Mid January is the season that most of the big mainstream country music acts unveil their touring plans for the year. Country music critical favorite Kacey Musgraves announced she would not be touring with one of her country music bunk mates, but of all people, the buxom purple-haired pop star Katy Perry. ome Kacey Musgraves’ supporters were disappointed…
The inaugural inductees to the Outlaw Music Hall of Fame set to open in the Spring of 2014 have been unveiled. In an event carried live during a 3-day concert in Altamont, TN, the 17 initial inductees were announced in two different categories: Pioneers/Innovators (Pre-1970), and Highwaymen (1970-1990). Along with the official inductees, the Outlaw Music Hall of Fame also announced Guardian Award winners.
The general consensus amongst country music pundits in 2013 is that we are in the midst of the ‘Year Of The Woman.’ But this isn’t the first year in country when the women deserved the lion’s share of attention. Rose Maddox of The Maddox Brothers & Rose, Goldie Hill, and the woman who would later rise to be known as the Queen of Country Music, Kitty Wells became pioneers for women in country.
Whenever I find myself thirsting for inspiration, I tend to search out the blessed gift that is the harmonies of sister pairings. Any two great singers can harmonize, but few can match the instinct and tone of two blood relatives, making the artform seem as effortless as breath. Following is a list of singing sisters who never cease to inspire.
Lonesome Wyatt is a pioneer of Gothic country with his band Those Poor Bastards, and one of the originators of underground country whose song “Pills I Took” was covered by Hank Williams III on his landmark album Straight to Hell, he is one of the few artists who will never be forgotten regardless of the long-term fortune of the underground country sub-genre.
“Country must evolve” is the way it is sold to the country music public when pop and hip-hop influences are invited into the country music fold. What these folks fail to point out is that country has been trying to evolve for 30 some odd years right under their noses. Are you looking for true progress and evolution in country music? Look no further than this list of women.
Being an American-flavored country roots band from the UK is a tough enough proposition. Take two girls whose native tongue isn’t even English, and tackling the task of trying to get the North American continent to pay attention to what they’re trowing down seems even more daunting. But that is exactly what the Sorderberg sisters from Sweden have done.
Somewhere in the last year or so, country music crossed that line from being the last bastion for respect of beautiful women in American popular culture, to hanging out in the gutter with the rest of the vermin, making videos of venereal-infused floozies dry humping flashy vehicles in the classic vein of tasteless, materialistic, shallow-minded rap imagery.
Whether it’s folk, bluegrass, country, or Cajun, Foghorn can play a breakdown, a Celtic jig, a Cajun waltz, and cut a rug to an early country tune in the span of as many songs and sell you quickly on the idea that you don’t need amplification or new school modes to make music that is both memorable and entertaining. Outshine the Sun is an excellent album, and where it makes its mark is in the positivity of its message.
Normally when I go to review an album, whether it takes me the first listen through or weeks of listening, eventually I am able to come to some solid conclusions. With Imperial Rooster, I am stumped. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and imparts points for originality for sure, but it doesn’t make my job of describing this album, or trying to convince you whether you should like it or not very easy.
Rachel Brooke’s new album Down In The Barnyard has been creating a lot of buzz lately, and on Wednesday she talked with Jashie P of Outlaw Radio Chicago about the album, her upcoming tour with Those Poor Bastards, a proposed 7-inch release on Farmageddon Records, and how Shooter Jennings is helping her with his “XXX” movement.