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Frances Preston Passes Away; CMA Music Festival Sets Attendance Record; New York Banjo Summit Touring This Fall
Frances Preston, “the most influential music executive of her generation,” passed away yesterday at the age of 83. The Country Music Hall of Famer began her noteworthy career in the 1950s as a mail messenger at BMI, a job which included answering Hank Williams’ fan mail. Fabulous Superlative Harry Stinson shared his behind-the-scenes photos from [...]
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Merle Haggard Makes Surprise Appearances in Nashville; Toby Keith to Celebrate 10 Years of USO Tours; Peggy Seeger Honors Titanic Anniversary with New Song
Want to volunteer at the CMA Music Festival this summer? Peggy Seeger has a new song, “Swim to the Star,” to mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking. Merle Haggard has been making surprise appearances at various events in Nashville. (Barry Mazor will have more on that in his next Roots Watch column on [...]
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New Whitney Duncan Album In Works; Miley Cyrus Has Death Threats and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Announce Gospel Album
Whitney Duncan, fresh off her Survivor experience, has taken to Kickstarter to help raise funds for a new album called Where The Back Roads Run. “This is so fun for me, because I can make the record I want to make! I really hope ya’ll are as excited about this project as I am…it was [...]
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The Band Perry Rakes in CMA Awards; Stream Give Me the Banjo; Chuck Mead Works on New Project
If you missed the CMA Awards, check out our Live Blog, or read the complete list of winners here. Chuck Mead has started a Kickstarter for his upcoming album, which will feature his band The Grassy Knoll Boys, legendary Nashville session musicians, and folks like Bobby Bare and Elizabeth Cook. Check out the trailer, which [...]
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Merle Haggard Hospitalized; View Trailer for John Hartford Documentary; New Album Releases
Elvis Presley died on this day in 1977. Do you remember where you were when you heard the news? Merle Haggard was hospitalized over the weekend and had to cancel his Saturday night show. Over the Rhine, Rosanne Cash, Kasey Anderson, Rhett Miller, and Jason Isbell make Paste‘s list of 50 Musicians Worth Following on [...]
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Friday Five: Bank Robbers
This week’s Friday Five is inspired by a re-watching of the Keanu Reeves masterpiece Point Break; however, since there are no country songs about a gang of criminal surfers, we’ll just go with the bank robbing aspect. Here are my five favorite songs about bank robbers both real and fictional. Honorable Mention: Ty Herndon’s single [...]
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20 Songs About Hotels and Motels
Here’s 20 of country music’s best hotel and motel songs. Apologies for excluding Neal McCoy’s “Hillbilly Rap.” Honorable Mentions: Cadillac Sky – “Motel Morning” David Houston – “No Tell Motel” Eagles – “Hotel California” Gene Watson – “Love in the Hot Afternoon” Guy Clark – “Lone Star Hotel” Jack Ingram & Jerry Jeff Walker – [...]
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20 Songs About Dogs
It’s February and reminders of Valentine’s Day are everywhere. Sure, having that special someone is nice, but when times get bad, the only one who will always stand by you is your dog. So we’re going to pay tribute to them this month. There was quite a library of songs to choose from, so we [...]
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Friday Five: Halloween Songs
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re too old for trick or treating. But you can still get in the Halloween spirit by listening to this fun-sized playlist. 5. “The Day Before Halloween” – Casey Driessen Casey Driessen sure can coax some spooky sounds out of his five-string fiddle. On his 2009 album Oog, this [...]
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40 Songs About The Moon
This July marks the 40 year anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission in which man first set foot on the moon. And what better way to celebrate than with a lunar-loving playlist? Pop in those earbuds, fix yourself a big glass of Tang, and do a little stargazing this month. 40. “Defy the Moon” – [...]
Current Discussion
- Barry Mazor: The assumption that everybody would be signed if only they could be no longer is necessarily so..Given the relatively much ...
- Luckyoldsun: Can't say I necessarily know who is or isn't signed, but I have no knowledge that any of the following ...
- Occasional Hope: Is Patty Loveless free now, since she's implied she doesn't seem to have any plans to record again, but perhaps ...
- Arlene: Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison's current terrific album, Cheater's Game, was financed via Kickstarter. If they are still unsigned, they'd ...
- KC: My picks seem to be doing ok without a label, but I would sign them even if it was just ...
- SCOOTER: Sturgill Simpson - fantastic artist Ashton Shepherd - I know she was recently dropped and a lot of people complain ...
- Daniel Mullins: Lee Ann Womack is a must. I would also sign Wyatt McCubbin. He was featured on The Music Inside: A Tribute ...
- Ken Morton, Jr.: BTW- Julie's been in the recording studio all this past week and will be unveiling something new soon.
- Ken Morton, Jr.: Jonathan, I actually had this exact conversation with Julie Roberts a couple weeks ago. She came out with Emily West, ...
- Jack Williams: The first name that came to my mind was electic bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart. He hasn't released a proper ...
