“We aren’t here to talk politics. We aren’t debating anyone’s personal beliefs,” the band says. “But if you’re a federal employee who wasn’t getting paid or put on furlough and need a break from all the bullshit that’s been happening around it, we’d like to invite you out for a night to an upcoming Blackberry Smoke show.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a split decision. In a year when it feels like a criminal act to choose the best song over so many worthy contenders, even whittling it down to just two feels like a grave offense. But it is two songs that just can’t be denied this year, and it would be a discredit to the process chooing one over the other.
The nominees for the 2019 Grammy Awards were announced Friday morning (12-7), and some of the things we anticipated happening have happened. But the biggest takeaway, and surprisingly so, is Brandi Carlile earning six total nominations, including all-genre nominations for Album, Song, and Record of the Year.
A Saving Country Music Song of the Year candidate is not just your favorite ditty that gets stuck in your head. These are songs that change hearts, change lives, rest in your head for years to come, open up new ideas, or unlock memories or emotions you haven’t felt in years.
In the humble estimation of Saving Country Music, 2018 has been the second bumper crop year in a row for excellent, top shelf efforts in country music. To reflect that, the number of nominees for Saving Country Music’s vaunted Album of the Year recognition has been pushed to its capacity of 10 once again.
If you didn’t already believe that John Prine has been enjoying what now can only be described as a historic resurgence in popularity, try this news on for size. Tuesday morning (10/9), the annual nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were announced, and none other than John Prine is on the list.
Bill Murray has recently been putting together quite a side career that involves appearing in the most random places to support cool country and roots artists. Murray did this in May when he showed up to the dive bar Filthy McNasty’s in Ft. Worth to take in the music of some local songwriters while in town for a golf tournament.
About the only thing hotter than John Prine in Americana music at the moment is the is the foreign country destination festival, so why not combine the two. And if you have a boatload of money, and/or a boat or plane to get your ass to the Dominican Republic, then you too can be part of John Prine’s inaugural “All The Best Festival.”
The CMT Awards transpired Wednesday night, June 6th at the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville. Did you notice? Most likely not. Did you tune in and follow along? Even more unlikely. But this isn’t just about ratings. This is about the overall impact of the awards, or the lack thereof.
These six songs are admittedly sad bastard fare if there ever was any, but that’s the way it goes when you’re looking for songs that don’t just entertain, but fulfill, or illuminate something important in life most catchy tunes fall short of.
As we move past the musical halfway pole for 2018, it’s time once again to look back in the rear-view mirror and see what has wowed us the most so far. Along with some excellent albums that will go on to be considered for some of the best all year, the spring of 2018 has also revealed itself as one of the busiest release periods for in years.
The Americana Music Association has announced their nominees for the 2018 Americana Music Awards. In a ceremony held at the Country Music Hall of Fame on Tuesday afternoon (5/15), nominees in six categories were announced, with five total nominations going to Jason Isbell, and three going to both Brandi Carlile and Margo Price.
Prine has completely shattered all sales expectations, and has put together the best debut sales week by an independent artist in the country space in the modern era. This is also by far the best chart performance for John Prine in his career. He just had his best sales week since Nielsen Music began tracking and verifying sales starting in 1991.
Blackberry Smoke is once again #1 in country, at least when you consider pure album sales. Their most recent album Find A Light released on April 6th sold more cohesive records last week than any other country release according to the Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart. They also charted in Rock and Americana.
Life is a strange thing. Most of John Prine’s songs are about that very topic. It’s been a weird, winding road for the legendary songwriter following the winding narratives of often weird songs from open mics in Chicago in the late 60’s, to now being considered one of the current living patron saints of Americana music.
When you think of the modern country music landscape, you think of a clear delineation line between the independent and mainstream. However the songwriting credits for Miranda Lambert are the one clear exception. Looking through her list of collaborators, it’s pretty incredible.
It’s not often that 71-year-old songwriters enjoy a massive resurgence in their careers, but that is exactly what is going on with John Prine. With so many other legacy songwriters vacating the mortal coil over the last few years, Prine is one of the final living links to a time in music when songwriters were revered universally throughout music.
In the last few days Sturgill’s festival schedule has come more into focus as many of music’s major gatherings announce their lineups now that the Holidays are in the rear view and folks are mapping out their 2018. These may be your only opportunities to see Sturgill in 2018 if you’re so inclined, so start planning now.
The 16th Annual Americana Music Awards will transpire on Wednesday, September 13th at the Mother Church of Country Music, The Ryman Auditorium, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Central as part of the week-long AmericanaFest in Nashville, and they have just announced the performers for the presentation, and how folks can tune in.
After a recent trip to Japan to play a festival in Niigata, Sturgill contracted a good ol’ fashioned case of “bubble guts.” Then his keyboard player Bobby Emmett sprung a leak when he broke some keys on the very first song of the Little Rock set and then cut his hand on them. But the show must go on, and the result was a bloody mess.
Sturgill Simpson was selling out 2,500-capacity venues on consecutive nights before the Grammy noise, and he’s choosing to use the aftermath to play the Grianán Theater in Letterkenney, Ireland, capacity 383. These shows seem to be more for Sturgill than the audience or his pocketbook.
Give Zac Brown credit. He listened to his fans, as opposed to speaking down to them about how music needs to evolve, or some other line of flawed reasoning where he could justify his actions to himself if nobody else. It’s hard to describe Zac Brown Band’s ‘Welcome Home’ as anything but what it is, which is a complete about-face.
The Americana Music Association announced the nominees for their 2017 awards on Tuesday afternoon (5-9) via a live press conference from the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater. Along with announcing the nominees, the presentation included performances from multiple Americana artists.
It’s not very common that you can preface a 70-year-old folk country songwriter that never had a big hit and the 14-year-olds in your family have probably never heard of as a “hot commodity,” but that’s exactly what John Prine feels like these days. “Beyond Words” is a songbook combined with a photo anthology in big, coffee-table form.