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The Demise of No Depression
The alt-country music magazine No Depression will cease to exist after publishing the May-June issue. The current issue of the magazine contains a statement that basically says the decline in music sales is adversely affecting their means to make money. Despite what the magazine’s title reads, that’s pretty depressing news.
Marty Stuart recalls the first time [...] -
Your Essential Willie Nelson Songs
Michael Corcoran lists “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain” as the number one essential Willie Nelson song and asks, “Which Willie Nelson songs can you not live without?” It’s hard to argue with his list, but seeing as though it wasn’t included in the list of ten, I’d have to say the Townes Van Zandt [...]
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Album Review: Ashton Shepherd - Sounds So Good
It’s tough for some traditional country fans to admit that the days when every budding country music star steps off the bus in Nashville from the cottonfields of Dyess, Arkansas or the coal mines of Butcher Holler, Kentucky are over. This shift accelerated in the 1990s, when Windsor, Ontario native Shania Twain became the [...]
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Your Take: Visionary Collaborations
Collaboration between established artists has created some interesting and successful pairings throughout country music’s lifetime. Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, Alan Jackson and George Strait, and with the advent of technology, Alison Krauss & Keith Whitley, and Hank Williams and Bocephus. Last year, Raising [...]
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Drive By Truckers Album, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, Steps Into the Light
The new Drive By Truckers’ album is a whopping 74 minutes long, and the Houston Chronicle’s Andrew Dansby says even that is after a trim. Joshua Klein suggests that the 19-song Brighter Than Creation’s Dark may be the band’s strongest record in his in-depth interview with the band for Pitchfork Media.
Mark Cuban emphatically declares the [...]Continue reading "Drive By Truckers Album, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, Steps Into the Light"
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John Rich & Gretchen Wilson No-Shows at Alabama Concert
Gretchen Wilson, John Rich, and Cowboy Troy failed to appear at a concert designed to honor Sam Phillips. Although not scheduled to appear Big Kenny filled in for the no-shows. An attorney for the radio station that organized the events says the non-appearances are a breach of contract while a spokesperson for Gretchen Wilson cites [...]
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Artists to Watch in 2008 (Part 3 of 5): Buzzworthy
We’re halfway home, kids! So far this week we’ve looked at mostly familiar faces–a handful of veterans trying to maneuver their way through the obstacles of the industry and make an impact in ‘08. But today is when things start to get exciting. Over the next three days I’ll be introducing you to a number [...]
Continue reading "Artists to Watch in 2008 (Part 3 of 5): Buzzworthy"
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The Best Country Songs of 2007
First off, Happy New Year to everyone. To start the new year off, we’ve compiled a list of the best songs from 2007. The staff had a lengthy discussion about which songs should be available for nomination for such a list and we decided that a song had to be an original recording on an [...]
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Tune In To GAC and Celebrate Opry Month
Another day, another Ashton Shepherd story. Music Remedy received a unique preview of her debut album:
Blink and you might miss tiny Leroy, Alabama, but if your ears are open, you just might hear it. The pure, clear, country voice of Ashton Shepherd lilts through the evening air in Leroy from a place called The Pickin’ [...] -
“Singer Nelson Begins Prison Term…”
Our readers seem to be just as excited as I am about Ashton Shepherd. Chet Flippo shares that enthuiasm and tells a pretty cool story:
She was “discovered” a few weeks ago at an Alabama fair at a Lorrie Morgan concert.
As I heard it, the opening act had to cancel, and so the promoter invited people [...]
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In an attempt to discover and highlight the best music every month, We'll be publishing a list of the best songs released throughout that period. Here's Brady Vercher's picks for October.
For the second episode of The 9513 Country Music Podcast, your host Kelly Dearmore caught up with two seemingly different artists in Sarah Borges and Trent Willmon. Take a listen.
Free Music Downloads: If you’ve only recently come to country music, or have never delved past the genre’s surface and it’s most famous names, you may not have heard of Tom Russell. That’s a shame, and The 9513’s Free Music series is here to help set you down the right path.
Martina McBride - “Ride” Catchy, but a little low on cogency–not to mention originality. And it essentially resolves into the same kind of positive “message song” that has defined so much of McBride’s recent work.
Richie McDonald - “How Do I Just Stop” So gloriously simple and unequivocally lackluster that people of every political persuasion should rejoice in the opportunity to come together and have a hearty laugh at its expense.
Donnie Vondra - “If I Didn’t Love You” Combinining a golden trifecta of country music—steel guitar, fiddle and a strong, twangy vocal—"If I Didn't Love You" pulls together a sweet, toe-tapping ditty reminiscent of Marty Raybon-era Shenandoah.
Lance Miller - “Bacon Frying” A charming country song that is beautiful for its simplicity, a musical remnant from a time when songwriters understood that often the best thing to do is just get out of the song’s way.
John Rich - “Another You” For a guy who is supposed to be a genius songwriter, John Rich sure does seem to be running out of ideas. 
George Ducas - “Walk Through This World” Ducas banks on the success of recent artists’ pleasantly bland lyrics and agreeable instrumentation for his first release with WhiteStar Nashville.
In this exclusive interview for The 9513, Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook talks about life with the band, as well as A Place to Land, the group’s current album, which has charted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart on two separate occasions
Forgotten Artists: Cal Smith - When the Florida Sunshine Opry (Eustis, FL) booked its first “name” (non-local) act back in 1999, the act they chose was Cal Smith. No wonder, since Cal is an excellent singer, musician, storyteller and showman. | View more artists featured in Paul W. Dennis' recurring "Forgotten Artists" feature »
Current Discussion
- Matt C.: Yeah, Kenny, that leak from your publicist totally makes me believe that you are "dating" that Miss Tennessee chick.
- Nicolas: Well the Xmas remix was good, so nicely done Joey+Rory I forgive you guys for that terrible hip-hop "King mix" :) ...
- SMB: A better question might be "how do I suck up to Taylor Swift and convince her to produce my album?" The ...
- WhiskeyChick: Hah! I love it! Perhaps I should post my own email Q&A at some point... some of the questions I ...
- Mayor Jobob: I thought this was Blake Shelton!!!!
- mikeky: actually, many have argued that dylan has a great voice. it's as expressive a voice that's recording today. ...
- Mayor Jobob: He wasted his chances with that last album. There were so many good songs on that album but he decided ...
- Mayor Jobob: Let me add that with this album as well as with Garth's "The Life of Chris Gaines". I wish he ...
- Mayor Jobob: I wouldn't call this album a car crash, but this is background noise compared to Throttleneck, Timewarp, and The Nervous ...
- Razor X: I actually agree with something on NPR's site. First time for everything.
