“The Late Show” Loses Key Ally for Country & Roots Artists
For twenty years and for two separate hosts, senior music producer for The Late Show Sheryl Zelikson has been a key behind-the-scenes champion for under-the-radar country and roots music performers who...
View ArticleJason Isbell on Today’s Country: “It’s Just Real Bad Music to Me”
Jason Isbell is still riding high after hitting career marks for his recent album The Nashville Sound, which topped the Country Albums charts. But if you expect the mainstream level of success of his...
View ArticleAmericana Music Awards Announce 2017 Performers & Broadcast Partners
The 16th Annual Americana Music Awards will transpire on Wednesday, September 13th at the Mother Church of Country Music, The Ryman Auditorium, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Central as part of the week-long...
View ArticleJason Isbell Breaks Through CMA Barrier for an Independent Artist w/ Album of...
Another glass ceiling has just been shattered in mainstream country music's monopoly on the independent side of music. Jason Isbell has just been nominated for Album of the Year by the Country Music...
View ArticleMiranda Lambert Leads Nominations / Could Have Big Night at 2017 CMA’s (Noms...
In wanton disrespect of the Labor Day holiday (aren't journalists laborers too?), the Country Music Association announced their nominations for the 2017 CMA Awards on Monday (9-4) morning, with Miranda...
View ArticleWhy Jason Isbell Deserves his CMA Nomination for Album of the Year
Jason Isbell is not country. He is decidedly Americana. But Jason Isbell deserves his nomination for Album of the Year by the CMAs just as much as anyone has ever deserved that distinction. When...
View ArticleAlbum Review – Kip Moore’s “Slowheart”
It has come to the point in country music history where we are giving certain songs, artists, and albums a pass, or even extra points, simply because they are more country than things that are not...
View ArticleIndependent Names Get Mainstream Opportunity Via 2018 Stagecoach Festival Lineup
Each year the release of the Stagecoach Festival lineup is a point of intrigue as people sift though the names and remark on the font sizes, and see who has been tapped to play the 3-day event in...
View ArticleBeloved Drummer Gets Big Boost from 2017 AmericanaFest
You may have not known his name or who he was, but it would be hard not to notice the tall, lanky, dreadheaded dude in big white glasses behind the drums backing up a dozen or so different independent...
View ArticleNew Americana Radio Chart Hopes To Add More Transparency / Accountability to...
As the Americana genre continues to expand market share for the independent industry, and is aided by the success of big stars such as Jason Isbell, so expands the need for better infrastructure and...
View ArticleJason Isbell Postpones Multiple Dates Due To Death in Band Member’s Family
Jason Isbell has postponed four upcoming tour dates mere days before the shows were scheduled due to a death in the family of his bass player and heart of his backing band, The 400 Unit. Jimbo Hart, a...
View ArticleJason Isbell Announces New Dates for Winter Tour
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit just started an incredible six-night sold out stint at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Monday (10-9), and after a tour in Europe this fall, Isbell & Co. will be...
View ArticleJason Isbell Named Country Music Hall of Fame Artist-In-Residence
Add another landmark accolade to the growing list of acknowledgements for Americana stalwart Jason Isbell. After just finishing up an incredible 6-night sold out run at the Ryman Auditorium in...
View ArticleThat Damn Cody Jinks Just Sold Out Consecutive Nights at the Ryman
In recent years, concerts at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville have become an important bellwether for just how well a band or artist is doing in the grander scheme. Trying to fill the 125-year-old...
View ArticleThe Biggest Takeaways from Sturgill Simpson’s Busking Set at the 2017 CMA Awards
As the CMA Awards were transpiring Wednesday (11-8) night inside the Bridgestone Arena, Sturgill Simpson decided to take his guitar, his Grammy for Album of the Year from 2016, and do a busking set in...
View ArticleUnpacking the Ultimate Impact of Sturgill Simpson’s 2017 CMA Awards Moment
Sturgill Simpson and his busking set outside of the CMA Awards will be forever etched into not just the memory of the 51st Annual CMA Awards, it will be ensconced into the annals of country music...
View ArticleChris Stapleton / Jason Isbell Earn Big Nominations for 60th Annual Grammy...
The nominations for the 2018 Grammy Awards were announced Tuesday morning (11-28), and among the most nominated names are multiple traditional country and roots music favorites, including Chris...
View ArticleNominees for the 2017 Saving Country Music Album of the Year
The last few years have been a somewhat down era for excellent, legacy-caliber releases in country music and independent roots,. But 2017 was a different story, especially the first half, leaving us...
View ArticleNominees for the Saving Country Music 2017 Song of the Year
When we broach the exercise of whittling down the field of songs of a given year to a list of a chosen few to be considered Song of the Year, we're not looking for booty shakers or boot scooters. We're...
View ArticleThe Assault on Professional Concert Photography Finally Comes Into Focus
For the majority of 2017, Saving Country Music has been engaged in a private war against the increasingly intrusive restrictions being placed upon music journalists---and photographers especially---who...
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