Newest Adds to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist (#162)
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Hope you like *all caps* COUNTRY music, ’cause it’s coming straight at you hard and heavy in this playlist. And if you don’t, why the hell are you even hanging around these parts anyway?
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.”
Blackberry Smoke Announces New Album “Find A Light,” Release New Song
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I don’t care how bad your week has sucked, or how mopey you are that you’ve already reneged on your New Year’s resolutions, Blackberry Smoke just announced they have a new album on the way, have just unveiled a new song, and all is right in the world, at least where hard-driving Southern-inflected roots rock is concerned.
Oak Ridge Boys Announce New Dave Cobb-Produced Album “17th Avenue Revival”
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Before Dave Cobb became known as the producer du jour in country and Americana, he was a workaday musician and engineer who was looking to get his name out in the industry. In 2009, The Oak Ridge Boys took a chance on working with Cobb on their release ‘The Boys Are Back,’ and it was the beginning of a revival in their career.
We’ve Confirmed That Country Radio Hides a Culture of Harassment. Now We Need The Names.
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Earlier this week, Rolling Stone published an in-depth report about the prevalent culture in country radio systemically looking the other way when young artists—mostly women—are taken advantage of, harassed and often expected to be receptive to inappropriate behavior by older men in the radio industry.
Lindi Ortega’s New Album “Liberty” and Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Volunteer” Just Announced
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Tis’ the season to officially announce your 2018 record apparently, as Wednesday (1-17) saw the unveiling of two marquee projects of note in the country and roots world. Old Crow Medicine Show will release their latest record “Volunteer,” and Lindi Ortega will release a concept album called “Liberty.” The details: