The 9513 - Country Music Blog

Ruby Wright, the daughter of Johnny Wright and Kitty Wells, was found dead in her apartment on Sunday. The cause of death was presumably heart problems.
Ms. Wright’s best known single was her 1964 “answer” to Roger Miller’s “Dang Me.” Her version was called “Dern Ya,” and it was featured in the Country Music Hall of [...]

Continue reading "Ruby Wright Passed Away; New Releases; Holly Williams Married; Stream Cash’s ‘The List’"

Corb Lund is scheduled to release his first live DVD sometime this month. Until then, audio from the sold-out show featured in the DVD — which took place at Rexall Place in Alberta last year — can be streamed from CBC Radio 2. (via A Truer Sound)
Despite his status as the second biggest selling artist [...]

Continue reading "Live Corb Lund DVD Coming Soon; Garth Brooks’ Lone Top 40 Hit"

Clint Black filed a lawsuit against his manager/accountant, Charles Sussman. Black asserts that Sussman and his firm “repeatedly engaged in self-dealing, negligence, and/or gross negligence” in steering his finances. Part of the dispute involves Little Big Town. Black believed the band was signed to a long-term deal with Equity Records, the independent record label in [...]

Continue reading "Dealing Blind: Clint Black Files Lawsuit Against His Manager"

Billboard posted a slew of lists commemorating their 50th anniversary, but the most interesting, for the sake of country, is the Top Billboard Hot 100 Country Songs. Johnny Horton takes the top spot with the perennial favorite “Battle of New Orleans,” but at a quick glance it appears that Olivia Newton-John has the most representation [...]

Continue reading "Johnny Horton Tops List of Most Popular Country Songs From Past 50 Years"

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announced the names of 15 nominees being considered for 2008 inclusion. Ten of the nominees are songwriters, two of which will be inducted, and one from the group of 5 songwriter/artists will be included. Songwriters: Matraca Berg, Paul Craft, Kye Fleming, Larry Henley, John Jarrard, Bob Morrison, Mark D. [...]

Continue reading "Nominees Announced For Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame"

Born in Glendale, Arizona as Martin David Robison in 1925, Marty Robbins spent his childhood idolizing Gene Autry and the cowboy way. “I wanted to be Gene Autry,” he once said. “I wanted to ride off into the sunset.”
His penchant for the the Old West was further fed by romanticized stories told by his [...]

Continue reading "A Nation’s Affair With Western Culture: The Story of Marty Robbins’ “El Paso”"

Lefty Frizzell rivaled and might have been bigger than Hank Williams in 1951, placing four songs in the top ten at the same time, a feat that’s never been matched. Like Williams, he led a turbulent life, mostly due to his own bad habits, but it was his friend Hank who was immortalized by an [...]

Continue reading "Stop Cutting Hits: The Story of Lefty Frizzell’s “The Long Black Veil”"

War. It is the central issue of contemporary American political debate. It is also an unfortunate and deeply personal part of the American culture. War affects the way we see our place in the world, our duty to our nation, and our role within our communities. It can bond families in solidarity and it can [...]

Continue reading "20 Top War and Soldier Songs"

I came across an interesting story on NPR about country music and it’s conservative roots. It’s in audio format, so I tried to write out some of the highlights. All of this research was done by Lester Feder, a political and popular culture writer, at the National Archives.
Feder says that prior to the late [...]

Continue reading "Thank You, Mr. President – A Country Music Tribute Album To President Nixon"