The list of nominees for the 2018 Americana Music Association’s Honors & Awards has been revealed and genre favorites Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, and Margo Price feature prominently among the candidates. All three have had a blockbuster run over the past 12 months, starting with the release of Isbell and …
Read More »Hear Lori McKenna's Tender New Song 'People Get Old'
Singer-songwriter Lori McKenna, who earned back-to-back Grammy awards for Best Country Song with “Girl Crush” in 2016 followed by “Humble and Kind” in 2017, has not only scored hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and dozens of others (including Carrie Underwood’s current single, “Cry Pretty”), she has also released …
Read More »Watch Dierks Bentley Praise Human Resilience in 'Living' Video
Dierks Bentley unveils another inspirational true-life story with the just-released video for “Living.” A gloriously panoramic depiction of the natural world, shot in Colorado, “Living” is the second in a four-part series of clips for which Bentley partnered with Apple Music to depict true stories of resilience, persistence and hope. …
Read More »Reba McEntire on Hosting 2018 ACM Awards, Not Getting Political
On Sunday, April 15th, Reba McEntire returns as sole host of the ACM Awards live from Las Vegas. No stranger to the bright lights of the entertainment capital, McEntire has been in residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace with fellow country superstars Brooks & Dunn since 2015, with their …
Read More »Watch Cam Transform 'Diane' Into a Poignant Piano Ballad
With its guilty conscience and hard-charging southern stomp, Cam‘s “Diane” flips the script of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” reimagining the difficult conversation between two women – one of them married – who realize they’ve been played by the same man. Here, Cam plays the unsuspecting “other woman,” smitten with a smooth-talking …
Read More »See 'Voice' Hopeful Brynn Cartelli's Soaring Rascal Flatts Cover
In 2017, NBC-TV’s singing competition, The Voice, lowered the minimum age requirement for contestants to 13, opening the floodgates for hopeful young singers from across the country. Within a few first notes, however, it’s difficult to peg season 14 contestant Brynn Cartelli as one of the youngest to compete thus …
Read More »Hear Dave Alvin, Chris Shiflett Talk Jimi Hendrix, Nick Lowe's Advice
After an extended winter break, Walking the Floor is back. Today’s episode of the Americana podcast finds host Chris Shiflett conducting a 70-minute chat with Dave Alvin, a “California roots-music historian” whose music mixes country, punk, blues, R&B and rock & roll influences into the same melting pot. From his …
Read More »John Carter Cash Readies New Album 'We Must Believe in Magic'
John Carter Cash has assembled an array of all-star artists and musicians for his latest album, We Must Believe in Magic, a collection of songs he has recorded over the last decade. The two-disc LP will be released on Saturday, April 21st, for Record Store Day. Bluegrass stars Tony Rice, …
Read More »Songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews on the Search for Kindness in a Nasty World
When Courtney Marie Andrews was growing up in Phoenix, she worked at a pizza shop downtown next to the offices of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Donald Trump’s villainous border wall-loving buddy who somehow managed to stay in power for 24 years despite his penchant for racial profiling and prisoner abuse. Surrounded …
Read More »See Blake Shelton Sing 'I Lived It,' Play 'Name That Song' on 'Fallon'
Blake Shelton updates the shopworn country-way-of-life song with his new single “I Lived It,” fondly recalling images of his upbringing rather than boasting about how country he may or may not be. The Oklahoma native performed the ballad on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday night, matching the …
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