On the “Hick-Libs”
While the hick-lib celebrities would have us believe that Appalachia and rural Oklahoma is home to covert gay coal miners and queer cowboys, the overwhelming majority of those who they claim to represent can be found
Louis Michot: Cajun, Zydeco, Old Timey, Race, Solo Records & a Humble Genuis that is “Rêve du Troubadour”
Join us as we sit down with Louis Michot (best known as the fiddle player and lead-singer for the Grammy award winning Lost Bayou Ramblers, but blowing minds on the sonic masterpiece that is his solo
Blood, Grit, and Hoedowns: The Dead South “Chains and Stakes” Album Review
The Dead South are back with another masterful album of bluegrass framed Americana. On Chains and Stakes...
It’s Been Awhile for Shane Smith and the Saints
by Benji Magness Shane Smith and the Saints just released a new single “It’s Been Awhile” ahead of their forthcoming album “Norther” (dropping March 1st). “It’s Been Awhile” captures the universal sadness and desire of the
How Important Is Authenticity? A Question for Sam Williams (Gay Grandson of Hank)
by Amos White How Important Is Authenticity? Most country music fans, and certainly the classic country fans, will remember Tammy Wynette’s heartbreaking song “Til I Can Make It On My Own” which was one of her
Remembering Buck Owens and The Buckaroos
by Donald Jacobs A common conversation regarding Country and Western music often goes something like this: Person 1: “Ya know, I love Country music, I’m
Stephen Wilson Jr. Channels the Digable Planets and Drops Your New Favorite Song
Stephen Wilson Jr, America’s best living songwriter, just dropped your new favorite song: “Patches.” I signed up for Stephen Wilson Jr.’s text notifications awhile back
Dixie Dewdrop: The Uncle Dave Macon Story with Michael Doubler
Join us as we sit at the table with Michael Doubler to discuss his book “Dixie Dewdrop,” the amazing story of his great grandfather, Uncle Dave Macon. As one of the earliest performers on WSM radio in Nashville, Uncle Dave became the Grand Ole Opry’s first superstar. His old-time music and energetic stage shows made him a national sensation and fueled a thirty-year run as one of America’s most beloved entertainers. Known as the “Dixie Dewdrop” Uncle Dave Macon learned the banjo from…
Review of Weathervanes by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – “Running Through the Red Lights”
As the master storyteller Jason Isbell has shown us over the years, life is hard. Relationships fail, our decisions, good or bad, can haunt us, regret, pain, loss, triumphs, addictions, glimmers of hope, and everything in the middle make up this world we were born into. In Weathervanes, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit take a deep dive into the physical, spiritual, and emotional frailty of being human. If you assumed the album would lean toward the darker side when you saw “Death Wish” as the first track, then your assumptions were correct…
An Interview With Kimberly Perry on Motherhood, Her Husband’s Perfect Hair & “If I Die Young Pt. 2”
Since 2009, Kimberly Perry has captivated audiences with her showstopping vocals, lyrical eloquence, and superstar presence. As one-third of the Grammy® Award-winning superstar sibling trio
Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History with Kristina Gaddy & Pete Ross
Join us as we sit down at the table with Kristina Gaddy and Pete Ross to discuss Kristina’s new book “Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History.” Named one of 2022’s Most Memorable Music Books by No Depression: The Journal of Roots Music, it’s an illuminating history of the banjo, revealing its origins at the crossroads of slavery, religion, and music. In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina uncovers the banjo’s key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo’s beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood- and how these slaves carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas and the Caribbean…
The 1927 Bristol Sessions: The “Big Bang” of Country Music? Ted Olson | PART 2
In the summer of 1927, nineteen bands/musicians responded to an ad in a newspaper for an opportunity to be a part of a recording session
The 1927 Bristol Sessions: The “Big Bang” of Country Music? Ted Olson | PART 1
In the summer of 1927, nineteen bands/musicians responded to an ad in a newspaper for an opportunity to be a part of a recording session in Bristol, Tennessee. Some of the most well-known and influential names in American music were there…
These recordings were no doubt a key moment in country music’s evolution. In this episode, we interview Dr. Ted Olson and discuss whether or not the Bristol Sessions were in fact the “Big Bang” of country music…
The Classic Western Tale by a PostModern Country Boy: Review of Sturgill Simpson’s The Ballad of Dood and Juanita
Stripping back the progressive country style, Simpson takes us back to 1862 in a very William Munny-esque saga of a violent, dead eye who is reformed from his ways by the alluring love of Juanita. They start a family but their idyllic country peace is interrupted by the bandit Seamus McClure. Thus sparking Dood, along with Shamrock his mule and his hound Sam on a dangerous quest to recover the love of his life and mother of his children…
James McMurtry Groomer or Hero?
James McMurtry is a staple in Texas red dirt country/singer-country music – but James McMurtry out-of-touch with both reality and Tennessee law because he wants a 40 year old man’s moose-knuckle in your kindergartner’s face. Last week while playing in Tennessee the confused singer wore a red dress to protest the state’s “anti-drag legislation.”
Heartbreak and Cowshit: Review of White Buffalo by Ian Munsick
by N.T. McQueen The sophomore offering from Wyoming native Ian Munsick hits all the right buttons for country fans. Touching on themes of family, faith,
“Bon Aqua” A Refreshing Dive into the Depths of Stephen Wilson Jr’s Country Brilliance
If Stephen Wilson Jr was a cult, I would be an evangelist and baptize he who has ears to hear in Wilson’s album, “Bon Aqua”.
“Bon Aqua” is easily the best album the last 5 years and with this release Stephen Wilson Jr. has solidified his status as one of the best living songwriters of our time (yes, we did just make that claim).
I’ll never forget when I first heard Stephen Wilson Jr.’s music. Only a select few other artists have stopped me like Wilson (Nirvana, Garth Brooks, Jawbreaker, and The Avett Brothers). When I first clicked on Wilson’s “The Devil” these parched ears were instantly satiated. The sonic satisfaction and complexity…
Country Music Fans Rejoice: Kimberly Perry’s Return Marks a New Era in the Genre!
If you’re a country music fan, chances are you well remember The Band Perry. The sibling trio were ushered onto the scene in the late
Luke Combs in a Fast Car
Y’all probably know that Luke Combs has a new album out: “Gettin’ Old.” What you might not know is that he does an awesome cover
Top 5 Versions of “Man of Constant Sorrow” (1928 – Present)
We first heard George Clooney’s new song “Man of Constant Sorrow” in O Brother Where Art Thou? and a new world of music was opened to the masses. We only later found out the song was neither new nor sung by George Clooney. Clooney was lipping over the flawless high lonesome chops of Dan Tyminski (of Allison Krauss and “Hey Brother” fame). Here are the top 5 versions starting with a 1928 rendition…