Album Review – Hailey Whitters – “Corn Queen”
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Hailey Whitters makes for one of the most navigable bridges between the independent and mainstream, and the classic and contemporary. She offers something entertaining and enlightening to just about everyone.
“That Thing, That Sound” Doc Looks to Revitalize Interest in the Steel Guitar
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Cinematographer Kelsey Hammer-Parks and music journalist Nathan Emerson have set out to create a new documentary about a dying music instrument and those trying to save it. That Thing, That Sound is a musical documentary on the steel guitar—often a topic of discussion when the talk turns to the dying roots of country music.
The Country Music Collaborator / Interloper Field Guide
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Clearly this trend of cross genre collaborations is only going to deepen, so with a servant’s heart and a sincere desire to help the collaborators and interlopers with their “country” efforts, Saving Country Music has constructed a pocket reference field guide to help these cross-genre collaborators navigate through their country music experience.
Music Gear Thefts Dealt a Blow After 130 Arrested in Houston
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On Tuesday (6-28), the Houston Police Department, in conjunction with the nearby Pasadena and Baytown Police Departments and the Department of Homeland Security, arrested 130 people in a massive operation called “Operation Wheels and Deals.” It was the theft of multiple items from Texas country music artist Zane Williams that helped police connect the dots.
Album Review – Craig Morgan’s “A Whole Lot More To Me”
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You can almost overlook Craig Morgan if you’re not careful. He’s not been cutting records nearly long enough to consider him some kind of elder or legend in country music. He’s had a few significant hits and noteworthy records over the years, but it’s not like he was a perennial chart topper even in his heyday in the mid oughts.
Country Artists Turn Out to Help Lay Ralph Stanley to Rest
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Bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley, who passed away on June 23rd, was laid to rest Tuesday evening (6-28) after a public service that included words and performances from Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Jim Lauderdale, Ricky Skaggs, and other close friends and well-known performers in front of the crowd assembled at the Hills of Home Park in Coeburn, VA.
Ralph Stanley Funeral to be Streamed Online
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Bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley will be laid to rest Tuesday evening (6-28), and a public service has been announced that fans are encouraged to attend. But if you cannot make it, the funeral service will also be streamed online. The service will be held at the Hills of Home Park in Coeburn, VA.
Eric Church: “Country Music Has Become Too Homogenized, Too Commercial.”
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“Country has become a bigger umbrella. It’s good and bad. Country has become too homogenized and too commercial. It has lost what makes it special. It’s great that it’s popular, but then it starts to become watered down.”
Jon Pardi’s “California Sunrise” Debuts at #1
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Once again the success of California Sunrise demonstrates that traditional country fans are more likely to vote with their dollars and support their favorite artists compared to many mainstream performers. Jon Pardi has also been helped with the continued success of the album’s first single “Head Over Boots.”
The Worst Country Songs of 2016 So Far
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Every year we wonder if it can get any worse, and while there are positive signs for country music’s future all over the place, the bad stuff somehow continues to only get worse. The only saving grace is that many of the songs highlighted below have become commercial flops, whereas in previous years it would be a virtual Top 10 on the country charts.
Kenny Chesney Mistakenly Pronounces Cop Dead in Stage Shout Out
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It was late Saturday night, early Sunday morning, roughly midnight Central time, and a press release was sent out across the wires from the Kenny Chesney camp. It seemed like a very strange time to send out a press release, but Kenny Chesney’s peeps had a story they wanted to get out to the public, or more specifically, a story they wanted to be out ahead of.
Album Review – Jackson Taylor & The Sinners “Which Way Is Up”
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These guys exude a good time. The second song on the album laments “Sad Bastard Music” and reminds folks the best way to mend a broken heart is to get back on the horse and on with life. It’s a reminder that music doesn’t always have to be deep to be good. It just doesn’t always have to make you feel stupid for listening like so much of the mainstream fun-loving material.
The Last Living Legends to Country Music’s Historic Past
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With the recent loss of bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, country superstar Merle Haggard, songwriting great Freddy Powers, and Bakersfield’s Red Simpson, the amount of artists who are still around that can truly say they were there at the very start of the formation of country and bluegrass is getting anemically slim.