Album Review – Bryce Leatherwood (Self-Titled)
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Everywhere you turn these days, it seems there’s a new country traditionalist crooning out killer music you can immediately warm up to, and with a cut to their jib that assures you this isn’t some interloper.
Kane Brown Is Right About the Racial Tokenism in Country
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So often identity-based media coverage and awards are not about the artists themselves. These media members, outlets, and awards institutions use these artists as tokens and sometimes unwitting pawns to signal their virtue to the public and their peers in the industry.
Red Dirt Artist Chad Sullins of the Last Call Coalition Has Died
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“A rock band that plays country music.” This was the way the Stillwater, Oklahoma-based Red Dirt band Chad Sullins and the Last Call Coalition were described for years. And it was only apt, because it’s also a good way to describe Red Dirt music in general.
You Can Still See Alan Jackson’s Sold Out Hometown Benefit
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In the early morning hours on March 26th, 2021, a deadly and violent EF4 tornado ripped through the town of Newnan, Georgia, completely destroying some 70 homes, and damaging another 1,700 others. When Alan Jackson heard about the tragedy, he stepped up to organize a benefit.
2021 Keith Whitley Tribute Takes On a Good Cause
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Since 1990, fans of country music legend Keith Whitley have marked the time near the singer’s July 1st birthday with the Keith Whitley Memorial Ride. Also part of the event over the last few years has been a tribute show, this year taking place at The Nashville Palace.
Johnny Cash at the Carousel Ballroom: Not an Average Archive Release
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It’s not uncommon for news to come down the pike about the release of some archival audio footage by a bygone musical icon. But the case if this upcoming release of a previously-unheard 1968 Johnny Cash concert is anything but ordinary; it’s certainly something to get excited about.
The Interesting Case of Toby Keith’s New Song “Old School”
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Normally a new single from a mainstream dude who hasn’t landed a Top 10 hit in over a decade wouldn’t necessarily be worth discussing, at least around this water cooler. But Toby Keith’s new song “Old School” is a very interesting case for a host of reasons.
Album Review – Vincent Neil Emerson (Self-Titled)
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This new album is a combination of simple compositions that convey sweet little vignettes from Texas life, and deep reverberative works and leave one shaken to the core from the impact of their stories. This combination makes Vincent Neil Emerson easy to warm to, but lasting in effect.
The Best Country & Roots Songs of 2021 So Far
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The places a song can take you, the realizations a song can impart, this is the reason we cherish music so much, and we cherish songs specifically as the kernel root of all musical experiences that we remember forever. These are the best country and roots songs of 2021 so far.
Song Review – Jason Eady’s “French Summer Sun”
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If there was a songwriter out there with the acumen and muster to bust through all the bleeding-heart platitudes and overwrought sentimentally that makes so many of these songs immediately disposable, it would be Jason Eady. That’s what he does with “French Summer Sun.”
Album Review – Hannah Juanita’s “Hardliner”
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Throwing it all the way back to the era when you had no choice but to be good if you wanted to make country music, Hannah Juanita turns in this classic country record of eleven original songs backed by some superior musicianship that works like manna for those old souls out there.
Why Carly Pearce is a Quality Pick for the Grand Ole Opry
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when it comes to the Opry picking its next contemporary member—meaning not someone past their commercial prime that could instill a little youth and vigor into the institution—there’s just about no better pick than Carly Pearce. Only fitting that Dolly Parton was the one to dole out the invitation.
How George Jones Inspired Blackberry Smoke’s “Lonesome for a Livin'”
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A lot of folks are raving about Blackberry Smoke’s latest album You Hear Georgia as possibly on the the best in their catalog, and maybe one of the best so far in 2021. One of the songs that’s really resonating with folks is the song “Lonesome for a Livin'” featuring Jamey Johnson.