On Flatland Cavalry Joining the Morgan Wallen Tour
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o should we be happy for Flatland Cavalry receiving this opportunity to open a massive show in a stadium for Morgan Wallen? Or should we be disappointed they accepted it?
“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.
Album Review – Josh Abbott Band’s “Front Row Seat”
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There’s something about being a Texan that makes you regard what happens in Texas as being the most important thing in the world. It’s the center of the universe, so to speak. For Texans at least. So when Josh Abbott felt the need to pronounce his infidelity to the world in February of 2014, the little hamlets that harbor the support network for Texas music were sent reeling.
UPDATED: Jason Aldean Wore Blackface As Part of His 2015 Halloween Costume
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Mainstream country artist Jason Aldean becomes the latest to think it is socially acceptable to paint your face black (or in his case, dark brown) as part of a Halloween costume or comedy skit. In a photo discovered on Instagram, Jason Aldean can be seen hanging out with his wife Brittany Kerr and other friends on Halloween, clearly wearing color-altering makeup on his face.
UPDATED: After CMA Wins, Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller” Sales Spike 6,400%, Goes #1 All Genre
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There’s a awards show bump, and then there’s Chris Stapleton’s awards show bump. After shocking the country music world by walking away with wins for New Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Male Vocalist of the Year at the 49th Annual CMA Awards, sales for his debut release Traveller have positively exploded to unprecedented levels, especially considering the general malaise album sales are in across music.