Final Living Member of The Band, Garth Hudson, Has Died
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Those cool frog croaking sounds you hear on the band’s iconic “Up On Cripple Creek”? That was Garth Hudson playing a clavinet through a wah-wah pedal. The mournful sax moans on “Tears of Rage”? That was Garth’s work too.
Outlaw Shit – The Trial of Billy Joe Shaver
21 CommentsToday is the day that original country music Outlaw Billy Joe Shaver faces trial for shooting 50-year-old Billy Coker in the cheek outside of Papa Joe’s Saloon in Lorena, TX, on March, 31st of 2007. Shaver’s charged with aggravated assault. The incident has been memorialized in the song Where Do You Want It? from the […]
Gretchen Wilson’s “Outlaws & Renegades” (A Rant)
22 CommentsThere is a war going on right now for the heart of country music my friends, and we just had a salvo shot right into our belly. I would love to be sitting here writing about one of the countless original, highly-talented bands out there that Music Row won’t even let sniff it’s panties, but […]
Why Whitey Morgan / Bloodshot Signing is Big
11 CommentsAs I first reported here, Michigan-based honky tonk band Whitey Morgan & The 78’s have signed with Chicago-based independent label Bloodshot Records. Both times I saw them at South by Southwest, their live show did not disappoint. Whitey might be the closest thing to Waylon you can see these days. There’s a lot of bands […]
You Need Ruby Jane In Your Life
25 CommentsCountry music is a funny thing. While on the outside it seems like a pretty “Hee-Yaw!” simple, straightforward artform, country music boasts some of the best maestros that American music has ever seen. Right now there may be half a hundred fiddle players with half their teeth missing, living in the bowls of a Prevost […]
Troops Called to Hank III Concert !!!
18 CommentsI always knew that at some point a Hank III show would get so out of hand that they’d have to call in the big guns to restore order. But fortunately when military might showed up to his concert at the Meridian in Houston on 3/13/10, it was to honor Hank for honoring the troops, […]
Your Opinion: Anti-Country
48 CommentsWe have a few issues facing us in the Outlaw/Underground/Insurgent/True/REAL/Hellbilly/Neo-traditionalist country movement. The first is how many different words are used to describe the music and artists that have created a small, but very strong music scene with a loyal following. Not only are there many terms, but these terms mean different things to different […]
Review- Hellbound Glory Old Highs & New Lows
20 CommentsIn some ways, I should hate Hellbound Glory and their new album, Old Highs and New Lows. I’ve been on the warpath lately against artists and bands who think being REAL country means shoehorning as many drug and whiskey references as possible into your songs. And though there’s not a track on this album that […]
Gretchen Wilson, Josh Thompson Rip Off Black Crowes?
28 CommentsI’ve had a working theory for a while that 75% of what you hear on mainstream country radio today can be traced back to a small handfull of songs by Bob Seger and The Black Crowes. Darn near 1/3 of them can be traced back to Seger’s “Night Moves” alone. Well it might be time […]
Live Review- Slim Cessna’s Auto Club
6 CommentsSeeing Denver’s Slim Cessna’s Auto Club live is a religious experience. And if you’ve ever seen them, you know that calling it “religious” is less of a descriptive tool, and more of a pun. This is one of those bands that I’d heard for years how I must see live, and without question, they lived […]
Review- Hank III at Emos in Austin, TX
33 CommentsFor the modern day underground country fan, going to a Hank III show is a no brainer. Even if you’ve gotten sideways with his recent sound, you go. It’s Hank III. It is the one show you make sure to catch that year. And you see people you haven’t seen since that last Hank III […]
The REAL Deal is HERE w/ Big G
9 CommentsWith every minute that passes, terrestrial radio fails us more and more, like a great hush rolling across the fruited plain. Like a slap of duct tape across the mouth, or the zippering of our souls. As truly local radio stations fall to the onslaught of Jack FM and other such pre-formulated nationalized Tang-flavored formats, […]