Devastating songwriter and performer John Moreland recently announced the release of his fifth record called LP5 due out February 7th, 2020, and released a new song as well called “East October.” Along with the new album will come a tour in 2020, with the initial dates just released. He’s gives some new insight into the new album.
For those fans of songwriting that hits so hard you’re apt to fold in two and end up in a fetal position on the floor, John Moreland has been one of your favorite poisons over the last few years. Those who crave Moreland like a drug had to feel their internal clocks ringing that he was about due for another record.
Four the last four year, the Hinterland Festival in Iowa (just south of Des Moines) has boasted some of the best country and Americana lineups in the Midwest, and 2019 is no different. Set to take place August 2nd thru 4th, the festival just got an additional boost by the results of the 2019 Grammy Awards.
The 32nd Annual Old Settler’s Music Festival is set to transpire April 11th thru 14th in Central Texas once again, and they just released their initial lineup. Taking place just outside of Lockhart, TX and within easy driving distance of Austin and San Antonio, it will be the festival’s 2nd year on their new permanent site
Netflix has released the 5th Season of their hit original series The Ranch, and as per usual, the episodes are textured with lots of great songs from often overlooked and deserving country music artists, hand selected to help set the mood and theme of each scene.
Americana stalwart Jason Isbell has just loaded his tour schedule up with a ton of new tour dates with his band The 400 Unit, and fans better be on their toes because certain dates will sell out. Adding to previously-announced dates, he’s now announced additional dates starting in July and going into late September.
Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and Jason Isbell comprise the current Mt. Rushmore of independent country and roots music, and that is unquestionable, regardless of how you may feel about any one of them specifically, or even as a group. But what is the fourth mug we can put on top of that mountain?
John Moreland and his band and crew are traveling a little lighter after their trailer was broken into Wednesday, February 7th in Orlando, Florida while on their way to perform at Mile 0 Fest in Key West. Folks in Florida and beyond are asked to keep a lookout for the stuff.
Country music will not be saved by just one soul, even though this is a thought process many fans and much of the media tend to buy into, often putting an unfair burden on the careers and purpose of certain artists, and placing them at odds with what they should be focused on, which is the creative process.
Since many of your favorite independent country and roots artists get little to no love from mainstream radio, other outlets have opened up to help feature their music to wider audiences. ‘Damnation’ has been sliding in cool songs from some of the finest artists from the roots world, while mixing in many of roots music’s forgotten greats.
When we broach the exercise of whittling down the field of songs of a given year to a list of a chosen few to be considered Song of the Year, we’re not looking for booty shakers or boot scooters. We’re looking for those songs that through the power of words and music, hit you so deeply, you’re a different person after you’re done listening.
The last few years have been a somewhat down era for excellent, legacy-caliber releases in country music and independent roots,. But 2017 was a different story, especially the first half, leaving us with difficult choices of what to consider to be the best of the year. As always, your feedback is requested, and will be included in the final calculus.
You’ve never heard of the Mile 0 Festival in Key West, Florida before, but you have now. And it will be hard to forget about it once you feast your eyes on the pretty ridiculous lineup they’ve assembled for their inaugural run. It’s scheduled for February 7th – 11th 2018 at the new Truman Waterfront Park Amphitheatre in Key West.
For twenty years and for two separate hosts, senior music producer for The Late Show Sheryl Zelikson has been a key behind-the-scenes champion for under-the-radar country and roots music performers who otherwise may never have been afforded an opportunity for a national television debut.
Apologies if you came here looking to replenish your 3rd generation iPod with a fresh platoon of booty shakers. That’s not what this practice is all about. Feel good songs are just fine and help fleet us through the tiresome days, but when we talk about the “Best Songs,” were talking about songs that deliver moments that can change entire lives.
For the last two years, it’s felt like a lull for projects that really set themselves apart and set the pace for creativity and cultural importance. 2017 is a different story. It feels like this has been a banner year already, with some of the year’s biggest projects still in the offing.
Folks who just hopped on the country insurgency train when they heard about Chris Stapleton or Sturgill Simpson may wonder what the deal is with a guy like Justin Townes Earle. Maybe they recognize the name and draw the connection to his famous father, but is he something special, or just another name in “Americana,” whatever that means?
2017 is turning out to be a banner year for country and roots music, and we still have some of the most highly-anticipated titles still yet to be released. In an attempt to keep up and help you sift through the musical selection process, Saving Country Music has just juiced its Top 25 Current Spotify Playlist with some new selections.
‘Big Bad Luv’ is exactly the type of album that John Moreland needed to make, where his songcraft suffers none, but is bolstered by the virtue of a more compositional approach to the music itself. And this is the only place he could improve or “evolve,” because the songwriting was already at the pinnacle.
2017 is shaping up to be a stellar year for new music, with some highly-anticipated new albums from Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell already on the way. It’s also shaping up for a good year for singles ahead of some of the year’s most anticipated album releases, and this week some great premier tracks make it into Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist.
‘Big Bad Luv’ promises to be a shift in John Moreland’s focus. Where before you could expect some of the most tear-soaked material you could hear in all of roots music, the new album is said to be more sentimental. This should not come as a shock to Moreland fans since he was recently married, and has seen a shift in his personal life.
You want to like Luke Combs. He one of us, not one of them. At least that’s what you think, or that’s what you thought, or that’s what you want to think. Let’s face it, he’s no matinee idol. He’s a big ol’ corn fed boy from North Carolina with a scruffy Amish beard and a cheap haircut tucked under a properly-aligned baseball cap.
Well-known, and well-loved throughout the Austin music scene and beyond, the death of Chris Porter sent shockwaves throughout the independent roots music community, and now that same community is coming together to raise funds for the posthumous release of Chris Porter’s final record.
John Moreland has already received the praise of the likes of Jason Isbell who he’s toured with before and dozens of others, but an endorsement from one of the biggest females in country music at the moment is a pretty big deal. Apparently during AmericanaFest a couple of weeks ago, Miranda Lambert took time out of her busy schedule to take in a set by Moreland.