We need another country music awards show like we need another natural disaster. In fact, I’m half certain it’s because humanity is so busied by meaningless baubles like redundant country music awards shows that God has forsaken us.
Enter Oliver Anthony, and the super-viral recording of his song “Rich Men North of Richmond.” Undoubtedly, it is quite a remarkable song and performance. He’s a songwriter from Farmville, VA…
Before Turnpike went on indefinite hiatus in 2019, they were doing quite well for many independent acts, but were also meandering along in the effort to really spark national attention for themselves. Now the game has completely changed.
The quality of talent was never the concern about FairWell Fest, and the weekend was one killer set after another. The concern was always about a big out-of-town promoter coming into local-oriented Central Oregon and taking over.
It’s pretty telling of how busy of a news week it is in country music when you have a controversy involving Miranda Lambert that stimulates Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set of ‘The View’ in disgust, and it’s the second biggest story.
The appeal for independent country has become so robust, we now have megafestivals sprouting up all across the country to cater to the fans of this music. But the first, and still the biggest of these events is Under The Big Sky Festival.
“We’ve been working really hard for you all, and have loved every minute of it, but I need to slow down for a bit,” Sierra Ferrell said in a statement. “I know you’re disappointed, and so am I, but I also know that some rest will do me good.”
Zach Bryan was recently in the MilkBoy Studio in Philadelphia self-producing his new upcoming album. “I have a new album coming out and I told the guys this morning that we’re gonna have to do one.”
From performing on street corners for spare change to one of the fastest-rising artists in all of country and roots music, Sierra Ferrell has arrived.
The rise of independent country has been so massive, there are now megafestivals built around independent acts. This has attracted Live Nation, putting more established festivals in peril.
In the last year we’ve witnessed Zach Bryan go from having to earn respect at country festivals in opening slots, to headlining some of the biggest festivals around.
Everybody calm down. It’s just the ACM Awards. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate that the good guys won.
Zach Bryan has become one of the most popular artists in country. But mention his name, and a vocal minority pop up to complain.
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 Tyler Childers experience comes with an enhanced visual component compared to previous tours. Adorning the stage is a wooded backdrop, a couple of moss-covered boulders to give the facade some depth of field, and a taxadermied possum and big horned sheep (who’s begging to be named).
Zach Bryan’s popularity just continues to grow exponentially. Hell, he probably could have headlined Coachella in California this weekend. Yet even though the population of Zach Bryan fans continues to swell, the passion of those fans has not waned or been diluted whatsoever.
Platforms like Twitter and Tik-Tok have been instrumental to the rise of artists outside of the musical industrial complex by connection them directly with fans, and circumventing the need for major labels or mass media to help performers find a sustainable audience in many instances.
One of the hottest up-and-coming artists in all of country music is now signed to the roster of one of the hottest labels in all of country music. Announced Wednesday afternoon (3-29), West Virginia native Charles Wesley Godwin has signed to Big Loud Records, which is the home of Morgan Wallen.
With every single piece of recorded music now right at your fingertips, spending time reading professional reviews may seem silly. But the problem is that you have every single piece of recorded music right at your fingertips, which means we’ve gone from not enough options, to way too many.
Now Central Oregon will have their own country and roots festival, and it may have one of the best lineups of any independent country event all year. Called the FairWell Festival, they have just announced their inaugural lineup for their July 21-23 festival at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond.
You would think that if you had more cooks in the kitchen, they would come up with something more creative. But that’s not the case when it comes to country music songwriting, and a new study corroborates what our ears have been telling us for years. As the amount of songwriters per track has increased…
For the last dozen years or so, one of the most contentious battles within the realm of commercial country music has centered around the incursion of hip-hop influences into the genre, and specifically the use of verses that are rapped as opposed to sung, and electronic beats replacing organic drums.
There are bigger festivals, and maybe in someone’s opinion, better festivals. But few festivals in the roots space are as prestigious as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in beautiful Telluride, Colorado. Celebrating its 50th year in 2023 of hosting bluegrass and bluegrass-adjacent music in the beautiful mountains…
Will this be the next trend to overtake mainstream country? Of course not. That’s part of what is hilarious about this. As disturbing as Katie Noel’s take on “country” is, it’s also horrifically outdated. This stuff peaked in 2011 with Jason Aldean and “Dirt Road Anthem.” Heard from Colt Ford lately?