Billboard country charts. Known to most as an adaptation of the
The Beverly Hillbillies theme, the tune highlights the inimitable bluegrass stylings of country legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. (Guitarist Flatt also sang the single version, although the TV theme features vocalist Jerry Scoggins.)
Anyone who s seen even one episode of the show
The Beverly Hillbillies knows the song s premise: It follows the titular character, who s out hunting when he discovers bubbling crude coming up from the ground ( Oil, that is, the song intones. Black gold, Texas tea ). Newly rich, he packs up his family and heads to Beverly Hills, Calif. (
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Rendering courtesy National Museum of African American Music
For many musicians, fans and music-biz folk, 2021 began with a sigh of relief â COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out, and Congress approved federal aid for independent music venues that havenât been able to conduct business as usual since March. But itâs clear that weâre far from out of the woods. Thereâs still an indeterminate span of time before itâs safe to fully reopen venues large and small, making it all but impossible to plan a tour. All the same, thereâs plenty of music across a broad spectrum that youâll be able to enjoy â from home or in public at a safe social distance â while we wait.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum didn t have to look far for inspiration this time around. The venerable bluegrass club the Station Inn sits less than a mile away from the Hall of Fame and will soon be the subject of its very own exhibit.
Opening on Jan. 15,
The Station Inn: Bluegrass Beacon will spotlight the four decade-old venue, a destination for bluegrass music fans from around the world and a key part of Nashville s bluegrass scene. A group of bluegrass musicians, who served as the club s house band, founded the Station Inn in 1974; its current owner, J.T. Gray a 2020 Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductee bought the club in 1981.
Tony Rice (1951-2020), The Man Who Changed Our Thinking About the Acoustic Guitar
By Geoffrey Himes | December 30, 2020 | 11:45am
Photo courtesy of Rounder Records
Tony Rice, who died of undisclosed causes Christmas morning at age 69, was more than just a virtuoso bluegrass guitarist. He was someone who changed the very role of the acoustic guitar in American music.
In the days before the widespread use of microphones and amplifiers, the acoustic guitar was almost always a rhythm instrument. When it tried to play single notes, it couldn’t compete with the volume of the fiddle and banjo. Even when gut strings were replaced by steel strings, even when players used picks instead of fingers, the instrument was just too quiet to be heard. Only when it strummed out chords could it make its presence felt.
Resolutions Honor Love, Potatoes and Pets: Legislative Watch Faced with a cascade of unprecedented and overwhelming challenges, legislators still found time to acknowledge the simple pleasures of life, including onions, country music and a hound dog named Jo Jo. Carl Smith, Senior Staff Writer | December 18, 2020 | News
Resolutions offer a blank slate for legislators to express their opinion or will regarding anything, whether it be the direction of policy, bad behavior by colleagues or foreign leaders, the passing of prominent citizens, the success of local sports teams or notable service to their communities.
When 2020 began, legislators could not have imagined how far it would push them beyond the usual, and significant, challenges of governing. As the year unfolded, they found themselves grappling with a historic public health disaster, economic collapse, a racial and justice protest movement spreading from