New Adds to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist (#167)
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Social media algorithms, AI-generated songs, astroturfed Tik-Tok stars, and all kinds of other hijinks make it harder to find authentic songs from real artists. But that’s all you’ll find on this painstakingly-curated playlist.
Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Boland File Suit Against Management
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The Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Boland, and the Medicine Stone Festival held annually in Oklahoma have all filed suit against their former management, Cory McDaniels Enterprises LLC, for what they claim are irregularities in accounting and the handling of financial affairs, and to be released from their management contracts.
John Prine’s Prospects for the Country Music Hall of Fame
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With the recent death of John Prine at the hands of COVID-19, the question has been posed by many about the legendary songwriter’s prospects of ever being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It’s an interesting discussion point for sure, and one with a few important qualifiers.
Album Review – John Anderson’s “Years”
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What a great little late career record this is. With all the death and sadness country music has been suffering from lately, it feels so good to get something special from a guy you remember fondly from the past, who proves he still has plenty to offer in the present. You don’t need to rely on weepy-eyed reflection or nostalgia to get into this record.
Willie Nelson Paid Proper Tribute in A&E’s ‘American Outlaw’ (review)
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Organized by Blackbird Presents who’ve put together a host of these tribute shows over the years, usually if you can’t swing a ticket, you miss your opportunity to see so much country music star power assembled in one place. But for this particular event, footage from the tribute was compiled, and is premiering on A&E Easter Sunday.
Sturgill Simpson Tests Positive for the Coronavirus
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Sturgill Simpson is the latest artist from the country/roots realm to test positive for COVID-19. The songwriter, performer, and producer said in a statement on Saturday (4/11) that he had been suffering from chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels when his wife took him to a local hospital ER.
T. Graham Brown, Trace Adkins, Jason Crabb on The Grand Ole Opry
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Celebrating Easter early, and once again offering one of the few live entertainment options amid the Coronavirus shutdown, traditional country artist T. Graham Brown, Grand Ole Opry member Trace Adkins, and Southern Gospel singer Jason Crabb will all hold forth from the Grand Ole Opry house.
Album Review – Sam Hunt’s “Southside”
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If true country music is dead, then Sam Hunt’s DNA is all over the crime scene. As the man who single-handedly eroded more barriers between popular music genres than anyone else in the modern era, it is he who you can point the ugly finger of blame towards for the fact that most all modern music sounds the same.
Joe Diffie Sees Career Best Chart Performance After Passing
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Country music seems to have been hit disproportionately hard when it comes to deaths and illnesses due to COVID-19, with the passing of Joe Diffie being one of the first big losses in music entertainment early in the pandemic. But if there was any silver lining, it’s that fans are purchasing, downloading, and streaming their music.
Tyler Childers Full Band Concert from Pickathon Set to Stream
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The Tyler Childers set was captured on Pickathon’s legendary Woods Stage in the tall Douglas Fir forest that surrounds the festival grounds the weekend he released his latest album ‘Country Squire.’ Yours truly was standing stage side for the set, and can attest to its quality. Admission is free, but the concert is a MusiCares fundraiser.
Album Review – Logan Ledger (Self-Titled)
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“Vintage” is the only way to fairly catalog this self-titled release, with the influences of classic country, traditional pop, mod, and even a little early psychedelia appearing throughout these eleven tracks. If you’re thinking country, think more of Jim Reeves or early George Jones, and less Waylon Jennings. Think The Byrds meet Nashville.
John Prine, a Jukebox, & The Perfect Country & Western Song
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We all know what the perfect country & western song is, because David Allan Coe told us. He also told us why it was the perfect country & western song, and who wrote it. That would be the great Steve Goodman, and the song of course is “You Never Even Called Me By My Name.” But John Prine was a silent partner.
John Prine Leaves Us With The Wisdom from Another World (RIP)
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We were lucky that we had John Prine as long as we did—on loan from the cosmos. But life on this cold ball of rock was always too ordered and normal for John. So now he’s moved on to where light and love comprise the ground and sky, to spin his little stories that might seem silly or even inane if written on paper, but rang profound in our hearts and souls.