Tag: Merle Haggard

Grand Ole Opry Keeps Country Music History Alive with Opry Country Classics

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The Grand Ole Opry is one of the biggest moving parts when it comes to how the country music genre has evolved through the years. Most importantly, the Grand Ole Opry continues to keep the country music history alive with their show, Opry Country Classics!

This special show honors the classic country music which made the genre what it is today and recognizes the country artists who made those songs so memorable. Usually, Larry Gatlin from Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers hosts the Opry Country Classics show but Bill Cody took over the hosting duties for this particular show. Continue reading →

Exile Comes To Arkansas

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One of the best bands in country music, Exile recently visited Forrest City, Arkansas on January 18th to perform a great show at East Arkansas Community College.

This year the band embarks on their 57th Anniversary of being in the music industry. In fact, the guys have no plans of slowing down anytime soon, “We are going for 60!” as Sonny LeMaire said during the show. Continue reading →

Recap of the 59th Annual Grammy® Awards: Country Edition

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If you spent any amount of time this past week watching TV or scrolling through your social media feeds, you know that everyone was buzzing about the 59th Annual Grammy® Awards, which premiered on CBS, February 12th.

British pop music sensation, Adele, opened the show with a beautiful performance of her hit song, Hello. She also closed the show by winning the highest honor and last award of the night… the coveted Album of the Year award. Other standout mainstream music moments included a performance by Ed Sheeran, a tribute to Prince that featured Bruno Mars, and another tribute to the Bee Gees, featuring a memorable arrangement of their iconic hit, Stayin’ Alive, performed by Demi Lovato.

Although pop music and pop artists seemed to monopolize most of the night, country music had plenty of great moments as well. Continue reading →

Thoughts On The 50th CMA Awards

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It was one of country music’s biggest and most historic nights, when the lights came down inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee and stars were everywhere for the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards.

The show started off with a wonderful look back over the the CMA’s 50 year history, with a tribute to Merle Haggard from Vince Gill & Merle’s son, Ben Haggard. Brad Paisley joined in with Roy Clark to perform Buck Owens’ I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail!. Carrie Underwood honored the immortal Tammy Wynette with a performance of Stand By Your Man, and Charley Pride sang his classic song, Kiss An Angel Good Morning.

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American Idol And Its Impact on Country Music

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Two Words – American Idol. This music reality competition show has been in our homes, on our television screens, on Wednesday and Thursday nights for the past fifteen years. If you’ve been a loyal watcher, like I have been through the years, I’m sure you experienced the same rollercoaster of emotions, when we said a final, bittersweet goodbye to the show last month, on April 7th.

While we’re all still trying to figure out what Ryan Seacrest’s “For Now” comment at the end of the show meant… I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and explore the impact that American Idol has had on country music, and revisit the 7 wonderful country artists who owe their careers to the show, its producers, and of course the countless fans who faithfully cast their votes.

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