As Christmas festivities come to a close and New Years comes into focus, it’s once again time to reflect back on all of the country music greats we lost in the last year. From huge celebrity stars, to influential songwriters and side musicians who impacted the music out of the spotlight, country music lost many notable names in 2015.
32-year-old Owen Mays, known as the staunch country traditionalist of the underground country and roots movement, has died. Known for his blistering and honest songwriting, he reportedly passed away in his sleep in the early Wednesday morning hours (7-22). Owen was born and raised in south central Wisconsin in the small town of Cambria where he began playing guitar at the age of 16.
It’s been nearly 5 years since songwriter, performing artist, and pioneer of underground country J.B. Beverley released his last album with the country band The Wayward Drifters, and now he’s finally back with a new record, but it’s not with The Wayward Drifters, or exclusively a country project. Since “Stripped to the Root” might lend to a little curiosity, we decided to place a call to J.B…..