Brad Paisley began playing the guitar at the young age of eight, taught by his maternal grandfather. When he was 10, he performed at church in his first live performance. Even though Paisley grew up in a small town in West Virginia and was known for his growing musical talent, no one could have predicted his superstardom
Music
When Breland and Keith Urban met for the first time at Urban’s Nashville-area home — bright and early one Friday morning, as Urban recalls – the country superstar asked the rising star to share what had been inspiring him lately, and what he’d been working on. The demo of a chorus that Breland played for Urban — an early version
Dillon Carmichael faces the wrath of an unhinged ex in the “Hot Beer” video, released on Thursday. The song is the title track from the Kentucky native’s latest EP, which came out May 14th via Riser House Records. In keeping with the song’s sardonic kiss-off to an ex who, as Carmichael sings, “cheated and you
The Flatlanders – Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock — add a bit of Texas twang to a 50-plus-year-old Bob Dylan song with their cover of “She Belongs to Me.” The brand-new recording is premiering exclusively via The Boot; press play below to listen. Dylan originally released “She Belongs to Me” in 1965, on his Bringing
Country music seems to have nearly forgotten one-time megastar Bobbie Gentry, who rose to mainstream fame in 1967 with pop crossover hit “Ode to Billy Joe,” and just as suddenly vanished in the early ’80s. However, Gentry’s most devoted fans have never forgotten the singer. Neither have the host of country stars who count her
Jameson Rodgers, a Batesville, Miss., native, packed his bags and headed to Nashville in 2010. Armed with a few songs — and, if he’s being honest, some self-doubt — he set up shop in Music City and never looked back. Rodgers persevered, and he discovered that songwriting was just the outlet he needed to express himself. For
Johnny Paycheck would have turned 83 this past Monday. In 1977, he scored three consecutive Top 10 country songs, including his biggest hit, the No. 1 “Take This Job and Shove It.” But while Paycheck, who died at age 64 in 2003, is synonymous with the song about sticking it to — and flipping off
Drew Green‘s new “The Rest of Our Lives” music video will make you want to get lost in the country with the one you love. Readers can press play below to watch the performance, premiering exclusively via The Boot. It’s a simple concept: Green stands in the middle of a grassy clearing, the camera circling
Vince Gill gave a performance at the Grand Ole Opry in late May, taking the opportunity to try out a new song live. Called “March On, March On,” Gill’s new song is a poignant ballad inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing fight for racial justice. For his performance, Gill performed alone,
Though Chris Stapleton has only been widely known as a solo superstar for a few years, he’s been working in music for nearly two decades. Throughout that time, he’s collaborated with countless artists as a songwriter and more than a few as a performer in his own right, bringing a soulful, gritty and downright beautiful sound to traditional
Robert Earl Keen will spend most of the summer headlining his Feelin’ Good Again Tour 2021. The Texas singer-songwriter announced dates for the trek, which was named for a song from his 1998 album Walking Distance. Most of Keen’s June and July dates will have him touring around the Lone Star State, with stops including
Matt Jordan knows he, as the metaphor goes, outkicked his coverage. The artist’s new song “Better Men” reflects on life’s little mysteries — including how he wound up married to the amazing woman he gets to call his wife. “Better men than me are waking up in half-made beds / And they’ll fall asleep alone
Michael Ray is getting back on the road this summer. On Tuesday (June 1), the singer announced his upcoming Just the Way I Am Tour, which will kick off on June 13 at Myrtle Beach’s Caroline Music Fest, when Ray opens for Luke Combs. Following that performance, Ray will play a run of headlining dates, as
June 3 is unofficially Bobbie Gentry Day, as that’s the day the singer’s most famous character jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge in the smash hit “Ode to Billie Joe.” Fifteen years later, Gentry herself would jump to obscurity … but why? This week’s episode of the Secret History of Country Music Podcast explores Gentry’s sudden disappearance after the 1982 ACM Awards, and revisits
The Americana Music Association’s annual Americana Honors & Awards will return for its 20th year on September 22nd at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Nominees in each of the categories were announced by Keb’ Mo’ and Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor during an afternoon event at Nashville’s National Museum of African-American Music on Wednesday. Artists appearing
Trace Adkins is honoring our military heroes with an impactful new song and video that arrives just in time for Memorial Day 2021. The veteran country singer’s video for “The Empty Chair” honors actual service members who lost their lives while serving the country. Adkins invited fans to submit photos of their loved ones who died
Soon after releasing “Some Gave All” as part of a multi-platinum album of the same name, Billy Ray Cyrus recorded a performance that lives on today as necessary viewing for Memorial Day. Fans were able to watch the performance during an ABC television special released in February 1993, nine months after Some Gave All achieved unprecedented
On May 31, 2013, Cassadee Pope released her song “Wasting All These Tears.” The track was her debut country single, but far from her first foray into the music business. Pope was no stranger to music and touring by the time she dropped “Wasting All These Tears”: The Florida native had spent the previous few years
Blackberry Smoke lean way into their country side on the twangy “Lonesome for a Livin’,” a collaboration with Jamey Johnson that appears on the Southern-rock band’s new album, You Hear Georgia. Written by Blackberry Smoke singer Charlie Starr and Johnson, “Lonesome for a Livin’” is traditional country weeper, accented by pedal steel and crisp Telecaster.
Country music artists have a way of telling beautiful stories unlike the stars of any other genre — and some of country’s most touching songs are those penned about soldiers and the sacrifices they make in honor of our country. Everyone from Tim McGraw to Carrie Underwood has a spot on The Boot’s Top 10 Country Songs About Soldiers
Twenty-nine years ago today (May 30, 1992), Billy Ray Cyrus sealed his fate as a bona fide country music star. The singer’s debut single, “Achy Breaky Heart,” from his freshman album, Some Gave All, landed in the No. 1 spot, where it stayed for five weeks. The Marcy Brothers originally recorded “Achy Breaky Heart” in 1991,
“Cosmic Americana” duo Blue Cactus examine the seasons of a relationship in their song “Stranger Again,” and its accompanying music video, premiering exclusively on The Boot. Press play below to watch the brand-new clip. “On your mind / That’s where I want to be all the time,” Blue Cactus’ Mario Arnez and Steph Stewart sing in
B.J. Thomas, the vocalist who mixed the stylish sophistication of a pop crooner and the down-home soul of a country singer on songs like the 1969 smash “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” died Saturday in his Arlington, Texas home after a battle with lung cancer. He was 78. A rep for Thomas confirmed the
The best weekend of Garth Brooks‘ life ended on a very, very sad note. Hours after the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony in Washington D.C., a man whose song was instrumental in getting him there died. Dewayne Blackwell wrote many hit songs over many decades, including “Mr. Blue” for the Fleetwoods in 1959, and “I’m Gonna
Seventeen years ago today (May 29, 2004) was a life-altering day for Gretchen Wilson: It was on that date that her debut single, “Redneck Woman,” claimed the No. 1 spot on the charts and stayed at the top for an impressive five weeks. “Redneck Woman” comes from Wilson’s freshman album, Here for the Party, which also
Drew Parker‘s major-label debut single, “While You’re Gone,” is also the title track of his newest EP. And while it may be the first time many country fans are hearing Parker’s voice on the radio, it’s unlikely to be the first time they’ve heard his words: He’s a seasoned songwriter who helped create “Homemade” for Jake
Like Eric Church did in his live favorite “These Boots,” the new country duo Southerland celebrate that great equalizer — reliable and often well-worn boots – in the title track to their just released EP, Boot Up. But while Church charted the journey of one particular pair of boots in his 2006 Sinners Like Me track,
Drew Holcomb knows what it’s like to play one of those early-in-the-day festival slots. The crowds can be light, the summertime sun can be scorching — but the payoff can really be worth it. “That’s how I found a lot of fans over the years, was being that artist on the bill that’s, like, first
Ray Scott came from one of those one-stoplight, lots-of-dirt-roads sort of towns: the towns that people leave in order to make their dreams come true. The towns they return to when they have lived out those dreams. Indeed, Scott did just that for his new music video “I was doing some shows in Greensboro and
Yola finds freedom, thanks to the power inside her, in her new song “Stand for Myself.” The title track of her new album is accompanied by a music video inspired by the aesthetics of clips from the 1990s and 2000s. Directed by Allister Ann, Yola’s “Stand for Myself” music video in, as she describes it, “the