tl;dr: This week is heavy on new singles and music videos for those who, y’know, don’t like to read.
But that isn’t to say there isn’t still plenty of good reading material, too. Loretta Lynn took over Reddit, Jean Shepard reflected on the anniversary of the plane crash that killed Patsy Cline, and the Georgia Satellites recognized the anniversary of their biggest hit. Jason Isbell issued notice to Steve Goodman’s “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” while Gretchen Peters wrote a passionate editorial to The Tennesean on behalf of her son, and Holly Williams played Nashville tour guide.
On the new music front, there are offerings from Sturgill Simpson, Jason James, Michaela Anne, and many more. This week’s new releases are fairly slim– new albums by Randy Houser and Shooter Jennings along with a slew of reissued radio broadcasts from the late 1970s.
Onward!
New Releases & Reissues, 3/11/2016
Charlie Daniels Band, Saratoga Showdown: The New York Broadcast 1979. (FM Concert Broadcasts)
Jimmy Dean, Big Bad John – The Original LP – Plus All His Hit Singles 1953 – 1962. (Jasmine)
Mickey Gilley, The Definitive Hits Collection. (Real Gone Music)
Randy Houser, Fired Up. (Stoney Creek)
Shooter Jennings, Countach (For Giorgio). (Black Country Rock)
Waylon Jennings, Return Of The Outlaw: The Abbott, Texas Broadcast, 1977. (FM Concert Broadcasts)
Daniel Kushnir, Nothing Left to Give. (Permanent Vacation)
Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Lost 1978 Broadcast. (FM Concert Broadcasts)
Willie Nelson & Leon Russell, Riding The Northeast Trail: The New Jersey Broadcast, 1979. (FM Concert Broadcasts)
Pete Yorn, Arranging Time. (Capitol)
News & Notes
Jason Isbell– you may know him from music!– also released a new 180-minute, four-chord song via The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: “The Saddest Song Ever.” It’s so much depressing nonsense. (JK)
“Edith at the gas station by the house was listening to @joeyandrory singing ‘If I Needed You.’ I like Edith at the gas station by the house.”
— Isbell again, being very good at Twitter, per usual. (JK)
“Somebody made the comment that it was the song that saved rock & roll and ruined country music at the same time. It meant, it brought rock & roll back to its roots for a few minutes, but it turned the corner on country being afraid of dumb loud guitars.”
— Dan Baird, frontman of the Georgia Satellites, talks about the reception and reputation of his band’s signature hit, “Keep Your Hands To Yourself,” on its 30th anniversary. (JK)
Jason James debuted the music video for his single, “I’ve Been Drinkin’ More,” a 90s throwback that sounds like it would have been a huge radio hit a generation ago. (JK)
“It was beginning to get dusky dark, and the most horrible feeling come over me that had ever come over me in my life. I just stood there a couple of minutes and kind of froze. I thought I was going into labor. … That’s about the time the plane crash happened.”
— Jean Shepard, reflecting on country music’s “darkest day” and the plane crash that killed Patsy Cline, Lloyd “Cowboy” Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Randy Hughes in a fascinating piece by Peter Cooper of The Tennessean. (JK)
“Today, more than twenty years into my career as a recording artist, I still play along with the TV, with movies, with stories. And one of my biggest dreams has always been that someday I would write my own TV theme song. A few of my songs have appeared in TV shows as background music, but the elusive theme song has always been just out of reach. I finally did it! I can’t believe it, but it is happening. How it happened is a long story, but it is true. It started when I got invited to be a celebrity guest on Say Yes to the Dress, a show about wedding dresses… something I truly know nothing about. It was fascinating.”
— Kristian Bush, in one of the week’s more unexpected stories, talks about how he came to write “Forever Yes,” the new theme song to TLC’s long-running series, Say Yes To The Dress. (JK)
Holly Williams wrote a 24-hour guide to Nashville, highlighting her favorite go-to locales, for Garden & Gun magazine. Also at Garden & Gun, Shakey Graves gave a killer “Back Porch Session” performance. (JK)
Sean Watkins premiered his new instrumental single, “Local Honey,” from his forthcoming album, What To Fear. (JK)
Country Universe favorite Laura Bell Bundy joined some celebrity pals, including Lily Tomlin and Alan Cumming, for comedienne Carol Channing’s 95th birthday celebration. (JK)
“As a First Lady, I can’t take that. I’m not the First Lady. Kitty Wells is the first. Well let’s say Miranda Lambert, she’s meaner than hell. I love her singing. She wouldn’t care if people listened or not. She’s an outlaw!”
— Loretta Lynn, providing a quick history lesson and endorsing Miranda Lambert, as part of an AMA (“ask me anything”) thread on Reddit earlier this week. The entire thread is worth a read— not always the case for Reddit– and Lynn does an impressive job in connecting with a new generation of fans using that platform! (JK)
Last week, we included the music video for Margo Price’s “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle),” and this week, we have Price’s performance of her feisty single in her Grand Ole Opry debut. (JK)
Luke Bryan announced that his new single, “Huntin’, Fishin,’ Lovin’ Every Day,” will debut at sporting and outdoor goods superstore Cabelas. (JK)
“Robert Hunter really filled that big space already. We did a lot. We’ve done almost a hundred songs and I hope we keep going. I got to write a couple with Elvis Costello and that was really great too. One guy that I wished I could have written with was Doc Pomus. I lived in New York for a while and he lived in my building. Doc wrote things like ‘Viva Las Vegas’ and ‘Little Sister’ and ‘Save the Last Dance for Me.’ I just love the stuff he wrote and I never got to write with him.”
— Jim Lauderdale talks about the artists he wishes he could write with, in a terrific interview with Sam Buck at Milk Crater. (JK)
Stereogum premiered “Luisa,” the fantastic new single from Michaela Anne. The single features Rodney Crowell on harmony vocals, in addition to an awesome honky-tonk guitar. (JK)
KET, the local PBS affiliate for Central Kentucky, recently aired an episode of its series Kentucky Life that featured country artist Marty Brown. Brown’s wife, Shellie, talks about how she signed him up for America’s Got Talent, which led to the recent resurgence in interest in his music. (JK)
Singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters penned a thoughtful and heartfelt editorial for The Tennesean regarding Tennessee’s current bill that would prohibit transgender youth from using the public bathroom for their expressed gender. (JK)
“I think we are closer then ever. Everyone is feeling good and singing good and that is important… We love this group, we love to sing and none of us want to see the legacy end. We are popular still because we are an act that has been passed down. Kids love the Oaks because Daddy and Granddaddy loved the Oaks!”
— Joe Bonsall spoke with Adrian Peel of Digital Journal regarding the Oak Ridge Boys’ longevity, plans for releasing new music in 2016, and ongoing popularity as a touring act. (JK)
Kristian Bush isn’t the only artist releasing wedding-themed music this week. Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband premiered the music video for their new single, “Just Say Yes.” (JK)
Albumism compiled a career-spanning playlist of some of Neko Case’s very best tracks. For anyone not familiar with Case’s astonishing catalogue, it’s a great starting point. (JK)
Sturgill Simpson’s new single, “Brace For Impact (Live A Little),” may not be straightforwardly country-sounding, but its music video could not be cooler. (JK)
That’s it for this week! As always, let us know in the comments if there are things we missed!
Re. Gretchen Peters’ thoughts on the transgender bill in Tennessee: She sure got it right, though I’m fairly sure she’s also getting as much grief for it as she is getting praise.
As for Luke Bryan’s new single–well, that’s a novel way to sell another stereotypical Bro-Country bromide, isn’t it? (he said sarcastically).