New music is on the way from the Turnpike Troubadours, finally. On Wednesday (4-19), the band confirmed that a new single called “Mean Old Sun” is coming and is now available to pre-save on streaming networks. The quick announcement was also accompanied by a teaser video of the band.
On Friday (4-14), a new song from the band called “Mean Old Sun” populated on TouchTunes machines at bars and other locations across the United States. As Turnpike fans showed up at their favorite watering hole and went to play a Turnpike song, they noticed it.
Though you may not nerd out enough about country music to wonder how your favorite Texas/Red Dirt artists end up playing at your local watering hole or wind up on a festival lineup, it’s a very big part to how an artist or band either makes it breaks it in the music business.
RC Edwards stumbled upon Lance Roark in 2020 during the Turnpike hiatus/pandemic when he was looking for a lead guitar player. Roark fit the bill, but has subsequently slid even deeper into the Turnpike universe while finding a way to showcase his own music at the same time.
There is yet another massive music festival that has emerged to cover the surging interest in independent country, roots music, and Americana, putting deserving artists in headliner spots as opposed to just opening slots, and has fans from across the country rearranging vacation plans.
Over the last few years, Born & Raised Fest in Pryor, Oklahoma has distinguished itself as one of the leading festivals in the independent country music space with an emphasis on the Texas and Red Dirt artists that were born and raised in the region. The 2023 installment will be no different.
Now Central Oregon will have their own country and roots festival, and it may have one of the best lineups of any independent country event all year. Called the FairWell Festival, they have just announced their inaugural lineup for their July 21-23 festival at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond.
Lucero has absolutely nothing to do with country music, and everything to do with country music. The Memphis-based band only veers into the “alt-country” realm every now and then, but the songwriting of Ben Nichols has gone on to become one of the most influential forces in Southern music in the last 25 years.
Lo and behold, when in London, England recently, Tyler Childers stopped by a local record store and was digging on the debut Jesse Daniel record while someone snapped a photo. The photo started making the rounds thanks to Vinyl Cup Records in Des Moines, Iowa.
The Turnpike Troubadours partnering with a coffee company actually seems quietly awesome, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t even drink coffee, and doesn’t get excited about these kinds of things ever. It’s an interesting twist on the country music brew partnership.
The Saving Country Music Artist of the Year is not about who sold the most tickets or left the biggest footprint, or who shattered the expectations and possibilities of independent artists that are not played on mainstream country radio. It’s about the artist who most embodied the spirit of of the idea…
Let’s highlight some of the bands on the brink, that probably should be headlining festivals and big events themselves, and very well may be in the coming years. These are the artists and bands you better get out to see before like many of your favorite headliners, they end up only playing arenas.
There is plenty to be sour about in the world here in 2022. But damn if it is hard to not be thankful for this year if your center of gravity is music from Texas and Oklahoma. Now Uncle Lucius is also giving us good news. We thought they’d played their final show in 2018 at Gruene Hall.
Just like Billy Strings, the Turnpike Troubadours have weaseled their way into becoming an arena artist, at least in select markets. This week they announced they’ll be playing the immense American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX on February 25th, 2023, along with The Avett Brothers and The Wood Brothers.
It’s a tradition as tried and true as grandma’s pumpkin pie. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, a football team has to make the worst possible pick for a halftime performer from the dregs of pop country, and embarrass country music on a national stage like your drunk uncle going on a racist tirade in front of your fiance.
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, or you can just use the song, artist, and album recommendations.
This is 2022, and artists like Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, Zach Bryan, and the Turnpike Troubadours are exploding in popularity. Add on top of that then pent up demand due to the pandemic, and we’re living in an era when you’re favorite independent artists are arena stars.
On Saturday night, November 12th, the wild popularity that the boys from Oklahoma have been enjoying ever since they came back from an indefinite hiatus was given it’s ultimate test. Not only did the Turnpike Troubadours fill Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center, they sold it out.
If you can’t get enough of the country rock sound of bands like the Turnpike Troubadours, and also want your country music served up with a strong songwriting element, the new album from the Teague Brothers Band ‘Love and War’ will be right up your alley. There’s a reason Evan Felker made his return with them.
The boys from Oklahoma who will be returning home from touring all around the United States this year after officially reuniting in April at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. Consider it a true homecoming for a band that has earned it, and may just be getting started on what they have in store for the future.
The roots and brambles of all traditional music tend to intertwine, and gravitate toward the universal plight of poor, agrarian, and working people, even crossing oceans and bridging continents and eras. Along with delivering a record of kick-ass music, the Dropkick Murphys present an illustration.
At the beginning of his career, John Fullbright was considered one of the fastest-rising names in the Americana scene, validated by a Grammy nomination. Now an album released eight years later into a musical world where there are dozens of rising names, the threat is that it gets overlooked.
The amount of album releases these days can be dizzying. And it can be even more daunting when you have a release day with some super big titles that suck up all the attention when some of the other releases from smaller and more independent artists are just as important or enjoyable.
Held on the same grounds as the massive Rocklahoma gathering, Born & Raised boasted one of the best lineups all year on an incredibly crowded weekend. Just the Friday night lineup alone was worth the effort, with some of the best songwriters and performers in all of country music booked one after another.