The 9513 - Country Music Blog

After seeing her perform at the Stagecoach Music Festival, I was lucky enough to interview up-and-coming country singer Star De Azlan and chat with her about her upcoming record, her influences, and her plans as an artist.
Our readers were big fans of your first single “She’s Pretty,” can you give us any information […]

Continue reading "Q & A: Star De Azlan Mixes It Up"

Armed with a powerful voice, big-time songwriting talent, and a personality as charming as it is fiery, Capitol Record’s Emily West is currently soldiering up the charts with her debut single “Rocks In Your Shoes,” which she co-wrote with Nashville heavyweights Dave Berg and Annie Tate.
(Read The 9513’s review of “Rocks In Your Shoes”)
West […]

Continue reading "20 Questions With Emily West"

On Sunday, April 13th I was lucky enough to see one of my favorite bands, Eleven Hundred Springs, play at Safari Sam’s in Hollywod, Calfornia. Eleven Hundred Springs has a brand new album, Country Jam, being released on May 6th, and they were kind enough to take a little time out of their busy schedule […]

Continue reading "Q&A: Eleven Hundred Springs Balancing Tradition and Innovation"

Aaron Watson’s latest album, Angels & Outlaws was released yesterday, April 1, and I had the opportunity to have him answer a few questions for the readers here at The 9513. Read on to find out what his favorite songs are on the new album, who he’d like to record with in the future, and […]

Continue reading "Q&A: The Honky Tonk Kid, Aaron Watson, Is All About The Old School"

“In a sense it’s country. Some of it’s blues,” says Brandy Zdan, one half of the independent Winnipeg Roots outfit Twilight Hotel. Hailing from the frigid city eight hours north of Minneapolis, Zdan and her boyfriend/bandmate Dave Quanbury have crafted an organic and earthy sound that lands somewhere between folk, country, blues, and rock. Good […]

Continue reading "Feature Artist: Canadian Roots Duo Twilight Hotel Mixes Love, Music"

The only suggestion April Russell had for the organizers of the Big State Festival was to “cut the grass shorter.” Russell, one of The 9513’s Big State Contest winners, lost her truck in the car fire that claimed approximately twenty automobiles outside Texas World Speedway on Saturday afternoon. The blaze quickly spread across the dry, […]

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I recently had the opportunity to interview Billy Joe Shaver for The 9513 when he was in town promoting his new album, Everybody’s Brother. First off, I would like to thank Cassie and Logan over at Compadre Records for setting this up for us and a thanks is due to Billy Joe for taking time […]

Continue reading "A Prophet in Cowboy Boots: An Interview with Billy Joe Shaver"

So you graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, that’s definitely something to brag about. Do you think that it gives you an advantage in your pursuit of your career as an artist? Or do you have other aspirations that your degree has helped prepare you for?
Yes, I think my time at Harvard helped prepare […]

Continue reading "Q&A: Nothing Slowing Down Liz Carlisle… Except Tractors In Iowa"

Hailing from the Northwest United States, Rachel Harrington fuses country, folk, and bluegrass to form her instrumentally rich brand of music. She released her debut album, The Bootlegger’s Daughter, this past May on her own record label, SkinnyDennis Records, and has already opened for seasoned veterans Guy Clark and Todd Snider. After discovering her music […]

Continue reading "Q&A: Rachel Harrington Stands At The Crossroads of Country, Folk, And Bluegrass"

Back in April I did a short review of David Serby’s second album, Another Sleepless Night. Since then he’s been busy promoting his album and playing live shows, one of which was the first ever Stagecoach Festival in California. I got in touch with David to see how things were going and ask if he’d […]

Continue reading "Q&A: California Crooner David Serby Not Waiting Around For People To Knock On His Door"