The 9513 - Country Music Blog

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"

Chet Flippo recapped Alan Jackson’s free 20th anniversary concert at Cadillac Ranch on Wednesday night. He also recapped Jackson’s career in his latest Nashville Skyline column.
Gretchen Wilson played a handful of new songs during her opening set at CMA Music Fest and told the audience that she expects a late summer release for her next [...]

Continue reading "Blogs Abuzz With Stories from CMA Music Fest"

After 36 years of publication, Radio & Records is calling it quits.
The current state of affairs has left The Nielsen Company with no other alternative but to immediately cease all services, products and events related to Radio & Records. The magazine’s final edition is the June 5 issue. Electronic products end today, the Web site [...]

Continue reading "Musician’s Hall Announces Inductees; Radio & Records Closes Doors"

Christie’s announced yesterday that a poem written by Bob Dylan when he was 16 would be up for auction, however a reader alerted Reuters that the lyrics matched “Little Buddy,” a song previously recorded by Hank Snow. Christie’s response:
“This still remains among the earliest known handwritten lyrics of Bob Dylan and Christie’s is pleased to [...]

Continue reading "Purported Bob Dylan Poem Is Actually A Hank Snow Song"

Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy became the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday in a ceremony that included tributes from Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Alison Krauss, Josh Turner, Michael McDonald, Rodney Crowell and others.
Reba McEntire is scheduled to sign autographs at CMA Fest for the first [...]

Continue reading "Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark & Charlie McCoy Take Their Place In Hall of Fame"

Now that John Michael Montgomery has the freedom that comes with owning his own record label, he plans to cut an album of his favorite Outlaw hits from the ’70s and early ’80s. He’s working with Time Life on the project, which he plans to record late summer/early fall.
Dateline NBC is devoting an entire hour [...]

Continue reading "John Michael Montgomery Will Cover Outlaw Hits For New Album"

Miranda Lambert’s “Dead Flowers” is now available on iTunes and Amazon for the new and improved price of $1.29.
NPR’s World Cafe has an audio interview with Jamey Johnson along with performances of “High Cost of Living,” “In Color,” “That Lonesome Song” and a web-only outtake of “Nothing Is Better Than You.”
Via Rodney Hayden’s newsletter:
The New [...]

Continue reading "Miranda Lambert Releases “Dead Flowers” To Digital Outlets"

Country legend Vern Gosdin passed away in his sleep last night at the age of 74.
But Gosdin found his greatest success doing mainstream country, as he scored No. 1 singles with “I Can Tell by the Way You Dance,” the Ernest Tubb quasi-tribute “Set ‘Em Up” and “I’m Still Crazy.”
His recording of “Chiseled in [...]

Continue reading "Country Legend Vern Gosdin Passed Away"

It’s rare to experience an artist in his or her most comfortable environment: Seeing them hanging out with friends, swapping stories and answering questions about songs isn’t exactly par for the average concert course. I was lucky enough to stop by a private show Rodney Hayden and Drew Kennedy held the night before the Raleigh, [...]

Continue reading "A Look Back As New American Voices Begins Texas Run"

The current issue of Rolling Stone has a profile of Kris Kristofferson in which actor Ethan Hawke recalled a confrontation between Kristofferson and an unnamed country singer at Willie Nelson’s 70th birthday party in 2003. The Tennessean then ran a story about that story and identified the unnamed singer as Toby Keith. However, a furious [...]

Continue reading "Toby Keith Confronts Music Journalist Peter Cooper"