Hailey Whitters makes for one of the most navigable bridges between the independent and mainstream, and the classic and contemporary. She offers something entertaining and enlightening to just about everyone.
Recently, it was announced that Lost Highway was being recommissioned, and even more recently that Kacey Musgraves was named the label’s new flagship artist. She even released her version of “Lost Highway.”
So once again we find ourselves in a situation where the public is being asked to judge the personal character of Zach Bryan. But it feels like there is a lot of nuance, and a lot of context missing
You had to know that Zach Bryan signing a $350 million publishing deal was going to have reverberations throughout the industry. Apparently those reverberations reached Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Ready to explore her country noir impulses in full force, she intermixes country songs with more indie rock treatments in an album that is eclectic and explorative, and always forthright and engaging in the writing.
Cowboy Carter’s Best Country Album win wasn’t earned, it was compelled. Unequivocally, Beyoncé told us herself about her 2024 album Cowboy Carter, “This ain’t a country album.” But apparently, Grammy voters disagree.
When Saving Country Music was first founded in 2008, the idea that we would ever get to where we are today in country music seemed like a virtual impossibility, a pipe dream, and certainly an uphill battle to say the least.
At a time when actual country performers are inspiring pop stars more than ever, it should be those country performers represented in the country categories, not the pop and hip-hop stars they’re inspiring.
The Grammy Awards are supposed to be the one place where the critically-acclaimed, criminally-overlooked, and lifers of a respective genre get the recognition they deserve from a non-profit that puts the art first.
In a move that can only be characterized as unprecedented and perhaps even career-defining, Zach Bryan has refused to submit his recent album ‘The Great American Bar Scene’ to the Grammy Awards for 2025 consideration.
Here we are in a moment in country music custom made for the neotraditional sounds of Midland, and here they are invoking the era in music when folk rock turned into mom rock on the easy listening station.
For nine years, “Honky Tonk Tuesday Nights” organized by Nashville musicians Brendan Malone and Kevin Martin of The Cowpokes has been the small local gathering with massive international impact on country music.
Despite Zach’s arena and stadium headliner status, this hatred and misunderstanding for his music among grassroots fans is quite severe and loud, and ultimately, damaging to the independent country community.
With an uncommon adherence to country sounds for a contemporary popular artist, and bolstered by reams of clever songwriting and spirited performances, Carly Pearce turns in an inspired and compelling album.
On Tuesday, May 28th, it was reported that “Pink Skies” was sent to Top 40 pop radio as a single, and it seems like Zach Bryan is not too happy about it. Zach might not be too happy with his label Warner Records either.
Get pissed. Get mad. Be personally offended as a country music fan that on Apple Music’s recently revealed “Best 100 Albums” of all time, there isn’t a single actual country music album to be found.
Every year as the nominations for country music awards come and go, it’s hard to not fall into a perfunctory attitude about them due to the cyclical and predictable nature of the nominees.
“Deeper Well” might have a few more memorable songs and mark a return to a more organic sound for Musgraves, but that “something’s missing” feeling persists. It seems to be marked by boredom.
When Kermit The Frog took the stage to sing “Rainbow Connection” with Willie Nelson to start off Willie’s set, it checked off a bucket list moment for the folks in Luck they never knew they had.
Instead of a return to country like was being buzzed about, Musgraves adopts a Greenwich Village folk motif of classical guitars and dressing like an English goat farm lass in the “Deeper Well” video.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit are once again Grammy winners. So are Grammy favorites Brandi Carlile and Brandy Clark. Chris Stapleton is the king of the country categories so far. And Allison Russel is finally a Grammy Award winner.
Some moments, and some songs are bigger than genre, or even era. They resonate with the audience irrespective of age, race, creed, gender, or anything else. They’re universal, regardless of the story or the style behind them.
How big is Zach Bryan? Just merely mention his name and watch the comments section fill up with pointy-nosed hipsters and agro purists telling you how much he sucks. That’s how big Zach Bryan is.
Nominations for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards have just been revealed, with lots of interesting and worthy names popping up in multiple categories, including independent country artists vying for top prizes.