Album Review – Shawna Thompson’s “Lean On Neon”
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Well deep fry my okra. You want country? You damn well better, and bring your appetite, because Shawna Thompson is serving up heaping helpings of it. There’s no shrinkflation in twang happening here.
Saving Country Music’s Pickathon 2013 LIVE Blog
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Welcome to Saving Country Music’s 2013 Pickathon LIVE blog! We will out at Pickathon all weekend, leaving our thoughts, posting pics, and other bits of information from the fest all weekend. Below you can watch a LIVE stream from the festival’s primary stages, but at any given time, multiple performances might be going on, so check below that in the live blog section for other activities transpiring at Pickathon.
Riley Cooper’s Racial Rant An Embarrassment For Country Too
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Yesterday, Philadephia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper was caught up in a public controversy when video surfaced of him saying, “I will jump that fence and fight ever nig**r here!” at a June 8th Kenny Chesney concert held at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. Characterizations of country music fans as racist hillbillies have spread with it, becoming a subplot and discussion point about the incident.
Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” Now Longest #1 in Country History
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Florida Georgia Line’s songs “Cruise” is now arguably the biggest song in this history of country music. Arguably yes, because music charts aren’t always the best gauge of cultural impact, and you can certainly question the validity of “Cruise” as a country song to begin with. But all qualifiers aside, “Cruise” has now spent longer at the #1 position of Billboard’s country chart than any other song in that chart’s 70 year history.
If Pop Country Stars Had To Find Other Jobs
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So many of pop country’s celebrities have such a vacuous amount of life skills, without being propped up as pretty faces by the country music industry, they’d be clueless in the real world. Others probably have some skills outside of singing into Auto-tuners at concerts, and that’s probably what they should be doing instead of trying to be artists.
Country Songwriter and Performer Nick Nixon Passes Away
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Mercury recording artist and #1 hit songwriter Nick Nixon has passed away, according to sources close to his family. He passed away around 4 PM Tuesday afternoon (7-30-13) after battling a lung disease. He leaves behind his wife Kim, and five children. The St. Louis, MO native penned the million-selling hit “The Teddy Bear Song” that became a #1 for Barbara Fairchild in March of 1973.
Hank3’s “Brothers of the 4X4” to be Released October 1st
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Hank Williams III will release his new country album “Brothers of the 4X4” on October 1st. The release will be a double album of 16 total tracks, and will be accompanied by a punk album release called “A Fiendish Threat.” “The king of hellbilly, Mr. HANK3 himself, is pleased to announce a triple-threat of new releases, hitting stores October 1, 2013. HANK3 will release a brand new DOUBLE country album…”
Joey Allcorn Plans Hank Williams Tribute to Benefit Hank Museum
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Country music throwback Joey Allcorn, known for his classic style and appreciation for traditional country, is putting together a benefit album for the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, AL. Also slated to appear on the album are the Queen of Underground Country, Rachel Brooke, Jake Penrod, David Church, Arty Hill, Andy Norman, and Bobby Tomberlin.
Win A Copy of “Bakersfield” by Vince Gill & Paul Franklin
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Just in time to coincide with the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Bakersfield Sound exhibit, country music maestro Vince Gill, along with legend of the steel guitar Paul Franklin have released Bakersfield, a tribute to the Bakersfield Sound and it’s two biggest icons, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. This ten song album swaps between Buck and Merle tunes and features some of their most notable songs.
LeAnn Rimes’ “Spitfire” Draws Strong Reactions
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After a six year wait to release an album of original material at the mercy of Curb Records’ career-shattering and sometimes illegal talent retention program, prolonging the release process for artists on their final album with the label nearly indefinitely, the embattled and bruised LeAnn Rimes has finally released “Spitfire.” The chatter around “Spitfire” has been polarizing to darn near bellicose.
The Raised Middle Finger: Why It Means More In Country
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the image of the angry face and the raised middle finger has become an iconic symbol of defiance against the direction of country music. As indecent as a raised middle finger happens to be in the first place, and the propensity for some seedy country fans and artists to have it make an appearance in every single photo of them, it has come to mean more than its vulgar connotation in the fight to save country music.
Johnny Cash’s “Million Dollar Songwriter Circle”
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“That night in my house [was] the first time these songs were heard…” Johnny Cash went on. “Joni Mitchell sang ‘Both Sides Now,’ Graham Nash sang ‘Marrakesh Express,’ Shel Silverstein sang ‘A Boy Named Sue,’ Bob Dylan sang ‘Lay Lady Lay,’ and Kristofferson sang ‘Me & Bobby McGee.’ That was the first time any of those songs were heard.”
JJ Cale – The Man That Made Country Music Groove
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JJ Cale passed away yesterday evening (7-26-13) from a heart attack. He was 74. His influence on music was great. His influence on country music was unfairly unheralded and understated, but important nonetheless. the first established country artist to really do country funk right was Waylon Jennings in 1974 with the song “Louisiana Women” by JJ Cale.