Saving Country Music’s 2024 Album of the Year Nominees
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It’s time to engage in one of the most important exercises all year: determining who and what will be crowned the Album of the Year in 2024. The point of this exercise is not to devolve music into a competition.
Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell Come Up Big in 2015 Grammy Nominations
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The 2015 Grammy Awards will be a big one for country music, and for some very deserving stars. Not every year are the biggest categories of the night—Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist—relevant to country. But this year, country artists make in into all three categories, including a huge nod for Chris Stapleton for Album of the Year.
Saving Country Music’s Worst Country Songs of 2015
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And so continued on the unrelenting march of terrible songs in 2015. This year included some especially diabolical turns that puts the last 12 months in contention for the worst run for songs in country music history. Of course the usual suspects appear on the rap sheet like Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, and Sam Hunt. But 2015 ushered in the worst year for watching previously heralded artists turning their coats from blue to red.
Sister C Reignites the Legacy of Strong Country Women in “Faint of Heart”
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“Faint of Heart” is a pleasurable listen that you can see gaining some traction with country fans, possibly by walking through the door opened by Kacey Musgraves and Maddie & Tae recently. Call it “Merry Go ‘Round” mixed with “Girl in a Country Song” if you must, but with a sweeter vocal track than either.
Album Review – Michael Monroe Goodman’s “The Flag, The Bible, and Bill Monroe”
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With harmonious lead guitar lines, the super tasty steel guitar, some really well-placed female harmonies in a couple of spots, Goodman really went all out on this one and really up’d his game as someone folks show be paying much closer attention to in the classic country realm.
Why Daily and Real-Time Music Charts Are Now Necessary
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2015 has been back loaded with big events and even bigger releases that have caused renewed interest in the charts used to measure the popularity and impact of music. The problem is, in this here-and-now world, the model for how music is measured is still based around walking to a newsstand on Monday, and picking up the latest Billboard, or waiting for Tuesday when the album charts are updated online.
Hall of Fame Partners with Google to Make Williams Family Exhibit Available Online
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The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has partnered with Google to bring the Family Tradition exhibit to life once again, and do so online so anyone in the world with an internet device can explore the lives, legacies, and artifacts of country music’s most recognized family.
Nashville Retools with Fresh Talent for a (Potential) Traditional Country Resurgence
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Whether it will actually happen or not remains to be seen, but if country music in the mainstream decides to swing back more towards the traditional side, many of Music Row’s major labels will be ready to take advantage with a new generation of young, fresh, and traditionally-leaning talent already signed to contracts, already getting experience on the road and on big stages, and even finding some success with singles.
Merle Haggard Hospitalized with Pneumonia
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78-year-old country legend Merle Haggard is currently in a California hospital suffering from pneumonia. Haggard was forced to cancel some recent tour dates due to his illness, and checked himself in for treatment. His show last night (12-2) at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California was cancelled, as was tonight’s (12-3) show at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside.
Jennifer Nettles’ “Sugar” Turns Dessert Into a Disaster
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Jennifer Nettles is the Kathy Bates of country music, and I’m not talking the ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ Kathy Bates. Where some female performers like to exhibit personas such as the sweet girl next door or the strong Southern Belle, the Sugarland co-singer apparently thinks a psychopathic yandere cross bred with a hyper-spastic oversinger is what will curry the favor of the mindless drones of mainstream country.
Hayes Carll Finally Sets Release Date for New Album
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The long, arduous wait for new music from Hayes Carll appears to be coming to a close. After an extended pause between 2011’s ‘KMAG YOYO,’ Carll and Thirty Tigers announced a partnership in May of 2014, with a new album set to be released in “early 2015.” Even at that point, the wait of some eight or nine months seemed like it would take forever. Then early 2015 came and passed, and still no new Hayes.
Album Review – George Strait’s “Cold Beer Conversation”
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Ladies and gentlemen, we now live in a world where not even King George remains relevant on country radio. Isn’t that the sad, ever present revelation of the living—that time marches on, and no matter how important something was in the past, the present moves forward, callously at times, and the greatest of efforts are relegated to moments of fond reminiscing.
Kenny Rogers Blames “New Country” on His Retirement
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Kenny Rogers officially announced his retirement on September 25th, along with a final farewell tour, as part of an interview on NBC’s Today Show. At the time, Rogers cited wanting to spend more time with his 11-year-old twin boys, and not being able to get around the stage due to limited mobility as the primary reasons he was deciding to call it quits.