Fans love Elle King for her “devil may care” attitude and over-the-top presentation. She’s a lot, and that’s fine. But the Grand Ole Opry stage is supposed to be a family friendly environment, and it’s not the time or place.
It’s that time of year again to consider who might be in the running for the precious few spots as the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. A committee commissioned by the CMA is going over their final ballots.
The screenplay writers for the biopic have yet to be revealed, but one hopes that they don’t just gloss over or speed through Linda Ronstandt’s time in country music at the start of her career.
When Maren Morris chose to collaborate with Diplo on the new song “42,” she chose to look the other way from Diplo’s extremely checkered past when it comes to his treatment of women leading up to the present tense.
Taking a step back and zooming out, it’s an entirely different setup in 2024 compared to when Saving Country Music was founded going on 16 years ago. It all begs the question, “Has country music been saved?”
As we look back on 2023 and before we look forward to 2024, it’s important we take the time to pay tribute to the important individuals in country and roots music who left us over the last year.
Boy didn’t the idea of Post Malone making a big country album or releasing country songs seem like a sexy idea over the last few years. Back in 2020 when he was running around in T-shirts from Tyler Childers.
Make no mistake about it. Jelly Roll is not a country artist. The music he makes is not country music, with some minor exceptions. And not to be pedantic or arrogant about it, but this is pretty inarguable.
The question you should be asking is not what a list forgot that you already know about, but what the list covers that you’ve never heard before. There’s no value in an outlet reaffirming what you’re already aware of.
Some have criticized George Strait over the years for not writing more of his own material. But there is nobody in country music who is more aware of how important his songwriters were to him than George Strait.
It’s hard for a country fan to not get a little misty-eyed and reminisce fondly upon this man who contributed grandly to the traditional roots music world, despite his personal struggles.
Dolly Parton may be a living country legend, but the reason she landed this gig is she just released her new rock album called “Rockstar,” fulfilling a promise to those who voted for her to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
We all remember the headlines. We all read the quotes. We all heard the songs and watched the videos where Maren Morris said that “country music” was rotten at its roots and the she was leaving the genre.
If this dark little corner of the internet never did anything else worth a damn, at least it introduced The Wilder Blue to country music megastar Luke Combs. The Wilder Blue have a new album coming out on November 21st.
Any objective assessment of how this lineup was curated will come to the conclusion that political affiliation was a critical part of the decision making process. “It’s for the people who love America,” is the slogan.
Now there are multiple country music megafests planned for the spring of 2024, and all within a few hours of each other, all catering more to independent fans than mainstream ones, three of which that are on consecutive weekends.
Lainey Wilson is the first woman in twelve years to win Entertainer of the Year. She’s only the 2nd woman to win it since 2000 (Taylor Swift won it twice). How in the world could Lainey Wilson pull off such a thing?
Welcome everyone to the notorious Saving Country Music CMA Awards LIVE blog. As the 2023 presentation transpires, snark, keen observations, earned praise, and probably a few swear words.
When American music legend Jimmy Buffett passed away on September 1st, it became patently evident to all of us just how important this man and his music had been to popular music irrespective of genre.
Whenever someone wants to define what “country music” is, or define the most pure and traditional version of the art form, or draw the greatest contrast or comparison between the pop versions, his name is Mark Chesnutt.
Every single year, the Country Music Association is going to find someone from outside of the country music genre to perform on the CMA Awards. That’s just the way things are. This year it’s Post Malone.
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s music and advocacy have resulted in unquestionable benefits to the culture and society of the United States and Canada. But questions surrounding her identity have significantly tainted those contributions.
The skit does a pretty good job lampooning all the tropes of country music’s Bro-Country era, including the obsession with inane lists of everyday items, hip-hop gesticulations, and predictable and formulaic production.
What can I say. After nearly 16 years, some 8,200 published articles, I’m humbled and overjoyed to have been graced with this incredible honor. I thought this day would never come. But it’s a testament to hard work.