President Trump, in the midst of a political firestorm over evidence showing he pressured the newly elected president of Ukraine to coordinate with his personal lawyer and attorney general to investigate a political rival, sat down for a previously-scheduled joint press conference with that man, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the United …
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In the mid-Eighties, Ricky Skaggs married his brand of bluegrass — a modernized version that included drums, piano, and electric guitar — to the burgeoning music video medium. The result was one of country music’s all-time great videos, an irreverent clip that shined a light not only on Skaggs’ vibrant …
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The Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival rebounded strong in 2019, following a tough 2018 when a large portion of the Franklin, Tennessee-based event was cancelled for heavy rainfall and flooding. Attendees coming out to Harlinsdale Farm September 21st and 22nd got dust and punishing heat instead, along with performances from …
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By the second half of the 20th century, country music was big business. Radio, records, television and movies all played a part in its popularity, but its artists and its songs were still at the forefront, even as profits soared or slumped. The second half of Ken Burns’ Country Music …
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It’s official: Gen Z stans the Nineties just as much as millennials do. Eighteen-year-old London musician Bea Kristi, who performs under beabadoobee, released her new single “I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus” this week, and the song’s devotion to the alt-rock prophet goes beyond a name-check. “Sitting at home, crying …
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When we last saw John Rambo — Vietnam vet, social pariah, savior of POWs and stoic killing machine — he was saving missionaries and mercenaries in war-torn Burma at the end of Bush II’s second term. Then our man returned home to Arizona, walking down the dusty path to the …
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In October, Jason Isbell will expand his now-annual Ryman Auditorium residency to a full week of shows, spread across nine days. On Wednesday, Isbell’s label Southeastern Records announced the full lineup of opening artists for the 2019 residency, most of whom have deep roots in the blues community. Singer-songwriter Amanda …
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CMT’s annual Artists of the Year special returns October 16th with a live broadcast from Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center that will honor five country performers who have ruled in 2019. This year, those honorees include Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, and Thomas Rhett. The 90-minute live …
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You know “Unwed Fathers” is great country songwriting from the title alone — an offhanded spin of a familiar phrase that reveals the presumptions, bias and bullshit hiding in our language in plain sight. Co-written with Country Music Hall of Famer Bobby “He Stopped Loving Her Today” Braddock, the story …
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The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers posted a lengthy tribute to late Cars singer Ric Ocasek following his death over the weekend. Flowers shared the text of an email he wrote to Ocasek a few years ago via The Killers’ Twitter, noting, “Feeling grateful for Ric. Had the opportunity to send …
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