Engine 145 - A Roots Music Publication

Jewly Hight wrote a must-read feature on Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. BJ Thomas and Keb’ Mo’ have a new music video for “Most of All.” On July 23, Omnivore Recordings will release Don Rich’s That Fiddlin’ Man and the all-instrumental The Buckaroos Play Buck and Merle, which is a combination of The Buck Owens [...]

Continue reading "Jim Ed Brown Releases New Single; Miranda Lambert Nominated for O Music Award; Omnivore Recordings to Release Don Rich, Buckaroos Albums"

Buck Owens – Honky Tonk Man: Buck Sings Country Classics Thanks in part to his weekly appearances on Hee Haw, Buck Owens was one of the most visible country musicians of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He’d already well established himself by the mid-1960s, and he and The Buckaroos helped to develop the “California sound”—dominated [...]

Continue reading "Album Reviews: Buck Owens — Honky Tonk Man; Don Rich — Sings George Jones"

Jamey Johnson took home Top Album honors and Eric Church’s “Springsteen” was named the No. 1 single in the Nashville Scene Country Music Critics’ Poll. Read the list of results and comments. The Scene also published a feature on Iris DeMent. Precious Bryant passed away at the age of 71. Charley Pride, Asleep at the Wheel, and [...]

Continue reading "Church, Johnson Top Nashville Scene Critics’ Poll; CMT Begins Next Women of Country Campaign; Corb Lund Announces Tour Dates"

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"

George Jones announced several farewell tour dates. Out January 23 on Omnivore Records: Don Rich Sings George Jones and Buck Owens’ Honky Tonk Man, a collection of previously unreleased recordings. Flaco Jimenez played an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Wanda Jackson’s got a new video for “Am I Even a Memory,” her duet with Justin Townes [...]

Continue reading "George Jones Announces Tour Dates; Real Gone Music to Reissue Two John Hartford Records; Album Releases"

Country fans have long since noticed (and sometimes complained) that the ACM and CMA awards shows feature pretty much the same star acts and hits of the year. That was hardly the case back in the mid-1960s, as pointed out in the Country Hall of Fame and Museum’s major new exhibition, The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, [...]

Continue reading "Roots Watch: Bakersfield, Nashville, and That “East vs. West” Thing"

Did Dierks Bentley rip off Jason Isbell’s “In a Razor Town” with “Home,” his most recent single? Isbell accused him of doing so on Twitter this weekend, while Dierks fired back with a link to an interview with one of the co-writers, Dan Wilson, that talks about the creation of “Home.” Emily West will be [...]

Continue reading "Jason Isbell vs. Dierks Bentley; Miranda Lambert to Appear on SVU; New Music Videos"