Here we are at the beginning of 2024, and you may be wondering if independent country artists and country legends will continue to see the same success and resurgence that they saw in 2023…
Many Willie songs were sung, some legendary collaborations ensued, Miranda Lambert’s fringe was longer than Snoop Dogg’s spliff, and pound for pound, it was more entertaining than any country music awards show.
The 2024 lineup set to go off on July 12-14 does not disappoint, with Under The Big Sky landing a massive fish in bluegrass maestro Billy Strings, and the Turnpike Troubadours and Miranda Lambert rounding out the headliners.
Any objective assessment of how this lineup was curated will come to the conclusion that political affiliation was a critical part of the decision making process. “It’s for the people who love America,” is the slogan.
It may not be the music that most defines your life, but it’s music you don’t mind moving in and out of it. It’s Chris Stapleton, which means always on brand, always enjoyable, even if rarely exceptional.
After announcing earlier this year that she was making the unexpected move of leaving her label home of Sony Records Nashville after 20 years of service, Miranda Lambert has now announced that she is the new boss of a new label.
Here comes the newest installment of the Hunger Games movie franchise that not only has a bunch of deserving artists on the soundtrack, but has a significant musical element throughout the script.
Earlier this year, Willie Nelson celebrated his 90th Birthday with two epic shows at the Hollywood Bowl in California on April 29th and 30th. A massive list of performers was assembled to toast Willie…
It’s pretty telling of how busy of a news week it is in country music when you have a controversy involving Miranda Lambert that stimulates Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set of ‘The View’ in disgust, and it’s the second biggest story.
An audio engineer who died by electrocution while helping to set up NASCAR’s street race in Chicago has been identified as Duane Tabinski, a Nashville-based audio specialist and Hermitage native.
It’s rather remarkable reflecting back 10 years at just how far independent country, roots music, and Americana have come in finding a seat at the table with their mainstream country counterparts.
He’s known as one of the hardest working artists in country music, and for good reason. Not only has he been releasing albums at a 2-per-year clip for years now, he tours harder than most anyone else. This will be the case once again in 2023 as Charley Crockett has just released a slew of new tour dates.
Jon Pardi is calling it the “Mr. Saturday Night World Tour,” but let’s just go ahead an label it the “mainstream country that doesn’t suck and actually sounds country” tour. That’s been Jon Pardi’s calling card for a while now, and he even kicked it up a notch with his recent album “Mr. Saturday Night.”
Similar to Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert has been one of those mainstream artist that delineates herself from most mainstream contributors by following her heart, sometimes to the detriment of her commercial appeal or success, while then sliding right back into the good graces of the industry.
Love him, hate him, find yourself among the population of the very few who feel indifferent about him, Morgan Wallen is the biggest thing in mainstream country, and at this point, by such multiples of scale, it truly is difficult to comprehend. We’re talking Garth-level, generational, genre-defying popularity.
Lo and behold, when in London, England recently, Tyler Childers stopped by a local record store and was digging on the debut Jesse Daniel record while someone snapped a photo. The photo started making the rounds thanks to Vinyl Cup Records in Des Moines, Iowa.
The only thing more cool than your favorite country music performers is when your favorite country music performers come together to collaborate in a supergroup. Some of these collaborations have gone on to become just as legendary as the individual performers themselves.
Comedian Rob Schneider’s daughter has hauled off and made herself a country record. And just like Elle King herself, it’s a little much and all over the place. That’s not to say there isn’t any entertainment value to be had. On the contrary. Elle King turns in some real quality songs.
On July 1st and 2nd, NASCAR Cup Series will be holding their “Chicago Street Race” as part of the greater July 4th weekend, and have booked some major acts to play full sets as part of the festivities, including Miranda Lambert, The Black Crowes, The Chainsmokers, and yes, Charley Crockett.
Not all of us will end up making it to 90. But we’re all the beneficiaries of the fact that Willie Nelson (almost) has. On April 29th, Willie will officially turn 90 years old, and on that day and the next one, a massive cavalcade of stars will converge on the Hollywood Bowl in California.
As we look back on 2022 and before we look forward to 2023, it’s important we take the time to pay tribute to the important individuals in country music who left us over the last year, and who left a mark on the country and roots music world that will never fade. 2022 saw some absolute titans of the music leave us.
Every year to make sure the best titles in mainstream country don’t get overlooked, and to encourage the quality in the mainstream to rise to the top, we run down the best mainstream country albums to compliment the Album of the Year nominees. Some years there is overlap.
As the concert ended, the friends of Cory Barron couldn’t find him. They searched the entire ballpark, hung around to see if he would show up, called friends to confirm he didn’t leave with someone else, with no clue of where he’d disappeared to. By Saturday morning, a missing persons report was filed.
The 2023 Grammy Award nominees were announced on Tuesday (11-15), with some big surprises, some worthy nominees, and a some disappointment in some categories as it seems the Recording Academy continues to be obsessed with nominating familiar names.