One of the signs that it’s a new day in country music is how a host performers who started as street buskers, train hoppers, and hitchhikers have now become some of the premier names in genre.
Jelly Roll is America’s favorite feel good story, whether that story is true or not. People want to believe it, because it gives them hope, either in themselves, or in society at large, or both. It’s intoxicating. And so they indulge.
Bob Wills and Western Swing were just as much jazz as they were country, and the same goes for Sweet Meg and ‘Bluer Than Blue.’ It’s boldly and steadfastly traveling back to the ’20s-’40s period, and reviving the era in sound.
They’re Americana anti-stars, working in obscure dialects that sit between the margins of more popular styles, taking up the influences and sounds that have been orphaned by the rest of music and making them feel loved.
Since the Grammy Awards are one of the few awards that weigh artistic merit over commercial success, it makes it a bit more important to pay attention to for fans and advocates of independent artists.
Lucky for us, The Franklin County Trucking Company is here to pull this proud tradition out of the ditch, shine up the chrome, tie some steer horns to the grill, and get it tearassing back down the road.
It’s a warning you’ve likely read here at Saving Country Music quite a few times over the years: Go see your favorite up-and-coming artists in smaller venues and for cheap ticket prices while you still can.
Here we are in a moment in country music custom made for the neotraditional sounds of Midland, and here they are invoking the era in music when folk rock turned into mom rock on the easy listening station.
Billy Strings has taken bluegrass to the arena and beyond. And every time you believe he’s going to abandon the discipline or stretch it too far, he doubles down on his bluegrass roots like he does with “Highway Prayers.”
As self-deprecating and under-the-radar as JP Harris may be, he is no less than a living legend to a lot of the independent country performers in East Nashville and beyond, and to the handful of fervent fans he’s accrued.
Eliza Thorn offers a super tasty, diverse, enriching, and involved album for her official debut that shows off a wide array of influences and talents across a spectrum of roots music, fulfilling the appetite of the audience.
Clearly the death of his father inspired a dramatic recalibration of priorities for Chase Rice, and that is reflected in the songs of this album. It’s definitely more mature and meaningful than his earlier stuff.
During multiple sets over multiple days, the sound and lighting on the Row One stage was so horrendous—both for the audience and the performers—it inspired this whole article to be written about it.
Now that it’s all in the books—and after four long days of humpin’ around from stage to stage in the middle of a late season Ohio River Valley heat wave—here are some of the things that were seen and heard.
The 2024 installment of AmericanaFest transpired in Nashville last week, giving fans, members of the industry, and fellow artists an opportunity to check out much of the talent in the independent side of country and roots.
‘The Last Frontier’ is quietly genius in its simplicity and efficiency. It feels like the best album that Reckless Kelly could squeeze out of themselves in this season of their career. And it feels like that deserves a slow clap.
She’s Miranda Lambert. And the argument can be made that Postcards from Texas is the most Miranda Lambert album that she’s made in years, swear words and all. This is who she is.
There’s a few places you can go in this world to remind you that country music is not just “music.” It is a form of artistic expression and a historical continuum so inextricably interwoven with the fabric of rural American life.
George Strait just released his first album in some five years with Cowboys and Dreamers, and many country fans are finding a lot to love about the album. Here is a track by track look at the album.
Well deep fry my okra. You want country? You damn well better, and bring your appetite, because Shawna Thompson is serving up heaping helpings of it. There’s no shrinkflation in twang happening here.
Well look at this little duo from Alabama, blowing up on socials, getting a tap on the shoulder by Post Malone to open up on his arena tour, and releasing an album that some are saying is the best all year.
It’s never smart to judge and upcoming mainstream album on a lead single. It’s often the worst of the album. But it’s also fair to judge “Friday Night Heartbreaker” as being pretty bad.
When running down a list of the greatest living songwriters, you damn sure better make sure Joshua Ray Walker is somewhere on there, if not near the top. He didn’t win Saving Country Music’s Song of the Year by accident.
George Strait did his duty, to God, to country, to family, and to country music. He owes us nothing more. Anything else is gravy. Yet he still takes moments to contribute like he does on “Cowboys and Dreamers.”