Country Is Surging in Country Music. But Pop Stars are Confusing the Signal
57 Comments
The trend of pop projects being pushed to the country market that started in earnest with Beyoncé is beginning to look less like a short-lived trend for 2024, and now becoming endemic.
Mary Sarah “Bridges” The Old & New in New Album
30 Comments
Close your eyes for a second, and envision a world where a young beautiful bubbly female star—like Taylor Swift maybe—releases a completely traditional country album, not of her own music, but of some of the standards from country music’s sainted past. Now, open your eyes back up, and you’re ready to enter the world of Mary Sarah.
Jamey Johnson Problems Are With Publisher, Not Label
23 Comments
The Jamey Johnson contract dispute that has kept the songwriter from releasing any new original material since his double album The Guitar Song in 2010 is not with his label as some have surmised, but with his publisher according to a new interview posted Wednesday (7-9) in The Nashville Scene. Jamey Johnson’s publisher is EMI Music Publishing in Nashville.
Garth Brooks: “Our Job Is To Fly The Flag of Country Music”
50 Comments
Garth Brooks held a much-anticipated press conference on Thursday (7-10) to announce an upcoming world tour, new music on the way, and that for the first time his music will be released digitally. Though no specifics were given in regards to world tour dates, or a name or release date for the new album, Garth did allude that we may see the first new single in the next month or two.
“Bro-Country” Songwriter Dallas Davidson Arrested
105 Comments
In the world of country music songwriting, and specifically the writing of many of the so-called “Bro-Country” hits that have gone on to dominate country radio in the last few years, one man stands tall above the others as the King of “Bro-Country” songwriting, Dallas Davidson. Davidson was arrested Thursday morning and was yelling “racial and homophobic obscenities.”
Scott Borchetta Living Up to Promise to “Dig A Little Deeper”
35 Comments
Behind-the-scenes, Borchetta was spying all the earmarks of a hyper-trend, and saw that “Bro-Country” may be leaving his label vulnerable if they continued to bet their future on it. In Neda Ulaby’s NPR report, Borchetta said some things that stunned the country blogsphere at the time. “So we’ll task our writers and artists to dig a little deeper,” the label owner said.
Garth Brooks Headed to Sony? (A Press Conference Primer)
20 Comments
The country music world is titillated with anticipation at what Garth Brooks might be announcing at his upcoming press conference on Thursday, July 10th, scheduled to stream live on his website at noon eastern. But the cat may already be out of the bag. Over the last few days there has been industry chatter that Garth may be announcing a deal with Sony Nashville.
Now There Really Is A “Rocky Top, Tennessee”
10 Comments
One enterprising town in East Tennessee called Lake City just a little north of Knoxville saw where the lack of a true Rocky Top, Tennessee could be an opportunity. Looking to boost tourism to the town of around 2,000, Lake City’s city council voted on November 7th, 2013 to petition the Tennessee State Assembly and have the town’s name officially changed to Rocky Top.
Chris Gaines Named as Garth Brooks Replacement at Ireland Shows
23 Comments
Looking to salvage whatever they can from the debacle, the local promoters have announced they have found a replacement for Brooks, and it will be another entertainer coming out of retirement to perform for the Croke Park crowd. Dark-edged alternative rocker Chris Gaines has been named as the Garth Brooks replacement.
Song Review – Florida Georgia Line’s “Dirt”
147 Comments
Because this song is from Florida Georgia Line is not the reason to hate it. It’s the exact reason to love it. Today, the 8th of July, 2014, is a victory for country music, and for the individuals and entities who wish to see a measure of balance restored back to the format—not based on taste, but on the theory of finding less divisive music that we can all enjoy together as country music fans.
Dale Watson’s “The Truckin’ Sessions Vol. 3”
9 Comments
This isn’t an album of truckin’ songs that you sit back and listen to nostalgically, this thing takes a big arm cocked at a 90-degree angle like it’s about to give a hearty yank of the air horn, and instead grabs you by the gruff of your neck and pulls you right up into the cab of a serious diesel machine for one sensational ride. It might be one of the best Dale Watson albums to date.
Taylor Swift’s Op-Ed in the Wall St. Journal (A Rebuttal)
64 Comments
On Monday (7-7), Taylor Swift did something somewhat unusual from the music space—she posted an op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal. what is going on here is marketing. It beings with marketing, and ends with marketing. It doesn’t mean that Taylor Swift doesn’t make some salient points, or mean what she says, and that those points aren’t important. But the bottom dollar is what is driving this.
UPDATE: Garth Brooks, & 18 Semi Trucks On a Ship in the Atlantic
15 Comments
Today, 7/7, was supposed to be the day that “the 7’s aligned” and Garth officially announced his upcoming world tour after a nearly 15-year retirement. But the 7’s did not align. Garth’s master plan originally hatched in 2013 and assembled around his favorite number of ‘7’ was foiled, or for the least, delayed until Thursday, thanks to turmoil over upcoming concert dates in Ireland.