Officially Declaring June 20th, 2025 a Country Music Holiday
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By the power vested in me by the great seal of Saving Country Music, June 20th, 2025 is officially being declared a country music holiday due to the incredible level and volume of top-anticipated album releases.
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.
ABC’s “Nashville” Cast’s Real Life Counterparts
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Like most fictional characters in popular culture, the characters of ABC’s new drama Nashville are probably based more on stereotypes than real-life folks. But for fun, let’s see if we can’t match up who the real-life inspiration is for the principals of the Nashville cast, and through the experiment see if the show really does represent all aspects of the Nashville music scene.
Jamey Johnson’s “Living for a Song / Tribute to Hank Cochran”
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Jamey Johnson’s Living For a Song is a tribute to his musical hero; a man he met in 2008 when Cochran was already suffering from pancreatic cancer. I’ve always had great respect for Jamey Johnson the man, and his dedication and desire to see this project through elevates him yet another notch. But shoot me that I like my pulse raised when I put on an album.
Mumford & Sons Take Roots Music Mainstream w/ “Babel”
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By all accounts, I should hate these dudes, and this album by proxy. t was announced that Babel was the best-selling debut so far in 2012, selling 600,000 copies and outpacing folks like Justin Bieber. Really? Has the “roots” revolution reached such a point that it is the most popular, mainstream thing going in music these days? How am I supposed to be okay with that, and where is this leading?
How Billboard’s New Chart Rules Affect YOU
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When Billboard announced new rules on how the songs on their “Hot 100” country chart would be tabulated, it caused a tizzy amongst folks who pay attention to these sorts of things. But the average Joe fans out there may have a little trouble understanding why the issue is something they should care about, and how it could negatively effect the music they enjoy.
Sturgill Simpson’s “Life Ain’t Fair & The World Is Mean”
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The magic of “Life Ain’t Fair” is the way it trivializes all the issues it raises by simply pointing out the obvious: that life’s unfairness is inherent, and complaining about it or using it as an excuse to not pursue your dreams is foolish. It’s cynical and inspirational all at the same time, and that feat of acrobatics can’t be performed without some acute dexterity and prowess with the pen.
Billboard Changes Country Chart Rules, Boosts “Crossover” Songs
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This morning the country music world was turned on its head when Billboard, the longest-running and most respected publisher of music charts, decided it was making sweeping changes to the way singles are judged in country. If Billboard’s rules stay in place,the effects could be somewhere between dramatic and historic.