Release Radar & Most Anticipated Albums for 2nd Half of 2025
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No rest for independent country music fans in the second half of 2025. Some excellent country music projects will be coming at you, and this is your updating guide too get you through it all.
Zac Brown on Jason Isbell: “He’s Badass. I Want His Fan Base to Grow.”
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Zac Brown covered Isbell’s “Dress Blues” on his recent release Jekyll + Hyde. Though it was fairly common back on the 70’s through the 90’s to have bigger artists cover songs from alt-country voices such as Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Lucinda Williams, the “Dress Blues” cover is one of the first examples of the newer generation of Americana artists garnering wider exposure through the vehicle of bigger stars.
Judge Rules Wayne Mills Killer Won’t Receive New Trial, But An Appeal May Move Forward
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Chris Michael Ferrell won’t receive a new trial in the shooting death of country music artist Wayne Mills. That was the decision Judge Steve Dozier of the Davidson County Criminal Court came to on Friday (5-29), despite the pleas of Ferrell’s defense attorney David Raybin. However the appeal process may be just beginning for the Ferrell defense.
Jamey Johnson’s Big Gassed Records Signs New Artist – To Release New Album
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When country music traditionalist Jamey Johnson announced he was starting his own Big Gassed record label in late 2014, he promised he wouldn’t be the only one on the roster. Part of his motivation to go independent was to release music from other artists who inspired him, and now it appears that the first full-length release from Big Gassed won’t be from Jamey, but the label’s first signee (aside from Johnson).
Starry Eyes & Honky Tonk Angels: How Women Originally Won Equality in Country Music
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The last week of May in 2015 will be one to remember in the history of country music after the comments made by industry radio consultant Keith Hill to Country Aircheck on Tuesday (5-26) stirred quite the controversy. Mr. Hill insisted that if country radio stations wanted to increase their ratings, they needed to yank female performers from the airwaves…
Why Justin Timberlake Should Make a Country Record. And Now.
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What on God’s wide creation would compel a cantankerous country music critic who normally would rear up like an infuriated grizzly bear on its hind legs whenever some washed up rocker or crumbling pop princess decides that country music is the nursing home of their career and actually call for a pop star to crossover into country?
Merle Haggard Turned Down a Highwaymen Spot / Doesn’t Know “What The F**K” is Wrong w/ Dylan
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Merle Haggard is getting ready for the release of his new album with Willie Nelson next week called Django & Jimmie, and ahead of the release he had some interesting revelations about some things in his past, and what he might have coming up in the future. Many have wondered why Merle never joined the Highwaymen, but it apparently wasn’t because they didn’t want him.
Country Radio Consultant: “If you want to make ratings in country radio, take females out.” (aka SaladGate)
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In an interview posted with Keith Hill on Tuesday (5-26) in Country Aircheck, the industry consultant not only advised country radio not to play female artists, and certainly not to play them back to back, but had the audacity to compare them to the “tomatoes” of the country music salad. “If you want to make ratings in country radio, take females out,” Keith Hill said point blank in the interview.
Song Review – Miranda Lambert’s “Roots & Wings”
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Well it’s about damn time. What an ass backwards country music world we live in where you get clued into a great new song through an advertisement, while radio continues to descend into a wasteland. But that was the fate of “Roots & Wings.” Now Miranda Lambert and Dodge have released the full thing, or actually two separate extended versions.
1 Dead, 3 Injured After SUV Drives Through Crowd at Trace Adkins Concert
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Trouble began when the heavily-intoxicated Carson started a fight in the concert area. He then left the area, and returned in his SUV, brandishing a revolver, and threatening to kill people. According to witnesses, he was trying to run people over in the concert area where approximately 50 people were still assembled after the concert. Carson’s rampage eventually ended when another individual in a Jeep rammed him.
The Sound of Deception: Country Rap’s Mikel Knight & His Notorious Street Teams
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But the allegations and stories about the practices of Mikel Knight and the Maverick Dirt Road Street Team go beyond being overworked and circumventing local ordinances. Stories of physical abuse, mental anguish, individuals being abandoned in small towns, and even the death of street team members in auto accidents after being overworked have been circulating for the last year.
Texas Musician Community of Wimberley Devastated in Historic Flood
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Many of your favorite Austin, TX musicians who list their hometown as Austin actually live in a small community south and west of the city in the panoramic Texas Hill Country called Wimberley. About a 45-minute drive from Austin, the small town of less than 3,000 sits on the banks of the Blanco River, and is a favorite day trip for many central Texas residents.
Album Review – Charlie Parr’s “Stumpjumper”
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Amidst the graveyards of American dreams is where you’ll find the grey, bent, and wiry folklore rhythm master known as Charlie Parr nosing around, looking for his next discovery. With a resonator on his knee, and a tapping foot you could calibrate a Swiss timepiece to, Mr. Parr bends his back to looking for the perfect rhythm or melody for a mood like an archeologist looks for a lost civilization’s prized possession.