Songwriters are so integral to country music, there is a dedicated Hall of Fame in Nashville just for them. But every three years, the Country Music Hall of Fame proper takes time to recognize someone who has dedicated their life to the craft, and left a lasting impact. In 2023, that person is Bob McDill.
This study sent to Saving Country Music is not only is it plausible and the methodology solid, it’s super interesting and in-depth with its findings, and they line up with anecdotal notions we’ve heard about these country tastes different geographic regions for years.
The 2022 Americana Music Awards transpired at the Ryman Auditorium Wednesday Night, September 14th, with Billy Strings, Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell, Sierra Ferrell, and The War and Treaty all walking away with big awards. There were also a few surprises.
Beginning in the 00’s, songwriting in country music began to change, and by the early 2010’s, the population of country music songwriters had contracted by as much as 90% by some estimates, as the royalties that helped sustain these writers also began to dry up.
Breland is back, and collaborating closely with Keith Urban in the hopes of giving him some credibility in country’s mainstream. Jokes on him though, because Keith Urban has no credibility to lend. Don’t believe me, just recall when he accidentally won Entertainer of the Year in 2018.
Alan Jackson fans have been hankering for some new music for a while now since it’s been a good five years since he released his last album. Well he surprised us all this week by releasing a new version of an old Don Williams song with up-and-coming Capitol Records Nashville signee Caylee Hammack.
Not as a rebuke of the work of the documentary, but as an addendum for those who watched and might want to dig deeper into the history of country through some of its more important personalities not represented well in the film, here are some of the Country Music film’s biggest oversights.
If you’re a country music fan and are disappointed that your favorite artist didn’t get enough screen time in the Ken Burns film on country music, well guess what, your favorite genre did, and by the most revered documentary filmmaker of our time, and before rock n’ roll, pop, the blues, soul music, or hip-hop.
By the bullet points on the resume, Burt Reynolds had little to do with country music. Not since Gram Parsons did a figure in American pop culture act like a bigger bridge to country music, and proved how it could be cool. For most famous humans, the myth precedes them. But with Burt Reynolds, the myth really was the man.
If you’re 17-years-old, can’t wait to get out from under the repressive regime of your parents house, and generally hate country music, Keith Urban’s new album ‘Graffiti U’ is right for you. It’s almost as if in a maniacal obsession, Keith and his legion of SIXTEEN producers set out on a purposeful mission to make the worst country album they could.
When we saw the expansive list of performances scheduled for the 2018 ACM Awards Sunday night (4-15) in Las Vegas, we knew something would need to be axed from the presentation to make room. During most every awards show in the modern era, performers and dignitaries of note who have passed away in the last year are honored.
As the end of the year draws near, it comes time to reflect on all the country music greats big and small, superstars and sidemen, session players and songwriters, who passed away in the past year, and pay our respects to the contributions they made to country music, and to us as fans through the music they shared.
For many country fans, the way you would deal with the death of a close friend or a loved one would be to put a Don Williams record on. So what are you supposed to do when Don Williams is the one who has died? The memories are so rich and the voice is so familiar, it’s like Don Williams is part of your family.
Today, September 8th, 2017, would have been the 85th birthday of Patsy Cline—one of the most iconic, influential, and immediately recognizable voices in the history of country music. But she died tragically in a 1963 plane crash near Camden, Tennessee that also killed country starts Cowboy Copas, and Hankshaw Hawkins.
Country music legend, Hall of Famer, iconic voice, and gentle soul, Don Williams, has passed away at the age of 78. He died after a short illness according to his representatives at Webster Public Relations. He is the owner of 17 #1 country hits, 9 total Male Vocalist of the Year Awards, and countless other distinctions and accolades.
An all-star cast will come together to celebrate the life and music of country music icon and Hall of Famer Don Williams in a new tribute album with the proceeds going to a good cause. ‘Gentle Giants: The Songs of Don Williams’ will be released on May 26th via Slate Creek Records.
When Saving Country Music started nearly nine years ago, the media rarely talked about country legends. They were relics forgotten in time that weren’t worth wasting website space on because few people cared, and the ones who did weren’t online. Now that your mother and grandmother all have Facebook pages and smartphones, country legends and their regular health ailments are the stuff of clickbait dreams for viral farms.
It’s perfectly alright to be totally not okay with the news Tuesday (3-1) that Don Williams has decided to go into retirement, again. That hat, that beard, and most importantly that legendary smooth baritone voice that won him 17 #1 hits over his career and an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010 can’t just go softly in the night and not expect there to be some sad faces, and disappointed ears.
“Things That I Lean On” begins by acquiescing to the frailties of being human, and then singing the praises of the gifts life bestows to overcome them. Written by Travis Meadows and Daniel Sanders, it is a perfect song for the conditions Cactus Moser created to record in. Though it’s not her own song, the love and honesty Wynonna sings with let’s you know it is still very personal and true to her experience.
Tim McGraw is one of the last remaining artists who can release what he wants to radio, including music that actually says something and is fit for consumption by fully maturated adults, and it somehow finds not just a semblance of traction and acceptance, but downright success.
One of the big story lines in country music over the past few years has been the rehabilitation of country music from a quarter century ago that emerged during the period known colloquially as the “Class of ’89.” Despite the commercial rise of country during the era, it’s also the period people love to point […]
It seems to be the destiny of man to make the same mistakes over and over, even when we have insurmountable evidence of the fallacy of our actions right in front of us. Country music might be one of the greatest examples of this as it cycles from being obsessed with pop and contemporary sounds, and then gets reeled back in towards its traditional heart during the tug and push of its sometimes tumultuous history.
From crude videos taken on somebody’s phone, to full production videos with scripts and actors and sets, to animated shorts and everything in between, you never know what’s going to capture the imagination and become the perfect compliment to a song in the visual form. what breaks through the crush of visual material to be called the best in 2014?
If you’re looking for names to populate your most anticipated projects to be released in 2015, putting Mo Pitney at or near the top would be a savvy choice. With a one in a million country voice conveyed in a smoothness we haven’t heard since Don Williams, Mo Pitney is a chill-inducing traditional country artist with a succulent pentameter and delivery, and a songwriter’s pen engorged with stories.