Lets not overlook that a bunch of very cool and important artists all announced new albums this week in a cavalcade of titlesthat shouldn’t be allowed to slide under your radar.
Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion remains one of the most premier and exclusive events in the country and roots space every year, and a much healthier option to braving a day at SXSW in Austin, TX, which Luck acts as an alternative to. But even though the 2023 installment will be remembered for plenty of fond reasons…
Over the last eleven years, one of the major events worth seeking out as a refuge from the madness is Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion held at his ranch just west of town … if you’re lucky enough to be able to get in. Held on the Thursday of SXSW every year (which puts it on March 16th in 2023).
Once again it is a television series that is stepping up to deliver what mainstream country radio and other conventional music mediums often don’t, which is the music from independent artists that is resonating with the public despite commonly being overshadowed.
Not as a rebuke of the work of the documentary, but as an addendum for those who watched and might want to dig deeper into the history of country through some of its more important personalities not represented well in the film, here are some of the Country Music film’s biggest oversights.
The Country Music Hall of Fame has partnered with Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings to release a 36-song companion double album to coincide with what the public can expect to see and hear as part of the upcoming Outlaws & Armadillos exhibit. The track list of the album reveals just how deep the exhibit will go.
For the past few years, if you truly wanted to get a snoot full of an authentic Texas country experience, you sought out a show from the Austin-based country-fried Outlaw Conjunto band called the Crooks. Originally formed as a two piece in 2007 around the songs of frontman Josh Mazour, over the years it has slowly morphed into one of the coolest live country music experiences you can find.
Don’t be spooked too much by the Haight-Ashbury circa 1967 album cover on this record. There’s no acid trips or space jams inside, though in its own way the cover conveys the laid back mood that the music of High Life embodies, and the harkening back to the cowboy hippie vibe of Austin in the mid 70’s that this album evokes. What you do get with High Life is some damn fine Texas country.