If you’re rounding out a list of the current artists who are helping to save country music, you better damn well make sure Kelsey Waldon makes it on there or the whole enterprise is bunk. Her 2014 record The Goldmine was a badass collection of classic country tunes that had fans of traditional country singing her praise.
Willie Nelson, along with Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews are the board members for the Farm Aid organization first launched in 1985, and all four will be performing at this year’s event being held in Bristow, Virginia at Jiffy Lube Live on September 17th. Along with the four headliners, this year’s Farm Aid features an impressive list of country music talent.
NASCAR driver Mike Wallace, the brother of Rusty Wallace and Kenny Wallace, was brutally beaten at a Rascal Flatts concert Friday night (6-17) at Charlotte’s PNC Music Pavilion. The three men also assaulted Mike Wallace’s daughter, Lindsey Wallace Van Wingerden, as she tried to shield her father during the attack.
“I knew I wanted to record in this old fashioned way, that that was going to be the way to capture this music,” says Robison. “It’s real simple how we do it in here, which is pre-Beatles, where people used to be on the road, and they’d just take their new song into a real simple recording studio or a radio station, and they would just put the song down.”
Aaron Lewis, the frontman for the emo noise band Staind, whose been dabbling in country music for years now, has just signed to Dot records—a division of the Big Machine Label Group—and will be releasing a new record called Sinner on September 16th. And as part of the announcement, Aaron has released a country protest song called “That Ain’t Country.”
To Joey, With Love that is set to air at select theaters on Tuesday, September 20th for one night only. Rory announced the film on the latest installment of his This Life I Live blog, which he uses to regularly keep the world updated on the tragic story of his wife and singing partner Joey Martin Feek.
David Allan Coe will not be going to prison for an obstruction charge levied by the IRS, but he will be on probation for the next three years, and will have to pay fines and back taxes totaling $980,911.86 for his tax delinquency between 2008 – 2013, and before. This was the sentence brought down in Cincinnati on Monday (6-13) in Federal court.
One of the most influential, prolific, diverse, and long lasting producers, songwriters, and guitar players in American music has passed away. Chips Moman, the writer of Waylon Jennings’ #1 “Luckenbach, TX,” the producer for Elvis Presley’s hit “Suspicious Minds,” a seminal figure in the formation of the Stax record label, died in a hospice facility in LaGrange, Georgia on Monday, June 13th.
Superstar pop R&B artist and producer Pharrell Williams spent the better part of last week in Nashville performing with the vocal troupe Little Big Town, and the entire time he’s been repping for an unlikely band: alt-country/Americana outfit American Aquarium.
The AmericanaFest keeps piling on names for their annual gathering, causing you to seriously question your September plans if they don’t involve trekking to Nashville to take in this years festivities. After announcing the first 68 names in early May, another batch of performers has just been released, swelling the participants to a solid 121.
One of the few saving graces for the show beyond a Chris Stapleton performance of “Parachute” and a scant, 1-minute tribute to Merle Haggard via Dierks Bentley, was that foul-mouthed country music comedic country singer Wheeler Walker Jr. crashed the shindig and offered side splitting photos, updates, and commentary throughout the night.
In a strange twist to the incident, and illustrative of the environment surrounding Mikel Knight and his street team workers, the street team worker told local police chief Bobby Floyd that he felt fortunate. “The poor guy actually seemed relieved to have lost his job with them from having the accident,” says Chief Floyd.
Though nothing to cheer about itself, according to doctor’s for the songwriter, the misdiagnosis, and all the drugs Kristofferson was taking to stave off his memory loss were actually making his condition worse, creating a downward spiral. It is believed that Kristofferson contracted Lyme Disease in Vermont when he was filming the 2006 movie “Disappearances.”
iHeartMedia über morning show DJ Bobby Bones apparently has a new enemy. Or actually, two of them, in the form of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelly of the Bro-Country super duo Florida Georgia Line. Though on the surface you might surmise that Bobby Bones and Florida Georgia Line would be brothers in arms, that’s apparently not the case.
There was nobody else like Mr. Bandana. And now that he’s gone, there will never be anyone like him again. He was a true last of the breed, and one of the few remaining authentic Outlaws who lived his own way, spoke his mind no matter the outcome or insult taken, and you will never find a more dedicated and loyal supporter of the music.
38-year-old Veronique Bourgault of Quebec, Canada has been charged with battery of a police officer and public intoxication after an incident at Bayou Country Superfest on May 27th in Baton Rouge. The incident started after Bourgault was apparently giving her boyfriend a lap dance in the bleachers while children and families watched on.
Rich Vanaugh played drums for Kitty Wells and Charlie Louvin, Jeannie Seely and Jack Greene, and Mel Tillis and Dottie West over his long career, but he will forever be known as one of the backbones of one of the most beloved bands in Nashville, the Western swing-inspired supergroup The Time Jumpers, and one of the friendliest musicians you would ever meet.
Legendary country music songwriter Guy Clark passed away on May 17th after a long battle with numerous health ailments, and now it has finally been revealed how he will be forever remembered by friends, fans and family: his ashes are being incorporated into a sculpture to be formed by fellow Texas songwriter Terry Allen.
Whether you like what he’s throwing down, or you think he’s a foul-mouthed yob, there’s no denying that Wheeler Walker Jr. has become nothing short of a country music phenomenon, with continued strong album sales, high streaming numbers if from nothing else than a curiosity factor, and even some unexpected recognition from mainstream artists.
With so many deaths in the country music world and beyond in 2016, it is no surprise that fans are on edge, especially when it comes to older artists. But despite the death rumors that swirled on social media Monday (5-23) about the passing of 76-year-old Outlaw country songwriting legend Billy Joe Shaver, he is still alive, despite currently residing in the hospital.
Randy Travis may still be battling back from the multiple health ailments he suffered in 2013 that left the Country Music Hall of Famer with difficulty speaking and walking without assistance, but fans will get a chance to see Randy the way he was right before his stroke when a new short film shot in 2013 called The Price is released.
It still seems a little strange to talk about “Outlaws” going on some swanky cruise out in the Caribbean. But it was apparently such a hoot the first time that organizers have put together a second installment, and once again the lineup is killer.
If you’ve been waiting for the Sturgill Simpson tour to head your way behind his recent album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, chances are you’ll be getting your wish soon. Tickets for most remaining shows in May and June are sold out. Many of the shows in Canada and the northern United States will go on sale on May 20th.
Legendary country music songwriter Guy Clark passed away early Tuesday morning at the ago of 74. Born in Monahans, Texas on Nov. 6, 1941, he went on to become one of the most revered songwriters in the history of country music, and beyond.