It’s nationwide, and affecting all genres. We’re losing large swaths of the population of blue collar, club-level working musicians who can sustain themselves without any other means of employment, and at an alarming pace.
It’s over. At least for the most part, and for now. And though the producers of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and other corporate-warped minds might think he’s still the current hot thing, the truth is that Jelly Roll is cold product
For the last five years or so, Jelly Roll and Bunny Xo have been using the very personal details of their lives and relationship to sell themselves to the public via the stenographers in the media, and the public has been buying it wholesale.
It was supposed to be one of the biggest tours of the summer. But right now, the only thing that’s big is the cavernous stadiums that need to be filled, and the availability in tickets that at some venues are upwards of 75%.
Love or hate Struggle Jennings or this album specifically, he is part of the extended family of Waylon Jennings and country music through his real grandfather Duane Eddy. He’s definitely also wrestled with demons.
The continued frustration with how the media and journalists decidedly outside of the country music fold decide to commentate on the genre irresponsibly was sent into the stratosphere recently by an article in NY Mag.
Fresh off his win for Best Traditional Country Album at the 2026 Grammy Awards, Zach Top had some great insight into this moment in country music from his perspective as an artist.
Where in previous years the Rock The Country announcements came with excitement by many and some eye rolls, this year was proceeded by widespread rebuke and condemnation of the performers.
Jelly Roll is finally starting to experience the widespread scrutiny his life, career, and music has deserved for a few years now. But it’s coming in a very unusual, and frankly, misguided manner.
The sum total of country’s participation in the 3 1/2 hour show was the 4 minute, 44 second performance. While voting and Grammy membership is not entirely in the Grammy’s control, the performances are.
Only appropriate that as the recently svelte Jelly Roll sauntered up to the stage to deliver his shake shack snake oil sermon, you heard Jelly Roll singing via the walk-up music, “I ain’t nothin’ but a liar.”
Tyler Childers is now a Grammy winner. So is Zach Top. Mavis Staples and I’m With Her also have two more Grammy Awards apiece. Chris Stapleton has another one for his massive trophy collection.
In the video, Jelly Roll is heard using the N-word three times. For context, this was two years after Morgan Wallen was caught on camera using the N-word, which became a big controversy in country music.
as bad of an assessment as one might come to about what’s unfolding on the country charts, nothing compares to the monstrosity that is transpiring over in rock. Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift?
With nominations in all of the categories he was eligible in, Tyler Childers leads all nominees in country music with four. Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert tie Childers.
The nominees for the 2026 Grammy Awards were announced on Friday morning (11-7), with extra interest this year in country due to how the Grammys split the Best Country Album category into two categories.
It’s a very real possibility that Zach Top doesn’t win a single trophy at the 2025 CMA Awards. But in some respects, it doesn’t matter if he does. He’s already won as a traditionalist on an independent label.
Accusing someone of “gatekeeping” is just an intellectually lazy, thought and discussion-ending enterprise designed to win arguments online as opposed to addressing the very real and systemic issues.
In video taken at the Ghost Ranch of fellow country rapper Ryan Upchurch, Jelly Roll is heard using the N-word in conversation. Though the video has been out for months, the media has not reported on it.
It remains an unfortunate aspect of the modern media landscape that whenever higher institutions broach the subject of country music, it’s commonly done by someone uniquely unqualified to speak on the matter.
The trend of pop projects being pushed to the country market that started in earnest with Beyoncé is beginning to look less like a short-lived trend for 2024, and now becoming endemic.
It truly is a shame that it appears we have to bid adieu to Jon Pardi as a country music traditionalist, and one that was embedded in the mainstream no less, giving him a unique opportunity to change the music for the better.
The Grand Ole Opry’s 100th Anniversary celebration on Wednesday, March 19th was a big hit. The 3-hour special on NBC also did really well in the ratings, despite focusing on legends more than current stars.
We didn’t really know what to expect from the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th Anniversary celebration on NBC Wednesday night (3-19). We hoped it would be a cavalcade of actual country stars singing actual country music.