New Music Video From Brennen Leigh and Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson - "In Texas With A Band"

New Music Video From The Band of Heathens with Ray Benson - "Rainy Day Woman" (Waylon Jennings Cover)

New Ray Wylie Hubbard Tribute Album Features Outstanding Collection Of Americana Artists

Artists: A Who's Who Of Americana Artists

Album: The Messenger: A Tribute to Ray Wylie Hubbard

Label: Eight 30 Records

Release date: August 2019

The Messenger: A Tribute to Ray Wylie Hubbard, a new collection from Eight 30 Records, features performances by a who’s who of Americana music including Rodney Crowell(“In Times of Cold”), Bobby Bare (“Snake Farm”), Charlie Musselwhite (“Resurrection”), Tom Russell(“Dust of the Chase”), James McMurtry (“The Messenger”), Terri Hendrix (“Without Love”), Jonathan Tyler (“Wanna Rock N Roll”) and others. “We're so proud of this record,” says Jenni Finlay, who co-produced the set with label co-owner Brian T. Atkinson. “We are so excited to celebrate one of our very favorite songwriters and humans alive today.” Additionally, James McMurtry and his band served as the “house band” on several key tracks on the album, which was released digitally on August 16 and is scheduled for a physical release later this fall.

The album serves as a companion to Atkinson’s new book The Messenger: The Songwriting Legacy of Ray Wylie Hubbard, published by Texas A&M University Press. “You know, I've never thought about my songwriting legacy,” Hubbard admits. “I guess I’ve written some pretty cool songs that nobody else seems to be writing. As guess as far as legacy, I hope it’s that I wrote some cool, badass songs. Some sold and some didn’t. Most didn’t.” The Messenger features forewords by Jerry Jeff Walker and Hayes Carll and marks Atkinson's third book for TAMU Press, following I'll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt (2012) and Kent Finlay, Dreamer: The Musical Legacy Behind Cheatham Street Warehouse (2016), co-written with Jenni Finlay.

“Ray Wylie Hubbard has been overlooked in the conversation about great Texas songwriters for far too long,” Atkinson says. “He shouldn't be passed by. As several dozen songwriters within these pages proclaim, Hubbard has created a catalog over the past four decades deserving mention among the catalogs of monumental tunesmiths such as Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Lightnin' Hopkins, Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Billy Joe Shaver and Townes Van Zandt.” All the songwriters on the tribute — including Texans Slaid Cleaves, Scott H. Biram, The Band of Heathens, Ray Benson, Walt Wilkins, Radney Foster, Shinyribs, Chris Fullerton and others — effortlessly back the claim.

Finlay and Atkinson plan to follow The Messenger by celebrating another Texas treasure with If It Weren’t for You: A Tribute to Walt Wilkins (Eight 30 Records, fall 2021). Iconic Guy Clark sideman Verlon Thompson started recording sessions recently by cutting the title track.

The Messenger: A Tribute to Ray Wylie Hubbard track list: 

James McMurtry • The Messenger
The Band of Heathens • Drunken Poets Dream
Ray Benson • Easy Money Down in Texas
Charlie Musselwhite • Resurrection
Bobby Bare • Snake Farm
Radney Foster • Screw You, We're from Texas
Tom Russell • Dust of the Chase
Tim Easton • Conversation with the Devil
Scott Biram • Chickens
Slaid Cleaves • The Sun Also Rises
Walt Wilkins • Wishbones
Shinyribs • Whoop and Hollar
Rod Picott • Portales
Jon Dee Graham • Mother Blues
Terri Hendrix • Without Love
Chris Fullerton (feat. Slaid Cleaves) • Stone Blind Horses
Jonathan Tyler • Wanna Rock and Roll
Rodney Crowell • In Times of Cold

New Music Video From Bruce Robison & The Back Porch Band - ""Rock and Roll HonkyTonk Ramblin' Man" (Live on the Texas Music Scene)

Prolific balladeer, Bruce Robison, changes it up to go up-tempo for a performance of a cut off of his 2017 album with The Back Porch Band called "Rock and Roll HonkyTonk Ramblin' Man"

New Music Video From The Statesboro Revue - "Lil' Mary's Last Stand" - Live on The Texas Music Scene

Hear It Here: The Texas Red Dirt Choir's "Faith In The Water"

For the writers and singers of “Faith in the Water” this new song is more than a song, it’s a statement. A statement of resolve that’s as big as the State from which it hails. Written by singer-songwriters Roger Creager and Kyle Hutton, the song paints a picture of the despair, hope, and determination on the faces of their friends and neighbors in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and accomplishes a feat possibly unmatched in Texas Music history.... Twenty-five of the Texas's most accomplished artists have joined their hearts and voices to form The Texas Red Dirt Choir in a quest to raise money for those affected by the $190 billion dollar storm.

 

“Faith in the Water” reflects more than just the generosity of the front-men and women that sing on the project. The song, recorded in famed Bismeaux Studios (Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel), features an incredible list of artists that make up the Texas Red Dirt Choir:

Josh Abbott, Bri Bagwell, Ray Benson, Jason Boland, Wade Bowen, Roger Creager, Deryl Dodd, Kevin Fowler, Susan Gibson, Pat Green, Josh Grider, Kristi Grider, Matt Hillyer, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Kyle Hutton, Jack Ingram, Cody Johnson, Micky and Gary Braun of Micky & The Motorcars, Mike Harmeier of Mike & The Moonpies, Cory Morrow, Kyle Park, Dave Perez, Willy and Cody Braun of Reckless Kelly, Heather Stalling, Max Stalling, Larry Joe Taylor, Koe Wetzel, and Jamie Lin Wilson. Also featuring - Curtis Lee, Sheree Smith, Demetrius D-Soul Davis, Ange Kogutz

 Download, stream, donate, SHARE:  www.faithinthewater.org

Hear It Here: Shooter Jennings & Friends (including Musgraves, Kristofferson, Benson & More) - "Do You Love Texas?"

Country renegade Shooter Jennings has called on many of his country peers to help Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s destructive 2017 landfall. He has released a new track called “Do You Love Texas?” which will raise funds for the Rebuild Texas Fund and features backing vocals from ace artists Kacey Musgraves, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Rogers, Jason Boland, Ray Benson, and Whiskey Myers.

The idea came about when Jennings, 38, was in the studio with Music City power producer Dave Cobb in the days before Harvey hit Houston. “Dave and I are like little kids in the studio. When nobody else is around we say goofy, kid things to each other. Some of our greatest collaborations came from ideas like that. Dave turned to me and said, ‘Hey man, Texas loves you. We need to write a song for Texas.’ I looked at Dave and sang, ‘Do you love Texas?’ And he said ‘Hell yeah!’ And I sang ‘So do I.’ And the rest of it fell right into place. We had a great time crafting a song that playfully talks about why Texas is so much damn fun.”

 

Ram Trucks donated the first $25,000 towards the cause in conjunction with the song's release.

  

A Texas-Sized Artist Collaboration - Jerry Jeff Walker's "Sangria Wine"

Earlier this year, an all-star group of Texas musicians got together for a pre-gig rehearsal at Ray Benson's own Bismeaux Productions studio in Austin, TX. They were preparing to play a gala the next week that would honor Jerry Jeff Walker, hosted by Turk Pipkin. A few hours... and glasses of wine later... Bruce Robison and his crew turned the camera on these good times so he could share them with us. This is what happens when great musicians get together to play music and enjoy some "Sangria Wine".
 

New Music Video From Dale Watson and Ray Benson - "Feelin' Haggard"

The Band of Heathens - "Trouble Came Early" on The Texas Music Scene

New Mark Chesnutt Album Features 12 Duets With Likes Of Womack, Jones, Diffie, Jennings, Watson & More

Artist: Mark Chesnutt
Album: Duets
Label: Row Entertainment
Release date: April 24, 2017

After selling more than ten million records over his career, Mark Chesnutt is doing something a little different and a little special for his fan club members this year. His brand new album featuring a dozen duets with the likes of Lee Ann Womack, George Jones, Tracy Lawrence, Joe Diffie, Waylon Jennings, Gene Watson and more is being offered solely as a fan club exclusive and only available through his website. The album will not be sold separately on the website or sold in stores. In addition to the new project, fans will get meet and greet opportunities and a signed photograph.

The project is a collection of songs and collaborations- a unique greatest hits of sorts- over Chesnutt's long and stories career. The first track is off of Lee Ann Womack's debut album back in 1997.  Track two is off Chesnutt's 1992 Longnecks and Short Stories album. All told, it's a solid combination of Chesnutt's unique traditional country voice with some of the bigger country names over the last two decades.

Duets Track Listing

1. Make Memories with Me (with Lee Ann Womack)
2. Talking to Hank (with George Jones)
3. Stay All Night (with Ray Benson)
4. A Couple More Years ( With Amber Digby)
5. A Good Way To Get On My Bad Side (with Tracy Byrd)
6. Rockin the Roadhouse Down (with Tracy Lawrence & Joe Diffie)
7. Rainy Day Woman (with Waylon Jennings)
8. Good Ones And Bad Ones (with George Jones)
9. Political Incorrectness (with Kevin Fowler)
10. This Side of the Door ( with Gene Watson)
11. When The Grass Grows Over Me (with George Jones)
12. Honky Tonk Song (with Tom Aster)

Lots Of New Country, Bluegrass & Americana Albums On The Horizon

Artist: Ray Benson & Dale Watson
Album: Dale & Ray
Label: Red House
Release date: January 6, 2017
Source


For the first time ever, Ray Benson and Dale Watson are teaming up for an album of classic country duets and original new music.  Under the simple moniker of Ray and Dale, the beloved Ameripolitan musicians will release a self-titled LP on Jan. 6. The record will feature a cover of Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard’s “Write Your Own Songs” and “I Wish You Knew” by the Louvin Brothers. Fans will also enjoy some brand new tracks, including “Feelin’ Haggard,” “Dale and Ray,” and “Bus Breakdown.”


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Artist: Band of Heathens
Album: Duende
Label: BOH Records
Release date: January 13, 2017
Source


Duende, the title of The Band of Heathens’ fifth studio album (and eighth overall), marks their tenth anniversary as a group. It's an apt name for a record whose themes explore the collective search for connection and communion in a technology-fueled world increasingly splintered, distracted and lonely. As band co-founder Ed Jurdi, who first learned of the term, explains, “It’s the essence of the artist,” or as partner Gordy Quist says, “It’s a word we don’t have an equivalent for in English, artistically, that’s where we tried to set the bar, to do what this band does best.”


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Artist: The Infamous Stringdusters
Album: The Laws of Gravity
Label: Compass Records
Release date: January 13, 2017
Source


"Written in the middle of the most divisive, damaging presidential election in recent memory, 'This Ol' Building,' the lead-off single from the Infamous Stringdusters' upcoming album Laws of Gravity, finds the Virginia-based bluegrass band ringing a warning bell, hoping to startle all unengaged listeners out of their stupor...mixing the Infamous Stringdusters' arsenal of unplugged instruments - guitar, Dobro, upright bass, banjo and fiddle - with an implied beat that stomps and swaggers...The highlight, though, is the song's a cappella outro, which finds bandmates Andy Hall, Andy Falco, Chris Pandolfi, Jeremy Garrett and Travis Book piling their voices into harmonized stacks. As the pattern repeats itself, the harmonies begin overlapping, sounding like the contemporary, minor-key cousin of the Doobie Brothers' 'Black Water.'" --Rolling Stone Country, 11/17/16


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Artist: Whitney Rose
Album: South Texas Suite
Label: Six Shooter Records
Release date: January 27, 2017
Source


Whitney Rose may be a native Canadian, but the sound the young singer-songwriter has crafted for herself is entirely Texan twang. On January 27th, Rose will release the new EP South Texas Suite. A collection of six songs, the project is the follow-up to last year's Heartbreaker of the Year, produced by Raul Malo of the Mavericks. On South Texas Suite, however, Rose goes it alone, producing the entire EP by herself. Songs like lead single "My Boots" – available today on iTunes – and the south-of-the-border tribute "Three Minute Love Affair," a paean to the Lone Star State's dance halls, bristle with local flavor. Now residing in Austin, Rose cut the record at Dale Watson's studio in town.


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Artist: Nikki Lane
Album: Highway Queen
Label: New West Records
Release date: February 17, 2017
Source


Outlaw country-rocker Nikki Lane's been hard at work on the follow-up to her most recent LP, 2014's Dan Auerbach-produced All Or Nothin'. For Highway Queen, due Feb. 17 via New West Records, she's taken on the role of producer herself, working at Denton, Tex.'s Echo Lab and at Nashville's own Club Roar with engineer Collin Dupuis (whose recent credits include JEFF the Brotherhood's Zone and Angel Olsen's My Woman).  That's a helluva lot of work — not to mention that she runs her own vintage clothing store — so it seems perfectly fitting that she would need a break here and there.


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Artist: Ned LeDoux
Album: Forever a Cowboy
Label: Thirty Tigers
Release date: December 2, 2016


Having the last name LeDoux in country music carries a big, storied and bittersweet shadow but it’s one Ned LeDoux proudly stands in as he prepares to bring the cowboy back to country on December 2 with his debut EP Forever a Cowboy.

“I’ve been working around country music for a long time, long enough to have seen Chris LeDoux and understand how much he meant to the rodeo community,” said David Macias, President, Thirty Tigers. “He was them and became one of the most important chroniclers of that life through his music and artwork.”

“Sometimes when a child of the truly great decides to follow in the footsteps of the parent, we hold our breath and hope for the best, but in Ned, we find something exciting, something informed by the tradition that he came from, but also very much his own. I should have known when I found out that he was working with Mac McAnally that it would be terrific, and it is. We are excited to welcome Ned into the Thirty Tigers family. I hope (and think) that this will be a long and fruitful relationship.”

Forever a Cowboy, produced by award-winning Mac McAnally, includes “We Ain’t Got It All,” the first new Chris LeDoux co-write in over two decades. When Ned’s mom passed along a stack of his dad’s papers that included a list of unfinished song ideas and lyrics, Ned packed them up and travelled to Nashville to work with McAnally where they finished one of the ideas which became “We Ain’t Got It All,” – a brand new song by Chris LeDoux, co-written with his son Ned and McAnally. The song has now become Ned’s personal favorite to sing on the road because it’s the first original song he co-wrote with his Dad saying it’s a nice tribute as it seems to pick up right where his Dad left off and carries on the LeDoux sound to and from a new generation.

New Live Performance Music Video From Jason Eady - "No Genie In This Bottle"

That Nashville Sound’s Top Ten Unexpected Country Duets and Music Collaborations of 2014

This marks the first of several year-end lists that you’ll see from That Nashville Sound including a best-of song list that’s well over 100 songs deep. We’re also trying to cull down the top twenty-five or so albums from the past year out of the several hundred that were listened to. But first, we’ll cover one that isn’t normally seen across the blogosphere. Count down with us the top ten unexpected duets and music collaborations in country music for 2014.

1. Ray Benson and Willie Nelson- “It Ain’t You” Written by Waylon Jennings and going unrecorded for decades, this little tune about getting old but still feeling you fits like a perfect glove for two country legends like Ray Benson and Willie Nelson. Self-reflective and aware of their own mortality, the message delivered by the duo couldn’t be more appropriate.


2. Reagan Boggs and Dave Coleman- “You Deserve Better” Reagan Boggs was riding a wave of critical acclaim when in 2009 she gave birth to her first son. Priorities changed and the Virginia native began to shift her focus on family as she took a break from a near constant touring schedule. She landed back this year with a brand new album called Quicksand that had this fantastic little heartbreaker gem.

3. Sara Evans and Vince Gill- “Better Off” “‘Better Off’ is a stone-cold country song and Vince Gill is never better singing harmony behind Evans’ emotive vocals. Says Evans about the track, “It’s exactly how I was trained to sing as a child, starting off in bluegrass,” she adds. “Like, my mother is gonna cry when she hears this song.”


4. Jimmy Rankin and Alison Krauss- “Flames” Rankin is a member of the famed Canadian family band known as The Rankin Family and Krauss has graced this list every year it’s been done. Her haunting background vocals just might be able to be added to every song I listened to and I might never get tired of them.


5. Drew Kennedy and Lori McKenna- “Rose of Jericho” Not a true duet by definition, Kennedy and McKenna wrote this song together and released separate versions on each of their own albums: Kennedy on his live album, Sad Songs Happily Played, and McKenna on her amazing project, Numbered Doors. It’s so good, we’ll make it an exception on this list. Because it’s our list. We can make up rules as we go along.


6. Ronnie Milsap and Mandy Barnett- “You Make Me Feel Brand New” Drawn from Milsap’s Summer Number Seventeen- on which he pays homage to many of the songs that influenced him during his own formative years- this Stylistics cover is made all that much better with underappreciated Nashville veteran Barnett.

 

7. Kacey Musgraves and Loretta Lynn- CMA Awards Performance of “You’re Lookin’ at Country” With most of today’s country awards show more interested in having pop/rock stars take center stage to satisfy some bizarre inferiority complex that they have with the country music industry, it was incredibly refreshing to see throwback Musgraves take the stage with legend Loretta Lynn at this year’s CMA Awards in front of a Grand Ole Opry background.


8. Charles Esten and Lennon and Maisy- “Believing” The ABC television series has quietly put out some of the strongest soundtrack material over the last couple of years- a testament to the music director and series producer- and this track featuring actor Charles Esten and Canadian child prodigies Lennon and Maisy shows just how.


9. Trisha Yearwood and Kelly Clarkson- “Prizefighter” That Yearwood could come back with new material and it not make a dent on the music charts or on the general country music psyche is one of the great disappointments of the year. The fact that she can add the impeccable background of vocals of Kelly Clarkson and still not do so is a darn near tragedy.

 

10. Blake Shelton and Ashley Monroe- “Lonely Tonight” - So it’s a big sweeping ballad that sounds like it came straight out of Diane Warren’s movie soundtrack vault. Any reason to have songstress Ashley Monroe a little country music radio airplay is a good enough reason to put it on this list for us.

New Live Performance Video From The Statesboro Revue- "Live a Little"

New Music Video From Ray Benson and Willie Nelson- "It Ain't You"

That Nashville Sound's Best Of January 2014

Chris Stapleton

For those that might not be over the deluge of end-of-the-year best of lists across the country music publications and blogosphere, you might want to cover your eyes. With the turning of the calendar page, That Nashville Sound is going to get back on the wagon and (attempt to) bring you a mini monthly list of the very best songs and albums from the previous month. The reality is that lists make order of chaos and if the right brain controls the creativity of musical sound, the least we can do is throw a little logical and analytical thinking from the other side of the Medulla oblongata.

January's releases were exceptionally strong. Certainly everything listed below will be seen again at the end of the year when That Nashville Sound provides a master list of what tickled our critical fancy. Without further ado, this is what you should make sure that you have in your music collection that was unveiled to the world from this past month.

1. Chris Stapleton- "Go'N Down"

Chris Stapleton quietly released a powerful new song that virtually went unnoticed this past month and that is a shame. The former Steeldrivers lead singer sings a song written by Kix Brooks and is features in the straight-to-DVD (surprisingly good) movie, Ambush at Dark Canyon. Available only through Wal-Mart, the movie and subsequently, the soundtrack that is packaged along with it, sunk with nary a blip on the social consciousness radar. The entire soundtrack is exceptional, especially when paired with the storyline of the movie, but this track by Stapleton is fantastic. He brings his unique vocal delivery to a modern western tale that doubles up on an analogy for living in modern society today. The lyrics are magic, describing "looking for redemption down the barrel of a gun. Go'n down where no mercy can be found and you pay for what you done with your soul, Go'N down to where the darkest angels can be found." Kix gets bonus points for being the pen behind the poetry.
 

2. Jason Eady- Daylight and Dark

This new album by Texas transplant Jason Eady still moves with new lyrical discoveries even after many listens. Eady finds inspiration- and passes it along in his storytelling- in 11 songs about the ups (and mostly) downs of love and life. Themes like guilt and shame aren’t just spoken, they’re painted on a lyrical canvas. The pain caused by that darkness aren’t just lyrics, they bleed their way throughout the album like an emotional blanket. Temptations are unveiled as poisons that are just so obviously damaging that you can’t possibly escape them. The genius of the album is the reconciliation of the two sides of life. Each song creates the scene of light versus dark and good versus evil. It’s storytelling depth with an eye for detail hardly seen across any genres in modern music.
 

3. Cody Johnson Band- Cowboy Like Me

Johnson, an East Texas native, delivers everything that is terrific about what is the country basics, releasing a powerful 13-song album of genuine country music in which every song has its place and nothing is a throwaway. The album is full of emotive love songs, story-songs, slow dance ballads, rockin’ honky tonk rebellious fun drinking songs that are reminiscent of the country classics from the 90's. The production is modern enough to make it relevant in 2014 but tips its hat to the great honkytonk sound that got so many of us into country music in the first place. It's a truly GREAT album full of too many GREAT songs to mention. Haven't heard it? Then check out the modern day farming Robin Hood tale of "Never Go Home Again" below.
 

4. Ray Benson and Willie Nelson- "It Ain't You"

When two old country legends get together and sing about the toll that the years that have flown by have had on the body and soul, you must take notice. Benson, the lead singer and face of the western swing band, Asleep at the Wheel, combines this piano ballad with Nelson's pensive and distinctive guitar playing over lyrics of how "freedom of the youth is wasted on the young." Part advice, part life story, the duo have lived the road life to be experts on lines like, "You wake up with the changes (of time), but inside you're the still the same."