Album Review – Tanya Tucker’s “Sweet Western Sound”
44 Comments“Sweet Western Sound” will be very effective for what it was designed to do: win Grammy Awards. For Tanya Tucker, and Brandi Carlile. And when it does it will be hard to argue against, because its brilliant moments unquestionably soar.
48th Annual CMA Awards Complete Preview
56 CommentsAll the information on the 48th Annual CMA awards in one place, including the presenters, the performers, the collaborations, the nominees, special awards, and other things to watch for. “There’s going to be a surprise guest in one of our performances from one of the biggest legends of country music of all time,” says CMA Executive Producer Robert Deaton.
Album Review – Maddie & Tae EP
20 CommentsNo matter where you stand on it, the enigma that is Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In A Country Song” has made for grand country music theater in 2014, marking one of the most talked about musical offerings since Kacey Musgraves’ “Merry Go ‘Round.” So now the young duo has released a four-song EP, and all of a sudden a brand new set of parameters emerge.
Willy Tea Taylor Signs to Palomino Pencils’ Blackwing Music Label
8 CommentsWhat do pencils and music have in common? Apparently a lot more than it would appear on the surface. And Palomino, the company responsible for bringing the legendary Blackwing Pencil back from the dead has now launched a music wing and record label, signing Willy “Tea” Taylor, noted songwriter, co-frontman of the Oakdale, CA-based Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit.
Translating Florida Georgia Line’s Sexual Innuendo
85 CommentsProfessed Christians Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, known collectively as the pop country mega duo Florida Georgia Line have more euphemistic language on their new album Anything Goes than a salty-mouthed locker room. If you’ve been wondering what the hell they actually mean, then here are some useful translations of Florida Georgia Line’s most sexually-charged lines.
Blackberry Smoke Announces New Album “Holding All The Roses”
15 CommentsRejoice Southern rock fans. If you’re looking for a refill of your favorite poison, Atlanta, Georgia’s formidable Southern rock outfit Blackberry Smoke has just announced they have a brand new album on the way called “Holding All The Roses.” “I think that this record does a really good job of conveying what we do and what we’re about,” says singer, frontman, and songwriter Charlie Starr.
R.I.P. Hellbound Glory, Hello Leon Virgil Bowers
33 CommentsHellbound Glory, the raucous Reno, Nevada-based country band is no more, and the band’s long-time frontman and songwriter has taken on a new moniker. The band had the internet buzzing on October 1st when they announced that Hellbound Glory would be killed off. “31 more nights… till the death of Hellbound Glory” the band stated, leaving fans of the resurgent country outfit wondering what the hell would be happening next.
Taylor Swift Pulling Her Catalog from Spotify Could Be Huge
35 CommentsTaylor Swift’s 1989 did not appear on Spotify upon release, though the lead single “Shake It Off” was available. Then the shocking news came down Monday that her entire discography was pulled from the Spotify network, singles and all. The impact of Taylor Swift removing her music from Spotify, especially after she just revealed herself as the biggest artist of the last decade-plus, cannot be overstated.
Wade Bowen Displays His Best in Self-Titled LP
25 CommentsAhead of this self-titled release, the buzz was immense. There was a sense this wasn’t going to be simply another Wade Bowen album—that his experiences of the last few years helped Wade see himself for who he really is, instead of who everyone else wants him to be. Two songs in, and this album already delivers on any promises and expectations preceding it.
Album Review – Taylor Swift’s “1989”
84 Comments“This site’s called savingcountrymusic.com. Why are you talking about Taylor Swift? She’s not country. She never was. Now she’s even saying she isn’t.” Well guess what, tough titty. This is my damn website, and if I want to talk about Taylor Swift, I will. And guess what, you’ll probably read about it.
Machine Beats Man in (another) Garth Brooks Stage Fall
23 CommentsWhile in the midst of singing his cover of Aerosmith’s “Fever” from his 1995 album Fresh Horses, it appears Garths loses his footing on the one conveyor belt, making him accidentally put his foot on the other conveyor belt running the opposite way, and ends up sending him careening out of control. Luckily he recovered quick enough to strike a pre-planned Run-D.M.C. crossed-arm pose with his fiddle player.
O’Death Has Van and Gear Stolen in Los Angeles
6 CommentsBrooklyn-based alternative roots band O’Death were the unfortunate recipients of an early Halloween trick on Thursday night (10-30) when their entire tour van and trailer were stolen after their show at Los Angeles’s famous The Echo venue with Guy Blakeslee and Lonesome Leash. The band is now stranded in LA with no vehicle, no musical gear, and 17-date nationwide tour booked.
Halloween Review: Those Poor Bastards’ “Vicious Losers”
15 CommentsLess country music Christmas albums, and more country music Halloween albums I say. And if a cottage industry happened to crop up for spooky country music every October, it would stand to reason Madison, Wisconsin’s Those Poor Bastards would have the market cornered. Beware interlopers and carpetbaggers, these bastards have been purveyors of their self-described “Country Doom” for a decade.