-
Roots Watch: Frets and Threats
No, that’s not a suggested name for the next big music magazine; Frets & Threats could have some real breadth and staying power, but I figure the magazine market is too threatened for a launch right now. I bring this up after a week at IBMA’s “World of Bluegrass,” 2011 edition, which was marked [...]
-
Opry Celebrates 86 Years; Brad Paisley Visits Sesame Street; Billy Burnette To Be Inducted Into Rockabilly HoF
Barry Mazor’s got a feature in the Wall Street Journal in which Holly Williams and Alan Jackson offer their thoughts on The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams. Jean Shepard, Connie Smith, Dierks Bentley, Chris Young, and more are helping the Opry celebrate its 86th Birthday Bash. In other Opry news, Randy Travis celebrated his 25 [...]
-
New Dates Announced for Garth Brooks’ Vegas Shows; Laura Cantrell on Johnnie Wright; Marty Raybon and Bucky Covington Ink New Deals;
Marty Raybon signed with Rural Rhythm Records. Bucky Covington signed a deal with eOne (Entertainment One Music Group). Folk artist Bert Jansch passed away this morning. There’s a new Quotable Country over at Country California. Laura Cantrell spoke with Jim Bessman of the Examiner about Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells. If you’ve got a few [...]
-
Rascal Flatts Invited to Join Opry; Ryan Adams Announces New Tour Dates; Chris Pandolfi Delivers IBMA Keynote Address
Rascal Flatts was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry last night. Next Wednesday (October 5), Elizabeth Cook will be on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. On the 9th, the episode of Squidbillies on which she voiced the character of “Tammi” and covered the show’s theme song will air. Other news from the [...]
-
Martina McBride Rides the Rails; Del McCoury to Release Bill Monroe Tribute Record; Infamous Stringdusters Host Online Listening Party
George Strait’s “Here For a Good Time” became his 84th Top 10 single, while the album of the same name became his 24th #1. Cool cat and former Blue Grass Boy Del McCoury has a Bill Monroe tribute record scheduled for digital release on September 27 (vinyl will be released October 25). Gretchen Peters posted [...]
-
Wade Mainer and Don Wayne Pass Away; Lee Ann Womack Returns to Studio; Justin Townes Earle Contributes to Boardwalk Empire Soundtrack
Banjo pioneer Wade Mainer passed away on Monday at the age of 104. Songwriter Don Wayne, whose extensive body of work included “Saginaw, Michigan,” also passed away on Monday. He was 78. Lee Ann Womack is back in the studio working on a new album. Check out the Opry’s birthday celebration for George Jones. Justin [...]
-
The History of Country Rap; Gibson Guitar Raided; New Music from Ralph Stanley
Infamous Stringduster Chris Pandolfi is giving one of the keynote addresses at this year’s IBMA business conference. On his blog he offers some thoughts on where IBMA could go in the future. Ted Lehmann has also written a thoughtful essay in response to a few of Pandolfi’s blog posts about the direction of IBMA. Rich [...]
Continue reading "The History of Country Rap; Gibson Guitar Raided; New Music from Ralph Stanley"
-
Saravanan Sankaran — Back to Bassics
As its puntastic title suggests, Back to Bassics is a collection of solid, no-frills bluegrass, something that’s not as effortless to make as it sounds. Saravanan “Sav” Sankaran, the boyishly-voiced bass player for The Dixie Bee-Liners, leads a sharp band—with Adam Steffey on mandolin and Ron Stewart pulling double duty on banjo and fiddle—through eleven [...]
-
Album Review: The Infamous Stringdusters – Things That Fly
Third time’s the charm for The Infamous Stringdusters: their newest release is the band’s strongest, most enjoyable album to date–and that’s no small feat, considering how good their previous two records are. Andy Hall’s Dobro anchors the band, whether they’re covering traditional bluegrass fare like Jody Stecher’s “17 Cents” (featuring Dierks Bentley), pushing the boundaries [...]
Continue reading "Album Review: The Infamous Stringdusters – Things That Fly"
Current Discussion
- Rick: Rest in peace Chet. His columns were about the only thing I ever bothered to read at CMT.com and I'm ...
- Arlene: I also didn't always agree with everything Chet Flippo wrote, but I enjoyed disagreeing with him, if that makes any ...
- Luckyoldsun: I'm sorry ol' Slim passed, but he's one of those people who when you hear they died, you feel kind ...
- bruce: Although I do not know the exact number of Slim Whitman album sales, I think it might surprise some if ...
- Leeann Ward: Thanks to it being linked here in the original post, I paid the pretty penny for the Kasey Chambers, Papa ...
- Luckyoldsun: "Any ideas on who could play Possum?" Well, even if Nancy is controlling it, I think the movie will have to ...
- TX Music Jim: RIP Chet you have all of my respect ! Sad :(
- Sloane Spencer: Thank you so much for the inclusion of our conversation w/ Kevin Russell AKA Shinyribs. I've been wanting to talk with ...
- Leeann Ward: I didn't always agree with Flippo, but there's no doubt that music journalism has suffered a big loss today. As far ...
- Juli Thanki: UPDATE: Chet Flippo has passed away. http://www.musicrow.com/2013/06/respected-journalist-chet-flippo-passes/
