We Need To Talk About Music Journalism and Publicity
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The idea that print journalism and music media can just trundle forward with business as usual acting like the entire industry isn’t in many ways imploding underneath us doesn’t make sense for anyone.
Album Review – William Michael Morgan EP
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If traditional-sounding country is ever going to return to the mainstream, it’s going to take young artists signed to major labels with the courage to adhere to their values and not compromise their sound in the face of the pressures and obligations that mainstream outlets put on them. Others may open the doors, but it will be up to artists like William Michael Morgan to step through.
Why Are So Many Music Concerts Selling Out Instantly?
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This isn’t just a problem for big mainstream bands playing massive venues anymore. As independent music continues to take over market share, and there continues to be a slow build of interest in more substantive music, this issue is starting to affect performers that a few years ago fans were used to seeing in dingy bars with 20 other people.
Sturgill Simpson: “I’m never going to make anything other than a country record.”
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“Some people will say, and have said, that I’m trying to run from country, but I’m never going to make anything other than a country record. As soon as I open my mouth, it’s going to be a country song. . . but it doesn’t make the think pieces any less amusing.”
Loretta Lynn Earns Highest Charting Billboard 200 Album Ever with “Full Circle”
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Loretta has been working on new music at Johnny Cash’s famous Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, TN over the past eight years, recording over 90 songs. She’s been collaborating with her daughter Patsy L. Russell and John Carter Cash as producers. Loretta signed a new deal with Sony’s Legacy imprint in late 2014 to begin releasing albums again after a long hiatus.
SXSW 2016 in Words and Pictures
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It took the death of four people and dozens of others injured after a drunken madman ran his car through a crowded downtown Austin street in 2014, as well as a completely clusterfucked permitting system by the City of Austin so mired in red tape it takes months of dedicated manpower to actually put on a show, but it appears that SXSW has finally reached a point where the annual event has stopped growing uncontrollably.
Songwriter Brent Cobb Signs to Dave Cobb’s Low Country Sound Label
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“Man, what a great writer,” Dave says about Brent. “His dad gave me his CD, but a lot of my family plays so I just thought ‘Well, it’s just another CD.’ My wife made me put his CD on in the car of songs he’d been writing. We were driving back to the airport from the funeral that time, and he just knocked me out. He’s like Don Williams. So deep. Such a deep, beautiful writer.”
Outlaw Country Songwriter Steve Young Has Passed Away
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Though Young was considered mostly a background member of the Outlaw movement for many years, his appearance on the legendary Outlaw documentary Heartworn Highways helped awaken the world to his talent. Though he still remained mostly known through the songs he wrote that others performed, Young had a strong solo career and released a total of 14 albums.
Billy Joe Shaver Recalls Threatening to Whip Waylon Jennings’ Ass
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“He’s mad as hell. And there’s a bunch of hangers on and groupies and people like that all up and down the hall. It was a long hall and it was almost like a gunfight deal. He comes out of there and he’s got two bikers on each side, and he says, ‘Hoss, what do you want?’ And I says, ‘I’ll tell you what I want … If you don’t listen to these songs, at least listen to them, I’m going to whip your ass right here in front of God and everybody.”
Kacey Musgraves & Biggest Little Fan “Memphis” Entertain SXSW Crowd
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It’s not the usual train of events for a multi Grammy-winning and double CMA-awarded major label country artist to play South by Southwest for the first time some three years after first attaining major success, but that’s what Kacey Musgraves is experiencing this week as she shimmies through traffic snarls like everyone else to make appearances during Austin’s biggest annual music gathering.
Instagram’s Change to an Algorithmic Timeline Could Adversely Affect Music Disproportionately
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The changes to Instagram could adversely affect the music world significantly more than it will the rest of social media culture. Why? Because despite Instagram being an image-based format with no direct tie to music, music fans favor and use the social network in much greater numbers compared to the general population, and use it specifically to help support the music they love.
Chris Stapleton Releases New Tour Dates w/ Aubrie Sellers
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After selling out all of his tour dates in February, playing to packed rooms in Europe in March, selling out every one of his dates in April, and most all of his dates sold to capacity this summer, Chris Stapleton has added some new tour dates in May and September to help keep up with demand.
Album Review – Dave Cobb’s “Southern Family” Compilation
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The “South” is the setting for the songs, and where the respective artists hail from, but “Family” is what makes this record universal for all listeners. And unlike many other concept records that may only have one or two songs that can be separated from the material, every song on “Southern Family” can exist independently, and many will go on to mark top-level career contributions to the artist’s musical canon.