The word from Indio, California is that 2015’s installment of the Stagecoach Festival was a big success, and many of the patrons and artists who attended the gathering raved about their time in the desert. But similar to previous years of Stagecoach, numerous arrests were necessary by local law enforcement. A total of 157 arrests were made by the Indio Police Department according to Sergeant Dan Marshall.
Merle Haggard is finally a graduate of Bakersfield High School, some 60 years after attending his last class there as a truant freshmen. Never mind that Merle never passed a single class. Never mind he’s 78-years-old and was awarded an honorary doctorate first by the California State University in Bakersfield in 2013. He’s now a Bakersfield “Driller” for life.
Country music celebrities will be coming out swinging in the coming weeks at a couple of annual charitable golf tournaments who just announced their lineups. Whether you’re a golfer or not, you can participate in the music portion of these events and help out a good cause in the process. The 17th Annual Wade Bowen Classic and the 8th Annual Golf & Guitars have just announced their lineups.
The Silver Trail Distillery in Hardin, Kentucky who makes the George Jones White Lightning moonshine exploded Friday (4-24) just before 11:00 a.m. Two workers were injured in the explosion, and were airlifted to a local hospital with major burns. The distillery was working on a large order of moonshine for the George Jones museum at the time of the explosion.
Chris Michael Ferrell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the 2nd Degree Murder of country music artist Wayne Mills. The decision was handed down by Judge Steve Dozier in the Davidson County Criminal Court Friday morning (4-24). Ferrell was found guilty in the shooting death of Mills on March 6th in a jury trial. He claimed self-defense in the case. Ferrell will have no chance for parole.
The controversy surrounding Tim McGraw’s scheduled benefit concert for Sandy Hook Promise on July 17th at the Infinity Theater in Hartford, Connecticut continues as now 11 of the Sandy Hook families who either had children or other families members killed at the school have come out with a public statement clarifying that they will not be receiving any money from the concert.
This weekend in sunny Southern California, Sturgill Simpson will be taking the stage at the annual Stagecoach Festival in Indio—the country music cousin of the massive 2-weekend Coachella gathering. Sturgill Simpson is one of the few to ever play both the Coachella and Stagecoach weekends. Even more surprising is where Sturgill Simpson is ranked as far as popularity when it comes to Stagecoach attendees.
Billy Currington is out, but Chase Bryant is staying put. That’s the latest news surrounding the charity concert happening at the Infinity Theater in Hartford, Connecticut on July 17th as part of Tim McGraw’s upcoming Shotgun Rider concert tour. Chase Bryant was the other opener for the Sandy Hook benefit show with Billy Currington.
After a week of controversy, Billy Currington is out as a performer at the July 17th benefit concert for Sandy Hook Promise being held by Tim McGraw at the Infinity Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. Currington confirmed the news to fans late Thursday (4-16) evening. “I’ve never been one to take on controversial issues – I’m a singer.”
The highly-anticipated follow up to Jason Isbell’s critically-acclaimed 2013 album Southeastern will be called “Something More Than Free.” The album will be released through Thirty Tigers, and Isbell’s own Southeastern Records. Like his last album, the effort was produced by vaunted producer Dave Cobb.
The Louisiana Hayride is on its way back, and in a big way. Arguably the 2nd most influential music program in country music history, only rivaled in stature by The Grand Ole Opry, it’s been an effort that has lasted over 20 years and seen a major renovation of the radio program’s original home of The Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport that has put organizers on the brink of bringing the show back.
Over the last few years, David Letterman and The Late Show have become tireless supporters of many of the older country artists and up-and-comers that mainstream country so unfortunately pays little to no attention to. To giving artists like Ray Wylie Hubbard, Dale Watson, and Sturgill Simpson their first network debut, to being one of the few shows regularly willing to book Willie Nelson and other legends…
On Saturday, April 11th, “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck” singer Kip Moore played The Complex at Valdosta State University in Georgia to what by all accounts was a satisfied and appreciative crowd. After the show, some Kip Moore fans gathered at a local bar called the Ashley Street Station where Kip Moore had an agreement to make an appearance at the official afterparty proceeding the concert.
It happened again, and thanks to over 500,000+ shares on Facebook (and counting), many Willie Nelson fans believe the legendary country singer died on Saturday, April 11th in Maui, and one dubious website is reaping the financial rewards. A site called msmbc.co—purposely titled to be easily confused with msnbc.com—initially posted a fake death story involving Willie Nelson on February 21st, 2015.
The fan was eventually acknowledged by Aldean, but it was with a simple, “No,” as he pointed the assailant out to security. The beer chunker was eventually apprehended and escorted to authorities. Later in the show, Aldean said to the crowd, “It took everything I had not to go kick that guy’s teeth in,” but apparently Aldean has decided to not press charges, and he was not significantly injured in the incident.
Despite the actual sentencing of Chris Ferrell in the 2nd Degree Murder of country artist Wayne Mills being delayed now until April 24th, the bulk of the sentencing proceedings occurred as scheduled while many members of Wayne’s immediate and extended family, as well as numerous friends and fans of the country artist watched on.
The sentencing in the 2nd Degree Murder trial of Chris Ferrell in the death of Wayne Mills has been delayed until April 24th, though the bulk of the sentencing hearing transpired as scheduled in the court of Steve Dozier in Nashville Friday (4-10) morning. Many of the members of Wayne’s extended family were in attendance for the sentencing, including Wayne’s young son Jack who had not been in the courtroom for the trial.
Country music traditionalist Alan Jackson is set to release his 15th studio album called Angels and Alcohol on Friday, July 17th—one of the first major country albums to take advantage of the the new Friday global release day. The album includes ten new tracks, seven of which Jackson wrote himself, and comes as Alan Jackson celebrates 25 years as a country music performer.
Hazzard county’s sheriff and the haphazard foil for the Duke boys in the legendary television show The Dukes of Hazzard, has passed away. James Best, best known for his role as Roscoe P. Coltrane on the CBS television show from 1979 to 1985, but a lifelong actor and creative personality, died in Hickory, North Carolina at the age of 88 on Monday night (4-6) due to complications from pneumonia.
Bob Burns, the original drummer and founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, passed away after a car crash late Friday night (4-3) in Bartow County, Georgia. Burns was driving home after a gig and slipped off the road on a tight turn and hit a tree just before midnight. Bob Burns helped form Lynyrd Skynyrd with Gary Rossington and Larry Junstrom in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964 when he was just 14-years-old.
The biopic chronicling the short but legendary life of Hillbilly Shakespeare Hank Williams has its distributor, and it is one of the titans of the film industry. Sony Classics has acquired the worldwide distribution rights to I Saw The Light, a movie based on the Hank Williams biography by Colin Escott, and written and directed by Marc Abraham.
On Monday, fans of of the 68-year-old radio show The Midnite Jamboree were disappointed to learn that the radio program broadcast Saturday nights at midnight on WSM had been suspended due to financial concerns, and was in jeopardy of going away. The owner of the Midnite Jamboree and the Ernest Tubb Record Shops in Nashville named David McCormick could no longer support the show’s production.
One thing is for sure, the 4th of July in Texas is going to be hot. It’s also going to be a happening time for country music; so much so it’s going to be a hard to know where to point your nose. It was already setting up to be a good 4th of July for country music in 2015 with the holiday falling on a weekend this year.
It was only a matter of time before marijuana started to become big business, and apparently Willie Nelson is trying to beat the bigger companies to the punch by developing a signature marijuana brand that is scheduled to include storefronts, products such as bongs and vaporizers, and specific strains and blends of marijuana to sell in the states that make possession of the plant legal.