Wes Anderson’s latest endeavor Asteroid City is making its crash-landing into theaters this Friday, June 23rd, and it has a fitting soundtrack to match. As a preview, Jarvis Cocker has shared one of his contributions to the film called “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven),” a single he wrote with Anderson and his former Pulp bandmate Richard Hawley. The song also features Seu Jorge, who was prominently featured on the soundtrack for Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Considering Asteroid City takes place in a desert town in 1955, the soundtrack comes chock-full of period-setting tunes like classic bluegrass and country as well as mid-century pop. Along with a couple of originals from Cocker are songs by Bing Crosby, The Springfields (featuring a young Dusty Springfield), Burl Ives, Tex Ritter, and many more, as well as a score by Alexandre Desplat.
Cocker is just one of many voices...
Considering Asteroid City takes place in a desert town in 1955, the soundtrack comes chock-full of period-setting tunes like classic bluegrass and country as well as mid-century pop. Along with a couple of originals from Cocker are songs by Bing Crosby, The Springfields (featuring a young Dusty Springfield), Burl Ives, Tex Ritter, and many more, as well as a score by Alexandre Desplat.
Cocker is just one of many voices...
- 6/20/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Music
Myron Elkins is one of those guys who seems to have stepped out of another time. At just 22, the former welder from the small town of Otsego, Michigan — closest city: Kalamazoo — drops names like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Al Green when recounting his musical mileposts. But he’s also fully aware that he’s a white man from the Midwest and that any claim he has to vintage soul music goes through one of his state’s most celebrated blue-collar singers.
“I have this thing, almost like a ‘worthy...
“I have this thing, almost like a ‘worthy...
- 5/5/2023
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Willie Nelson has now been selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. But it not the first time that someone is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and the rock institution in Cleveland. In fact, he is the 16th inductee into both halls. Nelson was voted into the country music museum back in 1993.
The list of 15 people so far only includes two women — Brenda Lee and Dolly Parton. The king of rock and roll — Elvis Presley — is among the group, along with solo singers Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Monroe, Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. Instrumentalists are Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer and Johnny Gimble. Sun Records founder Sam Phillips is included along with two groups — the Everly Brothers and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.
Tour our photo gallery to find out more about each person and when they were...
The list of 15 people so far only includes two women — Brenda Lee and Dolly Parton. The king of rock and roll — Elvis Presley — is among the group, along with solo singers Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Monroe, Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. Instrumentalists are Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer and Johnny Gimble. Sun Records founder Sam Phillips is included along with two groups — the Everly Brothers and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.
Tour our photo gallery to find out more about each person and when they were...
- 5/5/2023
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday celebration gathered an eclectic group of well-wishers including Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, and The Chicks for the first of two performances at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl on Saturday. Watch fan-captured footage from the event below.
“Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, A Star-Studded Concert Celebrating Willie’s 90th Birthday” kicked off with perhaps the roster’s youngest performer, Billy Strings, who played two Shotgun Willie staples, “Whiskey River” and “Stay a Little Longer.” He later returned to back Bob Weir on a rendition of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” from Nelson’s classic 1975 LP, Red Headed Stranger, which received further looks from the likes of Norah Jones, Beck, and Tyler Childers.
Country as a genre was well represented between The Chicks, Margo Price, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, and more, but the set also spanned Nelson’s many musical phases and stages with covers from Tom Jones,...
“Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, A Star-Studded Concert Celebrating Willie’s 90th Birthday” kicked off with perhaps the roster’s youngest performer, Billy Strings, who played two Shotgun Willie staples, “Whiskey River” and “Stay a Little Longer.” He later returned to back Bob Weir on a rendition of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” from Nelson’s classic 1975 LP, Red Headed Stranger, which received further looks from the likes of Norah Jones, Beck, and Tyler Childers.
Country as a genre was well represented between The Chicks, Margo Price, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, and more, but the set also spanned Nelson’s many musical phases and stages with covers from Tom Jones,...
- 4/30/2023
- by Bryan Kress
- Consequence - Music
Willie Nelson is a front-runner to be selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. If that happens, it will not be the first time that someone is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and the rock institution in Cleveland. In fact, he would be the 16th inductee into both halls. Nelson was voted into the country music museum back in 1993.
SEERock and Roll Hall of Fame 2023 nominees include Missy Elliott, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, A Tribe Called Quest
The list of 15 people so far only includes two women — Brenda Lee and Dolly Parton. The king of rock and roll — Elvis Presley — is among the group, along with solo singers Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Monroe, Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. Instrumentalists are Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer and Johnny Gimble. Sun Records founder Sam Phillips is included along with...
SEERock and Roll Hall of Fame 2023 nominees include Missy Elliott, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, A Tribe Called Quest
The list of 15 people so far only includes two women — Brenda Lee and Dolly Parton. The king of rock and roll — Elvis Presley — is among the group, along with solo singers Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Monroe, Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. Instrumentalists are Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer and Johnny Gimble. Sun Records founder Sam Phillips is included along with...
- 4/25/2023
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
On May 13, 1975, Ray Benson, leader of the Western-swing heroes Asleep at the Wheel, was readying his band to make their stage debut at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas, when he received the news that Bob Wills, the “King of Western Swing,” had died that morning in nearby Fort Worth.
“An AP reporter told me as I got off the bus,” the 72-year-old tells Rolling Stone backstage at the recent grand reopening of the Longhorn. “He says, ‘Are you going to cancel?’ I said, ‘Cancel? We’re going to glorify this and play his music.
“An AP reporter told me as I got off the bus,” the 72-year-old tells Rolling Stone backstage at the recent grand reopening of the Longhorn. “He says, ‘Are you going to cancel?’ I said, ‘Cancel? We’re going to glorify this and play his music.
- 4/14/2023
- by Garret K. Woodward
- Rollingstone.com
These days everything and everyone is “iconic.” But here, at the center of five rich and unrushed episodes, is the real deal. As he approaches his 90th birthday, the composer of such immortal numbers as “Crazy,” “Night Life” and “On the Road Again” is still writing songs, still playing to concert crowds. Delving into the incomparable songbook, directors Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman show how Willie Nelson broke the country mold and transcended genre boxes, again and again. Their authorized biography — the musician’s wife and his manager are executive producers — is a love letter, to be sure, and like Nelson himself it doesn’t dwell on negativity, but there’s nothing simplistic or naive about it. Willie Nelson & Family is a portrait of a man who has made music and lived life on his own terms, in good times and bad.
The series is a reminder to the casual...
The series is a reminder to the casual...
- 1/25/2023
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Georgia Holt, the seven times-married mother of Cher who spent time as a model, actress and singer-songwriter, has died, her daughter announced Saturday night on Twitter. She was 96.
“Mom is gone,” Cher wrote.
A rep for the Oscar-winning singer-actress confirmed Holt’s death to The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday morning. No details of Holt’s death were immediately available.
Holt appeared briefly in such films as A Life of Her Own (1950), Grounds for Marriage (1951), Father’s Little Dividend (1951) and Artists and Models (1955) and on TV shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and, as a “Jacques Marcel” model, on I Love Lucy (in the hilarious 1956 episode “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown”).
Holt was offered a contract by Columbia Records, and, in 1980, recorded an album, Honky Tonk Woman, backed by members of Elvis Presley’s band. It included a duet with Cher, “I...
Georgia Holt, the seven times-married mother of Cher who spent time as a model, actress and singer-songwriter, has died, her daughter announced Saturday night on Twitter. She was 96.
“Mom is gone,” Cher wrote.
A rep for the Oscar-winning singer-actress confirmed Holt’s death to The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday morning. No details of Holt’s death were immediately available.
Holt appeared briefly in such films as A Life of Her Own (1950), Grounds for Marriage (1951), Father’s Little Dividend (1951) and Artists and Models (1955) and on TV shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and, as a “Jacques Marcel” model, on I Love Lucy (in the hilarious 1956 episode “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown”).
Holt was offered a contract by Columbia Records, and, in 1980, recorded an album, Honky Tonk Woman, backed by members of Elvis Presley’s band. It included a duet with Cher, “I...
- 12/11/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When it came time for Joshua Hedley to begin work on his second album, the polished Nineties country homage Neon Blue, the neo-traditionalist had only one guiding principle: make a record to be played on a pontoon boat.
“After these last couple years we’ve had, I felt like I didn’t want to hang my sad-sack, typical brand on people,” Hedley says. ‘I wanted to make a record that people could party to.”
Part of this was an artist’s desire to avoid self-repetition. Hedley’s 2018 debut, Mr. Jukebox,...
“After these last couple years we’ve had, I felt like I didn’t want to hang my sad-sack, typical brand on people,” Hedley says. ‘I wanted to make a record that people could party to.”
Part of this was an artist’s desire to avoid self-repetition. Hedley’s 2018 debut, Mr. Jukebox,...
- 4/23/2022
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
With house lights turned all the way down, and a steady fog machine masking the glow of several hundred smartphones, Evan Felker stepped onto the Cain’s Ballroom stage in Tulsa.
He did a quick double-take when his eyes caught the 1,700 fans fortunate enough to have made it inside on Friday night, who roared at the collective realization that the six silhouettes on stage really were the Turnpike Troubadours.
Whether by design or blind luck, the lights stayed off while the band went through nearly two minutes of tuning and straightening microphone stands,...
He did a quick double-take when his eyes caught the 1,700 fans fortunate enough to have made it inside on Friday night, who roared at the collective realization that the six silhouettes on stage really were the Turnpike Troubadours.
Whether by design or blind luck, the lights stayed off while the band went through nearly two minutes of tuning and straightening microphone stands,...
- 4/9/2022
- by Josh Crutchmer
- Rollingstone.com
Asleep at the Wheel mark 50 years together as a band with the upcoming album Half a Hundred Years. It’s an all-star project, with artists like Lyle Lovett and Lee Ann Womack joining Wheel leader Ray Benson and his big Texas band. For “Take Me Back to Tulsa,” released on Friday, two Lone Star icons come onboard: Willie Nelson and George Strait.
Strait handles the bulk of the verses of the Western swing standard, popularized by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys in 1941. It’s a staple for Strait, who...
Strait handles the bulk of the verses of the Western swing standard, popularized by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys in 1941. It’s a staple for Strait, who...
- 8/27/2021
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Back in 2009, the Flatlanders released Hills and Valleys, their last album of original recordings. A dozen years later, the Texas trio of Butch Hancock, Joe Ely, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore reunite for a new record: Treasure of Love will be released July 9th.
The LP is technically the follow-up to 2012’s The Odessa Tapes, but that project consisted of unreleased recordings from the early Seventies. The 15 tracks on Treasure of Love are the product of a fresh recording session, primarily classic songs that have peppered the Flatlanders’ live set for the past five decades.
The LP is technically the follow-up to 2012’s The Odessa Tapes, but that project consisted of unreleased recordings from the early Seventies. The 15 tracks on Treasure of Love are the product of a fresh recording session, primarily classic songs that have peppered the Flatlanders’ live set for the past five decades.
- 5/7/2021
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
James White, who owned one of Austin’s most popular honky-tonks, the legendary Broken Spoke dance hall, died today from congestive heart failure complications, according to his daughter. He was 81 and died at his South Austin home.
White founded the Broken Spoke on South Lamar Boulevard in 1964, and it soon became a must-stop for the city’s musicians and tourists.
“He gave us a place to perform the music that we wanted to do in the atmosphere that we wanted — a Texas dance hall,” said Ray Benson, speaking to the Austin American-Statesman. “James was one of the most magnanimous and generally nice people — with a capital ‘N’ — in this world.”
The Broken Spoke was a mecca for top country talent. Among its performing alumni are Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks.
White was the quintessential honky-tonk owner, a gregarious sort always decked out in cowboy hat,...
White founded the Broken Spoke on South Lamar Boulevard in 1964, and it soon became a must-stop for the city’s musicians and tourists.
“He gave us a place to perform the music that we wanted to do in the atmosphere that we wanted — a Texas dance hall,” said Ray Benson, speaking to the Austin American-Statesman. “James was one of the most magnanimous and generally nice people — with a capital ‘N’ — in this world.”
The Broken Spoke was a mecca for top country talent. Among its performing alumni are Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks.
White was the quintessential honky-tonk owner, a gregarious sort always decked out in cowboy hat,...
- 1/24/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Willie Nelson learned how to write songs from listening to Hank Williams, Bob Wills, and more. But one person, above all, taught him how to sing: Frank Sinatra. And, on February 26th, Nelson will release That’s Life, a new collection of Sinatra covers.
That’s Life digs a little deeper than his previous covers album, My Way; in addition to hits like the title track and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” he includes lesser-known classics like “Just in Time” and “The Lonesome Road” from 1959.
“I learned a lot about phrasing listening to Frank,...
That’s Life digs a little deeper than his previous covers album, My Way; in addition to hits like the title track and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” he includes lesser-known classics like “Just in Time” and “The Lonesome Road” from 1959.
“I learned a lot about phrasing listening to Frank,...
- 12/11/2020
- by Patrick Doyle
- Rollingstone.com
Dolores Diaz and the Standby Club — a country covers band formed by Conor Oberst — is releasing a new live album, Live at O’Leavers, featuring recordings from two of the five gigs they’ve played.
The record is set to arrive December 11th via 15 Passenger, and in anticipation, Dolores Diaz and the Standby Club shared their takes on Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” and the Loretta Lynn classic, “Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind).” While Oberst sings lead on “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,...
The record is set to arrive December 11th via 15 Passenger, and in anticipation, Dolores Diaz and the Standby Club shared their takes on Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” and the Loretta Lynn classic, “Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind).” While Oberst sings lead on “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,...
- 12/1/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
In June 1970, Elvis Presley made the trip east from his Graceland home in Memphis to Nashville, where he holed up in RCA Studio B on Music Row for five days of recording. Presley, who was in the midst of his Las Vegas comeback at the International Hotel, was joined by Music City sessions players like Charlie McCoy and Norbert Putnam — the legendary “Nashville Cats.” The result came to be known among fans as the “marathon sessions.”
Now, a new four-disc compilation assembles the masters from those halcyon days and captures Presley at his energetic best.
Now, a new four-disc compilation assembles the masters from those halcyon days and captures Presley at his energetic best.
- 8/7/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Dan Rather was born 10 years before America entered World War II, is more familiar with long-ago singing cowboy Tex Ritter than his actor son John, and took a stab at playing bassoon as a child growing up in Texas. In other words, he’s admittedly the last person anyone would associate with rock & roll. “I once said to my wife Jean, ‘Why didn’t I catch on to rock & roll earlier?’” Rather says. “She said, ‘Dan, for one thing, you were working all the time.’ And that’s true. I...
- 3/26/2020
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Drummer Biff Adam, who was an integral member of Merle Haggard’s legendary backing band for four decades, and also served as the singer’s publicist and bus driver for several years, died Saturday, March 7th, after battling congestive heart failure. Adam’s daughters, Debi Stalder and Connie Ishman, shared the news on the drummer’s Facebook page over the weekend. He was 83.
In addition to backing Haggard on his albums throughout the Seventies and beyond, Adam and his fellow Strangers recorded a string of albums under their band name,...
In addition to backing Haggard on his albums throughout the Seventies and beyond, Adam and his fellow Strangers recorded a string of albums under their band name,...
- 3/9/2020
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
In our new series, we look at eight cities where live music has exploded — from legendary hubs like Chicago and New Orleans, to rising hot spots like Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Portland, Maine. The latest falls into the legendary category: Nashville, where the city’s growth has pushed its music scene into exciting, eccentric new directions.
After Margo Price wrapped her three-night stand at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, she celebrated by making the 20-minute drive northeast to Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, a kitschy spot behind an adult bookstore in Madison.
After Margo Price wrapped her three-night stand at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, she celebrated by making the 20-minute drive northeast to Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, a kitschy spot behind an adult bookstore in Madison.
- 2/1/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
In our new series, we look at eight cities where live music has exploded — from legendary hubs like New Orleans and Nashville and Chicago, to rising hot spots like Raleigh, North Carolina and Portland, Maine. The latest: Tulsa, where history, social consciousness and barroom jamming make it one of the most fun places to visit right now.
Jack White remembers the first time he stepped inside Cain’s Ballroom, a 1920s Tulsa dance hall where Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys once broadcast their weekly radio shows. “I basically almost...
Jack White remembers the first time he stepped inside Cain’s Ballroom, a 1920s Tulsa dance hall where Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys once broadcast their weekly radio shows. “I basically almost...
- 1/27/2020
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
A&e’s two-night Biography event Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On dives headlong into the complicated psyche of the best-selling solo artist in U.S. history. With commentary from musical friends James Taylor, Billy Joel, and Keith Urban, and in-depth interviews with Brooks, his three daughters, ex-wife Sandy Mahl, and wife Trisha Yearwood, the two-part special explores Brooks’ childhood, his rise to fame, and the personal struggles that would accompany his becoming, on a global scale, the most famous country artist of the Nineties. Here are 12 of the...
- 12/2/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
For a half-century, Asleep at the Wheel, led by the towering Ray Benson, have put their modern spin on the Western swing music popularized by Oklahoma legend Bob Wills, now outlasting Wills’ Texas Playboys as an active group by 11 years. In celebration of the band’s golden anniversary, they’ll undertake a series of reunion shows featuring Benson and members of the band’s original line-up: Lucky Oceans, Leroy Preston, Chris O’Connell, and Floyd Domino.
Also coming in 2020 will be a reunion album produced by Buddy Miller. Still Comin’ Right at Ya,...
Also coming in 2020 will be a reunion album produced by Buddy Miller. Still Comin’ Right at Ya,...
- 11/18/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
September 17th marks the 96th anniversary of the birth of the country-music icon commonly referred to as the “Hillbilly Shakespeare.” Hank Williams not only earned that distinction for the many exceptional songs he wrote throughout his short, turbulent, yet influential career, but for his uncanny ability to connect with radio listeners and concert audiences, whether performing a rousing honky-tonk tune or, in the persona of his alter ego, Luke the Drifter, laying heart and soul bare with a gospel song.
As a child growing up in Alabama, Hank Williams met...
As a child growing up in Alabama, Hank Williams met...
- 9/17/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Blues icon B.B. King often said in interviews that the blues and country music were “first cousins.” Riley B. “Blues Boy” King was born on this day in 1925, and is being paid tribute in today’s Google Doodle, which depicts the legendary musician playing his signature guitar, “Lucille.” Hitchhiking to Memphis in 1947 from his home in tiny Itta Bena, Mississippi, King would soon become one of the most renowned blues musicians in the world. While he excelled as a solo artist King also collaborated with a number of acts outside blues,...
- 9/16/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Ken Burns was in Dallas some years ago visiting a good friend, philanthropist Cappy McGarr. The filmmaker was working on his 2012 Depression-era miniseries, The Dust Bowl, and as usual for a workaholic who often has six or seven films brewing, Burns was turning over ideas for his next project. When McGarr suggested tackling country music, “it just exploded in my brain — like, of course,” Burns says. “And as we got into it, we saw that it was as real, important, and emotionally compelling as any film we’ve made.”
Related:...
Related:...
- 8/30/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
With the release this week of her new album While I’m Livin’, Tanya Tucker proves once again that she’s among the finest, most unique country singers on the planet. Through nearly 50 years of hits, professional highs and a few well-publicized lows, the Seminole, Texas, native has established herself as a preternaturally gifted entertainer and a force to be reckoned with. Yet, one gnawing question remains: Why is she not yet in the Country Music Hall of Fame? In celebration of While I’m Livin’, we look at 10 of...
- 8/23/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
From the Forties through the mid-Seventies Nashville was staking its claim as Music City, developing the hybrid of country and pop known as the Nashville Sound. At the same time, on the West Coast, the thriving California honky-tonks gave birth to what would be termed the Bakersfield Sound, so named for the town in the southern San Joaquin Valley that would gift country music with two of its most iconic artists: Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. On August 9th, the music that melded honky-tonk twang with rock & roll instrumentation will...
- 7/3/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Just ahead of the September 15th premiere of the eight-part PBS documentary Country Music – A Film By Ken Burns, Legacy Recordings will unveil musical highlights from the 16-and-a-half-hour series with a deluxe five-cd set spanning the history of the genre.
The impressive track list represents artists featured in each of the series’ episodes, from the first stars of the genre, such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, to influential acts from the latter half of the 20th century, including Randy Travis and the Judds. The set will be released Friday,...
The impressive track list represents artists featured in each of the series’ episodes, from the first stars of the genre, such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, to influential acts from the latter half of the 20th century, including Randy Travis and the Judds. The set will be released Friday,...
- 6/13/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Toby Keith follows up the poignant ballad “Don’t Let the Old Man In” with a raucous blast of country-music pride. “That’s Country Bro” is a classic list song, but instead of the usual run-through of rural imagery (trucks, bonfires and coolers), Keith ticks off a Hall of Fame-worthy roster of country singers.
Jimmie Rodgers, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Roy Acuff, Johnny Horton, Bill Monroe, Woody Guthrie and Bob Wills all get shout-outs in the first 18 seconds, followed by Kitty Wells, Jimmy Dean, Hank Snow and even Spade Cooley.
Jimmie Rodgers, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Roy Acuff, Johnny Horton, Bill Monroe, Woody Guthrie and Bob Wills all get shout-outs in the first 18 seconds, followed by Kitty Wells, Jimmy Dean, Hank Snow and even Spade Cooley.
- 5/3/2019
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
This second LP since George Strait’s retirement from touring — his 30th studio LP — is a trip back to when country radio didn’t suck as a rule: Eighties pop shine cut with pedal steel/fiddle poetry, Texas swing, cantina blues and achingly-crooned nostalgia that generally doesn’t feel hard sell, even when things gets treacly.
Which of course, they do. But “The Weight of the Badge” is a good-cop tribute that feels legit despite a whiff of Fox News human interest story. And “God and Country Music” is a...
Which of course, they do. But “The Weight of the Badge” is a good-cop tribute that feels legit despite a whiff of Fox News human interest story. And “God and Country Music” is a...
- 3/27/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Rising country crooner Logan Ledger recently released the first two singles from his eponymous debut album, produced by T Bone Burnett and due in October. “Starlight” and “Imagining Raindrops” form a resounding introduction for the California native, who works in an aesthetic best described as “Country Noir.”
“Starlight,” with its cosmic country meets Bakersfield vibe, straddles the line between Buck Owens and Dick Dale, while “Imagining Raindrops” is a wistful, classic ballad full of sorrow and warbling pedal steel. Ledger sings both like a modern George Jones with an appreciation for Chris Isaak’s stylish,...
“Starlight,” with its cosmic country meets Bakersfield vibe, straddles the line between Buck Owens and Dick Dale, while “Imagining Raindrops” is a wistful, classic ballad full of sorrow and warbling pedal steel. Ledger sings both like a modern George Jones with an appreciation for Chris Isaak’s stylish,...
- 3/25/2019
- by Thomas Mooney
- Rollingstone.com
Joshua Fleming never expected to live this long. Self-medicating with a cocktail of drugs in his early twenties, bouncing between jobs and playing in punk bands, he was hell-bent on burning out instead of fading away. So it’s not so surprising that the Vandoliers front man should be so pleased about finally playing the long game, with a new record contract in hand and his band’s third LP, Forever, now on the books.
“My goal was to die at 27 from, like, age 12. I just thought that was the end and it was fine,...
“My goal was to die at 27 from, like, age 12. I just thought that was the end and it was fine,...
- 3/8/2019
- by Jeff Gage
- Rollingstone.com
By the early 1970s, Willie Nelson was both an acclaimed songwriter and a frustrated artist. Having recorded for Liberty and then RCA Records, the Texan notched just one Top Ten solo hit with “Touch Me,” in 1962. He wouldn’t have another until 1975, by which time he was recording for Columbia Records, a move that afforded him more creative control over his material and the production of his albums.
But between his seven-year stretch at RCA, and the golden — and platinum — years at Columbia, Nelson was living in Austin and entertaining...
But between his seven-year stretch at RCA, and the golden — and platinum — years at Columbia, Nelson was living in Austin and entertaining...
- 3/6/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Ryan Bingham has been pondering the meaning of America lately — the optimism in the midst of struggle, the triumphs amid the losses. Men and women looking for a fresh start. Families like his, who pinned their hopes on the next town or job, always chasing that ephemeral dream.
Bingham has lived it all, and sometimes all at once. Just as his song “The Weary Kind,” featured in the 2009 movie Crazy Heart, thrust him into the national conversation — winning him Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe awards — he lost his mother to...
Bingham has lived it all, and sometimes all at once. Just as his song “The Weary Kind,” featured in the 2009 movie Crazy Heart, thrust him into the national conversation — winning him Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe awards — he lost his mother to...
- 2/12/2019
- by Jim Beaugez
- Rollingstone.com
On Sunday night, Ricky Skaggs, Dottie West and Johnny Gimble were welcomed as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum at the 2018 Medallion Ceremony, held in the museum’s Cma Theater. Garth Brooks presented bluegrass stalwart Skaggs with the Hall’s Modern Era honor. Connie Smith inducted late fiddle great Gimble in the Hall’s Recording and/or Touring Musician category. And Brenda Lee led a tribute to her late friend, Grammy-winning classic country turned pop-crossover star Dottie West, who received the Hall’s Veteran Era honor.
- 10/22/2018
- by Hunter Kelly
- Rollingstone.com
If Ray Benson isn’t onstage, he can likely be found on his bus, talking music with one of his bandmates in Asleep at the Wheel, big fat joint in hand. Tonight, he’s sharing that joint with singer and fiddler Katie Shore, a prominent part of the Western-swing group’s latest LP, New Routes, which came out earlier this month. With his guitar resting on his knee, Benson has somehow folded his six-foot-seven-inch frame into a bench seat on the bus, which is parked behind the Longhorn Ballroom, an old dancehall in Dallas,...
- 9/26/2018
- by Jeff Gage
- Rollingstone.com
Being mediocre was never an option for Amanda Shires, drafted at 15 into the ranks of western swing legends The Texas Playboys – playing fiddle no less, just like late bandleader Bob Wills. When she shifted from sidewoman to singer-songwriter, she kept aiming high. One of her best tunes has a narrative involving Leonard Cohen. She signed on for, and recently finished, a poetry Mfa at Sewanee. And she workshops her songs with Jason Isbell, who she’s also married to.
For her seventh LP, the Lubbock native re-groups with Southern roots...
For her seventh LP, the Lubbock native re-groups with Southern roots...
- 8/3/2018
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress, as presented by the creators themselves. At the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.
In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Raisin’ Cain: The History of Cain’s Ballroom
Logline: “Raisin’ Cain” will be a cinematic journey told through the music and artists that have made this Tulsa music venue legendary. It will celebrate its 92 years, exploring the ties between Cain’s, the Tulsa Sound, and a myriad of musical genres.
Elevator Pitch:
We hope to preserve the storied history of the legendary Honky-Tonk, Cain’s Ballroom. “The Home of Bob Wills” has hosted 3 generations of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson to the Sex Pistols, The Police, U2 and many others. The film will tell...
In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Raisin’ Cain: The History of Cain’s Ballroom
Logline: “Raisin’ Cain” will be a cinematic journey told through the music and artists that have made this Tulsa music venue legendary. It will celebrate its 92 years, exploring the ties between Cain’s, the Tulsa Sound, and a myriad of musical genres.
Elevator Pitch:
We hope to preserve the storied history of the legendary Honky-Tonk, Cain’s Ballroom. “The Home of Bob Wills” has hosted 3 generations of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson to the Sex Pistols, The Police, U2 and many others. The film will tell...
- 11/2/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
The tireless Ken Burns has a new project in the works for PBS -- "Country Music," a multi-episode documentary slated for 2018. It will be directed by Burns, who'll produce alongside writer Dayton Duncan, Burns' longtime producing partner. "Country Music" will chronicle the history of a uniquely American genre, from southern Appalachia to Texas, California honky-tonks to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. "For over a century, country music has been a pivotal force in American culture, expressing the hopes, joys, fears and hardships of everyday people in songs lyrical, poignant and honest," said PBS President Paula A. Kerger. "It is fitting that we have two of America's master storytellers, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, tell the story on film of an art form that for generations has told America's story in song." "Country Music" will look at artists like the Carter family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills,Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash,...
- 1/21/2014
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
Everyone remembers the most galvanizing moment of this year’s Grammys -- when the telecast cut to commercial and, over a Chipotle ad, we heard a studio recording of Willie Nelson singing Coldplay’s “The Scientist.” You can relive that very special Grammy moment (minus the environmentally themed animation and Chipotle logo) at the climax of Nelson’s new album, “Heroes,” a mostly satisfying grab-bag of celebrity duets, nepotism, odes to wacky weed and interpretations of everyone from Bob Wills to Pearl Jam. The most attention-getting new number, “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When...
- 5/15/2012
- by Chris Willman
- The Wrap
Somewhere between Leonard Cohen and Bob Wills lies the Promised Land inhabited by Lyle Lovett, who balances elegantly broken romanticism with loose-jointed swing that shuffles and jumps like exalted Texas Playboys. Lanky with high rise hair, Lovett has been an anomaly of the singer/songwriter ilk since appearing with a chock-a-block debut album - and Release Me, his final album of an almost 30 year career for Curb, finds him resolutely steadfast in his excellence and eclecticism.
- 2/29/2012
- Pastemagazine.com
Footage from the on-going South by Southwest Film and Music Festival has hit the web, providing fans with the look inside the festivity. Performers who are captured on cameras making their live performances at the gig are Nas and Damian Marley.
The two musicians shared the stage at Emo's, performing just after midnight on Wednesday, March 17. They delivered "Strong Will Continue", a song from their joint album "Distant Relatives". In addition, Nas also treated fans with his singles "Nas I Like" and "Made You Look".
Earlier that night, Spoon and Broken Bells rocked the Stubb's. "Vaporize" and "The High Road" were some songs performed by the band consisting of Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse and The Shins' James Mercer. Meanwhile, the Spoon closed the intimate show with "Written In Reverse", "Don't Make Me a Target" and "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" among others.
Another performer Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings...
The two musicians shared the stage at Emo's, performing just after midnight on Wednesday, March 17. They delivered "Strong Will Continue", a song from their joint album "Distant Relatives". In addition, Nas also treated fans with his singles "Nas I Like" and "Made You Look".
Earlier that night, Spoon and Broken Bells rocked the Stubb's. "Vaporize" and "The High Road" were some songs performed by the band consisting of Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse and The Shins' James Mercer. Meanwhile, the Spoon closed the intimate show with "Written In Reverse", "Don't Make Me a Target" and "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" among others.
Another performer Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings...
- 3/19/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
The legendary western swing band, Asleep at the Wheel will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance at the Americana Honors & Awards ceremony in September at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Willie Nelson, himself a past award recipient of the Ama's Lifetime Achievement for Songwriting is especially proud of the band as he recently collaborated with the band.
Since 1969, the Austin-based band has released over twenty-five albums and charted more than twenty Billboard singles. The group has also won nine Grammy Awards along the way. The Wheel has perservered and brought Western swing to the masses throughout the years touring with everyone from Alice Cooper to Emmylou Harris and George Strait.
The group has been a fixture on PBS's series Austin City Limits as well as appeared in movies. Most recently they starred in the award-winning musical drama about Bob Wills, A Ride with Bob: The Bob Wills Musical,...
Since 1969, the Austin-based band has released over twenty-five albums and charted more than twenty Billboard singles. The group has also won nine Grammy Awards along the way. The Wheel has perservered and brought Western swing to the masses throughout the years touring with everyone from Alice Cooper to Emmylou Harris and George Strait.
The group has been a fixture on PBS's series Austin City Limits as well as appeared in movies. Most recently they starred in the award-winning musical drama about Bob Wills, A Ride with Bob: The Bob Wills Musical,...
- 7/14/2009
- icelebz.com
Asleep at the Wheel at the Borland Center in Midtown, PGA Friday, March 20th at 5:00 pm & 8:00 pm For over three decades Asleep at the Wheel has been dedicated to reviving the Western Swing originally pioneered by the late and great Bob Wills. Along the way, they've entertained thousands and won praise and admiration from everyone from Willi Nelson to Bob Dylan, George Strait and Van Morrison. To keep the rhythm alive, the nine-time Grammy winning "Kings of Swing" bring to the stage a hybrid of country, big-band jazz, Cajun fiddling and be-bop and performing such crowd pleasing classics as "Route 66," "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie," "Take Me Back to Tulsa," and "Bump Bounce Boogie". Now the boys are hitting the road and are headed to the Borland Center for a show not to be missed!
- 3/13/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
(I'm so inspired by my colleague Drew's ambitious rollout of new features that I'm debuting one of my own: Welcome to the inaugural "Ten Minutes With....," an occasional interview with someone in music that I spend 10 minutes with and then present an almost verbatim transcript of the conversation. Up first, country singer Jack Ingram). Jack Ingram comes from the great Texas tradition of singer/songwriters. There's no area that breeds then like the Lone Star State-from Bob Wills to Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson Townes Van Zandt, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen and Rodney Crowell, the list goes on and on. It...
- 2/26/2009
- Hitfix
Here I was all set to go Elitist on the country singer Lee Greenwood, and I pulled the rug out from under myself. I shared Rachel Maddow's incredulity that the limping duck George W. Bush had appointed Greenwood to the National Council of the Arts. I even had my first two sentences written in my head: "Remember how the Bush takeover squad at the White House complained the Clintonites had unplugged all the PCs on their way out the door? As he steadfastly marches toward his own sunset, it is Bush himself who seems unplugged."
Zing! Totally unfair, but snappy, Bush had two vacancies to fill on the Nca, one for three years, one for six. Greenwood got the six-year term. He'll be the gift that keeps on giving every day during Obama's first term. The Council's job is to advise the National Endowment for the Arts on how to spend its money.
Zing! Totally unfair, but snappy, Bush had two vacancies to fill on the Nca, one for three years, one for six. Greenwood got the six-year term. He'll be the gift that keeps on giving every day during Obama's first term. The Council's job is to advise the National Endowment for the Arts on how to spend its money.
- 11/11/2008
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
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