Taylor Swift, who just made her big switch from country to pop, is the focus of Rolling Stone’s cover story in the latest issue, and the in-depth feature finds Miss Swift dunking in the ocean fully clothed and dropping some very interesting tidbits that could help country music perform its postmortem about why Taylor Swift left and what it really means.
When the CMA Awards nominees were announced on Wednesday September 3rd, one of the most high-profile snubs in years occurred when Jason Aldean was left in the shade with zero nominations. As one of country music’s few stadium draws, and as the reigning Male Vocalist of the Year of the rival ACM Awards, the snub seemed somewhat curious.
It’s that penultimate moment—that tipping point—when a town or neighborhood known for it’s cool, rich, and creatively-vibrant culture becomes so awash with interlopers, gentrifying hipsters, and retiring baby boomers that the critical mass point is reached in redevelopment, rising rents, and real estate prices and the entire thing implodes.
Today (9-4) at a press conference in Chicago ahead of the very first concert of Garth’s world tour and his official comeback from retirement, he announced that he was going digital, and doing so by launching his own digital company. Garth has launched GhostTunes LLC, which allows the artist to select how their songs or albums are sold.
On Wednesday morning (9-3), the nominees for the 48th Annual CMA Awards were announced on ABC’s Good Morning America and through a CMA Live stream. The 2014 CMA Awards will happen on Wednesday November 5th on ABC, and will be hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. Leading all nominees with nine is Miranda Lambert.
Last week Bieber, shirtless and bored, and joined by B-level rapping prospects—like he always seems to have hanging around him in an attempt to make it look like he has friends and any semblance of street cred—decided to take to Instagram and post a snippet of his mocking rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” Then later he posted a picture of himself wearing a cowboy hat sideways…
Brad Paisley is mad as hell. “I’m not going to take this anymore,” he attests to The Associated Press in an article posed on Monday (9-1). He later goes on to declare, “It’s not fair.” What is Brad not going to take anymore? What is not fair? According to Paisley, it’s not fair that he got jobbed by the criticism of his song “Accidental Racist” from last year. And now the critics are being unfair…
Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers are like a force of nature and couldn’t stay gone for long. After their nearly three-year hiatus, they are about to embark on a big tour starting at the Muddy Roots Festival and routing up through the Northeast with the Whiskey Shivers opening. And according to the band’s frontman, there’s also a new album in the works.
The underlying problem is that free music is quickly becoming seen as an inalienable right for all Americans, and all of the world’s consumers, if we haven’t reached that dangerous plateau already. And the even more dangerous step of expecting musicians to pay to have their music heard is becoming more of a reality every day—evidenced by this Super Bowl Halftime news.
At the end of the “Deadman’s Blues” video (spoiler alert), it shows Matt passed out, and being resuscitated unsuccessfully by paramedics. The downward spiral the video portrays very much mirrors the real life stories of many musicians, and almost mirrored that of Matt Woods. “Apparently, blood pressure isn’t like pinball. High scores are frowned upon,”
Then they decided to cover “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC, and all hell broke loose. “We knew to expect some following on YouTube thanks to our previous videos, but this much attention came as a bit of a surprise,” says Pukki Kaalinen. At the time of posing, Steve ‘N’ Seagulls’ “Thunderstruck” cover has received over 5 million views and counting.
Call it Bro-Country, call it just plain bad, but Merle Haggard apparently prefers to call the puss oozing from the open sore that is modern-day radio country “Boogie Boogie Wham-Bam.” And hey, he’s Merle freaking Haggard, so he can call it whatever the hell he wants. “Too much boogie boogie wham-bam and not enough substance. It’s all the same musicians, too,” Merle said.
After his award-winning work with artists like Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, Jamey Johnson, and so many more, when you see the name Dave Cobb associated with an artist, it’s probably worth paying a little bit closer attention. And such is the case when it comes to burgeoning country artist Lucette from Edmonton, Canada, who just released her first single and video.
The Gambler Kenny Rogers has put his palatial $4.8 million-dollar palace on the market in Atlanta, and the 12,00 square foot home that features six bedrooms, eight full baths, an elevator, 10 fireplaces, a pool, a home theater, and a Roman spa on 1.26-acres is enough to make you ooh and ahh. But when Saving Country Music took a more detailed look at some of the captions for the pictures…
Though Taylor Swift leaving country music could very much be seen as a victory from the Saving Country Music perspective, to the country music industry perspective, they just lost this generations biggest music star, and an money-making powerhouse. And the cultural and economic impact of this development cannot be overstated.
Monday afternoon (8-18), Taylor Swift conducted a 30-minute Yahoo! online stream from New York City in front of a live audience with all the irrational exuberance of a Ron Popeil infomercial, where she unveiled a new song called “Shake It Off,” announced that her new album 1989 to be released on October 27th, and said her next album will be her “very first documented, official pop album.”
As one of the Pacific Northwest’s strongest classic country voices, Cahalen Morrison has found himself as a member of multiple incarnations of country and roots bands and other collaborations that have seen him share stages with the likes of Eli West, Caleb Klauder, and Kelly Joe Phelps just to name a few. Now he’s poised to release a solo effort through Free Dirt Records on August 19th.
In an August 7th article in The Chicago Tribune, Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line was characterized as being “unhappy” about Maddie & Tae’s debut single “Girl In A Country Song”. Now, on-air personality Broadway of Country 92.5’s Electric Barnyard Show has interviewed Maddie & Tae, and asked them directly about Brian Kelley’s comments.
Ooooh! Ahhhh! What forever will Taylor Swift announce when she holds her much-anticipated live Yahoo video stream and Q&A on August 18th at 5:00 PM Eastern???? …. Give me a break. The histrionics that mainstream country artists go through to release an album, and the hoops they make their poor fans jump through these days is just a little bit silly, don’t you think?
Thomas Rhett took time away from getting hammered with Jesus and writing idiotic checklist songs to talk with Cody Alan of CMT’s After Midnite recently, and not so surprisingly, Thomas had some dumb things to say regarding his take on Bro-Country. Rhett told an eager and servile Cody Alan, “I just have never actually used the term ‘bro country’….”
Either Johnny Cash is rolling over in his grave so fast it’s registering on the Richter Scale, or the playing of this song will open up a portal of souls that will see all of country music’s greats come back to life in full body armor riding on the back of flying battle cats and armed with swords that shoot lasers to battle the forces of evil for the very fate of planet Earth for the next 10,000 years.
When The Chicago Tribune interviewed Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley earlier this week, his ability to laugh at himself, or Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In A Country Song” specifically, seemed quite elusive. Writer Allison Stewart characterized Maddie & Tae questions to Kelley as “…the only ones Kelley, in a recent phoner, doesn’t sound happy to answer.”
It’s been a working theory for years here at Saving Country Music that country is constantly trying to apologize for itself, and explain away all of the stereotypes of the genre to garner wider acceptance. Country spends all of its energy trying prove that it’s not a bunch of rednecks and racists and old people’s music, instead of educating people on the beauty of country
“What I love about CMA Music Fest, it reflects where country music is, you know?” Dierks Bentley says. “It’s a young, current, hip thing that’s happening that deserves to be in a downtown city center that’s new and growing and feels vibrant and just feels … represents the music properly. You know, this is not like your grandfather’s country music anymore.”