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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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Friday Five: The Ed Sullivan Show
On this date in 1901, a young boy was born in New York who would go on to change modern media as we know it. At the age of 47, Ed Sullivan would take the still-relatively-new media of television and start the variety show called simply, Toast of the Town. (It would eventually be renamed [...]
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George Strait to Hold Press Conference This Afternoon; Chris LeDoux Gets Marker on Country Music Trail; Tony Rice Cancels Shows Due to Illness
Loretta Lynn celebrated 50 years as an Opry member yesterday. George Strait is holding a press conference this afternoon at 12:35 Central. You’ll be able to watch here. No word yet on what the big announcement will be, but hopefully it’s not his retirement. UPDATE: the two-year The Cowboy Rides Away Tour will be Strait’s [...]
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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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Crowell and Harris Finish Duets Album; Keith Urban is New American Idol Judge; New Music Videos
Rodney Crowell shared some information about his upcoming duets record with Emmylou Harris: “Old Yellow Moon, the Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell duet album produced by Brian Ahern is finally finished. I want to give everybody a heads up to watch for Nonesuch Records official release date which I expect they will announce sometime very soon. [...]
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Roots Watch: Johnny Horton, Waylon, and Patsy Speak for Themselves
There are some long-gone classic country acts we rarely see raised any more without filtering, reduced, even if glorified, to some one-note comic book version of themselves, or only presented through tears—real or mechanical—and then, of course, there are others we barely get to see again at all. This month, by sheer coincidence, we get unexpectedly [...]
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New Jim Lauderdale Record Out 9/25; Farm Aid Plans Webcast; Stream New Music from Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward
The UNC Southern Folklife Collection’s blog shines a spotlight on “Barbara Allen.” Michael Bialis of The Huffington Post wrote a piece on Elizabeth Cook, the “High Priestess in Americana’s House of Worship.” Kathleen Edwards went into anaphylactic shock after getting stung by a yellow jacket. Thanks to paramedics and an Epi-pen, she is recovering with [...]
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“Pontoon” Goes Platinum; New Matraca Berg Album Due in October; American Songwriter Remembers Levon Helm
Jewly Hight profiled what sounds like a fantastic Patsy Cline exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Anyone seen it yet? Proper Records announced that Matraca Berg’s next album, Love’s Truck Stop, will be released October 22. No word yet on the US release date. Mindy Smith, Tom Russell, Victoria Williams, and [...]
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Del Rio Revisited: Radney Foster and the Remaking of a Classic Album
After three critically acclaimed albums, the duo of Foster & Lloyd decided to call it a day in 1990. A couple of years later, Radney Foster came back on the country scene with a new shorter haircut, a solo deal with Arista Records and a killer album of country songs. And not just any [...]
Continue reading "Del Rio Revisited: Radney Foster and the Remaking of a Classic Album"
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63-Disc Johnny Cash Box Set Due in October; Jazz Goes Honky-Tonkin’; Album Releases
Willie Nelson’s on the road again after his brief hospitalization. Rolling Stone premiered a new Dwight Yoakam song, “A Heart Like Mine.” Stream Caroline Herring’s new album, Camilla, over at Folk Alley. Cactus Moser lost his leg and underwent surgery on his hand following his motorcycle accident. Kelly Dearmore wrote the cover story on Bart Crow [...]
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 ...
