Massive Two Step Inn Pulls Off Inaugural Fest in Texas
31 CommentsWhat Two Step Inn got right was that you can mix today’s independent country with country legends from the 80s and 90s, and even some of the cool up-and-comers in the mainstream, and have an event that breaks down barriers and cross-pollinates fans bases because it’s all great country music.
Blake Shelton Calls Classic Country Fans “Old Farts” & “Jackasses”
638 CommentsThe reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year and reality TV personality Blake Shelton made some disparaging remarks about traditional country fans in a recent interview with GAC as part of their Backstory series. “Nobody wants to listen to their grandpa’s music. And I don’t care how many of these old farts around Nashville going, “My God, that ain’t country!” Well that’s because you don’t buy records anymore, jackass.”
Kacey Musgraves BEYOND “Merry Go ‘Round”
57 CommentsIn recent weeks and months, it’s been hard not to look at Kacey Musgraves and her song “Merry Go ‘Round” and wonder if this isn’t the girl and song that has the mustard to crack the Music Row cartel’s iron grip on mainstream country. “Merry Go ‘Round” just keeps chugging away like the little single that could. But what does Kacey Musgraves have beyond “Merry Go Round”?
Album Review – Daniel Romano “Come Cry With Me”
31 CommentsDaniel Romano is not a neo-traditionalist in the traditional sense. He’s not trying to regale the modern ear with a new take on the classic country sound. Instead Daniel Romano is like the method actor of classic country, carving his niche by offering a strict interpretation of classic country’s modes with striking accuracy. It’s not a retro sound, it is a strict, methodical re-enactment.
ANTI-Nashville / Music Row / Pop Country Song Compendium
125 CommentsAnti-Nashville, anti-Music Row, and anti-pop country songs have a long and proud tradition in country music that stretches almost all the way back to the beginning of the genre. As long as there’s been country music, there’s been folks arguing about how to define it, what it should sound like, and speaking out when they think it’s going in the wrong direction.
Review – Josh Abbott Band’s “I’ll Sing About Mine”
40 CommentsBare midriffs, buxom gyrations, and badass cars are no match for the curves and character of a real country face served cold. Neither is the caricaturish, shallow, and materialistic portrayal of rural life in pop country compared to the sense of family and community, and the fulfillment of hard work that accompanies true country living. Now that is something to be envious of.
Hunter Hayes’ “Wanted” (Review & Rant)
57 CommentsLeaping off the pages of the latest issue of Tiger Beat, Hunter Hayes and his prepubescent, non-gender-specific style have gripped the nation’s middle schools with Hunter mania, spearheaded by his smash hit “Wanted”– a saccharine, ultra-diluted white boy R&B B-side at best, only finding commercial traction in country because legions of affluent, glitter-faced suburban girls in training bras want to see Hunter’s penis.
Review – Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit’s “Old Excuses”
25 CommentsThe artists worth your time are so often aloof when it comes to self-promotion, so the music will never just fall into your lap. You have to work for it. You have to seek it out, or it must seek you out, and in many respects this imparts an even greater value to it than the already elevated value of the music itself compared to the music you encounter inadvertently through most popular media.
Bob Wayne Recruits Red Simpson for Muddy Roots
19 CommentsThe annual Muddy Roots Festival held over Labor Day weekend announced their initial lineup last week (see below) and at the top of the list was the name of legendary Bakersfield Sound songwriter Red Simpson. In a strange turn of events, Bob Wayne found himself sitting in Red Simpson’s trailer at 6 AM, swapping songs and stories with a man he considered a hero.
So Really, What’s Up With All These Truck Songs in Country?
25 CommentsSo what’s behind all of these truck songs? The simple, easy answer is that Music Row is a copycat world, and when one song works, the idea is run over and over again until a new frontier for the word “cliche” is found. But I’m not sure if Music Row is the genesis of this. Instead, it might be Madison Avenue. Trucks are the most profitable vehicles, by both profit margin, and by sales volume.
The Erosion of Taylor Swift as a Role Model – UPDATED
99 CommentsFor years as a reactionary Taylor Swift hater, one of the main arguments that was made against my stance was that Taylor Swift was a good role model. My rebuttal was that being a role model was not a sonic element, so it could in no way refract the fact that Taylor Swift wasn’t country, and couldn’t sing. Is it too much to ask that our role models at least be able to fulfill their roles to even some average level of competency?
UPDATED – Hank3 & David Allan Coe Collaboration “The Outlaw Ways”
45 CommentsThe long-rumored, long-awaited collaboration between Hank Williams III and David Allan Coe may finally be in the offing. The song called “The Outlaw Way” was recorded early last year at Hank3’s home studio in east Nashville when David Allan Coe was in town. Hank3 first spoke about the collaboration in a live chat last February.
The Official Mike Curb Rap Sheet of Transgressions
33 CommentsMike Curb’s repressive stance towards artists and his sharky dealings with other labels is a given amongst the informed country music community, with his latest ploy being the release of a duets album from Tim McGraw two weeks before the former Curb artist is slated to make his debut on Big Machine Records. But Hank3 and Tim McGraw are just the tip of the iceberg.