Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” which ignited controversy this week over claims that the song and its new video promote white supremacy and violence, is far from the first country song to attack cities using racist dog whistles. “Try That” is most clearly a descendant of Hank Williams Jr.’s “A Country Boy Can Survive” (1982), which claims, …
Inside Soccer Mommy’s Widescreen World
Clients of Nashville’s historic Sound Emporium studios are reminded right away that they’re in elite company. Plaques commemorating the commercial success of Kenny Chesney, Kacey Musgraves and other past patrons line the hallways, and across from the reception desk is a wall of framed snapshots, taken when the likes of Vince Gill, Little Big Town, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant …
On ‘Stories Up High,’ Laney Jones Seeks the Flow State
Nashville singer-songwriter brings her record to Blue Jay Listening Room
Since her debut nearly a decade ago, Nashville singer-songwriter Laney Jones has been impossible to pigeon hole. In naming Jones one of its Country Artists to Watch in 2016, Rolling Stone magazine said Jones’ music worked just as well “on the indie stage of a bluegrass festival as it would in an iTunes commercial.” For her latest full-length, Stories Up …
Bonobo | Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. The first shot of Bonobo‘s Tiny Desk (home) concert is a little disorienting. What looks like the …