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JD Souther Named to Songwriters Hall of Fame; Cleotha Staples Passes Away; Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires Wed
Cleotha Staples, one of The Staple Singers, passed away at 78. JD Souther was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame and will be inducted in a ceremony later this year. Steve Dougherty interviewed and profiled Buddy Miller for the Wall Street Journal. Discussing the heart attack he had onstage in 2009, Miller said, “I [...]
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Kristofferson Presents Willie Nelson with NSAI Award; Emmylou Harris Featured in Southern Living; New Music Videos
George Jones’ final album will be filled with Dolly Parton-penned tunes. In an interview with Billboard magazine, he says, “I love Dolly, always have and I am so honored to be doing a project with her…She is writing most of the songs and we all know what a great songwriter she is. I am just [...]
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Tony Douglas Passes Away; Blake Shelton Controversy Boils Over; Coen Brothers Release Trailer for New Folk Music Film
The Blake Shelton business mentioned in the Thursday morning roundup exploded yesterday afternoon. Ray Price took to his Facebook page and wrote It’s a shame that I have spend 63 years in this business trying to introduce music to a larger audience and to make it easier for the younger artists who are coming behind [...]
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Frank Page, John Wilkinson Pass Away; Skynyrd, Paisley to Take Part in Inaugural Festivities; New Music Videos
Willie Nelson’s next album, Let’s Face the Music and Dance, will be released March 5. The press release states that the album’s songs “include American standards and country classics, Irving Berlin and Carl Perkins, Django Reinhardt as well as Willie-penned originals.” Peter Cooper wrote a feature on the tragic tale of Glen Sherley, the Folsom inmate who wrote “Greystone Chapel.” [...]
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Mike Auldridge Passes Away; Free Bloodshot, Blue Ridge Outdoors & American Songwriter Samplers
Dobro whiz Mike Auldridge passed away on December 29, a day before his 74th birthday. Here are obituaries from the Washington Post, MusicRow.com, The New York Times, and Bluegrass Today (which also posted a career overview). Eric Brace remembers Auldridge. As does Peter Cooper. CMT’s Edward Morris lists the “notable country music deaths” of 2012. [...]
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Stream Christmas Tunes from Sunny Sweeney, Scott Lucas, Sierra Hull; LeAnn Rimes Discusses X Factor Criticism, New Single; Songs for Sandy Hook Benefit Compilation
Sunny Sweeney’s “One More Christmas Beer” is available for $0.69 on her site. Scott Lucas & The Married Men will stream their annual Hideout Holiday Music Hour (taped at The Hideout earlier this month) on their site starting at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Here they are playing “Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant.” Peter Cooper [...]
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Ashley Monroe’s Album Release Postponed; Stream Caitlin Rose’s New Single; Bluegrass for the Rockaways Compilation Raises Funds for Sandy Relief
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will be closed to the public from January 22 to February 6 to “make needed improvements and accommodate expansion-related construction.” The release of Ashley Monroe’s Like a Rose has been pushed back to March 5. From the press release: “The great Vince Gill and I have written [...]
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Iris DeMent Discusses Songwriting; Los Lobos Celebrates 40th Anniversary; Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside Announce 2013 Tour Dates
The HillBenders got you a present: it’s a grassed-up version of “Feliz Navidad.” Jim Caligiuri chats with Mike Cooley in this Austin Chronicle feature. Blurt posted video of singer-songwriter Caleb Caudle playing his song, “Tobacco Town.” Rolling Stone is streaming a couple tracks from the deluxe version of the Nashville soundtrack. Rolling Stone also has [...]
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ACM Makes Changes to New Artist Category; Rolling Stone Premieres New Rodney Crowell & Emmylou Harris Duet; Album Releases
Rick Blackburn, a retired record executive for CBS Records and Atlantic, who also served as president of the CMA’s board of directors and the organization’s chairman, passed away at the age of 70. The Academy of Country Music announced a few changes: it will award trophies in three individual newcomer categories, New Male Vocalist, New [...]
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Stream Songs from Van Zandt, Willis & Robison; The Band Perry & Dierks Bentley to Pay Tribute to Johnny Cash; Peter Rowan Goes Old School
Listen to a track from the upcoming Townes Van Zandt collection Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions & Demos 1971-1972. Paste has a stream of “Drinking Coke and Eating Ice,” a cut from Drive-By Trucker Mike Cooley’s new solo record, The Fool on Every Corner, which drops December 11. Here’s an hour-long BBC documentary called The Joy [...]
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/







