Clint Black Announces “Back On The Blacktop” Tour
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You still get everything you want out of a Clint Black performance as he runs through his 22 #1 hits and others that should have been. That’s why you should see him on his “Back On The Blacktop Tour.”
Album Review – Caitlyn Smith’s “Starfire”
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Journeywoman songwriter and closet singer/performer Caitlyn Smith just released perhaps the best country pop record to grace the roster of Music Row projects in a half a decade or more, and we should all be embarrassed and inconsolably incredulous it took so damn long for this voice and these songs to get their proper due.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Announce “Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour”
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Southern rock Gods Lynyrd Skynyrd—or at least what’s left of them—have announced a massive final farewell tour, planning to leave the stage afterwards for good in the midst of a few of the post-1977 crash member’s declining health, including primary leader Gary Rossington who has suffered from heart issues over the past few years.
The SteelDrivers Announce New Permanent Lead Singer
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The hard-driving, Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band The SteelDrivers have a new permanent lead singer and guitar player. Kelvin Damrell, who is native of Berea, Kentucky, and grew up in a family of bluegrass Gospel singers, has been named as the replacement in a spot previously held by some very big names, including Chris Stapleton, Adam […]
Chris Stapleton Song w/ Justin Timberlake “Say Something” Coming. Will Sing w/ Emmylou at Grammys
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Justin Timberlake’s long-anticipated original song with Chris Stapleton will be arriving Thursday (1-25), and it will be called “Say Something.” It has also been announced that he will be performing with country legend Emmylou Harris at Sunday’s 60th Annual Grammy Awards. The details:
Album Review – First Aid Kit’s “Ruins”
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The Söderberg sisters don’t just sing, they soar. Their harmonies are so angelic and adept, the siblings come across more like deities than entertainers, untouchable and ethereal, blessed with immortal capacities, and brought to the Earth only to convey their wisdom in sonnet and rhyme.
Ashley McBryde to Release Major Label Debut “Girl Goin’ Nowhere”
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Songwriter and promising mainstream performer Ashley McBryde’s debut major label release on Warner Nashville will be arriving March 30th, and will be named after the song she wrote for her Grand Ole Opry debut that helped spark off a national narrative behind the Arkansas native. She’s also released a new song called “American Scandal.”
The Inequalities Plaguing Country Radio Are Somehow Even Worse on Spotify’s Major Playlists
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The promise of technology and its interfacing with music is a great equalization of the playing field, both opening up the creative possibilities for artists, and the ability to discover new music for fans. For too long the stuffy and outmoded system of radio feeding us what they wanted us to hear reigned over music […]
This Is Not Your Average Platinum Certification for Eric Church’s “Mr. Misunderstood”
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It’s hard enough to have an album go platinum these days. Even when you’re a superstar with smash hits and spend a million+ on an advertising campaign. Now take into consideration not just forgoing all of those pre-release formalities, but starting off your release cycle by outright giving your record away to your fans.
Alan Jackson’s Under-Reported Speech at The Country Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
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The legendary and Hall of Fame country music career of Alan Jackson has been marked by two underlying things: his ability to write and sing songs that stay true to country’s roots and ultimately become mega-hits (he had 26 #1’s overall), and his propensity to step up at critical moments and say or do whatever he can to help preserve the music.
Song Review – Keith Urban’s “Parallel Line”
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“Parallel Line” could have been cut by Ed Sheeran, Keith Urban, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, or whomever. It doesn’t really matter who sung it; it would have sounded almost exactly the same. That’s why so many immediately identified this as an Ed Sheeran song. Popular music is just numerous pop franchises with many different faces.
Squirrel Nut Zippers Return After 18-Year Hiatus with “Beasts of Burgundy”
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“It’s not a reunion, it’s a revival” says Jimbo Mathus about the band’s latest incarnation and their new album, Beasts Of Burgundy, which includes twelve new original songs, and is said to be inspired by the City of New Orleans, the poet Ron Cuccia, and “a disregard for convention.”
Randy Rogers: “There Shouldn’t Be Rap in Country Music.”
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“People can tell the difference between (B.S.) and not (B.S.). I’ll second the motion to say there shouldn’t be rap in country music,” Randy Rogers says. “But I will go on the record saying I like Kendrick Lamar. I like my rap. But when I think of country music, I think of Merle Haggard.”