Album Review – Joe Stamm Band’s “Wild Man”
40 CommentsThey don’t really fit into any scene distinctly. But instead of grousing about it, they’ve decided to get good enough to start their own. If they keep releasing albums like ‘Wild Man,’ they very well just might.
Regardless of Your Definition, We Should All Agree That Country Music Has One
66 Comments‘Country music’ most certainly has a definition because it means something to millions of people. They identify with it. It’s their culture. It’s what gives them meaning and fulfillment. And if lost, and even worse, impugned and dragged through the mud as being irrelevant, uncool, or unwilling to evolve, it leaves them empty feeling and hollow.
Rock Review – Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires’ “Youth Detention”
14 CommentsHot damn if Lee Bains isn’t like a factory for punchy melodies served with angry, yet insightful expressionism that is strikingly relevant, resists the temptation to become invective, with the ultimate goal just as much to build up individuals as it is to tear down the institutions that inhibit them.
Country Greats Who’ve Passed Away So Far in 2017
14 CommentsWe may never see a year like we experienced in 2016, when such an unmerciful parade of country greats passing away left us with a renewed appreciation for the legends while their still living. But every death, from the often under-heralded songwriters and behind-the-scenes session musicians, to the principal members of huge Southern rock bands, is significant.
Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Spotify Playlist Provisioned for 4th of July Weekend (#6)
10 CommentsAs Uncle Ned prepares to blow his hand off with a concoction of semi-illegal fireworks, get yourself prepared for the extended 4th of July weekend by listening to Saving Country Music’s top recommended songs via the official Spotify playlist. It’s a repository for the top recommended songs, albums, and artists at any given time.
Loretta Lynn’s Vintage Eagle Tour Bus Up For Sale
16 CommentsA vintage baby blue 1977 Eagle tour bus that was once used by a host of country legends, including bluegrass maestro Vassar Clements, Country Music Hall of Famer Faron Young, and eventually landed in the fleet of Loretta Lynn, is currently up for sale on eBay by the current owner. It was the property of Loretta Lynn’s guitarist Perley Curtis.
Mainstream Country Makes Moves Into Americana
60 CommentsMainstream country is not stupid. They see the rising tide of Americana artists cresting the country albums charts on a regular basis, the big Americana names selling out large venues and headlining festivals, and doing it all without the help of Music Row or corporate radio, and continuing to encroach into their overall market share.
Album Review – Country Side of Harmonica Sam’s “A Drink After Midnight”
66 CommentsIf you’re doggedly on the search for music that hearkens back to the Golden Age of country, and the songs and sounds of folks such as Hank Williams, Lefty Frizell, and Webb Pierce, The Country Side of Harmonica Sam is where your search parameters should begin and end.
Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Backroad” Shatters 55-Year-Old Leroy Van Dyke Chart Record
82 CommentsSam Hunt’s smash single “Body Like a Backroad” has already made history, and is set to make more. By now logging 20 weeks at #1, “Body Like a Backroad” and Sam Hunt break a 55-year-old record on the 59-year-old Billboard Hot Country Songs chart previously held by Leroy Van Dyke’s “Walk On By.”
I Hate Everyone Able to Attend These Intimate Sturgill Simpson / John Prine Shows
34 CommentsSturgill Simpson was selling out 2,500-capacity venues on consecutive nights before the Grammy noise, and he’s choosing to use the aftermath to play the GrianĂ¡n Theater in Letterkenney, Ireland, capacity 383. These shows seem to be more for Sturgill than the audience or his pocketbook.
84 New Artists Added to Already-Stacked AmericanaFest Lineup
20 CommentsThe Americana Music Association has just announced an additional 84 names of showcasing artists who will be gracing stages all around Nashville September 12th-17th for the 2017 AmericanaFest, adding to an already-stacked poster of names now swelling to 187 participants, and expected to reach close to 300 eventually.
The Backstreet Boys Now Have a #1 on Country Radio. Here’s Who Doesn’t.
90 CommentsThis week, Florida Georgia Line’s collaboration with the Backstreet Boys called “God, Your Mama, and Me” hit #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart, meaning The Backstreet Boys—a washed-up boy bad who otherwise had not received a #1 distinction for over 18 years—is now the owner of a country music #1.
Song Review – Toby Keith (w/ Willie Nelson) in “Wacky Tobaccy”
96 CommentsToby Keith has made a career out of being uncool, and making cool things uncool by his mere presence. And now he’s done it with marijuana. “Wacky Tobaccy” as a song has got nothing. The fact that it’s supposed to be a stupid song doesn’t let it off the hook for being a stupid song.