Tyler Childers Breaks a Barrier By Headlining Gulf Coast Jam
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Like many other mainstream festivals, in 2024 the Gulf Coast Jam started looking beyond the major label/Music Row rosters for talent as independent performers are surging in popularity. Now Tyler Childers will headline.
Sturgill Simpson on Playing The Grand Ole Opry
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Tomorrow night (Friday 8/23), up-and-coming country music star Sturgill Simpson will be making his debut on the hallowed Grand Ole Opry stage. Introducing him will be Marty Stuart. Sturgill’s Opry debut will have great personal significance. To explain, here is Sturgill Simpson on his Opry debut, in his own words.
Sammy Kershaw: Randy Travis Has Developed Pneumonia in Rehab
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Over the last few days, rumors have been swirling that Randy Travis has contracted pneumonia while in a Dallas-area rehab facility, recovering from a recent stroke he had while being treated for a heart condition. The primary source of that information appears to be fellow traditional country music star and Randy Travis friend Sammy Kershaw.
2013: The Year of the Songwriter
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Everywhere in the independent music world you’re seeing songwriters who have struggled for years finally starting to get singed to record labels and releasing career-caliber albums. Whereas other sectors of the music industry seem to be gripped by the fear that digitization and streaming may ultimately doom the business of music, talented songwriters are benefiting from the search for the next writer to break out.
Review – Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” Slowed Down to 33 RPM
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I don’t know if it’s a bigger commentary on the state of social networking, or the serious depravity of truly meaningful modern songs that the most talked-about country music composition in the last week has been a version of Dolly Parton’s legacy recording “Jolene” put on a record player at a slower speed setting than normal, making it sound like it is sung by a man, and striking a deep 70’s era half-time groove.
String Bands That Are Better Than Mumford & Sons
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I actually come from the camp that believes that if Mumford & Sons weren’t so popular, more core roots fans would respect them. But it is really hip to hate and undervalue Mumford right now. Let’s hope that the current backlash doesn’t hurt every band with a banjo, because there’s many great string bands out there that and mix high energy and heartfelt songs into the string band concept.
Valerie June is “Pushin’ Against A Stone” No More
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I know very little about Valerie June, and aspire to keep it that way. A natural mystery swirls around this woman similarly to the tresses emanating from her topside like a living, organic crown. Valerie June seems more apparition than woman—vanishing and appearing in the most random moments like a mythical character born in the mind of an early European troubadour….
Old Crow Medicine Show Invited to be Grand Ole Opry Members
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For the first time in the last half decade, the Grand Ole Opry is poised to induct a traditionally-leaning country music act into its distinct and coveted roster of permanent members. Opry member Marty Stuart surprised Old Crow Medicine Show on the Opry stage tonight (8-16) with an invitation to join the storied institution during Old Crow’s scheduled performance.
Steel Guitar Players Added to Endangered Species List
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The Environmental Protection Agency has just given an increasingly-rare form of American musician known as the steel guitar player the ominous distinction of being an endangered species. The EPA defines an endangered species as “one facing a very high risk of extinction.” The ruling comes as the number of steel guitar players continues to decline to alarmingly low levels.
Outlaw Country Music Hall Of Fame Coming
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Fans of Outlaw country music are about to get a big wish granted, as plans have been announced to form an Outlaw Country Music Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame will be located in Lynchburg, TN, with Jack Daniels coming on as a primary sponsor. A space for the upcoming Hall of Fame has been acquired in Lynchburg and an architect is currently working on design plans.
George Jones Proves People Still Want to Listen to “Grandpa’s Music”
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George’s 16 Biggest Hits album was certified platinum yesterday, meaning it has now sold 1 million copies according to the RIAA. This comes 15 years after the album was initially released, and 11 years after the album was first certified gold for selling 500,000 copies. But George Jones’s postmortem sales success was not all due to older country music consumers.
10 Reasons Why Internet Lists Suck (A Rant)
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Every day that goes by, the internet devolves more and more into a cesspool of spurious information filtered through various website’s political agendas and their insatiable appetite for traffic to where now any kernel of truth, knowledge, or wisdom is whittled down to an almost imperceptible spec buried beneath layers and layers of pop science, slanted viewpoints, and political/cultural snark.
Wade Bowen Takes Truck Songs to Task with “Trucks”
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Once again a member of the Texas music scene has delivered a song that gives voice and reason to how the rest of us feel. Wade Bowen’s “Trucks” aims its big, diamond-plated bumper at the incessant references to tailgates and four wheel drives in modern pop country songs and slams on the gas.