Album Review – Ken Pomeroy’s “Cruel Joke”
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Both Ken Pomeroy and her new album “Cruel Joke” are quickly being offered up by the initiated whenever names are requested for the best new music discoveries.
Song Review – J.B. Beverley’s “Phone Calls From My Uncle”
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“Over the years, I’ve had many-a-veteran friend ask me to write a song for the men and women in the battlefield. Having never seen combat, I put it off for a long time,” says songwriter J.B. Beverley, the frontman of J.B. Beverley and the Wayward Drifters. “I wanted to wait until I had the right feeling . . . the right message. I’ve listened to the stories you all have shared with me . . .
Mr. Show’s Bob Odenkirk & David Cross Make Perfect “Checklist” Country Parody
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Bob Odenkirk and David Cross—previously-known as the comedy duo who starred in the HBO series Mr. Show that ran from 1995 to 1998—have now revitalized their comedy stylings on Netflix in a new series called With Bob and David. And in one of the new episodes, they’ve put the terrible “checklist” culture of modern country right in their crosshairs.
BR-549 To Release New Album & DVD “One Long Saturday Night”
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Germany’s Bear Family Records is releasing ‘One Long Saturday Night’—a 23-song CD and companion DVD capturing the original lineup of the band at the height of their powers as they perform classic country hits and a handful of originals live for the German TV show Ohne Filter. The CD also includes four tracks from a concert in Japan the band played the week after.
“Dallas Observer” Mischaracterizes Merle Haggard Comments in Support of Misguided Think Piece
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It’s one thing to mischaracterize my opinions, or the opinions of Chris Stapleton fans, or concerned country music fans in general. It’s another thing to use the name and visage of a respected country music legend to assert the wrongful and misguided opinions of your think piece, especially when the aim of that think piece is to attack active and concerned country music fans.
Scotty McCreery’s “Southern Belle” Just Won’t Die
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Whenever you’re out in front of a release apologizing for it, it’s never a good sign. “This is probably about as far left as we’ll go,” McCreery announced ahead of “Southern Belle,” tipping listeners off that this was going to be the moment the 22-year-old tried to make a big splash on radio in lieu of sticking to sometimes more traditional-leaning material that compliments his deep country tone.
The Ameripolitan Awards Announce 2016 Nominees
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The 3rd Annual, 2016 Ameripolitan Awards have announced their 2016 nominees. Scheduled to transpire on February 16, 2016 at the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin, it will be hosted by Western Swing legend Ray Benson, and feature performances by many of the nominees and other notables from the “Ameripolitan” realm.
And So It Begins. Justin Timberlake Releases “Drink You Away” To Country Radio
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Justin Timberlake has officially gone country. Or at least one of his songs has. As radio programmers all over the country were busy Wednesday morning trying to figure out where to stack their reams of payola, a memorandum buzzed out across the wires: “Justin Timberlake’s ‘Drink You Away’—the same song he played with Chris Stapleton on the CMA Awards—is requesting play on your country station.”
The Case Against Chris Stapleton As Country Music’s Savior
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Not everybody is happy about all this mainstream success and good times being had by Chris Stapleton and his fans. So for the sake of argument, fairness, and equal time, let’s take an honest, devil’s advocate look at Chris Stapleton, and see if some of this criticism is worthy of wearing the luster off of his CMA wins, and astounding commercial success subsequently.
The Band Perry Delays Release of New Album “Heart + Beat” After Sluggish Single
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After the flop of The Band Perry’s debut single “Live Forever” from their new album Heart + Beat, the family trio signed to Republic Nashville has delayed the release of the new album until 2016. ‘Heart +Beat’ was originally scheduled to be released on November 20th, but the band has decided to re-rack, and is touting a new collaboration in the works with a big-named artist as the impetus for the delay.
Go See The Crooks Before They Call It Quits Dammit
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For the past few years, if you truly wanted to get a snoot full of an authentic Texas country experience, you sought out a show from the Austin-based country-fried Outlaw Conjunto band called the Crooks. Originally formed as a two piece in 2007 around the songs of frontman Josh Mazour, over the years it has slowly morphed into one of the coolest live country music experiences you can find.
Loretta Lynn Announces New Album “Full Circle”
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Over the past eight years, Loretta has been working on the new music at Johnny Cash’s famous Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, TN with producers Patsy L. Russell, and John Carter Cash. Russell is Loretta’s daughter, and John Carter is the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter, and the operator/caretaker of the Cash Cabin Studios.
Lo and Behold: Chris Stapleton Is Making an Impact on Mainstream Country Radio
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That was the big question coming off of Stapleton’s big CMA wins: would radio respond? And now that we have the new numbers from Mediabase, the answer is “Yes.” There’s still a long way to go before Chris Stapleton’s success translates fully to the radio format, but he’s off to a running start.