On Luke Combs Playing the Newport Folk Festival
Yes, Luke Combs is one of the largest names in popular country music. But from the very beginning, Combs has always proven to go deeper than the surface with his music.
Flatland Cavalry
Alan Jackson Has Too Much of a “Good Time,” Gets Concert Shut Down
When it comes to the rules of country music, Alan Jackson never broke one in his illustrious, Hall of Fame career. But when it came to the rules of life and the music business, well that’s another story.
Zach Top, Muscadine Bloodline, Red Clay Strays Nab ACM Award Noms
The ACM Awards continue to spiral towards irrelevancy. That said, there are some interesting names in the nominations for the 2025 ACM Awards released Thursday.
Damn. This 2025 FairWell Fest Lineup is Lights Out
Tip your hat to the folks who curated the roster for the 2025 FareWell Fest in Redmond, Oregon, because it might be the best independent country lineup we’ve seen so far in 2025. Crowned by Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson.
KHYI Announces Lineup for 29th Annual Texas Music Revolution
It’s not a festival, it’s a revolution. It’s also a great opportunity to see some of the best bands in Texas and beyond all in one place. It’s all thanks to radio station 95.3 KHYI in Dallas.
All Songs & Artists Featured on ‘Yellowstone’ Part 2, Season 5 (Running Tab)
After a two-year hiatus, Season 5, Part Two has finally returned for five episodes, and you can expect a lot of important song placements in the Taylor Sheridan-directed show. You also can rule out physical appearances.
Observances from a Tire Shop’s Country Music Playlist
Recently I was in a tire shop getting the ol’ truck some new rubber and trying to reset the tire warning light, when my ears immediately latched on to the music they were playing in the background.
Artists Discuss Impact of “Yellowstone” Series on Their Career
When the history books are written about how independent country turned the tables on the mainstream, circumventing corporate radio’s gatekeepers to gain exposure through ‘Yellowstone’ will be a big part of that story.
Tyler Childers Breaks a Barrier By Headlining Gulf Coast Jam
Like many other mainstream festivals, in 2024 the Gulf Coast Jam started looking beyond the major label/Music Row rosters for talent as independent performers are surging in popularity. Now Tyler Childers will headline.
3-Time Accused Rapists Diplo, Nelly, Nick Carter Make 2025 Stagecoach Fest
It’s a good time to be a country music fan. No reason to reach for the Backstreet Boys, Diplo, or Nelly to entice fans to the event. If anything, they give the whole lineup an ick factor it doesn’t need.
2024 Under The Big Sky Fest in Words and Pictures
It really is hard to come back to reality after spending three days in picturesque Whitefish, Montana, taking in the music of some of our generation’s very top talents courtesy of the Under The Big Sky Festival.
We Need To Talk About These 2024 ACM Awards Nominations
Every year as the nominations for country music awards come and go, it’s hard to not fall into a perfunctory attitude about them due to the cyclical and predictable nature of the nominees.
Opry’s 2024 NextStage Class Features Surging Independent Talent
Started in 2019, the Grand Ole Opry’s NextStage program looks to highlight rising talent by featuring them more regularly on the Opry stage, and across the Grand Ole Opry’s various programs and properties.
Album Review – Flatland Cavalry’s “Wandering Star”
The band’s new album Wandering Star comes at a time when so much is happening in country music independent of the mainstream, it’s hard to even keep up, and a band like Flatland Cavalry can almost get overlooked.
Soundtrack Review – “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”
As the name implies, the new movie has a major musical component, pairing it perfectly with a soundtrack that could have implications well beyond the film, and expose an audience to important music and performers.
Newest Adds to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist (#130)
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right now in country music. Available on all major streaming platforms.
New Hunger Games Film Has Major Country & Roots Focus
Here comes the newest installment of the Hunger Games movie franchise that not only has a bunch of deserving artists on the soundtrack, but has a significant musical element throughout the script.
Flatland Cavalry Partners with Interscope, Readies New Album
Flatland Cavalry is the latest independent country band from Texas to partner with a major label, and is readying the release of their new album called Wandering Star out October 27th.
Miranda Lambert’s Selfie-Gate Spurs an Important Discussion
It’s pretty telling of how busy of a news week it is in country music when you have a controversy involving Miranda Lambert that stimulates Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set of ‘The View’ in disgust, and it’s the second biggest story.
Born & Raised Fest Announces Loaded 2023 Lineup
Over the last few years, Born & Raised Fest in Pryor, Oklahoma has distinguished itself as one of the leading festivals in the independent country music space with an emphasis on the Texas and Red Dirt artists that were born and raised in the region. The 2023 installment will be no different.
Luke Combs Agrees on Saving Country Music’s 2022 Song of the Year
While on the Red Carper at the 2023 Grammy Awards if February, someone from CBS shoved a microphone into the face of Luke Combs, and asked him “What song can you not stop listening to?” Luke’s answer? “John Prine’s son, Tommy Prine, wrote a song when his dad passed called ‘Ships in the Harbor.'”
Supergroup The Panhandlers Announce 2nd Album “Tough Country”
Well it wasn’t just a lark apparently, and competing egos ended up not getting in the way, because the Texas supergroup epicentered around Lubbock called The Panhandlers have announced they’re ready to release their second official album called “Tough Country.”
Flatland Cavalry & Stacked Openers List Announce 2023 Tour
Flatland Cavalry have their work cut out for them in the coming weeks and months. They’ve already been announced as one of the big beneficiaries of the massive stadium tour Luke Combs is throwing this year. But they won’t be sitting on their laurels in between.
This Zach Bryan vs. Rich O’Toole Thing
On December 18th after Zach Bryan had three of his songs featured on Season 5, Episode 7 of the Paramount series Yellowstone, singer and songwriter Rich O’Toole took to social media to say that Zach’s song “Motorcycle Drive By” had borrowed/stolen the guitar/melody part from his song “Take My Heart” released in 2014.