The 9513 - Country Music Blog

This week’s Friday Five is inspired by a re-watching of the Keanu Reeves masterpiece Point Break; however, since there are no country songs about a gang of criminal surfers, we’ll just go with the bank robbing aspect. Here are my five favorite songs about bank robbers both real and fictional. Honorable Mention: Ty Herndon’s single [...]

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Davin Alvin will make a guest appearance in, and wrote a new song for, the second season of the FX channel’s crime-drama series Justified. My pal Kelly Dearmore digs the new Hayes Carll record, KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories), even if it doesn’t exactly make him forget about its predecessor. [...] this is the [...]

Continue reading "Dave Alvin Scores TV Gig; Randy Traywick’s (Travis) Publicity Photo; The Grascals Find Success with Cracker Barrel"

The Grascals are royalty on the bluegrass scene, having won SPBGMA’s Bluegrass Band of the Year award in 2010, the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2005 and earning its Entertainer of the Year honor in both 2006 and 2007. Danny Roberts began playing guitar to back up his fiddling [...]

Continue reading "The Grascals Dream of Joining the Opry As They Approach Their 100th Appearance"

Singer, songwriter, and Sirius deejay Dallas Wayne has been announced as the replacement for Gary Claxton in the band Heybale. The Austin Chronicle‘s Margaret Moser published a really cool profile on Elizabeth McQueen, who in turn, dishes out a lot of praise for Ray Benson and Willie Nelson. The Smilin’ Irishman of Country Music James [...]

Continue reading "Dallas Wayne Added to Heybale Lineup; The Smilin’ Irishman of Country Music Passed Away; Lionel Richie Recording Country Duets"

Universal Music Group is donating some 200,000 vintage master recordings to the Library of Congress for preservation and digitizing, the majority of which is out of print. UMG is holding on to the copyrights though, which will still allow the company to commercially release the best stuff once it’s cleaned up and sorted through. “Hopefully,” [...]

Continue reading "UMG Donates 200,000 Songs to Library of Congress; Gurf Morlix Covers Blaze Foley; Country Music Sales Down In 2010"

One of the best elements of a Grascals album is their choice in covers, which have included their own versions of songs made famous by Jennings, Jones, and Haggard–just to name a few. The sextet’s blend of bluegrass and classic country makes them one of the most entertaining, most consistent bands in roots music. The [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: The Grascals – The Grascals & Friends"

Here’s a briefer for the past couple of weeks: Shania Twain got married. So did Kellie Pickler. The Grascals’ Terry Eldredge got engaged. LeAnn Rimes got new boobs and engaged. The Shania and LeAnn stories seem to be the biggest, and of course there are other stories and links that were missed during my hiatus, [...]

Continue reading "George Jones, Charlie Louvin, & Ralph Stanley Hospitalized In the Past Week; Year End Lists; RIP Gary Claxton"

2010 has been an excellent year for bluegrass music. Whether your taste in bluegrass is traditional, progressive, or somewhere in between, you probably ended the year with an extensive playlist of new favorites. Here are our favorite bluegrass albums of the past year. Stylistically, these records are all over the spectrum. There are the usual [...]

Continue reading "Top 10 Bluegrass Albums of 2010"

Tim McGraw on his relationship with his label, Curb Records: Pressed on why 20 years was too long, Tim caught himself and pulled a few of his punches while answering. “Look, I think there comes a time when you’ve gotten everything out of each other that you can … When a relationship doesn’t work mutually [...]

Continue reading "Tim McGraw Nears the End of His Record Contract; Joe Nichols Readies Hits; Taylor Swift at Ed Sullivan Theater"

Merle Haggard was among the honorees praised during Sunday night’s Kennedy Center Honors gala. The Recording Academy announced inductees for the 2011 GRAMMY Hall of Fame, an institution set up to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old. Songs in the country category include: “Lovesick Blues” by [...]

Continue reading "Merle Haggard Praised at Kennedy Center Honors; Songs From Hank, Willie, & Bob Wills Added to GRAMMY Hall of Fame"