Very early Friday morning, February 23rd, someone decided to take a can of pink spray paint, and vandalize the iconic Willie Nelson statue that sits in front of Austin’s Moody Theater.
It nears the realm of impossibility to put enough emphasis on how monumentally important the seismic shifts occurring in the music business at the moment are, and how they’re reverberating throughout every sector of the industry.
“Blue Over You” is where that old soul of a young man raised by his grandparents on traditional country comes forth once again, with a bit of an Elvis/Sun Records influence as well.
Perhaps no other band calls to mind the most defining and elemental moments of life than Shane Smith and the Saints. And perhaps no other album Shane Smith and the Saints have released accomplishes this better than “Norther.”
Along with being a founding member of the band since its inception in 2000, Brit Turner was the actual brother of Blackberry Smoke bass player Richard Turner, and was also considered the big brother to everyone in the band.
Started in 2019, the Grand Ole Opry’s NextStage program looks to highlight rising talent by featuring them more regularly on the Opry stage, and across the Grand Ole Opry’s various programs and properties.
There are few guys whose legacies loom larger in Austin, TX than blues guitar legend W.C. Clark. Though the blues is where he resided, his influence ran like a vein throughout all the music originating in the Live Music Capital of the World.
It can be a big challenge to distinguish yourself from the crowd when you’re one of 23 children. But that’s exactly what Roni Stoneman did through her illustrious career as a banjo maestro, singer, actor, and comedian.
Peyton firmly places himself in the community of country and Americana’s strong contemporary songwriters writing songs that don’t just distract from our demons and internal dilemmas, but address them.
If you go to Bristol Rhythm and Roots in 2024, you’ll get your face rocked off by 49 Winchester, The Red Clay Strays, Silverada—all of which are considered some of the best live bands in the business.
Both the current ownership group of the building, and the company the owners have partnered with to lease and manage the property, are not currently committing to saving the record shop business itself.
At this point, Blackberry Smoke has nothing more they need to prove to anyone. They’re an institution, and the Georgia natives have stepped up to fill the shoes of the Southern rock bands that have come before them.
The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame has just announced their 2024 class, and as can be expected there is a heavy dose of country and bluegrass greats going in. This includes Ketucky natives Sturgill Simpson and Gary Stewart.
One of the most common misunderstandings when it comes to Black performers in country music is the legacy of Ray Charles. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022, his legacy is regularly diminished.
Kelsey Waldon has released plenty of original songs in her career. But on this new project, she mines the great American songbook to recreate her original inspirations for deciding to become a country singer in the first place.
If you know about the Texas music supergroup The Wilder Blue, chances are you’re a big fan. And if you’re a Wilder Blue fan, chances are you might be a little frustrated and perplexed why there aren’t more Wilder Blue fans.
In Texas, songwriting is a different animal from what it is in Nashville, Los Angeles, or other places. Instead of trying to make hits, they’re trying to stand on the shoulders of the greats that came before them.
You better hope you’ve taken your anti-depressants recently, because the newest additions to the Top 25 playlist with take you to the deepest recesses of human emotion like only the best country music can.
Over the last 20 years, there are a few specific albums you can select out of the crowd and give credit for critically reshaping country music into what it is today, and specifically for re-instituting the roots of country.
“El Viejo” doesn’t just add to Corb Lund’s musical legacy. In many ways, it closes a circle and begins a new era. He may not be “viejo” himself, but they grey hairs are moving in, and he’s now the one many Western singers look up to.
She’s the closest thing our generation has to Patsy Cline, but she also has a style all her own. She’s the perfect combination of the familiar and original. The future of country music is classic, and the future of classic country is Kimmi Bitter.
As you can imagine, the news of the #1 has been met with with praise for Beyoncé breaking down barriers and shattering glass ceilings in country. But this is more about a megastar worth $800 million cutting in line.
It’s rare that a fake commercial in a cartoon becomes so iconic that it embeds itself into popular culture, but that’s what happened when Hank Williams Jr. teamed up with long-running animated series “The Simpsons.”
In 2024, everything that Dale Watson must have dreamed up as his ideal fantasy of what the Ameripolitan Awards could become was finally realized when it returned to Austin where it was originally held.
