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.
Tyler Childers isn’t messing around in 2025. He’ll be heading out for one of his most extensive tours in years—since he was playing clubs and selling them out. And he’ll be bringing along a cool host of openers with him.
In 2024, the 2nd Annual Key Western Fest in Key West, Florida did something quite remarkable. In an environment where the country music industry continues to struggle booking women, they booked a festival entirely of women.
A festival that was founded to cater to the resurgent interest in ’90s country picked up on something important: the ’90s weren’t just the last time popular country sounded country, it was also the last time when country women played a major role.
The 2nd Annual Key Western Fest is going all women, bringing country legends and Hall of Famers like Wynonna Judd, Tanya Tucker, Jo Dee Messina, Pam Tillis, Terri Clark, and more to paradise for a 4-day excursion.
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.
The 2023 CMT Awards could very well go down in country music history as a significant moment, but it won’t be for the reasons the producers of the presentation or their proponents in the media hoped for, or will purport it to be. And no, we’re not just talking about the polarizing political moments…
Aaron McCune can not only can handle the bass parts to iconic country songs from The Oak Ridge Boys and others, he can go even deeper, and this is bringing the important element of four-part harmonies with bass in country music to a new generation. He’s a member of Dailey & Vincent.
With Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers headlining Saturday and Sunday, and other names from the independent country world like Charles Wesley Godwin, Kaitlin Butts, Paul Cauthen, and Austin’s Kathryn Legendre playing, it speaks to the independent aspect the festival organizers want the festival to take on.
You have to be happy with this class overall. Certainly, you can look over the elongated list of other potential inductees that grows even longer every year due to the Hall of Fame’s austere approach to induction, and do a healthy level of second guessing.
Amid speculation by the public, inquiries by the media, and a continuing investigation by authorities, the family of deceased country music legend Naomi Judd has revealed that she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound when she passed away on April 30th at the age of 76.
Since the Hall of Fame continues to not allow for public broadcast of the ceremony, fans of The Judds and other inductees have been mostly resigned to piecing together the events. But luckily, a full video of The Judds induction has emerged.
Naomi Judd struggled publicly with mental illness throughout her life. But instead of hiding it, she tried to use her experience with the disease to share her wisdom, and inspire others to work through their struggles, and spoke openly about suicide and how it is preventable.
Only a couple of weeks after making a reunion performance, only a few months before going on a final tour, and a day before being honored at the Hall of Fame medallion ceremony, Country Music Hall of Famer Naomi Judd of The Judds has died.
Well if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. And with the extended Rolodex of influences and acolytes Ray Wylie Hubbard has assembled, why not release a sequel? That’s what Ray Wylie will do on March 18th, 2022 with another list of excellent collaborators.
Dwight Yoakam’s done got hitched. In an extremely rare glimpse into his personal life, the 63-year-old announced in a statement on Monday (5-4) that he has married his long time fiancee Emily Joyce. The two had been dating since 2010. The private ceremony was held at the St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA.
As if answering a distress call sent out over the airwaves or via a spotlight beamed over Music City, the Highwomen have assembled in the form of the Grammy-winning Brandi Carlile, fiddlemaster Amanda Shires, songwriting markswoman Natalie Hemby, and superstar Maren Morris. “Redesigning Women” is their first taste.
50-year-old country stars aren’t supposed to make records like these. They’re supposed to be trying to hold onto their glory days or make good use of the last dying gasps of somehow getting on the radio. Or they’re supposed to just give up the ghost and make sure they’re investing their money smartly. But nobody told Wynonna Judd that, or her husband, producer, drummer and songwriter Cactus Moser.
“Things That I Lean On” begins by acquiescing to the frailties of being human, and then singing the praises of the gifts life bestows to overcome them. Written by Travis Meadows and Daniel Sanders, it is a perfect song for the conditions Cactus Moser created to record in. Though it’s not her own song, the love and honesty Wynonna sings with let’s you know it is still very personal and true to her experience.
To All The Girls is Willie Nelson’s third album to come from his recent partnership with Sony’s Legacy Recordings, and the second to come out this year. The record features an ample 18 tracks, each constituting a duet with a female counterpart drawing from a wide swath of talent that includes both legacy names like Loretta Lynn and Emmylou Harris, and some new names like The Secret Sisters and Brandi Carlile.
Yes, we’ve seen this before, when Luke Bryan wrote some National Anthem notes on his hand at the 2012 MLB All-Star Game. Well it appears that this has now become a thing—either writing the notes to the Star Spangled Banner on your hand, or hiring people who inconceivably can’t remember the words to the most well-known song after “Happy Birthday” to sing it to massive crowds, at important events, during significant times.
Authenticity and dysfunction are regularly celebrated in country music, and what better way to celebrate that than to look back in time a some of the most notable mugshots and arrests of country music’s most notable stars: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr., Glen Campbell, Rodney Atkins, Wynonna Judd, Kid Rock, David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck, and many more.