Music Country

On a quiet afternoon outside Texas’ oldest dance hall in 2013, Paul English sat in the back of his tour bus, counting money. Though he would be playing drums that night with his boss, Willie Nelson, the 81-year-old English also had other responsibilities: collecting payments from promoters, and handling sound, …

Updated (2/20): I’m With Her, Margo Price, Watkins Family Hour, Ian Noe, and Jeremy Ivey have all been added to the lineup of John Prine‘s All the Best Fest 2020. John Prine is reviving his All the Best Fest for a second year, in late 2020. The four-day musical event, …

Miranda Lambert appeared on The Late Show to perform her recent song “Tequila Does,” which comes off her album Wildcard. Joined by her band, Lambert brought a rollicking vibe to the track, which poses the question: romance or tequila. “The boys around here drink domestic beer/They’re all hat and no …

Leave it to Willie Nelson— whose reddish-whitehair, jolly disposition and fondness for green foliage sort of makes him the Stoner Santa Claus — to ditch the Christmas season’s traditional scents of frankincense and myrrh in favor of the potent, pungent aroma of marijuana. Back in 2008, Shotgun Willie teamed up …

Shania Twain kicked off her “Shania Twain ‘Let’s Go!’ The Vegas Residency” earlier this month, delivering a weekend of sold-out shows that touched on the songs that defined not only her career, but an era of country music. She wrapped up the first run of shows this week, but will …

Jake Hoot, a Tennessee country singer, was crowned the winner of the 17th season of The Voice on Tuesday night. Hoot first auditioned for the series with a version of Luke Combs‘ “When It Rains It Pours,” so it was fitting that Combs himself appeared on the season finale to …

Nashville-by-way-of-Australia duo For King & Country have been performing their hard-hitting rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” in their concerts for years, but it received a wider audience during Tuesday night’s CMA Country Christmas special on ABC. A Christian pop group fronted by the brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone, For King …

Jon Pardi brought fiddle and steel guitar, the hallmarks of traditional country music, to Late Night With Seth Meyers on Tuesday evening for a performance of “Heartache Medication.” The title track of the California country singer’s new album, the song is a salute to the type of shot that can …

Kristian Bush’s new band Dark Water, the Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmit (with a cameo by Sheryl Crow), and Kansas City upstart Sara Morgan all have songs you should listen to this week. Dustbowl Revival, “Mirror” For years, Dustbowl Revival’s songs have occupied the intersection between bluegrass, hot jazz, gospel, and …

Carrie Underwood adopts a swanky club vibe in the video “Drinking Alone,” which was released on Wednesday. Last week, Underwood wowed the CMA Awards audience with a performance of the song that featured period dress and tricky choreography, elements of which remain in the video and its steamy narrative about …