Hank Williams, Jr., Marty Stuart and Dean Dillon Named As 2020 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

This morning, the CMA announced the 2020 inductees for the Country Music Hall of Fame – Dean Dillon, Marty Stuart and Hank Williams Jr.

Dillon will be inducted in the “Songwriter” category, which is awarded every third year in rotation with the “Recording and/or Touring Musician” and “Non-Performer” categories. Stuart will be inducted in the “Modern Era Artist” category and Williams will be inducted in the “Veterans Era Artist” category.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Dean, Marty and Hank Jr. into the unbroken circle and honor this revered milestone,” says Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “I’m sad we can’t toast this year’s class in person at the Country Music Hall of Fame, but I hope this news can bring some joy and cause for celebration during this time that our world has turned upside down. In particular, our hearts are with Hank and his family following the recent loss of his daughter, Katherine.”

“I was just speechless,” says Dillon. “Trying to soak in the words that I had just heard. My life flashed before my eyes. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather.”

“It is the ultimate honor in Country Music,” says Stuart. “I’m so honored to be included in this class and I’m honored to be included alongside Hank Jr. and Dean Dillon. I love those people. To be officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame is beyond words. I’m usually not at a loss for words.”

“Bocephus has been eyeing this one for awhile. It’s a bright spot during a difficult year,” says Williams. “I have been making Top 10 records for 56 years. I fell off a mountain and tried to reinvent myself as a truly individual artist and one who stepped out of the shadows of a very famous man…one of the greatest. I’ve got to thank all those rowdy friends who, year after year, still show up for me. It’s an honor to carry on this family tradition. It is much appreciated.”

“In this, the most exclusive of music halls of fame, we now have three new deserving members,” says Kyle Young, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Chief Executive Officer. “One is the son of one of American music’s greatest masters who became a self-made master of his own. One is a child of tough-town Mississippi who became a force for togetherness, inclusion and righteous musicality. And the third is an East Tennessee kid who triumphed over a hard youth to write words and melodies that have enriched us all. In a year of turmoil, strife and dissent, this announcement is something all of us can cheer.”

Historically, CMA hosts a press conference in the famed rotunda of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville to reveal the new class of inductees. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CMA traveled to Dillon and Stuart to capture their reaction.

Details regarding a formal induction ceremony for Dillon, Stuart and Williams will be released as information is available. Since 2007, the Museum’s Medallion Ceremony, an annual reunion of the Hall of Fame membership, has served as the official rite of induction for new members.

Album Review - Jon Pardi - Heartache Medication

Artist: Jon Pardi

Album: Heartache Medication

Label: Capitol Nashville

Release date: September 27, 2019
Rating: Four and A Half Stars Out Of Five

From the very first track "Old Hat" where he unapologetically refuses to accept that hat acts and the neo-traditional country music movement are dead,  Jon Pardi sets the tone for an album in which you don't have to throw away the old to embrace the new. They can coexist in perfect harmony and bring out the best of both. And boy does he ever.

Jon Pardi delivers a project that is worthy of major acclaim. It is modern honkytonk music that borrows the best from the past and delivers it with a modern energy that's simply fun from any angle you look at it. There's a pure joy that is inherently at the core of this album that shines through. He just sounds like he's having a blast. It seeps through every note and word. The highlights are so many. There's the heartfelt duet "Don't Blame It on the Whiskey" with Lauren Alaina written by Eric Church and Miranda Lambert. There's the fantastic boom chicka boom opening nod to Johnny Cash on "Me and Jack." There is a rocking riff impossible to not tap your toes to on "Oughta Know That." There's the phenomenal steel and fiddle work on "Just Like Old Times."

Jon Pardi might not be breaking any historic new ground with song topics, but he just might be if you consider this is being done in 2019. On "Call Me Country", he says "I sing songs about freight trains and prisons, heartaches and honkytonks, with cowboys and outlaws in good hearted women. Boots and straw hats are gone just like that. Hell you can't even recognize me, they used to call me country." With a simple verse, he bookends his opening song and fulfills the promise of the album by delivering modern production in a classic country sound with classic country themes.

The writing is smart and filled with a number of Nashville's brightest including Jeff Hyde, Matt Jenkins, Barry Dean, Natalie Hemby, Josh Thompson, Rhett Akins, Luke Laird, Dean Dillon, Jeffrey Steele and more. Pardi himself is on half of the tracks.

(Up on soapbox) This is what major label music should be all about. Our industry is so narrow in focus on what they believe to be a correct fit for country music radio- and we forget how country music might be the widest umbrella of all music genres. Music is so much more interesting when its coming at us from diverse places in style and sound. Congratulations and kudos to Capitol Nashville for providing the artistic and creative freedom for Pardi to put together such a outstanding album. It will easily be one of the finalists for mainstream album of the year. 

Jon Pardi Preps Heartache Medication For September Release

Artist: Jon Pardi
Album: Heartache Medication
Label: Capitol Nashville
Release date: 9/27/19

Northern California native Jon Pardi announced the upcoming arrival of his next album coming in September, Heartache Medication.

“I promise you that nobody has stressed over the dilemma of album number three more than the guy to my left right here,” Universal Music Group Nashville chairman and CEO Mike Dungan told the music media at the announcement as he recalled conversations with Pardi about the project. “‘What do I do? Do I back off? Do I make it country? How can I make it different? I don’t want to make the same record again.’ Along the way he kept saying, ‘It feels pretty good, but it’s even more country than the last one.’”

Dungan said upon listening to Heartache Medication, he thinks it’s “a complete masterpiece.” “Those of us who have had a chance to listen to this and had a chance to live with it have been divided into different camps. Everyone seems to have their own favorite [song],” he added. “It’s telling me we have a record that is going to go on in history and be talked about for a long time.”

“I named it Heartache Medication because it talks about sad topics, but it makes you feel good at the same time,” he said. Pardi further explained that the project also includes love songs and that the album goes “great with beer and good times.”

He added, “I’m really proud of it. I’m really proud of all the session players, the songwriters that delivered great songs. I wrote half the record and Nashville stepped in and wrote the other half, and I’m very proud of that. I think everybody’s going to love it.”

Heartache Medication is the follow up to Pardi’s co-produced Platinum-selling No. 1 album California Sunrise, which featured multi-Platinum hits including “Dirt on My Boots,” “Head Over Boots,” “Heartache on the Dancefloor” and “Night Shift.”

Heartache Medication Track Listing:

1. “Old Hat” (Jeff Hyde, Matt Jenkins and Ryan Tyndell)
2. “ Heartache Medication” (Jon Pardi, Barry Dean and Natalie Hemby)
3. “Nobody Leaves A Girl Like That” (Bart Butler, Marv Green and Jimmy Yeary)
4. “Ain’t Always The Cowboy” (Brandon Kinney and Josh Thompson)
5. “Me And Jack” (Jon Pardi, Rhett Akins, Bart Butler and Luke Laird)
6. “Don’t Blame It On Whiskey (Featuring Lauren Alaina)” (Eric Church, Michael Heeney, Luke Laird and Miranda Lambert)
7. “Tied One On” (Bart Butler, Chase McGill and Jamie Paulin)
8. “Oughta Know That” (Jon Pardi, Bart Butler and Luke Laird)
9. “Tequila Little Time” (Jon Pardi, Rhett Akins and Luke Laird)
10. “Buy That Man A Beer” (Clint Daniels, Justin Lantz and John Pierce)
11. “Call Me Country” (Jon Pardi, Bart Butler and Driver Williams)
12. “Just Like Old Times” (Jon Pardi, Jeff Hyde and Michael Heeney)
13. “Love Her Like She’s Leaving” (Bart Butler, Dean Dillon and Jessie Jo Dillon)
14. “Starlight” (Jon Pardi, Bart Butler and Jeffrey Steele)

Dean Dillon Producing New Sundance Head Album Release, Stained Glass & Neon

Artist: Sundance Head
Album: Stained Glass & Neon
Label: Dean Dillon's Wildcatter Records
Release date: January 25, 2018

Sundance Head's Stained Glass and Neon, will be released on Dean Dillon's Wildcatter Records on January 25, 2018. Dean Dillon is one of country music's most iconic songwriters, with over 62 songs cut by George Strait alone ("The Chair," "Ocean Front Property," etc), plus other hits like "Tennessee Whiskey" (George Jones/Chris Stapleton), "I'm Alive" & "A Lot Of Things Different", hits for Alabama, Toby Keith, Lee Ann Womack & many others. He is also producer on this album by The Voice winner and self-proclaimed "soul country" singer.

Dean Dillon on Sundance Head, “With the help of some business associates in Texas, I had the opportunity to create my own record label, Dean Dillon’s Wildcatter Records, and I knew that wanted to work with him. I’ve been in this business all my life, and with the exception of a couple of people, I’ve never heard anybody sing the way this man does. I think the most amazing thing to me is his vocal range and control. He is extremely special,” 

The 40-year-old Texan Head talked about what fans can expect from his album, "It’s not rock, it’s not country, it’s not blues. But I think once this record comes out, people will understand. It’s kind of a throwback to when songs meant something. It’s real music, and we’re not trying to compress it and put beats on it. It’s a really old-school modern country record. That’s my style, man. I’m an old cat. I don’t really identify with the country that’s currently on the radio.”