Recently, Billboard published a list of what they believe are the “100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.” As always with these lists, it has stimulated lots of conversation, and some controversy.
Crunching election data, a plan was hatched under the premise that if the institution of country music could be assuaged to become a political tool, it could help persuade the rural slice of the American electorate from red to blue.
Nobody needs to be told how incredibly awesome this 2024 Bourbon & Beyond Festival lineup is. Announced on Wednesday (1-24), the lineup set to transpire at the Highland Festival Ground in Louisville, Kentucky.
When Maren Morris chose to collaborate with Diplo on the new song “42,” she chose to look the other way from Diplo’s extremely checkered past when it comes to his treatment of women leading up to the present tense.
We all remember the headlines. We all read the quotes. We all heard the songs and watched the videos where Maren Morris said that “country music” was rotten at its roots and the she was leaving the genre.
Lainey Wilson is the first woman in twelve years to win Entertainer of the Year. She’s only the 2nd woman to win it since 2000 (Taylor Swift won it twice). How in the world could Lainey Wilson pull off such a thing?
The latest Maren Morris temper tantrum comes in the form of two new songs and videos released via an EP called The Bridge. It was serviced via Columbia Records out of New York as opposed to Sony Records Nashville.
In a recent behind-the-scenes clip as part of this season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Maren Morris felt then needed to apologize to the drag queens competing on this season’s show on behalf of country music. But Maren Morris has some specific things she should apologize for personally.
Luke Combs said it best while accepting the trophy for Entertainer of the Year Wednesday night (11-9) at the 2022 CMA Awards: “This is my fifth or sixth year being at this awards show, and country sounded more country than it has in a long time tonight.” In truth, the CMA Awards righting the ship goes back even further.
According to numerous journalists, artists, and activists, after MIranda Lambert’s appearance on stage at the Bridgestone on Friday evening with Jason Aldean, all of her good will and Miranda’s active efforts to make country music a more inclusive place deserves to be called into question.
In 2015, we couldn’t imagine artists not supported by mainstream country radio selling out arenas, and minting multiple Platinum singles without the help of Music Row. Here in 2022, Tyler Childers is considered one of the top artists in the entire country music industry, and now we have Zach Bryan.
It’s a cool program the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion has put together, with local bands opening for big-named acts all summer. But apparently when the team for Maren Morris caught wind that there would be a local act playing on the Hazy Little Stage, they cited a “no local openers” clause.
Genre is not really the big issue with “Humble Quest.” It’s the energy, or lack thereof, and the generally uninspired matter-of-fact approach to the lyrics and really the music too that make Humble Quest just kind of pedestrian, especially for pop country.
Ever since Billboard tweaked their formula for how songs are slotted on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2012, it has given rise to heavyweight tracks that sit atop the chart for weeks and weeks on end. All the more reason that the current song to get stuck at #1.
Shit! No, not necessarily these nominations. Well, kind of the nominations as well. But the fact that by some obligatory sense of duty by the powers vested in me as the owner/operator of a country music website, I must convey the nominees of the 2022 ACM Awards, which have fallen so far down in relevancy […]
Just like so many of the characters in today’s popular music space, Jason Isbell has transformed from one of the most universally-revered independent artists of our time, to being reviled by large swaths of the listening population for his active and often ostentatious displays.
If all you have to prove country music’s intrinsic racism that is regularly cited in conversations and articles is the Lil Nas X anecdote, or the Beyoncé anecdote, or the Morgan Wallen story, then you really don’t have any proof at all.
“I feel like I’m just getting started. ’29’ is the album I’ll always look back on in my career and say that was the turning point for me in the way I want to be looked at in country music. I hope when people look at my music and my little legacy, I hope they say, ‘She was a country music purist.’”
Chris Stapleton fans were disappointed on Friday (9-4) when hours before he was supposed to take the stage as the Friday night headliner at the three-day BottleRock Festival in Napa Valley, California, he canceled due to an undisclosed illness.
Normally a new single from a mainstream dude who hasn’t landed a Top 10 hit in over a decade wouldn’t necessarily be worth discussing, at least around this water cooler. But Toby Keith’s new song “Old School” is a very interesting case for a host of reasons.
You know how this drill works. Make sure your tray tables are in their full upright position, make sure all electronic devices are set to airplane mode, and don’t believe a pop country star when they say they’re going back to their roots until you actually hear it.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic will not have a hard and fast end date. It’s not just the risk to the public, but the potential concern for a public relations issue surrounding the polarizing subject of COVID-19 that has the prospects for live music later in 2021 still looking like a mixed bag.
Didn’t we just endure an installment of the ACM Awards just a few short months ago? Well yes we did. But thanks to COVID-19 the last cycle was protracted, and here it has come back around again. Whoopee. Get ready for (mostly) the same parade of names that get nominated every year.
Every year the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville seats a variety of names from throughout the country and roots world in what they call their American Currents exhibit. This is the opportunity for artists that you may not normally see an exhibit for get an opportunity to be featured.