“ToDaYS cOUnTrY MusIC sUCKs!” Nah, not at all. You just need to get clued into all the great stuff out there just screaming to be heard from artists with heart, soul, integrity, and a true desire to keep the roots alive.
Rachel Brooke has never been more country, her voice has never been showcased so exquisitely, her songwriting has never been so sharp and clever, and the music has never been so complimentary as it is on her new album.
Every once in a while, the releases on a given Friday get so hectic, it becomes imperative to offer an addendum to the regular Release Radar. Friday, April 24th is one of those days.
Consider this playlist like that cool older brother, crazy aunt or uncle, or papaw who turned you onto an entirely different world of music when you were younger that you otherwise would have never known about.
But what Billboard failed to mention whatsoever is how there’s an actual modern Outlaw country scene, as well as an Outlaw country sound that isn’t really that hard to find.
If you only pay attention, interact, or share one thing from Saving Country Music, make it be this playlist. It’s all about boiling it all down to the songs, artists, and albums that are saving country music right here, right now.
Few women in country music have racked up as much street cred as Michigan’s Rachel Brooke. And few bring as much pain and real-world weariness behind their words and voices as Rachel.
The 2024 installment of AmericanaFest transpired in Nashville last week, giving fans, members of the industry, and fellow artists an opportunity to check out much of the talent in the independent side of country and roots.
You better like Country music with a ‘C’ because it’s coming at you hard and heavy in this playlist update. It includes tons of upbeat twang just in time for the heart of the summer, and just as country has never been hotter.
It’s an embarrassment of riches on the latest playlist update, with the list once again bursting at the seams and being extended from 25 to 28 just to make room for all the great songs being released at the moment.
For two days before the awards show transpired, performances took place at the stately Guesthouse at Graceland in Memphis showcasing some of the greatest up-and-coming and independent talent from country, roots, and rockabilly—or “Ameripolitan” as we call it in this instance.
It’s been a couple of years since the Dale Watson-founded Ameripolitan Awards and the corresponding weekend of events have occurred due to COVID-19. But 2023 promises to be a rousing comeback with a stellar lineup of musicians slated to perform February 17th to 19th in Memphis, Tennessee.
The chemistry of this band is just so perfect, not just unto itself, but for this very time and place. They’re classic, but cool. That’s the reason they aren’t about to compromise anything they do just for a quick step up the ladder.
Apparently not enough hearts have been broken, not enough tears cried, not enough minds sent swooning, and not enough sorrow sown. If you want something done right, you often have to do it yourself, and the Queen of Underground Country is back to show all you whipper snappers how it’s done.
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.
2020 is not done just yet offering up country and roots music worthy of listening to, and perhaps some of the projects we’ll regard as the best all year once late December rolls around. So just to make sure you don’t miss anything, here are some of Saving Country Music’s top recommendations for the final portion of 2020.
Many will not get this, but it’s not meant for them anyway. Others who will heed the lessons and take the advice of “The World’s Greatest Anchor” to slow down and cherish moments, and appreciate the white spaces and bits of story life bestows, however abruptly short-lived they may be in the modern age.
Who will be releasing new albums in 2016? What are some of the most-anticipated projects? What are the rumors swirling out there about new albums that may be released in the coming year? Here’s a rundown of upcoming projects from artists recommended by Saving Country Music that you can look forward to in 2016.
2015’s Album of the Year candidates might constitute the most wide open field of contenders since this exercise has been in practice. There’s no clear front runners, anyone could win, and each candidate has pluses and minuses. Like every year, your opinion counts, and may even count more this year with no clear front runner.
2015 was supposed to be a year for new arrivals and big surprises from the ravenesque throwback bluesy country maven Rachel Brooke, and lo and behold, it was. The new arrivals and big surprises just weren’t all of the music variety. In April, Rachel released her long-anticipated second collaboration with Lonesome Wyatt of Those Poor Bastards called “Bad Omen.”
So we’re close enough to the half way pole in 2015 to start thinking about what the best has been so far, and to get ready for what is sure to be a pretty exciting second half of 2015 for album releases. There’s been some big surprises, a few letdowns, but overall 2015 so far has been a pretty varied season for releases.
Like an ancient family photo happened upon in an old box in a dusty attic, with gaunt faces from the late 1800’s all Stoic and staring forlorn into the distance with blurry eyes from being unable to sit still as the exposure took, Bad Omen leaves you with a foreboding feeling well after you’ve left its presence simply from the knowledge that such a haunting thing exists.
If you’re looking for the country music female revolution’s representative for true neotraditional country, Kelsey Waldon might just be your perfect match. If this album was released in the 70’s, it would have birthed a slew of indelible country standards. Such inconsolable heartbreak, such sorrow-drenched insight is captured on these tracks and then embellished with tasteful production…
Every New Years as revelers across the country celebrate the symbolic reset of the calendar, a much more somber anniversary passes in the realm of country music. On January 1st, 1953, Hank Williams passed away in the back seat of his powder blue Cadillac somewhere on the road near Oak Hill, West Virginia of heart failure, forever robbing country music of its first superstar at the age of 29.