The ACM Awards continue to spiral towards irrelevancy. That said, there are some interesting names in the nominations for the 2025 ACM Awards released Thursday.
Neotraditionalist Zach Top is the biggest new thing in country music. And he’s only getting bigger. This album is surging in the charts while he set the 2025 Rodeo Houston attendance record so far.
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.
Country music is going through a big revitalization of the ’90s country sound, and it’s off the backs of guys like Zach Top, as well as Texas native Jake Worthington with his 2023 self-titled album.
Up until the last few years, we had to witness a sharp and steady decline in country music across the board. Not any more. We have two dudes out there helping to completely rewrite the script.
There’s a reason Zach Top is the reigning Saving Country Music Artist of the Year, and it’s not just for his music. To achieve such an accolade, you have to be the full package, including displaying personal character.
Already opening shows for Zach Top, he’s got a similar sound to Zach, is a good guitar player as well, but it’s Cole Goodwin’s songwriting that is garnering attention, and distinguishing him from other neotraditionalist.
It’s fiddle. It’s steel guitar. It’s songs about raising hell. It’s sentimental songs about the most important things in life. Everybody’s all behind Zach Top, but Josh’s been doing 90s traditional country since the ’90s.
What started out as a joke has now blown up into a full-blown conspiracy theory that Zach Top is not only emulating the ’90s country sound of country stalwarts such as Alan Jackson, but that Alan Jackson actually sired Zach Top.
In Texas, there’s no bigger stage, and no bigger opportunity than performing during Rodeo Houston at NRG Stadium. Native Texans Parker McCollum and Cody Jinks will also be returning.
Welcome to Saving Country Music’s most comprehensive guide to music in a given year, The Essential Albums List. It includes the “Most Essential” Albums, and then other albums reviewed and deemed worthy.
There are few if any other musical outfits who have so consistently shown a gift for unlocking the sheer unmitigated joy in music through a combination of talent and toil.
The Saving Country Music Artist of the Year is someone who rekindles our spirit and hope that country music will be something future generations will also enjoy, and in it’s most genuine form.
There are many music festivals these days, but there’s only one Telluride Bluegrass Festival. As one of the oldest and most prestigious music gatherings in the world, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience each year.
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.
Charley Crockett, Zach Top, and Stephen Wilson Jr. are three of the hottest names in country music at the moment, and all three will be headlining in the 2025 installment of Hogs for the Cause event.
Alright, we ran down the nominees for Album of the Year and Song of the Year. But it’s time to give a little love to the songs that simply get stuck in out heads and remind us of the sheer joy of music.
A Song of the Year is not just a “song.” It’s a form of artistic expression that can change a life, that can change someone’s perspective, or that can change the world. It’s something that must be able to give you goosebumps.
Like a Black Friday feeding frenzy where people are elbowing old ladies in the face for a chance at a door buster deal, folks are falling all over themselves for tickets to Zach Top’s 2025 headliner shows.
The Grammy Awards are supposed to be the one place where the critically-acclaimed, criminally-overlooked, and lifers of a respective genre get the recognition they deserve from a non-profit that puts the art first.
Behind every star is often a cast of unsung heroes who deserve credit, especially when everything is falling into place like it is with Zach Top. Here are the principal members of Zach Top’s band and team.
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.
Since the Grammy Awards are one of the few awards that weigh artistic merit over commercial success, it makes it a bit more important to pay attention to for fans and advocates of independent artists.
It’s a warning you’ve likely read here at Saving Country Music quite a few times over the years: Go see your favorite up-and-coming artists in smaller venues and for cheap ticket prices while you still can.