The somewhat curious, but super cool obsession that the current King of Country Music George Strait has for rock legend Tom Petty continues. It has been announced that Strait will host a tribute to Tom Petty on Petty’s dedicated SiriusXM channel. Strait will spin some tunes and share some Tom Petty stories.
In a recent interview, Willie Nelson said he has a Roger Miller tribute album on the way. He also told the story of how he once turned down recording “The Gambler.” Written by Don Schlitz, it became the signature song for Kenny Rogers when Kenny released it in 1978.
On a totally black cassette tape (what else would you expect?) that is simply marked “Clint Black” with the phone number “589-0560” on a label, someone who most certainly sounds like a young Clint Black spends 7 minutes and 59 seconds reciting minute-long renditions of solid gold hits.
It’s not that it’s especially strange for someone to be a fan of Tom Petty. It’s just that when you think of George Strait, you think of the quintessential straight-laced and starched Wranglers good ol’ country guy, not singing along to “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.”
George Strait is getting his own SiriusXM radio channel, at least for a limited time. And for a limited time, you can listen to it for free as the satellite radio provider extends a current promotion allowing anyone to listen free of charge through their app. Called Ace in the Hole Radio after the iconic singer’s touring band.
With the recent death of John Prine at the hands of COVID-19, the question has been posed by many about the legendary songwriter’s prospects of ever being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It’s an interesting discussion point for sure, and one with a few important qualifiers.
Organized by Blackbird Presents who’ve put together a host of these tribute shows over the years, usually if you can’t swing a ticket, you miss your opportunity to see so much country music star power assembled in one place. But for this particular event, footage from the tribute was compiled, and is premiering on A&E Easter Sunday.
Jan Howard’s death was marked with obituaries enumerating her many accomplishments in country music, including her hits, her collaborations with John Anderson, and her long tenure at the Grand Ole Opry. But when it comes to Jan Howard, it was just as much about the work she did off the stage, and out of the spotlight.
The big tribute show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for Willie Nelson that transpired on January 12th, 2019 is finally set to be broadcast for the rest of us who couldn’t attend, and it will include some behind-the-scenes footage and interviews as well. Specials for Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers are also on the way.
We’ve already run down the Greatest Country Albums of the Decade, and in there, albums in the mainstream were given fair competition to be included, and some made the cut. But in the spirit of inclusiveness and impartiality, let’s make sure the great records from the mainstream get their due as well.
George Strait has minted yet another career milestone that puts him in an elite class of musical performers, not just in country music, but anywhere in the world. He’s now officially sold over 10 million tickets to events since first reporting touring revenue officially, only the 2nd country artist to ever do so.
All country albums, regardless if they emanate from a major label or receive radio play, are considered for Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year nominations. But not every year does a mainstream album make it. Even though one didn’t make it to the top of the heap in 2019, we had a bumper crop of quality mainstream country releases.
On the day after the CMA Awards, it’s always important to take a deep breath, and remind yourself, “It’s just the CMA’s.” But it does feel important to address what turned out to be the biggest controversy Wednesday night, which was Garth Brooks winning Entertainer of the Year over Carrie Underwood.
Eric Church’s latest album Desperate Man will win the CMA Album of the Year in 2019, beating out Thomas Rhett’s Center Point Road, Dan + Shay’s self-titled release, Girl by Maren Morris, and Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty. This is the bold prediction Saving Country Music is putting out there right here and now.
All of a sudden Hootie & the Blowfish—not just Darius Rucker—is signed to Universal Music Group’s country imprint in Nashville, is planning to release a new record on November 1st, and just released a straight up pop rock Hootie & the Blowfish single called “Hold On” that has just become the “most added” song on COUNTRY radio.
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.
In an era when law enforcement is often repudiated by many, George Strait runs counter to that by speaking about the seriousness and sacrifices police officers, sheriff department personnel, and anyone who dons a shield and sidearm to go to work every day must endure. Written by George Strait himself, with son Bubba and Dean Dillon.
In many respects, the CMAs did that this year with their 2019 nominations, or at least better than many years. But the Album of the Year nominations were especially easy to pick apart in 2019. The biggest reason to second guess these nominations is that this current awards shows cycle has been exceptional for excellent mainstream albums.
You won’t find many country music fans who have a discouraging word to share about “King” George Strait. But the one point of contention some have brought up in rebuttal of Strait’s greatness over the years has been that he doesn’t write his own songs. This opinion deserves a little context of course.
The numbers are in at the midway pole of 2019, and “King” George Strait has the best selling album in all of country music so far this calendar year. ‘Honky Tonk Time Machine’ has moved more copies than any other offering, speaking to the honky tonk resurgence country music has been experiencing across the board.
In yet another positive sign that the appeal for traditional country music is waxing instead of waning, and that “King” George Strait has weathered the effort by some in the country music establishment to be put out to pasture, the financial disclosures from a couple of his recent shows are not only eye popping, they’re record breaking.
Tracy Lawrence has a new album coming out on August 16th called Made in America, and though we don’t have many details on it at the moment, the 90’s country star who put together seven #1’s and twenty-one Top 10’s into the 2000’s says it’s going to be “very country,” and hopes it’s part of the recent return to country’s roots.
No, it’s not 1989, it’s 2019. But looking at the top of the Billboard Country Albums chart this week, you would have thought you’d been transported back 30 years in time. But it’s quite okay if you’re a traditional country music fan. No need to figure out how to generate the 1.21 gigawatts it takes to fire the flux capacitor and get you back to the present.