2025 Saving Country Music Single of the Year Nominees
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We’ve run down the nominees for Album of the Year and Song of the Year. Now it’s time to give some love to the songs that simply get stuck in out heads and remind us of the sheer joy of music.
Sturgill Simpson, Sarah Jarosz, & Lori McKenna Are Big Winners in Grammy Pre-Telecast Awards
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Ahead of the telecast portion of the 59th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night (2-12), pre-telecast awards were handed out in a host of categories covering country, Americana, bluegrass, and roots, including big awards like Best Country Song, Best Country Album, and Best Americana Album. Sturgill Simpson won Best Country Album.
Sturgill Simpson Wins 2017 Grammy for Best Country Album
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The tables have been flipped and the tide has turned. Sturgill Simpson—the consummate underdog and viciously independent country songwriter and performer whose helped lead the way and kicked down doors for a country music insurgency was awarded the Grammy for Best Country Album Sunday night (2-12) during the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
Keith Urban’s “The Fighter” Is the Most Non-Country “Country” Song Ever
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Even taking into consideration the monstrosities from pop stars calling themselves country because they’d get their asses handed to them in pop like Sam Hunt and Chris Lane, “The Fighter” very well may be the most non-country “country” song released as a single in the history of the genre.
The 2017 Grammy Awards Complete Preview
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Sturgill Simpson is up for two major awards, and will also have one of only eight solo performance slots on the entire night. He will perform backed up by the famous horn section The Dap-Kings. Sturgill has to be considered the front runner for Best Country Album since he is also up for the all-genre Album of the Year, but nothing is assured.
Mountain Stage Could Go Off The Air Due to Budget Cut Proposal
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Mountain Stage could be in trouble. The two-hour radio show that broadcasts to over 170 NPR affiliates from West Virginia is facing a budget battle that could not only see the nearly 35-year-old music institution go off the air, but all other programing produced and distributed by West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
Andrew Combs Tackles Abandonment and Gentrification in “Dirty Rain”
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Andrew Combs utilizes inspired perspective, a keen falsetto, and strings indicative of the old Nashville Sound approach to production in the song “Dirty Rain” to not just decry gentrification and abandonment, but put a musical context to the feelings of nostalgia and remorse one feels when stricken by the realization of what once was will never ever be again.
Patsy Cline to Receive The PBS American Masters Treatment
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There are few other legends of country music whose music lasted longer, had more impact, and crossed sensibilities of taste and genre better than the songs of Patsy Cline. That voice, and the songs she selected in her short career can still stop you dead in your tracks from the emotion they stir.
Sturgill Simpson Announces 2017 Tour Dates
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Sturgill Simpson was planning to take 2017 off due to the recent birth of his second child, and a sense that he had an opportunity to rest on his laurels a little bit. But then two huge Grammy nominations for Best Country Album and Album of the Year shook up those plans, and now the philosophy is to strike while the iron is hot.
Album Review – Brantley Gilbert’s “The Devil Don’t Sleep”
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Brantley Gilbert’s music may not be for you, but it’s hard to argue it’s not 100% him. He’s a roided-out, tatted-up, tribal Tap-Out truck-nutted horn-flashing Jesus-praising great American meat head who makes no apologies for himself and has built an entire army of fans that are just as hard headed and proud, and will follow Brantley over a bridge if asked.
“Lol Wut?” Happened to Willie Nelson’s Twitter Page?
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A few weeks ago Willie Nelson’s official Twitter account converted to an entirely new account called “lolwut?,” and started exclusively posting links to stories on viral content farms like Viralthread and Distractify—in other words, content from a bunch of aggregated clickbait funnels that have consumed the internet over the last few years.
Now Willie Nelson Shows in New Mexico & Arizona Canceled. 7 Shows Canceled in All
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Fans of Willie Nelson continue to be concerned as the country music icon cancels additional shows due to an undisclosed illness, while no official word has come from the Willie Nelson camp to the nature or severity of Willie’s condition. It was announced Wednesday morning (2-8) that Willie has canceled shows in Arizona and New Mexico.
MerleFest Adds More Talent to Stacked 30th Anniversary Lineup
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In 2017, MerleFest is celebrating 30 years of bringing top-notch, world-class traditional country, bluegrass, roots, string, rock, and Americana music to audiences that flock from all over North America and the World to experience one of roots music’s premier events. MerleFest has just added more performers to their already stacked lineup.