Leave it to Garth Brooks to figure out how to finagle life to make sure he has some product to place on an end cap come Christmastime. This year it will be a re-release of a live album, and his latest studio album ‘Fun.’
Unexpectedly and without any explanation, Jamey Johnson has released his first truly new recording in over eight years. On Friday, October 16th, Johnson’s take on “America The Beautiful” populated on streaming sites without any fanfare or media push. Though it’s not an original song, it comes as a welcome surprise to fans.
The writer of “Whiskey River,” and a legend among legends in Texas music and beyond, Johnny Bush has died at the age of 85. The Texas native should have been a superstar, and a top name of the Outlaw era in country music. But right as his career as a solo performer started to take off, he began to lose his voice.
The protracted wait for new music from country music singer, songwriter, guitarist and piano player Ward Davis will soon be over, as he’s announced the release of his latest record Black Cats and Crows via Thirty Tigers, produced by the legendary Jim “Moose” Brown, and has released the title track.
On Friday evening, October 16th, PBS will air the presentation of the Grammy’s special merit awards for the year’s Lifetime Achievement recipients. The event is capped off with a tribute to John Prine, whose segment runs almost twice as long as any other tribute.
Many have notice the slow, but palpable shift in the 25-year-old Saskatchewan native Colter Wall’s voice and style since releasing his debut EP ‘Imaginary Appalachia’ in 2015, and recording a live version of “The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie” at Original 16 Brewery that now has over 12 million views.
The Next Waltz project helmed by Bruce Robison will be issuing their 3rd compilation volume on November 27th. Featuring songs from Flatland Cavalry, The Panhandlers, Charley Crockett, Jack Ingram, and more, the volume comes on the heels of Vol. 2 reaching #1 on Americana radio.
Well, Sturgill Simpson was planning to surprise all our asses this Friday, October 16th by releasing his long-anticipated bluegrass record full of acoustic interpretations of some of his most favored songs, but torrent sites in Europe screwed it all up by leaking it early, and now that cats out of the bag.
It’s all part of the inventive way Charley Crockett has been promoting Welcome To Hard Times, including a series of videos shot Out West and other places, with the one constant being a canary yellow rotary phone. Crockett can be seen in the latest installment for the song “Wreck Me” singing into the phone.
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats. New songs have just been added.
Saturday, October 10th would have been John Prine’s 74th birthday. The revered songwriting legend passed away on April 7th due to COVID-19. But there will still be plenty of remembering and celebration to mark the occasion., including re-airing the popular “Picture Show: A Tribute Celebrating John Prine.”
Ever since releasing their debut self-titled record in late May, the newly-formed Texas music supergroup recording under the name ‘Hill Country’ has been receiving worthy praise for their music. But as some have remarked, the name is just generic enough for it to get buried or confused.
Songwriter, performer, producer, and record label owner Ray Pennington was killed Wednesday, October 7th in a house fire in Sumner County in a rural part of Hendersonville, just north and east of Nashville. He’s known for writing “I’m a Ramblin’ Man” for Waylon Jennings.
Trumpet player Lorenzo Molina Ruiz for the country and Latin group The Mavericks, and his friend Orlando Morales were allegedly assaulted early Sunday morning, October 4th, at Tony’s Eat & Drink in Franklin, Tennessee, allegedly for speaking Spanish.
It only took 45 years, and many many impassioned pleas by fans and supporters and believers (including here at Saving Country Music), but Ray Wylie Hubbard will finally be appearing on his own segment on the longest-running music show on television, ‘Austin City Limits.’
Just like the song, legendary American music artist and songwriter Mac Davis will be buried in his hometown of Lubbock, TX, and in a pair of jeans, his wife of 38 years Lise Davis has confirmed. One of Mac Davis’s signature songs concludes with the line, “And when I die you can bury me in Lubbock Texas in my jeans.”
The Grand Ole Opry will begin celebrating its 95th Anniversary on Saturday, October 3rd, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, gathering for the country music institution’s 4,944th consecutive Saturday night broadcast with Dierks Bentley, Vince Gill, Terri Clark, and Lorrie Morgan.
The latest Tyler Childers album Long Violent History is not exactly a conventional studio album since it was a surprise release, and only contains one original song along with eight traditional fiddle tunes. But with the way Tyler has been outperforming, it’s interesting see how it’s doing.
John Prine’s victory lap for a life well lived and a legendary music career was cut short on April 7th when he passed away from complications due to COVID-19. But Austin City Limits will be paying tribute to the legendary songwriter by leading off their 46th season with a retrospective of Prine.
On Halloween 2020, not only do you have the pleasure of looking forward to little asymptomatic vectors of disease gracing your stoop looking for “fun size” Snickers, you will also get the opportunity to unravel the latest obtuse riddle emanating from the headquarters of Hellbound Glory.
It was one of the coolest things in country music while it lasted. But one of the cool things about The Time Jumpers is nothing lasts forever aside from the band itself. Nashville’s Western Swing house band has been entertaining crowds with interchangeable players and keeping traditions alive since 1998.
Once named by Saving Country Music as One of the Seven Songwriters Who Will Change Your Life, the output of 50-year-old Kentucky native Will Oldham is usually a bit more folk-oriented in nature. But “Dirty Halo” has a country heart.
When the COVID-19 shutdowns began in mid March, the Grand Ole Opry was one of the only live music institutions that endured, with the first non-audience show transpiring on March 14th with the evening’s regular scheduled slate of performers.
The Texas, Red Dirt, and Americana-oriented Mile 0 Fest in Key West, Florida will be moving forward in 2021, and they have just announced the festival’s preliminary lineup. Usually occurring in late January/early February, they have moved the date later in the year due to COVID-19 concerns.