Over the weekend the .357 String Band said farewell in the form of a pair of shows in their home state of Wisconsin. Regardless of how obscure they were, along with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, Flatt & Scruggs, and a few others, the .357 String Band was one of the greatest, most groundbreaking, and influential bluegrass bands of all time.
Muddy Roots isn’t just a festival my friends. No. It’s an act of solidarity. It is a force of the collective Will of real roots fans united from disparate backgrounds, coming together to say “We are here, and things can work differently.” The Muddy Roots Festival isn’t just a big party, it is principles and philosophies in action; it just happens to be one hell of a good time as well.
I am very excited to announce a unique partnership between Saving Country Music, Hillgrass Bluebilly Records & Entertainment, and Muddy Roots Music (The Muddy Roots Festivals) to bring together the 5th Annual XSXSW showcase, aka XSXSW 5, as part of the annual mid-March gathering of the tribes in Austin, TX known as South By Southwest.
According to the Surgeon General’s office, an extensive study by the Centers for Disease Control has determined that country rap is a Class 1 cause of obesity, especially in adult white males. Apparently the data from the study is so conclusive and alarming, the Surgeon General is considering pursuing heath warnings on country rap albums.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s .357 String Band, one of the stalwarts and one of the first full-time bands in the underground country movement, has decided to call it quits. Their high-octane “streetgrass” approach to traditional bluegrass music made them one of the top-tier live and recorded acts in all of underground country, and afforded them a big following in Europe as well.
Jason Isbell, former member of The Drive By Truckers and current solo artist had his van, trailer, and all contents stolen in Dallas, TX on Saturday afternoon. Jason and his band, The 400 Unit, were in Dallas Friday night, playing the city’s legendary Granada Theater on lower Greenville in support of his latest album Here We Rest.
It has become evident over the past few months that Muddy Roots is the answer that many artists and fans have been waiting a long time for. Now Muddy Roots has announced that they are expanding to Europe, with a full-fledged two day festival June 9-10 at the “Steakhouse Saloon” compound in Belgium this upcoming summer.
Late last week it was announced that dozens of local DJ’s from the US’s largest radio station operator Clear Channel were being cut all across the country. The cuts are to regional markets, that cover more rural, outlying communities, or the country, where much of country music’s traditional demographics live.
The Last Ride, a movie depicting the last days of Hank Williams, has finally been released to the public. On Friday (10-21-11), it debuted in 7 cities in the South, including 4 in Arkansas, where both director Harry Thomason and star Harry Thomas (Elliot from ET), who plays Hank Williams, are from. It will see a wide release in January of 2012.
Two of country music’s most famous sons have apparently buried the hatchet on a long, 6 year feud that in many ways was one-sided, and was fueled by misunderstanding. “Got an amazing care package from Hank III with all 3 new records on vinyl & CD + a sweet rebel flag lighter,” Shooter fired off on his Twitter Feed over the weekend.
On February 13, 2002, Waylon Jennings, one of the great country music Outlaws, passed away due to complications from diabetes. Now a Phoenix-based organization along with the Waylon Jennings Estate, have partnered to set up The Waylon Fund to support state-of-the-art investigations into the genetic and genomic origins of diabetes.
Ahead of the release of their new album Damaged Goods, Reno, NV’s Hellbound Glory has released a new song from it called “You Better Hope You Die Young”. The song can be heard in it’s entirety here. Damaged Goods will be out November 15th on Rusty Knuckles, and 500 copies will also be available in a limited-edition vinyl LP with a digital download card.
Pop country group Rascal Flatts, the top-selling country group of the last decade, best known for their pallid and catchy tunes, prickly hair, and overt use of the pitch-correcting program Auto-tune in both the recorded and live formats, is now a member of the most sacred of all country music institutions, The Grand Ole Opry.
Dale Watson has a brand new album coming out on October 11th, and like the name implies, it was recorded in the historic Sun Studios. Dale pairs up with drummer Mike Bernal and Chris Crepps on upright bass to imbibe his 14 original tracks with the classic Johnny Cash vibe that was originally captured at Sun in the mid-1950’s by Johnny and his “Tennessee Two”.
Saving Country Music’s 2010 Album of the Year winner Hellbound Glory has finally set a release date for their much-anticipated third record. Damaged Goods will be out November 15th on Rusty Knuckles, and 500 copies will also be available in a limited-edition vinyl LP with a digital download card. The album will be available on Amazon and iTunes, and CD purchase from the band on the road.
In about a week, Hank Williams III will be releasing an unprecedented 4 albums via his own label, and then heading out on tour. Ahead of this, I talked with the head hellbilly himself about the new albums, the legacy of fatherhood in the Hank Williams lineage, his role as a founding father of the country music underground, Shooter Jennings and his XXX movement, and how he feels about the unfinished songs of Hank Williams.
On August 17th, Shooter Jennings fired a shot across the bow of Music Row and the “new Outlaw” country movement by releasing the song “Outlaw You” on CMT. Now with the help of JuddFilms, Shooter has released a more fleshed out, viral-style video for the song. It was released today, once again with the help of CMT.
When Hank Williams III started his country music career, his neo-traditionalist sound and spitting image of his grandfather awakened the imagination of country music traditionalists that we were seeing the resurrection of the King of country music himself. That is why when the Lost Notebook of Hank Williams project was announced, many Hank 3 fans were wondering where his name was in the track list.
On October 4th, The Lost Notebook of Hank Williams will be released. As far back as October of 2008, I’ve had serious questions about the origins of these songs, the ethics behind the project, and the artists chosen to flesh out songs that do not include music. Now I have a new concern: why we are being given wrong information.
The Rolling Stone has just reported that a long-rumored project pairing Bob Dylan and Jack White together to oversee the recording of an album of Hank Williams songs that were found without music in a briefcase will be released on October 4th. The title is The Lost Notebook of Hank Williams . It is being released on Dylan’s Egyptian Records imprint…
The Muddy Roots Festival being held in Cookeville, TN this September 3rd & 4th is about a month away now, and Saving Country Music is proud to present to you the complete festival schedule. Please note times, stages, and performers are subject to change. Also, Muddy Roots is looking for workers, volunteers, people willing to lend music gear, transport vehicles, stages, hay bales, etc.
Time Life and the Hank Williams estate have announced the release of another collection of rare recordings from the Hillbilly Shakespeare, Hank Williams: The Legend Begins due out September 13th on a 3-disc set. The first CD called “Rare & Unreleased” includes the earliest recordings of Hank Williams, from 1938 when he was only 15-year-old…
On July 26th, the always polarizing “new Outlaw” Eric Church will be releasing his latest album entitled Chief, which includes a song called “Country Music Jesus”. Saving Country Music has learned that the idea behind Eric Church’s “Country Music Jesus” very well might have come from none other than your humble, lovable Triggerman.
The Hank3 news continues to pour in ahead of his colossal 4 album release on September 6th that includes a double country album with a whooping 41 new songs, and two heavy metal-based albums. The 10 new country songs he debuted in Nashville last week can all be seen here courtesy of Cathy’s Reinstate Hank Bandwagon. Word is “Fadin’ Moon” is the track Tom Waits will appear on.