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Stream New Junior Brown Song; JD Crowe to Receive Honorary Doctorate; Album Releases
Matraca Berg’s new album, Love’s Truck Stop, is getting good reviews across the pond. The second annual Red River Songwriters Festival will be held January 24-26 in Red River, New Mexico. Artists scheduled to perform include Ray Wylie Hubbard, Walt Wilkins, Drew Kennedy, and more. Listen to new Junior Brown song, “Hang Up and Drive.” [...]
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TG Sheppard Hospitalized; Sam Phillips, Jerry Lee Lewis Among Memphis Music HoF Inductees; Underwood Goes Platinum
T.G. Sheppard is in critical condition after being hospitalized on Sunday with a bladder infection that spread through his bloodstream. Barry Mazor interviewed Garth Brooks for this fine Wall Street Journal article. Julie King of the News Guardian reviewed a recent Mary Chapin Carpenter/Shawn Colvin concert. Willie Nelson was one of the guests at Jamey [...]
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Ray Benson Launches Kickstarter Campaign; Darius Rucker Inducted Into Opry; New SteelDrivers Album Due in February
The Farewell Drifters played a couple for the Bluegrass Situation. Darius Rucker was formally inducted into the Opry yesterday. Watch here. Ray Benson launched a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds for the release of an Asleep at the Wheel documentary. Jewly Hight talks with Shelby Lynne about her evolution as an artist and the [...]
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Little Jimmy Dickens is Victim of Identity Theft; Julie Roberts Releases New EP; New Music Videos
The change to Billboard’s Hot Country music chart, in which digital sales, web-streamed play and non-country-radio spins will influence chart performance has caused quite the internet flutter. Some takes on the change: Matt Bjorke at Roughstock The Triggerman at Saving Country Music Edward Morris at CMT Kevin John Coyne at Country Universe And now there’s a [...]
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Darius Rucker Invited to Join Opry; Taylor Swift Donates $10,000 to School for the Deaf; Ron Block Previews New Song
Yesterday, Darius Rucker was invited by Brad Paisley to join the Grand Ole Opry. Rucker will be inducted on October 16. Remember that internet contest where people voted for the Horace Mann School for the Deaf to win a Taylor Swift concert? The school was removed from the contest because “of the way it got [...]
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Chris Thile Wins MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant”; Stream New Darrell Scott & Tim O’Brien Album; New Releases
Chris Thile is one of the 2012 winners of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.” Thile is considering using the $500,000 grant to fund “a chamber music project for a bluegrass quintet.” Blake Boldt interviewed Gretchen Peters. Darrell Scott and Tim O’Brien’s live album, We’re Usually a Lot Better Than This, is streaming at American Songwriter. Zac [...]
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Charley Pride to be Honored by Smithsonian; Listen to a New Rodney Crowell Song; Album Releases
On October 3, Charley Pride will be honored by the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture with a reception. Pride’s sending the museum his 1971 Country Male Vocalist of the Year Award, his 1972 Grammy, a guitar, and some ‘70s outfits for display at the museum, which is slated to open [...]
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Hall of Fame Attendance Jumps 15%; Curb Partners with Cracker Barrel; New Music Videos
In the ongoing saga of Curb Records versus Tim McGraw, McGraw won a battle that keeps Big Machine from releasing sensitive negotiation documents with McGraw. In an unrelated Curb Records story, they’ve partnered with Cracker Barrel to release compilation albums from McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, The Bellamy Brothers, Rodney Atkins, The Judds and Wynonna Judd. Peter [...]
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FTC to Vote on Universal-EMI Merger; Gary Allan, Brad Paisley Plan New Albums; New Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard Video
European regulators approved Universal’s $1.9 billion takeover of EMI. The FTC votes on it today. This article about the Universal-EMI deal and the digital music market paints a grim picture. An excerpt: Major labels control so much of the world’s music catalog, however, that new providers have to ink deals with them before turning to [...]
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Kix Brooks to Host Overnight Radio Show; Bankesters Premiere New Video; How Does Americana Stay True?
Wall Street Journal music critic Jim Fusilli wrote a fine article called “How Americana Stays True.” An excerpt: Will the Americana movement succumb to the temptation to dumb down, or gloss up, its music to appeal to a wider audience? It seems unlikely. The AMA’s 1,600 members, many of whom are Americana musicians, control its [...]
Current Discussion
- Barry Mazor: Thanks for straightening me out LuckyOlSunbody. "Given credit as the 'artist" by who? Take it up with the Screen Actors ...
- Luckyoldsun: Barry: As far as the comparison to movies: The person who's given credit as the "artist" of a movie is the director--not ...
- Jon: I've got to say, I think "Lots More Blues, Rags, and Hollers" was a better record.
- Janice Brooks: As for new releases, I love the new Don Rigsby and Mike Scott. Will also dig up a cut of ...
- Barry Mazor: Look, one sort of music reporting/reviewing I like to do best is reporting on live performance, the interaction with the ...
- nm: That's probably why I generally don't watch music on a screen in my home, except for films of live shows. ...
- Jon: If you are watching music on a screen in your home, you're not going out to a show, are you? ...
- nm: I don't think the problem with lip-synching (for me as a member of the audience at a live event) is ...
- Jon: I've played for some audiences I'd have liked to have sued!
- Barry Mazor: One of the funny aspects of lip synching is that virtually every Hollywood musical number ever shot has been lip ...
