“The Mirror” is a Trisha Yearwood album. It’s an album that feels inspired, passionate, and purposeful. It’s the best album Trisha Yearwood could make in this season of her career.
Just appreciate that Dwight Yoakam never won a CMA Award. All the success that Yoakam has enjoyed in his career, and he’s never even been recognized by the Country Music Association with an award.
There’s a few places you can go in this world to remind you that country music is not just “music.” It is a form of artistic expression and a historical continuum so inextricably interwoven with the fabric of rural American life.
Well deep fry my okra. You want country? You damn well better, and bring your appetite, because Shawna Thompson is serving up heaping helpings of it. There’s no shrinkflation in twang happening here.
George Strait’s new album “Cowboys and Dreamers” is out on Friday, September 6th. But fans of Strait and supporters of local independent record stores will have an opportunity to listen and purchase the album early.
George Strait has finally dropped the details and a debut song from his first album in five years, “Cowboys and Dreamers.” And as one of the premier living legends in country music, the album is certainly to be anticipated.
A festival that was founded to cater to the resurgent interest in ’90s country picked up on something important: the ’90s weren’t just the last time popular country sounded country, it was also the last time when country women played a major role.
It’s in the Grammy Hall of Fame. It’s in The Library of Congress. It sold Gold. It sold Platinum. Chet Flippo once said it was one of the most important albums that ever came out of Nashville. “Will The Circle Be Unbroken…”
Some have criticized George Strait over the years for not writing more of his own material. But there is nobody in country music who is more aware of how important his songwriters were to him than George Strait.
For sure, the big names that the Grammys tend to favor will get theirs. But let’s make sure that the names that don’t enjoy media darling status and might get overlooked in the process also receive attention.
Melonie Cannon owes a special debut of gratitude to Vern Gosdin. She’s gives Vern credit for believing in her as a singer even before her own father did. Gosdin took Melonie under her wing when she was a teenager, and got her father to pay attention to her as a serious country vocalist.
If one of the things that gets your motor running is takeoff Telecaster guitar in a country song, then waste no time piping up the new track from The Shootouts with Marty Stuart. Ohio’s official throwback traditional country honky tonk band has a new album on the way called ‘Stampede.’
Jim Miller was a long time singer, guitar player, and songwriter for numerous projects. A natural collaborator who didn’t let his own ego or a personal agenda get in the way of the music, he’d made a name for himself for how he enhanced the musical expressions of others.
For nearly a decade, the radio and television program Music City Roots gave a platform to the country, roots, and Americana artists that were often overlooked in Music City, whether they were up-and-comers looking for a hand up, or oldtimers who’d been shoved aside.
At 84-years-old and having suffered health issues recently, it’s hard to blame Kris Kristofferson for wanting to hang it up. His service to art, film, music, and America as an Army Ranger and helicopter pilot is unparalleled and unprecedented, and it’s about time he decided to take it easy.
Traditional country to the core and produced by the legendary Lloyd Maines, this collection of twelve songs penned mostly by Gummersall himself, but with a few assists from Devon O’Day and the great Jim Lauderdale, is bound to slide under-the-radar due to the straightforward nature of the approach, but is determined to be heard.
If you think a bunch of boys from the Pacific Northwest can’t bring serious heartbreaking twang to country music, then your ears have never rested upon the musical contributions of the much beloved songwriting collective known as Western Centuries. As supergroup (of sorts) assembled from parts and pieces of other projects…
The 18th Annual Americana Music Awards transpired Wednesday night (9-11) at the Country Music Mother Church, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, with lots of love spread out among a diverse list of winners, but John Prine emerging as the biggest winner walking away with both Album of the Year for ‘Tree of Forgiveness,’ and Song of the Year
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.
It seems strange to characterize George Strait’s latest record Honky Tonk Time Machine as a return to his roots. After all, this is George Strait. But nonetheless, it’s a fair accreditation to make, and a welcome conclusion to settle upon when you appreciate the authority with which George Strait can deliver a honky tonk heartbreaker.
As a country music fan, you just want to proudly be able to profess to people your appreciation for this music that you hold such a passion for. You want to believe in its institutions, and that the best and the brightest of a generation are foisted forward and given the greatest opportunities.
Folk Alliance International is the annual gathering of the tribes for those individuals too stubborn-headed to worry about the major commercial applications of performed music, and instead do it for the spirit of the art, the community it creates, and/or to preserve primitive musical art forms in their most pure state.
With little prospect for radio play, George Strait appears to just be doing what he wants to do on Honky Tonk Time Machine, which is traveling back in time to when country was country. “I’m really excited to have some new music coming out,” shares Strait. “It’s been about two years since I’ve released a record.”
A new country music supergroup is on the way that will combine the talents of Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, and Margo Price. Called the Highwomen, it will take inspiration from legendary country music supergroup The Highwaymen. Jim Lauderdale is also involved in the project as a co-writer.