One of the most important men behind-the-scenes who had his hands deep in the iconic sounds of country music, while also keeping the flame of one of the most famous families in country history alive has passed away. Randy Scruggs, whose playing, writing, and producing ran deep throughout country music for decades, passed away on Tuesday.
Blackberry Smoke is once again #1 in country, at least when you consider pure album sales. Their most recent album Find A Light released on April 6th sold more cohesive records last week than any other country release according to the Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart. They also charted in Rock and Americana.
Hank3 has been out of the spotlight for the last few years as he takes an extended period off to reshuffle his personal life, but he has re-emerged recently as part of the heavy metal band DevilDriver’s upcoming tribute to Outlaw country called “Outlaws ‘Til The End” to be released July 6th.
Americana stalwart Jason Isbell has just loaded his tour schedule up with a ton of new tour dates with his band The 400 Unit, and fans better be on their toes because certain dates will sell out. Adding to previously-announced dates, he’s now announced additional dates starting in July and going into late September.
Everything is better with a little bit of Alan Jackson. Even if it is just a full-sized cardboard cutout of him from the 90’s with a mullet pouring out of the back of his cowboy hat stuck in the corner of a record store, his mere presence reminds you of a time when popular country music didn’t completely suck.
The Country Music Hall of Fame has partnered with Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings to release a 36-song companion double album to coincide with what the public can expect to see and hear as part of the upcoming Outlaws & Armadillos exhibit. The track list of the album reveals just how deep the exhibit will go.
It’s been a great time to be a country music fan over the last few weeks as incredible album releases from a cavalcade of artists has put a stress test on people’s physical copy budgets, and pushed Saving Country Music to maximum capacity for publishing reviews. But these are all good problems to have.
We’ve know for a while about Miranda Lambert’s penchant to show support to independent artists by attending their concerts, with John Moreland and the women of the Hard Candy Christmas Tour being just a few examples. Saturday night (4-7) was the 7th Annual Dia Del Gallo celebration at the historic Floore’s Country Store was another.
Old Crow Medicine Show is celebrating their 20th year in 2018, and will be releasing their latest album Volunteer via Columbia Records Nashville on April 20th. The band is also going on an extensive tour starting this April and going well into late summer in support of the new record. The tour will include 30 cities.
The original Outlaw and Country Music Hall of Famer Bobby Bare will be the next member of the Grand Ole Opry, again. This is the news coming out of Nashville Saturday night (4-7) after Bare was invited to join country music’s most historic institution. He was officially invited by Garth Brooks, who shocked the Opry crowd when he took the stage.
For 10 years now, The SteelDrivers have been a preeminent bluegrass band of the hard-charging variety and a proving ground of talent that includes Chris Stapleton as an alumni. After announcing the newest member to take what was once Stapleton’s spot in guitar player and singer Kelvin Damrell, the 5-piece outfit is ready to hit the road.
Legendary bluegrass fiddle player and singer Alison Krauss and country legend Willie Nelson have just announced a co-headlining tour for 2018 to go along with Willie’s already announced Outlaw Fest dates and annual 4th of July Picnic this summer, while a much more extensive touring schedule has been announced for Alison Krauss.
If you know Gothic country, then you know Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, or at least you should. The seminal Gothic country band that has been helping define Gothic country for over two decades with it’s strange mix of mad roots and wild stage shows. The Denver, CO outfit will be hitting the road hard and heavy in 2018.
Grammy Award winning songwriter and performer Kenny O’Dell passed away on Wednesday (3-28) at the age of 73. A prolific songwriter who was also a strong advocate for the craft, he wrote such memorable country standards as 1973’s “Behind Closed Doors” made popular by Charlie Rich, and the #1 “Mama He’s Crazy.”
Kacey Musgraves says a woman would never be allowed to walk around in sunglasses as an image accessory, but Eric Church “…wears his fucking sunglasses all the time.” But what some Eric Church fans are wondering is why she had to single out Church with especially pointed language.
As first reported by Saving Country Music, the heavy metal band DevilDriver has been working on an Outlaw country tribute record that will include special guests and a heavy metal influence. Now we have the details on the project called ‘Outlaws ‘Til The End.’ From the country world, Hank Williams III and John Carter Cash will participate.
Dottie West was both a pioneering woman in country music, as well as a superstar in her era. She broke ground for women in the genre, and was the woman most responsible for making the men sound better as one of the genre’s most recognized duet partners for decades. Her legacy had long been overlooked, but not anymore.
Ricky Skaggs is the new “Modern Era” inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The 63-year-old Cordell, Kentucky native has experienced as diverse of a country music career as anyone, and certainly earns this distinction both from his commercial success, and his commitment to country music throughout his life.
Fiddle legend Johnny Gimble is the newest inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. This was the news coming out of the press conference Tuesday morning (3-27) from the Country Music Hall of Fame rotunda, hosted by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. Gimble was inducted in the rotating musician category.
Well damn, it’s less than a week since the last Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist update, but the badass songs have been rolling out so hard and heavily lately, it’s worth calling a audible and adding them to the playlist post haste. Leading the pack are a couple of new songs from new artists who were already on the playlist.
Tami Neilson is a full tilt badass monster of music, and I will puff my chest out and challenge any man, woman, or beast who dares questions the full-throated pronouncement that she is the one of the best living singers in all of roots music and beyond. Now she is back with a new selection of songs compiled under the name “SASSAFRASS!”
For those fans of classic Bakersfield-style country, excellent songwriting from alt-country Gods, and unnatural illicit psychedelic substances, Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, and Steve Earle have banded together in a slightly-unintuitive, but nonetheless seductive lineup, and branded it the “LSD Tour.”
Country revivalist Cody Jinks and his management are planning to launch a new festival this August that will be curated by Jinks himself. The news comes out of the announcement earlier this week that the management and booking apparatus behind Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, Ward Davis, and Sunny Sweeney is being revamped.
Want to see Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Colter Wall, and Jason Isbell all on the same bill? Perhaps add Charlie Parr, Courtney Barnett, and JD McPherson on top of that? Well you’ll get your chance this summer at one of America’s longest-running live institutions, The Newport Folk Festival this summer.