Roots Radio News

Allison Moorer and Shelby Lynne talk or text every day. What these sisters haven’t been able to do over the years as much as they want is record together. It’s something their fans have wanted to hear as well.

Few if any albums this year from a new artist have arrived with more impact than Purgatory by Tyler Childers. The debut, produced by Sturgill Simpson, shot to number one on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart and reached #6 for albums overall in the week since its August 4 release.

The album is described as a song cycle that takes an unsentimental look at “the people, landmarks and legendary moments from Childers’ childhood home in Lawrence County, KY”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WMOT)  -- The music world is mourning the passing of Glen Campbell at age 81. He was a masterful guitarist and a remarkable interpreter of songs who blended country and pop as artfully as anyone has done. At the same time, this country boy from Delight, AR naturally had the ease and the boyish charm to build a worldwide fan base as a singer, actor and TV host.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Havighurst) Years ago, careers in the music business began by working for free, making coffee and waiting for an opportunity to open up. Then over the past two to three decades, music business programs proliferated at colleges and universities, providing training, internships and a faster track up the career ladder. Now as the industry grows faster paced and even more competitive, new kinds of professional training are taking shape.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Havighurst) The Richmond Sessions came out on July 21, marking the solo debut recording of Sherman Holmes, at mere 77 years of age.

From the late 1970s until 2015, The Holmes Brothers were one of the most beloved and eclectic groups working in the overlapping terrain between gospel, blues, soul and country. They recorded for Alligator and Rounder Records and played leading festivals all over the world.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Havighurst)  I’m With Her, the all-star folk trio of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan, has released its first original band-written song.

“Little Lies” - a live in studio performance released on YouTube - is a single in advance of I’m With Her’s first recording, an EP of five cover songs recorded on stage in New York in 2015.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Havighurst) Guitarist Jimmy Nalls, who died in late June after 20 years afflicted with Parkinson’s Disease, lost his ability to play but he never lost the admiration of his fellow guitar players in and out of Music City. Over two years, a number of leading pickers and studio musicians worked pro bono to finish an album Nalls had started. The final product is The Jimmy Nalls Project, which was released just days before Nalls fell at his home and died from his injuries.

(music – “Wood And Wire” from The Jimmy Nalls Project, 2017)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Havighurst)  -- The superhero origin story of bluegrass music typically focuses on the night that Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt first performed together on the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium in December, 1945. But since Bill Monroe is the father of bluegrass, then his own origins are even closer to the source. And that's to be found in Northwestern Kentucky in the towns of Rosine and Owensboro. There's a lot of activity and investment there that will give musical pilgrims a lot to see and learn about in the years to come.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Craig Havighurst) -- Music fans and historians were surprised this week by the announcement that the estate of bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe has offered for sale the rights to the icon’s name, likeness and web domain.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Havighurst)  -- Two years after the end of the Late Show with David Letterman, where he spent 33 years as music director, Paul Shaffer is recording and touring with his group from the show. They've taken back the name they used during their years on NBC - The World’s Most Dangerous Band.

Photos by Stacie Huckeba.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Havighurst)  -- Every professional musician was at one time an amateur, and in roots music, amateur musicians and the fans supporting the pros are often one and the same. Here's a story of a bluegrass and classic country music scene that has no interest in record deals, music publishing, roadies or anything beyond the camaraderie of a good jam session and a circle of song. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Havighurst)  -- "This is weird," said songwriter Jason Isbell with a touch of irony as he joined his former band mates Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley for an acoustic performance at the Country Music Hall of Fame on Tuesday afternoon. “I like weird,” Isbell added.