If That Ain't Country

In this week's episode, we're featuring a stone-cold country tribute to The Possum from Tennessee-native James Carothers: "Still Country, Still King: A Tribute To George Jones" (2018). After leaving a good job as a technican at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and with some encouragement from his wife and two kids - the Carothers moved the homeplace to Nashville, Tennessee to allow Ja...

In this week's episode we're featuring a very personal and sometimes touching tribute to Ernest Tubb from his eldest son, Justin Tubb: "Justin Tubb" (1985). Released a year after ET's death, Justin Tubb had wanted to do a tribute album while the old man was still living but it just didn't pan out that way. Instead, JT rounded up several of ET's Texas Troubadours, formed the creatively named "Troub...

In this week's episode, we're featuring an energetic western swing outing from young Texan Kristyn Harris, "Down The Trail" (2015). Based in the Lone Star State, but taking bookings from coast to coast and even further afield - Kristyn Harris' brand of western and western swing music is infectious. Throw in some artful yodelling, a big smile you can hear when she sings and a healthy respect for tr...

In this week's episode, we're celebrating the songwriting prowess of Wayne Kemp with his debut full-length album "Wayne Kemp" (1971). Few of country's best composer's could boast the way with words that this purveyor of hard country possessed, and he had handfuls of songs recorded by some of country's legends, as we explore in this week's episode. George Jones, Conway Twitty & George Strait we...

In this week's episode, we're featuring a labour of love from Laura Cash: "Awake But Dreaming" (2010). A fine collection of western swing and traditional country covers from this talented fiddler and Oregon native and one time daughter-in-law to the great Johnny Cash, this release is complemented wonderfully with well-chosen cameos. Fellow fiddlers The Quebe Sisters join in the fun on two cuts and...

In this week's episode, we're featuring the twangy breakout album from David Ball, "Thinkin' Problem" (1994). After earning respect from countless musical quarters and partly kick-starting the alt-country movement from his time with Uncle Walt's Band in the 70s and 80s, David Ball was encouraged to move to Nashville and pursue country music after hearing Randy Travis on the radio in about 1986. Ei...

In this week's episode, we're featuring a landmark album in what would later become known as the western swing revivalist movement: Merle Haggard's sensational "My Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World (or, My Salute To Bob Wills)" (1970). Along with Jimmie Rodgers and Lefty Frizzell, Bob Wills was one of The Hag's primarily influences. A young Haggard even snuck out of his home at a...

In this week's episode, we're featuring a great neo-traditional album from Tracy Byrd: "Love Lessons" (1995). Three albums in, a number one under his belt and some of the catchiest novelty songs of 90s country radio, Byrd had arrived. But Tracy Byrd was far more than detractors of the "Watermelon Crawl" might give him credit for - he had some geniune talent, a nice guy persona that always goes a l...

In this week's episode we're featuring the first in a trilogy of bluegrass albums that Dolly Parton released around the turn of the century: "The Grass Is Blue" (1999). After Decca Nashville closed their doors in 1998, Dolly found herself without a record deal for the first time in thirty years. She had talked about doing a legacy bluegrass project in the past, but now was the time. Teaming with S...

In this week's episode, we're featuring the first album in nine years from Nashville transplant Bobby Marquez, "The Cowboy Way" (2018). Hailing from the deep south of Texas, he moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue the country music dream. Nicknamed "Smilin'" Bobby Marquez by WSM legend Keith Bilbrey, his positive attitude has come in handy since his move to Music City: signed to two major...

In this week's episode, we're featuring the fourth album from a staple at the legendary Broken Spoke Dancehall in Austin, TX - Weldon Henson, and his sensational "Honky Tonk Frontier" (2015). Henson and his band have held down the popular "Two-Steppin' Tuesday" slot at the Spoke for some time now, regularly packing in several hundred of Austin's best dancers. It's no surprise then, that his music...

In this week's episode, we're celebrating an iconic label: Don Pierce's Starday Records. Formed in the early 50s by Lefty Frizzell's manager Jack Starns and Houston record distributor Pappy Daily (Starns + Dailey = Starday), they signed some of the best purveyors of hardcore honky tonk and traditional country, western, bluegrass and gospel music around at the time. Aften Don Pierce became label pr...

In this week's episode, we're remembering a name that is too often left out of conversations about western swing: Jack Guthrie. Our feature album this week is Capitol's 1966 retrospective: "Jack Guthrie - His Greatest Songs", featuring twelve dynamite western swingers from his extremely short recording career (1944-1947). Born in Oklahoma in 1915 and a cousin to the famous Woody Guthrie, Jack's fa...

This week we're featuring the follow-up to one of the biggest selling albums of the 80s: Randy Travis' "Old 8x10" (1988). It was of course the answer to "Always & Forever", which sold five million copies and hatched four number ones - it was always going to be a hard act to follow. However, "Old 8x10" certainly did well.. three number ones and two million in sales - Randy got a pay day, don't...

In this episode, we're featuring some of the best early 60s honky tonk you've never heard: from the chronically underrated Skeets McDonald, our feature album is: "Call Me Skeets!" (1964). Skeets got his first major record deal in LA - he was picked up by Capitol and spent a good stint with them which included his only #1 hit in 1952 with "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes". He flirted with rock...

This week, we get Hankified. All the songs included in this week's show are by or about the lanky, hollow-eyed hillbilly Shakespeare from Montgomery, Alabama. Our feature album is from Hank disciple Jim Owen: "A Song For Us All: A Salute To Hank Williams" (1977), and he's enlisted help from Hank's original Drifting Cowboys and the Charlie Daniels Band for this sensational project. Like countless o...

In this episode we're featuring a sensational album from Nashville-based songsmith Scott Southworth: "Hey Hillbilly Singer!" (2018). After playing in bands of every other genre, he made the full time move to country music and moved from his native Oregon to Music City to pitch songs to guys in suits in 2004. Achieving more than a few cuts over the years, for this album he's rounded up some of his...

In this episode, we're featuring a hot album from Country Charley Pride: "To All My Wonderful Fans: From Me To You" (1970). That's the long title, but the album is straight to the point. Track #1 gives you a great idea of what to expect on this release, a country-as-cornbread ode to the travelling man in "That's The Only Way Life's Been Good To Me". Pride's voice is like butter at this period in h...

In this episode we're featuring the debut record of a fresh-faced 27-year-old Oklahoma boy singing good country music: "Garth Brooks" (Self Titled) (1989). From the look on his face on the front cover of this album, I'd say he didn't have any clue of the fame about to come his way on the strength of this release - and fame did come, sure enough. This record achieved diamond certification (sales of...

In this episode, we're featuring a rodeo-themed album from ex-bull rider Red Steagall and his road band The Coleman County Cowboys: "For All Our Cowboy Friends" (1977). The inclusion of The Coleman County Cowboys over the A-class Nashville pickers that Red was using at this period in his career adds authenticity: world-champion fiddler Snuffy Elmore dragging the bow, James Wood on steel and Red's...

In this week's episode, we're featuring the latest album from genuine roping and riding cowboy Paul Bogart: "Leather" (2017). After moving from his home of Oolagah, Oklahoma (pop. 1146) to Nashville about a decade ago to pursue a career in music, he released a handful of albums, enjoying a steady rise in success. By the time 2018 had rolled around, Bogart had graduated from honky tonks to arenas a...

In this episode, we're featuring a Columbia concept album from "The Master" - Ray Price: "Love Life" (1964). Released after another highly successful thematic album in 1963's "Night Life", our feature album continues the tradition - this time, it's all songs about love. Loving, losing, heartbreak, euphoria, disappointment - the highs and lows of one of humankind's most relatable subjects - Price h...

In this week's episode, we're featuring a gritty example of 21st century honky tonk from The Reeves Brothers: "King Of Country Music" (2017). Sons of an Arkansas traditionalist who found success in Southern California, Matt & Cole Reeves have forged a sound reminiscent of something that may have been heard on an AM radio in about 1975: grimy, no frills barroom country music. Their rough-hewn p...

In this episode, we're featuring an album that captures Faron Young at his very best: "Step Aside" (1970). Released at a particularly busy time for Young on Mercury Records, "Step Aside" was crammed in amongst seven full length studio albums in four years, but that fact hasn't affected the output one bit. The Singing Sheriff is in the best voice of his career: mellow yet animated, soaring yet wond...

In this episode, we're featuring an oft-overlooked album from Cal Smith: "Country Bumpkin" (1974). The title track itself, of course, was Smith's biggest and most enduring hit, immortalising his impact to generations of fans. However, many listeners never got past big hit single to the rest of the album, which is a surprisingly modern yet traditional release, overseen by master Walter Haynes in th...