It feels very strange to even talk about the CMA Awards at this moment in country music when everything else is centered around the wild success of wild-assed and under-produced guys like Zach Bryan and Oliver Anthony.
Cue up this fine specimen of authentic country music that will steal you away to a sublime place where all is right in the world like only the best of country music can do. Because this, ladies and gentlemen, is the best of country music.
Similar to his previous releases, Stapleton is not saying much to the public about what to expect from the album, what the inspirations behind the album are, or anything else. Instead he’s allowing the music to speak for itself.
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right now in country music.
Vince Gill and Paul Franklin are reuniting once again, and this time to pay tribute to Ray Price and his legendary backing band The Cherokee Cowboys.
Luke Combs may be the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, but you get the distinct impression that he’s barely aware of it. There’s no cocksure attitude as he stands up there on stage in his Bass Pro fishing shirt with the flap across the back. He’s just a grown up pudgy choir kid from North Carolina.
Not only does Eddie Rabbitt (of all people) deserve credit for cutting one of the first country rap songs, he probably deserves credit for the very first country rap song protesting rap, drum machines, and other things in music, with Paul Franklin playing steel guitar, Brent Mason playing lead…
Everybody wanted him, on their albums and on their tours. But only the lucky could get him because he was so high in demand. His name was Michael Rhodes, and he was the bass player for countless artists, sessions, and tours over a nearly 50-year span, playing on some 60 Gold and Platinum albums.
Susan Lucci is the name people love to cite when it comes to someone who’s accrued a long string of nominations for a certain award without ever actually winning it. But legendary country music steel guitarist Paul Franklin actually has Susan Lucci beat, and by more than a decade.
For a while, it looked like the fate of Jeff Carson was to be a side player for the duration of his career. But when he finally got his opportunity, Jeff Carson made the most of it and rocketed to the top of the country charts.
What makes ‘Blue’ so cool is not just that it found success with old songs from such a young singer. It’s that old songs were made cool to a younger audience, while the older audience who felt abandoned by country music of the era found someone they could root for as well.
Here comes this surprise EP from upstart country artist Brock Gonyea that will deliver you and your country-loving heart smack dab into 1950’s country music bliss, warming your cockles about the prospects for the future of the country genre.
Lauren Mascitti has had one eventful 2020. We all have in many respects, but for Lauren, it’s been especially action-filled. Early in the year, she released what is quickly becoming her breakout record, ‘God Made a Woman.’ Now as 2020 is drawing to a close, it is receiving renewed interest.
One of the most curious, and maybe one of the most cool developments in music over the last couple of years has been Vince Gill becoming a late career member of The Eagles. It wasn’t a development that came with a lot of fanfare or explanation. With the passing of Glenn Frey in 2016, it just sort of happened.
It was one of the coolest things in country music while it lasted. But one of the cool things about The Time Jumpers is nothing lasts forever aside from the band itself. Nashville’s Western Swing house band has been entertaining crowds with interchangeable players and keeping traditions alive since 1998.
The new record will include 14 new songs, 11 of which Stapleton wrote or co-wrote himself, along with a few notable covers, specifically John Fogerty’s “Joy of My Life,” and two covers of Guy Clark songs—“Worry B Gone” and “Old Friends.” He also collaborates with members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
“God Made A Woman” is a great specimen of true country music in both the stories and sounds, and offers a strong counterargument to the prevailing wisdom that such a thing can’t be relevant in these times, while introducing a songwriter and singer we’ll hopefully be hearing much more from in the future.
When you’re putting your list together of country traditionalists and purists popping through in the mainstream, make sure you don’t forget to include Mo Pitney. When he released his debut album Behind This Guitar in 2016 and even before, he had people singing his praises for his songwriting that reminded you of simpler times.
It was recently announced that the daytime morning show Pickler & Ben featuring Emmy-winning television personality Ben Aaron, and country music singer Kellie Pickler, is being canceled. For two seasons, Pickler & Ben was a typical, but uplifting and positive-oriented daytime television show with guests from the entertainment world, self-help segments, cooking instruction, and other […]
From the very beginning with the title track’s twin fiddle intro, until the very end with Lee Ann covering the Jack Clement-penned “Someone I Used to Know,” There’s More Where That Came From is a hands down, knockout, hardcore traditional country record full of heartbreak, cheating, fiddle and steel guitar.
Imagine a scenario where one of the very top artists of today, someone like Jason Aldean or Luke Bryan, wasn’t just actively not trying to be a part of the problem, but was doing things to troll the rest of the industry right under their noses while still holding one of those very top industry spots. That’s what Alan Jackson did throughout his commercial career.
If you’re looking for more Willie Nelson and Ray Price in your life, you can knock out two birds with one stone, and get a heaping helping of The Time Jumpers at the same time on a new tribute album on the way. For The Good Times: A Tribute To Ray Price is set for release via Legacy Recordings on September 16th.
Vince Gill is the perfect model of how a country artist should age. Forget trying to run with the young crowd, or continuing to try and tap into whatever made you famous in the past. An artist like Vince Gill has accrued all the personal wealth he and his family will ever need. He’s as decorated with awards as any living country music artist, including a Hall of Fame induction.
The long wait for a new Vince Gill solo record is about to be over. Announced Thursday morning (11-19), Vince Gill will release his twentieth official album over his 30-plus year career, and last solo album since 2011. Down To My Last Bad Habit will arrive in stores on on February 12th, and ahead of the new record, Vince has released a new single called “Take Me Down”