Later it was announced by Haggard’s publicist that all February dates would be canceled to aid Merle’s continued recovery. The publicist said Merle was “still feeling weak from his recent struggle with double pneumonia and has decided to seek further treatment.” But apparently tour plans have changed yet again.
word has come down that Jayke Orvis has decided to suit up once again with the Goddamn Gallows on their upcoming nationwide tour. Stepping aside for the moment is banjo player Joe Perreze. “I will be back with them onstage in the future and look forward to enjoying the show from the audience in the meantime,” says Perreze. The Gallows will be touring behind their latest album “The Maker.”
As No Show Jones moves forward with pre-production, so does a completely different movie, potentially a rival movie if you want to look at it that way, being made by the daughter of George Jones, Georgette Jones. Georgette was the only daughter between George Jones and Tammy Wynette during their brief, but high-profile marriage.
The cast for an upcoming biopic on the life of George Jones is starting to take shape, and the leading man appears to be Josh Brolin. He will play The Possum according to reports, as well as work in the capacity as producer for the film. Starring beside Brolin will be Jessica Chastain, who will play Tammy Wynette who was famously, and tumultuously married to George during his heyday.
PhD researcher Chris Hamilton working for the Auburn University in Alabama successfully identified a new species of tarantula in California, and decided to name it after his favorite country music star. Aphonopelma johnnycashi is a tarantula strain the had not been properly identified previously by scientists, and was one of thirteen new tarantula species designated by the new study.
“Working with Dave felt great from the first day of our sessions,” says Carpenter. “He is always willing to try something new, believes that ‘yes’ is the only answer, and surrounds himself with wonderfully talented and generous musicians; by the end of the project, I felt as if I was a part of a new family.”
Merle Haggard was forced to cancel his show Tuesday night (2-2) at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, California last minute after he was too sick to take the stage. The show was a makeup date for a performance originally scheduled for December 3rd that Merle was forced to cancel with all of his December shows due to a double pneumonia.
Monday morning (2-1), the nominees for the 51st Annual Academy of Country Music, or ACM Awards were revealed via CBS The Morning and ETOnline.com. The 2016 ACM awards will occur on April 3rd at the MGM Grand Ballroom in Las Vegas, and will be broadcast on CBS. Dierks Bentley, who will help host the event with Luke Bryan, also helped reveal the nominees Monday morning.
“They send out a letter that says you know, ‘We are kind of demanding that you must be here so many times a year to continue your membership.’ Because it’s just not fair,” Lorrie Morgan explains. “People want to say, ‘Hey I’m a member of the Opry,’ and not want to come back. The Opry takes dedication and it takes love. It takes love.”
Surging country music artist Chris Stapleton will join reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan on his upcoming 2016 Kill The Lights Tour for select dates. Meanwhile Chris Stapleton tickets have become one of the hottest commodities in country music.
We’ve all heard of the “Class of ’89” in country music, right? That was the year that Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, and others came to power. Well have you ever heard of the “Class of ’87”? That was the year Todd Snider, James McMurtry, Bruce Robison, Hal Ketchum, and Terri Hendrix all played regularly at an old wooden music venue in San Marcos, Texas called the Cheatham Street Warehouse.
The release has been delayed and the early reviews have been lackluster, but that won’t stop the creators of the Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston from releasing a soundtrack album for the upcoming movie. Set to arrive on March 25th—the same date the long-anticipated film will finally arrive in theaters—I Saw The Light…
Once again the 78-year-old Merle Haggard is suffering from serious heath issues that have resulted in him canceling upcoming shows. Scheduled to perform in New Mexico at the Inn of the Mountain Gods and the Farmington Civic Center on January 30th and 31st, Haggard has canceled both dates due to a double pneumonia. The news was confirmed on Thursday (1-28) by Haggard’s son and guitar player Ben Haggard.
The saga of country artist Katie Arminger continues, and the accusations against her record label Cold River just reached a new level. The issue began in June of last year when the 23-year-old Houston native found herself locked out of her social media accounts, right after her label announced to the world that she had decided to take a “breather” from country music.
Jamey Johnson’s backing band has gone through a major overhaul after multiple members were arrested in December. After Jamey’s show at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, band members were arrested for possession of a controlled substance in the town of Hernando, Mississippi. Since the arrests, Jamey appears to have overhauled his backing band, which had been stable for many years prior.
Folks wondering about the touring capacity of Chris Stapleton after his recent success, and who Stapleton might be paired up with in a possible show lineup, just got their answer. Announced Thursday (1-12), Hank Williams Jr. will be sharing the stage with Chris Stapleton for a select number of tour dates in August of 2016.
To bring the music of Vinyl to life, the production team has partnered with Atlantic Records and sister label Warner Bros., and each episode will coincide with a soundtrack release. Though the series won’t only feature music from these labels, the Atlantic/Warner catalog will be the focus. The theme song for the series will be performed by recent Atlantic Records signee Sturgill Simpson.
56-year-old Michael O’Rourke from Peterhead, Scotland has been sentenced to four months in jail after repeatedly violating noise ordinances and pissing off his neighbors by playing his music too loud. You see, Mr. O’Rourke is partially deaf, but he also happens to be Peterhead’s biggest audiophile, fessing up to a vast collection of vinyl and a propensity to listen to it at top volume at any time in the day or night.
Many prayers, criticisms, concerns, and even a petition or two will be answered after the upcoming season of the filthy and culturally-bereft reality series Party Down South. CMT, who airs the program, has announced that after the fifth season of the show scheduled to start on January 28th, they’re putting the series on on ice.
Devastating news out of Bakersfield, California Friday night that country legend Red Simpson has passed away. According to the performer’s family, Red died today, January 8th. Simpson was just getting ready to release his first official record since 1973 in February with his best friend Mario Carboni. He was 81-years-old.
The music for Josh Turner’s new album is done. However his label, MCA Nashville, appears to be doing everything the can to either drag their feet, or ignore Turner, until either he decides to record more commercially-acceptable music, or some other resolution can be found that will assure MCA’s bottom line is protected.
A bunch of lucky bastards will be congregating in southern Florida on Saturday, February 6th at the Magic City Casino in Miami for the Shore Leave Showdown, which dubs itself as a one-day “Southern Outlaw” festival, and includes one beefy lineup, not limited to The Mavericks, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Dale Watson, Robbie Fulks, Sarah Gayle Meech, The Kentucky Headhunters, and many more.
Sturgill Simpson fans will have to wait patiently for another six months or so for new music for the Kentucky songwriter. But rest assured, new music is on the way. The summer of 2016 seems a long way away when you’re waiting for new music from one of your favorite artists, but it’s also assuring to know new Sturgill Simpson music is on the way nonetheless.
All’s well that ends well for country music starlet Kacey Musgraves. The songwriter and Texas native was the victim of a boot snatching on Monday, January 4th in Nashville after a thief smashed out the window of her car parked across the street from the 3rd and Lindsley music venue, and made off with a brand new pair of Lucchese boots, and another pair of Charlotte Olympias, together valued at about $900.00.