What is “authenticity” in country music, and why is it so important? And should it be? This is a question many love to ask, but the answer isn’t simple. The authenticity question is intertwined with the history of country music.
From suffering a heart attack mid performance on stage, to playing Russian roulette with an automatic pistol, these are the many times Outlaw country legend Billy Joe Shaver cheated death, and lived to become a hero.
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.
Though we don’t have a proper release date on any new album just yet, we do have a badass new cut called “Let Me Roll” chronicling Whitey’s road dog mentality that has been a calling card of his career.
It was a mixture of surprise, astonishment, and supreme happiness when someone reached out and said that Tony Martinez was finally releasing his debut album. Truth be told, Tony should probably be dead.
Fans of the staunch country music Outlaw will have ample opportunities to see him in 2024 as Whitey will be hitting the road hard and heavy this spring and summer, including opening some big shows for close friends.
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.
Writing and performing songs is just one of the many ways Nikki Lane contributes, and instead of just jotting down a few ditties to satisfy some arbitrary release timeline, she decided to savor and experience life, and let the songs come to her for this particular album
Even if you have to sell an internal organ to swing it, you still may want to consider how to get your ass to the Born & Raised Festival on September 16th, 17th, and 18th in Pryor, Oklahoma, just east of Tulsa in 2022. After experiencing the festival in 2021 on the Rocklahoma site…
Cody Jinks has officially formed his own record label called Late August Records, and looks to be prepping the release of not one, but two new albums in late 2021—one as his latest effort in the country realm, and a long-rumored heavy metal record Cody appears to have recorded.
That’s right, Saving Country Music is brushing off this old feature, and featuring another name from the modern era of country music badasses in Cody Jinks after his recent run over the last few years has made him one of the most formidable names in independent country.
I listened to the entirety of ‘The Sonic Ranch’ album by Midland and watched all of the 45-minute documentary so you don’t have to. It’s not that it’s terrible, or in any way offensive. For what it is, it’s fine, and you can’t approach either the album or the film as if these were finished products
Billy Joe Shaver wasn’t just a musical legend and icon, or an “Outlaw” as we like to call the artists who work outside of the Nashville system. He was a hero, in both music, and in life. What is a hero? A hero is someone who illustrates a level of bravery well beyond what most would be willing to.
Texas-based Southern rock band Whiskey Myers is set to launch their own personally-curated festival and annual gathering for their fans called the Firewater Festival, and they have just announced the inaugural lineup. The event has been cleared by state and local officials to move forward.
Well-respected country and roots multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell is “sicker than he’s ever been in his life” after contracting the Coronavirus, according the Campbell’s wife and frequent collaborator, Teresa Williams. “Larry tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. If you didn’t know anybody who has it now you do.”
“I think that they’re completely losing it. And I think that’s a sad situation because we should never let country music die. I think that every type of music should be saved, and country is one of the greatest. It’s been around, as far as I’m concerned, longer than any of it,” says Loretta Lynn.
Two important independent festivals that are working hard to support and expand Texas, Red Dirt, Americana, and independent country music beyond its traditional borders will not be happening in 2020. Both the Tumbleweed Festival near Kansas City, and the Wild Hare Country Festival in Oregon have cancelled for 2020.
On October 26th, the Cody Jinks show at the Nacogdoches County Expo Center was canceled on the day of the performance after an unidentified individual called the venue and left a threat against the concert. Officials have yet to confirm the specific nature of the threat, however they do have a person of interest they’re investigating.
Add Sturgill Simpson to the list of things in society that are extremely polarizing, right up there with politics, religion, LeBron James, pumpkin spice, and whatever else people get worked up about, with half the world professing something or someone is utter and unequivocal garbage, while the other half can’t contain their enthusiasm.
As the alternative to the bigger, two-weekend all-genre gathering called Coachella, The Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California every April is supposed to give country music its turn on the famous Empire Polo Club grounds so as not be shaded out by the massive names of the pop, EDM, and hip-hop world.
For years Cody’s huge beard has been a signature feature of the Ft. Worth-based singer and traditional country artist. It was just one of many bushy faces sported by a fraternity of performers that have all become close friends over the years, including Jamey Johnson, as well as regular tour mates Whitey Morgan, Ward Davis, and others.
Music is just one of the many factors to weigh when naming the Artist of the Year. Unlike Album of the Year nominees, and Song of the Year nominees, this is not a distinction that is put up for a vote to the public, and it’s not just about the appeal any particular artist might garner for their yearly musical output, live or recorded.
On the three-bearded hydra that is Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, and Ward Davis, Ward is the one you turn to when you’re looking for something more thoughtful, more introspective, and where the songwriting is the foremost concern. He’s more Sunday morning than Saturday night….
Screw it all. You want to save country music? Put it on the back of the Buick City Badass Whitey Morgan along with his backing band The 78’s, and let them carry the whole damn genre. Whitey Morgan is like the embodiment of all the rage and frustration of true country music fans channeled into one hairy human vessel.