New Adds to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist (#165)
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If you only ever interact with one thing Saving Country Music does, it should be this playlist. The articles are too long and too opinionated? Don’t have the time? This playlist boils everything down to direct suggestions.
Album Review – Matt Woods “Natural Disasters”
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Natural Disasters is quite a bit more on the up-tempo and agreeable side from its predecessors in the Matt Woods catalog, but in a good way. Leaning more in the rock direction will cause some to miss the steel guitar and such that has textured his music in the past, but the energy and attitude embedded in the 10 tracks give it power.
Yes, The Sale of Big Machine is Big, and So Is Taylor Swift’s Concerns
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You’re a music fan. And sure, you know a little something about labels and producers and how all this stuff is necessary to get the music to you. But it so quickly gets bogged down in minutia and detail, does the sale of one huge music company to another really affect you, or affect the music in some significant way that you should care?
Chris Stapleton Behind Unexpected Charitable Donation
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Massive country stars making charitable donations are nothing new. In fact it can feel like a daily occurrence as they work to polish up their public personas while also making their accountants smile with tax deductible write-offs. But it’s very rare that a country artist makes a donation without some big check exchanging hands at a public ceremony.
Marty Stuart to Reissue Magnum Opus “The Pilgrim”
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20 years ago this month, Marty Stuart released his conceptualized 20-song magnum opus The Pilgrim as his final album on a contract with MCA Nashville. A commercial flop that rendered no radio singles, it nonetheless went onto become one of the most revered releases in the Marty Stuart collection.
“No!” Charlie Daniels Says To Florida Georgia Line Changing Country
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Don’t ask Charlie Daniels a straight question unless you want a straight answer. Recently while celebrating the 40th Anniversary of his signature song “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” Daniels was asked if he was okay with bands like Florida Georgia Line changing the sound of country, to which he responded emphatically and succinctly, “No.”
Album Review – Shane Smith & The Saints “Hail Mary”
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Like the landscapes and experiences one may encounter on a lengthy journey, ‘Hail Mary’ guides the audience through a wide range of moods and moments, from fears to euphoria, with Shane Smith composing involved stories and lessons in songs that are made to feel even more monumental by the earnestness of the music.
Song Review – Jon Pardi’s “Ain’t Always The Cowboy”
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Jon Pardi continues to prove himself as one of the most staunch traditionalists in the country mainstream, and though you can be assured that his upcoming record ‘Heartache Medication’ will have a handful of songs that will pander to radio play, his latest release from the album “Ain’t Always The Cowboy” will not be one of them.
Dave Cobb Added to Country Music Hall of Fame Board
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Country and Americana producer extraordinaire, and multi CMA and Grammy Award winner Dave Cobb can now add Country Music Hall of Fame board officer to his resume. He was announced with a host of other new officers by the Country Music Hall of Fame this week, along with the reelection of Vince Gill as the board’s President.
Miranda Lambert’s Shakeup at Producer Feels Significant
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It felt quite significant this week when Miranda Lambert revealed that she’s doing something that she hasn’t done over the 14 years and six major studio albums of her career, which is switch producers. A long time collaborator with Frank Liddell, Miranda has let it be known she’s now going with well-known mainstream country producer Jay Joyce.
Billy Strings Signs to Rounder, Sets Release of New Album “HOME”
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If you’re eyes are solely affixed to Texas and Kentucky, and the Outlaw and underground scenes for who may rise up among the ranks of musicians and help save country music, you’re gaze is overshooting one of the most impressive classes of young bluegrass musicians the subgenre has birthed in history. Right at the top is Billy Strings.
Cody Johnson Lays Down The Truth About Today’s Country
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Feeling the spirit in the Ryman Auditorium, Cody Johnson addressed the sold out crowd about what country music means to him, and the commitment it truly takes to consider yourself a country artist. Cody Johnson was dead on about the importance of supporting country artists who don’t just use the word “country” as a sales tactic.
Blackberry Smoke Announces “‘Till The Wheels Fall Off” Tour
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Southern Rock revivalists Blackberry Smoke have been touring like mad in 2019, and they’re not stopping anytime soon. Now they’ve added a bunch of new dates for this fall appropriately called ‘Till The Wheels Fall Off Tour, taking them through the South and Midwest, and named after one of the songs on their latest album, ‘Find A Light.’