All that hard work over the last many years is paying off in spades for ol’ Charley Crockett. Just announced officially, Crockett has signed a major label deal with Island Records, and will be releasing his debut major label album.
In Texas, there’s no bigger stage, and no bigger opportunity than performing during Rodeo Houston at NRG Stadium. Native Texans Parker McCollum and Cody Jinks will also be returning.
Welcome to Saving Country Music’s most comprehensive guide to music in a given year, The Essential Albums List. It includes the “Most Essential” Albums, and then other albums reviewed and deemed worthy.
Charley Crockett, Zach Top, and Stephen Wilson Jr. are three of the hottest names in country music at the moment, and all three will be headlining in the 2025 installment of Hogs for the Cause event.
Alright, we ran down the nominees for Album of the Year and Song of the Year. But it’s time to give a little love to the songs that simply get stuck in out heads and remind us of the sheer joy of music.
Tyler Childers isn’t messing around in 2025. He’ll be heading out for one of his most extensive tours in years—since he was playing clubs and selling them out. And he’ll be bringing along a cool host of openers with him.
Crockett has let his opinions be known about the music business and Nashville before. See the title track to his 2021 album ‘Music City USA.’ But on his new song “Mr. Nashville,” he lives little to the imagination and spells it out.
At a time when actual country performers are inspiring pop stars more than ever, it should be those country performers represented in the country categories, not the pop and hip-hop stars they’re inspiring.
The Grammy Awards are supposed to be the one place where the critically-acclaimed, criminally-overlooked, and lifers of a respective genre get the recognition they deserve from a non-profit that puts the art first.
Since the Grammy Awards are one of the few awards that weigh artistic merit over commercial success, it makes it a bit more important to pay attention to for fans and advocates of independent artists.
We’re rounding the corner on the summer, but the hits keep coming. The last month or two has seen some of the top album releases of the year, and many of them are represented in the latest additions to the playlist.
Charley Crockett’s career has been marked by releases of original albums, and albums of cover songs. But as he underscores on ‘Visions of Dallas,’ he’s perhaps at his best when you get a mix of both.
No rest for the wicked, and for one of the hardest working men in music. We had to know that Charley Crockett wouldn’t be done just releasing one album in 2024 when he’s been on a two-per-year clip for a while now.
In 2024, the Jackalope Jamboree (June 27-29) still had some of the topmost names in independent country like Charley Crockett, Kaitlin Butts, and Silverada. It had legends of Red Dirt like Jason Boland, and The Randy Rogers Band.
Charley Crockett made his Telluride Bluegrass Festival debut at the 51st gathering Thursday night (6-20), and left a massive impression, putting on what might be the most animated and impassioned set of his career.
On Saturday (6/15) at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, George Strait officially shattered the all-time record for attendance at a single concert with 110,905 tickets sold. The attendance breaks the previous record.
It’s an embarrassment of riches these days trying to keep up with all the best songs and albums. That is why this particular playlist update includes an unprecedented 11 new songs. Trying to fit them all into 25 slots is a challenge.
An opportunity to see Charley Crockett at The Broken Spoke, and for a $10 cash-only fee, that was enough to have some brave individuals starting a line the night before. He brought the house down.
Crockett may have made it to the top, but his new album $10 Cowboy isn’t about where he’s at. It’s about how he got here, the struggles he incurred, the setbacks he overcame, the perseverance he had to exhibit.
The rise of the independent country megafestival with support from ’90s country stars has been one of the biggest illustrations for how significant, sustainable, and broad-based the resurgence of roots in country music has been.
Sturgill Simpson is coming out of pseudo retirement to act as one of the headliners of the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco, CA, August 9-11. He will also be joined by the most legendary lineup of his backing band.
This Rolling Stone list of the 25 Best Country Soul Albums has so many holes you could strain your spaghetti with it, while simultaneously including some titles that have no business being there.
It’s all happening for Charley Crockett. And you’ve been warned for years to see the Texas native in small venues while you still can. Some fans may have their last opportunity to do so in 2024. For others it’s too late.
You better like COUNTRY music, because this update features plenty of it and in the form of some super traditional country songs, along with country songs from artists we don’t always get country songs from.