As support continues to swell for independent country music, so do the events with local, regional, and national impact looking to create sustainability for the music and an alternative to the mainstream in markets big and small.
The Ameripolitan Awards are gearing up for another installment in 2019, set to take place for a second year in a row in Memphis, Tennessee after its first few years in Austin. With pre-parties set to transpire the weekend before, the 2019 Ameripolitan Awards will be held once again at the Guesthouse at Graceland.
If there was ever a personification of the ladies canonized in Hank Williams Jr.’s self-penned tune “Outlaw Women” from Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound, it would be Darci Carlson. Or at least that’s the character she portrays in her new, self-titled album with convincing authority.
The Ameripolitan Awards will be marking their 5th year by moving from Austin to Memphis where so much of the music celebrated by the emerging genre originally emanated from. And now one of the individuals seminal to revitalizing the Memphis sound starting in the late 70’s has been announced as one of the main performers for the event.
There is no doubt that moving to Memphis was the right call for the organization. For Ameripolitan to grow and prosper, and to make sure it doesn’t get stuck in a rut and become simply a local Austin event, a change of scenery was called for after holding the event at Austin’s Paramount Theatre for the last three years.
The 4th Annual Ameripolitan Awards will transpire at the Paramount Theatre in Austin TX on February 15th, 2017, and Tuesday morning the organization that looks to shine a spotlight on American music with a heavy roots influence announced the nominees for the 2017 awards. Awards are handed out in four primary categories.
Dale Watson is not only one of the most dedicated torchbearers and gatekeepers of authentic country music—or as he would prefer to call it, Ameripolitan—he also happens to be one of the most prolific. Dale will release an album on you with absolutely no warning, no press, no info, and if you blink you would miss it.
According to Blake Shelton, nobody wants to listen to grandpa’s music anymore. But somebody forgot to tell the throng that assembled at Austin’s historic Paramount Theatre on Tuesday evening (2-16) and filled the venue to capacity for the 3rd installment of the Dale Watson-helmed Ameripolitan Awards.
Dale Watson’s 3rd Annual, 2016 Ameripolitan Awards went down Tuesday night in Austin at the Paramount Theatre, with awards handed out in the categories of “Honky Tonk,” “Western Swing,” “Rockabilly,” and “Outlaw,” designated by male and female, and groups. Additional awards were handed out favorite venues, festivals, DJ’s, and musicians.
Voting opens for the 2016 Ameripolitan Awards on Thanksgiving, Thursday Nov. 26th., and can happen one of two ways. Founded by Dale Watson three years ago after the “Old Farts & Jackasses” comments of Blake Shelton, the Ameripolitan Awards was Dale’s answer to the concern that so many artists doing their best to keep roots traditions alive were going unrecognized by the rest of the country music industry.
Like a slow moving thunder roll, Whitey Morgan continues to tour, night in and night out, delivering crisp, throbbing performances every time that leave crowds embedded with Whitey passion in every town they tackle until the crowds are swelling, and the word is spreading about this bearded guy from Flint who refuses to compromise, who has his heart in the right place, and who puts on amazing shows.
The songwriter, singer, guitar player, and frontman for the legendary Western Swing and classic country band Asleep At The Wheel had some harsh things to say about today’s country music in a recent interview, and specifically about the reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year, Luke Bryan.
It’s the combination of Strickland’s songwriting, and his amazing North Carolina-bred country voice that give you that tingle only true country music knows how to evoke. His frequent collaborator Gary Braddy also pens some of this album’s best songs, while the ‘B’ Sides continue to be one of the coolest backing bands in country music.
Written solely by Carlson, the 5-song Release Me EP is a throwback, honky-tonkin, foot-stompin’ true country affair that lays full throttle on the twang and layers in the steel guitar hard and heavy. But this isn’t just all about styling and posturing to prove how country it is. Darci crafts some really smart songs and has an understanding of chords and arrangement and songwriting that separates her from the crowd.
Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 was the time, and the beautiful Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin was the place for the 2nd Annual Ameripolitan Music Awards. Socialites and artists from all over the United States, and a few from foreign lands made their way to the Texas capitol for the festivities.
Once again the Ameripolitan Awards, founded by Dale Watson, and championed by many hard working individuals and artists wanting to shine a spotlight on under-appreciated but highly-deserving roots music, was a rousing success. However one oversight that was completely predictable, and highly inappropriate was the appointment once again of SiriusXM DJ Mojo Nixon as the Master of Ceremonies.
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the 2nd Annual Saving Country Music Ameripolitan Awards LIVE blog. The festivities being held at Austin’s historic Paramount Theatre will NOT be televised, streamed, broadcast, or otherwise disseminated, so it will be the effort of Saving Country Music to offer you the most complete window into the experience as possible.
Astounding and acclaimed country music vocalist Dawn Sears, known for being one of the members of the Western Swing outfit The Time Jumpers, a frequent collaborator and backup singer for fellow Time Jumper Vince Gill, and a noted solo artist releasing multiple albums on her own, died of lung Cancer on Thursday, December 11th. She was 53-years-old.
If you’re looking for a brand of country music that is country and country only, not country rock, country punk, “evolved” country, alt-country or Americana, then J.P. Harris & The Tough Choices just might be right in your wheelhouse. J.P. lets it be known he’d rather you leave your hyphenated country labels and long-winded qualifiers clear of what he does.
This isn’t an album of truckin’ songs that you sit back and listen to nostalgically, this thing takes a big arm cocked at a 90-degree angle like it’s about to give a hearty yank of the air horn, and instead grabs you by the gruff of your neck and pulls you right up into the cab of a serious diesel machine for one sensational ride. It might be one of the best Dale Watson albums to date.
No matter how much they attempt to exile the spirit of true country music or how much it’s denied shelter by the gatekeepers of mainstream music, it will always find a home and a harbor in the hearts of real country fans, no matter who they are, or where they dwell. It may be people from the American South, born and raised in the same dirt that the sound originated from.
Don’t take it that Jackson Taylor & The Sinners are like the sisters of the poor. They’ve had their days in the sun, and it certainly must be a proud achievement for them to be featured a part of the prestigious, critically-acclaimed, world-renown, and long-running album series called Live At Billy Bob’s Texas right beside names like Willie Nelson, David Allan Coe, Billy Joe Shaver.
Tuesday, February 18th was the inaugural Ameripolitan Music Awards at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Austin, TX. To see a complete list of winners, a play by play account of the night, and more pictures, please check out the 2014 Ameripolitan Awards LIVE Blog. Here are some photographs of the night from photographer C. C. Ekström of the excellent website Almost Out Of Gas.
One of the questions that comes up often in country music is “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?” There’s a lot of industry country stars that would love to tell you they’re the ones, and they record songs, print up merch, and proselytize at every turn for their candidacy to fill in for the lost country greats. But beyond the glitz and the market-driven image campaigns …