At a show on June 21st at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, NC, Ryan Adams called out Jason Isbell in an impromptu song possibly called “Don’t Forget The Laundry List.”
Here over 10 years later, country and Americana music continue to be significantly influenced by ‘Southeastern,’ evidenced by the emulation of the album’s songs by so many songwriters.
30 years ago, the independent record label Bloodshot Records was founded in Chicago by Rob Miller and Nan Warshaw, and quickly became one of the focal points and instigators of the independent country music revolution we’re currently enjoying the fruits of today.
Memphis Kee out of Austin is looking to revitalize that approach of taking the robust songwriting of guys like Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, and applying it to music that’s just as much akin to grunge as country. Memphis Kee calls it “Shred Dirt” in tribute to the Red Dirt sound of the Texoma region.
Hip-hop artist Nelly has been accused by three separate women of rape and sexual assault, including by one woman who accused Nelly of rape while he was on a country music tour with Florida Georgia Line. Diplo has also faced accusations of rape, and grooming underage girls.
Diplo played the same role at the 2019 Stagecoach Festival, which was the last time the event was held, and right before a rash of women came out making numerous accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior against the DJ, resulting in restraining orders and criminal investigations.
Just like so many of the characters in today’s popular music space, Jason Isbell has transformed from one of the most universally-revered independent artists of our time, to being reviled by large swaths of the listening population for his active and often ostentatious displays.
Quick question for you. How many women need to accuse Nelly of rape and sexual assault before he becomes a persona no grata in country and roots music similar to Ryan Adams, Morgan Wallen, Winston Marshall of Mumford & Sons, and the like? Your answer must be greater than three.
Alt-country turned rock artist Ryan Adams has been cleared of wrongdoing in an FBI probe for his alleged inappropriate texts to an underage girl. The allegations were first reported in The New York Times as part of an extensive probe into the performer’s personal life.
Lucinda Williams just released a new record called ‘Good Souls Better Angels,’ and Jason Isbell is about to release a new one called ‘Reunions’ on May 15th. And in lengthy interviews with both artists published recently, the subject of their (once) mutual friend Ryan Adams came up in pretty in-depth manners.
Courtney Marie will be returning with her latest record called “Old Flowers” via Fat Possum Records, and though Andrews has been by playing more electric guitar and exploring the soul side of her influences on recent tours, this record promises to go in a significantly different direction.
Tuesday, September 10th is Suicide Prevention Day, and the day has been observed with renewed importance by many in the independent country and roots world after the recent passing of songwriter, player, and producer Neal Casal. The 50-year-old took his own life on August 26th leaving many with lingering questions about his passing.
The allure of the man behind the mask making music under the name Orville Peck has become the talk of much of independent country music and Americana lately, with critics and fans alike swooning over his mod-styled moody music mixed with Western imagery. Most certainly what this man is doing is unique.
Blooshot Records co-owner Nan Warshaw is officially out at independent record label Bloodshot Records in the aftermath of a sexual harassment scandal. This is the news coming from the label Saturday afternoon (3-9) as the company prepares to trek to SXSW this upcoming week where they have been one of the fixtures of the event.
Bloodshot Records was a stepping stone, and a repository for artists who were too ornery to be signed elsewhere. And that was what was cool about them. It was a punk attitude imprinted on country, and their verbiage about leading an insurgency inspired others to pick up the charge to take country music back, including this very website.
Alt-country singer and songwriter Lydia Loveless has come out with a statement saying that independent, Chicago-based insurgent country label Bloodshot Records did not properly address the behavior of an individual associated with the company who regularly sexually harassed and groped her.
The rise of Ryan Adams and his original band Whiskeytown amidst the burgeoning alt-country scene is the stuff of legend, or infamy depending on your perspective. And now it will be memorialized in ink in all of its debaucherous detail in a new book called “Waiting to Derail: Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown, Alt-Country’s Brilliant Wreck.”
When the topic of discussion turns to legacy alt-country bands, it’s easy for the Old 97’s to get left out of the mix, and unfairly so. Since their epicenter revolves around Dallas, and not Austin, Nashville, or Los Angeles, it seems like they’re always a little more out-of-sight, out-of-mind than their mammoth output and legacy deserves.
Imagine finding something that you believe very well might be your true life’s purpose and passion, only to have it snatched away from you via physical ailment. That is the story of Josh Killian from Kennesaw, Georgia, an amateur steel guitar player turned founder of the new nonprofit called Steel Resolve.
The Americana Music Association announced the nominees for their 2017 awards on Tuesday afternoon (5-9) via a live press conference from the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater. Along with announcing the nominees, the presentation included performances from multiple Americana artists.
So are we all supposed to be hating on Taylor Swift again? Is that what the summer of 2016 protocol calls for? Because God forbid that I’m out of fashion here. I mean when I was railing on Taylor Swift for saddling up with Max Martin on 1989 to manufacture derivative pop songs, I was chastised at large because didn’t I know that she stood up to Spotify and Apple?
I express all of this knowing it’s going to be a minority, unpopular viewpoint. I also express it as someone whose philosophies in music are very much influenced by Ryan Adams’ body of work. If you find Ryan Adams’ ‘1989’ entertaining, then hey, don’t let my corrosive words cloud your judgement. But I can’t share in that joy.
So apparently Ryan Adams is in the process of recording a complete cover album of Taylor Swift’s recent record 1989 done in the style of the Morissey-fronted British rock band The Smiths. At least that is what he’s alluding to through his Twitter and Instagram accounts, which were dominated with Swift postings Thursday (8-6) as the press and curious fans spectated along.
July 17th can’t get here quick enough for fans of the highly-decorated songwriter and Americana star Jason Isbell. That’s the day his much-anticipated release Something More Than Free hits stores—the followup to his heavily-decorated album Southeastern from 2013. Isbell has just made the new album available for pre-order, and has also released the first single from the album called “24 Frames.”