Bro-Country Is Just The Symptom. Here Are The Causes
Yeah, yeah, bro-country sucks. As satisfying as it is to finally see the rest of the American media waking up to a problem that had actually been gripping country music for half a decade before...
View ArticleStrait’s “Cowboy Rides Away” Album Butchered By Auto-Tune
Nobody could have anticipated that a George Strait album would be the vehicle for the most excessive, and most blatantly obvious use of the pitch correction software known as Auto-Tune that I have...
View ArticleAlbum Review – Allison Moorer’s “Down to Believing”
Down to Believing nestles right down in that classic alt-country approach of building up from a country foundation, but then striking out with a decidedly rock and roll sound. It's a bold, full...
View ArticleClay Walker is “Pissed Off” About Rock Artists Playing Country
"I can’t stand to see outdated rock-and-rollers coming in to play country music. That really pissed me off,” Clay Walker told The Modesto Bee recently. “We have great singers, great country musicians....
View ArticleTexas Country’s Prodigal Son Pat Green Returns “Home”
Without anyone left to please but himself, Pat Green is free to exorcise his demons, get some stuff off his chest, make the album he wants to, and hopefully reconnect with those grassroots in Texas...
View ArticleAlbum Review –“Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin”
Similar to the Gershwin Brothers, Willie Nelson transcends genre and era. Willie reprises "Someone to Watch Over Me," and ten other Gershwin tunes on his latest release Summertime---a stylized and...
View ArticleInaugural Outlaw Music Festival Announced
Scranton, Pennsylvania will be the host of the inaugural Outlaw Music Festival to be held at the Pavilion on Montage Mountain on Sunday, September 18th, with headliners Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and...
View Article2017 Outlaw Festival Plans Series of Events
The 2017 Outlaw Music Festival will actually be a series of events, or a tour if you will, consisting of six total stops throughout July hitting up New Orleans, Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, Syracuse,...
View ArticleLineup Announced for Willie Nelson’s 2017 4th of July Picnic
A traditional like few others will transpire once again this summer when Willie Nelson celebrates the 4th of July by gathering together friends and family for his annual 4th of July Picnic. For the...
View ArticleThe Curious Curation of Country Music’s Recent Tribute Concerts
To put it bluntly, the ability of Blackbird Presents to curate talent for events is pretty terrible, and appears to be done without any true understanding of the layout of the current country music...
View ArticleHuge Willie Nelson Tribute Takes Shape
Blackbird Presents is at it again planning another huge tribute for a country legend, and this one might be the biggest of them all. Often working with Willie Nelson via tributes to others, as well as...
View ArticleUPDATED: ‘Highwomen’ Supergroup with Brandi Carlile & Amanda Shires On The Way
A new country music supergroup is on the way that will combine the talents of Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, and Margo Price. Called the Highwomen, it will take inspiration from legendary country music...
View ArticleMerle Haggard On Kennedy Center Honors / Willie’s Arrest
Tonight the Poet of the Common Man, Merle Haggard will be honored with a Kennedy Center Honors award for his contributions to American music. Well, actually he received the award on December 5th, but...
View ArticleRelease of Controversial Unfinished Hank Williams Songs
The Rolling Stone has just reported that a long-rumored project pairing Bob Dylan and Jack White together to oversee the recording of an album of Hank Williams songs that were found without music in a...
View ArticleSheryl Crow’s Rendition of Hank Williams’“Angel Mine”
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Hank Williams ever recording any drunken sea shantys. I can't remember any Ol' Hank songs featuring trumpets, or classically-styled lilting mandolin parts...
View ArticleAlbum Review – Willie Nelson’s “Heroes”
This album is good both because it is Willie, and because it is good. After years of navigating through a gray area in his career and having to dabble with some record labels probably less able to do a...
View ArticleHank Williams Legacy Recordings Field Guide
For years, the principals of the Hank Williams estate (Hank Jr. and Jett) were warring back and forth, and this kept the treasure trove of Hank Williams' legacy recordings relegated to bootlegs and...
View ArticleSheryl Crow’s Country Move a Trojan Horse for Toilet Paper Stance
Sources close to the Sheryl Crow camp have confided in Saving Country Music that part of Sheryl's country move is politically motivated. Sheryl is a staunch environmentalist, and has championed...
View ArticleHow Hip-Hop Stole Country Music: The Arrival of the Mono-Genre
All of a sudden hip-hop influences are dominating the top of the country music charts, asserting just as much influence, if not more than indigenous country influences, with a bevy of new country rap...
View ArticleMost Embarrassing Moments in Country Music History
When looking at the historical timeline of country music, many times it is big events that set the wheels of change in motion, for the good and the bad. Whether it is intrusion of pop or rap into...
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