Joshua Ray Walker Reveals Cancer Complications at Kessler Show
19 Comments
When running down a list of the greatest living songwriters, you damn sure better make sure Joshua Ray Walker is somewhere on there, if not near the top. He didn’t win Saving Country Music’s Song of the Year by accident.
Old Crow Medicine Show Invited to be Grand Ole Opry Members
32 Comments
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
46 Comments
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
47 Comments
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”
13 Comments
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)
11 Comments
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”
23 Comments
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.
Original Country Music Outlaw Tompall Glaser, Dead at 79
11 Comments
Tompall Glaser, one of country music’s original Outlaws, is dead at 79 after fighting a prolonged illness according to his family. He died at his home in Nashville. Tompall got his start in country music with his two brothers Chuck and Jim in Tompall & The Glaser Brothers who were members of the Grand Ole Opry. The family band released 10 albums and had 9 charting singles before breaking up in 1975.
CMA Fan Fest “Country’s Night To Rock” LIVE Blog
66 Comments
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the LIVE blog for the 2013 broadcast of CMA’s Fan Fest, dubbed over the last few years as “Country’s Night to Rock.” Since our live blogs for mainstream country’s big awards shows have been so successful over the years, and because we had many requests to also create a platform for commiseration, it was decided we’ll give it a shot for this event too.
The Science Behind Why Pop Music Sucks
47 Comments
Unless you’re a dedicated listener of Top 40 pop music, you’ve probably found yourself at one point or another complaining about the current state of mainstream music and how it’s too simplistic and unoriginal. Well you might be surprised to find out that this is more than just an opinion. There’s actually scientific evidence to back your hypothesis up.
Movie Review – “Shakespeare Was Big George Jones Fan”
1 Comment
“Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan: Cowboy Jack Clement’s Home Movies” was made in 2005 to document Jack’s life, and the wild environment swirling around his legendary home studio, the “Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa.” It is about capturing the spirit of the man—the whimsy that he approached the creative process with.
Jody Payne, Guitarist for Willie Nelson, Dead at 77
5 Comments
James L. Payne, aka Jody Payne, electric guitarist for Willie Nelson for 35 years, has passed away. He died this morning (8-10) in Stapleton, AL due to cardiac arrest according to his wife Vicki. Payne had been suffering from heart problems for years prior. Throughout the 60’s Payne played bass for Ray Price, and also played with Merle Haggard among others before eventually joining Willie in 1973.
The Civil Wars Sing Their Swan Song
15 Comments
by all accounts, The Civil Wars latest, self-titled album will be the duo’s swan song. Certain undisclosed, but publicly acknowledged irreconcilable differences have officially split the project in two, and almost kept this album from seeing the light of day altogether. But there’s still this business of 12 new tracks that they’ve released into a world.