the top 10 live performances of 2011 as seen through my eyes, I didn’t know what a mess I was making for myself, and it wasn’t until then that I realized what a power packed year for live music it has been. My 10 stretched to 15 fast, and I’m still leaving many live acts out.
Before we get too far, I’ll reveal that my take on this album is somewhat contrary from the others you will find. Many folks will preach to you how this is one of the standouts in the roots world for 2011, and though I like this album and it has some great elements, I find myself in a position I never enjoy: attempting to balance the hype.
After a court win on Wednesday that allowed McGraw to be able to record new music and pursue another label, Curb has apparently capitulated their previous stance that the music on his album Emotional Traffic is not “topical,” and has decided to finally give the album a release date of January 17th, 2012.
The two common threads that run through most of the candidates this year, is a progressive approach to the music, and poignancy in the message. These are changing and troubled times, and the songs that speak to us the deepest will act as the soundtrack for our 2011 memories for years to come.
Whatever Curb’s motivations or plans, it looks like the tide has turned for Tim McGraw. However the battle is far from over, and fans should not be happy about the single release, they should be wary of its motivations. Mike Curb is shrewd if he is anything, and no doubt this move was pre-calculated to coincide with the court order.
Over the weekend the .357 String Band said farewell in the form of a pair of shows in their home state of Wisconsin. Regardless of how obscure they were, along with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, Flatt & Scruggs, and a few others, the .357 String Band was one of the greatest, most groundbreaking, and influential bluegrass bands of all time.
So. The official country music douche Brantley Gilbert has himself a #1 song in the form of “Country Must Be Country Wide.” Our enemy has a new face friends and neighbors, and that face has a penciled-on beard and hoop earrings. Gilbert, his rising fame, and this song’s success are due in large part to the blurring of genre lines between popular music.
There is nothing I take more seriously than naming what I think is the best album of any calendar year. The Album of the Year offers a guidepost for future generations to find the best music that was forgotten by the mainstream, while at the same time being a current ambassador to the mainstream to illustrate what great music they are overlooking.
On Tuesday, Tim McGraw will be in a Tennessee courtroom as part of the opening salvo in his bid to leave his contract with Curb Records. I’m no Perry Mason, but I thought I would offer the Tim McGraw defense team a little pro bono research work on how Curb Records itself has set a legal precedence that disproves it’s own case.
The greatest element of this film is that it captures with great wisdom that Charlie Louvin’s life was a victory. The epitaph that it conveys with a bold starkness is simply “He won.” The moral of the story is that victory is within anyone’s reach. That is the everlasting message to go with Charlie Louvin’s everlasting influence on American music.
If you’re a tragic, tragic audiofile like myself, then you understand just what a blessing it is when out of the blue you discover an artist that really speaks to you, and it opens a brand new vein of music for you to enjoy for years to come. This is the experience most people come away with when hearing Willy Tea Taylor for the first time.
You know, it’s not very becoming to gloat. But sometimes you just can’t help it, like after you’ve been attacked by a mob of very angry (and curiously, very Asian) Scotty McCreery fans who told me that their beloved American Idol alum Scotty would NEVER lip sync, as I asserted he did on The CMA Awards a couple of weeks back.
Muddy Roots isn’t just a festival my friends. No. It’s an act of solidarity. It is a force of the collective Will of real roots fans united from disparate backgrounds, coming together to say “We are here, and things can work differently.” The Muddy Roots Festival isn’t just a big party, it is principles and philosophies in action; it just happens to be one hell of a good time as well.
I am very excited to announce a unique partnership between Saving Country Music, Hillgrass Bluebilly Records & Entertainment, and Muddy Roots Music (The Muddy Roots Festivals) to bring together the 5th Annual XSXSW showcase, aka XSXSW 5, as part of the annual mid-March gathering of the tribes in Austin, TX known as South By Southwest.
According to the Surgeon General’s office, an extensive study by the Centers for Disease Control has determined that country rap is a Class 1 cause of obesity, especially in adult white males. Apparently the data from the study is so conclusive and alarming, the Surgeon General is considering pursuing heath warnings on country rap albums.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s .357 String Band, one of the stalwarts and one of the first full-time bands in the underground country movement, has decided to call it quits. Their high-octane “streetgrass” approach to traditional bluegrass music made them one of the top-tier live and recorded acts in all of underground country, and afforded them a big following in Europe as well.
Only 44% of campaigns are being funded, and some folks are setting them up almost as a lark, like throwing a hook into the water just to see if it bites, diluting attention and sometimes money from other projects with a more purposeful aim. I’ve put a list together of some questions I think people should ask before starting a Kickstarter campaign.
Since country is such a traditional art form, as soon as you interject a hip-hop element into the music (rapping, drum loops, samples, whatever) it ceases to be country, and instantly becomes hip-hop. He wouldn’t think once about calling his songs country. In other words, there is no country rap. There’s country, and there’s hip hop.
As evidenced over and over in America, the intrusion of big box stores into communities means the downfall of many small, independent businesses, and the sense of community they create. Facebook, or any large website that is able to assert ultra-dominance over what you see and how you behave online could spell doom to the microservice, specialization, and just simple charm that independent websites are able to offer.
Once again I sit down to review an album originating on Music Row, which means some will have an immediate negative reactionary response about why their little Saving Country Music is selling out for a pop country star, while others will come to sing the praises of how Miranda Lambert is the one to save country music.
Frequent visitors to Saving Country Music know how much of a proponent of Reno, NV’s Hellbound Glory I am. If you want to accuse Saving Country Music of being the house organ of Hellbound Glory, guilty as charged. I’m not just drinking the Hellbound Kool-Aid, I’m slapping two fingers on the inside of my arm, looking for a vein to mainline the stuff right in.
Jason Isbell, former member of The Drive By Truckers and current solo artist had his van, trailer, and all contents stolen in Dallas, TX on Saturday afternoon. Jason and his band, The 400 Unit, were in Dallas Friday night, playing the city’s legendary Granada Theater on lower Greenville in support of his latest album Here We Rest.
