The 9513 - Country Music Blog

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"

There’s no shortage of songs that fit this theme by artists like Bill Emerson, Buddy Holly, Dale Watson, The Mavericks, Wayne Hancock, Two Dollar Pistols, Garth Brooks, and many, many more. I could dig a little deeper into my music collection and make this a super-sized Friday Five, but that seems sort of at odds [...]

Continue reading "Friday Five: Apathy"

“I figure we live in two worlds – public and private. It seems like I’ve got to prove myself in both all the time. I’ve got to climb mountains right to the top and then find new ones to climb. Whenever I finish writing a song, I always ask myself, ‘Well, Stutterin’ Boy, is that [...]

Continue reading "Forgotten Artists: Mel Tillis"

Kitty Wells is the queen of country music. She’s also the queen of answer songs. Here are my five favorites. 5. “My Cold, Cold Heart Is Melted Now” – Kitty Wells Though it borrows its title from another Hank Williams classic, this one’s set to the tune of “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” If you’ve ever been [...]

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Bobby Braddock, the only living songwriter to have No. 1 country songs in five consecutive decades, commented on the changing landscape of country music in an interview with American Songwriter‘s Michael Kosser: For instance, the song protagonist of, say, the early 1950s is totally different from the one in 2009. For one thing, southerners as [...]

Continue reading "From Crying to Kiss My Ass; Stream Lady Antebellum; Dale Watson’s Heroes"

They just don’t make cars—or country singers—like they used to. 5. “Ol’ Webb’s Bullhorn Pontiac” – Gin Palace Jesters There are countless Nudie suits floating around out there, but only a few Nudie cars. Webb Pierce’s ’62 Bonneville was decorated with over 300 silver dollars, six-shooters, and longhorns. The unabashedly old school Gin Palace Jesters, [...]

Continue reading "Friday Five: Country Stars and Their Cars"

A lifetime spent listening to music has taught me a lot about Saturday night. It is, for example, all right for fighting or going to the movies, not to mention a good night to simultaneously keep dancing to the rock and roll and work on one’s spelling, and those are just the pop songs. Nobody [...]

Continue reading "25 Songs About Saturday Night"

Jack White is scheduled to produce a forthcoming album for Wanda Jackson. Trace Adkins is the new celebrity spokesperson for BC Headache Powder. The only other country artist the company has worked with in its 100-year history is Faron Young. The title track to Jerry Lee Lewis‘ recent EP release, Mean Old Man, was written [...]

Continue reading "Wanda Jackson Finds Producer In Jack White; Dierks Bentley Plans Bluegrass Record"

This is Paul Dennis with the 9513 speaking with Gene Watson, whose new album A Taste of the Truth is being released on Shanachie Records. I think it comes out today, doesn’t it Gene? GW: It was released yesterday, Paul. PAUL W. DENNIS: I’ve had the chance to listen to it. It has a wide [...]

Continue reading "A Conversation With Gene Watson"

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)"