There’s a reason Williams waited five years before releasing his second record. Now a seasoned journeyman who’s paid his dues on the road and tacked some skins on the wall, Williams was ready to write, sing, and perform with the kind of conviction you need to sell your songs to the audience.
Concept albums have been an integral part of country music history, with the release of certain projects completely reshaping the country music paradigm, including in recent memory. Just in case you need an illustration of the breadth and importance of concept albums in country music
There are few places more synonymous with country music in Texas than Luckenbach, and there are few places more synonymous with an individual artist than Luckenbach is with Jerry Jeff Walker. When Walker recorded his album Viva Terlingua! in Luckenbach’s legendary dance hall.
Yeah yeah, we get these tribute albums to country legends coming down the pipeline every few weeks or so it seems. But when you can get “King” George Strait to show up and participate in one of them, now you’re making some serious news. This song was really the linchpin to Billy Joe Shaver’s entire career.
He works on cattle ranches from interior Canada to the western United States and Texas most of the time these days. But every once in a while, Colter Wall will stop by the studio and record a couple when he feels so inclined. That is what the Saskatchewan native did recently, and he’s just released them.
I hope someone out there appreciates the rigors one has to go through to cover the full breadth of what falls in the “country music” beat. Lucky for you, I watched the debut episode of FOX’s new country music drama ‘Monarch’ starring Trace Adkins and Susan Sarandon so you didn’t have to, and I just want to say, you’re welcome.
No ladies and gentlemen, the Panhandlers weren’t just a lark. The supergroup of Texans consisting of Josh Abbott, William Clark Green, songwriter John Baumann, and Cleto Cordero of Flatland Cavalry has just released a boot-stomping, hard country tune called “Where Cotton Is King.”
‘Rolling Stone’ published a list of the The 100 Greatest Country Albums of All Time this week, and as per usual, it has many arguing its merits, omissions, and inclusions. There was a time when whatever Rolling Stone said was taken as the definitive word in music. These days it’s more polarizing.
Sometimes when you ponder upon a life lived, you can’t help but marvel at all the events seen, the accomplishments achieved, and the history experienced by someone’s eyes and ears. Such is the case for Jerry Ivan Allison, known as JI by many close friends, family, and band mates.
August 16th, 2022 would have been Billy Joe Shaver’s 83rd birthday, but unfortunately, he passed away on October 28th, 2020 at the age of 81, leaving a legacy of songwriting that set the very foundation for Outlaw country music that is still just as influential and resonant today.
Country music is country music, and the best definition of what country music is, is that you know it when you hear it. It’s self-evident. But the genre has birthed many subgenres, many stylistic movements over the years, and at times has seen a splintering and Balkanization.
It’s called “I’ll Tell You What’s Gonna Happen,” but it very well could be called “Better Late Than Never.” Call it what you want, but it most certainly deserves to be called country, and good. Native Texan Kimberly Kelly has been kicking around both the Texas and Nashville country scenes for years
An oral history on the life of songwriting legend Billy Joe Shaver will be released on July 21st. Called ‘Live Forever: The Songwriting Legacy of Billy Joe Shaver,’ it is about Shaver’s life and songs told through his peers, friends, and disciples. Authored by Courtney S. Lennon…
A new development, distillery, and whiskey brand moving into the area right outside of the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg offers the potential to threaten that peaceful state of mind Luckenbach, TX has been able to preserve for over 50 years.
Well now, it appears that Nashville has a new toy. His name is Jelly Roll, and a pseudo “country” song of his called “Son of a Sinner” has been slowly creeping up the country radio charts, causing the usual suspects who love to pontificate about paradigm shifts in country.
You have to be happy with this class overall. Certainly, you can look over the elongated list of other potential inductees that grows even longer every year due to the Hall of Fame’s austere approach to induction, and do a healthy level of second guessing.
Dolly Parton will be one of the next inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The next question is how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will consider country performers for induction moving forward. This moment presents a slippery slope.
It’s not every day that new recordings are unearthed that feature Waylon Jennings, but that’s what the new album from Tommy Townsend called Southern Man to be released on April 29th boasts. Tommy Townsend is a Waylon Jennings understudy.
“Chattahoochee” was the exception, not the rule. And co-written by Nashville songwriter Jim McBride, there’s a pretty interesting story on how it came about, and how it came to life, going from finished product to being performed on stage the same day, April 12th, 1992.
Billy Joe Shaver could be a hero to someone even if they didn’t give a fig about country music. But eventually, and somewhat inexplicably, Billy Joe Shaver did die, on October 28th 2020. Turns out, only his songs were immortal. But you can still see him.
The bloodlines of Jennings and Williams are running together once again as the great grandson of Hank Williams, grandson of Hank Jr., and the son of Hank Williams III has signed with the record label of the son of Waylon Jennings, Black Country Rock.
Don’t fret for the future of country music ladies and gentlemen. If need be, Jesse Daniel will strap it on his back, and carry it into the future himself. This road-doggin’, honky-tonkin’, California-born, Texas-based singer and songwriter will be keeping the twang alive.
Something tells me is that if you put Joe Rogan, Neil Young, and Jordan Peterson all together, standing in front of the Robert’s Western World stage, enjoying a fried bologna sandwich, a Moon Pie, and a PBR, the brotherhood of man would prevail.
When country music Hall of Famer Tom T. Hall passed away on August 20th, 2021 at the age of 85, it was safe to assume his death was due to health or natural causes, as is commonly the case with someone at such an advanced age. It was likely an open and shut case.