-
Music Exec Donna Hilley Passes Away; Trisha Yearwood’s Cooking Show Renewed for Second Season; Tift Merritt Signs with Yep Roc
Retired music executive Donna Hilley passed away yesterday: Ms. Hilley, born in Birmingham, Ala., worked at Nashville radio station WKDA and at a public relations firm before joining music publisher Tree in 1973. She became Tree’s vice president and chief operating officer in 1978 and arranged Tree’s sale to CBA (which later became Sony Music [...]
-
Carrie Underwood Speaks Out in Support of Gay Marriage; The Trishas’ Full-Length Debut Album Due Aug. 7; Album Releases
Carrie Underwood spoke out in support of gay marriage during an interview with The Independent. This week, the music video for Glen Campbell’s “A Better Place” will be released. It’ll “offer a retrospective look at Campbell’s career, and will feature a cameo by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Joshua Homme.” The producers of The [...]
-
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 [...]
-
Record Store Day Reissues; Martina McBride Names “Marry Me” Next Single; Skeeter Davis Named Kentucky Music Hall of Fame Inductee
The duet “Marry Me” will be the next single off Martina McBride’s Eleven. The Carter Family’s recording of “Keep on the Sunny Side” made Paste’s “20 Happy Songs About Sunshine” playlist. The Band Perry is working on material for a new album and writing with folks like Sheryl Crow. Bob Dylan is also working on [...]
-
Second Round of ACM Awards Performers Announced; Della Mae Selected for State Department’s American Music Abroad; Album Releases
Pam Tillis was a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race last night. The full episode, called “Dragazines,” can be streamed here. Darrell Scott considers “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “To Live’s to Fly,” and “Sunday Morning Coming Down” to be “perfect songs.” Here’s a feature on Echo Mountain, the Asheville, North Carolina recording studio [...]
-
Waylon Jennings’ Family Plans To Release His Last Recordings; Bonnaroo Lineup Revealed; Arnold Schultz Honored
Sarah Jarosz, Punch Brothers, Trampled By Turtles, The Avett Brothers, and several other Americana/roots acts are on this year’s Bonnaroo roster. The A.V. Club has an exclusive stream of “In Between Jobs” from Todd Snider’s upcoming album, Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables. Pierce Greenberg of Nashville’s City Paper has some more information about the Johnny [...]
-
Gene Watson Celebrates 50 Years of Country Music; The Jayhawks Announce Tour Dates; Carl Jackson Honored with Historical Marker
Sarah Jarosz, Joshua Britt (Farewell Drifters), Tom Russell, and more offer up their thoughts on Bob Dylan to kick off American Songwriter’s “30 Days of Dylan.” The Jayhawks announced new tour dates: they’ll start in Colorado at the end of this month. Guitarist Lincoln Meyers has left bluegrass band Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen. Tift [...]
-
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 [...]
-
Country Album Sales Increase in 2011; New Music From Emily West; Stream The Little Willies’ New Album
Stream For the Good Times, the upcoming album from The Little Willies, over at NPR’s music blog. Journey and Rascal Flatts are rumored to be doing a CMT Crossroads together in February. Bluegrass banjo player Shorty Eager passed away. He had played with Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys and several other bluegrass groups. Peter Cooper [...]
-
Lyle Lovett Readies New Album; Miranda Lambert Announces New Single; Country Singers Celebrate First Amendment
The Country Music Association has pledged $10 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s expansion efforts. Lyle Lovett’s new album, Release Me, is set for release on February 28. James McMurtry’s Mountain Stage performance can be streamed here. The Del McCoury Band came in at #10 on PopMatters’ 2011 Artists of the [...]
Current Discussion
- 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 ...
- Kelly D.: Dig the Whiskey Sisters and the write-up from ol' Jim C.
- Bruce: "Why do people talk about the authenticity and/or genuineness of others with whom they’ve had no direct, normal social interaction ...
- Luckyoldsun: Hank III says "Old Junior once said it best,"--Is that some sort of rapprochement in the Williams family soap opera? It's ...
