Posted: October 10th, 2008 at 4:15 pm| By: Emilee Warner
On the heels of releasing a brand new album last week called Tennessee Pusher, Old Crow Medicine Show are giving their fans a double feature, performing last night and tonight (Oct. 10) at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. For their first engagement, Old Crow Medicine Show played a few catchy old favorites of mine, like “I Hear Them All,” and included several new songs, like “Alabama High-Test” and “Tennessee Pusher.” Is it the dark context that the fans love so much? Their fans may not realize there are tons of bands out there making old-time bluesy music that have yet to see the Ryman stage. What is it about Old Crow that singles them out among other acoustic counterparts? Just a thought I’ve always wondered as a longtime fan.
Posted: October 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 am| By: Emilee Warner
The 2008 IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) awards show kicked off with a bang last night. The Steep Canyon Rangers opened the show with their bluegrass chart-topper “Lovin’ Pretty Women” and toward the end of the song, the Shoefly Girls came out on stage clogging! It set the tone for a fun show. Del McCoury stepped on stage, and in his own witty way, yelled, “Hey everybody!” He then went on to tell the history of the Ryman Auditorium and how it began as a Baptist tabernacle in May of 1890. Del joked he had a gig at the world famous Station Inn that night.
Posted: September 11th, 2008 at 11:17 am| By: Craig Shelburne
If you’ve been reading this blog over the last few weeks, you might know I’ve been trying a lot of recipes from Trisha Yearwood’s cookbook, Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen. I was lucky enough to get tickets to her show at the Ryman Auditorium Wednesday night (Sept. 10) and even more fortunate to be able to say hello to her afterwards. This meet-and-greet stuff is something I usually avoid at all costs, but I wanted to tell her how much I have enjoyed her recipes, as well as the concert (which was outstanding). There was a small group of us chitchatting when I heard her casually say, “I had meatloaf up here earlier.”
Seeing this as my chance, I jumped right in. “Oh! I’ve made your meatloaf! It’s delicious!” Without looking at me directly (because she’s very gracious), she said, “Uhhh, no. Meat Loaf, the singer.”
For almost a year, I’ve had people telling me to go hear the SteelDrivers at Station Inn, and this weekend I finally went. Of course, I’ve seen them before a few times around town, like at the CMA Music Festival, and Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman. But nothing beats the Station Inn. An hour before the show, the place was already full, so we had to sit at the bar. (Tough life.) It’s a friendly place, but once the music started, everybody stopped chattering and really focused on the music. When singer Chris Stapleton starts tearing through the band’s bluegrass repertoire - with his bluesy, growly voice - he really commands your attention. Plus, fiddler Tammy Rogers is fun to watch, because when she sings harmony, she sings from her toenails.
Posted: August 25th, 2008 at 3:18 pm| By: James Otto
Let me start by saying I’m no chef, but I got the chance to learn from one of the best when I was asked to be part of Food Network’s hit TV show Dinner: Impossible.
I started the day by meeting up with the host, Michael Symon, at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville where he was getting a lesson in country music history. I waited in the alley in a limo to pick him up and take him to the Opryland Hotel where the actual cooking would take place.
Posted: July 21st, 2008 at 2:44 pm| By: Emilee Warner
As expected, the Nashville show with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant on Saturday night (July 21) was packed out. I cannot name a greater duo in music right now or in recent times, really. These two are magnificent legends in each of their own right. It doesn’t hurt, either, that they have the best musicians in the world backing them up. The duo covered some Led Zeppelin songs like “Black Dog” and “Battle of Evermore.” I have to say, I had my fingers crossed that John Paul Jones would be there and come out and play. They also performed some of Alison’s best-known songs like “Down to the River to Pray,” performed a capella.
When Ricky Skaggs decided to focus on bluegrass music about a decade ago, he largely dropped all of his country hits from his set list. That was a pretty big deal, considering he’s had 11 No. 1’s, like “Crying My Heart Out Over You” and “Highway 40 Blues.” (I imagine he’s still performed “Uncle Pen” every night, however.) But for those fans who were “Heartbroke” at his concerts, here’s some good news - he’s adding a few of those classic songs at his concerts to celebrate a new album, The High Notes.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Vince Gill over the last few days, after seeing his bluegrass concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Thursday night (July 3). Every year, he shows up as casual as can be, and plays whatever bluegrass songs he can remember. It’s a lot of fun, actually. Occasionally he’ll toss a big hit in there, like “Pocket Full of Gold” or “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” but mostly, it’s an unpredictable experience.
Posted: June 30th, 2008 at 2:54 pm| By: Chris Parton
Lately I’ve been listening to this duo from Mexico, Rodrigo y Gabriela. They started out playing guitar together in Mexico City, and eventually made their way to Dublin, where their signature sound started to take shape. Playing house parties, pubs and street corners all over Europe, they earned their reputation as great live performers, and picked up something of a cult following on the World Music circuit. But if some would call them a novelty act, their self-titled CD will attest to their musicianship. It was all recorded with live takes, with the exception of some overdubs on “Orion.” This video for “Diablo Rojo” was picked up by VH1 in May.
Brad Paisley is featured in Snoop Dogg’s new video — and, no, I’m not hallucinating. Willie Nelson is in the video, too, but everybody knew he and Snoop had been working together in Amsterdam, so that was no big surprise. (Numerous jokes have been made about Snoop and Nelson doing some other things in Amsterdam, but that’s probably no big surprise either.)
This isn’t the first video for “My Medicine,” a “country song” from Snoop’s latest album, Ego Trippin’. The previous one was a live performance from VH1 Storytellers, but this new version shot in downtown Nashville (and Amsterdam) shows Snoop wearing a cowboy shirt and hat while using an acoustic guitar as a prop. And imagine him doing that as he stands on the hallowed stage of the Ryman Auditorium — behind the WSM/Grand Ole Opry microphone.
On the heels of releasing a brand new album last week called Tennessee Pusher, Old Crow Medicine Show are giving their fans a double feature, performing last night and tonight (Oct. 10) at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. For their first engagement, Old Crow Medicine Show played a few catchy old favorites of mine, like “I Hear Them All,” and included several new songs, like “Alabama High-Test” and “Tennessee Pusher.” Is it the dark context that the fans love so much? Their fans may not realize there are tons of bands out there making old-time bluesy music that have yet to see the Ryman stage. What is it about Old Crow that singles them out among other acoustic counterparts? Just a thought I’ve always wondered as a longtime fan.
The 2008 IBMA (
If you’ve been reading this blog over the last few weeks, you might know I’ve been trying a lot of recipes from 
For almost a year, I’ve had people telling me to go hear 
Let me start by saying I’m no chef, but I got the chance to learn from one of the best when I was asked to be part of Food Network’s hit TV show 
As expected, the Nashville show with 
When 
I’ve been listening to a lot of 
©2008 Country Music Television, Inc., a Viacom company. A division of