The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band took the stage at the Earl Scruggs Music Festival for a special performance of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” with many big name special guests.
It’s that time of year again to consider who might be considered as the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. A secret committee commissioned by the CMA (Country Music Association) is going over their final ballots.
There are some songs that when the last phrase is written and the period is dotted at the end, they immediately become timeless and genre-less due to how expertly they encapsulate a human experience.
It’s in the Grammy Hall of Fame. It’s in The Library of Congress. It sold Gold. It sold Platinum. Chet Flippo once said it was one of the most important albums that ever came out of Nashville. “Will The Circle Be Unbroken…”
From folk rock at their inception, to bluegrass revivalists in the ’70s, to country radio hitmakers in the ’80s, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have just about done it all, and in a way that has been revered and wildly influential throughout music.
Hank Williams Jr. doesn’t tour very often. He’d rather spend his time in a deer blind or out on a dock these days. But the Country Music Hall of Famer is always good for a couple of weeks of tour dates each year.
Concept albums have been an integral part of country music history, with the release of certain projects completely reshaping the country music paradigm, including in recent memory. Just in case you need an illustration of the breadth and importance of concept albums in country music
Country music is country music, and the best definition of what country music is, is that you know it when you hear it. It’s self-evident. But the genre has birthed many subgenres, many stylistic movements over the years, and at times has seen a splintering and Balkanization.
Kennedy and producer Davis Naish brought in a sparse selection of instruments and a beautiful tribute ode to a corner of the world that the singer-songwriter has fallen in love with over the years. They spent a week in a small adobe house in the tiny Far West Texas town after which the album is named.
It is very important to contextualize that Luke Combs has completely scrubbed Confederate flags from his image, and for many years now—a critically important point not relayed by Margo Price’s tweet. If nothing else, this should exonerate Billy Strings from having to answer for anything.
Chris Darrow, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, country rock pioneer and member of multiple influential bands including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Corvettes who backed up Linda Ronstadt, has passed away according to his representatives. He was 75-years-old. He was a centerpiece of country rock.
When the Ken Burns documentary was first announced a few years ago, the hope was the film could act like a big reset button on the status of country music, and give a boost to many of the songs and artists abandoned by radio in the present day. It has been a big boon in sales and streams for many of the classic country artists featured.
Undoubtedly, you could not tell the story of country music in the late 60’s and early 70’s without broaching the political upheaval and countercultural revolution roiling American society at the time. But the time spent on stories that were only proxies to country music bogged this episode down in stretches.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN has announced what will be their next major two-year exhibit to replace the current Bakersfield Sound exhibit in the museum’s largest revolving exhibit space. It will be called Dylan, Cash, & The Nashville Cats, and it will primarily focus on folk songwriting icon Bob Dylan, Country Music Hall of Famer and Legend Johnny Cash, and the “Nashville Cats.”
“What will NASH Icon be, and will it make a significant improvement to country radio?” This has been the question on the mind of many country music fans ever since NASH Icon was announced. Now that there are actually radio stations broadcasting the new NASH Icon format, we can listen in and hear just exactly what NASH Icon is.
Lost among country music’s great concept albums was the 1999 offering from Marty called “The Pilgrim” released 15 years ago today. A commercial flop that was poorly-promoted but well-received by all the critics who happened to receive a copy, The Pilgrim produced no singles and no awards, but it wasn’t meant to. This was Marty Stuart flexing his creative muscles…
NBC’s hit reality singing competition The Voice is in hot water from country and gospel fans, people of faith, and general haters of censorship when on the Tuesday (Nov. 26th) installment of the show, they purposely censored the word ‘Lord’ out of the iconic country gospel song “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?” They also skipped verses mentioning ‘Savior’ and ‘Heaven.’
Lately so much music has been coming out from oldtime artists I follow, I can hardly keep up. Hopefully in the future I will have features or reviews on all of these projects, but in the meantime here they all are to bring you up to speed. If there’s one album you like to see […]