Release Radar, Most Anticipated New Albums for 2nd Half of 2026
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Look alive country music fans! The world might be coming apart and the economy crashing, but country music is here to help get you through it. It happens to be that the second half of 2026 is packed with top releases.
Sturgill Simpson’s “Cuttin’ Grass” Sees Strong Chart Debut
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Without any physical product being sold yet (it’s still being manufactured), Sturgill Simpson’s surprise bluegrass album Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 The Butcher Shoppe Sessions reprising 20 songs from his catalog in bluegrass form sees a surprisingly strong debut in the charts.
Album Review – Rachel Brooke’s “The Loneliness in Me”
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Apparently not enough hearts have been broken, not enough tears cried, not enough minds sent swooning, and not enough sorrow sown. If you want something done right, you often have to do it yourself, and the Queen of Underground Country is back to show all you whipper snappers how it’s done.
Charley Pride to Receive Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award
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Charley Pride will be the 2020 recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award handed out by the Country Music Association. To be awarded during the 54th Annual CMA Awards set to transpire on Wednesday, November 11th from Nashville and broadcast on ABC.
Newest Adds to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist (#72)
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The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats. New songs have just been added.
Fly High, Jerry Jeff Walker
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Though we’ll never forget, it will be impossible to not remember all those good times Jerry Jeff afforded us, and feel a rush of incredible sadness proportionate to the impact Jerry Jeff Walker had on music, and people, and places, which was infinite.
Country & Songwriting Legend Jerry Jeff Walker Has Died
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From contributing one of the most important folk songs of the American songbook in history, to becoming a seminal member of the Austin, TX music scene and founding father of Texas country music, there is no comparing, and no replacing the impact of performer, songwriter, musical icon, and gonzo musician Jerry Jeff Walker.
Sierra Ferrell Offers First Taste of New Music
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We’ve been warning your ever since the West Virginia gypsy jazz ragtime roots country songbird Sierra Ferrell signed to Rounder Records last August that she was one to have on your short list for the next breakout artist from the independent country and roots realm.
Album Review – David Quinn’s “Letting Go”
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With the embarrassment of riches independent country music fans enjoy these days amid countless options of where and who they can get their country fix from beyond corporate radio, you can make the mistake of overlooking Midwest-based country singer and performer David Quinn.
Laur Joamets Joins Laura Reed in New Project, “Lore”
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For those that like to keep up with the doings of guitar player Laur “Little Joe” Joamets—the Estonian ax slinger who set houses on fire behind Sturgill Simpson from 2015 to 2017—he’s formed a new project with Nashville-based and noted blues singer Laura Reed called “Lore.”
Why Jennifer Nettles Is an Imperfect Advocate for “Equal Play”
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The recipient of the inaugural CMT Equal Play Award has been announced as Jennifer Nettles, known both as a solo performer, and most notably for her work in the country music duo Sugarland. But there is a problem with presenting Jennifer Nettles as a “equal play” advocate.
Album Review – “Yellow Rose (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)”
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If you’re a traditional country fan, you’re already used to feeling like a foreigner in your own time and place; an oddball, an outcast, forgotten, a freak. Who would want to listen to those old, outmoded songs, or even new ones that emulate them? The new movie called ‘Yellow Rose’ delves into this.
Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Austin City Limits Debut to Stream Online
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Ray Wylie Hubbard has waited 45 years to finally make his debut on the Austin City Limits stage. And though COVID-19 restrictions mean there will be no audience in attendance for this monumental event that Ray Wylie and his fans have been lobbying for, the taping of the episode will stream live online.