One week after having to cancel several of his shows, including a multi-evening stint at New York’s Webster Hall, Sturgill Simpson has canceled the remainder of his tour dates for 2021. The country singer-guitarist posted on Instagram that he’d been dealing with severe vocal cord issues that leave his future …
Read More »Charley Crockett Skewers the Nashville Star-Making Machine in 'Music City USA'
“I shouldn’t have come here in the first place, cause folks in here don’t like my kind,” Charley Crockett sings in “Music City USA,” the title track of his new album. The video for the song underscores the cynicism of those lyrics and follows the throwback country singer as he …
Read More »Reyna Roberts Mixes Hell-Raising With Hallelujahs in Rowdy Anthem 'Raised Right'
Reyna Roberts is a study in contrasts in her assertive new song “Raised Right.” The Alabama native released the country-rock anthem on Friday and it follows her 2020 single “Stompin’ Grounds.” Built around a handclap rhythm and swampy guitar lick, “Raised Right” has Roberts outlining some fundamentals of her upbringing. …
Read More »Hayes Carll Dreams Up an Alternate Reality in New Song 'She'll Come Back to Me'
“I don’t worship the ground you walk on,” George Strait sang in “Ocean Front Property,” rattling off a list of obvious lies to tell himself he wasn’t hurting. Fellow Texan Hayes Carll takes the idea even farther in his new song “She’ll Come Back to Me,” imagining an alternate reality …
Read More »Kacey Musgraves Announces New Album 'Star-Crossed'
Kacey Musgraves will release Star-Crossed, her fourth studio album, on September 10th. The record is the follow-up to Musgraves’ Grammy-winning 2018 LP Golden Hour and was written and recorded in the aftermath of her divorce. The title track to Star-Crossed is out now. In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane …
Read More »Nashville's Bluebird Cafe to Reopen 16 Months After Pandemic Closed Its Doors
Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe closed its doors on March 13th, 2020, another music venue unable to operate during the pandemic. But the tiny listening room’s case was even more acute than some clubs: The Bluebird, where budding songwriters try out new material right in the center of the fans, is built …
Read More »'Country Funk III' Compilation Spotlights Disco Dolly Parton, Macho Conway Twitty
The bright horns and slapping bass of Dolly Parton’s “Sure Thing,” the disco harmonies of Conway Twitty’s “Night Fires,” and the swagger of Ronnie Milsap’s “Get It Up” all get their due on Country Funk Volume III (1975-1982), the latest installment of Light in the Attic Records’ compilation series. Slated …
Read More »Amy Helm on New Album, Recording at Levon's Barn, and What May Be in Her Father's Archives
When Amy Helm set out to record What the Flood Leaves Behind, her third solo album released in June, she found herself being called home. The singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist cut her last LP, 2018’s brooding This Too Shall Light, in Los Angeles, and it was time to reconnect with …
Read More »Keith Urban's Las Vegas Residency Will Resume in Fall 2021
Keith Urban was only able to perform four shows of his Las Vegas residency before the pandemic shut down live events in 2020. On Tuesday, the country singer-guitarist announced his return to the Strip: “Keith Urban Live – Las Vegas” will resume September 17th at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. …
Read More »Blackberry Smoke Go Country With Jamey Johnson on New Collab 'Lonesome for a Livin”
Blackberry Smoke lean way into their country side on the twangy “Lonesome for a Livin’,” a collaboration with Jamey Johnson that appears on the Southern-rock band’s new album, You Hear Georgia. Written by Blackberry Smoke singer Charlie Starr and Johnson, “Lonesome for a Livin’” is traditional country weeper, accented by …
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