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Country Radio Returns to NYC; Willie Nelson, Jerry Douglas to Play New Orleans Jazz Fest; Album Releases
New York City has its first country radio station in 17 years: Cumulus launched “Nash 94.7” on Monday. An excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article on the new station: In addition to building a NASH-branded network of stations, Cumulus also plans to launch a NASH country lifestyle magazine, through Modern Luxury, the magazine company [...]
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Roots Watch: Nashville’s Eddie; Nashville’s Jack
Back a lifetime or two ago when I was an undergraduate at George Washington University in DC, I was a regular deejay on the campus radio station, with a show called “Heartbreak Hotel” that featured roots rock, country music and what would have been called “Americana” if there’d been a term for it; this was [...]
Continue reading "Roots Watch: Nashville’s Eddie; Nashville’s Jack"
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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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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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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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2013 Stagecoach Lineup Announced; Johnny Cash Music Festival Raises $200,000; Underwood, Bryan Among American Music Awards Nominees
Whitney Self of CMT.com interviewed Jessi Colter about Waylon Jennings’ final recordings, released as the album Goin’ Down Rockin’. Percussionist Richard Farrell Morris, who appeared on albums including Kris Kristofferson’s The Silver Tongued Devil and I, passed away October 4 at the age of 74 after a battle with lung cancer. Friday’s Johnny Cash Music Festival [...]
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Kitty Wells Passes Away; New Videos from Ray Wylie Hubbard and Nick 13; Album Releases
The legendary Kitty Wells passed away yesterday at the age of 92. These lengthy obituaries from the Washington Post, New York Times, Tennessean, MusicRow, NPR, and CMT.com are all worth reading. Bassist Bob Babbitt, who played on classics like Gladys Knight & The Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia” and appeared on albums by Frank Sinatra, Elton [...]
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Tim McGraw To Tape Austin City Limits Episode; Canadian Country Music HoF Announces 2012 Inductees; New Music Videos
Richard Thompson, Bonnie Raitt and Booker T. Jones will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Americana Music Association Awards in Nashville this September. The Huffington Post has strong praise for Chely Wright’s new documentary: “Wish Me Away is a powerful, important film of heartbreak and triumph that I honestly believe will save lives, providing gay kids [...]
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Jason Isbell Leads Americana Music Awards Nominations; Buddy Rogers Passes Away; Big Machine Label Group Adds Music Publishing
Jason Isbell leads the Americana Music Awards nominations, with four. Gillian Welch was next, with three nominations. Chet Flippo remembers Doc and Merle Watson: I interviewed Doc with his son Merle (named for Merle Travis) for Rolling Stone a couple of years later, and it turned out to be a delightful time with Doc. He [...]
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Friday Five: St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow, so for this Friday Five, we’re paying tribute to country songs about Ireland. There are countless country songs about, or influenced by, the Emerald Isle, but here are five currently in heavy rotation at my house. 5. Dolly Parton — “We Irish” This is a fun track from 2004′s Live & [...]
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 ...
