Whenever you delve deep into the history of many of the greatest artists in music, there is often a person or a moment in time that goes on to define their very being and how their life and career unfolds.
10 years ago today on May 13th, 2014, Sturgill Simpson released what many people consider his magnum opus, and perhaps one of the most important records in the long history of country music.
Though Duane Eddy definitely influenced many country guitar players too, the “twang” we refer to today is somewhat of a different thing, though similar. It’s utilizing the sharp and flat space between notes to enhance the sound.
Conway Twitty was one of the most successful country music artists in history. With forty #1 songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, only George Strait secured more #1’s over his career.
One of the most common misunderstandings when it comes to Black performers in country music is the legacy of Ray Charles. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022, his legacy is regularly diminished.
Over the last 20 years, there are a few specific albums you can select out of the crowd and give credit for critically reshaping country music into what it is today, and specifically for re-instituting the roots of country.
It’s rare that a fake commercial in a cartoon becomes so iconic that it embeds itself into popular culture, but that’s what happened when Hank Williams Jr. teamed up with long-running animated series “The Simpsons.”
Using this current event as a jumping off point, numerous outlets and now viral social media posts have proclaimed that the Black influence and contributions to country music have been stricken from the history of the genre.
It’s in the Grammy Hall of Fame. It’s in The Library of Congress. It sold Gold. It sold Platinum. Chet Flippo once said it was one of the most important albums that ever came out of Nashville. “Will The Circle Be Unbroken…”
“The Grand Tour” was very significant for the career of George Jones, and for country music. Similar to “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “The Grand Tour” put George Jones back at #1 on the country charts.
There are only a few instances in the history of country music when a song and a songwriter came along and released something so revolutionary, it changed the possibilities of what country music could be.
There is perhaps no artist, no performer in the history of country music whose impact, influence, appeal, and footprint so far outpaced the recognition he received in life and death than Gary Stewart.
Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit all agreed to show up to a bar in Los Angeles on December 6th, 1993 and appear in the video—shooting pool, hanging out, and cutting up as cameras rolled.
There are concerts. Then there are concerts that go on to be so iconic, they become etched into the consciousness of music indelibly and forevermore. On December 3rd, 1993, Johnny Cash played one such concert.
On this day fifty years ago, November 10th, 1973, Stringbean Akeman frailed his final phrases on a Vega #9 five-string banjo, did his signature hand wave and hat flip one last time, and stepped off the Opry stage.
It’s a bit ironic that it’s a band from Alabama that most famously explained the importance of the fiddle to music from Texas, but few if anyone will complain how they did it, and 40 years ago today.
Jimmy Buffett may have died one of music’s few billionaires from the empire he built off the success of his song “Margaritaville.” But it was another song where it all began for Buffett as a songwriter and performer.
If there was ever a “most interesting man in country music,” Marty Robbins would make a great candidate. The career of Marty Robbins really was quite incredible.
The life of Gram Parsons came to a crashing end 50 years ago today, September 19th, 1973, in Room 8 at the Joshua Tree Inn in Joshua Tree, California. Gram had just finished up recording what would be his final album.
Along with recalling the great songs and the fond memories, it seems fitting for remember that Charlie Robison was also a fierce titan for independent country music and artists controlling their own destiny.
There was country music before ‘Viva Terlingua,’ and then there was country music after it. It’s legacy is so rich, deep, and stratified across a host of important and influential lines, it’s like its own institution.
It may not have formed the subgenre officially, but Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) released 50 years ago this week sent Southern rock into the stratosphere.
Chart placements, annual sales and streaming numbers, and glowing reviews aren’t the true testament to the importance of a piece of music. Time is. Over time, the fortitude of a song or album is tested rigorously.
One of Vince Gill’s #1 songs saw the nexus between quality writing, reverence for country’s past, and widespread appeal. Released 30 years ago today (July 26th, 1993), “One More Last Chance” was not only Vince Gill’s signature hit