Remembering Merle Haggard 1937 – 2016
I’ve heard countless discussions around what constitutes “real country music.” These arguments contain few details of what makes up this elusive cultural archetype and people often reach for specific performers to create context. Merle Haggard…
Listen Up! Kiefer Sutherland – ‘Not Enough Whiskey’
The list of Hollywood actors looking to cross the divide from their chosen vocation into music has more misses (Bruce Willis) than hits (Zooey Deschanel.) Proving just because you have skills in one branch of…
Robert Ellis Returns With Eponymous Fourth Album On June 3rd
Credit: Dusdin Condren ‘Drive,’ the new cut off Texas singer/songwriter Robert Ellis’ upcoming eponymous release, kicks off with bluegrass-tinged, dazzling guitar work Ellis has become known for. We are then then taken on a grand…
Listen Up! Margo Price “Hands Of Time” on Conan 3/24/16
Margo Price performs a beautiful rendition of her hard luck lament “Hands Of Time.” Check the wonderful performance below with Ms. Price and her cracker-jack band completee with string section. The vintage mic is also…
Listen Up! Sturgill Simpson – “In Bloom”
No one should be surprised by Sturgill Simpson moody ode to Nirvana. Similar to his take on the 80s pop band cut “When In Rome’s ‘The Promise’ off ‘Metamodern Sounds in Country Music” Simpson turns…
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Wanted! – Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2016
2015 was another bumper crop year for Americana and roots music, and 2016 show vast signs that the great music will continue to come. As our Cream of the Crop favorites from 2015 makes plain we might be experiencing a new golden age of roots…
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Americana Scenes At SXSW 2016
It’s been a few years since I’ve braved the tipsey throngs of Austin’s South-By-Southwest, and mostly I don’t miss it. But with the growing roots music showcases like Jenni Finlay Promotions & Conqueroo’s Rebels & Renegades showcase, Bloodshot Records and Billy Reid and Newport Folk…
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The Avett Brothers Announce New Album In June
The Avett Brothers are following their music from the banjos and acoustic guitars toward some of their influences; Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty and others on their upcoming Rick Rubin-produced release “True Sadness” The North Carolina roots band’s announcement arrived with a letter…
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Watch Out! Jason Isbell’s Funny Infomercial For “The Saddest Song Ever”
Americana and country music aren’t know for providing the world with the the lightest subjects in the music universe (Roger Miller and Todd Snider excluded). The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has underlined this truth by creating this fantastic infomercial with “alt.country troubadour” Jason Isbell,…
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Record Store Day 2016 – Americana and Roots Music Picks
Record Store Day, the annual celebration of limited runs of the antiquated data storage device known as vinyl and once the scene of hipsters when it started in 2007, has helped fuel a surprising resurgence in sales and pushing the remaining pressing plant capacity to…
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Music Review: Dori Freeman – ‘Dori Freeman’ [Free Dirt Records]
picture- Kristin Horton 2016 is still a young year but The album that sets the mark is already released. Dori Freeman’s splendid debut is a deft study on the hill and holler template crafted by the Carter family. Her sonic road winds through honky-tonks, coffee…
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Listen Up! Sturgill Simpson – “Brace for Impact”
Sturgill Simpson , the reluctant outlaw country music hero appears to be moving further and further way from that designation. Simpson took to Apple Music’s Beats 1 with host Zane Lowe to preview his brutally gritty new single “Brace for Impact,” The singer/songwriter also let…
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Watch Out: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Performs ‘If It Takes A Lifetime’ on The Late Show
Stephen Colbert continues the Letterman legacy of supporting great roots music by inviting Grammy winner (so badass saying that) Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit took to the storied Tonight Show stage to perform a rowsing ‘If It Takes A Lifetime’ from our #1 choice…
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Listen Up! Ashley Monroe – ” Like A Rose” Live At Third Man Records
Photo by Angelina Castillo Last spring Ashley Monroe took to the intimate stage of the Blue Room at musician-producer Jack White’s Third Man Records to play songs , some from from her upcoming album, The Blade, to a room of mostly industry folks in Nashville…
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T Bone Burnett, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings will receive Berklee American Master Awards at Music City Roots
Berklee College of Music will present American Master Awards to legendary record producer, songwriter and recording artist T Bone Burnett, as well as the acclaimed roots duo of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on a special Tuesday night edition of Music City Roots, the variety…
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