Every year to make sure the best titles in mainstream country don’t get overlooked, and to encourage the quality in the mainstream to rise to the top, we run down the best mainstream country albums to compliment the Album of the Year nominees. Some years there is overlap.
Not since the emergence of Miranda Lambert have we seen a woman surface in mainstream country music with such promise and passion that carries a wide appeal through an infectious personality, and at an advantageous time when everything is aligning to allow her to be utterly successful.
Alan Jackson is being honored as the 2022 recipient of the Country Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the top honors in country music, the Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2012 with Willie Nelson as the inaugural recipient. Alan Jackson will be on hand at the CMA Awards.
There is one thing that can’t be disputed about the song “Wagon Wheel.” It is unequivocally now one of the biggest songs in country music history. Darius Rucker and his label Capitol Records Nashville celebrated the song going Certified Diamond by the RIAA, meaning it has now racked up 10 million in sales.
Finally. 14+ years into a 10 year town, and Hailey Whitters is receiving the attention from the mainstream of country music that many fans, critics, and prognosticators have been saying she deserved many years ago, wishcasting her as one of the future bright stars of the genre if she was just given a chance.
The Grammy Awards officially open the initial round of voting for nominees today, and due to the propensity for the Grammys to often overlook key contributors in the country music and roots space, here are some simple suggestions of what Grammy voters should make sure they don’t ignore for the 2023 awards.
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats, or you can just use the song, artist, and album recommendations.
This Jon Pardi guy must’ve taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque or something. He’s all wrong side up. Doesn’t he understand that the arc of a country music star is to start off real twangy so you get support from the grassroots, and then as soon as you start to blow up a little bit, switch to pop or rock to cash in.
As times goes on and today’s consumers continue to grow increasingly frustrated with the lack of creativity, roots, and soul in today’s music, expect to see the back catalogs of guys like George Strait and other older country acts continue to remain popular.
For 10 years now, Dixon, California native Jon Pardi has been a bright spot in the mainstream of country, doing his damnedest to keep it real with ample fiddle and steel guitar, and songs that go a little deeper than many of his mainstream counterparts.
It’s not that those “authenticity” concerns don’t continue to linger. But Midland is most certainly a mainstream country music bright spot, and has been ever since the band’s inception. This new album is no exception, once again taking Midland’s throwback 90s-era style…
Many independent country music fans and Americana nerds will never admit to it, but the simple fact is that mainstream country music has been on a painfully slow, but palpable improvement track since about 2015 when Bro-Country hit its peak.
‘An Old Time Christmas’ has always been considered one of the better bets for Christmas albums from country legends. That is how it achieved its Certified Gold status by the RIAA—something many of Randy’s 90’s and early 2000’s studio albums didn’t achieve.
To be country again, you had to have been country in the first place, at least at some point. And country is as country does. You want to be country? Then be country. Don’t tell us about being country. Chances are if you’re telling us how country you are, it’s because it’s not self-evident you’re country.
We’ve run down the Album of the Year Nominees for 2020, as well as the Song of the Year nominees, and an Essential Albums list is also coming together. But since the mainstream of country isn’t always well-represented on these lists, let’s look back on some of those best albums.
Another quality lineup will grace the Grand Ole Opry stage Saturday night, August 22nd as mainstream traditionalist Jon Pardi, upstart singing trio Runaway June, and Grand Ole Opry member Pam Tillis will help keep the circle unbroken by performing and streaming live from the Opry House in Nashville.
We shouldn’t be surprised that Jon Pardi is one of the few new mainstream stars who can rattle off a handful of country classics at a moments notice. He’s about as traditional as mainstream country gets. Hell most of today’s radio stars have little to no idea who Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, or the late great Joe Diffie even are.
The amount of cancellations tied to the Coronavius outbreak can be dizzying to keep up with, even within the confines of independent country and roots. But a few important cancellations are worthy of note, including two dates on the Sturgill Simpson / Tyler Childers tour, and the Mike & The Moonpies Europe tour.
We’ve already run down the Greatest Country Albums of the Decade, and in there, albums in the mainstream were given fair competition to be included, and some made the cut. But in the spirit of inclusiveness and impartiality, let’s make sure the great records from the mainstream get their due as well.
Jon Pardi continues to show leadership in helping to return an element of twang and substance to country radio. After the debut single and title track from his latest record Heartache Medication went #1, making it the first mainstream country radio song in nearly eight years. Now he’s going to release “Ain’t Always The Cowboy.”
It has been a long, slow, steady climb for mainstream country traditionalist Jon Pardi’s current single “Heartache Medication,” but it finally hit #1 this week on country radio according to MediaBase. Released to the country format all the way back on May 20th, 2019 as the title track to Pardi’s most recent record, it reached […]
“I think that they’re completely losing it. And I think that’s a sad situation because we should never let country music die. I think that every type of music should be saved, and country is one of the greatest. It’s been around, as far as I’m concerned, longer than any of it,” says Loretta Lynn.
You’ve already been warned that Dierks Bentley’s side project “Hot Country Nights” is getting real in its effort to return actual country music to country music, and after one week it has already had an impact in a tangible way. Travis Tritt has returned to the country radio charts for the first time in 13 years.
It’s been 10 years since Country Music Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn hit the road for a proper national tour. That will all change this summer and fall when the duo hits the road on the REBOOT 2020 Tour. Who will the opening acts be? According to the duo, there won’t be any. But there will be “special guests.”