Lack of Top Talent Puts End to Big State Festival For ‘08
- Big State Festival is officially done, at least for this year. Charlie Walker, co-owner of C3 Presents, cites “a lack of top tier talent” as the reason behind the festival’s demise.
- John Gerome says starting in 2005, life for Patty Loveless took a hairpin turn. She lost her mother-in-law, brother, and mom, which spurred a three year hiatus from music in order to heal. She began to immerse herself in all the old records she had grown up with. It was comforting, and before long she was working on an album of standards with her husband. That project, Sleepless Nights, will be released next Tuesday.
- It’s been announced that Asleep at the Wheel founder Ray Benson will receive the prestigious Les Paul Award at the 24th Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards. “Named for the legendary musician, inventor and pioneer of multitrack recording, the Les Paul Award was established in 1991 to honor the lifetime achievements of musical artists and others whose work has exemplified the creative use of recording technology.”
- Brad Wheeler has another review of Jessica Simpson’s performance at the Avalon Ballroom last week and it’s just a shade nicer than the one posted in yesterday’s news roundup.
- Stuart Munro calls the recently released George Jones album Burn Your Playhouse Down: The Unreleased Duets a mixed lot, so it’s not essential, but it is a recovery of some worthwhile late-period Jones.
- Daily Trivia: Hank Thompson was born on this day in 1925 (listen to “The Wild Side of Life” on Last.fm).
- Speaking about her new album, Little Honey, Lucinda Williams says, “I feel that this is the most eclectic record I’ve ever done, and I’ve always been known for being eclectic.” (via Amber Waves of Twang)
- NPR posted audio from Josh Turner’s first appearance on Mountain Stage. He performs “Would You Go With Me,” “Backwoods Boy,” “Long Black Train,” “Firecracker” and “Your Man.”
- Amazon and IMDb unveiled a new music research service a couple of days ago that flows in the same vein as Wikipedia. SoundUnwound allows users to edit information about bands and artists, however, the edits must be approved by the staff before they’ll be shown to the public. Still in its beta, I noticed that there’s isn’t a whole lot of information available, but maybe in the future it’ll prove to be a great resource. (via Listening Post)
- Watch Jerry Reed tear it up on “Lightnin’ Rod,” a song Redd Volkaert (played guitar for Merle Haggard) mentions as one of his favorites.
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Big State Festival // George Jones // Jerry Reed // Jessica Simpson // Josh Turner // Lucinda Williams // Merle Haggard // Patty Loveless // Ray Benson
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4 Comments
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September 3, 2008 at 10:44 am Permalink
The Amazon “Sound Unwound” isn’t unlike IMDB that way (In that they allow editing that is then approved or unapproved).
September 3, 2008 at 11:32 am Permalink
Patty Loveless will be a featured guest with Eddie Stubbs Intimate Evening series on WSM next Monday night (Sept 8th). You can listen to it on their website. :)
September 3, 2008 at 6:53 pm Permalink
i like Carrie Underwood.
September 3, 2008 at 10:39 pm Permalink
You’re kinda off topic there, Dallas. You should’ve said “I like Carrie Underwood a lot more than I do that dopey Jessica Simpson.”
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