On This Day: Ricky Nelson Stands Up for Country with “Garden Party”
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Listening back to “Garden Party” now and regarding Ricky Nelson’s career at large, it feels like he deserves way more credit for making country music cool to rock ‘n roll kids, and a new generation.
The Garth Brooks Comeback Beset with Stops & Starts
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Garth Brooks is back, and there’s no denying it when you poke around country music and see his face and name everywhere. But his triumphant return has been one of the most curious cases of missed dates, canceled engagements, and other symptoms of mismanagement from a man whose modus operendi is one of having the most well-oiled marketing teams in music.
What Is Going On with the Outlaw Music Hall of Fame?
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As time has gone on, questions have arose about what is happening with the Hall of Fame. The spring of 2014 came and passed, and no progress or dates for an opening or inaugural induction ceremony were announced. As Saving Country Music explained at the time, the Outlaw Hall of Fame has been delayed because the location it planned to occupy was caught in a legal battle.
Alan Jackson to be Honored with Hall of Fame Exhibit
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Alan Jackson may not officially be a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame just yet, but that isn’t stopping the museum from giving Jackson a special exhibit, scheduled to be opened on August 29th and run until March of 2015. The exhibit is called Alan Jackson: 25 Years of Keepin’ It Country, and will coincide with Jackson’s 25-year commemorative tour.
Maddie & Tae Make a Summer Anthem Out of a Protest Song
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Just sit back and appreciate where we’re at for a second ladies and gentlemen. Here it is the dead of summer 2014, and the song that has everyone talking in country music is not some frivolous, carefree party anthem. It’s not some beach-bumming or beer on the tailgate half-baked haven for country cliché. It’s the song from two young girls named Maddie & Tae.
Man Dies in Dumpster At Jason Aldean Show in Cleveland
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Tragic news out of the Cleveland area as a 22-year-old man named Cory Barron who went missing on Friday, July 18th during a Jason Aldean concert at Progressive Field, was found by a landfill worker in New Russia Township, just outside of Cleveland on Tuesday (7-22). The man’s body was in a dumpster that had been transported from the ballpark. The Lorain County Sherriff’s Department responded to the landfill and identified the body as the missing man.
Shel Silverstein “A Boy Named Shel” Biopic Coming
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Finally one of the most under-appreciated, but wildly-influential lyricists in country music, one of country music’s forgotten Outlaw artists, and one of America’s most creative personalities is going to get his due on the silver screen. Shel Silverstein is slated to receive the biopic treatment in a film called A Boy Named Shel—a play on words of the song “A Boy Named Sue” made famous by Johnny Cash.
Jason Aldean’s “Burnin’ It Down” (A Roast)
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Oh Jason, this is most unfortunate. Since Jason Aldean has re-entered the single life after getting caught in a douche-soaked nightclub on the Sunset Strip handling up on some American Idol semifinalist castoff, now he thinks he’s Mr. Sexy, taking cues from Jerrod Niemann and entering the EDM space to keep the child support money streaming in.
The Best & Worst Case Scenarios For The New Classic Country Format
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One of the big stories involving the back end of country music in 2014 has been the potential formation of a brand new radio format to give a home to the older artists quickly being shuffled off of mainstream radio in the movement towards youth. The big question that remains is how the new format for older country music could take shape.
Tim McGraw Responds to Fan Slapping Incident
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Tim McGraw has responded to an incident that happened at a concert in Atlanta on Sunday (7-13) at Aaron’s Ampitheatre at Lakewood, where after a female fan touched him multiple times, including grabbing hold of his jeans and causing a significant rip in them, Tim responded by slapping or shoving the female fan across the head.
Legendary Performer & Songwriter George Riddle Has Passed Away
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George Riddle, a songwriter and musician whose music and influence can be heard throughout the classic country music world, passed away on Saturday night, July 19th after battling with throat Cancer. he might be best known as the very first and original Jones Boy, backing George Jones up in what would later become George’s legendary band.
Women Going About Battling Bro-Country All Wrong
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Last year about this time, music periodicals left and right were falling over themselves to declare 2013 the “Year of the Woman” in country music. Music Row in Nashville may be dumb, but it’s not stupid. They saw the need to ramp up the female quotient to restore some diversity. Here in the summer of 2014, we’re very much seeing the results of those efforts. And unfortunately, it’s not very pretty.
“Inside of You” From Petunia & The Vipers
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From the dark, weary, poetic side of the roots world, where lost souls born into the wrong time period go to dwell and dispel their misery in song, comes Petunia & The Vipers—a complexly influenced country and roots band with a mutable sound whose only constant is a call back to the earliest times of popular music when people like Woody Guthrie and Django Reinheardt …