Mike and the Moonpies? Silverada? The only names you really need to know are Mike Harmeier, Omar Oyoque, Catlin Rutherford, Zachary Moulton, and Taylor Englert. If they’re involved, it’s probably tits.
Instead of relying solely on that late ’70s Gary Stewart sound that the old Mike and the Moonpies leaned into, there’s more gas behind “Wallflower,” veering deeper into the rock territory than we’ve heard from this outfit.
What happens in Key West doesn’t stay in Key West during the annual five-day Mile 0 Fest. As one of the first country music events on the calendar each year, it helps set the table for everything else that will transpire.
Three hours after Mike Harmeier of Mike and the Moonpies made the surprise announcement that the band was changing their name to Silverada, the newly-named, but 17-year-old band took the stage in Key West.
Officially revealed at Mile 0 Fest on Friday afternoon (1-25) in an intimate setting, Mike and the Moonpies henceforth will be known as Silverada. Though the name is changing, the music and the musical approach is staying the same.
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.
There is perhaps no artist, no performer in the history of country music whose impact, influence, appeal, and footprint so far outpaced the recognition he received in life and death than Gary Stewart.
There aren’t many songs about Thanksgiving, and even the songs that mention it aren’t really about the Holiday itself as much as something that happened on it. Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant Massacre” is a good example.
Pay attention, festival promoters. This is how you throw an independent country music festival. Up and down the roster you see names that other fests often overlook, and they booked Mike and the Moonpies as a headliner.
Whenever I think of the quintessential Austin honky tonk band, I think of Mike and the Moonpies. A true Austin original and homegrown Austin band, they were forged in the city’s honky tonks.
The Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and Charles Wesley Godwin have have all released landmark albums in 2023. They’ve decided to join forces to help kick off 2024.
There’s a reason people come stumbling out of Mike and the Moonpies shows like their hair is on fire and they’ve just witnessed a miracle, swearing these boys from Austin are the best live band on this planet or any other.
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right now in country music. Available on all major streaming platforms.
At this point, the levee has given out, and the flood gates are open. If you have any chance of staying afloat, it will be using the list below to hopefully let you know what’s coming out.
Though you may not nerd out enough about country music to wonder how your favorite Texas/Red Dirt artists end up playing at your local watering hole or wind up on a festival lineup, it’s a very big part to how an artist or band either makes it breaks it in the music business.
Over the last few years, Born & Raised Fest in Pryor, Oklahoma has distinguished itself as one of the leading festivals in the independent country music space with an emphasis on the Texas and Red Dirt artists that were born and raised in the region. The 2023 installment will be no different.
Mile 0 Fest has established itself as one of the premier destination events in all of country and roots music, especially if you’re into the Texas/Red Dirt side of things. Now after six years, Mile 0 Fest has its own traditions, it’s own nucleus of loyal patrons and regular performers, and a heap of fond memories.
In 2022, something happened at the Grand Ole Opry that is only fair to label as historic. More so than any other year in its nearly 100-year existence, the coveted Grand Ole Opry debut was doled out to deserving artists from across the panorama, checking off bucket list items, populating glowing resume points…
Memphis Kee out of Austin is looking to revitalize that approach of taking the robust songwriting of guys like Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, and applying it to music that’s just as much akin to grunge as country. Memphis Kee calls it “Shred Dirt” in tribute to the Red Dirt sound of the Texoma region.
Let’s highlight some of the bands on the brink, that probably should be headlining festivals and big events themselves, and very well may be in the coming years. These are the artists and bands you better get out to see before like many of your favorite headliners, they end up only playing arenas.
Mike and the Moonpies have just released a slew of new tour dates, and in areas that have been salivating for these dudes to tour through. Like a bunch of stickup bandits on a meth binge, they’ll be flying up and down the east coast in January and February like crazy, playing some markets they rarely or ever hit.
The amount of country/roots/Americana releases coming at you each week has officially reached critical mass. And it will spill over like a school bus taking a dive into an above ground pool on Friday, October 28th. Luckily, you know about lil’ ol’ Saving Country Music, so at least you have a head start.
Zach Bryan is arguably the 2nd biggest thing going in all of country music at the moment behind Mullett Boy, but of course you couldn’t tell that by piping up your country radio, unless you have one of those cool radio stations in your area that actually play what they want. But all of that might be changing.
Held on the same grounds as the massive Rocklahoma gathering, Born & Raised boasted one of the best lineups all year on an incredibly crowded weekend. Just the Friday night lineup alone was worth the effort, with some of the best songwriters and performers in all of country music booked one after another.