50 Years Ago: In Protest, Traditional Country Entertainers Form “ACE”
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Protesting the direction of country music is just about as old as country music itself. As long as there have been radio stations playing it, and record companies making it, fans and performers have been fighting over country music.
Merle Haggard Finally Receives His High School Diploma
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Merle Haggard is finally a graduate of Bakersfield High School, some 60 years after attending his last class there as a truant freshmen. Never mind that Merle never passed a single class. Never mind he’s 78-years-old and was awarded an honorary doctorate first by the California State University in Bakersfield in 2013. He’s now a Bakersfield “Driller” for life.
Pair of Annual Golf Tourneys Aim to Help Kids Through Country Music
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Country music celebrities will be coming out swinging in the coming weeks at a couple of annual charitable golf tournaments who just announced their lineups. Whether you’re a golfer or not, you can participate in the music portion of these events and help out a good cause in the process. The 17th Annual Wade Bowen Classic and the 8th Annual Golf & Guitars have just announced their lineups.
Sam Hunt is Outmatched in Dwight Yoakam Duet & Other ACM Duet Pairings
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A collective rolling of eyes ensued when the ACM’s announced earlier this month they would pair some of today’s country music spares with legends from the past as part of their “Party For a Cause” concert centered around the ACM’s 50th Anniversary. Punctuating the ridiculousness of the duet roster was the unfortunate marriage of country legend Dwight Yoakam and country/EDM star Sam Hunt.
Distillery for George Jones Moonshine Destroyed in Explosion
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The Silver Trail Distillery in Hardin, Kentucky who makes the George Jones White Lightning moonshine exploded Friday (4-24) just before 11:00 a.m. Two workers were injured in the explosion, and were airlifted to a local hospital with major burns. The distillery was working on a large order of moonshine for the George Jones museum at the time of the explosion.
Chris Ferrell Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for the Death of Wayne Mills
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Chris Michael Ferrell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the 2nd Degree Murder of country music artist Wayne Mills. The decision was handed down by Judge Steve Dozier in the Davidson County Criminal Court Friday morning (4-24). Ferrell was found guilty in the shooting death of Mills on March 6th in a jury trial. He claimed self-defense in the case. Ferrell will have no chance for parole.
Album Review – William Clark Green’s “Ringling Road”
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Ringling Road is a vibrant and well-written pronouncement of William Clark Green’s arrival as one of the new creative leaders of the next generation of country. The sensibilities to appeal to a big audience are there, but so are the country roots, and the depth of songwriting to where he can draw in both the passive toe-tappers and die hard song junkies.
11 Sandy Hook Families Distance from Tim McGraw Benefit Show
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The controversy surrounding Tim McGraw’s scheduled benefit concert for Sandy Hook Promise on July 17th at the Infinity Theater in Hartford, Connecticut continues as now 11 of the Sandy Hook families who either had children or other families members killed at the school have come out with a public statement clarifying that they will not be receiving any money from the concert.
My Morning Jacket’s Jim James Calls Modern Country “Uneducated and Racist”
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As My Morning Jacket readies to release a new album called The Waterfall, frontman and songwriter Jim James spoke to Rolling Stone about the prospects of the band ever having a big radio hit. But the question would be, where? Jim characterized pop radio as “such a waste of time,” and then had some pretty scarring words for country.
Song Review – Brett Eldredge’s “Lose My Mind”
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As the first single from his currently-unnamed sophomore album, Eldredge dons an expensive suit and does his best Justin Timberlake impression as he sips on a Scotch and lets the impossibly-hot Rachel Hilbert playing nurse feel him up. Because what could be more country than that? Oh, and there’s a song mixed in there somewhere too called “Lose My Mind.” It’s about a hot girl that’s so hot it makes him crazy.
Sturgill Simpson Beats Out Big Acts as One Of Stagecoach’s Most Popular
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This weekend in sunny Southern California, Sturgill Simpson will be taking the stage at the annual Stagecoach Festival in Indio—the country music cousin of the massive 2-weekend Coachella gathering. Sturgill Simpson is one of the few to ever play both the Coachella and Stagecoach weekends. Even more surprising is where Sturgill Simpson is ranked as far as popularity when it comes to Stagecoach attendees.
Album Review – Rachel Brooke & Lonesome Wyatt’s “Bad Omen”
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Like an ancient family photo happened upon in an old box in a dusty attic, with gaunt faces from the late 1800’s all Stoic and staring forlorn into the distance with blurry eyes from being unable to sit still as the exposure took, Bad Omen leaves you with a foreboding feeling well after you’ve left its presence simply from the knowledge that such a haunting thing exists.
Album Review – Wade Bowen & Randy Rogers “Hold My Beer”
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Boy howdy did Wade Bowen and Randy Rogers absolutely clobber the ball out of the park with this one. When I first heard they were making this album, I thought we’d something more for the serious Red Dirt fan. Instead we get a completely fleshed out album full of original songs that rival or potentially surpass the work either of these Texas country stalwarts have done on their primary projects.