The 9513 - Country Music Blog

It was supposed to be a simple, fun band that would get together every week and pick a few bluegrass chestnuts. Along the way though, The SteelDrivers found a distinctive sound, landed a record deal and released a stunning debut album that garnered them a loyal following and multiple award nominations. The band’s second album, [...]

Continue reading "A Hobby Band Spoiled: Talking with Mike Henderson of The SteelDrivers"

Goodnight Lane marks Colin Gilmore’s first album in about five years, but it’s hard to say that he hasn’t been keeping himself busy in the interim. Between touring on his own and opening for the likes of Alejandro Escovedo, Mason Jennings and The Flatlanders (featuring his dad, Jimmie Dale Gilmore), Gilmore spent the last year [...]

Continue reading "Colin Gilmore: Hello, Goodnight Lane"

Randy Houser is a true Mississippi son. Born in the small town of Lake, he was introduced into the bluesy depths of southern soul music by his father who was also a professional musician. After his parents divorced when he was seven, Houser spent summers with his father; the rest of the year, he lived [...]

Continue reading "Just Call Him Cadillac (Randy Houser Works, Too)"

No doubt Dean Brody is a gifted storyteller. The rising Canadian country music star proved his singing and songwriting readiness last year with three hit songs off his self-titled debut album on Broken Bow Records–all three broke the Top 10 at Canadian country radio. His smash “Brothers” peaked at #26 on the U.S. charts and [...]

Continue reading "Dean Brody: It’s Become Bigger Than Just Him"

While it may have been America’s fondness for good southern cooking–through their smash single “Chicken Fried”–that made country radio take notice of six sons of the south known as the Zac Brown Band, it is the band’s songwriting and musicianship that has captured the hearts of fans everywhere. The follow-up to the band’s smash first [...]

Continue reading "Chatting with Clay Cook of the Zac Brown Band"

The man is up-beat as all get out. Eddie Montgomery–one half of the famed country music duo Montgomery Gentry–had already spent the entire day doing interviews from Nashville, but when he phoned me in the late afternoon and cheerfully announced, “It’s Eddie!,” he sounded like I was merely the first on his very long itinerary. [...]

Continue reading "It’s About Singing Songs: Interview with Eddie Montgomery"

Maintaining passion–and a perspective–for what you believe to be important in life seems to be a common theme for the husband and wife duo, Joey + Rory. Certainly the dynamics of a marriage create the boundaries for a passionate and loving relationship–and certainly that is the foundation from which the music is born. But in [...]

Continue reading "Talking Perspective and Passion with Joey + Rory"

Listening to Cory Morrow’s new album, Brand New Me, one gets the impression of someone who’s gone through some troubled times, came out stronger on the other end and is indescribably grateful for making it through. That’s a fairly accurate description of Morrow’s last few years. In 2005, Morrow was arrested for drunk driving and [...]

Continue reading "Cory Morrow: Accentuating the Positive"

Jett Williams is the daughter of the legendary Hank Williams. That’s the short story. The amazing long version, part heartbreak and part celebration, begins in Montgomery, Alabama, five days after Hank Williams died in the back of a car on his way to Canton, Ohio in 1953. That’s when Jett Williams (then named Cathy) was [...]

Continue reading "Talking Hank Sr. with Jett Williams"

For Hank Williams fans, Christmas is just around the corner—September 28, to be exact. That’s when the Hank Williams: The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings…Plus! (a 15-CD, 1-DVD box set) is officially released. Sure, the bootleg versions of those early ’50s morning radio shows on WSM have been floating around the internet for some time, but [...]

Continue reading "Biographer Colin Escott Still Capitvated By Hank’s Songs"