George Strait to Hold Nationwide Listening Party Ahead of New Album
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George Strait’s new album “Cowboys and Dreamers” is out on Friday, September 6th. But fans of Strait and supporters of local independent record stores will have an opportunity to listen and purchase the album early.
Disney to Buy Country Music for $10.5 Billion
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Pending approval by federal regulators, the Disney Corporation has secured a deal to buy the institution of country music for $10.5 billion. The deal apparently would include all of country music’s major labels and their rosters of artists, institutions like the Country Music Hall of Fame and The Grand Ole Opry, award shows, and the naming rights to the now defunct restaurant chain “Kenny Rogers Roasters.”
Jett Williams on Hank’s ‘Lost Notebooks’ / Clarifies Hank’s Death
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Jett Williams, the daughter of Hank Williams and co-executor of his estate was interviewed by Joshua Morningstar. Jett had some interesting things to say about the Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams project that matched unfinished Hank songs with contemporary performers, and also clarified some information about the circumstances surrounding her father’s death.
Where In The World Is Lucky Tubb? (An Interview)
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The most common questions I get at the Saving Country Music help desk are, “Where’s Lucky Tubb?” “How can I find his tour dates?” “What’s he up to?” “Where can I buy his albums?” Like many of the brilliant musicians making a living in the country music underground, communication and self-promotion seem like an afterthought to Lucky. So I sat down with Lucky to let him answer some of our most pressing questions.
The Country Music Anti-Christ Crosses Line Into Creative Control
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Ever since I first christened Big Machine Records owner Scott Borchetta as the “Country Music Anti-Christ” I have gone out of my way to stipulate one important positive, that he extends his artists creative control over their music. But all of that might have just changed, and that change may change the way the whole country music business conducts itself.
Lucky Tubb & Don Maddox Share Stage for Halloween
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From all the music festivals I attended this summer, from South by Southwest this Spring, to all the other musical events intermixed throughout the year, few rival the magic that transpired Halloween night when Lucky Tubb and the Modern Day Troubadours pulled their tour van up to Johnny B’s in Medford OR all the way from Austin, to share a night of music with the legendary Don Maddox.
Saving Country Music 2012 Official ANTI-CMA’s Live Blog
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Alright folks, so here we go! If you’ve never done this before, this is an exercise for old souls to find solace in humor from the ridiculousness that is a country music awards show. As the icon on the left tells you, this is “country music’s biggest night.” So we’ll make sure that ALL the perspectives on country music get their say. Please feel free to check back and refresh your browser as the blog is updated in real time.
A Critical Time in Country Music
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Over the last few months, and the last few weeks specifically, we have been going through a country music Cambrian Explosion of sorts, with massive, earth-moving events completely re-shaping the style and infrastructure of a genre that has been around for over 70 years. Arguably there’s been more significant events in a short period than any other time in country’s history.
Lindi Ortega Breaks Out with “Cigarettes & Truckstops”
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Lindi Ortega evokes the ghost of Patsy Cline and the cool factor of Wanda Jackson. Like with Elizabeth Cook, you almost can’t believe that an artist whose beauty is so stark would find appeal in the lower rungs of the music world; that they would settle on being real instead of real famous. But don’t let the beauty fool you, Lindi is the real deal.
Album Review – Taylor Swift’s “Red”
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The first thing that needs to be pointed out is Red is not country. Red is really the tale of two albums: A gorgeous evocation of human emotions set to enchanting music and delivered in elevated modes, and awful pop shit that leaves you almost embarrassed for Taylor from the sheer obviousness of the ploy. To Taylor’s credit, it is the good stuff that makes up the majority of this album.
Song Reviews For Taylor Swift’s “Red”
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So here are some specific thoughts on the songs of Taylor Swift’s album Red. This is meant to be an addendum to the more broad album review posted, so please read that first or in addition to this for the context of these reviews. As a general thought on the songs overall, I thought there were too many of them. If you are going to release an album of 16 tracks, they need to be solid. Instead, Red has some fat.
Barry Zito, The Wahoos, and Willy “Tea” Taylor
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They say that great singers can sing the phone book and make it beautiful. If that’s the case, great songwriters could write about the phone book and make it beautiful. baseball seems like such a mundane topic to delve into with such depth for a whole song. But in other ways, this presented the greatest challenge to Willy’s songwriting, and by the success of the song, it presents one of his greatest feats.
Muddy Roots Announces Spring Weekender & European Lineup 2013
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The Muddy Roots Festival has just announced that they will be heading back over to Europe once again this summer for the 2nd Annual Muddy Roots Europe June 14-16, 2013 at Cowboy Up Saloon Waardamme Belgium. Muddy Roots will also be adding a brand new domestic show called the Muddy Roots Spring Weekender on May 10-11 in Adams TN, just north of Nashville.