The 9513 - Country Music Blog

If Jeff Hanna sounds like he’s done and seen it all—it’s probably because he has. As a member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for 43 years, Hanna has played the 1984 Olympics, won GRAMMY awards, and has graced stages from the states to Japan. As part of the NGDB, Hanna has had songs atop [...]

Continue reading "Jeff Hanna Is Proud That Nitty Girtty Dirt Band’s Circle Remains Unbroken"

Disclaimer: Expect no objectivity at all from me with this article. Along with Webb Pierce and Merle Haggard, Ernest Tubb is one of my all-time favorite country artists. Yes, I know he started out most songs a quarter tone flat and worked his way flatter from there, and yes, I know that 80% of The [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Ernest Tubb (1914-1984)"

As always, just some songs I liked, one song per artist, not necessarily the biggest hit, (although I feel free to comment on other songs by the artist).
“Let’s All Go Down The River” – Jody Miller & Johnny Paycheck (1972)
A nice country cover of an old gospel song–how could you go wrong with this [...]

Continue reading "Great Country Songs from the 1970s, Pt. 5"

Last year, truckloads of tapes were pulled from a barn in Pennsylvania. On the tapes were thousands of unreleased live recordings by Ken Alexander, who traveled to concerts setting up sound systems for venues. The recordings were made at high schools, dances, fairs, festivals, and auditoriums and include performances from George Jones, Dolly Parton, Hank [...]

Continue reading "Decades Old Recordings Discovered In Pennsylvania Barn"

It is unlikely that any modern country performer will ever have a career quite like that of Lecil Travis “Boxcar Willie” Martin. Dressed in the attire of a railroad hobo and blessed with a unique ability to imitate the sounds of train whistles, Boxcar Willie carried on the grand tradition of country music on the [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Boxcar Willie (1931-1999)"

Give Me The Beat Boys and Free My Soul
I Want To Get Lost In Your Country Song
And Drift Away
Sam Phillips’ Sun Studios in Memphis had quite a coterie of performers during the mid 1950s: Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Harold Lloyd Jenkins (aka Conway Twitty), Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, Carl Mann, Warren Smith, [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Narvel Felts"

20. Joey + Rory Rising: A Talent Competition Actually Finds Talent
Outside of American Idol winner Carrie Underwood and Nashville Star castoff Miranda Lambert, the spate of talent competitions that we’ve endured since the advent of reality TV has produced few artists who could be said to possess a level of talent that aligns them with [...]

Continue reading "The Year In Review: Top 20 Country Music News Stories Of 2008"

The New Republic caused a stir yesterday by announcing that Tim McGraw was seriously considering a gubernatorial run in the state of Tennessee for 2010, but Music City TV’s Brad Schmitt was told it ain’t gonna happen. If, or when, McGraw decides to throw his shiny, black cowboy hat into the gubernatorial political race he [...]

Continue reading "Tim McGraw May Or May Not Be Seriously Considering 2010 Gubernatorial Run"

Just in time for the holidays, Joey+Rory created a “Sleighbell Mix” of their song “Cheater Cheater” and posted it on MySpace. Unfortunately, they removed the hip hop inspired “King Mix” before I had a chance to listen to it, but based on forum response, I didn’t miss much.
The Austin Chronicle’s Doug Freeman says honky-tonk can’t [...]

Continue reading "Ho, Ho, Ho: Joey+Rory Add Holiday Spirit to “Cheater Cheater” Remix"

For years the Country Music Hall of Fame was caught in the position where many deserving performers had died off before their turn for induction arrived. This was mostly due to the Hall’s practice of electing only one new member per year (and in at least one year, electing no one).
By the time the [...]

Continue reading "Who the Country Music Hall of Fame Should Induct Next"