I think we’ve all probably paid a little more than we wanted to for a concert ticket before.
But lately, it seems like the prices get higher and higher every time a new show goes on sale, with several big artists announcing huge tours in the last few weeks that are already at absolutely astronomical prices.
Just a couple weeks ago, for example, George Strait announced seven stadium shows with Chris Stapleton, and those presale tickets were already starting at around $500 a piece, ranging easily into the thousands for the best seats in the house.
I’m sure inflation plays a small part in that too, but this has been an issue that’s been around since companies like Ticketmaster became the main distributer of event tickets, as opposed to people actually having to go wait in line or call a venue directly to buy them.
And their Dynamic Pricing, which leaves a certain percentage of tickets to have pricing determined by the demand, guarantees that a hot ticket will run fans thousands and thousands of dollars.
And outside of country music, artists like Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift have drawn criticism over their insanely high ticket prices lately, but unfortunately, a lot of the prices and sales are completely out of their hands.
Swifties were even calling for the Justice Department to shut down Ticketmaster:
Sure, they have some say in terms of how much or little they want their shows to cost, but ultimately, Ticketmaster can tack on whatever fees they want to jack up the prices and make a large profit, in addition to allowing scalpers to resale tickets on their site which is the real issue here.
We’ve all seen the pointless “service fees” that easily add an extra $20-$30 plus to a ticket, which is all regulated by the ticketing giant. And it’s not just them, plenty of other ticketing sites do the same thing to maximize their profit, but they’re by far the biggest and most recognizable in the music industry and beyond.
According to More Perfect Union, Ticketmaster’s scam fees now cost as much as 78% of a ticket, which is just mind boggling to think about paying over triple the price of what a ticket is really worth:
“Ticketmaster’s scam fees now cost as much as 78% of a ticket. The company controls the events, the venues, even the artists and it’s destroying live music.”
We’ve seen country artists like Eric Church try and do what he can to ensure more fans and less scalpers get ahold of tickets, which involves a pretty complex process and joining his fan club with a lot of tedious steps, but by and large, it’s the best attempt I’ve seen of an artist trying to keep prices low for their fans.
With country being such a tour-heavy industry, it can be incredibly frustrating for people who, even if they’re ready to buy tickets as soon as they go live, end up losing to bots and programs run by scalpers to snag those tickets as quick as they go on sale.
And a few days ago, President Joe Biden announced that the Federal Trade Commission is working on regulations aimed at cracking down on these kinds of fees, specifically mentioning those that come along with buying concert tickets:
“And we’re just getting started. There are tens of billions of dollars in other junk fees across the economy, I’ve directed my administration to reduce or eliminate them.
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission started work on a rule to crack down on unfair and deceptive fees, across all industries. Fees that were never disclosed. Never disclosed.
And there was no way to avoid the fee, like processing fees for concert tickets.”
Zach Bryan then quote tweeted that clip, saying:
“BIDEN AINT A HOMIE BUT ALL MY HOMIES HATE TICKETMASTER.”
A week or so ago, Zach drew the ire of fans who were understandably complaining to him on Twitter about the crazy mark up for his concert tickets.
Notably, his upcoming show at Red Rocks has them running easily in the $2,000-plus range, which is beyond what any person should every pay to see anybody perform live, and I think Zach would agree with that.
He acknowledged how outrages it was himself, noting that there really wasn’t much he could do and that it’s, unfortunately, mostly out of his hands:
not trying to be an ass, just done my research and asked a lot of fans what they’ve paid for tickets after a few my shows, this isn’t directed at you personally at all
He continued, adding that he makes no money off of the resale tickets (which is 100% true), and saying he wished he could be his own ticketing distributor at will call in every city… isn’t that the dream.
Here’s some of his other tweets about Ticketmaster and the ticket price problem plaguing the music industry right now:
also want to make it clear that resale ticket prices have no correlation in how much I get from shows! I have consistently tried so so so hard to make tickets as cheap as they could possibly be https://t.co/RZghpHhlJU
And thanks to our friends over at Country Central, it looks like they’ve already got an album cover ready to go:
If only…
Of course, the federal government enforcing regulations in any industry can be a slippery slope, so it’s unclear what exactly the FTC is going to realistically do in order to quell this issue.
Really, at the end of the day, it’s unfair to the artists and the fans, because the artists make none of the profit from the resale market, either.
It just simply sucks that hard working people are forced to choose to pay these ridiculous prices to see their favorite artist who rolls through town maybe once a year if they’re lucky, or not go at all.
And it remains to be seen if and when these new regulations will even help keep ticket prices at bay, so stay tuned, because I have a feeling there will be much more on this in the coming months.
Wednesday night’s (Nov. 2) episode of The Goldbergs will find the ABC family at a country and western bar, line dancing. Exclusive photos shared first by Taste of Country recall the glory of 1980s country music and the early line dancing craze.
Beverly Goldberg (Wendi McLendon-Covey) can be seen throughout the four photos shared here. The new episode — titled “Rhinestones and Roses” — finds her feeling a bit sensitive about her age and role as grandmother, so she heads to a country-western bar to reclaim her youth.
The Goldbergs airs on Wednesday nights on ABC at 8:30PM ET and then on demand on Hulu the next day.
ERINN HAYES, WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY
ABC / Scott Everett White
Goldberg neighbors and friends Ginzy (Jennifer Irwin), Linda (Mindy Sterling) and Essie (Stephanie Courtney) are also featured in these pictures, as is Jane Bales, as played by Erinn Hayes. The photo below finds Beverly with comic Mark Sipka, who is playing an emcee during the episode.
Longtime fans of the show, the Jenkinstown family and country music will appreciate the throwback to a time when rhinestones were fashionable, not just a cheeky nod to a more flamboyant past. While it’s never really stated which year the Goldbergs live in, one immediately thinks of artists like George Strait, Reba McEntire and Randy Travis when they think of ’80s country music. We’ve included a list of our favorite ’80s country songs below.
WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY, MARK SIPKA
ABC / Scott Everett White
WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY
ABC / Scott Everett White
See 50 Essential ’80s Country Songs
It’s 50 country songs from the 1980s, from 50 different 80s artists. Check out this list of essential 80s country music, curated by the Taste of County team.
He’s about to wrap up his American Heartbreak tour at Red Rocks on Thursday (and record a live album in the process), after dropping his major label debut studio album American Heartbreak earlier this year.
He’s sold out pretty much every show on the road, too, and has had massive streaming numbers thanks to the behemoth of a project that included 34 tracks in total. He also put out his Summertime Blues EP, in addition to dropping a few other stand-alone singles.
Recently the aforementioned record was certified Gold, and “Something In The Orange” was officially certified Platinum by the RIAA.
The song also previously debuted at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May, as well as debuting at #1 on the Emerging Artist Chart.
And as a result of the early numbers, it was announced a few weeks ago that his label, Warner Records, was officially pushing the fan-favorite song “Orange” as a single to country radio.
The single officially broke the Top 40 this week, climbing to the #39 spot on the Billboard Country Airplay chart (one of two charts labels use to officially track their songs performance), making it his very first Top 40 hit on mainstream country radio:
“Something in the Orange” by @zachlanebryan got 8 more adds on Mediabase country this week.
53 total adds so far.
Climbs 5 spots to #39 on Billboard Country Airplay.
I mean, it’s hard to say anything that hasn’t already been said about Zach, but it’s pretty damn cool to see him making gains on the mainstream chart against the biggest names in country music.
You absolutely love to see it.
Pushing “Orange” as a single sort of falls in line with a recent decision by Cody Jinks to send his Platinum single “Loud and Heavy” to country radio, as well.
And though it’s a relatively small victory at this point, I’d definitely still file it in the “win” column for artists outside of the Nashville machine everywhere, and I’m excited to see how “Orange” continues to climb on the country charts.
Hey, if we keep trending like this, I might actually turn on country radio every now and then…
The CMAs Nominees have been announced and folks, nothing makes us more excited for the holiday season than the anticipation of who will win these highly coveted categories. We will be able to tune in on Wednesday, November 9th to watch hosts Peyton Manning and Luke Bryan bring the fun to the 56th Annual CMA Awards!
It is always so fun to see who is nominated for what, and who walks away with the most nominations at the end of the day. This year we were thrilled to see first-time nominee Lainey Wilson nominated for six separate awards – Album of the Year (Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’), Female Vocalist of the Year, Music Video of the Year (“Never Say Never”), Musical Event of the Year (“Never Say Never”), New Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (“Things A Man Oughta Know”).
Take a look at all of the nominees for the 56th Annual CMA Awards and check out our predicted winners in bold:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer
“Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan Producer: Paul DiGiovanni Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley
“half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (feat. Kenny Chesney) Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins Mix Engineer: Dan Grech-Marguerat
“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore
“’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson Producer: Trent Willmon Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
“You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
Growin’ Up – Luke Combs Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton Mix Engineers: Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews
“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle
Paul Franklin, Steel guitar
Brent Mason, Guitar
Ilya Toshinskiy, Banjo
Derek Wells, Guitar
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)
“I Bet You Think About Me” (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault) – Taylor Swift (featuring Chris Stapleton) Director: Blake Lively
“Longneck Way To Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi) Director: Harper Smith
“Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson) Director: Michael Monaco
“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde Director: Alexa Campbell
“’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson Director: Dustin Haney
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
HARDY
Walker Hayes
Cody Johnson
Parker McCollum
Lainey Wilson
Don’t miss The 56th Annual CMA Awards,” hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning LIVE from Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 9 (8:00 – 11:00 PM/EST) on ABC.
How did we do? Do you think we nailed these predictions? Last year, we were way off, so go easy on us with our predictions this year! We are so excited to tune into this exciting event – are you tuning in? Tweet us your opinions here, keep us with country music memes on Instagram here, and keep up with the latest country music news on our Facebook here!
Bob Gold, right, with first Lady Barbara Bush in front of his Portland country radio station, WPOR. Photo courtesy of Kimberly Sheppard
The music and cultural scene in Greater Portland owes a debt to “Country Bob.”
Robert Gold, a longtime radio executive who purchased local station WPOR in 1971 and used it to bring country music to Maine airwaves, died last month at age 90. A celebration of life will be held this week for family and friends.
His legacy, though, lives on, according to those who knew him, even if locally owned radio stations like the one he built have become a relic of the past.
“He lived and breathed radio,” said Bob Fuller, who owned another well-known Portland station, WBLM, when Gold was turning WPOR into a country juggernaut. “Like all of us who succeeded in radio, he worked at it. He put a lot of hours in. There was no alternative.”
Fuller said he and Gold were technically rivals but had vastly different audiences so they were always cordial. WBLM was, and still is, a classic rock station. They formed a friendship that lasted 60 years.
“Even now, whenever I tell people that I lived in Portland and had radio stations here, people often will say, ‘Do you know Bob Gold?’ ” Fuller said.
Gold was born and raised in Portland and had a deep affection for his community. Before buying WPOR, he worked for former Maine Gov. Horace Hildreth, who owned a broadcasting company after his political career.
“He took his responsibility of owning a station very seriously,” said Kimberley Sheppard, Gold’s daughter. “He really understood that it was the responsibility of the station – and the people who ran it, of course – to take care of the public.”
By the 1960s, country music had started to branch more into mainstream culture with artists like Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Merle Haggard. But it was hard to find on radio stations in the Northeast until Gold came along and transformed WPOR.
“He saw that it was working in other markets, and there was a hole here, so he filled that void,” Fuller said.
Bob Gold with U.S. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith. Photo courtesy of Kimberly Sheppard
In the early days of owning the station – before concert promoters – Gold also was responsible for bringing big-name country music acts to what was then City Hall Auditorium, now called Merrill Auditorium. Sheppard remembers meeting Lynn, who died this month, at the station before the show.
“She couldn’t have been more kind,” she said. “She came with her husband (Doolittle Lynn) and talked about her upbringing. I’m sure she said the same thing to every radio station, but she was just a gem.”
Sheppard also remembers her father bringing in Jerry Lee Lewis, the rockabilly pioneer known just as much for his insatiable interest in (young) women as he was for his hit song “Great Balls of Fire.” Lewis died just last week.
“When Jerry Lee came, I was a teenager and he almost made a beeline for me,” Sheppard recalled. “My father grabbed me and said, ‘Stay away from him.’ ”
Bonnie Grant, who worked with Gold for 21 years at WPOR, starting as a salesperson and ending as general manager, said his success as a leader was in hiring similarly decided people and empowering them.
“A lot of us worked for him for over 20 years, I think that says a lot about Bob,” she said. “He created a team that became a family.”
Grant said when she first interviewed with Gold, he asked her if she liked country music. She did not.
“He said, ‘Oh, you will.’ And he was right,” she said.
Tom Hennessey was another longtime WPOR employee. He started in 1975 and had come over from WCSH radio.
“He was a tough boss but a really principled guy,” he said. “And he loved the music business and the show biz aspect of what we did. I used to go to conventions all over the country with him, including in Nashville. They all loved Bob.”
Another example of Gold’s commitment to community was a segment he created for WPOR called “The Big Deal.” It would run every weekend and listeners could call in and describe items they wanted to sell and leave their number for others to contact if they were interested. It was like a call-in yard sale. It was Facebook Marketplace long before that site existed.
Fuller said Gold was a savvy broadcast executive who succeeded because he understood both his audience and his advertisers.
“In the early days, we were fighting over the same advertising dollars but as clients matured, they realized different formats worked for different businesses,” he said. “Many wanted that country audience, and Bob recognized that.”
Growing up, Sheppard remembers listeners would call their house thinking they could request a song from the radio station’s owner. Her father always took the call.
He was involved with the Children’s Miracle Network and other philanthropic causes over the years and served on the board of the Maine Association of Broadcasters. In his spare time, which was indeed spare, he played golf and raised three children, Sheppard and his sons, James and Jeffrey, with his wife, Durelle, who died in 2000.
Gold sold WPOR in 1996 to Saga Communications, which still owns the station and seven others in Maine, but stayed on for a few years as a manager before retiring.
Even though Gold was a high-level executive, he relished his nickname, “Country Bob.”
“He never grew into being a big shot,” his daughter said. “He was always grounded and humble about it.”
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TOWN OF WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – It was a festive weekend in the North Country.
“They were like ‘Mom, we have to be Chucky for Halloween’ and that started in March,” said Fort Drum resident Zhazha Prieto.
Prieto and her family are four versions of the Good Guys Chucky Doll.
“Each one of us represents a different movie because of our weapons,” said Prieto.
They came out to the Nococon Halloween Costume Party hosted at the Town of Watertown Fire Hall which gave several an excuse to show off their costumes a day before Halloween night.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for us to get to know people in the community, but also enjoy some family fun stuff,” said Prieto.
Organizers of the event say community Halloween parties like this one need to become more popular.
“Let’s have a Halloween party that people can come to. Don’t get me wrong, I love haunted trails and haunted hay rides and all that stuff, but there needs to be more celebration,” said Nococon Co-Director Ember Belird.
The party didn’t stop in another fire hall cross county lines.
People with pumpkin hats danced in Copenhagen to the beat of the Black River Valley Fiddlers.
“It’s a beautiful day, and so many people have come just to have a good time and enjoy the old country music and the fiddlers,” said Juli Hebert, a Copenhagen Fire Department Auxiliary member.
This is a yearly tradition for these Lewis County residents who say it is a great way to enjoy the community.
Whether it’s dressing up or taking someone out to the dance floor, it always makes this time of year a skele-fun time.
Oct. 29—NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Warner Music Nashville surprised star recording artist Cole Swindell recently with three plaques commemorating his record-setting year.
Swindell’s multiweek No. 1 single “Never Say Never” (with Lainey Wilson) has officially earned RIAA platinum certification. Celebrating its fourth week atop the Billboard country airplay chart, Swindell’s “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” has been certified gold — and has already surpassed 1 million track equivalents.
“Heads Carolina” made Swindell the only artist in 2022 to spend four consecutive weeks at No. 1 on country radio, also amassing the largest airplay audience of any country single this year. The third plaque celebrates Swindell’s incredible 12 chart-topping hits.
The decorated singer/songwriter and entertainer from Bronwood in Terrell County is nominated for Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year at the 56th annual CMA Awards for “Never Say Never.” He is currently on the road on his headlining “Back Down To The Bar Tour” with Ashley Cooke and Dylan Marlowe.
Hank Williams Jr.’s son, country singer Sam Williams, has come out as gay in the music video for his new song, “Tilted Crown,” and a subsequent interview.
Williams’ new video loosely documents his growing up, and it shows him kissing his boyfriend on camera for the first time.
As People reports, Williams spoke to Hunter Kelly on Apple Music’s Proud Radio With Hunter Kelly podcast, where he revealed that he had previously planned to address his sexuality in a video for another song that did not come to pass. The directors of his new video felt strongly that including the kiss would help tell the authentic story of his life.
“At first I kind of thought that, ‘I’m tackling something else with this.’ And I thought that maybe that’s for another project,” Williams states. “But again, I felt like I was promoting invisibility, like I wasn’t being visible and wasn’t being myself. And I just thought it was the perfect opportunity to just show who I was.”
Williams tells Kelly that his pronouns are he/him and that he identifies as gay.
“And I’ve never said that to anybody else,” he admits. “I mean, people at my label know and people in my personal life know, but this is the first time that I’ve ever been, besides a show or two, that I’ve ever been this public about it. And it is scary, but it feels good.”
Williams grew up in the rural town of Paris, Tenn., and he says that he struggled to hide his sexuality and fit in with the crowd growing up. He’s hoping that his coming out openly can help another child who might be struggling with the same issues right now.
“So I think at the end of the day, that’s one of the most important reasons why I’m being so open,” the 25-year-old singer shares.
The “Tilted Crown” music video also touches on his relationship with his sister, Katie, who died in a car crash in 2020. Williams tells Kelly that he came out to his sister while they were four-wheeling in Alabama just months before her death. Her reaction was “so emotional,” he recalls.
“I think that she could see pain that I was in from hiding that and just had no idea. And I was like, ‘There’s been some situations that have made me uncomfortable, and I just want you to know.’ And I could just see that there was such a pain there of not knowing,”
Williams’ “Tilted Crown” video also depicts an older man who actively tries to push the young boy character to act more “manly.” He’s received feedback from fans who believe that’s a depiction of his own relationship with his famous father, which he says isn’t entirely accurate.
“That’s not necessarily playing my dad, that’s playing society as a whole,” he explains, adding that society expects and encourages certain behaviors in young girls, and a separate set of behaviors for young boys, regardless of whether or not they fit those children’s individual interests.
“My relationship with my dad wasn’t really like that at all,” he adds. “He didn’t push me to be in music. He pushed me go to hunting, I do have to give him that. He did push me to go hunting. I just wanted to clear that up just in case… It’s a little bit hard for me to watch because it’s just so honest, and it just brings back so much, and it’s all there on the surface.”
Williams released his latest project, Glasshouse Children: Tilted Crown, on Oct. 14. His interview on Apple Music’s Proud Radio With Hunter Kelly airs on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 5PM ET.
The Atco Quartet / Clarion 5146-C
The Rich Young Ruler / Don`t Be Knocking
recorded November 7, 1927 in Atlanta, Georgia
The only thing I know about this group is that this is the only recording they made and that the names of the singers were Will Hartsey, Grady Looney, Bill Cagle and Dee Abernathy and the piano picker was Velma Abernathy (information taken from Country Music Records). This was recorded by Columbia and also released on Columbia 15312-D and Velvet Tone 7102-V. I don`t know why Columbia released the same material on about a half dozen different labels as well as Columbia. I am curious about the name Atco. It could have been a company or sponsor name of the group, or it may be an abbreviation for something, the letters co may be short for company or county.
I`m not familiar with either song, but the Don`t Be Knocking side is a gem. Happy listening!
Click here to download The Atco Quartet – Clarion 5146-C
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