Jul
8
Merle Haggard has been called the Poet of the Common Man, and his ability to capture the hopes and fears of real people with his songwriting — not to mention his expressiveness as a singer — helped him lock up a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Now he’s got a place in another hall of honor: the California Hall of Fame, housed at the California Museum, just one block from the State Capitol in Sacramento. Merle’s induction was announced Wednesday by the state’s First Lady, Maria Shriver, among a class of 14 new members. The class includes Barbra Streisand, Betty White, former Governor Pat Brown, jeans maker Levi Strauss and director James Cameron.
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Dec
7
Brooks & Dunn photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
When Brooks & Dunn announced Aug. 10 that they were calling it quits, they promised to make one final tour to tell their fans goodbye.
Set to begin April 23 in Sacramento, the Last Rodeo Tour will come to a halt almost exactly one year after they told fans they were leaving. The final date on the 47-city itinerary takes place Aug. 8 in Chicago.
The duo goes out on a high note. They’ve won 19 Country Music Association awards during their career, second only to George Strait, and “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” is in the running for a Grammy. They recently earned a hit with “Honky Tonk Stomp,” featuring ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons.
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Oct
28
Tim McGraw photo courtesy of Curb Nashville.
When Gregg Allman showed up Tuesday with Tim McGraw on “The Jay Leno Show,” it was a bit of an event, though maybe not quite as unusual an event as it would have been in years gone by.
Gregg was an appropriate musical partner — after all, Tim’s current single “Southern Voice,” which he performed on “Leno,” namechecks the Allman Brothers along with Tom Petty and Chuck Berry.
But Gregg’s hardly the only pop star or rocker with an attachment to country these days. The Zac Brown Band’s “Toes” is co-written with singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins, who referred to Los Angeles as “Nashville with a tan” in his 1998 pop hit “Lullaby.” Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova” counts Mike Elizondo, who’s worked with Maroon 5 and Snoop Dogg, among its writers. Brooks & Dunn’s “Honky Tonk Stomp” gets a signature vocal stamp from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. Jimmy Wayne enlisted Daryl Hall & John Oates to back him on his remake of “Sara Smile.” And Darius Rucker came to country music after first establishing himself in Hootie + The Blowfish.
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