“Nashville.” Oh how people love to wag a dirty finger in its direction as this monolithic homogenized reprehensible blob-like entity looming on the horizon, responsible for all the current ills in country music and some of the cultural filth beyond.
For many in the Texas and Red Dirt realm, Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen are their #1 and #1A favorite performers. And when they combine their efforts, that appeal is amplified. Though neither imbibes in really strong traditional country in their respective primary projects, when they get together, the fiddle and steel guitar comes to the top.
It’s the job of a drummer to be heard and not seen. Naming the “greatest” of anything is always a subjective exercise. But this isn’t just a skills competition. Influence, importance to culture, and intangibles beyond drumming all factored into the selection of the below names, and why they should be regarded as the greatest.
Pedal steel guitar playing legend Robby Turner has been hospitalized after a serious automobile accident on Tuesday morning (12-31-19). Known for being the pedal steel player behind The Highwaymen and Waylon Jennings in the latter half of Waylon’s career, as well as playing on records from Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton.
Shooter Jennings and Lukas Nelson got together to recreate the magic of their famous fathers on a new rendition of “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” originally written and performed by Ed Bruce with his wife Patsy. But of course you only get a teaser version of the song in the opening segment of ‘The Ranch.’
Any frustration you might have experienced with The Mavericks for not releasing an original album this year is chased pretty quickly when they light into their version of “Swingin'” made popular by John Anderson, and then “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” written and recorded by Waylon Waymore Watasha Jennings.
The original Willis Alan Ramsey album released in 1972 is the stuff of legend. Considered one of the very foundations of the Austin music scene that was just starting to emerge as a point of national interest at the time, the enigmatic songwriter recorded 11 original songs for Leon Russell’s Shelter label, and they would go on to be covered…
When the Ken Burns documentary was first announced a few years ago, the hope was the film could act like a big reset button on the status of country music, and give a boost to many of the songs and artists abandoned by radio in the present day. It has been a big boon in sales and streams for many of the classic country artists featured.
The 7th Episode in the series was unique in that 30 more minutes were added to give Ken Burns and his team the time to delve into a decade of the music, explain the important influence of Texas songwriters and the emergence of the Outlaw movement in the early and mid 70’s, all while keeping up with the goings on in popular country in Nashville.
Of course Tompall is where the attention usually dwells when bringing up the three siblings from Spalding, Nebraska. But youngest brother Jim, who died of a heart attack on April 6th at the age of 81, and Chuck Glaser, who died Monday, June 10th at the age of 83, also contributed heavily to country music as songwriters and performers.
Towards the tail end of Waylon’s life, he was known for being quite the cantankerous fellow. For example, in September of 1998, Jennings was scheduled to appear on the Late Late Show hosted by Tom Snyder. Going into the taping, Waylon was already a little bit sideways with the situation because he thought he deserved […]
Recently signed to Concord Music’s Fantasy Records, Tanya Tucker is readying the release of her first record in 17 years called ‘While I’m Livin.’ Rumored and talked about in bits and pieces over the last few months, we now have all the details for the record co-produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings.
It’s been some 12 years since Travis Tritt released a proper studio album, but he’s been tiding fans over in the interim with releases from his dynamic live performances that have been keeping fans quite satiated. The latest is a new live video performance with his full band called ‘Travis Tritt: Homegrown.’
Terry Jennings, the oldest son of country music legend Waylon Jennings, as well as an author, manager, publisher, roadie, and talent scout, has passed away. He died Friday morning (1-25) at the age of 62 according to his son Josh. He had spent the later part of his life living near Waco, TX.
An oral history on the life of songwriting legend Billy Joe Shaver is on the way. Called ‘Live Forever: The Songwriting Legacy of Billy Joe Shaver,’ it will be about Shaver’s life and songs told through his peers, friends, and disciples like Ray Wylie Hubbard, Dale Watson, James McMurtry, Scott H. Biram, Dallas Moore, and Jessi Colter.
I don’t think Hank done it this way. And neither did Waylon. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that this Waylon doesn’t know what he’s doing. I just don’t know what we’re supposed to do. Are we to laugh, cry, get angry, be happy? Here’s “Waylon” ladies and gentlemen.
There were many performing artists, side players, roadies and managers that played a major part in the country music insurgency in the 70’s that came to be known as “Outlaw,” but only one can rightfully claim they coined the phrase, or saw the revolution happen from its early incarnation to its Platinum-selling peak.
Yes, Yes, and Yes! On Thursday (1-11), the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville announced their newest major exhibit to open on May 25th, 2018. Not just part of the regular rotation of smaller exhibits, the major exhibit creates the cornerstone for the museum’s focus for the next few years.
When the topic of discussion turns to legacy alt-country bands, it’s easy for the Old 97’s to get left out of the mix, and unfairly so. Since their epicenter revolves around Dallas, and not Austin, Nashville, or Los Angeles, it seems like they’re always a little more out-of-sight, out-of-mind than their mammoth output and legacy deserves.
Today, September 8th, 2017, would have been the 85th birthday of Patsy Cline—one of the most iconic, influential, and immediately recognizable voices in the history of country music. But she died tragically in a 1963 plane crash near Camden, Tennessee that also killed country starts Cowboy Copas, and Hankshaw Hawkins.
As first reported by Saving Country Music in January, a new animated series called ‘Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus’ covering real stories from country music’s past in animated form is on its way to television. Now, we finally get the details and an in-depth look at what country music fans can expect.
How should a country purist regard the legacy of Glen Campbell? That should be a really easy question to answer: with class, respect, and appreciation for a man that was an incredible ambassador for the genre through multiple avenues, and a timeless contributor to the country music canon.
for years, Broadway was one of the very few personalities in mainstream country radio willing to ask tough questions of artists, willing to broach subjects otherwise thought of as taboo in the mainstream, and overall just show guts and independent thinking in an otherwise stuffy, closed-off world. And he did it all with class and respect.
In the process of criticizing modern country music, sometimes we lose sight of the bigger picture, or fall into “old man’s syndrome” where the past of the genre seems pristine and idyllic in our mind’s eye, and today’s smutty music perpetrated by sellout stars is an abomination to our beloved genre.