For those of you that love to put on an old George Jones record and pretend like the last 50 years of country music never happened, the music of Jason James will be as welcomed as that first bit of crisp autumn air.
Ever since releasing his debut album in 2015, Texas City-native Jason James has been on the front lines of keeping the classic sound of country music alive and vibrant in the ears of very appreciative modern listeners.
Johnny Cash is 20 years gone, but we haven’t heard the last from the Man in Black just yet. Announced earlier this week, a cache of 11 demo tracks recorded in 1993 have been unearthed to be released as the album “Songwriter.”
As we look back on 2023 and before we look forward to 2024, it’s important we take the time to pay tribute to the important individuals in country and roots music who left us over the last year.
For decades, if you wanted to not only bring skill, but class and prestige to your recording project, you wanted Dave Roe involved if at all possible. News came down on Saturday, September 16th that Dave Roe has passed away.
We could say that it’s a strange time in country music when someone like the front man of the California indie rock band The Mother Hips is releasing a record, and it’s 95% more country, a leagues better than most of what you’ll hear in the mainstream of country today. But in truth this is not a new phenomenon.
Jason James isn’t afraid to to pen a song in a traditional style and then challenge himself to sing it with the same heart and passion as one of the old greats. Nobody will ever replace George Jones or ‘Ol Hank, but that doesn’t mean others can’t try to reach for that same level of excellence, and pay forward the traditions of country to a new era of listeners who still find value in the classic modes.