The 9513 - Country Music Blog

Austin native and fiddler Amy Farris, who was part of the group The Guilty Women that played with Dave Alvin, was found dead at her residence in Los Angeles at the age of 40. Suicide is suspected, although an investigation is still underway.
Alt-512 Music Musings posted audio of Corb Lund’s CD-release show at Threadgill’s on [...]

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If the ghosts of Hank Thompson, Buddy Holly, and Doug Sahm could have been anywhere Saturday night, it would have been in the rafters of Gruene Hall watching the splendor of the Tejas Brothers. Whether it was the thrill of playing in the vaunted dance hall, the reunion with Eleven Hundred Springs–a band that’s cheered [...]

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Ladies and gentlemen, after weeks of mulling over nearly every country album released last year, we’re proud to present The 9513’s Best Country Songs of 2008.
To be eligible, a song may not have appeared on 2007’s Top 50 list, and all significant covers have been excluded. Also, please note that a song need not [...]

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Kid Rock, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney signed on to headline next year’s Stagecoach festival in California. Billboard has a list of other initial performers that includes Jerry Jeff Walker, Miranda Lambert and Dale Watson.
In her appearance on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show yesterday morning, Taylor Swift revealed that she was, in fact, dating [...]

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Since 1989, Monday Night Football has been associated with Hank Williams Jr.’s “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight,” and this season will continue the tradition. The 59 year-old singer will shoot the new video next month in Los Angeles, and each week will feature team specific lyrics.
Twenty years ago the Dallas Observer launched [...]

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The 43rd Academy of Country Music Awards saw a 27 percent increase in viewers from 2007 and the artists who performed during the show saw a dramatic increase in sales. In light of the positive news, Orly Adelson, President of Dick Clark Productions, said, “We are very excited about what lies ahead and are accelerating [...]

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In conversation, as well as in my writing, I’m often dismissive of current, corporate, country music radio, so it’s typical to field accusations of “elitism,” of trying to pigeonhole country music’s sound into an early 60’s George Jones mold for narrow-minded nostalgia’s sake, and of requiring that every song have the pretense of earth-shaking [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Eleven Hundred Springs – Country Jam"

News on John Michael Montgomery’s website says the country singer has checked himself into rehab for substance abuse and canceled all appearances for the next 30 days.
“I will be disappearing for a while to try and defeat the demons that have stripped me of my energy of life and good health for so many years [...]

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As remarkable as Eddy Arnold’s country music career was, Chet Flippo says, “his lasting legacy will be that he made the world safe for country pop music.” Flippo also pulled a snippet from a CMT interview where Arnold recalled one of the first times he recognized the split between pop and hillbilly music.
Peter Cooper says [...]

Continue reading "Country Music Writers Remember Eddy Arnold"

Country Music Hall of Famer Eddy Arnold passed away early this morning at age 89.
Before Garth Brooks came along, Arnold was easily country music’s biggest record-seller. Sales of his discs from the mid-1940s to the present, in every recorded medium from 78s to CDs, have topped 80 million. Along the way, Arnold became a key [...]

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