John Prine’s “For Better, Or Worse” Is His Best-Charting Album Ever
The ripe age of 70 is one hell of a time to experience a resurgence of interest in your music career, and that's exactly what's happening for country songwriting legend John Prine. Celebrating his...
View ArticleFacts, Rumors & The Most Anticipated Albums for 2017
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...
View ArticleHolly Williams Has a Good Excuse for the Delay in New Music
For the better part of two years now, country music fans with any sort of taste have been waiting not-so-patiently for the long-awaited arrival of the Dave Cobb-produced fourth album from 3rd...
View ArticleKelsea Ballerini is a Terrible Pick for the Grand Ole Opry
As a country music fan, you just want to proudly be able to profess to people your appreciation for this music that you hold such a passion for. You want to believe in its institutions, and that the...
View ArticleReview – Ken Burns Country Music Documentary, Ep. 1 “The Rub”
Over seven years of full-time labor on the part of numerous people, over 101 interviews conducted, countless hours of archival work digging up old photographs, audio, video, and other vintage material,...
View ArticleReview – Hank Williams Takes Center Stage in Ep. 3 of ‘Country Music’
Even though names like Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, and The Carter Family loom large for many of country music's devoted fans, they don't necessarily rise to the level of household names like Ernest...
View ArticleHank Williams Jr. Supports the Reinstate Hank Movement
Hank Jr. and Holly were asked to perform at the Country Music Hall of Fame as part of their ongoing exhibit "Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy". In the video, Hank Jr., under his purple long...
View ArticleHank Williams III Raises $18,000 for Happy Tails Humane
On Friday August 3rd Hank3 played his 4th Happy Tails concert benefit at the Marathon Music Works in Nashville, a newer venue who donated the space for the event. Dubbed "One Big Wag," Hank3 and his...
View ArticleHolly Williams Finds Her Voice On “The Highway”
Before this album, I'd been mostly opinion neutral on Holly Williams. Being the granddaughter of Hank Williams, the daughter of Hank Jr., and the sister of Hank3 appointed her music the respect of more...
View ArticleAlbum Review – Son Volt’s “Honky Tonk”
As one of the original members of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt frontman Jay Farrar is one of the forebearers of the alt-country sound that now has morphed into the all-encompassing Americana behemoth that...
View ArticleNashville’s Sex War: Gender Marketing in Music
When it comes to country music, it is the best of times, and the worst of times depending on if you're talking about male or female artists. While it's easy to focus on the awful, inane music from...
View Article9 Women Who Could Immediately Make Country Better
We've talked about 7 Men Who Could Immediately Make Country Music Better, now let's take a look at 9 women who could do the same. It's been well documented that here in 2013, the women of country are...
View ArticleSaving Country Music’s Best Songs of 2013 So Far
I'm not sure if how light the selection is for potential Song of the Year candidates at the halfway marker says how anemic 2013 has been so far for top flight songs, or how fortunate we were in 2012 to...
View ArticleSaving Country Music’s Best Albums of 2013 So Far
2013 has come on strong here recently for quality albums, with some real contenders for the coveted "Album of the Year" distinction released just in the last week. Any "Best Of" album list for 2013 is...
View Article2013 Americana Music Awards Winners & Recap
The 2013 Americana Music Awards once again transpired in Nashville at the historic Ryman Auditorium as part of the week-long Americana Music Conference. Delbert McClinton lead off with Hank Williams'...
View ArticleWhy The Stagecoach Festival Lineup is a Good Thing
A couple of days ago, The Stagecoach Festival out in California announced their 2014 lineup, capped by headliners Eric Church, Jason Aldean, and Luke Bryan. Since its inception 7 years ago, Stagecoach...
View Article2013 Saving Country Music Song of the Year Nominees
When you sit down to assemble a list of candidates for Song of the Year, you almost start to tremble in the face of so much creativity, inspiration, and insight, and grow humbled by how fortunate we...
View Article16 Great Sons & Daughters of Country Music Greats
Country music isn't just a genre of music, it is a musical religion, a way of life, a cultural lineage passed down from generation to generation and preserved through the blood and bond of its...
View ArticleWomen Going About Battling Bro-Country All Wrong
Last year about this time, music periodicals left and right were falling over themselves to declare 2013 the "Year of the Woman" in country music. Music Row in Nashville may be dumb, but it's not...
View ArticleKelsey Waldon’s “The Gold Mine” Delivers Traditional Country Gold
If you're looking for the country music female revolution's representative for true neotraditional country, Kelsey Waldon might just be your perfect match. If this album was released in the 70's, it...
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