Country Rock Guitarist & Tom Petty Bandmate Tom Leadon Dies
9 CommentsIn the founding era of country rock, guitarist Tom Leadon was right there witnessing and participating in some of the most important moments and projects. He just happened to be overshadowed in many respects by the bigger names that country rock would launch.
Jack Clement House Fire / Rare Photos
6 CommentsIf you haven’t heard by now, legendary musician, songwriter, producer, and country music Outlaw “Cowboy” Jack Clement’s famous home/studio suffered major fire damage Saturday afternoon. Jack Clement is a national treasure. His whimsy and lightheartedness that is illustrated in these pictures is his key to easing the stress of the recording process, and creating albums such as Waylon’s Dreaming My Dreams, or Prine’s Pink Cadillac.
Muddy Roots Documentary Coming-Kickstarter Launched
10 CommentsThe Muddy Roots Festival in Cookeville, TN this upcoming September 3rd & 4th is just over two months away, and in preparation they are ramping up plans to have a full-on documentary of the event created by Judd Films. To help fund the film, Jason at Muddy Roots has set up a Kickstarter campaign…
Ray Wylie Hubbard On Re-Release of Album
15 CommentsHubbard was as important as anybody in the formation of the Austin music scene, but he was unfortunate enough to record his marquee release in Nashville. In a classic story involving Music Row, once MCA was done adding their over-produced elements to Ray Wylie Hubbard & The Cowboy Twinkies, Ray and The Twinkies wanted nothing to do with it.
DVD Review – I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House
10 CommentsTake a man’s pluck, his moxy, his raw, unfettered anger at life, then concentrate it, purify it, and personify it into a root’s-based rock n’ roll outfit, and what you get is Portland, Oregon’s I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House. That little part of all of us that is buried deep inside, that just wants to fly off the handle and tell the whole world to fuck off, that’s this band’s muse, and their commodity.
Country Rap Is Here: A Survival Guide
66 CommentsCountry rap is here ladies and gentlemen. It is a full-blown chart-topping mainstream-acceptable sub-genre of country, like it or not. So what is a country purist to do? Well I have assembled a survivor’s guide to help you rebuke some of the ridiculous claims being made by country rap apologists.
Hank III To Release 4 Records on September 6th
93 CommentsWith his own new label, Hank3 Records, and the sense that he has thrown off the chains holding him back creatively, Shelton Hank Williams III, aka Hank3, is coming out swinging this year with the release of four records on September 6 – that’s right – FOUR.
Album Review – Slackeye Slim “El Santo Grial, La Pistola…”
17 CommentsEvery once in a while, an album comes along that changes everything. It’s an album that inspires other albums, and dynamic shifts in tastes and approach throughout a sector of music. Slackeye Slim’s El Santo Grial, La Pistola Piadosa is one of those albums. It is a masterpiece, exquisitely produced, arranged, and performed.
Larry & His Flask Release “All That We Know”
14 CommentsWe’ve been waiting for a legitimate, Larry Jon Wilson reissue for a long time, but fans of the crazy, punk-infused string band Larry & His Flask have been waiting for a full-on LP release from them for years as well, and finally got it today in the release of All That We Know in digital form, with CD’s to be ready in August.
Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” (Review & Roast)
109 CommentsJason Aldean’s country-rap breakthrough hit “Dirt Road Anthem” is climbing the charts, and after the recent release of the video and his performance with Ludacris at the CMT Awards, I suspect it will remain in the Top 10, if not take one of the top tier spots very soon. So I thought it might be fun to peel the skin back and see what this puppy is made of.
Top Songs of 2011 So Far
27 CommentsAs hard as I am on albums and artists, I am double hard on songs. An album can have it’s low points, a song can’t. And just like with the Best 2011 Albums So Far, the songs so far in 2011 present a weak field. But there a few good ones worth noting from Jason Isbell, James Hunnicutt, Jimbo Mathus, Amanda Shires, Austin Lucas, and Rachel Brooke.
“No Music Skills Required” Compounds Music Glut (ujam)
48 CommentsWe sit at the crossroads of the great technology paradigm. For all the music problems technology solved for artists and fans, it is now creating new ones, principally an astronomical glut in the sheer volume of music being produced, and then marketed specifically for commercial consumption on a global scale. The enjoyability of music depends on its place as a minority in the collective talents of human society.
Song Review – Amanda Shires “Ghost Bird”
29 CommentsGreat songs are able to have universal appeal by the message of the song morphing to fit one’s unique life experience. In “Ghost Bird”, this isn’t just an attribute of the song, it is the foundation the song is built from. “Ghost Bird” is a progressive, new-school country roots-based song that starts with an ambient music bed, similar to how the songs on Emmylou Harris’s album Wrecking Ball are constructed.