Major Layoffs Hit ACM Awards, MCA Nashville
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Is something amiss in the major label world? Two of country music’s major entities are cutting staff, and no matter how they spin it, when you’re downsizing as opposed to growing, it’s usually not a good sign.
Aaron Lewis Backpedals / Bobby Bones Disses Saving Country Music
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On the Bobby Bones Show Thursday (9-15) morning (listen at the bottom), Bobby spoke to Aaron Lewis after his recent blowup at pop country artists, and what did he do? Aaron backpeddled and admitted he was playing to the crowd. Then Bobby Bones finished his segment with Aaron Lewis on Thursday by bringing up Saving Country Music in a strange context.
John Moreland’s “Spotify Sessions” is Perfect Introduction to a World-Class Songwriter
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If you’ve been hearing about this heartbreaking songwriter named John Moreland for the last few years and been waiting for the right time to check him out, this would be the perfect opportunity—if you have a Spotify account that is.
Jason Aldean Just Admitted to the Dumbing Down of Modern Country
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“You have to always be conscious of the songs. I never want the songs to be too songwriterly or too clever,” Jason Aldean said in a recent interview. “I think you do have to make it, to some extent, black and white. The song has to say what it means and it means what it says. If you try to get too tricky with the lyrics, it gets confusing.
The Indomitable Spirit of Grace VanderWaal (We’re All Just Scared Little Girls)
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Modern music has so incredibly lost touch with what’s true and important about personal expression that most music listeners are left wondering if they’ll ever again hear music that touches them like their favorites did years before, or elicit a sense of wonder through the vehicle of soundscapes and story.
Aaron Lewis Calls Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt “Mother$%ckers.” Again.
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But this is the thing about Aaron Lewis and his anti-country stance: Normally this type of thing would solicit high praise from an outlet like Saving Country Music. And hey, I will give him credit for taking a stand. But Aaron Lewis, a dyed-in-the-wool rock gone country guy, is not the one to be delivering this message, I’m sorry.
Tim Easton Awakens The Spirit of the Singer-Songwriter in “American Fork”
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Singer-songwriters can sing about things such as love and loneliness as well, but their true trade is in being like a reflection pool of the present day, questioning our modes of life and the perspectives we keep. They are the poet’s of modern times, saying things we all know deep in our hearts, but in a way that awakens our inner selves.
Watch Out for Rhiannon Giddens
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She’s not doing it through slithering her way into pop country songwriting circles, or selling out with some big single that may impact country radio. She’s doing it by being her own badass self, and in a way that gives the music and entertainment industry no choice but to pay attention, and figure out how to apply her talents to whatever they’re doing.
Kelsea Ballerini’s “Historic” #1 for “Peter Pan” Inflated by $0.69 iTunes Sale
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Publicists for pop star Kelsea Ballerini and her label Black River Entertainment are fawning all over themselves this week for their “historic” achievement of getting the single “Peter Pan” to inhabit the #1 spot on both Billboard’s Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts simultaneously—the first time this has ever happened for a female.
Wayne “The Train” Hancock Announces New Album “Slingin’ Rhythm”
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The King of Juke Joint Swing Wayne “The Train” Hancock will release his newest album called ‘Slingin’ Rhythm’ via Bloodshot Records. Produced by Lloyd Maines, it finds Wayne Hancock reprising his signature sound that mixes elements of country, Western swing, rockabilly, and blues in a neotraditional style.
Miranda Lambert Cancels Multiple Shows For Mandatory Vocal Rest
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Hillary Clinton is not the only one feeling under the weather and needing some time off. Country music’s current First Lady Miranda Lambert has got a case of laryngitis or something similar, and has been put on mandatory vocal rest by her crack team of country music doctors. The result is Miranda will miss at least three of her upcoming shows.
Jason Aldean Needs To Shut Up & Count His Money
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This is the reason that it’s imperative that true country music fans, true blue collar Americans, and people of just general decency publicly distance from someone like Jason Aldean, and lump his music into some demeaning subgenre with terms like Bro-Country.
The Story of Carolyn Beug: Dwight Yoakam Friend & Collaborator Lost in 9/11 Crash
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Though Carolyn’s impact on country music was brief, her story exemplifies how every soul lost on 9/11 was an important one, and how the tragedy left not one segment of American life untouched. It’s the type of loss that leaves you alone and longing, like the lonesome melody of a country song.