Album Review – Ashley McBryde’s “The Devil I Know”
29 CommentsAshley McBryde’s strong suit is taking snapshots from the everyday lives of average working people, and gracing them with unadorned, plainspoken, but deeply potent songwriting poetry.
Chase Rice Is Leaving the “Truth” Out of His New Three Chords Approach
46 CommentsTwo ruinous singles in a row with “Whisper” and “Everybody We Know Does” that couldn’t crack the Top 40 on radio put Chase Rice on the outs with his label Columbia Nashville, and unlikely to see an album release anytime soon. Now he’s back with a new single from a new label that is being sold as Rice’s return to the roots.
Miranda Lambert Dedicates Song To “All The Girls Not Being Played on Country Radio”
129 Comments“I’m gonna do one by myself, because I can,” Miranda told the crowd. “I want to do this on behalf of all the girls that are not being played on country radio right now. If you really love us, you will call and request any female that has a song out and something to say. This is one of those called ‘Tin Man.'”
Turnpike Troubadours Cancel Shows After Undisclosed Personal Issue
31 CommentsThe Turnpike Troubadours have cut short their current tour, with lead guitar player Ryan Engleman citing an undisclosed personal issue as the need for the cancellations. The shows cancelled affect dates primarily on the West Coast and in the interior West for the next week.
Album Review – “Purgatory” by Tyler Childers
142 CommentsJust like Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers was playing and writing music for many years before he was ready to become a part of the national country music conversation. It was only after years of failure, perseverance, tempering in the fires of everyday life and dues paid on small stages that Tyler was ready.
Song Review – Mickey Guyton’s “Nice Things”
46 Comments“Nice Things” delves into the possessive nature of love in a bold effort that accentuates Guyton’s vocal strengths, and is stirred with Jerry Douglas-sounding rootsy dobro. Mickey Guyton resists the temptation to inflect her voice with urban annunciations and R&B styling that is all the rage in the mainstream country today.
Hip Hop Artist Jason Derulo Is Working on a “Big” Country Project
42 CommentsHip hop/R&B artist Jason Derulo—known for such squalid hits as “Swalla” and “Get Ugly”—is working on a quote/unquote “big” country music project with a current country artist. This is the news coming from numerous sources, including Derulo himself.
The Turnpike Troubadours to Release New Album “A Long Way From Your Heart”
58 CommentsIs it October 20th yet? How ’bout now? Sorry for the impatience, but that’s the day one of the most badass independent country bands in existence will release their highly-anticipated fourth album A Long Way From Your Heart via Bossier City Records and Thirty Tigers.
Album Review – Joe Nichols’ “Never Gets Old”
35 CommentsMan did we need a good album from Joe Nichols. Mainstream country has been on a losing streak something fierce for 2017—barring a few exceptions—and when you have an artist like Joe Nichols, you need them to act like a bulkhead against adverse trends. It sucks when later in an artist’s career and after a […]
Album Review – Koe Wetzel’s “Noise Complaint”
64 CommentsKoe Wetzel from Stephenville, TX has certainly been stirring up the chatter of both the positive and negative persuasion over the last few months after the release of the record Noise Complaint. A veritable young pup of the Texas music scene, he’s been vilified by some for immature lyrics, while being celebrated by the younger set.
Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Backroad” Now the Longest-Running #1 in “Country” History
85 CommentsWell, it’s happened. As predicted by Saving Country Music and certain others, Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Backroad” is now officially the longest-charting #1 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in the chart’s nearly 60-year-old history, logging a total of 25 straight weeks at #1.
True Country Represented at the 2017 Tumbleweed Country Music Festival
58 CommentsFor many years there has been the need for a festival to cover the music that sits on the fringes of commercial country, yet serves a very dedicated and surprisingly large audience of country music fans. This is what Borda Productions saw when they decided to transition from a more mainstream-oriented country festival for 2017.
Counterpoints to the Claim That “Country Music Has Never Been This Bad”
96 CommentsIn the process of criticizing modern country music, sometimes we lose sight of the bigger picture, or fall into “old man’s syndrome” where the past of the genre seems pristine and idyllic in our mind’s eye, and today’s smutty music perpetrated by sellout stars is an abomination to our beloved genre.