There is something very distinctly American about the mass shooting, isn’t there? It’s like apple pie and Chevrolet pickup trucks, just not as wholesome, obviously. Though there are cultures and countries throughout the world that are decidedly more violent and more unsafe to inhabit, there is something interwoven…
According to numerous reports, Tom Petty was rushed to the hospital Sunday (10-1) night when he was found in his Malibu home unconscious, and not breathing, having suffered from cardiac arrest. They were able to get a pulse on Petty as he was rushed to UCLA Santa Monica Hospital where he was placed on life support.
“I feel like we manifested [Midland], because this is our playground…,” says Shane McAnally. “When these guys walked in and were a vehicle for those kinds of songs, and also quite capable of writing them as well, it was like ‘Weird Science,’ like, it wasn’t our design, but it’s almost like we put into a machine what we wanted, and out came Midland.”
Dolly Parton, appearing in the capacity of one of the primary cast members for the 1980 smash comedy 9 to 5, took the stage with fellow leads from the movie Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, to hand out the evening’s Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries award. Lily and Jane decided to use the platform to launch into our fair President.
On Episode 97 of Chris Shiflett’s Walking The Floor podcast, the Foo Fighters guitarist and part-time Americana solo performer interviewed Chris Stapleton, and the topic of Saving Country Music came up in the context of criticizing music in mainstream country.
Each year the release of the Stagecoach Festival lineup is a point of intrigue as people sift though the names and remark on the font sizes, and see who has been tapped to play the 3-day event in Indio, CA in April. As arguably one of the biggest country music festivals all year, the artists booked say a lot about who is rising in country music.
For many country fans, the way you would deal with the death of a close friend or a loved one would be to put a Don Williams record on. So what are you supposed to do when Don Williams is the one who has died? The memories are so rich and the voice is so familiar, it’s like Don Williams is part of your family.
Today, September 8th, 2017, would have been the 85th birthday of Patsy Cline—one of the most iconic, influential, and immediately recognizable voices in the history of country music. But she died tragically in a 1963 plane crash near Camden, Tennessee that also killed country starts Cowboy Copas, and Hankshaw Hawkins.
Imagine finding something that you believe very well might be your true life’s purpose and passion, only to have it snatched away from you via physical ailment. That is the story of Josh Killian from Kennesaw, Georgia, an amateur steel guitar player turned founder of the new nonprofit called Steel Resolve.
Jason Isbell is not country. He is decidedly Americana. But Jason Isbell deserves his nomination for Album of the Year by the CMAs just as much as anyone has ever deserved that distinction. When songwriting is as good as Jason Isbell’s, it transcends genre. Every genre wants to call it their own.
Look, Steely Dan is not for everyone. Let’s face it, it’s sort of a weird band that’s too jazzy to be progressive rock, and too rock to be considered jazz, that was slotted into the slosh pit of the classic rock space by Clear Channel some 35 years ago, and asked to fend for itself among legacy AC/DC and Lynyrd Skynyrd cuts.
In wanton disrespect of the Labor Day holiday (aren’t journalists laborers too?), the Country Music Association announced their nominations for the 2017 CMA Awards on Monday (9-4) morning, with Miranda Lambert leading all nominees with five total nominations.
You knew it was going to happen. With American society fully submerged in politically-charged waters, and the media looking for any narrative they can use to stir dissent among the population to instill a sense of dependency on media outlet’s drip of “news” and perspective, a natural calamity is the perfect opportunity to pit people against each other.
Chris Young is the newest invitee to the Grand Ole Opry? No offense the the feather-haired one, but they may as well have invited a fern. It’s not necessarily a bad pick, but it just doesn’t elicit a change in the pulse rate enough either way to make the new invitation do what all new invitations to the Grand Ole Opry must…
Even if you’ve never heard Erin Enderlin sing, you’re clearly familiar with her work. She is the highly acclaimed songwriter behind songs “Monday Morning Church” by Alan Jackson, “Last Call” by Lee Ann Womack, and a number of other songs from Randy Travis, Terri Clark, Joey + Rory and Tyler Farr among others.
A brand new music festival in the Texas Music scene recently popped up called Mile 0 Fest, scheduled to occur in Key West, Florida February 7th – 11th 2018 at the new Truman Waterfront Park Amphitheatre. With an incredible lineup including headliners Cody Jinks and the Turnpike Troubadours….
Austin City Limits has just announced the lineup for their upcoming 43rd season, and sorry Austin musicians who the show was originally commissioned to chronicle and document, but you won’t get any attention from your local Public Television Station, , unless it’s a seminar about what to do about Austin’s evaporating music scene.
There will be one point of interest for some country fans at the 2017 VMA Awards on MTV. One of those “authentic, hardscrabble, Texas country” guys from the new band Midland will be up for no less than four VMA awards during the 2017 presentation. How, you say?
In the first song released from the Troubadours’ upcoming album A Long Way From Your Heart out October 20th, a familiar female protagonist for many Turnpike Troubadours fans re-emerges. “Lorrie,” who has now made an appearance in numerous Turnpike songs, becomes the heroine of “The Housfire.”
Music can teach us that we all love, we all face fears, and we all can overcome whatever inward or outward oppression that may be dogging us to flourish and prosper. If a music artist chooses to broach political subjects or to speak out against injustices in their music, them more power to them. But don’t hold silence accountable as complicity.
Though like all true country music Outlaws, Steve Earle knows that the “Outlaw” term is not about how you conduct yourself in your personal life, but how you take a stance on creative control of your music. That doesn’t mean a more Outlaw lifestyle wasn’t apt to find the individuals who fell under the “Outlaw” term…
This article has been updated. You’ve got to hand it to her. Taylor Swift is a mad genius when it comes to marketing, and the timing of when and how to release new music. Please don’t take that as criticism, or a backhanded compliment. It’s her cunning, and her ability to get the planets to […]
Though you can’t mistake Ringo’s Liverpool accent, the steel guitar is laid on thick, and the answer portion of the chorus is indicative of Countrypolitan. If you ever wanted to hear one of The Beatles do a straight ahead country song, this would be it.
Normally the release of a Greatest Hits album would not be a reason for consternation, but Curb Records has a long history of re-releasing songs under different titles for various purposes that only serve the label’s best interests instead of the public or the artists.