Tom Waits Interviews Hank III in Mojo Magazine

June 13th, 2010

In the upcoming 200th issue of Mojo Magazine, the legendary Tom Waits takes the helm as editor, and handpicks Hank III to be one of the issue’s featured artists. In the 7 page spread, Waits recounts seeing Hank III for the first time at the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma, CA: “I had heard he does [...]

Filled Under: News

Curb Records Officially Squanders Hank Williams Legacy

May 25th, 2010

Today is the release date of Hank Williams III’s album Rebel Within. This is his sixth and final album with label Curb Records, meaning that he is now a free man, finally done after a 14 year battle with Curb over creative control and timely release of his music. And Hank III isn’t the only [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

Eric Church: Tilt At Windmills No More (A rant)

May 11th, 2010

The sheer speed at which American pop country is devolving before our very eyes can only be described as “awesome.” It is the evolutionary equivalent of if we could witness a species of apes evolve into a new race of humans in the length of a football season. As the creatively bankrupt boardrooms of Music [...]

Filled Under: Down with Pop Country

Separating Music City From Music Row

April 27th, 2010

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 [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

Signs Country Has Lost Its Way

April 16th, 2010

Remember back when Taylor Swift won the CMA for Entertainer of the Year? We thought it couldn’t get worse for country music. There was a lot of surmising of where country music might go next after that win. Would there be a traditionalist backlash? Would country become even more pop oriented to try to mimic [...]

Filled Under: Down with Pop Country

Hank Williams Awarded Posthumous Pulitzer Prize!

April 12th, 2010

“New York City, April 12 – The Pulitzer Prize Board has awarded a posthumous Special Citation to country music icon Hank Williams for his lifetime achievement as a musician, Columbia University announced today. The citation praises Williams for “his craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role [...]

Filled Under: News

You Need Ruby Jane In Your Life

April 1st, 2010

Country music is a funny thing. While on the outside it seems like a pretty “Hee-Yaw!” simple, straightforward artform, country music boasts some of the best maestros that American music has ever seen. Right now there may be half a hundred fiddle players with half their teeth missing, living in the bowls of a Prevost [...]

Filled Under: Reviews

Your Opinion: Anti-Country

March 30th, 2010

We have a few issues facing us in the Outlaw/Underground/Insurgent/True/REAL/Hellbilly/Neo-traditionalist country movement. The first is how many different words are used to describe the music and artists that have created a small, but very strong music scene with a loyal following. Not only are there many terms, but these terms mean different things to different [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

Rose Maddox – Grandmother of Rockabilly & More

March 10th, 2010

If you’re anything like me, if I want to hear some new music, you sure aren’t going to find me sniffing around CMT or burying your nose in the latest Rolling Stone. No, I’m likely going to be looking to the past, not the future. And man, what a thrill it is when you find [...]

Filled Under: Outlaw History

Nashville to Bulldoze Musicians Hall of Fame

February 17th, 2010

“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 [...]

Filled Under: Causes

Holly Williams Signs Reinstate Hank Petition

February 16th, 2010

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 [...]

Filled Under: Causes

New Reinstate Hank PSA – Spread the Word

February 12th, 2010

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 [...]

Filled Under: Causes

Hank Jr. Noticably Absent from Reinstate Hank

January 12th, 2010

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. [...]

Filled Under: Causes

Hank III Has the Moonshiner’s Blues (New Songs)

December 27th, 2009

Hank Williams III continues his stint of Wednesday nights at Layla’s Bluegrass Inn, and continues to make news and debut new songs. This last Wednesday, former football player turned country artist Kyle Turley opened the show, and Hank III rolled out two new songs, “Moonshiner’s Blues” about Popcorn Sutton, and another called “Drinkin’ Ain’t Hard [...]

Filled Under: News

Your Take – Unfinished Hank Williams Songs

December 2nd, 2009

Last week it was announced that country singer Jennifer Brantley had released a song the was written by Hank Williams, at least partially written by Hank Williams, and then finished by the request of Hank’s widow Audrey by Glenn Douglas Tubb, nephew of Ernest Tubb and a prolific songwriter. The song is called “Heratbroken, Forsaken, [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

The Revolution Will Be Heard on Vinyl

November 27th, 2009

Tis the season of ringing cash register bells and getting snowed. What is a would-be responsible consumer to do when it seems like everything you want to purchase is going to fund terrorists, polluters, or corporations that screw artists and homogenize the music? It all makes you want to get as shitfaced as a shopping [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

New Rebel Rouser Podcast & Izzy Zaidman is Back

November 10th, 2009

Well tonight is a pretty big night in podcast land. First I am happy to announce that one of my favorite podcasters, Tim Pop of Tim Pop Live is debuting a spanking new podcast tonight called Rebel Rouser Country. It is going to air weekly on realpunkradio.com, Tuesdays at 7 PM EST. And for his [...]

Filled Under: Podcasting/Radio

Don’t Forget The Texas Scene (Free Music)

October 30th, 2009

Some criticize that there’s not enough talk around here about the Texas music scene, and I couldn’t agree more. There’s some great music going on down there, and unfortunately I just don’t have the time to sink my teeth into it all. That was one reason I set up the Saving Country Music message board, [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

New Music From Old Artists

October 14th, 2009

Lately so much music has been coming out from oldtime artists I follow, I can hardly keep up. Hopefully in the future I will have features or reviews on all of these projects, but in the meantime here they all are to bring you up to speed. If there’s one album you like to see [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

Hank Williams From His Grave

September 17th, 2009

(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 [...]

Filled Under: Causes