The Saving Country Music Artist of the Year Award is not exclusively about the musical output an artist contributes in a year. This award is about who best embodies the idea behind the phrase “saving country music” in a given year.
Charley Crockett is one of the hardest working men in country music, and he is continuing his relentless touring schedule by heading out West, and then making his way back east to close out 2021. He’s also bringing along some great openers that are worth seeing all by themselves.
Not every season of Austin City Limits these days is worth stopping down for, or has such close ties to the country and roots scene like it did back in the program’s heyday. But the first portion of Season 47 sure does. Set to premier on Saturday, October 2nd.
Well damn, the summer of 2021 didn’t exactly turn out like we all had planned. But country music is the crutch we all lean on when times get tough, or heartbreak and disappointment creeps into our lives. So here’s a newly-freshened selection of some the best country stuff.
While others were thinking and scheming, Charley Crockett was out there doing. While some were complaining about closed doors and walled gardens, Charley Crockett was making his way over, under, and through. When people said it couldn’t be done, Charley Crockett did it.
Well ladies and gentlemen, all the down time of the quarantine is catching up with us with an extra busy final portion of 2021 when it comes to the release of new albums. So to help you stay on top of it all, find this handy dandy guide to the albums you should be on top of.
Crockett said that while the backstories of many musicians is embellished, if anything, his has been toned down. As a guy that rode trains and played street corners for years before anyone propped a microphone in in front of him, he has plenty of stories to tell.
It would take one mean and ugly son-of-a-bitch to pry my eyeballs away from a computer screen where they will be firmly affixed upon Charley Crockett making his Austin City Limits debut via a live stream from Texas. Charley Crockett and his band the Blue Drifters are on absolute fire at the moment.
In the throes of summer is the best time to shake up your musical diet, discover something new, and crank it up loud. Lucky for you, the Top 25 Playlist is here to help facilitate this, and has just been provisioned with a brand new hosts of songs for your listening pleasure.
One thing was clearly evident after traveling to Whitefish, Montana to experience the massive Under The Big Sky Festival with its incredible lineup and expansive grounds: the independent country and roots music we all enjoy has officially arrived. This is no longer a boutique subgenre.
Charley Crockett might be a worthy candidate for the most interesting man in country music. Not only is the dude wildly talented and entertaining, while he tours constantly and finds the time to make cinematic quality videos, he also keeps up a hare’s pace in the studio.
The chemistry of this band is just so perfect, not just unto itself, but for this very time and place. They’re classic, but cool. That’s the reason they aren’t about to compromise anything they do just for a quick step up the ladder.
I’m just warning you right now folks, similar to the warnings issued for Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Billy Strings and the like. See your favorite independent artist in an intimate setting when you can, because sometimes these guys catch fire, and next thing you know…
One of the fastest-rising names in traditional country music over the last few years has been small town California-native turned Texas transplant Jesse Daniel. Now in a quick turnaround time from his highly-regarded album “Rollin’ On” from 2020, he’s ready to release another long player.
Quickly emerging Texas singer/songwriter Vincent Neil Emerson will be releasing his new, self-titled album produced by Rodney Crowell on June 25th via La Honda Records. It’s the same label home of Colter Wall distributed by Thirty Tigers. The new title looks to pick up where his debut left off.
Tis’ the season, and the opportunity as the COVID-19 pandemic era comes to a close to start thinking about music festivals once again, and one of the biggest in the roots community has just announced its full 2021 lineup, and it’s a doozy.
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Current Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats. New songs have just been added.
The third installment of Charley Crockett’s Lil G.L.’s series is a significantly more personal one. Having become friends with James “Slim” Hand during the latter stages of his life and career, Slim’s passing on June 8th, 2020 was a big blow for Crockett. Charley knew was so few others do.
Every year the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville seats a variety of names from throughout the country and roots world in what they call their American Currents exhibit. This is the opportunity for artists that you may not normally see an exhibit for get an opportunity to be featured.
Charley Crockett is one of the most formidable country artists for keeping the flame of authentic country music burning at the moment. With purpose and a servant’s heart, he leans into this charge once again with this unexpected cover of the James Hand song “Lesson in Depression.”
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats (see below), or you can just use the song, artist, and album recommendations.
Along with recognizing some of the best live performances that happened before the lockdowns, it also feels important to recognize the top achievers in the medium of film, video, instrumentality, and production in 2020, since there were some stellar efforts in that direction in 2020.
Taking some of the most arcane and overlooked entries into the North American songbook, penning songs inspired by such compositions, and singing them with such passion and conviction that the appeal for them far surpasses the otherwise niche audience for such music, Colter Wall is the 2020 SCM Artist of the Year.
The 2021 Grammy Award nominees were announced on Tuesday (11/24), and as can be expected, there is some good, some bad, many worthy nominations, a few probably born of virtue signaling as you can expect. But overall, it’s about par for the course.