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Country Stars Remember Kitty Wells; New Little Big Town Album Due in September; Punch Brothers Announce New Tour Dates
Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, and Lee Ann Womack all made statements about Kitty Wells’ passing. Janis Martin’s final album, The Blanco Sessions, will be released on September 18. The album, produced by Rosie Flores and Bobby Trimble, was funded through Kickstarter. (via press release) Punch Brothers announced a bunch of new North American [...]
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Farm Aid Heads to Hershey; Johnny Depp & Douglas Brinkley Editing Unpublished Woody Guthrie Novel; Album Releases
Here’s a cool piece from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation called “In the Footsteps of John A. Lomax: American Folk Song Collector.” In this feature, “narrated by folklorist Hal Cannon, we retrace those back roads of Texas and Louisiana to discover why the folk music that John Lomax documented in the early 20th century still resonates [...]
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Little Big Town — “Pontoon”
Written by Barry Dean, Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird Motorboatin’, anyone? Little Big Town has emerged as the unlikely source for the season’s most devilishly catchy hook with the first single from their forthcoming studio album. The vocal quartet made a splash on this month’s CMT Music Awards with “Pontoon,” a slinky mid-tempo number that’s more [...]
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CMT Awards Performers Announced; Rosanne Cash Narrates BBC Radio Program About Bobbie Gentry; Album Releases
Stream Willie Nelson’s new album, Heroes and the collection Jail House Bound: John Lomax’s First Southern Prison Recordings, 1933. The Infamous Stringdusters have announced the lineup for their shindig, The Festy. This year’s performers will include Trampled By Turtles, Della Mae, Tony Trischka Territory, The Steel Wheels, and more. Tickets for The Festy, which will [...]
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Dirt Drifters Cancel All Upcoming Appearances; Chatham County Line Plans Live Album Release; Jewel to Play June Carter Cash in Lifetime Movie
The Ryman’s chief audio engineer, Les Banks, talks about the room’s sound with Mix Magazine: “There are so many reflective surfaces, and the biggest challenge is the absolutely phenomenal difference between the empty Ryman at soundcheck and a full house that night. It’s night-and-day different; to this day I get freaked out by how loud [...]
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CMT Music Awards Nominees Announced; Reba Hits 30 Million Album Sales Mark; Music Videos
Little Big Town announced the CMT Music Award nominations on NBC’s Today this morning. Carrie Underwood leads the pack with five nominations. Check out all the nominees here. Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press have released a brand new single called “I’m Going Back to the Mountain.” On Saturday night, Keith Urban was formally [...]
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Waylon Jennings’ Last Recordings Due Out 9/11; We’re All for the Hall Raises $465,000; Album Releases
Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Last Recordings of Waylon Jennings is due out September 11 on Saguaro Road Records. From the press release: Jennings wrote 11 of the 12 songs that appear on the new album, a testament to the personal nature of the recordings, and they reveal an artist in the midst of a final [...]
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New Whitney Duncan Album In Works; Miley Cyrus Has Death Threats and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Announce Gospel Album
Whitney Duncan, fresh off her Survivor experience, has taken to Kickstarter to help raise funds for a new album called Where The Back Roads Run. “This is so fun for me, because I can make the record I want to make! I really hope ya’ll are as excited about this project as I am…it was [...]
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Second Edition of the Encyclopedia of Country Music Published; Boxcars Ready New Album; Evolution of the Outlaw
The second edition of the Encyclopedia of Country Music was published this week. In this piece penned by Jewly Hight for the Nashville Scene, Dierks Bentley reflects on his arrival in Nashville as a teenager: “I was so green. But I still moved here anyway, because I was so drawn to this town and country [...]
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Four the Record Goes Gold; Emmylou Harris Speaks at Warren Hellman’s Memorial; Hank Thompson Vinyl Reissue
Emmylou Harris spoke and then performed at Warren Hellman’s memorial service. Give a listen. Taylor Swift has been offered the role of Eponine in a film adaptation of Les Miserables. If anyone’s looking to make a music-related field trip this winter, check out this cool feature, written by Terry Conway of the Philadelphia Inquirer, on [...]
Current Discussion
- Doug Gilliland: Can't say for sure if these artists are currently unsigned, but I would love to hear new material from Kathy ...
- Rick: Opry Alert! I'm guessing(?) tonight marks the end of the spring season of the Thursday Night Classic Country Opry shows ...
- bob: Thanks for the info on the PBS Carole King concert. It will be good to see Trisha Yearwood sing again.
- Jon: Nope.
- Luckyoldsun: Sounds good. Is she--or her husband--related to Dallas? (I'll assume not to Joe.)
- Luckyoldsun: R-- Sounds like you're expanding your palate. "60′s style California hippie vibe" sounds like something you'd have banned from your playlist.
- Rick: I like the production, the excellent guitar picking, and Rebecca has a nice voice with individuality, but the song structure ...
- Rick: That Buddy Emmons tribute album sounds kinda interesting. I just might have to give it a listen when it's available. Congratulations ...
- Jon: Jack Bernhardt is the bomb.
- Bruce: Good article on Rucker. I do not care for all his songs and he is far from my favorite. I ...
