Hank III’s latest record Rebel Within to be released May 25th is now available for preview through Amazon.com, where you can listen to ALL the songs, IN THEIR ENTIRETY! Just CLICK HERE, and navigate over to the player on the right. You’ll want to get over there and get your listen on ASAP, because the […]
Today is the day that original country music Outlaw Billy Joe Shaver faces trial for shooting 50-year-old Billy Coker in the cheek outside of Papa Joe’s Saloon in Lorena, TX, on March, 31st of 2007. Shaver’s charged with aggravated assault. The incident has been memorialized in the song Where Do You Want It? from the […]
There is a war going on right now for the heart of country music my friends, and we just had a salvo shot right into our belly. I would love to be sitting here writing about one of the countless original, highly-talented bands out there that Music Row won’t even let sniff it’s panties, but […]
As I first reported here, Michigan-based honky tonk band Whitey Morgan & The 78’s have signed with Chicago-based independent label Bloodshot Records. Both times I saw them at South by Southwest, their live show did not disappoint. Whitey might be the closest thing to Waylon you can see these days. There’s a lot of bands […]
Country music is a funny thing. While on the outside it seems like a pretty “Hee-Yaw!” simple, straightforward artform, country music boasts some of the best maestros that American music has ever seen. Right now there may be half a hundred fiddle players with half their teeth missing, living in the bowls of a Prevost […]
I always knew that at some point a Hank III show would get so out of hand that they’d have to call in the big guns to restore order. But fortunately when military might showed up to his concert at the Meridian in Houston on 3/13/10, it was to honor Hank for honoring the troops, […]
We have a few issues facing us in the Outlaw/Underground/Insurgent/True/REAL/Hellbilly/Neo-traditionalist country movement. The first is how many different words are used to describe the music and artists that have created a small, but very strong music scene with a loyal following. Not only are there many terms, but these terms mean different things to different […]
In some ways, I should hate Hellbound Glory and their new album, Old Highs and New Lows. I’ve been on the warpath lately against artists and bands who think being REAL country means shoehorning as many drug and whiskey references as possible into your songs. And though there’s not a track on this album that […]
I’ve had a working theory for a while that 75% of what you hear on mainstream country radio today can be traced back to a small handfull of songs by Bob Seger and The Black Crowes. Darn near 1/3 of them can be traced back to Seger’s “Night Moves” alone. Well it might be time […]
Seeing Denver’s Slim Cessna’s Auto Club live is a religious experience. And if you’ve ever seen them, you know that calling it “religious” is less of a descriptive tool, and more of a pun. This is one of those bands that I’d heard for years how I must see live, and without question, they lived […]
For the modern day underground country fan, going to a Hank III show is a no brainer. Even if you’ve gotten sideways with his recent sound, you go. It’s Hank III. It is the one show you make sure to catch that year. And you see people you haven’t seen since that last Hank III […]
With every minute that passes, terrestrial radio fails us more and more, like a great hush rolling across the fruited plain. Like a slap of duct tape across the mouth, or the zippering of our souls. As truly local radio stations fall to the onslaught of Jack FM and other such pre-formulated nationalized Tang-flavored formats, […]
During and after South by Southwest this last week, people kept asking me what my favorite show was. It’s probably a toss up between Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, and Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers. (Reviews coming, and also of the pre-SXSW Hank III show). But one of the cool things about SXSW is the random collaborations […]
I love that pop country has become so contrived and transparent, that even other pop stars and people like Kid Rock can see right through the sham. Some people have been waiting for Billy Ray’s daughter to join the ranks of pop country, surmising that it’s not if, but when. But instead Miley Cyrus joined […]
Perfect hair is an unattainable goal for many Americans. Forget about genetics for a moment, and just think about the wide varying humidity and barometric pressure that we can experience here in the United States. It can wreak havoc on even the most ideal head of God given locks. And then all those hair products, […]
It will probably be easier to name of the bands and artists that WON’T be at South by Southwest in Austin, TX this week than to even begin trying to make a list of the ones I’m hoping to see. In fact I’m learning before I even get there that the most maddening thing about […]
Flint, Michigan’s Whitey Morgan and the 78’s have just signed with the the label that is the home of Insurgent Country, Bloodshot Records. Whitey and the boys join the ranks of people like Wayne “The Train” Hancock, Justin Townes Earle, and Scott H. Biram, all signed to the Chicago-based label. The announcement comes just days […]
If you’re anything like me, if I want to hear some new music, you sure aren’t going to find me sniffing around CMT or burying your nose in the latest Rolling Stone. No, I’m likely going to be looking to the past, not the future. And man, what a thrill it is when you find […]
On the latest episode of the It Burns When I Pee podcast, Joe Huber of the .357 String Band let it be known that the high octane bluegrass band plans to continue touring and backing up Bob Wayne once the platoon gets back from a stint in Europe this month. “Bob is one hilarious dude […]
I’ll be honest with you: Even though some of my favorite country artists right now are offspring of other famous country artists, whenever I see a new one coming up, I always roll my eyes. I’m not sure why, but in my head I think, “How good could they really be?” But time and time […]
They say war makes strange bedfellows. I guess this is a good example. In a recent Edmonton Journal article, country music legend Merle Haggard held little back when sharing his thoughts on “Auto Tune”: “They fix a person’s voice when it’s out of tune, and then they have to do it live when they can’t […]
As we speak, Lucky Tubb is in the studio recording his new album, and when I spoke to him at The Cash Bash, he gave me some hints of what he’s working on, including a duet with the legendary Wayne “The Train” Hancock. “Me and Wayne Hancock are going into the studio next week and […]
This is going to be a long one, so faint of heart turn back now. A small controversy has been brewing lately that involves the oh so coveted opening slot for Hank Williams III’s upcoming West Coast Tour. It started when Lucky Tubb was interviewed by Outlaw Radio Chicago, in Episode 74 back before Xmas, […]
