As we reach the halfway pole of the musical year, it’s time to reflect back on the best albums that have been released so far. There are some great projects that you should make sure don’t slip under your radar.
If you ever thought that there should be an institution in Nashville to help preserve traditional country music, and to help teach it to the public and future generations, well there is.
On Friday, April 12th, the widow of Americana singer and songwriter Justin Townes Earle took to social media to let her thoughts be known about the song “When We Were Close,” written and performed by Jason Isbell.
Imagine taking to the internet to complain how bad country music is today when we have such an embarrassment of riches from the independent side of country music sitting right under our noses.
With a gas can with a hole cut in the top for a tip jar, Pat Reedy has traveled around and kept it up close and personal with his fans, and with life in forgotten America. That’s reflected in “Make It Back Home.”
2024 is shaping up to be a bumper crop year for incredible country songs, and ones coming from a wide array of performers in a myriad of different approaches to the country genre. Keeping your ear to the ground…
Some inspired filmmakers have set out to tell the story of Luke Bell. Directors Kevin Romeo and Matt Bakken of Rhino Media have taken the idea that someone should preserve Luke Bell’s legacy in full.
Country artist Luke Bell was officially laid to rest in a private ceremony in Cody, Wyoming on September 9th. But on Saturday, November 12th, friends, family, fellow musicians and fans were given the opportunity to remember and celebrate Luke Bell publicly.
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.
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats. New songs have just been added.
It was June of 2014, and an unsolicited submission came into my inbox from an artist named Luke Bell, accompanied by a BandCamp link to an album called ‘Don’t Mind If I Do.’ Nearly six years later, the most common query that lands into that same inbox that Luke Bell first submitted his music to is “Where is Luke Bell?”
Every Friday, more and more killer albums just keep coming, especially lately, and at such a rapid pace that it’s hard to keep on top of it all. That’s part of the point of keeping the Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist, so you can listen your way through staying informed about the latest songs and albums being released in country and roots.
Very excited to share the latest additions to the Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist, which includes songs from some great records and artists that need to be on your radar. Ben Jarrell’s debut LP ‘Troubled Times’ has been setting people’s hair on fire, and there’s nothing better to get the blood pumping at the top of the playlist.
The 6th Annual Ameripolitan Awards will be transpiring on Monday, February 25th, 2019, but with 50 acts playing over four total days involving six separate venues, it’s become like its own festival, with many opportunities to see your favorite performers with a prominent roots influence.
If artists such as Luke Bell and Pat Reedy suit your fancy, Nick Shoulders will slide right into your wheelhouse. But where these artists perhaps own a deeper arsenal of original songs at the moment, Nick Shoulders distinguishes himself by possessing an incredible, world-class high voice and yodel the likes of which we’ve rarely heard.
It’s been a great time to be a country music fan over the last few weeks as incredible album releases from a cavalcade of artists has put a stress test on people’s physical copy budgets, and pushed Saving Country Music to maximum capacity for publishing reviews. But these are all good problems to have.
If you’re looking for the real deal, its name is Pat Reedy. A hard-traveled kind of guy who got his music education busking on street corners in New Orleans and traveling the country to play backyard shows in beat up rigs, he has the kind of natural poetry of a drifter that many artists envy, but few ever put the effort out to actually acquire.
I remember saying it myself when the Carolina Chocolate Drops first came on the scene. Excellent band, and great to see some diversity represented in country and Americana music in a way that illustrates the role African American’s played in creating roots music. But there was something a bit off about watching a black band playing for a distinctly white audience.
Those true, hardcore fans of music always want to keep digging until they find that original nugget of a musical movement or influence, or in the case of Pat Reedy, the revitalization of a style of country and roots that has been forgotten by neglect throughout the generations.
From opening for Dwight and Willie, to signing to Thirty Tigers, to now getting the opportunity to play big stages at Stagecoach in April, and Bonnaroo in June, the story of Luke Bell is shaping up to be very similar to that of Sturgill Simpson’s when his career was in its infant stages. But there’s still a lot of ground to cover.