Album Review – Big City Brian Wright’s “Sky Trucker”
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Country traditionalist Big City Brian Wright isn’t the first to record a country trucker album, and he won’t be the last. But he is the first to take a country trucker album, and make it fly.
Everlast & The Chemistry of Country & Hip Hop
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Since country is such a traditional art form, as soon as you interject a hip-hop element into the music (rapping, drum loops, samples, whatever) it ceases to be country, and instantly becomes hip-hop. He wouldn’t think once about calling his songs country. In other words, there is no country rap. There’s country, and there’s hip hop.
Facebook Becoming the Big Box of the Internet
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As evidenced over and over in America, the intrusion of big box stores into communities means the downfall of many small, independent businesses, and the sense of community they create. Facebook, or any large website that is able to assert ultra-dominance over what you see and how you behave online could spell doom to the microservice, specialization, and just simple charm that independent websites are able to offer.
Album Review – Miranda Lambert’s “Four The Record”
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Once again I sit down to review an album originating on Music Row, which means some will have an immediate negative reactionary response about why their little Saving Country Music is selling out for a pop country star, while others will come to sing the praises of how Miranda Lambert is the one to save country music.
Album Review – Hellbound Glory’s “Damaged Goods”
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Frequent visitors to Saving Country Music know how much of a proponent of Reno, NV’s Hellbound Glory I am. If you want to accuse Saving Country Music of being the house organ of Hellbound Glory, guilty as charged. I’m not just drinking the Hellbound Kool-Aid, I’m slapping two fingers on the inside of my arm, looking for a vein to mainline the stuff right in.
Jason Isbell Van & Gear Stolen in Dallas Update
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Jason Isbell, former member of The Drive By Truckers and current solo artist had his van, trailer, and all contents stolen in Dallas, TX on Saturday afternoon. Jason and his band, The 400 Unit, were in Dallas Friday night, playing the city’s legendary Granada Theater on lower Greenville in support of his latest album Here We Rest.
Outreach Must Be An Imperative of Independent Music
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If you’re reading these very words right now, it is very likely that at some point in your life, you went through a musical awakening. At some point, you were exposed to a piece of independent music, and it changed your life. It opened up a whole new world that you would have never known existed if it wasn’t for someone opening that door for you.
Recap – 2011 CMA Awards
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My overall grade of the 2011 CMA Awards would be “not terrible.” Jason Aldean could have swept the awards, and ushered in a new era in country music where a country rap song was the reigning Song of the Year. But Taylor’s Entertainer of the Year victory at least means that at least a little authenticity is still alive in the “country” genre. Or at least for another year.
Idol Scotty McCreery’s Lip Sync ‘Clear As Day’ on CMA’s
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During Martina McBride’s rendition of her song “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,” three times during the performance, you could clearly see a teleprompter flashing words in Martina’s direction. During Scotty McCreery’s abridged performance of the song ‘Walk In The Country” from his new album Clear As Day, he was clearly lip syncing.
CMA 2011 Preview: We Were Wrong About Taylor Swift
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We were wrong about Taylor Swift. I was wrong about Taylor Swift. We were blinded by our prejudices. When Taylor Swift first came on to the scene, she sang cheesy teenage pop songs, and we chastised her for it, when she was doing what all the great songwriters did over the years: write what they knew about, what inspired them.
Review – Jason Boland & The Stragglers “Rancho Alto”
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The heavy thematic focus on Texas and Oklahoma in Red Dirt music is what has made the movement strong throughout that region. It’s also what keeps it from progressing beyond. I’ve always believed that good songwriting allows you to look past proper names, and delve into the meaning of what a songwriter is attempting to convey. Jason Boland does this in Rancho Alto.
CMA 2011 Preview: The Jason Aldean Effect (& Predictions)
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Just like how Taylor Swift’s big 2009 sweep of the awards caused a dramatic pop-oriented shift in the genre, an Aldean sweep could cause a shift to Aldean’s calling cards of checklist songs and country rap. And a win for the song “Dirt Road Anthem” would all but make the formation of the mono-genre complete.
Viral & Serial Videos Important Tool to Independent Artists
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Following this success and attention to video, many independent artists are making video a bigger priority. And not just one video, but multiple videos, “serial” video releases if you will, of both viral and more conceptualized varieties, to keep their music in the forefront of fan’s minds over a longer period than just an album’s initial release.