William Beckmann Signs With Warner Music Nashville
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Announced on Tuesday, August 27th, William Beckmann has signed to Warner Music Nashville. He is now a major label artist. The news comes as Beckmann readies to release his debut single for the label called “Not That Strong.”
Wayne Hancock New Album “Ride” Out 2/26 & Best Of Out Now
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The King of Juke Joint Swing, The Viper of Melody, one Wayne “The Train” Hancock will be releasing his first album in nearly 3 years on February 26th called “Ride” through Bloodshot Records. And that’s not the only new Wayne Hancock album out. On the day after Christmas, Bloodshot Records released “Choice Cuts: Best of Wayne Hancock.”
Roger Alan Wade Takes A Ride On A “Southbound Train”
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Not everybody can pick up a guitar, cue up a microphone, and cut a baker’s dozen of songs completely dry with no enhancements or accompaniments and call it a record. Then again, not everyone can write like Chattanooga’s patron saint of country music, Roger Alan Wade. Southbound Train is a reflective album that doesn’t shy away from having a little fun.
2012 Album of the Year – Kellie Pickler’s “100 Proof”
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Kellie did something quite remarkable. She decided that by her own hand, she would rather relinquish the spoils of her American Idol past and her major label endorsement than to continue living a lie through her music. Of course Kellie would have loved to have it both ways, but she decided she would rather make music that was true to her heart and take the risk of losing it all than continuing to play the part.
Saving Country Music’s Worst Country Songs of 2012
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This year in popular country music, there were some glimmers of hope. Kacey Musgraves’ “Merry Go ‘Round” found some surprising traction and success, and Kellie Pickler’s 100 Proof may go down as one of the best mainstream country albums in years. But of course this was all counter-balanced by a gaggle of the worst songs “country” music has ever seen.
2012 Song of the Year – Billy Don Burns’ “Stranger”
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This song is about losing yourself, which we’ve all done, and will all do again, and how we all start off life with a firm grasp on who we are that life does its level best to wrestle away from us. But inside “Stranger” there is also a glimmer of hope in how the realization of one’s self can stimulate renewal. And above all of that, the beauty of “Stranger” is its fierce simplicity–the attribute of all excellent country songs.
Archive of the Death of Hank Williams
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It was 60 years ago today that the legendary Hank Williams passed away in the back seat of his powder blue Cadillac in Oak Hill, West Virginia en route to a performance in Charleston, W. Va. Hank died of heart failure thought to be brought on by the combination of alcohol, pills, and morphine administered for an ailing back, but the death continues to be shrouded in some mystery to this day.
Taylor Swift Delivers Off-Key Performance on New Year’s Eve
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On New Years Eve, Taylor Swift was one of the exclusive, marquee performers for ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve hosted by Ryan Seacrest. And for a performer who has a history of off-key performances, Taylor delivered what might have been her worst live performance since her now notorious duet with Stevie Nicks at the 2010 Grammy Awards.
Saving Country Music’s Best Live Performances of 2012
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Where 2011 felt like a high water mark year for live performances and an average year for recorded projects, 2012 feels vice versa. When I look back on 2011, it seemed like there were moments I experienced that I will never top the rest of my life. 2012 is the year that some albums and songs were released that may never be topped. Still there were a quite a few memorable performances worth noting.
Album Review – Iris Dement’s “Sing The Delta”
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When you reflect back on many of the country music greats, they were people who seemed to be birthed right out of the country itself. Iris Dement is one of those artists, a genuine product of America’s rural textures, and a country music great despite the 16-year hiatus between albums of original material maybe causing a momentarily lapse in memory of her brilliance.
Sturgill Simpson Retools for 2013 (& Live Review)
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About this time last year, I was telling everybody that 2012 was going to be the year of Kentucky-born and Nashville-based singer / songwriter Sturgill Simpson. “Mark my words,” I said. He had a brand new, professionally-made album in the can featuring recently-minted Country Hall of Famer Hargus “Pig” Robbins amongst other notable contributors.
Tompall Glaser’s “Hillbilly Central” (a pictorial history)
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The year was 1974, and a two-story stucco office building / studio located two blocks from Nashville’s infamous Music Row at 916 19th Avenue South got christened “Hillbilly Central” by a New York-based music writer. Hillbilly Central was the brain child of Tompall Glaser, a member of the Glaser Brothers, who took the the money he earned from some success in the country music business to revolutionize it.
How Nashville Surprisingly Tackled The Talent Glut in 2012
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One of the most remarkable music events of 2012 must be how Nashville and some of its biggest, most bloated and notorious corporate citizens did the inexplicable: they began to tackle the issue of the massive talent glut in American roots music. All of a sudden the big boys in the media business are playing a part in re-populating the country and roots music farm system that for years has been anemic and ignored.