Billy Strings Lands Role in “King of the Hill” Reboot
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The new 10-episode season is currently streaming on Hulu. “King of the Hill” featured quite a few country music icons throughout its original run, but this new series features one on every single episode.
55th Annual Grammy Awards Preview
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Sunday night is the most important night in music of the year as the 55th annual Grammy Awards will be transpiring in Los Angeles. Independent-minded music consumers can go back and forth about just how important Grammy night is, but regardless if you like the winners or even care to pay attention, what transpires Sunday night will have effects on the entire music world.
Olds Sleeper’s “Before And After The Here And Now”
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I don’t know how this guy does it. Like a quasar, he’s able to endlessly expel creative musical content unfettered from a seemingly inexhaustible source. It’s not always pretty, it’s not always perfect. But if you pay attention long enough and listen, you will invariably witness something that leaves you awe struck.Before And After The Here And Now is a more mellow project compared to typical Olds albums…
Darius Rucker’s Version of “Wagon Wheel” (A Rant)
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Wagon Wheel” isn’t the “Free Bird” of our generation, it is our generation’s sonic equivalent of inserting a corkscrew into your earhole and giving it a nice good healthy turn. The song, initially stolen from a Bob Dylan demo by Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor with a “better to ask forgiveness than permission” approach, officially holds the title of the most ubiquitous song in the history of mankind that nobody’s heard.
Dale Watson Introduces The “Ameripolitan” Genre
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Dale Watson has been throwing around his “Ameripolitan” term for years, but Dale is now working to organize behind the name. The main idea behind Dale’s Ameripolitan at the moment is the formation of an Ameripolitan awards show that would transpire in February 2014 in Austin, TX. The awards would be voted on by three divisions: 1) Fans. 2) Industry. 3) 100 Ameripolitan “captains.”
2013 Country Music Hall of Fame Picks & Prognostications
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2012 was a high profile year for Halls of Fame. From the kilted screecher Axl Rose pulling like a Sex Pistol and telling the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to kiss off, to the Baseball Hall of Fame not inducting a single member as the steroid era falls like a shadow on the eligibility timeline. The Country Music Hall of Fame has kept its legitimacy and honor over the years by being an exclusive get…
Heartworn Highways Documentary Now Available Online
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The legendary Outlaw country documentary Heartworn Highways, featuring Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, David Allan Coe, Rodney Crowell, Gamble Rogers, Steve Young, The Charlie Daniels Band, and many more, has finally been released completely remastered for digital on-demand viewing and download. Original copies of Heartworn Highways, including copies of the 2005 DVD release regularly sell for $90 and over.
Women At Forefront of Country Music Evolution
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“Country must evolve” is the way it is sold to the country music public when pop and hip-hop influences are invited into the country music fold. What these folks fail to point out is that country has been trying to evolve for 30 some odd years right under their noses. Are you looking for true progress and evolution in country music? Look no further than this list of women.
Blake Shelton’s “Sure Be Cool If You Did” Shows No Leadership
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Sure the song will do well commercially, but the opening line “I was gonna keep it real like chill like only have a drink or two” shows that Blake is not ready to lead the country music troops into battle, he’s cowering from the fight by releasing a song that is a cry for relevancy. Like many current pop country songs, it simply switches urban artifacts for rural ones to qualify it as “country,” creating dissonance between subject and sonic style.
What Would Waylon Do About School Shootings?
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Waylon Jennings has been a long time gone, passing away on February 13th, 2002, but his wisdom is still as relevant as the music that he made. While being interviewed on Prim Time Country on TNN in 1999 shortly after the Columbine High School massacre, Waylon was asked what he would do about the issue of gun control and school shootings.
Ray Lawrence Jr. Offers Up “More Raw Stuff”
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Like Chris Knight, Ray Lawrence Jr. is a simple man who has this sensational talent to be able to put defining moments of the human experience to words and music in a way that rekindles the feelings of those moments. Ray’s simplicity becomes his strength by imbibing his music with a blue collar, colloquial grace. Ray Lawrence Jr. is America’s local honky tonk singer.
Garth Brooks & The Super Bowl’s Lip-Sync Legacy
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At the 1993 Super Bowl in Pasadena, CA, Garth Brooks was the artist selected to sing the National Anthem. Garth was asked to make a pre-recorded version as a backup even though he intend to sing live, but Garth Brooks refused. Was this because Garth wanted to be authentic? This may have been his alibi initially, but later it would be revealed his decision was part of a much bigger plan.
Other Things Thomas Rhett Can Do With Jesus
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I’m not going to go as far as to call it sacrilege, but Thomas Rhett’s song “Beer With Jesus” proves that when it comes to trying to write a pop country hit, nothing is sacred. But if we’re going to say that’s okay or even creative songwriting to “have a beer with Jesus,” where do we draw the line? Here’s some suggestions of other things that might be fun to do with the Son of God.