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Engine 145′s Top Albums of 2012
It’s been a fantastic year for country and roots/Americana music, and it was no easy task for us to narrow down the list of albums released in 2012 to just a few favorites, but, after a few weeks of voting, here’s what we came up with. Honorable Mentions that missed the cut by just a [...]
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Mike Auldridge Passes Away; Free Bloodshot, Blue Ridge Outdoors & American Songwriter Samplers
Dobro whiz Mike Auldridge passed away on December 29, a day before his 74th birthday. Here are obituaries from the Washington Post, MusicRow.com, The New York Times, and Bluegrass Today (which also posted a career overview). Eric Brace remembers Auldridge. As does Peter Cooper. CMT’s Edward Morris lists the “notable country music deaths” of 2012. [...]
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Roots Watch: Looking Forward, Looking Back
Year’s end is all at once “make a list” time, “last chance to bring it up” time and “turn the page” time, so I thought I’d keep all of that in mind this column and point you towards some recent roots and country releases, reissues and re-visits in particular, that strike me as worthy of [...]
Continue reading "Roots Watch: Looking Forward, Looking Back"
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Ashley Monroe’s Album Release Postponed; Stream Caitlin Rose’s New Single; Bluegrass for the Rockaways Compilation Raises Funds for Sandy Relief
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will be closed to the public from January 22 to February 6 to “make needed improvements and accommodate expansion-related construction.” The release of Ashley Monroe’s Like a Rose has been pushed back to March 5. From the press release: “The great Vince Gill and I have written [...]
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Luke Bryan Wins Nine American Country Awards; Ronnie Fauss Releases Free Christmas MP3; New Album Releases
Luke Bryan took home nine trophies at last night’s American Country Awards. The full list of winners can be found here. Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale were featured on The Los Angeles Times music blog “Pop & Hiss.” Here’s an excerpt in which Miller discusses harmony singing: “I’m not a big fan of most three-part [...]
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Haters Gonna Hate: The Incredible Danger of Knowing What You Know
It happens every week. Every Wednesday, when I post my variation of “Gone Fishing” on my Facebook page, announcing I am M-I-A because I will be facedown in ABC’s primetime drama, Nashville, the comments start piling up. About how the writing sucks, the plot blows, but especially, how dreadful the music is. I laugh. I’m not watching the [...]
Continue reading "Haters Gonna Hate: The Incredible Danger of Knowing What You Know"
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Stream Songs from Van Zandt, Willis & Robison; The Band Perry & Dierks Bentley to Pay Tribute to Johnny Cash; Peter Rowan Goes Old School
Listen to a track from the upcoming Townes Van Zandt collection Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions & Demos 1971-1972. Paste has a stream of “Drinking Coke and Eating Ice,” a cut from Drive-By Trucker Mike Cooley’s new solo record, The Fool on Every Corner, which drops December 11. Here’s an hour-long BBC documentary called The Joy [...]
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Pistol Annies Return to Studio; Unreleased Townes Van Zandt Recordings Due in February; Album Releases
The Mavericks will release their next album, In Time, on January 29. Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions and Demos 1971-1972, a two-disc collection of unreleased Townes Van Zandt material, will be released on Omnivore Recordings 2/5. The 28-song release will also feature liner notes written by Colin Escott. Drew Kennedy launched a Kickstarter campaign [...]
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Rosa Lee Watson, Frank Dycus Pass Away; Ashley Monroe’s Like a Rose Due 12/18; New Music Videos
Rosa Lee Watson passed away on Thursday, six months after Doc, her husband of more than 60 years. Songwriter Frank Dycus, whose credits include “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair” and “Unwound,” passed away on Friday. He was 72. Walter Hensley, the “Banjo Baron of Baltimore,” passed away on Saturday at the age of 76. [...]
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HoF to Hold “Women of West Coast Country” Panel; Download Rayna Gellert, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale Songs; Album Releases
Here’s a New York Times article about Darden Smith’s SongwritingWith:Soldiers retreat, which helps veterans find some healing through writing: Staff Sgt. Eustacio Obregon, who deployed four times to Iraq as a petroleum supply specialist, composed a song with Sergeants McRae and Josh Hartman, 43, about firefights, friends who were killed in battle and repeat deployments. [...]
Current Discussion
- bll: I'm happy to hear that Ronnie Dunn and Garth are going to do something together; they go way back, and ...
- Luckyoldsun: Jon, I think you should try re-watching the Conan video--you "missed" it the first time. If I may give my interpretation, ...
- BRUCE: Toby's generosity and philanthropic work is very expansive. His USO tours plus other works deserves praise, though I an sure ...
- Luckyoldsun: Arlene, That's another big one.
- Fervor Coulee: Sometimes I really think I live in a Stephen King bubble-town: 12 weeks at number one, and I've never heard ...
- bll: Nice roundup today, Trisha singing and Jen Chapin too!
- Paul W Dennis: I guess my favorite would be George Hamilton IV's version of "Forever Young" and The Byrd's cover of Mr. Tambourine ...
- Jack Williams: Speaking of Chris Smither, he did a nice version of Visions of Johanna. Other favorites: Neville Brothers - The Ballad of Hollis ...
- Leeann Ward: I think benefit concerts and telethons are great and needed, but I'm also impressed by Underwood's generous donation.
- Arlene: Ummm? "For impact, nothing surpasses The Byrd's cover of "Mr. Tamborine Man?"" How about Peter, Paul and Mary singing "Blowin' ...
