Reckless Kelly Tributes Austin’s Latest Shuttered Venue, Giddy Ups
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For some Austin music venues, there’s a sense of not “if,” but “when” the end will come, and along with it, all the history, memories, and sometimes friendships and family that is made at these magical spots.
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.
Ocean Breeze Making Signature Line of Country Douches
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Just when you thought you’d seen it all, a feminine products company out of North Carolina called “Ocean Breeze” announced Thursday they are launching a new line of products pandering to the country world. Yes, country music is officially going….there. “This ain’t your grandmother’s douche, so to speak. Put the fiddles, steel guitars, vinegar and water mixes, and bulky, awkward applicators away.”
Hank Williams’ “Lost Concerts” Reveal The Real Hank
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the most rewarding thing Hank Williams fans will walk away with from this collection is a more intimate understanding of the man through the introductions and stage banter that is captured with such breadth in these recordings. Never before has Hank been brought to life in such a real, cognitive way, making this project a provocative, essential listen for the serious Hank Williams fan.
Apolitical Country Songs To Help Survive The Political Season
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About this time every four years the political rhetoric reaches critical mass as TV, radio, and the internet are permeated with political ads, while your personal social network feed is filled with political memes and other such oversimplification of issues we’ve been fighting to resolve for decades. Here are some apolitical, or anti-political songs to help survive the political season.
Billboard’s Bill Werde Answers Critics of New Chart Rules
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On Friday Billboard Magazine’s editorial director Bill Werde was interviewed about various topics, including the controversial new rules (at least in some circles) on how Billboard is tabulating the rankings on country’s “Hot 100” songs chart. Werde himself has been in the cross hairs of some country music fans who are worried the new system favors crossover pop artists.
Grand Ole Opry & Ryman Auditorium to Sell Naming Rights
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That’s right ladies and gentleman, you want to go see a show at the Wal-Mart Ryman, or maybe at the Grand Ole International House of Pancakes? Well that’s exactly what country fans could be facing in the future now that Ryman Hospitality (previously Gaylord Entertainment) has partnered with Creative Artists Agency to attempt to sell their naming rights.
Blues Review – Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band “Between The Ditches”
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one of the great attributes of Between The Ditches is how it guides you into understanding Reverend Peyton’s approach, how he sometimes uses repeating lyrical lines to engage you in a rhythmic cycle meant to ensnare you in the music. This is not music to listen to, it is music to feel. In the spirit of Delta blues, it grooves, and cycles and repetition are important both to its effectiveness, and to the roots of the music.
No Really, Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever…” Is Not Country
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The long running, incessant debate about what is country and what is not can get so bogged down in manusha and rehashed arguments that even I get tired of it. Where the situation has become exceptional though surrounds the Billboard Hot 100 Country Charts and their newly-implemented rules. The only entity that appears to be calling “We Are Never…” a country song, is Billboard.
Aaron Watson Fights Fire with Country Rap Fire on “Hey Y’all” Song
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Texas Country music star Aaron Watson just released his 11th album Real Good Time on October 9th, and on the album the Amarillo native makes a good, healthy jab at the “country rap” phenomenon infecting country music’s airwaves. Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, and the rest of the laundry list country rap crowd are lampooned by a song that is so well written in the country rap vein…
.357 String Band Reissues Landmark Album “Fire & Hail”
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the loss of .357 String Band may go down as underground country’s greatest tragedy. I can think of no other project that was so ripe for becoming a success story of authentic American underground roots. They were brilliant, but accessible at the same time. It is a great sin of American music. They have re-issued their landmark 2008 album “Fire & Hail” on vinyl.