We knew the release of the latest Luke Combs album ‘What You See Is What You Get’ would be big, and that’s exactly what it was, bringing in the biggest numbers for a country title all year, topping all the charts, and setting a new record in the country space. Luke Combs is now indisputably the biggest artist in country music.
Well well, it’s getting chippy out there after Eric Church and others lost the 2019 CMA Entertainer of the Year honor to Garth Brooks. At Eric Church’s show at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, November 16th, he was singing a rendition of “Are You Sure Hank Done It His Way” by Waylon Jennings, changing the lyrics to lash out at Garth.
As an addendum to all of the brewhaha last week surrounding Garth Brooks winning the 2019 CMA Entertainer of the Year over Carrie Underwood, a little context is perhaps needed. Though Stan armies love to war back and forth, behind the scenes things are often a lot more moderate and congenial.
The good news for good country music keeps coming, and this time it comes in the form of upsurging Texas country throwback artist Randall King signing to Warner Music Nashville, and readying the release of a debut major label album. As part of the resurgence of interest in 90’s country, Randall King fits the bill just about perfect.
On the day after the CMA Awards, it’s always important to take a deep breath, and remind yourself, “It’s just the CMA’s.” But it does feel important to address what turned out to be the biggest controversy Wednesday night, which was Garth Brooks winning Entertainer of the Year over Carrie Underwood.
Carrie Underwood will win the 2019 CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year when it is handed out on November 13th, 2019. Mark it down. She will beat out Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, and Eric Church for the top prize of the night. This isn’t necessarily an endorsement, nor is it any kind of rebuke. It’s simply a prediction.
If you’re a country music fan and are disappointed that your favorite artist didn’t get enough screen time in the Ken Burns film on country music, well guess what, your favorite genre did, and by the most revered documentary filmmaker of our time, and before rock n’ roll, pop, the blues, soul music, or hip-hop.
On September 21st, a beloved guitar owned by Randall King was stolen right out of his gear trailer as he performed at the Tri-State Fairgrounds in Amarillo, TX. The Gibson Dove acoustic means more than the market value of the guitar to Randall, and he’s now offered a $2,500 reward for its return. “No questions asked…”
The name of the tour is definitely a little dubious for the venues Garth has selected to play so far. But those complaining about Garth’s efforts here are missing the bigger picture. “I think he recognizes the significant role that smaller venues play in keeping country music going.”
The first question many will have is just how honest and thorough a book like this can be with Randy Travis still rendered unable to speak due to his 2013 health problems, including a massive stroke. If you want the definitive and unabridged perspective into the life of Randy Travis—from the victories to the falls from grace—it’s all here.
Upcoming Garth Brooks concerts have raised the ire of performers and attendees of the 50-year-old Regina Folk Festival in the Saskatchewan Province of Canada after Brooks booked consecutive shows in the city the same week as the 2019 Folk Fest. Regina Folk Festival is one of Canada’s many long-standing and nonprofit folk festivals.
Adopting the sounds and modes of pop and hip-hop might make country music cool to some, but the genre’s most existential threat is not dying because nobody wants to listen to it, it’s going extinct as an art form because nobody can distinguishing it from anything else.
Many pop artists want to be included in country these days through collaborations or remixes to skim some of those fans off for themselves. But country music should be careful of continuing to allow this to happen. The music world was much better when pop was too sugary for country, and country was to corny for pop.
Keith Whitley is gone, but he will not be forgotten. And the legacy he left behind during his short and troubled life still reverberates throughout country music today, and constitutes a legacy that is nothing short of legendary. This is one of the reasons the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville chose to commission an exhibit and tribute concert.
Texas country singer and songwriter Sunny Sweeney is getting some massive opportunities to win over arena crowds as one of the primary openers on Bob Seger’s big farewell tour. And she’s been doing such a killer job, her run of shows has just been extended. The Saving Country Music Song of the Year winner for […]
Jason Aldean will receive the Dick Award for the Decade from the ACMs come April—“Dick” being for Dick Clark, who this decade award was just renamed after, and who luckily is dead so he doesn’t have to see his name besmirched by being associated with the likes of Jason Aldean.
It’s no April Fools Joke. Country music legend Loretta Lynn is gearing up to celebrate her 87th birthday this April 14th, and on April 1st, many of country music’s finest will be coming together to show tribute to the Coal Miners Daughter in a massive concert and birthday party at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Leave it to Garth to do the most Garth-y thing when it comes to the 2018 CMA Awards. Instead of just accepting a performance slot from the CMAs and performing a relevant song like everyone else is expected to do, he once again has used his celebrity status to strong arm an organization to get his way.
Everything you need to know about the 2018 CMA Awards, including the performers, collaborations, songs, tributes, presenters, nominees with predictions, early winners, and what to watch for. All the information about the 52nd Annual CMA Awards in one place.
I have taken the past two days to find the words I’d like to share in regards to the concert at Notre Dame. I am a seasoned Garth fan, having seen him 17 previous times at various locations (Chicago, Denver, Wynn) over the past 30 years. Garth is my coming of age music. He began the tour scene as I got my drivers license.
One of the reasons scalpers and resellers have secured the upper hand when it comes to purchasing tickets for your favorite live act is because demand is outpacing supply. Artists love to show up to one market and play a massive sold out show, with some floor tickets exceeding $600 or more on the secondary market…
“That pissed me off,” Church says patently. “To me, lip-syncing is and always will be a red line. It’s fabricated. I don’t want young artists thinking it’s OK, because it’s not … So the winner of the biggest category of the night lip-synced in the biggest moment on the show? Fuck that! And I didn’t like his excuse at all.”
Are you tired of reading about Garth Brooks? Well tough, because all of a sudden he’s making major moves that could have a big impact on country music, and in a positive manner. Garth’s most country-sounding song in 2 decades was the most added song on country radio in the last 3 years.
The promise and hope ahead of Garth’s return from retirement was one of revitalizing country music by hearkening back to the early 90’s, which compared to today’s sounds, were super twangy and most certainly country. For the first time since his un-retirement, Garth has shown a little bit of country music backbone.