“You can see the hood ornament on the car when you go to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. But if you want to look at the engine, and see what’s making it go, go to the Musician’s Hall of Fame.” –Neil Young.
The Musicians Hall of Fame has been “eminent domained” by the city [...]
Holly Williams, daughter of Hank Williams Jr. and half sister of Hank Williams III, signed the petition to Reinstate Hank Williams into the Grand Ole Opry after a show in Paradiso, Amsterdam earlier this week. After playing a set that included the Hank Sr. songs “I Saw The Light” and “I’m so Lonesome I Could [...]
The talented Texas Singer-Songwriter Brigitte London has been doing a new podcast for outlawmagazine.com, and asked me recently if I could do a PSA for the movement to get Hank Williams reinstated into the Grand Ole Opry, or Reinstate Hank.
Of course I was easily cajoled into doing so, but as I was putting it together [...]
A lot of you might already know this, but just to bring the new folks up to speed, Saving Country Music started as an organization of Hank Williams III fans called Free Hank III. In short, Free Hank III was started when III’s label Curb Records refused to release his last album Damn Right, Rebel [...]
When Hank Williams III’s album Damn Right, Rebel Proud went to #2 in the charts last year, this was a significant development in the movement to Reinstate Hank Williams to the Grand Ole Opry because of the first track, “The Grand Ole Opry (Ain’t So Grand),” was a song protesting the Grand Ole Opry’s stance.
But [...]
Category: Music
Region: United States of America
Target: Capitol Records Nashville
Background (Preamble): 09-21-2009 12:03 AM — Local independent label Bleve Records reported last week that it has stopped promotion of its debut single, ”My First Ride,” following a cease-and-desist order from Capitol Records Nashville.
The song by Bleve artist Ronnie Milsap features Capitol Records Nashville artist Trace Adkins [...]
Those of you who know me know that I have an affinity for the superpicker sidemen that make good country music great. One of these is Banjer Dan Mazer, who plays with JB Beverly & The Wayward Drifters primarily.
Well Banjer Dan needs our help.
It all started on Halloween. Apparently Banjer lost sight of the holiday [...]
To learn more about the fight between Ronnie Milsap and Capitol Records Nashville, click here.
A lot of people have been curious why I championed the fight of Ronnie Milsap against Capitol Records, from my core readers to Milsap fans. Normally I cover artists here that nobody else does, and this doesn’t really pertain to [...]
Dear Capitol Records Nashville,
When firefighters came to protest at your building in support of Ronnie Milsap and Bleve Music, you forced them away. My guess is they would have not met the same reception if the building was on fire, and you or your family were inside. Yet your actions are precluding dollars from the [...]
To read about the conflict between Ronnie Milsap and Capitol Records Nashville, click here, and to read about Milsap’s first protest click here.
I know some of you might be tired of this story, and others might think that the Milsap/Adkins song is not worth defending. But this might be the most important story I have [...]
I’m happy to report that there is good news on the fight between Bleve Records, Ronnie Milsap, and Capitol Records Nashville. Capitol has been filing legal briefs to keep Bleve Records from releasing a Milsap single that also features Capitol artist Trace Adkins. Bleve, a label that was set up by a retired police officer [...]
(For details on the Hank Williams birthday contest, click here.)
A lot of us involved in the Reinstate Hank Williams movement talk at length about his importance to The Grand Ole Opry and country music. But we may not emphasize his importance on music as a whole, or on American culture and even the culture of [...]
The last few days has seen a small flurry of news concerning the movement to Reinstate Hank Williams to the Grand Ole Opry. The online petition is about to crest 40,000 signatures (or it might already have by the time you read this), which was a goal of the Reinstaters to reach by the end [...]
Today was the day in 1952 that Hank Williams, the King of Country music, was fired from the Grand Ole Opry for missing rehearsals due to his excessive use of alcohol. The Opry promised that they would Reinstate Hank Williams after he sobered up, but Hank Williams died New Year’s Day of 1953, and was [...]
Yeah, I know. I’ve been hassling you a lot here lately to ink your John Hancock on all kinds of things, whether it be the Reinstate Hank petition, or the petitions to get Gram Parsons and Johnny Paycheck into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
But petitions and movements are one way the Underground and grass [...]
I will be completely honest with you. Up until about 2 1/2 years ago, I thought Johnny Paycheck was a one hit wonder with a gimmick name. And that one hit song, “Take This Job and Shove It,” wasn’t even his own song, but a David Allan Coe cover.
Well ladies and gentlemen, since then I [...]
I’ve got so many great readers and supporters, and it seems like everyone has something they try to support beyond REAL country music. I wish I had more time to investigate and be more involved in all of these great causes, but there is only so much time in the day, as they say. I [...]
Say what you want about the man, or even his music, but it is hard to make the case that anybody has been a bigger ambassador for country music than Gram Parsons. Gram Parsons showed millions of non-country fans that country music could be cool. He turned The Rolling Stones into country fans. He discovered [...]
With the death of local record stores, and even the smaller national chain music stores, Wal-Mart has now taken the spot as the big dog atop the music selling food chain. Problem is, Wal-Mart refuses to sell any album with what they consider “offensive” lyrics, so artists are forced to ether produce “clean” versions of [...]
I’ve said it many times before, when it comes to the movements to put REAL country music back in it’s proper place in the world, we all do what we can. Some make videos. Some like me take their poison pen and try to jab it in the eye of pop country. Some just [...]
