“I feel like I’m just getting started. ’29’ is the album I’ll always look back on in my career and say that was the turning point for me in the way I want to be looked at in country music. I hope when people look at my music and my little legacy, I hope they say, ‘She was a country music purist.’”
The latest album from Kacey Musgraves called ‘Star-Crossed’ is more pop than country. Nonetheless, in the polarizing time we live in, the recent decision by the Grammy Awards to move Star-Crossed from consideration in the country category has set off a firestorm.
Brandi Carlie just turned in some monster numbers for her new album In These Silent Days released on October 1st. And even though she’s not included on the Billboard Country Albums Chart, her showing is good enough to hit #1 on a host of important lists.
Sure, if you’ve been working all week and were looking forward to getting your face rocked off this weekend by the kind of raucous show Eric Church brings live, you may be feeling a sense of disappointment at this news. But I’m here to tell you, you’ve lucked out.
Sometimes when the late Charlie Daniels spoke it was like hearing a shotgun go off in the woods. That voice, deep and searing, rounded by a lingering drawl—firing fast then settling over things, like buckshot scattering through the trees. That’s how he sounded when I picked up the phone in 2010.
It’s not that ‘Ruthless’ is terrible or anything. And if you’re a hardcore Gary Allan fan—of which there are a few—you will probably find enough to enjoy to think of the effort as satisfactory. Still, ‘Ruthless’ is full of compromises and half measures, and it’s only country in spurts.
For his Hall of Fame career, Randy Travis’s ace-in-the-hole behind-the-scenes was his manager, his biggest believer, his staunchest champion, his eventual wife, and eventually, his biggest and most catastrophic adversary, Elizabeth “Lib” Hatcher. This is their story.
Blackberry Smoke is back on top once again with the band’s latest album You Hear Georgia. It’s a position the Georgia-based Southern rock outfit is used to, bolstered by a supremely loyal fan base. “You Hear Georgia” ended up at #1 in album sales in both country and rock.
Even in this confounding day and age in country music, it all still starts with a song. Not a beat, not a riff, but a song. Words, music, and melody. Story and inspiration. It’s what separates country music from certain other musical art forms, no matter how much it may get boiled down.
The strategy and reasoning here are pretty obvious. Kacey Musgraves has been a critical darling in country music for years. But the country music industry and especially country radio has never known what to do with her.
Tapping into the long-standing tradition in country music of the murder ballad, “no body, no crime” features two members of the sister trio Haim. The song tells the story of Este (also the name of Haim’s oldest sister), who suspects her husband of cheating, tells a friend, and then goes missing.
Over the last few years we’ve something completely unexpected from Eric Church, and unprecedented from many mainstream country stars. Whether it was a natural maturation, becoming a father, or actually listening to his critics, Eric Church changed, and in a meaningful way.
Five years ago today—on November 4th, 2015—the biggest event and paradigm shift in country music occurred most certainly in the last 10 years, likely in the last quarter century, and possibly one of the biggest moments in the totality of country music history.
It’s worth noting that Rolling Stone’s new updated version of their “500 Best Albums of All Time” significantly diminishes iconic titles from the classic country canon. Not only were some titles downgraded, some were eliminated entirely.
Remember, it’s just the ACM Awards. Less prestigious than the CMAs, and more susceptible to bloc voting and other dubious practices than most any other awards apparatus in country music and beyond, think of it more as a performative infomercial for the mainstream of country music.
Despite video evidence to the contrary, and no evidence whatsoever in the affirmative, multiple media outlets continue to report that Dolly Parton pledged her support to the Black Lives Matter movement—meaning the political movement—as opposed to saying in a simple colloquial exchange that the lives of black individuals matter.
This week, Maddie & Tae’s “Die From A Broken Heart” finally made it to #1 on the country radio charts. It is a major accomplishment, and a long-fought battle for a song that was originally revealed to fans all the way back in the fall of 2018, and not released as a proper single to radio until May 6th, 2019.
The term “Stan” was never supposed to be a term of endearment, or something to be proud of. Taken from the Eminem song “Stan” released in 2000 about an obsessed Eminem fan who ends up killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend after going off the rails, it doesn’t exactly paint an enviable picture of next-level fan loyalty.
From Taylor Swift’s recent surprise album ‘Folklore,’ the most folkish or “country” song from the collection called “Betty” is being sent to country radio as a proper radio single. It was sent officially to many radio affiliates on Thursday (7-30) after numerous stations were already playing the track.
“Hey, so what does everyone think about American politics?” That’s basically the anthill you’re kicking over whenever you invoke the name of the Dixie Chicks, even though their music was never really that political, and the polarization of their name was more due to misunderstanding and hysteria
Over 112 artists and counting have been confirmed as victims of a sweeping intellectual property theft by having their recordings directly stolen and repurposed by fake artist accounts operating on all major streaming services, including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Google Play, YouTube, and others. The theft includes at least 831 songs.
On NBC’s ‘The Voice’ Monday night (10-28), a contestant named Jake Hoot performed Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up” as part of the singing show. Taylor Swift, who was acting as a coach on the episode, even remarked “I love Jason Isbell,” when Jake Hoot said he was covering “Cover Me Up.” It’s more evidence the song has become a standard.
But what Kalie Shorr has also done in Open Book is what every true artist wishes to do whenever the make a record, which is capture raw emotions in bold strokes that resonate deeply with an audience and connect us with our shared humanity. But just like the career of Kalie Shorr, the question is, “Who is the audience?”
If you’re a country music fan and are disappointed that your favorite artist didn’t get enough screen time in the Ken Burns film on country music, well guess what, your favorite genre did, and by the most revered documentary filmmaker of our time, and before rock n’ roll, pop, the blues, soul music, or hip-hop.