The Greatest Drummers of All Time
It's the job of a drummer to be heard and not seen. Naming the "greatest" of anything is always a subjective exercise. But this isn't just a skills competition. Influence, importance to culture, and...
View ArticleLessons Learned from the 2012 Grammy Awards
If you want to find some snark and sarcasm from the 2012 Grammy Awards, you should check out the official Saving Country Live Blog from last night. Yes, Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj supplied some gag...
View Article47th CMA Awards Offers Surprising Balance & A Big Win
Yes, it was still 2013, and it was still a modern country music awards show, and so traditional and independent-minded country music fans still had plenty to look sideways at if they were brave enough...
View ArticleIs Pop Music Now Trumping Pop Country in Substance?
I don't have any data to back my assertions up. But I'll be damned that if in 2014, your average pop star isn't more likely to outpace your average country star when it comes to substance and depth in...
View ArticleOn The Deconstruction of Jack White
In an era when nothing in music is universal, and music has become one of the primary battlefronts in the culture war, the likeability of Jack White was one of the few things that passed for a...
View ArticleReview – Zac Brown Band’s “The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1”
At its heart, The Grohl Sessions is the true answer to the "country music must progress" charge regularly levied by mainstream artists like Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, and Eric Church, to justify their...
View ArticleEqual Time – The Best in Mainstream Country Music in 2014
Independent music fans love to say "90% of what they play on the radio is crap!" Well then it would stand to reason that 10% actually has some value. And in the interest of pragmatism and inclusiveness...
View ArticleSong Review – Zac Brown Band’s “Homegrown”
What gives Zac Brown Band a lot more creative latitude with their music is the fact that they're honest about not really being country. We're all music fans first, and then our loyalties split down the...
View ArticleZac Brown to Cover Jason Isbell on New “Jekyll + Hyde” Album
It was only a matter of time before mainstream artists started plucking songs from the heralded discographies of thriving independent artists like Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson. We know these are...
View ArticleAlbum Review – Zac Brown Band’s “Jekyll + Hyde”
Music is not a skills competition. This isn't the decathlon. They don't hand out Grammy Awards for the band that can play songs from the most genres. They give Grammys to the artists who steady...
View ArticleAlbum Review – Zac Brown Band’s “Welcome Home”
Give Zac Brown credit. He listened to his fans, as opposed to speaking down to them about how music needs to evolve, or some other line of flawed reasoning where he could justify his actions to himself...
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‘SNL’& Dave Grohl Parody Pop Country in “Lake Beach”
The skit does a pretty good job lampooning all the tropes of country music's Bro-Country era, including the obsession with inane lists of everyday items, hip-hop gesticulations, and predictable and...
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