The 9513 - Country Music Blog

With five wins, Lady Antebellum came out on top at last night’s Grammys. Other winners in the countryish categories included: Diamond Rio (southern, country or bluegrass gospel album), Patty Griffin (traditional gospel album), Patty Loveless (bluegrass album), Keith Urban (best male country vocal performance), Zac Brown Band/Alan Jackson (country collaboration with vocals), Marty Stuart (country [...]

Continue reading "Lady Antebellum Leads Grammy Winners; Brandon Rhyder Covers Don Williams; The Infamous Stringdusters Live Session"

Ed Crowell covered the taping of the last Austin City Limits show at Studio 6A for the Austin American-Statesman. It will air on Saturday. Alison Krauss, who has a new album titled Paper Airplanes scheduled for an April release, on whether she listens to the melody or lyrics first when choosing new songs: Lyrics, usually. [...]

Continue reading "Watch Lyle Lovett on ‘Austin City Limits’ Tomorrow; Remembering Charlie Louvin; New Site Helps Indie Bluegrass Bands"

Joe Diffie‘s new album, Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album, was originally scheduled to be released later this month, but has now been pushed back to Oct. 26. Farce the Music’s August edition of parodied album covers features multiple appearances from Craig Morgan. In his chat with ESPN yesterday, Blake Shelton named his biggest musical influence, explained [...]

Continue reading "Joe Diffie Delays Bluegrass Album; Blake Shelton Eyes Opry; Dierks Bentley Announces Next Single"

Dierks Bentley is heading to Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth on Sunday for his Miles & Music for Kids concert. Brandon Rhyder, Kristen Kelly & The Modern Day Drifters, and Roger Creager will be there, and even though Jack Ingram, Stoney LaRue, and Eli Young Band aren’t officially listed, DC9 at Night’s Daniel Hopkins [...]

Continue reading "Dierks Bentley’s Miles & Music For Kids; Jack Ingram Refocuses; The SteelDrivers Schedule Second Release"

Sony Music Nashville head honcho Joe Galante — the man responsible for launching/guiding the careers of acts like Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Chris Young, Carrie Underwood, and many more — announced his plans to leave the company after a nearly 40-year career. Galante is expected to assist his replacement, Gary Overton, transition into his CEO [...]

Continue reading "Joe Galante’s Departure; Lyric Street Closing; Blake Shelton Lands Record Fish; Rodney Hayden & Friends Lineup"

With “I Gotta Get to You” reaching No. 9 on Billboard‘s top country songs chart George Strait set a new record; he became the first act to hit the top 10 on any Billboard chart for 30 straight years. If it weren’t for an improperly placed drainfield that disrupted the sale of David Ball‘s Nashville [...]

Continue reading "George Strait Sets Record; Hank Williams Receives Posthumous Pulitzer Award; New Dixie Chicks Compilation"

Jessica Harp announced on her website that she’s leaving her career as a recording artist to become a full-time songwriter. Chris Price and Joe Harland, producers for BBC and MTV, went on a cross-country search for the spirit of Gram Parsons for a project they call Missing Parsons. Along the way, they received a lesson [...]

Continue reading "Jessica Harp Reconsiders Career Choice; WSM Enlists New DJs: Dierks Bentley, Pam Tillis, & Jim Lauderdale"

Legendary fiddler Johnny Gimble humorously remembers an event that most people wouldn’t think of as funny: Even after suffering a massive stroke in 1999, Gimble found some humor in the situation. “When the doctors showed me an X-ray of my brain, they pointed to a black hole on the upper left side and told me [...]

Continue reading "Johnny Gimble Remebers “Orange Blossom Special;” New Releases; Trace Adkins’ Bus Involved in Fatal Accident"

Ken Tucker says George Strait‘s true precursors are gentleman crooners Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold, but he goes on to note that even those comparisons don’t quite fit: “Strait is his own man, ornery and independent in a quiet but firm way. Neither Reeves nor Arnold, for example, ever recorded a song about killing a [...]

Continue reading "The Best Video of All Time, Courtesy of Willie Nelson"

How ’bout those CMT Awards? Calvin Gilbert has a straightforward recap of the evening. Brad Paisley won three awards, Taylor Swift rapped with T-Pain (are they releasing a crunktry album together?) and won two of her own awards. During an acceptance speech she thanked CMT for allowing her to sing with her heroes, Def Leppard. [...]

Continue reading "Brad Paisley Wins Big; Hank Cochran Honored; Sugarland Plans Live CD/DVD"