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Stonewall Jackson and Opry Settle Lawsuit
The federal age discrimination lawsuit Stonewall Jackson filed last year against the Grand Ole Opry and its management has been settled, or as Jackson’s attorney, Kirk Clements, words it, “dismissed with prejudice.” Whatever that means.
A spokesman for the 75-year-old singer said Jackson was “very happy to have this lawsuit settled and to be back singing [...]Continue reading "Stonewall Jackson and Opry Settle Lawsuit"
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Hank Williams’ Steel Guitarist, Don Helms, Passed Away Today At 81
Steel guitarist Don Helms, who played on more than 100 Hank Williams recordings, passed away this morning at 81 from an apparent heart attack.
Mr. Helms was the last remaining link to the Drifting Cowboys. His guitar was heard on more than 100 of Williams’ recordings, including “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Cold, Cold Heart” and “I Can’t [...]Continue reading "Hank Williams’ Steel Guitarist, Don Helms, Passed Away Today At 81"
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Stop Cutting Hits: The Story of Lefty Frizzell’s “The Long Black Veil”
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”"
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Obama Boogies Back To Texas With Ray Benson and Joe Ely
An fundraiser for Barack Obama at the Austin Music Hall last night featured country artists Ray Benson and Joe Ely, and Obama himself even joined in for a performance of “Boogie Back to Texas.” The Asleep at the Wheel MySpace blog has several additional pictures.
Chet Flippo weighs in on Kix Brooks’ comments about artists getting [...]Continue reading "Obama Boogies Back To Texas With Ray Benson and Joe Ely"
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The Year in Review: Top 20 Country Music News Stories of 2007
The 9513 began as a country music news site. During the past year we have diversified our content but daily news roundups remain popular among our readers. Thus, it’s only fitting that our Year in Review series for 2007 ends with a roundup of the year’s top country music news stories.
20. Sammy Kershaw’s Troubles. I [...]Continue reading "The Year in Review: Top 20 Country Music News Stories of 2007"
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Aces Beat Kings: Charley Pride Bests Luke Bryan
Luke Bryan got his butt whipped by Charley Pride at a charity poker event in Las Vegas last week.
“I made the final table with Charley. He and I were the chip leaders. There were about four people left, and I got dealt a pair of kings - the money hand. I bet BIG and Charley [...]Continue reading "Aces Beat Kings: Charley Pride Bests Luke Bryan"
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The One And Only April 2007 Mailbag
As the popularity of The 9513 rises, so do the number of questions we receive. The number of questions this month was more than ever, so it took a group effort to get them all answered for y’all. You can view our previous mailbags or send us your questions through our contact form or [...]
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Reba McEntire Duet Album Scheduled For Later This Year And Discussion Continued On Jackson Vs. The Opry
Brad Paisley’s 5th Gear is set to be released on June 19, but according to Country Standard Time, he hasn’t finished recording the album yet. I don’t know if this is some kind of story cautioning fans that it might be delayed, or if it’s simply a means to keep Paisley’s name fresh in people’s [...]
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Billy Joe Shaver Rivals For The Title Of Greatest Country Music Pistolero
James Kelly brought up the issue of “young vs. old” and “new vs. traditional” at the Opry in a piece titled “Are Country Legends too Old to Cut the Mustard?” He cites artists like Loretta Lynn and Willie Nelson who have taken creative chances to create a resurgence in their careers while other like Stonewall [...]
Continue reading "Billy Joe Shaver Rivals For The Title Of Greatest Country Music Pistolero"
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Later Buck Owens Work Released And Drew Kennedy Taking Red Dirt Scene To The Next Rung
More news on the Opry discrimination accusations from Stonewall Jackson. This time Charlie Louvin expresses some of his sentiments on the deal and the general feeling you get is that he feels slighted as well. He lost health insurance coverage for his wife after they scaled his performances back to about 15 a year.
Vince Gill, [...]
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In an attempt to discover and highlight the best music every month, We'll be publishing a list of the best songs released throughout that period. Here's Brady Vercher's picks for October.
For the second episode of The 9513 Country Music Podcast, your host Kelly Dearmore caught up with two seemingly different artists in Sarah Borges and Trent Willmon. Take a listen.
Free Music Downloads: If you’ve only recently come to country music, or have never delved past the genre’s surface and it’s most famous names, you may not have heard of Tom Russell. That’s a shame, and The 9513’s Free Music series is here to help set you down the right path.
Martina McBride - “Ride” Catchy, but a little low on cogency–not to mention originality. And it essentially resolves into the same kind of positive “message song” that has defined so much of McBride’s recent work.
Richie McDonald - “How Do I Just Stop” So gloriously simple and unequivocally lackluster that people of every political persuasion should rejoice in the opportunity to come together and have a hearty laugh at its expense.
Donnie Vondra - “If I Didn’t Love You” Combinining a golden trifecta of country music—steel guitar, fiddle and a strong, twangy vocal—"If I Didn't Love You" pulls together a sweet, toe-tapping ditty reminiscent of Marty Raybon-era Shenandoah.
Lance Miller - “Bacon Frying” A charming country song that is beautiful for its simplicity, a musical remnant from a time when songwriters understood that often the best thing to do is just get out of the song’s way.
John Rich - “Another You” For a guy who is supposed to be a genius songwriter, John Rich sure does seem to be running out of ideas. 
George Ducas - “Walk Through This World” Ducas banks on the success of recent artists’ pleasantly bland lyrics and agreeable instrumentation for his first release with WhiteStar Nashville.
In this exclusive interview for The 9513, Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook talks about life with the band, as well as A Place to Land, the group’s current album, which has charted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart on two separate occasions
Forgotten Artists: Cal Smith - When the Florida Sunshine Opry (Eustis, FL) booked its first “name” (non-local) act back in 1999, the act they chose was Cal Smith. No wonder, since Cal is an excellent singer, musician, storyteller and showman. | View more artists featured in Paul W. Dennis' recurring "Forgotten Artists" feature »
Current Discussion
- idlewildsouth: So making an album to display one of your strengths is arrogant? Wether or not you enjoyed the album, you ...
- Hollerin' Ben: Chris N. "I’m still not sure what’s so arrogant about it." I'd say that cutting an instrumental record where you play fast ...
- Paula_W: This is what I love about country music. Damn shame it’s so hard to find. Amen.
- Trailer: Well, there's this one chord progression on track 3 that subliminally says "I can shred better than Hendrix and my ...
- Kelly: That T-Shirt with the abstract heart shape he wore at the CMA's was amazingly arrogant....like Terrel Owens level arrogant.
- Chris N.: I'm still not sure what's so arrogant about it.
- Walter M: I think you missed some of the better songs on Toby's new album though - I would've picked "Time That ...
- idlewildsouth: Im still lost as to what about the record was arrogant. Its lack of focus? Its lack of 'spirit'?
- Hollerin' Ben: Brady "So then, in regards to my original question, you don’t think there’s anything positive about the record." I don't think there's ...
- Guy: Paisley seems to be a great guy ... and very talented. His success has given him a sandbox to "play" in, ...
