Madison, Indiana just over the Kentucky border, and right on the Ohio River is just about one of the best small towns in America to visit. And what better time to take it in than during the Unbroken Circle Festival.
There’s something about hearing Whitey Morgan’s music that makes you feel 100 feet tall and bulletproof. It’s everything that makes up Outlaw country concentrated into its most pure form.
The country music gods will smile down upon the listening public with an embarrassment of riches on July 25th, 2025, requiring Saving Country Music to officially declare a country music holiday.
Absolutely LOADED update to the playlist as A-list singles and album cuts come flooding in on us, pushing well past the 25-song limit to include them all. This playlist is so good, moves are being made to make it illegal in Alabama.
It’s as big as Montana. It’s independently-owned. And it was the first festival that had the cajones to put on a massive festival with independent artists at the top of a poster. It’s Under The Big Sky Festival.
Let’s face it. What many Jamey Johnson fans really want is the announcement of a new album. But in lieu of that, they’ll settle for a mess of new tour dates, especially with the roster of openers Jamey Johnson has lined up.
John Prine was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, but the compass of his musical world was Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, where his parents and grandparents were from, where he visited frequently when growing up, and where some of his fondest memories were made. Prine spelled it all out in “Paradise.”
2019 was a stacked year for top live performances. This was supposed to be a list of the top 10 live performances, but due to such a crowded field, things boiled over. And yes, there are three #1 acts. All should be considered equals at the very top level of live performance. They were all so great, it seemed unfair to put one over the other.
On Thursday, September 13th, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s played a show at The Apollo near Rockford, Illinois when they had an unexpected visitor stop by in the form of Cheap Trick Rick, a.k.a. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Rick Nielsen. “Apparently he is a fan,” Whitey Morgan tells Saving Country Music. “He’s a great dude.”
The Texas music and Red Dirt movement is growing. There is no doubt about that. The appeal and participation in the music is no longer regional, despite what the names might imply. It’s just as much of a genre at this point as a collaboration of local scenes, offering a much more healthy alternative to the mainstream of country.
Texas and Red Dirt music isn’t just for folks in Texas and Oklahoma. The title of the music may imply that it’s a regional thing, but the appeal is international, and the talent is world-class. No matter where you are, Texas/Red Dirt is a much more healthy alternative to the mainstream.
Naming the best live performances of a given year is not the same exercise as naming the best songs, albums, or artists, because it is specifically dependent on the experiences of the individual making the list. But it’s still an important exercise.
In the humble estimation of Saving Country Music, 2018 has been the second bumper crop year in a row for excellent, top shelf efforts in country music. To reflect that, the number of nominees for Saving Country Music’s vaunted Album of the Year recognition has been pushed to its capacity of 10 once again.
The crush of new releases of cool country and roots music has been pretty incredible over the past couple of weeks, and to help keep you up-to-date, the Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist has been freshly provisioned. You can also find a supplemental list of all the records you should probably be aware of.
The summer is winding down, but the fall and winter release cycle in country and roots music is heating up, with some of the most anticipated projects of the entire year to be released between now and when the hammer falls on 2018. To help you keep up, here’s a list of Saving Country Music’s most anticipated releases for the final portion of 2018.
Tasked with keeping you up-to-date, informed, and entertained with the best new country music coming down the pike, a new set of songs has just been added to the Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist. This includes Whitey Morgan and the 78’s brand new hard charging song “Honky Honk Hell.”
As the first song off the just-announced fourth studio album Hard Times and White Lines, “Honky Tonk Hell” finds Whitey Morgan and the 78’s singing about what they know best. Slow and plodding like a drunk whose trying to amble off a bar stool towards the set of swinging doors, but is stuck perpetually ordering one more round…
Mark it down on your calendar, then underline it, circle it, hang pulsating string lights around it, train a spotlight on that son-of-a-bitch, tell your boss it’s a national country music holiday and you’ll quit without a second though if you don’t get it off, ’cause that’s the day Whitey Morgan will be releasing his latest album.
Paramount Network’s original series ‘Yellowstone’ starring Kevin Costner has lots of folks talking with its rough and tumble drama, and panoramic vistas shot on location in the American West. But one interesting wrinkle for fans of independent country music has been the inclusion of multiple artists.
Joining artists such as Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and Cody Jinks, now Michigan native, California convert, and hard-charging traditional country artist Whitey Morgan and his backing band The 78’s have been bestowed the opportunity to play the Mother Church this summer.
After spending years playing over 200 shows annually and pounding the pavement harder than most any band or artist, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s have been taking some well-deserved time off from the road to rest up, and to write and record some new songs for an upcoming album. But now it’s finally time to get back after it.
According to NASCAR, “A big part of every Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is driver intros, where each driver gets to pick a song of his or her choice to walk out to. It gives drivers a chance to show off their musical tastes, flex their comedic muscle and, yes, sometimes even send a message.”
To be a Saving Country Music Artist of the Year, you can’t just be “good.” It’s not about releasing some great songs or a significant album in a given calendar year. You have to be committed to the cause, both on and off the stage. You have to care about country music, even when you’re not playing it, even when it doesn’t affect you specifically, and even when it’s not politically expedient . . .
2015’s Album of the Year candidates might constitute the most wide open field of contenders since this exercise has been in practice. There’s no clear front runners, anyone could win, and each candidate has pluses and minuses. Like every year, your opinion counts, and may even count more this year with no clear front runner.