Opry 100th Special Scores Big Ratings, Offers Lessons for Awards Shows
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The Grand Ole Opry’s 100th Anniversary celebration on Wednesday, March 19th was a big hit. The 3-hour special on NBC also did really well in the ratings, despite focusing on legends more than current stars.
Quaker City Night Hawks Drummer Apologizes for AmericanaFest Incident
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Drummer Aaron Haynes of the Ft. Worth-based Quaker City Night Hawks offered a lengthy apology early Tuesday (9-17) afternoon for his conduct at AmericanaFest last week where he berated the sound man working one of the band’s shows, and eventually punched and shoved employees of the venue, and threw parts of his drum set across the stage.
Review – Episode 2 Of Ken Burns Country Music Film, “Hard Times”
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The first episode of the Ken Burns Country Music documentary tasked itself to define what country music is by delving deep into its origins and original purveyors. The second episode called “Hard Times” began the work of explaining why the music means so much to so many people.
Sierra Ferrell Makes Stunning Debut at AmericanaFest
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To a packed audience, Sierra Ferrell absolutely dazzled with her incredible songwriting and singing, backed by a simple band of fiddle, upright bass, and vintage drums. Sierra has a spunk and power to her, yet it’s all encapsulated in a flawless delivery. There are such amazing layers and textures in her voice and style.
Review – Ken Burns Country Music Documentary, Ep. 1 “The Rub”
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Over seven years of full-time labor on the part of numerous people, over 101 interviews conducted, countless hours of archival work digging up old photographs, audio, video, and other vintage material, and an elongated year-long promotional effort finally culminated in the broadcast of the debut episode for the Ken Burns Country Music epic.
Ken Burns Country Music Film Comes at the Best & Worst Time
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The broadcast of the Ken Burns-produced 8-part, 16-hour documentary on country music could very well be the most significant event to happen in country music in 2019, if not in the next few years. For country music to receive the expansive documentary treatment for America’s preeminent filmmaking archivist could have significant implications.
Chris Stapleton’s Creative Juices Appear to be Flowing Again
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Though Chris Stapleton started on the mainstream side of music as a songwriter specifically, his output has significantly slowed over the last few years. However this might be changing. Over this summer during his All-American Roadshow Tour, Stapleton has been featuring a couple of new songs.
What’s Been Bothering Me About This New Tanya Tucker Album
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As Tanya’s first original record in 17 years, ‘While I’m Livin” has undeniably helped put Tanya back on the map. Producers Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings deserve all the credit in the world for taking the initiative to make this record happen. However, there were a couple of curious and concerning things about the project.
Quaker City Nighthawks Drummer Melts Down at AmericanaFest
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After the Americana Music Awards Wednesday night (9-12), Paul Cauthen hosted his “Big Velvet Revue” showcase at the Basement East in Nashville. After an extended delay in the show, the drummer for the band, Aaron Haynes, decided to come out from behind the drum set, and accost the sound man from the mic.
Blackberry Smoke to Open for Guns n’ Roses – Plot Live Album
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The big opportunities keep coming for the preeminent Southern rock band of our time, Blackberry Smoke. They recently played some big gigs opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and now have been tapped by Guns n’ Roses on their upcoming fall tour. They also are releasing a new live album, ‘Blackberry Smoke Homecoming: Live in Atlanta.’
2019 Americana Music Awards Winners and Recap
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The 18th Annual Americana Music Awards transpired Wednesday night (9-11) at the Country Music Mother Church, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, with lots of love spread out among a diverse list of winners, but John Prine emerging as the biggest winner walking away with both Album of the Year for ‘Tree of Forgiveness,’ and Song of the Year
Details Revealed For Cody Jinks’ Two (Yes, Two) New Albums
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Well the cat’s out of the bag. We’re not just getting one new album from Cody Jinks in 2019, we’re getting two. The first we’ve known about for a while and is called After The Fire due out October 11th with what appears like a campfire shooting the middle finger on the front. Then the […]
Jason Aldean Just Released a Song Called “We Back”
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If it was the early 90s, and Jason Aldean was opening for AC/DC or a born again Ozzy Osbourne, perhaps this mess would fly. But this is 2019, and supposed to be country music. Where is the Prince of Darkness to bite the head off a Jason Aldean when you need him?