Later Buck Owens Work Released And Drew Kennedy Taking Red Dirt Scene To The Next Rung
- More news on the Opry discrimination accusations from Stonewall Jackson. This time Charlie Louvin expresses some of his sentiments on the deal and the general feeling you get is that he feels slighted as well. He lost health insurance coverage for his wife after they scaled his performances back to about 15 a year.
Vince Gill, a 17-year member, balked at the suggestion of age discrimination, but said veteran members have some legitimate gripes. He said there were times in the Opry’s long history when the hitmakers of the day did not join the cast, but stalwarts like Louvin and Jackson showed up week after week to keep the institution going.
- Joe Nichols is back in studio recording the follow-up to his last album, III. The new album should be out later this year.
- Chet Flippo at CMT announced that some of Buck Owens’ later work has been released and gives a little background info on the singer.
Owens suffered a significant and major loss in 1974 when his lead guitar player, best friend and confidant and bandleader Don Rich was killed when his motorcycle crashed. Owens truly never fully recovered from that tragedy and went into severe depression. He never had another No. 1 single after that, until Dwight Yoakam coaxed him into doing a duet on “Streets of Bakersfield” in 1988.
- Calvin Powers from Taproot Radio glorifies the new Lucinda Williams album in his breakdown of each track while Tallahassee.com gives some background on Williams’ career and some insight into her personal life.
- Bill Kirchen is playing at the Continental Club in Houston tonight and Kelly Patton at the Houston Chronicle lays down a nice review of his CD, Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods.
- Galleywinter has a detailed review praising the new Drew Kennedy album, Dollar Theater Movie, due out on March 27.
Dollar Theatre Movie does not just represent a great musical accomplishment for Drew Kennedy; it signifies a change in our scene yet again. From the good time Jerry Jeff revivalism of Pat Green, to the Southern Rock revamp of Cross Canadian Ragweed, and the Roots Rock/Honky Tonk blend of the Randy Rogers Band, our scene has continually evolved and craved the next big sound or artist. Starting with the Randy Rogers Band and continued with the consistent rise of Brandon Rhyder, the pendulum has swung in the favor of great songwriting over party anthems. Kennedy is taking the scene and himself to the next rung with this album.
This is one I’m personally looking forward to after listening to Hillbilly Pilgrim numerous times. I thought the guy had a ton of potential and wondered why he wasn’t better known, hopefully this album will act as his springboard to the top.
- Country Universe abhors the latest Terri Clark single, “Dirty Girl”, grading it a straight up F.
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Tagged In This Article
Bill Kirchen // Buck Owens // Charlie Louvin // Drew Kennedy // Grand Ole Opry // Joe Nichols // Lucinda Williams // Stonewall Jackson // Terri Clark // Vince Gill
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March 9, 2007 at 9:33 am Permalink
I’ve never heard an artist refer to the Opry as their retirement plan before. I’m of the impression that artists sacrificed so much to the Opry in their performing days because it was perceived that the Opry’s exposure was the only way to make it in country music.
I agree with Vince Gill. I can see why the Opry books Little Jimmy Dickens on every show; he is a humorous entertainer that is more famous to today’s audiences as the short, old funny guy on the Opry than he is for his hit songs. But what about other performers like Jim Ed Brown or Jimmy C. Newman that appear almost every week? Seems to me that the audience wouldn’t mind (and people like me that listen to the Opry almost every week would appreciate it) if some of those weekly slots were doled out to people like Stonewall Jackson and Charlie Louvin.
March 9, 2007 at 2:02 pm Permalink
I don’t know a whole lot about how the Opry operates, or much beyond the general knowledge of what most other people know, but it seems there should be some solution that would make each side at least a little happier. Instead of having an “unwritten rule” or whatever the artists should have received agreements in writing.
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