Austin Music Titan Jim Stringer Has Died
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Jim Stringer wasn’t just an Austin musician. He served as the connective tissue that held together Austin’s enterprising country music scene for over 30 years. The was the long-time frontman of the AM Band.
Nominees Announced for the 2017 Americana Music Awards
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The Americana Music Association announced the nominees for their 2017 awards on Tuesday afternoon (5-9) via a live press conference from the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater. Along with announcing the nominees, the presentation included performances from multiple Americana artists.
Album Review – John Moreland’s “Big Bad Luv”
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‘Big Bad Luv’ is exactly the type of album that John Moreland needed to make, where his songcraft suffers none, but is bolstered by the virtue of a more compositional approach to the music itself. And this is the only place he could improve or “evolve,” because the songwriting was already at the pinnacle.
Willie Nelson’s “God’s Problem Child” Debuts at #1
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Notch yet another #1 for Willie. 84 years of age, and Billboard’s new rules that register streaming data in the album tabulations can’t keep Willie Nelson from topping the charts this week with his first record of original material in three years, God’s Problem Child. Willie also notches another Top 10 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Fest Announces 2017 Lineup
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Dwight Yoakam will headline the 17th annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival presented by the Birthplace of Country Music. Famous for straddling the two state lines of Tennessee and Virginia, and being the location where Ralph Peer’s Bristol Sessions gave birth to the recorded legacy of country and roots music.
We Have A Bigger Problem Now. It’s Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Backroad.”
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“Body Like a Backroad.” It looks to shatter even the incredible and previously-thought insurmountable records of Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise.” Right now we sit in an eerily-similar position as we did in May of 2013. “Body Like A Backroad” is absolutely dominating every single song chart that country music has.
CMT’s “Sun Records” Will Not Be Renewed for Second Season
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A show that gave a fresh shot in the arm to the legacy of Sun Records and artists like Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis will not be renewed for a second season. CMT’s series ‘Sun Records’ has been canceled after an eight episode run behind the network’s now signature series, ‘Nashville.’
Kody West Is Anything But “Green” On Debut Album
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In many sectors, the future of country music is rife with uncertainty as you’re forced to squint hard at the current tiers of top stars and up-and-comers and wonder where this all will lead us years down the road. But when it comes to the Texas country scene, there is no cause for concern for who’s gonna fill the shoes.
This Whole Miley Cyrus “Going Country” Business
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Yes, I read the Billboard cover story about Miley’s new music, and I walked away feeling confident that this will not be Miley’s big “gone country” moment. When she’s saying things like “My main concern isn’t radio,” then the least of our worries is that it will be country.
Loretta Lynn in Nashville Hospital After Suffering Stroke
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Country music legend Loretta Lynn is expected to make a full recovery, but fans of the 85-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer are worried after news broke early Friday evening (5-5) that she had suffered a stroke in her Hurricane Mills home, and is in the hospital in Nashville.
Album Review – Chris Stapleton’s “From A Room: Volume 1”
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The biggest adversity to independent music is success. Independent fans score higher grades in so many categories compared to their mainstream and passive listening counterparts, but their one failing is their need for a sense of exclusivity. As soon as something they like becomes popular, it no longer seems to have the same magic.
Only 3.44% of the Artists Playing Austin City Limits Fest (ACL Fest) Are From Austin
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Not to criticize any other artist or bands no matter where they are from, but if the City of Austin wants to see more support for their local music, why is no support flowing to local artists through an event held in a local park, using local resources, receiving local tax breaks, and includes the name of the city right in its title?
Album Review – Rodney Crowell’s “Close Ties”
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To us, it’s a sad state of affairs that Guy, Susanna, Townes, and so many more that made up the core of the alternative to country in the 70’s and 80’s are gone, but to Rodney Crowell, these weren’t just distant stars on some stage that perhaps he got to see once or twice in his life, these were his close personal friends.