THE RETURN OF REDNECK COUNTRY Nick Krewen GRAMMY.com August 2004 Country music is getting rowdy again. As newcomers Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich suddenly race up the charts with attitude-brandishing anthems like “Redneck Woman” and “Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)” and outspoken veterans Toby Keith and Montgomery Gentry watch their fan base increase by leaps and bounds, country audiences have returned to embracing the genre’s ornery streak….
Fan Fair Nick Krewen GRAMMY.COM Farewell Fan Fair. When it wound down June 8 with a rare reunion of The Judds, the door closed on a 32-year tradition. Upon its return in 2004, the annual Nashville country music festival – which encourages fans to mingle with its stars – will be sporting a different name: the CMA (Country Music Association) Music Festival. More troubling to hardcore country music fans,…
Nashville In A Tizzy Over Sluggish Album Sales And Radio Airplay By Nick Krewen Special To The Star Saturday, April 17, 1999 NASHVILLE: Music Row is in turmoil. As the heart of the country music business, this eight-block community of record companies, radio stations, music publishers, recording studios and management offices, located in central Nashville, Tennessee, is on the verge of panic. After enjoying a decade of unprecedented…
Exclusive!!! Nick Krewen September 29, 2008 Even though he’s raised over $14 million to help the plight of the American farmer with his annual Farm Aid concerts, country music legend Willie Nelson fears his efforts may be futile. “I think it’s a losing battle,” says Nelson, who headlines Farm Aid ’98 with co-founders Neil Young and John Mellencamp this Saturday (October 3) at the New World Music Theatre at Tinley…
PUBLISHED IN COUNTRY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 13, 1998 By Nick Krewen Seventy-five years after his death, the legend of Hank Williams still looms larger than life. The Alabama native was not only country music’s most influential star, but its most colorful, packing a lot of living, loving, laughter and anguish in his brief 29 year lifespan. Although Hank Williams left behind an ageless country music catalogue logjammed with immortal…
