With such a lot of brilliant country albums released this year, some great records had probably not all the success that they deserved. If 2023 would have been a "normal" year for country music, there's absolutely no doubt that Scott Southworth's new album would have been part of all the talks for best album of... Continue Reading →
Equiblues festival (part II) – Jake Bush’s gig
Here's the second part of my "gig stories" dedicated to Equiblues festival, a rodeo and country music festival that takes place in a french little town, in August. After a first post about Jesse Daniel's gig (you can read it here), the second post is about Jake Bush's gig. You'll find some videos made during... Continue Reading →
Equiblues festival (part I) – Jesse Daniel’s gig
Equiblues is a 5 days summer festival dedicated to rodeo and country music, that takes place in the little town of Saint-Agrève, Ardèche, Southeastern France, in August. It's one of the two main summer country festivals in France, along with "Festival Country Craponne". This year, it celebrated its 24th edition, after a 5 year suspension,... Continue Reading →
Album review- Joe Stamm Band’s “Wild Man”
If you love quality music, you couldn't miss Joe Stamm Band, this summer. After a brilliant EP, "Fort Smith", released on July 14th, they released a new album, on August 11th, named "Wild Man". Defining their music is a hard task. If you ask them, this Midwestern band from Central Illinois will tell you that... Continue Reading →
Album review- Mike Kuster’s “Country So Fresh You Have To Check Your Boots”
I always said and repeated on this blog that country music, even though it's rooted in American South, has no frontiers. I've listened and reviewed excellent and real country music from Rhode Island, Ohio, Washington State, Canada, even from UK or France. The album reviewed on this post was made by an artist from Frederick... Continue Reading →
EP review – Austin Gilliam’s “I’m Sorry, I’m Fine”
Austin Gilliam is an artist from South Texas who grew up in Corpus Christi and started on the Texas music scene as a sideman, for artists such as Brandon Jenkins, Drew Kennedy and Matt King, before moving on to frontman of his own band and songwriter. His flagship single, "Strawberry Lemonade", released 10 years ago,... Continue Reading →
Country Music France Top 30 playlist – Update #11
The last update of Country Music France Top 30 playlist was made in November of 2022, six months ago. So, it seems that I'm very late for a new one, with such a lot of great country songs and albums released since the beginning of 2023. For its 11th update, as it's almost reaching 1000... Continue Reading →
Album review – Del Barber’s “Almanac”
The Canadian singer and songwriter Del Barber released his eighth album named "Almanac", via Acronym Records, on April 28th, almost two years after the excellent "Stray Dogs (collected B-Sides/Vol 1)". This new album was written in Del Barber's farm, located in Manitoba's Parkland, and then recorded at No Fun Club, Winnipeg, with co-producers Grant Siemens... Continue Reading →
Album review – James Steinle’s “The Echo Sound”
Five years after his beautiful debut album, "South Texas Homecoming", James Steinle released, on April 7th, his new album, "The Echo Sound". Produced by David Beck, it was recorded in a house in Martindale, Texas, in November of 2022. It's the first album of the South Texas singer and songwriter since the brilliant "Cold German... Continue Reading →
Album review – Matt Hillyer’s “Glorieta”
The legendary band Eleven Hundred Springs ended its history in 2021, but the Texan band's front man and songwriter, Matt Hillyer, is still very active. He coproduced, last year, Squeezebox Bandits' album, "Check To Check", a fantastic record reviewed on this blog (check it out here), and wrote o cowrote several songs on it, including... Continue Reading →