Things in country music are changing, and across the board, even at an old relic like the Grand Ole Opry. Of course, it’s days of launching stars overnight are long gone. But you ask any artist in country music, and they’ll tell you that making their Grand Ole Opry debut is a lifetime bucket list achievement.
He was one of the most authentic and magnetizing artists to grace the country music art form in the modern era. And those who knew Luke Bell, they know this assessment is in no way hyperbole or flattery. Even though he released only one album, in that single volume, Luke Bell captured a bygone era, aura, and mood.
When Jamey Johnson stood on the stage Friday, August 12th in Lincoln, Nebraska, and barked profanities at the local radio station KX 96.9, he wasn’t just angry they had used “his” stage to promote their station, he was venting the pent up frustration many independent, Red Dirt, and Texas music artists feel.
Jamey Johnson kicked some dust up and had quite a few of his fans fist pumping Friday night, August 12th when he took the stage in Lincoln, Nebraska as part of the Lincoln on the Street event, and berated the local radio station, New Country KX 96.9. The radio station brought out three of their on-air personalities.
One of the very first festivals that saw the value and rising swell in independent country and roots was Pickathon just outside of Portland, Oregon. This was the place where the very careers of landmark artists such as Sturgill Simpson, The Avett Brothers, Lake Street Dive, and many more were launched.
There are now two consecutive country music festivals planned for Key West, Florida for the Winter of 2023: The 6th Annual Mile 0 Fest featuring Red Dirt, Texas, and Americana, and the 90s-centric Key Western Festival, happening the very next week.
It’s not exactly the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but down in Texas, it might as well be. Whenever a band becomes a regular at the “World’s Largest Honky Tonk” Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, it’s customary for them to be added to the venue’s legendary Wall of Fame with the hand prints of the artists…
Well, we certainly didn’t see this coming, but it’s very hard to argue with. In the midst of the Grand Ole Opry’s ongoing effort to finally induct worthy artists as official members after having been passed over for many years, Charlie McCoy and Don Schlitz have both been invited.
f there’s any band that is well past due for finally getting theirs, it’s Mike and the Moonpies. And even though we’re well past the era that making your debut on the Grand Ole Opry would guarantee you a powder blue Cadillac and a guitar-shaped swimming pool…
Even if you have to sell an internal organ to swing it, you still may want to consider how to get your ass to the Born & Raised Festival on September 16th, 17th, and 18th in Pryor, Oklahoma, just east of Tulsa in 2022. After experiencing the festival in 2021 on the Rocklahoma site…
So who is the newest Moonpie on the backline? His name is Taylor Englert, the band has announced. “Can’t say enough good things about this dude. Happy to have him tearing it up on the drums for us. Y’all help us welcome him to the Mike and the Moonpies family.”
“Took me about 15 years to write this song,” Brent Cobb says. “Finally finished it up a few days ago. Next time you’re trying to tell your friends about all the cool country artists you listen to just send them to this song. I got as many as I could in there. Proud to know these folks.”
If you’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to catch the Turnpike Troubadours on their reunion tour and got locked out of the first round of shows due to the crazy run on tickets, the opportunities to see them live just got a lot more lucrative.
Live music in 2021 saw its return after the worst moments of the pandemic, but only in fits and starts, with multiple postponements and cancellations wrecking many plans, yet a few important moments still going off in the windows when they could.
This isn’t just about choosing the best album of a given year. This is about choosing the album whose impact will be felt for many years to come; that will sound just as good, if not better in subsequent years than it does now, even to future generations who may not even born yet.
Why are we such suckers for country songs about country songs? Because country music plays such an elemental part of our lives. Whatever country song happens to be hitting our brains at the time becomes irrevocably tied to that memory forever.
The Saving Country Music Artist of the Year Award is not exclusively about the musical output an artist contributes in a year. This award is about who best embodies the idea behind the phrase “saving country music” in a given year.
New for 2021 are the Single of the Year nominees, which are songs whose primary litmus test is simply the enjoyment they convey. The Single of the Year are more well-rounded offerings that have proven infectiousness.
Hopefully we can hold out for just a little bit longer before Christmas music is the only music you hear no matter what you turn on, or where you go. Some great late year additions have appeared in independent country music, so let’s run them down before it’s all Christmas carols.
Far and away, the best performance of the night was turned in by an artist entirely outside of the country music fold when Jennifer Hudson took the stage to sing Willie Nelson’s “Night Life,” leading into “You Are My Sunshine,” with assistance from Chris Stapleton on guitar.
Many Sturgill Simpson fans in Charlotte, North Carolina and beyond are still disappointed after it was announced last minute and right before his set time that Sturgill Simpson would not be appearing. Tyler Childers has been tapped to perform for Sturgill in Georgia.
Not all playlist updates are built the same. Sometimes you’re hunting and pecking for new songs that are worthy to add, and sometimes you can wait to share a stacked draft class of some of the finest country music you can find in the modern era. This particular update is the latter kind.
The single greatest band in country music at the moment has just released one of the single greatest records you will hear in country music in the last few years. And as much as you may assess this opinion as fandom overriding objectivity, or outright overwrought hyperbole…
It would be a dereliction of your country music duty if Mike and the Moonpies rolled through your town, and you were just sitting on your couch surfing through Law & Order reruns instead of getting beers spilled on you and not giving a $hit because your face was being rocked off