One thing was clearly evident after traveling to Whitefish, Montana to experience the massive Under The Big Sky Festival with its incredible lineup and expansive grounds: the independent country and roots music we all enjoy has officially arrived. This is no longer a boutique subgenre.
With his aching, painful delivery of poetically elegant songs ripped straight out of his own biography and smeared with tears and the residues of addiction, Justin Townes Earle embodied everything you wanted from the tragic troubadour holding on just enough to perform for you.
Lilly Hiatt is the sage of the apartment dwellers, the bad planners, the people with big hearts, bigger dreams, but bad execution. She’s the siren for those who eat candy for lunch in their early 30’s. But hey, don’t judge. She’s doing the best she can. And behind this sweet little mess is a strong perseverance.
For years the fans of real country have been waiting for that one festival that represents all of their needs and desires, without having to sift through the scores of names they don’t want to be bugged with. In 2017, the Tumbleweed Festival in Kansas City emerged as that festival. Now they have released their 2018 lineup.
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.
As summer concludes and we start to enter what promises to be a very crowded fall for landmark releases in country music, new songs have just been added to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Playlist to get you ready. Also, the playlist is finally available for those who use Google Play.
With her third record, second generation alt-country performer Lilly Hiatt has offered up a career-defining album full of songwriting gems and inspired performances that is spirited to the heights of infectious listening by smart and considerate production. This personal and galvanized work finds the full realization of Lilly Hiatt’s vision, voice, and potential as a […]
Country music isn’t just a genre of music, it is a musical religion, a way of life, a cultural lineage passed down from generation to generation and preserved through the blood and bond of its performers and fans. That’s why it seems country music performers so very often tend to turn out to be the parents of country music performers themselves.