The long wait for fans of the Randy Rogers Band is about to be over. The Texas country band’s much talked-about eighth record produced by Dave Cobb will finally see the light of when ‘Hellbent’ makes its way to stores. “We’re in it for the long haul,” Randy Rogers says.
A new posthumous collection of Townes Van Zandt recordings is on its way from Fat Possum and TVZ Records. Made in early 1973, the songs come from a recording session with journalist, musician, and close Townes Van Zandt friend, the late Bill Hedgepeth. They were recorded in Hedgepeth’s home studio in Atlanta.
“No way I could get out of doing this record,” Steve Earle says. “When I get to the other side, I didn’t want to run into Guy having made the ‘TOWNES’ record and not one about him … Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark were like Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg to me.”
Texas music singer, songwriter, spirit animal, and general badass woman Jamie Lin Wilson has announced her latest album ‘Jumping Over Rocks.’ Her follow up to 2015’s ‘Holidays and Wedding Rings,’ it comes at a time when Texas music is looking for headliner-caliber women, and looking in the direction of Jamie Lin.
Nearly everything about “Better Boat” is right. The songwriters Travis Meadows and Liz Rose are right. The entirety of the instrumentation being performed by Mac McAnally on an acoustic guitar is right. Kenny choosing songwriter Mindy Smith to perform the song with instead of some pop star is right.
Songwriter and promising mainstream performer Ashley McBryde’s debut major label release on Warner Nashville will be arriving March 30th, and will be named after the song she wrote for her Grand Ole Opry debut that helped spark off a national narrative behind the Arkansas native. She’s also released a new song called “American Scandal.”
Richard Dobson never found the fame many of his more recognized songwriting contemporaries did, but he was cherished as an equal by them, and the fans who sought out his music, and followed his journey, inspired and intrigued by his free spirit, his capability with words, and his ability not just to tell great stories, but to live them.
Steve Earle isn’t just your average aging thinning-hair post-mainstream relevancy Americana dude who was kind of big in the 80’s. At 62-years-old, he’s probably the youngest guy who can legitimately claim honest ties to the original country music Outlaw movement of the 70’s.
There have been many true country music “Outlaws” over the years, and many more that claim to be. But there can be only one original Outlaw, and that is Bobby Bare. Without Bobby Bare, there may be no Waylon Jennings. When Bare discovered Waylon in Phoenix, AZ in 1964, Waylon was still very much a regional act.
To us, it’s a sad state of affairs that Guy, Susanna, Townes, and so many more that made up the core of the alternative to country in the 70’s and 80’s are gone, but to Rodney Crowell, these weren’t just distant stars on some stage that perhaps he got to see once or twice in his life, these were his close personal friends.
The original country music Outlaw Bobby Bare will release his first record in five years when ‘Things Change’ hits the streets. The 10-track album will feature songs written by Bare, as well as Mary Gauthier (“I Drink”), and legendary songwriter Max T. Barnes who also produced the project.
Just what 2017 has in store for us in the country music department remains to be seen. But we do know about what to expect in the release department for at least the first quarter of the year, while rumors abound about the big projects that could come to light later in 2017. Here’s a run down of what we know, what we think we know, and what we would like to believe.
The definitive biography on Guy Clark finally has a release date, and further details have been revealed. Fans of the revered songwriter who passed away on May 17th have long anticipated the coming of ‘Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark’, and they will finally have their patience rewarded on October 18th.
Every year we mark the passing of music legends in country music and beyond, but 2016 has been an especially dark year for the passing of music greats. From Prince and David Bowie in the pop and rock world, to Merle Haggard and Guy Clark in country, to the dozens of others who may have not been as well-known, but still had a great impact on American music.
Legendary country music songwriter Guy Clark passed away on May 17th after a long battle with numerous health ailments, and now it has finally been revealed how he will be forever remembered by friends, fans and family: his ashes are being incorporated into a sculpture to be formed by fellow Texas songwriter Terry Allen.
It was catching lightning in a bottle. And that is what we’re all searching for when we listen to a record, go out to a live show, pen or play a song ourselves, invite some friends over for supper and songs, and search for the manna of life with friends that is enhanced that much more through the incredible gift of music.
Legendary country music songwriter Guy Clark passed away early Tuesday morning at the ago of 74. Born in Monahans, Texas on Nov. 6, 1941, he went on to become one of the most revered songwriters in the history of country music, and beyond.
Guy Clark has been suffering from numerous health ailments recently. In June 2015, he was hospitalized right before he was scheduled to appear at an Austin City Limits event being held in his behalf. Clark had a bad reaction to medication he was prescribed after a recent surgical procedure, and missed the ACL Hall of Fame induction.
Emmylou Harris and long-time collaborator Rodney Crowell have a new album out with called ‘The Traveling Kind,’ and while speaking in a joint interview with radio.com recently, Emmylou had some interesting words about what she thinks about today’s country music.
Unlike Townes, Daniel never received significant recognition for his music, partly because he quickly became disenchanted with the business, eventually running away to France to escape the heavy drugs and the pressure of being a professional songwriter. “I saw the competition in Nashville, just when I was really yearning for something spiritual like so many people do.”
Guy Clark is in an Austin area hospital after having a bad reaction to medication right before he was scheduled to appear at an Austin City Limits Hall of Fame induction ceremony on his behalf. On Thursday evening (6-18), Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Asleep At The Wheel, and Flaco Jiménez were all inducted into the long-running TV show’s sophomore class of Hall of Fame inductees.
With a win for Best Picture and Best Director at the 2015 Golden Globes, and considered by many movie pundits as the favorite for Best Picture at the 2015 Oscars, it was a shock to many that Boyhood did not walk away with Sunday night’s top prize. Nonetheless, the independent and low-budget Boyhood arguably defines the grandest achievement of the great Austin, TX creative experiment.
As the longest running music show on TV enters its 40th season, Austin City Limits has announced its second installment of inductees into its Hall of Fame founded in 2014. The original crew of the Austin City Limits show will also be honored as the 2015’s non-performing inductee. As part of the Hall of Fame announcement, more performers for season 41 were also revealed.
As the college football consciousness of the country zoomed in on Arlington, TX and the first official National Championship game ever played at the collegiate level Monday night, Zac Brown Band was tapped as the entertainment for ESPN’s College Gameday presentation leading up to the big game. Zac Brown Band played Jason Isbell’s much-appreciated but fairly obscure song for fallen soldiers.