South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin last week was an opportunity to scout for talent, see some important up-and-coming bands, and gauge who is on the rise. Here were some of the best.
What started as a very exclusive gathering has become a world-class event with international interest due to the names that play and attend the event during Austin’s greater SXSW festivities. This was especially true in 2024.
Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion will once again be happening at Willie’s ranch just outside of Austin during the greater SXSW shindig, and it’s got a lineup super stacked with talent, including Tyler Childers.
The amount of country/roots/Americana releases coming at you each week has officially reached critical mass. And it will spill over like a school bus taking a dive into an above ground pool on Friday, October 28th. Luckily, you know about lil’ ol’ Saving Country Music, so at least you have a head start.
If you were looking or hoping for someone who could help carry the Prine me and legacy into the future for further generations, you just may be in luck. Though it’s all still in it’s nascent stages, John Prine’s youngest son Tommy Prine has decided to enter the family business.
The benchmarks a Song of the Year winner must meet, and the stress test it must endure is more strenuous than any other in music. We’re not looking for some infectious fanny shaker here, or even a song that might stir an emotional moment.
The annual Essential Albums list is Saving Country Music’s most comprehensive guide to the music of a given year. Drawing from the over 100 album reviews published during the year, this is where you come to find what you might have missed in a very busy year for releases.
What is the litmus test for a Song of the Year nominee? Simply put, it’s something that very well might wet the eye. These are songs that have the power to change hearts and change lives, open you up new ideas or ways of thinking, or unlock memories or emotions you haven’t felt in years
It’s that time of year to once again commence a discussion about the best stuff released in country music. Excruciating work went into whittling the selections for Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year to 11 nominees, and even then it feels scandalous that still more weren’t selected.
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, or you can just use the song, artist, and album recommendations.
Far and away, the best performance of the night was turned in by an artist entirely outside of the country music fold when Jennifer Hudson took the stage to sing Willie Nelson’s “Night Life,” leading into “You Are My Sunshine,” with assistance from Chris Stapleton on guitar.
Emily Scott Robinson is just composing on such elevated wavelengths of articulative insight and poetic delivery, her music is incapable of comparing to contemporaries or falling into platitude, forcing you to draw correlations with vaunted songwriting legends of the past as peers.
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.
Not all playlist updates are built the same. Sometimes you’re hunting and pecking for new songs that are worthy to add, and sometimes you can wait to share a stacked draft class of some of the finest country music you can find in the modern era. This particular update is the latter kind.
“This is big,” she said to her fans. “Now is the time to grow and expand. I’m thrilled to be joining forces with Oh Boy Records to release ‘American Siren.’ I’m honored that I get to be part of John Prine’s legacy. And I am thrilled to tell you that you, my fans, were an integral part of this.”
Live music is back folks, so don’t be the loser sitting on your couch watching Law & Order reruns and turning in early when your favorite band comes rolling through town, especially if it’s American Aquarium, and especially with the openers they’re bringing out with them.
A Saving Country Music ‘Song of the Year’ nominee is not just your favorite ditty that gets stuck in your head. These are songs that have the power to change hearts and change lives, open you up new ideas or ways of thinking, or unlock memories or emotions you haven’t felt in years.
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. New songs have just been added.
Here are the greatest country and roots albums of the last decade in Saving Country Music’s estimation. Albums were regarded primarily on quality, and how they held up over the decade, as well as the influence they had on country music, and music at large. These are the albums that should not be overlooked over the last 10 years of music.
Album of the Year is not an accolade handed out lightly. Obviously, the title chosen has to be regarded as the best record of a given calendar year in Saving Country Music’s estimation. Though universal agreement will never coagulate around any album, there needs to be at least some groundswell of momentum behind the record.
Slogans, mantras, and hashtags may be a helpful way to spread awareness or channel grievances. But art, and music specifically, has always been uniquely gifted in its ability to cross ideological boundaries, and break down the barriers surrounding hardened hearts, but only if it sidesteps the spouting of platitudes, cliches, and talking points.
A Saving Country Music Song of the Year candidate is not just your favorite ditty that gets stuck in your head. These are songs that change hearts, change lives, rest in your head for years to come, open up new ideas, or unlock memories or emotions you haven’t felt in years. Song of the Year nominees are the reason you’re a music fan.
When it comes to top-tier releases in the country and roots realm, 2019 was a year like we’ve never seen before. Though it feels like we say that every year, 2019 truly was exceptional. The albums selected to be considered for Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year are so elite, all of them should be considered the winners.
The 2019 installment of AmericanaFest seemed especially packed with top-level talent, and both Emily Scott Robinson and Charles Wesley Godwin made the trek to Nashville hoping to put renewed interest behind their 2019 efforts. And like their albums, they both stood out in the crowded field of country and roots music performers and hopefuls.