Zach Bryan Arrested for Obstruction of Investigation
130 CommentsZach Bryan was arrested Thursday evening, September 7th, in the town of Vinita, Oklahoma in the northeast portion of the state, and charged with “obstruction of investigation.”
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 Grianán 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.
David Rawlings to Release New Album “Poor David’s Almanack”
8 CommentsDavid Rawlings and long-time collaborator Gillian Welch have once again compiled a collection of songs together, this time called Poor David’s Almanack. It will be Rawlings and Welch’s 8th collaborative album since first meeting at the esteemed Berklee College of Music, and will be Rawlings’ 3rd solo release.
No Seriously, Walker Hayes’ “You Broke Up with Me” is the Worst ‘Country’ Song Ever
267 CommentsIt might actually be the intangibles and industry tentacles extending from Walker Hayes and “You Broke Up with Me” that make the whole thing so sinister. This is not just the lead single from a Sam Hunt knockoff you’ve never heard of before.
Jason Isbell’s “The Nashville Sound” Goes #1 in Country, #4 Overall
53 CommentsJason Isbell and his band The 400 Unit have just notched their best-charting, and best-selling record of Jason Isbell’s career with The Nashville Sound. Selling a total of 54,000 units, including 51,000 in pure album sales, it puts Isbell #1 in country, and #4 overall for this week on the album charts.
Album Review – Sarah Jane Scouten’s “When The Bloom Falls From The Rose”
13 CommentsSarah Jane Scouten, from British Columbia’s Bowen Island, was born into a household where she was exposed to the music of Hank Williams and Canadian folk singers such as Stan Rogers from an early age, and those influences have gone on to infer her strong roots-based style.
Legendary Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens Sets from Austin City Limits to be Issued
27 CommentsOn October 23, 1988, Austin City Limits went Bakersfield for one legendary night when an upcoming hot shot California country throwback traditionalist with jellyspine hips named Dwight Yoakam took the stage, and so did the man that he saw as his primary influence, the legendary Buck Owens.