“The Hook” Has Successful Test Run, Sets Next Show Sept. 29th
13 Comments
“The Hook” is a songwriting showcase featuring established songwriters, and ANYONE else who wants to show up and sign up for an opportunity to perform their unreleased song in front of an audience and a film crew.
Back To The Future: 1985 and the Year Country Music Died
53 Comments
So what’s to learn from hitching a ride in Marty McFly’s time machine and traveling back to 1985? That the problems country music is facing today are virtually the same ones that were being faced 30 years ago. It’s all cyclical, as canonized in the old Gospel tune enshrined in the architecture of the Country Music Hall of Fame asking the question, “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?”
Maddie & Tae’s “Shut Up and Fish” Is Kind of a Stupid Song That Says a Lot
67 Comments
Maddie & Tae have become the perfect foil to today’s male country stars. They’re like the Minnie Pearl of country music’s Millennial generation. Staunch traditionalists are never going to give Maddie & Tae a serious chance, but that doesn’t mean their music (and “Shut Up and Fish”) doesn’t symbolize a wholesale reversal of course for what we’re used to the mainstream serving.
The Surprising #1 Albums That Trumped Toby Keith in 2015
39 Comments
“18,700”: This is the number of albums Toby Keith sold upon the debut of his new record 35 MPH Town, and it got me to thinking, which artists and bands have beat that number in a year of unprecedented ascent in independent country music? 2015 is the year it became common to see one of your favorite independent acts and aging legends compete at the top of the album charts.
The Lesson of Taylor Swift’s Success: “Choose a Lane.”
74 Comments
A new feature recently posted in GQ goes much farther in describing the conflict between Swift and Big Machine. This wasn’t a simple exchange between Swift and Borchetta. There was an outright intervention going on, with numerous high-level executives doing what they could to assuage Swift into not going pop 100%.
Album Review – The Supersuckers “Holdin’ The Bag”
14 Comments
Going back to what the Supersuckers do best, which is come out kicking with a shit eating grin, and then hitting you in between the eyes with something meaningful when you least expect it, this raucous group sets you right about what is real and raw about country punk roots. In a rather pedestrian year for music that has included some high-profile letdowns, Holdin’ The Bag holds up to the legacy they started nearly 20 years ago.
Hank Williams “I Saw The Light” Biopic Premiers in Nashville – Complete Report
13 Comments
On Saturday evening (10-17), the highly-anticipated, yet much-maligned movie covering the life of Hank Williams called ‘I Saw The Light’ made its big star-studded Nashville debut at the Belcourt Theater just south of the city’s Music Row district. After the red carpet ceremony and screening of the film at the Belcourt, festivities moved to Acme Feed & Seed on lower Broadway for an afterparty.
Album Review – Toby Keith’s “35 MPH Town”
70 Comments
At this point, Toby Keith is a relic. What talent he had was questionable to begin with, and he hasn’t ever really evolved for there. Time has passed Toby Keith by, and he doesn’t have the fluidity or desire to change with the times, or the quality it takes to be considered classic. But this album is far from the problem.
Traditionalist Reality Star Jake Worthington Releases New EP (review)
27 Comments
Like so many of these contestants, not much has come of Jake Worthington in regards to industry success after his finale appearance in May of 2014, but he has just released a new EP. Settling somewhere between John Anderson and George Strait, this five-song offering is a straight-laced true country testament from start to finish that leaves little to no doubt where the heart of the young Jake Worthington lies.
Album Review – Electric Rag Band’s “My Side”
8 Comments
How cool is it to have a father and a son in the same band? There’s a beer league factor to the Electric Rag Band, and not in a bad way. They make music when they can, how they can, and for the right reasons. And they’ve been doing it for quite a while now. Formed in 1994, their new record My Side accounts for their sixth release.
Hank Williams “I Saw The Light” Biopic Delays Release
36 Comments
The movie about the life of Hank Williams is starting to account for as much drama as Hank did. Originally scheduled to be released on November 28th to give the film prime consideration during Oscar season, I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston as Hank has now suddenly been moved back. New stills from the movie have also been made available.
Jason Isbell & Sturgill Simpson Share Stage in Tuscaloosa for “Amarillo Highway”
28 Comments
Beyond sharing bills, big rocketing career trajectories, and both employing the services of super producer Dave Cobb, the two artists appear to have a greater kinship off the stage. But for whatever reason, we’ve never seen the two men on stage together, until now.
Country Music’s Greatest Prison Albums
42 Comments
Prison and country music go together like peanut butter and jelly. No wonder a slew of country music albums have been actually recorded within prison walls—some for convicts, some by convicts, and some using convicts. And we’re not just talking about novelty releases either, but some iconic albums that have helped define country music over the years. Here are some of them.