“James McMurtry” is all that really should need to be said for any music fan worth their salt to immediately pay rapt attention, and await further information.
When Saving Country Music was first founded in 2008, the idea that we would ever get to where we are today in country music seemed like a virtual impossibility, a pipe dream, and certainly an uphill battle to say the least.
The Grammy Awards are supposed to be the one place where the critically-acclaimed, criminally-overlooked, and lifers of a respective genre get the recognition they deserve from a non-profit that puts the art first.
You better like COUNTRY music, because this update features plenty of it and in the form of some super traditional country songs, along with country songs from artists we don’t always get country songs from.
You don’t make it 50 years unless you’re doing something right. 30 years ago the Telluride Bluegrass Festival was already considered legendary from the careers launched, the friendships forged.
pound for pound, the 2021 Old Settler’s Fest lineup conveyed as much entertainment value as any other event you’d find out there, with smart and studious curation that resulted in a stellar lineup and experience for 2021 Old Settler’s goers.
Not every season of Austin City Limits these days is worth stopping down for, or has such close ties to the country and roots scene like it did back in the program’s heyday. But the first portion of Season 47 sure does. Set to premier on Saturday, October 2nd.
Like so many other festivals over the last 1 1/2 years, Old Settler’s fest just outside of Lockhart, TX has been attempting to hold what will be its now 34th annual installment. Normally conducted in the spring, and postponed entirely in 2020, they have finally set a date and lineup for 2021.
Everyone recognizes what Sierra Ferrel has, and wants to be a part of it. It’s like Janis Joplin in the 60’s. A lioness. Sierra isn’t just a singer and songwriter. She’s a force of nature who melds gypsy jazz and mountain music into an alluring and intoxicating concoction.
Many folks have been feverishly awaiting news on when the debut album from gypsy jazz Appalachian folk phenom Sierra Ferrell would finally emerge after signing to Rounder Records in 2019. Well now we’ve been made aware the album is coming, and it’s appropriately titled “Long Time Coming.”
After blowing minds all across the country and world, becoming one of the big winners of the last year with his frequent live stream performances, and earning a Grammy for Best Bluegrass album a few months ago, Billy Strings is being tapped to make his debut on Austin City Limits.
ohn Prine was the big winner posthumously from the 2021 Grammy Awards and the Premier Ceremony that takes place before the proper telecast. Taking home two Grammy Awards, both for his final recorded song, “I Remember Everything,” he became the most awarded artist from the roots.
The majority of the high-profile bellyaching about the Grammys is coming from self-absorbed millionaire entertainers whose livelihoods and legacies are secured. It’s selfish and shortsighted of them to criticize an organization that gives the majority of its awards to deserving artists.
The 2021 Grammy Award nominees were announced on Tuesday (11/24), and as can be expected, there is some good, some bad, many worthy nominations, a few probably born of virtue signaling as you can expect. But overall, it’s about par for the course.
We’ve been warning your ever since the West Virginia gypsy jazz ragtime roots country songbird Sierra Ferrell signed to Rounder Records last August that she was one to have on your short list for the next breakout artist from the independent country and roots realm.
Margo Price’s new album That’s How Rumors Get Started was described by American Songwriter as “very un-country.” Talking with The Nashville Scene, Price herself foretells how people will still try to sell her new album as country by trying to use “fancy words.” But she states decisively, “Nope, I made a rock ’n’ roll record.”
If you’re wondering where bluegrass is headed in 2018, and where it could go in a world where music is constantly being tasked to evolve and engage with younger people, following the career track of Molly Tuttle is a good place to start.
One may ask why a journalist based in Austin, Texas would trek some 2000 miles to attend a music festival just outside of Portland, Oregon with all the more convenient options the “Live Music Capital of the World” can offer. But those people have probably never been to Pickathon before. Trumped only in stature for […]
Getting to see singers, songwriters, and string aficionados Sarah Jarosz, Sara Watkins, or Aoife O’Donovan live in concert individually is probably justification enough to spring for the babysitter and call in sick to work the next morning. Stack them together as the bluegrass supergroup known as I’m With Her, and it makes the decision even easier.
The Old Settler’s Music Festival is not just an enjoyable time for the patrons who frequent the fest each year. With its youth programs, and the opportunities it provides for up-and-coming acts along with established names, it’s an important part of the roots music ecosystem.
Ahead of the telecast portion of the 59th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night (2-12), pre-telecast awards were handed out in a host of categories covering country, Americana, bluegrass, and roots, including big awards like Best Country Song, Best Country Album, and Best Americana Album. Sturgill Simpson won Best Country Album.
On Tuesday morning (12-6) the nominees for the 2017 Grammy Awards were announced, and Sturgill Simpson’s ‘A Sailors Guide to Earth’ is right up there with Adele, Beyonce, Drake, and Justin Bieber competing for the Album of the Year. And he just might win it. The album is also up for Best Country Album
Many of your favorite Austin, TX musicians who list their hometown as Austin actually live in a small community south and west of the city in the panoramic Texas Hill Country called Wimberley. About a 45-minute drive from Austin, the small town of less than 3,000 sits on the banks of the Blanco River, and is a favorite day trip for many central Texas residents.
On Monday April 12th, The Americana Music Association announced the nominees for their 2014 Americana Music Awards to be held September 17th at the Ryman Auditorium as part of their annual Americana Music Conference. The ceremony was emceed by performer and Sirius XM DJ Elizabeth Cook, and was simulcast on Sirius XM and streamed on Music City Roots.