Music

In spite of the genre’s growth over the past decade, many people have a tough time describing what Americana music actually is. Most can agree on one thing, however: The genre prizes eclecticism.Still, throughout the 2010s, some critiqued Americana music’s elevation of straight white men with acoustic guitars. For example, in 2018, after winning multiple trophies at that year’s Americana Music Association Honors & Awards, Jason Isbell observed that the show’s winners were not nearly as diverse as its list of nominees.The Americana Music Association (AMA) — the genre’s official...

During the 2021 Emmy Awards, Leon Bridges enlisted Jon Batiste to perform a powerful rendition of “River” from Bridges’ 2015 album Coming Home. The musicians teamed up for the In Memoriam segment of the evening to pay tribute to those who died in the last year, including Alex Trebek, Cicely Tyson, Larry King, Jessica Walter, Norm Macdonald and Michael K. Williams. In a 2016 statement, Bridges revealed the meaning of the track saying, “The river has historically been used in gospel music as symbolism for change and redemption. My goal...

Trisha Yearwood scored one of the biggest hits of her career with "Walkaway Joe," but in a new interview, she reveals that another country artist came close to cutting the song before she could.“'Walkaway Joe' was one of those songs that the Judds actually had on hold," Yearwood tells I Miss…90s Country Radio With Nick Hoffman on Apple Music Country. "And then the Judds went through that breakup because Naomi was ill and they disbanded, basically, and Wynonna was getting ready to embark on a solo career. So all of the songs...

Olivia Rodrigo performed her “first show” ever with a daytime set Saturday at Las Vegas’ iHeartRadio Festival, a 20-minute gig showcasing five songs off the singer’s Number One album Sour. “This is a really special day for me because this is sort of like my first show,” Rodrigo told fans outside Area 15 in Las Vegas. “I’m just so grateful that you guys are here with me experiencing this, so thank you so much.” The mini-set featured four of Sour’s singles — “Traitor,” a “Drivers License” singalong, “Good 4 U”...

Country singer Morgan Evans often gushes about his love for his wife, fellow artist Kelsea Ballerini. But there are other things Evans really loves, too — like his firepit.“I had COVID in March, and it was awful for about a week, but then during that second week when I had to be quarantined, I decided that I was going to put a firepit in the backyard,” Evans shares during a Zoom interview. “We moved from an apartment to a house last year. It’s a really sweet setup.”Indeed, Evans says he loves the firepit that now...

Ahead of the release of the Beatles’ expanded edition of Let It Be, Universal Music has shared four of the unreleased alternate takes and new mixes from the upcoming deep dive into the 1970 LP. On Friday, the Beatles’ YouTube uploaded the reissue’s “Get Back (Take 8),” “One After 909 (Take 3),” as well as producer Glyn Johns’ 1970 mix for “I Me Mine” and a new “2021 mix” of “Across The Universe.” The 5CD/6LP deluxe Let It Be reissue, due out October 15th, features 27 previously unreleased session recordings...

It was 48 years ago today, on Sept. 19, 1973, that singer-songwriter Gram Parsons passed away. Parsons was only 26 years old when he died, from an overdose of morphine and alcohol.A Florida native, Parsons began his professional music career with the Byrds in 1968, before launching into a series of other musical endeavors, including a stint with the Flying Burrito Brothers and a short-lived solo career. But while his addictions cut short his promising music career, his legacy continues to live on, thanks in part to his friendship with Emmylou...

Smashing Pumpkins performed their Siamese Dream favorite “Quiet” for the first time since 1994 during the band’s headlining gig Friday at Chicago’s Riot Fest, their first pandemic-era concert. While “Quiet” was a setlist staple during the Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream-era concerts, Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin and company last played the song together in September 1994, the last date of that year’s nomadic Lollapalooza tour; it’s unclear what inspired to band to dust off “Quiet” after giving it the silent treatment for 28 years. The semi-reunited Smashing Pumpkins’ Riot...

Alan Jackson's oldest daughter, Mattie Jackson Selecman, is opening up about the tragic death of her husband of just 11 months in a new book. In Lemons on Friday, Selecman shares how her faith helped her through the grieving process that followed his untimely death.Ben Selecman died on Sept. 12, 2018, after suffering a fall during a family celebration on Alan Jackson's boat over Labor Day weekend. Mattie tells People that the day was joyous until it took a terrible turn that nobody could have expected. Selecman suffered head trauma...

Rising Jacksonville, Florida, rapper SpotemGottem was shot in his hip while driving on a highway in Miami early Friday morning, September 17th. SpotemGottem — real name Nehemiah Lamar Harden — was driving a Dodge Charger on I-95 when the car was hit with gunfire, leaving 22 bullet holes on the driver’s side, according to a statement provided by Alejandro Camacho of the Florida Highway Patrol. Another man, sitting in the backseat of the car, sustained gunshot wounds to both legs. Both Harden and the other man were taken to the...

Sept. 18 might be a day that Willie Nelson would just as soon forget. It was on that date in 2006 that the singer was arrested for possession of marijuana and narcotic mushrooms while on the road in Louisiana.The incident began with a commercial vehicle inspection of Nelson's tour bus: “When the door was opened and the trooper began to speak to the driver, he smelled the strong odor of marijuana,” law enforcement said in a statement about the arrest. A subsequent search produced 1 1/2 lbs. of marijuana and more than 3...

“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 makes his way — anonymously — through Nashville’s crowded Broadway district. Bruce Robison, himself a Nashville outsider, cameos in the video as a slick record-label exec. “Charley, Charley, Charley,” he says condescendingly, “Every single one of those people down there...

Lainey Wilson says she gets requests to add lyrics to her song "Things a Man Oughta Know" all the time. Some are touching. Some are funny. A few are odd."Put the toilet lid down," she says, when pressed for one example. "Like, how am I gonna sing that?  'I can put the toilet seat down ...'"A year ago, when the song was new, Wilson used to write parody versions. As it nears No. 1 on the country airplay charts, she tells Taste of Country Nights that she might bring that habit back.Wilson's...

Lil Nas X and Elton John have teamed up for “One of Me.” It’s the pair’s first collaboration, which appears on Lil Nas X’s debut album, Montero. The LP hit streaming services at midnight on Thursday, with the album’s official release on Friday. John leads the piano ballad, while Lil Nas X sings of conflicting emotions about navigating the murky waters of pleasing someone else, rather than being true to one’s self. “I like this, I don’t like that,” he sings. “Do this here, Don’t you do that/Say you one...