Folks, he’s a legend and a legacy…

Hank Jr. was born and raised in the South and that you can still hear the swamp in his music.  He deftly mixes country, blues, gospel, and rock ‘n roll to create a distinctive “Bocephus” sound.

He’s come a long way from his early days of aping his legendary father, and while his antics may have gotten him into some hot water from time to time, the fact of the matter is that Hank Williams Jr. is a country music stalwart.

That’s why we’re featuring Hank Jr. as our ‘artist in the spotlight’ this week!  We’re going to be playing all of the Bocephus tunes you know and love, plus classic tracks from his father and all the best classic country you’ve come to expect from us…

It won’t be the same without you, folks!  So gather all your rowdy friends together this weekend and get ready for our Hank Williams Jr. program right here on the Country Music Greats Radio Show…we’ll see you there!

Folks, we are really excited about our show this week!

There was a time in the late 80′s, when country music had been in a bit of a skid.  More and more, Country artists were sounding like Pop artists.  The more traditional sounds of a fiddle and steel guitar were being traded in for sampled strings and drum machines.  True country fans were itching for someone or something to come around and save them from the stale, homogenized sounds that were coming in over the airwaves…

That’s when a young group of artists emerged who would come to be called the “Neo-Traditionalists.”  Artists like Dwight Yoakam, Vince Gill, Randy Travis….and this week’s featured artist, Mark Chesnutt.

These guys brought back traditional instrumentation and vocal phrasing, inspired by artist like Bob Wills and Buck Owens.  They were making music for fans of real country music who had had enough of the pop stylings of the 80′s.

And that’s why we want to tip our hat to Mark Chesnutt this week.  He was at the vanguard of the new traditionalist movement, but more importantly…his songs are just incredible!   He’s the definition of the traditional singer-songwriter, which seems to be getting more and more rare with each passing year.

He’s the real deal, and not only that…but he’s still going strong!  Mark is releasing new material to this day and you can still catch Mark in a live setting all over the country.  You can click here to find Mark’s current tour dates, if you wish.

But in the meantime, make sure to tune in to the Country Music Greats Radio Show this week, and see what all the fuss is about.  I promise you won’t regret it!

Have a great week and we’ll see you on the radio!

Howdy-do folks!  I hope you’ve all had a fantastic week and are ready for some more great country music!

You know, too often we disregard more current acts as not being ‘country’ enough.  And while there are certainly entertainers out there who carry the ‘country’ label but are about as ‘country’ as Pace Picante, there are a few acts who really hold true to the traditional sounds.

And folks, we feel that Vince Gill is one of those artists.  His guitar playing and singing all ring of a deep love and study of bluegrass music…and we can’t get enough of it!

That’s why this week, we’re focusing our entire show on Mr. Gill and his vast catalog of great country music.  We’re stretching back all the way to the early 80′s and we bring you all the way up to the current era, where Vince’s country swing band “The Time Jumpers” are making headlines in Nashville at this very moment!

This show’s got a little bit of everything and I would hate for you to miss it.  So please do yourself a favor and tune in to the Country Music Greats Radio Show!

Have a great week, and we’ll see you on the radio!

Folks, we have a very special show in store for you this week!

Jim Ed’s friend Crystal Gayle came down to the Hard Scuffle Studios to chat with him…and I got it all on tape so you could hear it!

All you’ve got to do is tune in to your local country radio station and sit back while Jim Ed asks all the “hard hitting” questions like:  “How do you maintain that long hair?”

In all seriousness, Crystal is one of the kindest people you’re ever likely to meet, especially in the music business!  Not only that, but she has one of the prettiest and smoothest voices around.

I guess she should, she’s Loretta Lynn’s sister after all!  Did you know that?  Well, now you do!

Tune in for our show this week and learn even more about Crystal!  We’ll see you on the radio!

Hey fans we have an early sneak-peek at our upcoming George Jones tribute radio show.  And it’s not just part of the show — it’s the entire tribute show! Jim Ed, along with other favorite Country artists, share their thoughts on The Possum.  The only thing we’ve had to edit are the songs.  You’ll find smaller, 30-sec snippets of each song in the show instead of the entire song due to broadcast restrictions.  We’ve also listed and linked each of the songs from the show below to our sister site PureCountryMusic.com.

1. George Jones: “Why, Baby, Why?”
2. George Jones: “I’m A One Woman Man”
3. George Jones: “White Lightning”
4. George Jones: “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
5. George Jones: “Tender Years”
6. George Jones: “She’s My Rock”
7. George Jones: “She Thinks I Still Care”
8. Johnny Paycheck: “A-11”
9. George Jones: “The Window Up Above”
10. George Jones & Tammy Wynette: “Golden Ring”
11. George Jones: “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes”
12. George Jones: “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)”
13. Waylon Jennings: “Rainy Day Woman”
14. George Jones: “The Grand Tour”
15. Jerry Reed: “The Bird”
16. George Jones: “Loving You Could Never Be Better”
17. George Jones: “Busted”
18. George Strait: “Love Bug”
19. Vince Gill: “One More Last Chance”
20. George Jones: “Still Doin’ Time”
21. Charlie Rich: “Rollin’ With The Flow”
22. George Jones: “The Race Is On”
23. George Jones: “The Door”

Also Available — A Pure Country Music/Country Music Greats Exclusive!: 4 DVD George Jones Ultimate Remembrance Set for $59.98.

Folks, if you’re a fan of bluegrass, you simply cannot miss this week’s episode!

We were so lucky to have ‘The New Queen of Bluegrass’ Ms. Rhonda Vincent right here in our very own Hard Scuffle Studios to chat with Jim Ed!

She and Jim Ed are old friends, and it really showed in their candid conversation.  Jim Ed actually was one of the first people to introduce Rhonda to fans of country music, when she was a guest on TNN’s You Can Be A Star!  Ya’ll remember Jim Ed’s show?

Well, we are extremely grateful that Rhonda took time out of her busy touring schedule to chat with us, and it really made for a fantastic show.  It’s going to be one of our best!

So please do yourself a favor and tune in, folks.  You’ll hear all your favorite bluegrass and country artists, as well as an in-depth interview with the one-and-only Rhonda Vincent.

Have a great week, and we’ll see you on the radio!

There really are no words…

Country Music has lost one of it’s greatest voices.  Our thoughts and sincerest condolences go out to George’s family and friends.  Truly, no one will be able to fill his shoes.

Friends and neighbors!

We’ve got a big show planned for you this week.  We’re calling it Queens of Country and we’ll be playing all of your favorite country tunes from all of your favorite female country stars!

Starting way back in the early 20th century, women struggled to find a true voice in country music.  It was very much a “boys-club” and women were often portrayed as one-dimensional characters.

The female musicians were making their presence known, however.  Led in the charge by women like Mother Maybelle Carter, who invented a style of guitar playing called the Carter Scratch, which was a precursor to the Travis Picking guitar style.   And “Aunt” Samantha Bumgarner, who is believed to be the first person of either sex to be recorded playing the 5-string banjo.

The tides began to shift; however, when in 1935, Patsy Montana became the first female country singer to sell a million singles when she released “I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart.”  While certainly groundbreaking, this was simply a nudge in the right direction.  Things for women in country music would remain largely unchanged for the following two decades.

That was, until Kitty Wells released “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” in the early 1950′s.  Kitty presented a female voice that had never been heard before in country music, and it would become the first No. 1 Billboard country hit for a solo female artist.  It was a little provocative, and with a heaping spoonful of attitude.  The door was now cracked, and ready for the following generations of female country stars to kick it off it’s hinges!

Of course, over the years many female country singers have come and gone, but some classics never go out of style:  Patsy, Reba, Tammy, Wynona, Dottie, Jean, Skeeter, Wanda… There are so many classics that we couldn’t possibly fit them into one show, but we sure tried!

This week is packed to the gills with as many female country legends as we could manage, and we’re covering the 50′s all the way up to the 90′s. I know you’ll love it.

So, don’t miss this weeks Country Music Greats Radio Show, The Queens of Country.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you on the radio!

Fortune has smiled upon us again, friends!

This week, we were fortunate enough to have Grand Ole Opry Star Jeannie Seely come right on down to the Hard Scuffle Studios to sit down for an interview with our very own Jim Ed Brown!

Jeannie‘s probably best known for her 1966 Grammy winning country hit “Don’t Touch Me,” which peaked at number two on the country chart that year.  But she’s also had many other hits, such as “Can I Sleep In Your Arms?”, “I’ll Love You More (Than You Need),” and “It’s Only Love.”

Not to mention her series of fantastic duets with our featured artist from last week, Mr. Jack Greene!  They scored hits with “Wish I Didn’t Have To Miss You,” and “Much Obliged.”

But possibly more interesting than that, are all the great friends she’s made in country music over the years.  She’s got such a bubbly personality that it’s easy to see why everybody seems to love her so much!  She definitely had some stories to tell on some of our favorite country stars…and you’ll just have to tune into this week’s show to find out what they’re all about!

Check out this video of Jeannie singing a song she wrote for Faron Young back in 1972, “Leavin’ And Sayin’ Goodbye.”

Have a great weekend folks, and we’ll see you on the radio!

(January 7th, 1930 – March 15th, 2013)

Hello, folks…

As I’m sure you all know, the country world lost a great artist when Jack Greene passed away on March 15th of this year.

There was no way to express our full sympathies to his family, but we thought it was the least we could do to dedicate an entire episode of the Country Music Greats Radio Show to this Grand Ole Opry legend.

 
We’ll be playing all of Jack’s songs that you know and love, including a few of his duets with Jeannie Seely, who was kind enough to come down and talk with Jim Ed for a while about her friend and duet partner.

 
We’ve also got an archived interview from Jack that we’ll be playing clips of as well.  It’ll be one of our better shows, and a special one for a lost friend.

Have a great weekend everybody, and we’ll see you on the radio!