You can’t save country music while ignoring commercial country. One of the ways we address the mainstream is by highlighting the best albums in the mainstream in hopes they help influence country moving forward.
We’ve run down the Song of the Year nominees, the Single of the Year nominees, as well as the Album of the Year nominees for 2024. Now it’s time to give the WORST offerings in “country” music their fair due.
J.R. Carroll is known by many as the guy with the glasses and ponytail up there playing keyboard for Zach Bryan. On “Dark Cloud,” Carroll proves to be worthy of devoted attention all on his own.
Some of the observances and sentiments Oliver Anthony shares are true, and things you might be inclined to pump your fist in agreement over. A few of the things he says are categorically false and misleading at best
Beyoncé’s 2024 album Cowboy Carter was supposed to be the biggest phenomenon in country music in 2024. But after taking a step back from all the bluster, it’s easy to conclude that Cowboy Carter’s impact was marginal at best.
Similar to Zach Bryan, it’s hard to understate how massive Sam Barber has become. That’s not all that’s similar about Zach Bryan. You listen to ‘Restless Mind,’ and you could easily be convinced it’s a Zach Bryan album.
A massive company is punching down on a upstart outlet, setting a bad precedent that could lock out new voices and fresh perspectives in an ever-crowded, and increasingly difficult media space to survive in.
Zach Bryan’s breakup with Brianna Chickenfry has gone from a matter for the kind of gossip podcasts that Brianna is famous for participating in, to a matter that has touched on serious issues that affect the freedom of artists.
The owner and founder of Barstool Sports, El Presidente Dave Portnoy, has been perpetrating an open beef with Zach Bryan over a host of issues recently, which boiled over when Zach Bryan broke up with Brianna Chickenfry.
Recently I was in a tire shop getting the ol’ truck some new rubber and trying to reset the tire warning light, when my ears immediately latched on to the music they were playing in the background.
In a moment in popular music when everyone wants to declare themselves country, here’s a musician who’s more country than he is anything else, but due to his respect for country is actually speaking the truth.
The Buckeye Country Superfest has just revealed their latest lineup, and it couldn’t be going worse for the AEG-promoted event, at least according to the feedback from fans. Crowned by Kane Brown and Jelly Roll…
In a move that can only be characterized as unprecedented and perhaps even career-defining, Zach Bryan has refused to submit his recent album ‘The Great American Bar Scene’ to the Grammy Awards for 2025 consideration.
‘Tis the season for ludicrous and obsequious puff pieces to hit the internet as power publicists are sent into hyperdrive attempting to garner Grammy nominations and wins for their deep-pocketed clients.
Now that it’s all in the books—and after four long days of humpin’ around from stage to stage in the middle of a late season Ohio River Valley heat wave—here are some of the things that were seen and heard.
The NFL spent little time building anticipation in who might perform at this year’s Super Bowl in February of 2025. On Sunday, September 8th, they announced that Kendrick Lamar will be this season’s Super Bowl entertainment.
Nobody is listening to Cowboy Carter. It was the most lauded release all year by the press, is supposedly supported by the biggest Stan army in the world, and sits at #133. Meanwhile, Zach Bryan has 3 albums in the Top 20.
It’s a good time to be a country music fan. No reason to reach for the Backstreet Boys, Diplo, or Nelly to entice fans to the event. If anything, they give the whole lineup an ick factor it doesn’t need.
Congratulations are in order for Oklahoma’s Turnpike Troubadours, and Alabama’s Jason Isbell. Both have received major accolades. Now they can add being protested by the Westboro Baptist Church to their list.
Beyoncé does not consider herself a country artist, and she does not consider her 2024 album Cowboy Carter as a country album. Full stop. Saying that Cowboy Carter is a country album is a canard sown out of whole cloth.
We’re rounding the corner on the summer, but the hits keep coming. The last month or two has seen some of the top album releases of the year, and many of them are represented in the latest additions to the playlist.
During the Toby Keith tribute, Tyler Hubbard was scheduled to sing Toby Keith’s most simple and silly song, “Red Solo Cup.” If you had to hand off a song to a former member of Florida Georgia Line, it would be this one.
It’s one of the saddest and most compelling stories in rodeo history. And with the way country & Western music is so synonymous with the rodeo, it’s no surprise country music has taken a large share of inspiration from it.
In a somewhat strange coincidence, two of country music’s biggest stars both saw fans rush the stage at their shows on Thursday (7-25) evening. The two situations couldn’t have been handled more differently.