Sheryl Crow: “Country Is More Pop Than Pop Was When I Came Up”
"The country format is more pop than pop was when I came up two decades ago," Sheryl explained to Reuters late last week when being interviewed about her new album, illustrating the degree of country's...
View ArticleVince Gill & Alan Jackson Show How To Grow Old Gracefully in Country
With 34 CMA Awards, over 20 Grammys, and and some 80 million records sold between the two, they both have seen their share of overwhelming commercial success, public notoriety, and peer recognition....
View ArticleSheryl Crow’s “Feels Like Home” Only Country By Name
It's not that there aren't some token homages to mark her move into the country format, but overall, except for one song that we will get to in due course, there is very, very little contrast between...
View ArticleSeason of Discontent: A Timeline of Country’s Recent Artist Criticism
Country music in the second half of 2013 is going through some of the most historic changes the format has ever seen. The ever-present erosion of what the term "country" defines has never been greater,...
View ArticleThere’s Bigger Problems Than Justin Timberlake “Going Country”
Last week pop and R&B superstar Justin Timberlake helped stir the music pot by proposing that he might make a country record. Timberlake told Sirius XM's "The Highway" show: "I just did an...
View ArticleMove Over Bro-Country, The “Bra-Country” Revolution Has Begun
In hopes of aligning themselves as the antithesis to the whole "bro-country" phenomenon gripping popular country music with its laundry list, truck and beer, mud-splashed and moonshine-soaked...
View ArticleMartina McBride Does What She Wants with “Everlasting”
With Martina McBride at the crossroads that every big country music superstar knows they must ultimately face at some point in their career, where their radio relevancy is slipping through their...
View ArticleBro-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 ArticleKris Kristofferson Side Steps CMA Lifetime Presentation for Iowa Show
That's right. The 83-year-old is blowing off the 2019 CMA's and won't be in attendance to receive is CMA Lifetime Achievement trophy. Instead of walking out on the stage at the Bridgestone Arena, Kris...
View ArticleChris Stapleton Announces Initial 2020 Tour Dates & Openers
Chris Stapleton has just announced a slew of new tour dates on the 2020 leg of his ongoing All-American Road Show Tour, along with the openers for each date. Though this isn't the big dump of dates...
View ArticleChris Stapleton Announces Extensive 2020 Tour & Openers
Chris Stapleton has just dumped a bunch of new tour dates for his 2020 All-American Roadshow Tour to go along with some previously-announced appearances and events, and they include an extensive list...
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