If you want a perfect example of why some of these gross inequities pervade the music industry, one great example is the way the return of Jessica Simpson to music has been so slavishly lauded by the press.
Collectively, the current members of Alison Krauss and Union Station have 70 Grammy nominations between them. Both their upcoming tour starting in April, as well as Arcadia will be highly anticipated.
Charley Crockett, Zach Top, and Stephen Wilson Jr. are three of the hottest names in country music at the moment, and all three will be headlining in the 2025 installment of Hogs for the Cause event.
As self-deprecating and under-the-radar as JP Harris may be, he is no less than a living legend to a lot of the independent country performers in East Nashville and beyond, and to the handful of fervent fans he’s accrued.
The carpenter/contractor, old-time banjo enthusiast, and sometimes full-time touring musician is officially back, releasing a couple of new songs, and announcing the release of his latest album “JP Harris is a Trash Fire.”
You don’t make it 50 years unless you’re doing something right. 30 years ago the Telluride Bluegrass Festival was already considered legendary from the careers launched, the friendships forged.
Once again it is a television series that is stepping up to deliver what mainstream country radio and other conventional music mediums often don’t, which is the music from independent artists that is resonating with the public despite commonly being overshadowed.
In the immortal words of Tom Petty, it’s Christmas … again. That’s means we have a bunch of seasonal releases from a slew of your favorite country and roots artists to round up just in case Christmas music is your thing. Here’s a run down of all the best releases, as well as a playlist to listen to the best selections.
Christmas is officially cool again after years of American popular culture being too cool for Christmas. But there was never a time when Christmas and music was cooler in America than in the 1950’s. JD McPherson proves himself uniquely qualified to tackle the difficult task of recording a Christmas record.
Usually Christmas music gets shoved to the back burner around these parts, but this year there is such a surprising amount of quality selections of Holiday music being released, it’s worth a dedicated roundup. So if Christmas music is your thing—especially with a country or roots kick—give a gander to what 2018’s got in store.
The Old Settler’s Music Festival is not just an enjoyable time for the patrons who frequent the fest each year. With its youth programs, and the opportunities it provides for up-and-coming acts along with established names, it’s an important part of the roots music ecosystem.
Want to see Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Colter Wall, and Jason Isbell all on the same bill? Perhaps add Charlie Parr, Courtney Barnett, and JD McPherson on top of that? Well you’ll get your chance this summer at one of America’s longest-running live institutions, The Newport Folk Festival this summer.
The Outlaw Fest Tour curated by Blackbird Presents has announced its 2018 dates, locations, and participants. The nine separate dates this summer will include stops in Dallas, Detroit, Bristow, Cincinnati, Noblesville in Indiana, the Woodlands, TX just outside of Houston, and two shows in North Carolina.
On Tuesday, January 16th, The Americana Music Association launched its brand new charting system with the help of technology company CDX. The new system will more easily and more accurately report the activity on Americana’s radio stations and shows across the Americana reporting network.
The playlist is the most current and up-to-date resource of Saving Country Music’s top recommendations of songs, albums and artists. Jon Pardi has just released the song “She Ain’t In It” as the latest single from his album California Sunrise, and it leads the newest editions to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Streaming Playlist.
This is a record you use to get lost in the sonic beauty, with groove and soul setting the foundation. As Sturgill Simpson says, all good music is soul music. And since it’s still cast in those sepia hues of classic songs, even a country audience in favor of neotraditional styles will be able to relate. Bravo, Mr. McPherson. Bravo.
If there’s any knock on their sophomore release Your Dreaming, it’s that it’s almost too similar to the Everly Brothers, resulting in a mark against them on the originality scale. But even though this may sound like sacrilege to some, I’m not sure even The Everly Brothers ever put out an album this oceanic in depth and reach cover to cover.
Forget what you should call this music, if it fits in Americana, or if a country website should even be talking about it. The songs themselves are excellent, and truthfully, shoving the music and arrangements to the side for a moment, if you would call the songs of “Workingman’s Bellfuries” anything, you might have to call them country.
How cool is it to have a father and a son in the same band? There’s a beer league factor to the Electric Rag Band, and not in a bad way. They make music when they can, how they can, and for the right reasons. And they’ve been doing it for quite a while now. Formed in 1994, their new record My Side accounts for their sixth release.
You’re Dreaming will be blood brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum’s third album, complimenting their self-titled debut release from 2011, and Live at the Turb Club from 2013. The new record will include ten original compositions, and will be produced by JD McPherson—an old-school throwback rock and roll-inspired artist himself.
Barrence Whitfield is not a name you’re going to see praised to the rafters or land on every end-of-year “best of” list, but his influence and the power of his music is unwavering, and Under The Savage Sky is as good of a place to start discovering his genius as any. The way he’s able to sing with a sincerity to his soul tones, and then rear back into a wild scream is the stuff a totally immersive musical experience is made of.
Some 70 years behind the times and yet still cooler than the rest of us, Pokey LaFarge is like the musical equivalent of the Austin Powers character brought out of cryogenic freeze to do battle with the forces of bad music by reminding the world of a time when popular songs still embodied taste, composition, and a timeless charisma instead of the diarrhetic pap dictated by the fickle tastes of 15-year-olds.
Country folky throwback Pokey LaFarge has announced the release of his latest album and his first with Rounder Records called “Something In The Water.” The old-school throwback St. Louis singing and strumming song man signed with Rounder in November of 2014 after releasing six albums since his self-released debut in 2006.
Say what you want about Eric Church’s music, and though he’s sporting one of the most loyal fan bases in popular music these days, he’s also revealed himself as one of the most polarizing figures in country music in the last few years. But you can’t fault the man for thinking outside the box, and scouring the hungry, unwashed faces of independent music when looking for openers.