Nashville was lucky. During the early 20th Century, many cities could have ended up with the “Music City” moniker. Tulsa had a bustling music scene, with Bob Wills playing weekly at Cain’s ballroom. Bakersfield, CA had the best recording studios west of the Mississippi and was a magnet for the Southern talent that had migrated [...]
For the modern day underground country fan, going to a Hank III show is a no brainer. Even if you’ve gotten sideways with his recent sound, you go. It’s Hank III. It is the one show you make sure to catch that year. And you see people you haven’t seen since that last Hank III [...]
Perfect hair is an unattainable goal for many Americans. Forget about genetics for a moment, and just think about the wide varying humidity and barometric pressure that we can experience here in the United States. It can wreak havoc on even the most ideal head of God given locks. And then all those hair products, [...]
It will probably be easier to name of the bands and artists that WON’T be at South by Southwest in Austin, TX this week than to even begin trying to make a list of the ones I’m hoping to see. In fact I’m learning before I even get there that the most maddening thing about [...]
With all the hubbub last week with new releases and news, I had little time to talk about Big John Cash, who had a birthday, and a posthumous release of American VI: Ain’t No Grave. But when Friday came, I got to leave the laptop behind, and head down to Austin to focus on The [...]
A couple of free goodies just because available from one of my favorite emerging artists, Justin Townes Earle. The first is a free download of an acoustic version of the title track from Midnight at the Movies (which I just discovered you can buy on limited edition vinyl HERE). It is just him an his [...]
Fortune would find that on my way down to Mexico, I was in Austin, TX the same day that Ray Wylie Hubbard’s new CD A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C), was being released, and he was making a short, low-fi appearance at the famed Waterloo Records. So I grabbed savingcountrymusic.com’s most latest [...]
If you want to see Jerry Jeff Walker, the best place to see him is at Luckenbach, TX. If you want to see BR549, you should see them at Robert’s Western World in Nashville. A Dwight Yoakam concert is probably a good bet anywhere, but if you ever get the chance, Bakersfield, CA is the [...]
Well, at least for the Winter . . . or at least part of the Winter. But maybe for longer. Actually I really have no idea what the hell is going on. I try to talk as little about myself around here as I can, because it is about the music, not about me. But [...]
It was 35 years ago today, or tonight, that Austin City Limits, inspired by Jan Reid’s book The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock and the exploding Outlaw country music scene in Austin, aired their first episode. And who better to book for the first show than the Improbable Willie Nelson. It was 1974; two years [...]
Wayne “The Train” Hancock has announced that he has a new lead guitar player, and his name is Matt Thomas. Matt replaces James Hunnicutt who toured with Wayne for a stint, and will be playing with the Hard Money Saints on the West Coast in September. Matt Thomas is from Austin, and the word from [...]
Back in the mid 70′s-the first time country music was saved- The Outlaws of country like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings found a home and harbor from Nashville’s ill ways in the Austin, TX singer-songwriter scene. People like Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphy, Townes Van Zandt, and Ray Wylie Hubbard had made Austin a [...]
This blog is coming to you LIVE from none other than Luckenbach, TEXAS! Beer is flowing, brats are cooking, and this place was about everything I was expecting and more. Real deal Texas! The first part of the Luckenback experience is actually finding Luckenbach. There’s only ten or so permanent residents here, and it is [...]
Before Willie Nelson moved down to Austin, TX to ignite the Outlaw country movement in earnest, there were two guys in the early 70′s, each with three names, that had made the Austin music scene something worth moving to: Jerry Jeff Walker and Michael Martin Murphey. Sure there were a lot of other great acts [...]
According to Hank3.com, III is going to be hitting the road on an east coast leg sometime around mid-June, and opening will be the greatness of Lucky Tubb. According to Lucky’s MyWaste the tour is going to start on June 16th in Kentucky, but I’d caution on believing any dates until they are posted on [...]
Well Hank III is finally on the road again- you can check tour dates HERE. According to the reviews coming in the band sounds great! houstonpress.com has a 25 picture slideshow of his show at the Meridian on Tue 2/17 that you can view HERE. Here’s a couple gooduns: “Read savingcountrymusic.com or I’ll come out [...]
Well. My plan for the Holidays was to be back home in Texas, but after foul weather and flight cancellations, it looks like I’ll be celebrating the birth of baby Jeebus in the not-so-festive Free Hank III hideout, and hoping the sweet and sour pork in the steam plate at the China Panda is fresh. [...]
If you don’t know who Kinky Friedman is, then holy shit. Aside from being a writer, columnist, humorist, governor of Texas candidate, this dude was one of the ORIGINAL country artists down in Austin, TX with Ray Wylie Hubbard, Michael Murphy, Jerry Jeff Walker, and the others, when Austin music and The Outlaws took country [...]
First: –The good news came down yesterday that Restless in Amsterdam finally has had her number cruncher rescued from spybot virus hell, and is now back on the warpath for the Hank & Hank movements. Great news for us, bad news for the Nashville mob bosses. –The release of the Hank III Collector’s Tin HAS [...]
If you have found your way to this dark corner of the internet, then you probably hate how homogenized radio has become. And if you were asked what you would like to hear on the radio, you would probably say you wanted to hear the great old stuff from Hank Sr. and Johnny Cash, as [...]
