November 22, 2022 Thanksgiving Week

There are so many awards that it’s hard to put much stock in any of them, but at least they give me something to write about.

The Grammy awards will be February 5th and the nominees were announced recently. Were Maren Morris and Brandi Carlile chosen for their political views? Their music does little for me, but I’m aware that my musical taste is different from most. I try to keep it positive here and help fans of any kind of music discover some music they might not have known about otherwise.

The American Music Awards (not to be confused with the Americana Music Awards) were Sunday. The “country” winners were Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, and Dan ÷ Shay. I didn’t happen to watch.

The International Western Music Association held its annual awards just over a week ago. There are many good artists who are recognized by the IMWA who are not well known by most country fans. If you’re looking for some traditional-leaning artists to add to your playlists, then the western scene is a great place to look. Kristyn Harris won the entertainer award again this year. She’s one of the most awarded artists in that scene should be better known by country fans at large. She has been at the very top of the IMWA scene for years and is still just in her twenties. Two young artists won the yodeling award this year, Jeneve Rose Mitchell and Phoebe White. I met Jeneve at a CMA Fest meet and greet a few years ago. Phoebe White is a thirteen-year-old from Kentucky who has won many talent shows. Phoebe’s debut album was released in September when she was 12 and is well worth your time. The Riders In The Sky even make a guest appearance.

Australia’s Toyota Golden Guitar Award nominees were announced yesterday. The awards are associated with the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January. As a fun fact, I saw Nashville songwriter Jerry Salley at the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival in Texas last month. He produced the album for Australian artist Kristy Cox that is nominated for traditional country album. Kaylee Bell is nominated in three categories. I saw her at CMA Fest in Nashville this summer and a phone video of one of her songs there is the single most viewed video on my YouTube channel:

Kaylee Bell at CMA Fest 2022

Max Jackson is one of the nominees for new artist. I also saw her at CMA Fest:

Max Jackson at CMA Fest 2022

Have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

November 10, 2022 The CMA Awards

Overall, last night’s CMA awards featured more country music than they have in many years. A few missed the mark, but more delivered good performances. Two of the longest parts of the show were well-done tributes to Loretta Lynn and Alan Jackson. Ricky Skaggs and Sonya Isaacs performed with Carly Pearce and Patty Loveless performed with Chris Stapleton, Darrell Scott, and Deanie Richardson.

I don’t get too worked up about who wins what, but I have seen every one of the winners perform over the years. Here are some pictures of last night’s performers from years ago:

Luke Combs played an acoustic set at CMA Fest 2017 inside Fan Fair X.

In 2016, Forever Country Live was a free concert to honor the 50th anniversary of the CMA and CMHOF. Charlie Worsham was the opening act. Patty Loveless was the special guest of the headliners The Time Jumpers with Vince Gill. Note that Paul Franklin is the steel player, who also tours with Chris Stapleton.

A couple of days before CMA Fest 2017, there were free performances on a stage in front of Bridgestone Arena. Notice the circus background? Yes, there were circus performers of all sorts entertaining the crowd, too: contortionists, stilt walkers, jugglers, and acrobats. Carly Pearce and Runaway June were two of the acts who performed thay day.

Here’s a closer photo of Carly Pearce from that 2017 show.

Ricky Skaggs at CMA Fest 2017 at the interview stage.

In 2017, the CMT Awards were the day before CMA Fest and the outdoor performances were free to attend. We saw the Brothers Osborne and Peter Frampton from the front row.

In 2017, the CMT Awards were the day before CMA Fest and the outdoor performances were free to attend. This is from the taping of Kelsea Ballerini’s “Legends” video.

The first time I saw Chris Stapleton was as Alan Jackson’s opener in Panama City Beach in the summer of 2015. Unfortunately, my phone camera back then was completely pitiful and I couldn’t even get one decent picture. I have since seen Chris many times. In 2018, he played a free show during CMA week for a CMT event. This photo is from a practice run earlier in the day.

I saw Ashley McBryde play at the Grand Ole Opry in 2018. She also played this pre-show at the Opry Plaza.

The War and Treaty made their first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in 2019.

November 5, 2022 Wurstfest

Tired of pretentious, expensive country concerts, where even indie acts who have no real hits charge hundreds of dollars to stand in a field?

The annual Wurstfest in New Braunfels, Texas is still affordable. It’s ten days with five stages. The busy weekends are $20, but Monday through Thursday are free. Granted, polka music isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but you’ll find that most polka bands will mix in some country songs, too.

Here’s a look at just a very few of the acts performing at Wurstfest this year:

Jimmy Sturr won the Grammy award an incredible 18 times out of the 24 years that there was a polka category. He performed on the Grand Ole Opry and made numerous appearances on the old Nashville Network. He has collaborated with many top country artists over the years, but especially Willie Nelson, who began his own career in polka music. The Oak Ridge Boys, Charlie Daniels, Brenda Lee, Rhonda Vincent, Mel Tillis, Lee Greenwood, Bill Anderson, The Jordanaires, and other country stars appear on Jimmy Sturr albums.

Mollie B and Squeezebox are best known for polka, but their most recent album “Mollie B Country” covers classic country hits. I recently saw them on an episode of “Midwest Country” on RFD-TV.

Mollie B Country album

Alex Meixner moved to New Braunfels less than a year ago and quickly established himself as a leader in the local music scene. I saw him last week at Lucktoberfest at Willie Nelson’s ranch. Alex played the opening ceremony of Wurstfest and is one of the most popular acts every year. Band member Rory Hoffman is based in Nashville and often plays classic country at Robert’s Western World.

The Accordion Cowboy Chris Rybak is an excellent representative of the Texas polka scene, seamlessly offering everything from very traditional European polkas and waltzes to American country music.

Texas Our Texas instrumental album by Chris Rybak

Die Bayrischen Hiatamadln is from Germany and even they have some country background. According to the Wurstfest bio, the lead singer won awards in the mid 1990s for country singer of the year in Germany. I don’t know who even gives out such awards over there, but I look forward to seeing these folks in New Braunfels.