It’s always a big moment when a big artist plays their first stadium gig. That’s what Waylon Jennings had the honor of doing 50 years ago today, thanks to The Grateful Dead.
Yes Tina Turner sang country music. Her first solo album was country, she recorded country songs throughout her career, and she even inspired one of the most iconic country songs of all time.
Even though you want to root for your favorite country artist for any honor they might receive, it feels like Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions should be reserved from rock and roll artists first and foremost.
Neil Diamond. The Jewish Elvis Presley as some have referred to him over the years. But country? That’s probably not what you think of when you think Neil Diamond.
Friday night (4-7), 49 Winchester rolled into Pittsburgh, a.k.a the Paris of Appalachia, and played the newly renovated Thunderbird Cafe on a hot sell-out streak. After warming up the crowd with the road weary anthem “All I Need” and a soaring rendition of “Second Chance,” the crowd really got rocking…
Willie Nelson will turn 90 on April 29th, and has shown no signs of slowing down, either on the road, or in the studio. His last album called “A Beautiful Time” was released last year on his birthday and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Country Album, and earned it entirely on the merit of the music.
You all know about The Highwaymen, arguably the greatest supergroup in country music history, and one of the greatest supergroups of any genre ever. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash. We think of these guys as the pinnacle of country music badassery.
Unless you’ve been living on a different planet, you’re probably aware of the movie released on Friday, February 24th called Cocaine Bear about a booger sugar-loving bear that terrorizes people in the woods. The movie is extremely fictionalized, but the “Cocaine Bear” actually did exist.
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.
Toy Talmadge Caldwell Jr. is the name his parents gave him when he was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina on November 13th, 1947. Little did Toy Talmadge Caldwell Sr. or anyone else know at that time that they had brought one hell of a spitfire guitar player, singer, and lyricist into the world.
The story of both the song “Honky Tonk Heroes” and the album illustrates how sometimes through conflict can come great creativity. If Billy Joe Shaver had never accosted Waylon Jennings in that hallway, who knows what may have happened with the Outlaw movement.
The only thing more cool than your favorite country music performers is when your favorite country music performers come together to collaborate in a supergroup. Some of these collaborations have gone on to become just as legendary as the individual performers themselves.
The Longhorn Ballroom was one of the most important venues in country music for many years. When it opened in 1950, it was known as Bob Wills’ Ranch House, and was one of the major venues in Western Swing. It was also once operated by Jack Ruby.
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.
This movie is not what a lot of people were expecting when they heard that author Sally Denton’s book The Bluegrass Conspiracy: An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs & Murder was being referenced to make a movie, at least judging from the trailer for the movie, and the description that accompanies it.
There’s a reason Williams waited five years before releasing his second record. Now a seasoned journeyman who’s paid his dues on the road and tacked some skins on the wall, Williams was ready to write, sing, and perform with the kind of conviction you need to sell your songs to the audience.
Concept albums have been an integral part of country music history, with the release of certain projects completely reshaping the country music paradigm, including in recent memory. Just in case you need an illustration of the breadth and importance of concept albums in country music
There are few places more synonymous with country music in Texas than Luckenbach, and there are few places more synonymous with an individual artist than Luckenbach is with Jerry Jeff Walker. When Walker recorded his album Viva Terlingua! in Luckenbach’s legendary dance hall.
Yeah yeah, we get these tribute albums to country legends coming down the pipeline every few weeks or so it seems. But when you can get “King” George Strait to show up and participate in one of them, now you’re making some serious news. This song was really the linchpin to Billy Joe Shaver’s entire career.
He works on cattle ranches from interior Canada to the western United States and Texas most of the time these days. But every once in a while, Colter Wall will stop by the studio and record a couple when he feels so inclined. That is what the Saskatchewan native did recently, and he’s just released them.
I hope someone out there appreciates the rigors one has to go through to cover the full breadth of what falls in the “country music” beat. Lucky for you, I watched the debut episode of FOX’s new country music drama ‘Monarch’ starring Trace Adkins and Susan Sarandon so you didn’t have to, and I just want to say, you’re welcome.
No ladies and gentlemen, the Panhandlers weren’t just a lark. The supergroup of Texans consisting of Josh Abbott, William Clark Green, songwriter John Baumann, and Cleto Cordero of Flatland Cavalry has just released a boot-stomping, hard country tune called “Where Cotton Is King.”
‘Rolling Stone’ published a list of the The 100 Greatest Country Albums of All Time this week, and as per usual, it has many arguing its merits, omissions, and inclusions. There was a time when whatever Rolling Stone said was taken as the definitive word in music. These days it’s more polarizing.
Sometimes when you ponder upon a life lived, you can’t help but marvel at all the events seen, the accomplishments achieved, and the history experienced by someone’s eyes and ears. Such is the case for Jerry Ivan Allison, known as JI by many close friends, family, and band mates.