Entertainer of the Year Chris Stapleton Stays After ACMs to Clean Up
ACM Entertainer of the Year Chris Stapleton hadn’t headed to a bar in Dallas to celebrate, and didn’t immediately hop on a bus to head home.
Tyler Childers
Tyler Childers Plays Guitar Through His Pa-Paws Old TV
“It was his pa-paws old TV that he held on to for years and always wanted to do something with it,” says Matt of the Austin, TX-based Square Amps.
Marty Stuart’s Late Night Jam Has Become a Rite of Passage
For 20 years now (with a short hiatus during the pandemic) Marty Stuart’s Late Night Jam at the Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday during CMA Fest has been the crown jewel of the event for those who can secure a ticket to the Country Music Mother Church. What started as a more healthy alternative.
Massive Two Step Inn Pulls Off Inaugural Fest in Texas
What Two Step Inn got right was that you can mix today’s independent country with country legends from the 80s and 90s, and even some of the cool up-and-comers in the mainstream, and have an event that breaks down barriers and cross-pollinates fans bases because it’s all great country music.
Tyler Childers Opens Up 2023 Tour By Closing Out Two Step Inn
The 2023 Tyler Childers experience comes with an enhanced visual component compared to previous tours. Adorning the stage is a wooded backdrop, a couple of moss-covered boulders to give the facade some depth of field, and a taxadermied possum and big horned sheep (who’s begging to be named).
Zach Bryan Launches 2023 Tour at Two Step Inn Fest
Zach Bryan’s popularity just continues to grow exponentially. Hell, he probably could have headlined Coachella in California this weekend. Yet even though the population of Zach Bryan fans continues to swell, the passion of those fans has not waned or been diluted whatsoever.
Charley Crockett Loads Up Tour Calendar for 2023
He’s known as one of the hardest working artists in country music, and for good reason. Not only has he been releasing albums at a 2-per-year clip for years now, he tours harder than most anyone else. This will be the case once again in 2023 as Charley Crockett has just released a slew of new tour dates.
Police Killing of Mark Capps Curiously Ignored by Press & Justice Dept.
When these officer-involved killings occur, they immediately dominate the news cycle nationally, let alone locally, and for good reasons. It is the job of the public, and the press as the fourth estate to scrutinize law enforcement, and push for accountability. But that is not happening with the killing of Mark Capps.
Logan Halstead to Release Debut Album “Dark Black Coal”
Born in Kentucky and raised in West Virginia, at just 19 years old he’s getting ready to release his debut album Dark Black Coal via Thirty Tigers. Just over two years ago Logan was featured in a now viral video singing his song “Dark Black Coal” for Radio West Virginia and the comparisons to Tyler Childers poured in.
How Country Beat Back Rap in Mainstream Country
For the last dozen years or so, one of the most contentious battles within the realm of commercial country music has centered around the incursion of hip-hop influences into the genre, and specifically the use of verses that are rapped as opposed to sung, and electronic beats replacing organic drums.
The Ballad of the Laid Back Country Picker and “Go West”
Welcome to the world of the country music underground and general audio oddities, eastern Kentucky edition. Making your way to Louisa, Kentucky and Lawrence County on the West Virginia border, you enter the habitat of the one and only Laid Back Country Picker.
Sturgill Simpson Drummer Miles Miller Announces Debut Album
You probably know him from being the drummer, bandleader, and harmony singer for Sturgill Simpson during Sturgill’s rise to fame. But if Miles Miller has his way, soon you’ll be regarding him as your new favorite country-flavored singer/songwriter, with his debut album “Solid Gold” on the way.
Zach Bryan’s Ticketing Was an Overwhelming Success, & Still a Failure
Make no mistake about it. Whether you’re a happy camper with a pair of tickets to an upcoming Zach Bryan concert securely in hand or not, his effort to completely eliminate scalpers and bots from the ticket buying process was a success, … unless you didn’t get tickets/
Tyler Childers Caught Digging on a Jesse Daniel Record
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.
Album Review – El Dorodo’s “Unincorporated”
Not meant to be taken entirely seriously, but not completely sarcastic either, “Unincorporated” is a classic country album that is written and performed to very much emulate classic country songs, but served with just a dash of absurdity as to not be mistaken as genuine.
Album Review – Elle King’s “Come Get Your Wife”
Comedian Rob Schneider’s daughter has hauled off and made herself a country record. And just like Elle King herself, it’s a little much and all over the place. That’s not to say there isn’t any entertainment value to be had. On the contrary. Elle King turns in some real quality songs.
Members of Tyler Childers’ Band Release Album Under “El Dorodo”
Well damn, who knew they had this up their sleeve? With all that down time in recent years, the backing band of Tyler Childers wasn’t just sitting there with their thumbs up their butts. Apparently they were busy crafting a side project of sorts called “El Dorodo.”
Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Will Be One for the Ages
Not all of us will end up making it to 90. But we’re all the beneficiaries of the fact that Willie Nelson (almost) has. On April 29th, Willie will officially turn 90 years old, and on that day and the next one, a massive cavalcade of stars will converge on the Hollywood Bowl in California.
Vintage Album Review – Bob Weir’s “Ace” (50th Anniversary Edition)
‘Ace’ not only seeded the Grateful Dead’s legendary live shows with some important cuts, it deserves to be in the conversation for one of the band’s best studio efforts. With some exceptions, the album was the Grateful Dead band backing Bob Weir.
Country Music Legends as a Deck of Cards
For years I’ve been thinking that a cool way to present the legends of country music would be to illustrate the genre’s top artists through a deck of cards. Where to place what artist, what suit would be suited best for certain performers all seems like it would create great discussion points.
Country Music’s Best Live Performers of 2022
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.
Album Review – Adeem The Artist’s “White Trash Revelry”
There was most certainly a time in country music—and even in it’s more open-minded and less commercially-concerned cousin of Americana—where not fitting neatly within the gender binary would be a significant burden on the attention you would receive for your music. 2022 is not that time though.
2022 Stats for Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers Validate Headliner Status
Morgan Wallen basically dominates everything. But what we’re concerned with here is digging through the raw data to determine if our hypothesis that non radio-supported artists such as Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan really are as big as we think they are, and if a country music revolution is underway.
Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers to Headline Loaded Railbird Festival
The Railbird Festival has been around for a few years now, mixing Kentucky horse racing culture and the state’s favorite spirit of bourbon with a diverse musical experience. But in 2023, Railbird is leaning more into the independent country side of music and their Kentucky roots.