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Red Simpson Named HoF’s New Poet & Prophet; Billy Joe Foster Passes Away; Miranda Lambert to Perform at Grammys
Billy Joe Foster, who played with Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Special Edition, and Country Gazette passed away at the age of 51. Red Simpson is the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s newest “Poet and Prophet.” He’ll take part in an in-depth interview and performance at the HoF on February 23. [...]
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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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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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Engine 145′s Top Albums of 2012
It’s been a fantastic year for country and roots/Americana music, and it was no easy task for us to narrow down the list of albums released in 2012 to just a few favorites, but, after a few weeks of voting, here’s what we came up with. Honorable Mentions that missed the cut by just a [...]
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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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Kellie Pickler Embarks on Sixth USO Tour; Ray Price, Willie Nelson Work on New Albums; Carrie Underwood Donates Concert Proceeds to Charity
Kellie Pickler embarked on her sixth USO Tour, entertaining service members in Afghanistan and aboard the USS John C. Stennis. Songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, Tom T. Hall, and Alejandro Escovedo made The A.V. Club’s list of “14 panicky works about growing older.” Vince Gill shows off his guitars in this video for Musician’s Friend. [...]
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Best Music Books of 2012
Making year-end lists of best books is an exercise at once exciting and frustrating. Listing the best books of the year helps recall fondly those great books that revealed new information about an artist or his or her music or drives you to pick a again a book that you didn’t want to end the [...]
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Don’t Forget This Song: Frank Young, David Lasky, and the Story of the Carter Family
The Carter Family is essential to understanding the roots of country music, not just its foundation in Appalachian balladry but also its great emphasis on the modest pleasure of faith, family, and home. Not quite as mythic as the lives of Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, or blackface minstrel Emmett Miller, the story of A.P., Sara, [...]
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Pistol Annies Return to Studio; Unreleased Townes Van Zandt Recordings Due in February; Album Releases
The Mavericks will release their next album, In Time, on January 29. Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions and Demos 1971-1972, a two-disc collection of unreleased Townes Van Zandt material, will be released on Omnivore Recordings 2/5. The 28-song release will also feature liner notes written by Colin Escott. Drew Kennedy launched a Kickstarter campaign [...]
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Rosa Lee Watson, Frank Dycus Pass Away; Ashley Monroe’s Like a Rose Due 12/18; New Music Videos
Rosa Lee Watson passed away on Thursday, six months after Doc, her husband of more than 60 years. Songwriter Frank Dycus, whose credits include “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair” and “Unwound,” passed away on Friday. He was 72. Walter Hensley, the “Banjo Baron of Baltimore,” passed away on Saturday at the age of 76. [...]
Current Discussion
- BRUCE: Toby's generosity and philanthropic work is very expansive. His USO tours plus other works deserves praise, though I an sure ...
- Luckyoldsun: Arlene, That's another big one.
- Fervor Coulee: Sometimes I really think I live in a Stephen King bubble-town: 12 weeks at number one, and I've never heard ...
- bll: Nice roundup today, Trisha singing and Jen Chapin too!
- Paul W Dennis: I guess my favorite would be George Hamilton IV's version of "Forever Young" and The Byrd's cover of Mr. Tambourine ...
- Jack Williams: Speaking of Chris Smither, he did a nice version of Visions of Johanna. Other favorites: Neville Brothers - The Ballad of Hollis ...
- Leeann Ward: I think benefit concerts and telethons are great and needed, but I'm also impressed by Underwood's generous donation.
- Arlene: Ummm? "For impact, nothing surpasses The Byrd's cover of "Mr. Tamborine Man?"" How about Peter, Paul and Mary singing "Blowin' ...
- Jon: Interesting that folks are falling all over themselves to talk up Toby Keith's prospective benefit for Oklahoma tornado victims, while ...
- Luckyoldsun: For Dylan covers with impact, nothing surpasses the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man." As far as obscure ones, I happened to like ...
