Category: country music

Nov. 14—Zeb Ross, Haywood County’s own viral clogging sensation, made a cameo appearance at the Country Music Awards in Nashville last week.

Just a few minutes into the night’s opening monologue, the opening riff of Rocky Top queued up and Ross emerged from nowhere, feet a’ flyin’.

The audience went wild as Ross caroused across the stage, showcasing his unique style that falls somewhere between clogging and breakdancing, with a bit of Elvis rubber leg thrown in. He was wearing none other than his signature turquoise polo shirt, the uniform of his hometown clogging group the J-Creek Cloggers.

“Give it up for Zeb Ross from Canton, North Carolina, for that fantastic dance performance,” hollered the evening’s emcee — none other than NFL football star Peyton Manning.

The music faded and Ross ground to halt, taking a deep, flourishing bow.

Ross has been delighting Haywood audiences with his fancy footwork and infectious smile since he was just a boy, dancing alongside his mother Kim Ross, the founder of the J-Creek Cloggers.

The rest of the world discovered Zeb Ross this summer. He took the internet by storm when a rendition of him clogging to Rocky Top became a viral sensation — with all the various renditions racking up more than 20 billion views on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Bringing Ross on stage at the Country Music Awards involved an elaborate set-up between the evening’s emcees.

“Tell me what your favorite country music song is,” country music star Luke Bryan posed to Manning.

A former Tennessee football star, Manning answered like any loyal Vols fan would.

“Well, I’m glad you asked that, because my favorite country music song is also a dance craze that’s currently sweeping the nation,” Manning said. “Hey, guys in the truck — hit it.”

Rocky Top began playing, and Ross slid onto the stage between the two stars. His moment in the spotlight lasted about 30 seconds, before Bryan — a Georgia fan — took issue with Manning’s nod to UT.

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“Stop, stop, stop,” Bryan called, waving his arms and covering his ears.

Ross’ meteoric rise to fame — one that catapulted him onto the stage of the Country Music Awards in a matter of months — was all happenstance.

Back in the spring, a video of him clogging at a festival in Bryson City was posted to TikTok, and soon took on a life of its own and users began making their own renditions and mash-ups.

“When the original viral video came out, it had banjo and fiddle music,” Ross said. “Then they started putting it to hip-hop, rock n’ roll, the Nutcracker. It was interesting because even though these are different genres, the dance style goes well with the songs they’ve been choosing.”

One of the most popular? Ross jigging to The Trick Daddy rap ‘I’m a Thug.’

Zeb’s mom, Kim Ross, founded the J Creek Cloggers 13 years ago as a way to preserve and share Appalachian culture. Zeb, by default, was along for the ride since the beginning.

He ultimately has taken clogging to heights his mom could have never imagined, however.

Kim called her son’s style “a little bit of jitterbug, Charleston, hip-hop and hillbilly crip dancing.” That, along with his infectious smile, is what she thinks has led to the group’s newfound fame.

Pictured (L-R): Circle Guard members David Conrad, Jerry Williams and Mary Ann McCready; Delphine Roberts, the wife of Ken Roberts who accepted on his behalf; Emmylou Harris and Circle Guard members Kyle Young, Seab Tuck, Ken Levitan and Bill Denny. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Ken Roberts has been appointed the newest initiate to the Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum’s Circle Guard in recognition of his significant contributions to the museum.

Emmylou Harris announced the honor during an intimate luncheon on the CMA Theater stage at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Roberts served on the museum’s board between 1996 and 2006, transitioning to Trustee Emeritus in 2016. When he served as president and CEO of the Frist Foundation, he guided the Frist Foundation’s 1997 leadership gift that helped make possible the museum’s move from Music Row to its current downtown location. That support also enabled the proper preservation and presentation of the Frist Library and Archive, which houses the museum’s collection of photography, sound recordings, films, periodicals, and more. An accomplished pianist, Roberts has also made crucial contributions to Nashville’s civic and cultural life for decades.

The Circle Guard celebrates individuals whose highest-level contributions of time, talent and treasure to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum safeguard the integrity of country music and make it accessible to a global audience. The Circle Guard recognition ranks as the highest distinction afforded those benefactors who exhibit an unwavering commitment to the museum and its mission. This is the third year in which the Circle Guard’s ranks have expanded since the designation was introduced by Circle Guard Founder Steve Turner in 2018.

Each year, for the two weeks leading up to the Medallion Ceremony—which is the formal induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame for its three newest members—the Circle Guard members share the life stories of those celebrated in the Hall of Fame Rotunda by leading the Road to the Hall of Fame: Rite of Remembrance and Salute. The annual ceremony, open to all museum visitors and occurring daily for two weeks, pays tribute to each of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s yearly classes and their inducted members.

Roberts joins existing members David Conrad, Bill Denny, Ken Levitan, Mary Ann McCready, Mike Milom, Seab Tuck, Steve Turner, Jerry Williams and Kyle Young.

By Paul T. Mueller –

Despite its name, the inaugural Outlaw Country West music cruise wasn’t just about country music. Producers Sixthman and Renegade Circus cast a wider net, including a couple of Southern California punk bands as well as several purveyors of West Coast country and rock. The floating festival departed Los Angeles on November 3 aboard the Norwegian Jewel, making stops at the Mexican ports of Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada before returning to Los Angeles on November 8.

X and Social Distortion, longtime mainstays of the Southern California punk scene, brought rock ‘n’ roll energy and attitude to the festival, an offshoot of the well-established and mostly Miami-based Outlaw Country Cruise. Artists offering a purer country sound included Jim Lauderdale, Wade Sapp, James Intveld, Deke Dickerson and Elizabeth Cook. Also featured were East LA roots music icons Los Lobos, cowpunk pioneer Dave Alvin, bluesy folksinger Lucinda Williams, rockabilly guitar-slinger Rosie Flores and Texas iconoclast Terry Allen, among many others.

Some highlights from the packed schedule of nearly 60 shows and numerous other activities:

Los Lobos got things off to a rocking start with a first-day sailaway show on the pool deck that featured hits such as “Don’t Worry Baby,” “Will the Wolf Survive?” and “Kiko and the Lavender Moon.” The band also threw in some excellent covers, including a joyous rendition of “Not Fade Away” and the Grateful Dead’s “Bertha” to close the show.

Terry Allen brought his offbeat West Texas style to the Jewel’s Stardust Theater the first evening. Allen has long been a favorite in his home state, and his sets, supported by the brilliant Panhandle Mystery Band, won him a slew of new fans. High points included some Allen originals possibly better known from being covered by others – “Amarillo Highway” (Robert Earl Keen), “New Delhi Freight Train” (Little Feat) and “Gimme a Ride to Heaven” (The Flatlanders).

Also impressive were less-familiar songs such as “Death of the Last Stripper,” “All These Blues Go Walking By” (featuring powerful vocals by Shannon McNally), and “City of the Vampires,” which Allen said was based on suggestions from his 9-year-old grandson. Later in the cruise, veteran singer-songwriter and activist Steve Earle interviewed Allen for his SiriusXM radio show, giving Allen a venue for fascinating and often funny stories about growing up in Lubbock and working with artists such as Guy Clark and David Byrne.

Lucinda Williams, continuing her strong comeback from the stroke she suffered about two years ago, played a powerful first-night set in the Stardust with her excellent band, Buick 6. She drew from her extensive catalog with older songs such as “Right in Time,” “Lake Charles” and “Those Three Days,” and newer tracks such as “Big Black Train” and Memphis Minnie’s “You Can’t Rule Me,” which she dedicated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Williams hasn’t yet regained her ability to play guitar onstage, but her voice sounded better than it has in a while, despite some occasional glitches (“Dammit! Son of a biscuit baker!” she said at one point while reaching for her throat spray). One couldn’t help but be moved by the care and support shown by her band members – guitarist Stuart Mathis, bassist David Sutton and drummer Butch Norton.

Dave Alvin and his band, The Guilty Ones, packed the Stardust for a Friday show featuring Alvin’s sometimes dark songs about the California experience. Alvin, in remarkable form after some recent health issues, led his excellent outfit through “The King of California,” “Ashgrove” and “Dry River,” among others. Jimmie Dale Gilmore, who’s been touring and recording with Alvin in recent years, was scheduled for the cruise, but he came down with Covid-19 and was unable to participate. His son Colin Gilmore, a fine singer-songwriter in his own right, filled in for him, joining Alvin for “Billy the Kid and Geronimo” and his father’s “Dallas.” Also making guest appearances were two members of Los Lobos, guitarist/singer David Hidalgo and saxophonist/keyboardist Steve Berlin.

A wide range of artists converged on the Stardust for a Sunday evening tribute to California native Merle Haggard. The setlist included Jim Lauderdale with “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive,” Shannon McNally with “Mama Tried,” John Doe of X with “Silver Wings,” Terry Allen with “Okie from Muscogee,” Rosie Flores with “My Own Kind of Hat,” Dave Alvin with “Kern River,” and Norm Hamlet, longtime steel guitarist with Haggard’s band, The Strangers, with “Today I Started Loving You Again.” Everyone returned to the stage for the big finale, “Sing Me Back Home.”

Southern California punk rockers Social Distortion brought their high-energy, high-volume songs of anger and pain to a Monday pool deck show as the Jewel departed Ensenada, Mexico. Founder and lead singer Mike Ness rather sheepishly owned up to enjoying the clearly non-punk experience of cruise ship life before launching into powerful renditions of “I Wasn’t Born to Follow,” “Sick Boys” and “Ball and Chain,” among others. Longtime Social D guitarist Jonny Two Bags was absent, reportedly because of an injury, but Josh Jove (Eagles of Death Metal) filled in capably.

A Monday evening guitar pull in the Stardust drew a large crowd for a song swap featuring Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams (with Stuart Mathis handling the guitar work), Charlie Sexton (filling in for Jimmie Dale Gilmore), and Dave Alvin. The show featured some excellent performances — Sexton honoring Gilmore with a rendition of the latter’s “Treat Me Like a Saturday Night,” Alvin’s moving take on Tom Russell’s “Blue Wing,” Williams’ wistful “Passionate Kisses.” Other high points included Alvin’s funny story about once having had to follow the legendary Barrett Strong in a songwriter round, and Sexton’s amazement at being chided for talking too much by none other than the notoriously loquacious Steve Earle.

All of this hardly scratches the surface, of course. The festival’s big lineup and short duration made it pretty much impossible to see every artist, let alone every show. But by all accounts, there were fine performances by Steve Earle, Elizabeth Cook, Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express, Big Sandy & His Flyrite Boys, Deke Dickerson & the Whippersnappers, Rosie Flores, Lillie Mae, Jim Lauderdale, the Slim Jim Phantom Trio, the Beat Farmers, the Long Ryders, Charlie Overbey, Jo Harvey Allen, Mojo Nixon & the Toad Liquors, Andrew Leahey & the Homestead, Jade Jackson, James Intveld, Norm Hamlet & Mario Carboni, Wade Sapp and Roger Alan Wade & Honky Tonk CIA. There was also a previously unannounced appearance by guitarist Wayne Kramer of the Detroit-based band MC5, who sat in with Lucinda Williams, Rosie Flores and the Long Ryders, among others.

Margo Price, “Lydia”

Price’s latest song champions a woman’s right to choose what is right for her own body, by unfurling — over the course of seven verses — the story, history, worries and choices of a woman who becomes pregnant and is unable to raise the child, while facing a lack of health insurance and living in a rundown part of town. She abandons the traditional chorus-verse-bridge-chorus song structure in favor of a freewheeling melody that keeps the focus solely on the storyline. Price wrote the song years before the overturning of Roe v. Wade and recorded it in 2021. The song will be included on her album Strays, out Jan. 13. This haunting, magnetic story makes for essential listening.

More from Billboard

Zach Bryan, “The Greatest Day of My Life”

“Years are just moments in a great big pile,” Bryan sings in this new release of a fan favorite. Continuing with his Red Dirt acoustic compositions, Bryan encapsulates with heartfelt gratitude the highs of life on and off the road, from having a sturdy band playing behind him, being a country boy fashioning a song in a New York high-rise, and having his faithful dog to always come home to. This prolific troubadour, who saw his American Heartbreak album debut at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart earlier this year, continues his hot streak with another keen-eyed chronicling of the world around him.

Brantley Gilbert feat. Blake Shelton and Vince Gill, “Heaven by Then”

Gilbert takes a break from testosterone-filled uptempo numbers to imagine a life without small-town values and ways on this acoustic-driven track. He’s accompanied by Shelton and Gill on vocals.

Written by Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Michael Hardy, Jake Mitchell, Randy Montana, Hunter Phelps and Taylor Phillips, the somber song laments the ebbing of a rural way of life, envisioning a place where “number three is just a number and Hank is just a name/ When trucks don’t sound like thunder and nobody prays for rain.” A pleaser of a track for those who feel a certain way of life gets overlooked.

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Jordan Davis, “Part of It”

Davis just picked up song of the year at the 56th annual CMA Awards this week, as a writer and artist on “Buy Dirt.” He follows with another song that also draws its lyrics from the concept of learning lessons in life and love from an older generation–whether that be a father showing him the way through a painful breakup or instilling a work ethic and love of the land. The production is smooth and again highlights Davis’ relatable vocal, while the song’s vibe has moments reminiscent of Eric Church’s 2018 hit, “Some of It.” Davis’s talent as both a vocalist and a writer has steadily deepened since his 2017 breakthrough “Singles You Up,” with this track being another testament.

Randy Houser, “Out and Down”

Houser knows he should be moping and downtrodden after a romantic breakup, but instead he sings, “I took it like a man and took it right down to the bar.” Written by Houser with Matt Rogers and Chris DeStefano, this slab of a Friday night uptempo rocker is a perfect vessel for Houser’s swaggering country vocals.

Emily Nenni, “Can Chaser”

Longtime Nashville resident Nenni, who has spent years performing at Music City haunts including Santa’s Pub and Robert’s Western World, just released her first album with Normaltown/New West Records, On the Ranch. She has vocal charm to spare on songs such as “Can Chaser,” a nod to female barrel racers, and the ’70s-twanging title track, a tribute to her time spent working on a ranch in Colorado. Her alliance with traditional country sounds soaks through every track on this album.

Six One Five Collective, “Kindness”

A teaming of artist-writers including Sarah Darling, Michael Logen and Nicole Witt team with Jamie Floyd for this encouraging track. Led by Logen’s warm vocals, the song leads listeners to think about the role they are playing in the world.

“We’re all slaying dragons, we think we’re on our own/ But everybody’s got a battle nobody knows,” they sing, using their luminous harmonies to encourage kindness and acceptance. An uplifting track needed during this day and time. The group’s upcoming EP, Coastin‘, arrives Nov. 18.

Nathaniel Rateliff, “You Asked Me To”

From Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver, the always soulful Rateliff offers a stellar job on this classic written by Shaver and Waylon Jennings, which originally appeared on Jennings’s 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes and on Shaver’s 1977 album Gypsy Boy, with Willie Nelson (the Shaver rendition is in past tense, which Rateliff also does here). The sturdy torque of Rateliff’s vocals center the defiance and endless devotion of the lyrics, while the rollicking instrumentation retains the freewheeling heart of the original.

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Soulful duo is is fresh off of a historic CMA performance

The CMA Awards have the ability to introduce people to new artists and music. I will be the first to admit, I was (as the kids say) “sleeping on” The War and Treaty until their barn-burning performance with Brothers Osbourne on the CMAs broadcast Wednesday night. In the commercial break that followed, I discovered that they were playing mere steps away from my apartment building. In two days.

So I reached out to cover the show on Saturday (Nov 12th) at the historic Sixth and I Synagogue near Chinatown in DC. Thankfully, in the midst of all the post-awards craziness in Nashville, my request was granted. And what I witnessed almost transcends explanation.

The War and Treaty are comprised of husband and wife duo Michael Trotter, Jr. and Tanya Trotter. Throughout their 15-song set, the Trotters shared some of their personal story at this, their homecoming concert. Both are natives to Southeast DC.

Opening with three songs back-to-back-to-back, the third in the set, “Keep You Warm,” earned the Trotters and their four backing players the first of many standing ovations for the evening. “Up Yonder” was had a spiritual feel made more special by its dedication to the late actor and country music recording artist, Leslie Jordan. Jordan’s manager was in attendance at the show, and Michael Trotter discussed how The War and Treaty had become friendly with Jordan shortly before his passing.

Trotter, Jr. also shared a funny Garth Brooks story that — true to The War and Treaty’s fast ascent — starts and the Opry and ends at the Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony. Michael Trotter struck up a conversation with Brooks at the ceremony, asking him, “Guess who has the most-viewed Opry performance on social media?” Brooks stared blankly. As it turns out, The War and Treaty had gone viral just days before the Hall of Fame inductions, with their song “Yesterday’s Burn.” Brooks just laughed and asked if Michael and Tanya wanted to go for pizza.

Throughout the show, the pair’s chemistry was undeniable. A husband and wife still very much in love, Michael would sidle up behind Tanya and wrap his arms around her as he was singing. They took each others hands from time-to-time as they sang. Or the pair would steal a smooch in between songs.

This chemistry was evident on the slow-burning “Blank Page,” a song about starting over that is the title track from the EP that The War and Treaty dropped the night of their CMA appearance. It built to a crescendo, with the Trotters facing each other throughout. And at the end, they had a bit of a voice-off, each showing off their incredible pipes.

There was a clear yearning in Michael’s voice as he took lead on the heart-aching song “That’s How Love is Made.” It was these moments full of raw emotion that popped up all night long, transcending the performance from a concert to something of a religious experience. The War and Treaty brought a revival hard-won by their life story.

Tanya shared early on that the natives were once a struggling family from DC’s Southeast. They had lost everything and were homeless with a son. They moved to start over in the small town of Albion, Michigan. Now, they are the first black duo signed to a major Nashville country music label. She could barely get through this without tearing up. And when Tanya Trotter mentioned performing on the CMAs, the hometown crowd leapt to their feet and gave the duo a three minute standing ovation. Just for smashing barriers.

The show closed with their two biggest hits, “All I Wanna Do” and “Five More Minutes.” The former included a mash-up of other soul songs, painting a picture that the genres of soul, jazz, southern rock, and country are much more closely related than we think.

Country music is ready for The War and Treaty. This much was clear on the ABC telecast, and it was a celebrated fact in DC. Their music speaks to the universality of a human heart in search of connection with fellow people in such a powerful, resonant way. Because of their own lived experience, The War and Treaty delivers this music of unity in a way only they can.

I had the good fortune to be in the front row for The War and Treaty. As fans rushed the stage in the intimate sanctuary of Sixth and I, I grabbed both Michael and Tanya’s hand and said, “Welcome to country music. We needed you.” Watch out, because when their major label debut album drops in March, they will be everywhere. There is no stopping them now.

Country music stars are spilling details on who their dream duet partners would be.

When given the chance to choose any artist to team up with, some singers opted for fellow country music artists, while others chose pop stars or late crooners.

Jessie James Decker, Dierks Bentley and more stars spoke with Fox News Digital about who their ideal duet partner would be and why. 

“OK, ultimate duet partner? I would probably say Jimi Hendrix, but somebody living — probably Chris Martin from Coldplay,” singer Lindsay Ell said. 

CMAS 2022: LAINEY WILSON ON WINNING FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR, WALKING WITH DAD ON CARPET: ‘A DREAM’

“I just love how Chris uses genres and takes them on such a crazy worldwide stage, and so I think musically and production wise we could just create something amazing,” she explained. 

Jordan Davis said he would have loved to have worked with one of his idols in the music industry — the late John Prine.

Prine died in 2020 from coronavirus complications at the age of 73. 

“Ultimate duet partner, oh John Prine,” Davis said. “John Prine is the reason why I fell in love with songwriting. He’s the best songwriter to ever live in my opinion, so it would be John Prine.”

Prine wrote many hit songs throughout his illustrious career as a singer-songwriter, including “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” “Angel From Montgomery,” “Hello In There” and “In Spite of Ourselves.”

Bentley, who has worked with many of the industry’s top musicians throughout his career, also chose a late idol. 

Dierks Bentley revealed he would have liked to have worked with Frank Sinatra on a duet.
(Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

“You know, I’ve had so many great partners. I had the chance to sing with Alison Krauss, I’ve dueted live with Taylor Swift. That was pretty cool,” Bentley said. “I’m a huge Frank Sinatra fan, so he’d probably be the guy.”

Tyler Hubbard’s dream collaboration would be a country-pop crossover with former boy band member Justin Timberlake.

“Ooh, ultimate duet partner. I just thought about Justin Timberlake all of a sudden,” Hubbard said. “I don’t know why, but I think he would be fun to collaborate with.” 

Timberlake has previously collaborated with another country star, Chris Stapleton. The two teamed up for the 2018 song “Say Something” and their 2013 duet “Drink You Away.”

Decker is one of the lucky few in the industry to be able to say she has already worked with her dream duet partner, having released a single with him just two weeks ago. 

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She hopes she and Billy Currington will be back at the CMA Awards next year as nominees for their collaboration on the song “I Still Love You.”

Jessie James Decker says she already got to work with her dream duet partner, Billy Currington, on her newest song “I Still Love You.”
(Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

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“My ultimate duet partner is my partner right now on a duet I just launched two weeks ago, it’s called ‘I Still Love You’ with Billy Currington, my favorite artist,” Decker explained to Fox News Digital on the CMAs red carpet. 

“He’s had 13 No. 1 songs. He’s my favorite male singer in this town, and being able to sing with him, put out a video, I’m manifesting that we will be celebrating that single here next year this time.”

© Mark Humphrey/Mark Humphrey/Invision/AP
Jon Pardi, Dierks Bentley and Lainey Wilson perform during a tribute to lifetime achievement award winner Alan Jackson at the 56th annual CMA Awards on Nov. 9 in Nashville. (Mark Humphrey/AP)

NASHVILLE — On any given Thursday night in Nashville, you can stand on a neon-soaked, tourist-packed block of Lower Broadway and hear Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart” blasting from a band at Layla’s Honky Tonk. Brooks & Dunn’s “Red Dirt Road” from Legends Corner. Clay Walker’s “If I Could Make a Living” from Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman” from a passing car. Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” from the speakers of a pedal tavern filled with bros, who loudly boo when they pedal past and you decline to give them a high-five.

And just up the street, if you step out of the party zone and into the historic Ryman Auditorium, you can hear the audience’s ear-shattering screams at Carly Pearce’s Oct. 28 concert when Trisha Yearwood stops by to croon “How Do I Live,” Ronnie Dunn arrives to sing “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” and Kelsea Ballerini shows up to cover the Chicks’s 1999 classic “Cowboy Take Me Away.”

It doesn’t really matter where you are: In country music, the genre’s iconic ′90s and early 2000s hits — and the acts that sing them — continue to reign supreme. After all, it was the era when country’s biggest acts became chart-topping, stadium-filling superstars, bringing country music to its widest audience ever — so it makes sense that singers, songwriters, executives and even fans cling to that time.

“That might be the loudest thing I’ve ever heard,” Martina McBride said to the roar of the sold-out crowd the following night across the street at Bridgestone Arena, where she was the opening act for Wynonna Judd. McBride sounded choked up as thousands gave her a standing ovation after she belted out “A Broken Wing,” her famous ballad from 1997. “God, I love Nashville,” she said.

“You have no idea how much you mean to the world,” Yearwood, the concert’s special guest singer, told Judd, who collected 14 No. 1 hits between 1984 and 1991 with her mother and duo partner, the late Naomi Judd. The noise level at Bridgestone was only rivaled the next night at the tour stop at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., where Judd’s guest singer was Faith Hill. Her husband, Tim McGraw, watched the show from the floor seats, and briefly entertained the audience by dancing between sets to Brooks & Dunn’s 1991 line dance anthem “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”

Spend some time in Nashville and you will see this nostalgia obsession play out repeatedly and eventually televised on a national platform at Wednesday’s 2022 Country Music Association Awards. The three-hour broadcast on ABC came alive about a half-hour in when Jo Dee Messina strolled onstage during Cole Swindell’s performance of his five-week No. 1 single “She Had Me At Heads Carolina,” a reimagining of Messina’s 1996 smash “Heads Carolina, Tails California.” (“She’s a ′90s country fan, like I am,” Swindell sings approvingly in his song about a girl he meets in a karaoke bar.)

“Y’all give it up for Jo Dee Messina!” Swindell yelled at the end and bowed to Messina, who beamed and waved to the screaming crowd. A similar reaction occurred later when Chris Stapleton collaborated with Patty Loveless on “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” which she recorded in 2001. Ditto during the Alan Jackson lifetime achievement award tribute when the cameras could barely keep up with the number of country stars dancing in the audience, as various artists performed his hits spanning from “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” (1990) to “Remember When” (2003).

While observing all of this, the question arises: If a genre is this fixated on the past, what does that mean for its future? After talking to many people in the industry, as well as those industry-adjacent who count themselves as superfans, the answer is complicated.

First, it should be noted that country is far from alone when it comes to being obsessed with the past. The broader culture is going through a ′90s and 2000s nostalgia craze, from re-watch podcasts to TV and movie reboots and band reunion tours. But country music stands out as a place that was already fixated on its past.

Countless songs reminisce about the good old days, like McGraw’s “Back When” — and wonder why things can’t be as simple as they used to be, even if it’s recalling a fictional problem-free town that never actually existed, such as Rascal Flatts’s “Mayberry.” As a result, country music’s determination to constantly pay tribute to past legends and celebrate its history can make it difficult to move forward, and particularly now as the industry that likes to bill itself as one big family is more divided than ever as it grapples with complex issues like the rest of America.

The unpleasantness that has rankled Nashville was successfully swept under the rug on the CMAs broadcast. Nominees Jason Aldean and Maren Morris were both in the audience just two months after a rare social media blowup when Aldean’s wife, Brittany, posted an Instagram video that Morris criticized as transphobic.

About six weeks later, Aldean leaned into the controversy as he sarcastically told the crowd at a Bridgestone concert that he might bring Morris up onstage, and flashed a smile when fans booed — and then proceeded to welcome to the stage Morgan Wallen, best known to mainstream audiences as the singer who was caught on TMZ video last year saying the n-word and only becoming more popular when fans (and some Nashville singers and industry executives) fretted he was being unfairly “canceled.”

Both controversies made national news and spotlighted the larger issues that the format has yet to fully deal with, from the overwhelmingly White genre’s extreme lack of diversity to how LGBTQ singers have been marginalized by the industry for decades. Such incidents are discussed at length behind the scenes, and has caused a lot of soul-searching in Nashville as some have realized they have to work closely with people whose views they despise — while others wish everyone could just focus on the music, because they are at a loss to solve these problems.

In other whispered conversations — where people furtively glance over their shoulders at events and restaurants, because you never know who might be standing right behind you in this industry town — there’s further anxiety over how to respond to these issues publicly. Multiple people in the industry were unimpressed by CMA co-host Luke Bryan’s defensive statement last month after he saw backlash for inviting the “very polarizing” (his words) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) onstage at a concert, seemingly trying to argue that it wasn’t a political statement because he was promoting awareness for hurricane relief.

And of course, it’s all compounded by the fact that country music, like all genres, is struggling to adapt to the future of streaming, confronting a touring industry that was crippled by the pandemic and struggling with how to break new music stars other than advising them to somehow go viral on TikTok — a frustration that has spilled into public as musicians vent about this new pressure placed upon them.

© Erika Goldring/Getty Images
Carrie Underwood performs a Toby Keith tribute for the BMI Icon Award during the 2022 BMI Country Awards on Nov. 8 in Nashville. (Erika Goldring/Getty Images for BMI)

So it’s no wonder that the day before the CMAs at the BMI Country Awards (a star-studded private industry event that honors songwriters), everyone preferred to bask in nostalgic times. Toby Keith was awarded the BMI Icon Award, and stars from Eric Church to Carrie Underwood performed covers of his hits and raved about his rise to stardom. Discussion of the difficulties songwriters face as royalties dry up in the streaming era were left to another night.

“It was artists like you that taught kids like me that greatness was possible if you work hard, give it all you got,” Underwood said before putting her spin on “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” Keith’s first No. 1 single in 1993.

It was more of the same the following night when CMA voters awarded the entertainer of the year prize (for the second year in a row) to Luke Combs. He’s the genre’s newest megastar who speaks frequently about legendary ‘′90s duo Brooks & Dunn as one of his biggest inspirations — and has found massive success by combining modern production with (you guessed it) a traditional ’90s country sound.

For your listening consideration is this slightly curious, but certainly seductive offering from a duo that once was, isn’t really any more, but nonetheless taps into something eternal in musical truth to offer an album that takes you back, and entertains wickedly. It’s called Memories To Burn, and if you’re one of those souls who feels elevated whenever the blood harmonies of the Every Brothers or other close singing duos hit your ears, this will be right up your alley.

The Williams Brothers were originally signed to the Warner Bros. record label from 1987 to 1994, and released three albums. Though the instincts of the label were right that recording twin brothers Andrew and David Williams could result in magic—and to not stifle that magic you had to keep any music accompaniment simple—aside from the semi-hit “Can’t Cry Hard Enough” from 1992, the project came and went without much notable recognition.

The new album Memories To Burn is just as much about producer, songwriter, and Lone Justice member Marvin Etzioni finally trying to make the magic of Andrew and David Williams work in the studio as it is anything else. The two brothers don’t really perform together anymore and have mostly moved on. But Etzioni was there for the original era of the band, co-writing “Can’t Cry Hard Enough” and others, and almost as a challenge or a passion project for himself, wanted to capture what these brothers are capable of for posterity.

Along with producing the album, Marvin Etzioni also writes four of the album’s tracks. But the genius of the album is to not try and take the two-part blood harmonies of the Williams Brothers and sell it to the modern music market as was done before during the Warner Bros. era, but instead to go in the opposite direction and try to capture the original spirit that made the Everly Brothers so significant that the duo became first year inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and eventually Country Music Hall of Famers as well.

Writing or procuring the right crop of quality songs, and recording everything live and in one take just like the Every Brothers did results in a listening experience that’s as haunting as it is gratifying. Though Memories To Burn is officially 28 years in the making, it really feels like a relic from 60 to 70 years ago unearthed and dusted off in the refuse of some forgotten music collection in an abandoned farmhouse melting into a field in middle America, and brought to life to evoke potent memories of better eras in music and life.

The songwriting of Robbie Fulks is employed for the opening song “Tears Only Run One Way,” which immediately sucks you in with its vintage sound and those succulent close harmonies. Another excellent Robbie Fulks selection in “She Took a Lot of Pills (And Died)” also makes the cut, along with Iris Dement’s “Let The Mystery Be” and “Death of a Clown” by The Kinks. The duo also writes for themselves on the song “She’s Got That Look In Her Eyes.”

Song selection was really critical to making this project work, and it gets it right by choosing well-written compositions that also fit within the vernacular of the Sun Studios era they’re looking to evoke, while the steel guitar of the great Greg Leisz offers spirited compliments. Except for Leisz, Marvin Etzioni on bass, drummer Don Heffington, and Andrew Williams on acoustic guitar, there is no other musical accompaniment or overdubs. It’s all raw and real, with flawless performances turned in by The Williams Brothers, even if audiophiles may want a little more clarity and separation in the tracks.

The longest song on Memories To Burn is 2 1/2 minutes, and four of the songs come in at under 2 minutes. But in the 30-minute run time, Marvin Etzioni and The Williams Brothers do more than what some labor at for weeks to not accomplish because it fails to capture those kernels of human emotion that so much of modern music misses in it’s misguided attempts at evolution and innovation.

Music must grow and evolve to some extent, but when it moves too far away from the eternal truths of music that The Williams Brothers capture here, it falters, while an album like Memories To Burn that is insulated from trend and era will always endure.

7.8/10

Horses have always played a central role in country music. It’s impossible to think of cowboys and the vast, dusty lands of the South without imagining horse-back riders, rickety old wagons and ranches that spread far and wide across the burning horizon.

Our list of songs about horses collects some of the best country songs, about the animal which gave so much to Southern culture.

Country Songs About Horses

1. Reuben Brock – Black Horse Through Hell

We love it when old-school musicians blow their younger counterparts out of the water. Reuben Brock’s Black Horse To Hell carries a distinct and captivating chorus melody that blends the essence of his generation’s country rock with a compelling modern twist.

This track is completely hypnotic, laced with fiddle riffs and loaded with fiery crimson imagery.

Black Horse To Hell tells the story of running away from the coming storm on a black horse through hell, using stunning scenery to illustrate a man’s wild escape, “Cold wind blows before the rain, but I can’t stay here any more … With a dark red sky the clouds roll by, no way to tell if the path is clear for my escape.”

Underlying Brock’s horse metaphor is the hinting of an apathetic break up which summoned the narrator’s need to bound through the wreckage and back into peace, “Always at war, don’t want to fight you any more.”

This is a song for anyone wanting to travel far and free from a life streaked with disaster.

2. Justin McBride – Good Saddles Ain’t Cheap

Justin McBride’s song holds a wealth of classic country storytelling techniques within its lyrics.

He sets his scene with a spoken-word intro, before propelling into the character of a shop-keeper who imparts his life-long learned horse-riding advice to a seven year old boy.

The love for horses and life on the ranch are often a generational thing, passed down from father to son to grandson; a sentiment Good Saddles Ain’t Cheap holds close to its heart.

McBride’s chorus says it perfectly; “Good saddles ain’t cheap but they’re worth every dime, you’ll be glad you’ve got one when you’re on a long ride, you know a deal and a bargain are often misunderstood, good saddles ain’t cheap, cheap saddles ain’t good.”

McBride bravely highlights the subtle risk of animal cruelty that comes with downgrading your gear; “You might save yourself a few dollars, feel pretty smart at the time, but there’s nothing that hurts any smarter than a galled raw blistered behind.. not to mention your poor horse’s back.”

3. Dave Stamey – Come Ride With Me

Come Ride With Me is a sweet country song that embraces the freedom of horse-back adventures through the broad and endless country.

Dave Stamey asks his parter to ride with him as he leads through the winding trails that compose his home away from home.

He douses his track in sweeping scenery, crafting his song like the words of a cowboy tour-guide showing his wide-eyed crowd America’s natural wonders for the first time.

From the “smell of leather, the sunlight on your skin.. the dust in your hair, the light in your eyes…” to “camping near the meadow, we’ll love the night away and saddle up again, when the dawn in turnin’ grey.”

Come Ride With Me is wonderfully evocative of the life of the natural beauty a horseman will get to experience and adore, day after day.

4. Brenn Hill – Monster On Your Back

Brenn Hill’s track harnesses a sound as powerful as a wild stampede, twisting traditional elements into a gripping contemporary country anthem.

Monster On Your Back captures a tough-guy attitude, opening on the compellingly hilarious line, “I’ve rode this mountain seventy years I’ve been alive, choked on rocks and rattlesnakes, a wonder I’ve survived,” setting the scene for his old-school manly track about being the most fearsome creature of the wild.

Brenn addresses his song to his horse, fleshing out his dominance over the animal and highlighting how age will never dull a cowboy’s inner drive;

“You think that if you buck me off that I won’t get back on… You think that this old man ain’t tough like he once used to be, try me one more time and you will see.”

5. Red Steagall – About Horses And War

Red Steagall masterfully uses the storytelling inherent to good, old fashioned country music to tell the magnetic tale of a young cowboy riding by horse to the next town across, where he “dances till morning with the prettiest ladies and tells ‘em stories about horses and war.”

Steagall twists the story into one of nostalgia and wishing for your golden days to return, illustrating the cowboy’s life with compelling, character-building details;

“He’s seen in his lifetime a gas-powered jeepney, then a picture they sent back from Mars, but all that he prays for is to ride off to glory on the back of that ol’ piebald horse.”

6. Brooks Dunn ft. Reba McEntire – Cowgirls Don’t Cry

Brooks Dunn dedicated his song to the strength of cowgirls in a male-dominated world.

He shows how vital life lessons can be learnt through horse-riding, his chorus speaking like a father to his little cowgirl, “Cowgirls don’t cry, ride, baby, ride, lessons in life are going to show you… It’s gonna hurt every now and then, if you fall, get back on again, cowgirls don’t cry.”

The narrator follows the cowgirl throughout every turn of her life, showing how the endurance and willpower learned from her horse-riding childhood gives her the honest strength to carry her through every devastating experience that tries to knock her down.

7. Geogre Strait – If Heartbreaks Were Horses

George Strait captures the melancholic nostalgia of being heartbroken under the hues of sunset.

If Heartbreaks Were Horses is about a ranch-man who embarks on his horse for his long day’s work, knowing that as he travels, his wife has been “packing her things since I put the coffee on.”

Strait threads together his track by constantly alluding to the animal he’s been raised to love, as if attempting to distract himself and hopelessly fill the chasm of loneliness left by his disappearing partner;

“Damn this ol’ girth, worn right in two, but a spare length of leather and I’ll make it do, just when I think I’ve got life by the reins, home ain’t sweet home out on the range.”