On “The Last Kings of Babylon,” Jason Boland tries to summarize the last 25 or so years in music, from the personal and the professional, to the sacred and the profane.
Those who know about the life and career of legendary Texas singer and songwriter James Hand don’t need a history lesson to be convinced that he was the “real deal” and one of the most authentic characters.
Joe Ely’s wife and manager Sharon Ely explains has been suffering from some serious health issues lately as he prepared to release a new album titled “Love and Freedom.”
“This album is a mirror,” says Boland. “It’s a retrospective, a reflection of everywhere we’ve been and everything we’ve learned over the last 25 years on the road. These songs are about the journey. We were searching for something.”
Tommy Alverson’s songs were of Texas, from Texas, and for Texas. Well before it became cliché for Texas artists to sing about Texas, Tommy Alverson was doing it. Down in Texas, he might as well be a patron saint.
Everything was bigger at the 2024 Ameripolitan Awards. The crowd was bigger, the production was bigger, the entire everything for a grassroots organization trying to offer an alternative to other awards was bigger.
‘Together Through The Dark’ is a tempered and thoughtful mid/late career effort by Cleaves that compliments his tranquil voice and calming disposition … until it isn’t, and the passion for imperative topics comes boiling up…
Austin has 6th Street, but Dallas has Deep Ellum. Houston has the massive Rodeo Houston, but Dallas has the State Fair of Texas. Lubbock has The Flatlanders and Flatland Cavalry, but Dallas has Joshua Ray Walker, The Vandoliers, and Matt Hillyer. It’s easy to overlook the Dallas influence on Texas music…
Texas music couple Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis announced the end of their marriage late last week, and with everything else going on, it may have been easy to miss the news, or to maybe gloss over just how significant this news is, and regard it simply as gossip.
James Hand—often regarded as one of the most authentic voices to ever grace the medium of country music—has died. He passed away Monday morning, June 8th, after complications due to issues with congestive heart failure. He was in a Waco, TX hospital and his former wife and mother of his two sons, Kayla Allen, was by his side.
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.
Jerry Jeff Walker had a rough 2017, and almost didn’t make it out alive. The 76-year-old was diagnosed with throat Cancer, and then while going through chemotherapy and radiation treatment, developed both pneumonia and a blood infection that was said to be “an understatement to call a setback.”
Most any catchy beat or hum-able tune can impart some sort of spark to the spirit, but it’s a select few songs that can make you soar, especially when there’s nobody else around but yourself to rely on. It’s you, and music. Courtney Patton captures quite a few of those soaring moments in ‘What It’s Like to Fly Alone.’
If you know anything about Texas country songwriters, then you know about Courtney Patton. And if you don’t know about Courtney Patton, then you better get wise. Fortunate for you, she’ll make it easy on you by releasing a new album on February 16th, 2018 called What It’s Like to Fly Alone. “The title sounds […]
For 21 years, The Americana Music Jam has assembled some of the finest talent in Texas music to raise funds for worthy causes. Co-sponsored by Gruene Hall, and hosted by KNBT 92.1 FM out of New Braunfels, this year proceeds went to benefit Hope Hospice and Communities in Schools of South Central Texas.
Jason Eady can do what they can do, but they can’t do what Jason Eady does, which is strip it all back and have the appeal for the music rest entirely on the written composition of a song. Even the most minimalist of performers have to rely a little bit on style, groove, or some sort of window dressing. But for Jason Eady, it’s like a type of Zen.
The 10-track album was produced by longtime collaborator Kevin Welch at Blueroom Studios in Nashville. It will feature backing vocals by Vince Gill on a song called “No Genie in This Bottle,” as well as instrumental contributions from noted musicians Lloyd Maines on steel guitar, and the SteelDrivers’ Tammy Rogers on fiddle.
The King of Juke Joint Swing Wayne “The Train” Hancock will release his newest album called ‘Slingin’ Rhythm’ via Bloodshot Records. Produced by Lloyd Maines, it finds Wayne Hancock reprising his signature sound that mixes elements of country, Western swing, rockabilly, and blues in a neotraditional style.
Without anyone left to please but himself, Pat Green is free to exorcise his demons, get some stuff off his chest, make the album he wants to, and hopefully reconnect with those grassroots in Texas country that once helped carry him to the top, and he once turned his back on. To some his name will continue to be mud, but that doesn’t mean his musical output will be.
Dale Watson has been slaving away at his Ameripolitan Studios in Austin, TX, working on his followup to 2014’s Truckin’ Session Vol. 3, and 2013’s El Rancho Azul, and just announced Wednesday (3-18) he’ll release his latest record Call Me Insane on June 9th. The news comes as Dale will make an appearance on Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel LIVE from SXSW sitting in with Kimmel’s band.
The Forgotten Outlaw, and the man at the forefront of keeping American roots filled with the rockin’, gritty heart of the 60’s music revolution, has just announced a new album, and has released a new song in conjunction. Ray Wylie Hubbard will release his newest record “The Ruffian’s Misfortune” through his own label Bordello Records.
As the longest running music show on TV enters its 40th season, Austin City Limits has announced its second installment of inductees into its Hall of Fame founded in 2014. The original crew of the Austin City Limits show will also be honored as the 2015’s non-performing inductee. As part of the Hall of Fame announcement, more performers for season 41 were also revealed.
Each year when Saving Country Music sits down to compile the best songs, it’s done so with a solemn reverence and understanding that the idea embedded in a song has the power to change a life, and change the world. There are many songs out there that are a joy to listen to, but a Song of the Year must say something that can evoke shivers, and do so in a way nobody else has done before.
The song “It Ain’t You” off of Ray Benson’s album A Little Piece continues this trend of offering both something unheard, but something wrought during the living era of a legendary artist, and paid forward with reverence and care by those still around who are inspired by their legacy. Originally written by Waylon Jennings with Gary Nicholson, “It Ain’t You” was never recorded.