Saving Country Music
Saving Country Music is an in your face blog that gives zero shits about whether you agree with them or not, because honestly, from what I have read, what they post is true! As a huge fan of older country music, this new crap they put out on country music stations that I call Hick Hop is garbage. That said, this Bro Country sells, so I will give them that for sure. Today’s false country genre fills up arenas. I love to go and read the material on Saving Country Music so that I can read about reality.
-Shannon Ireland
From the Saving Country Music Wesbite:
Saving Country Music’s purpose is spelled out in its name. It offers news, opinion, reviews, artist profiles, music history, and the always-popular off-color pop country bashing. Saving Country Music primarily focuses on country, but also covers roots, rockabilly, bluegrass, blues, and folk music. First and foremost, Saving Country Music is a consumer advocate and an industry watchdog. Saving Country Music consistently receives on average of over 330,000 unique visitors a month.
Even though Saving Country Music is a music-based website, it works from the core principles that the focus should be people first, then music, and that music is just the excuse to explore deeper issues throughout culture.
How Saving Country Music Began
Saving Country Music was founded in April of 2008 as a blog on MySpace called “Free Hank III.” Free Hank III and freehank3.org was formed to put pressure on Hank Williams III’s label Curb Records to release his albums. Hank III had been lip locked by a provision in his contract that stipulated he could not speak out against Curb, so Free Hank III was an organization of Hank III fans, DJ’s, podacsters, and other musicians who spoke out against Curb Records on Hank III’s behalf to release his music in a timely manner. In July of 2008, Free Hank III helped win the release of Hank III’s album Damn Right,Rebel Proud, and on January 1st, 2010, Hank III was finally released from his contractual obligations with Curb Records, marking the end of Free Hank III.
Free Hank III also covered independent country and roots artists during its run, as well as the rest of the country music world from an independent perspective. Free Hank III became Saving Country Music as the focus began to shift to the larger issues facing the country genre and the preservation of its roots.
About ‘Trigger’
Kyle “The Triggerman” Coroneos is the editor, creator, head writer, and benevolent dictator of savingcountrymusic.com. He officially changed his pen name to “Trigger” on 12/18/2012. His writing has inspired a song by Eric Church, and some believe Taylor Swift’s anti-bullying hit “Mean” is about him. He is also the originator of the “Super-genre, mono-genre, & micro-genre” theory on modern music, and was the first journalist to discover Sturgill Simpson.
Trigger is a published author, and has also written for other music sites and periodicals, including American Songwriter, the9153.com, outlawmagazine.com, ninebullets.net, rnzmagazine.com, farcethemusic.com, 3rd Coast Music, the Rambler Magazine, and UK’s Country Music Magazine.
He has been quoted and interviewed by The New York Times (read), (read), and (read), The Boston Globe (read), the BBC (listen), CNN (read), The Washington Post (read) and (read), Fox News (read), (read), and (read), Elle (read), Playboy Magazine(read), Entertainment Weekly (read), The Daily Beast (read), Bloomberg Businessweek (read), Gawker (read), MacLean’s (read) The Hollywood Reporter(read), The Tennessean (read) and (read), Houston Press (read), National Post(read), The Milwaukee Record (read), Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (read), Texas Standard (listen), On The Forcheck (read), 106.7 The Fan (listen) Country 92.5(listen), and many other news outlets.
Trigger was also featured on a podcast from Wide Open Country.
Trigger is also been rumored to have an alter ego, pop country star Michael Jackson Montgomery; a rumor he adamantly denies.
The Triggerman lives in his mom’s basement, and over-glorifies the obscure music that he loves while bashing anything that he doesn’t solely because its popular. He is strictly motivated by jealousy, and has no right to criticize music because he has never played it, never written songs, and never toured as a musician. He is also a virgin, and doesn’t know how to please women in bed. In short, he is a nerdy crybaby who uses a moderately successful online platform make himself feel better about his pathetic life.
(actual photo)
Saving Country Music
- There Should Be No Shame For Musicians Who Took PPP Loans July 8, 2020There should be no shame in major music outfits taking money through the government's Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, to keep their road crew and support staff financially stable, despite it being characterized as the cash grab of millionaires by some, aided by certain embellished and misleading headlines in the media.Trigger
- Album Review – Bo DePeña (Self-Titled) July 8, 2020Whether it's tried-and-true traditional country, more modern Texas-style country with a little rock 'n roll swagger, singer-songwriter stuff, or something in between, Laredo, TX-native Bo DePeña has you covered in this new self-titled record, and in only nine songs. Bo DePeña is a name on the rise.Trigger
- Billy Strings, Michael Cleveland Lead 2020 IBMA Bluegrass Noms July 8, 2020The 2020 IBMA Awards will go forward as scheduled, sans audience of course, but with an exceptional list of nominees for 2020. Leading all nominees is fiddle player Michael Cleveland with seven nominations total, and entirely worthy after releasing the weal-received album Tall Fiddler. He's followed by the wondrous Billy Strings.Trigger
- Tyler Childers Streaming Concert from Pickathon Scheduled July 7, 2020The Pickathon Festival near Portland, OR has been helping to make the quarantine a bit more bearable over the last few months by tapping into its vast archive of high quality concert footage and streaming full sets from past years. The 2019 set from Tyler Childers on Pickathon's Mt. Hood stage is streamed in its […]Trigger
- Country & Southern Rock Legend Charlie Daniels Has Died July 6, 2020Country Music Hall of Famer and Southern rock icon Charlie Daniels has died. The 83-year-old passed away unexpectedly Monday morning (7-6) after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. Daniels' death has been confirmed by his publicist, Don Murry Grubbs.Trigger
- Ennio Morricone: The Influence of the Country Concept Album July 6, 2020Italian film composer Ennio Morricone passed away on Monday (7-6) at the age of 91. And though he will will always be remembered as the definitive mastermind behind the sounds and sonic imagination of the Spaghetti Western, it would be criminal to overlook the influence Morricone had on American country music.Trigger
- Socially Distanced Concerts Are The Way to Save Live Music July 6, 2020If you're looking for a solution of how to solve the crisis facing live music at the moment, this is it. And it's not a hypothetical. Thanks to Granger Smith, his fans, and a forward-thinking city and baseball team, they've proven safe music concerts can be done, and done successfully.Trigger
- New & Reissued Johnny Cash Releases Not To Be Overlooked July 5, 2020For all of you Johnny Cash fans out there, there's been a bevy of release and announcement activity lately you should be aware of---some of it newer stuff, some of it old, and all of it worthy to be on your radar. Here's a roundup.Trigger
- John Prine Posthumously Named Honorary Poet Laureate July 4, 2020John Prine has been posthumously named an Honorary Poet Laureate for Illinois. Born in Maywood, IL and initially rising to fame in the state as the "singing mailman" in Chicago, Prine is the first Illinoisan to receive the honorary designation, which commemorates and celebrates his writing and musical contributions.Trigger
- Charley Crockett Brings Cinematic Vision to “Run Horse Run” July 3, 2020Charley Crockett has released the song "Run Horse Run" with its Spaghetti Western vibe and Johnny Cash cadence, and it's accompanied by another video that fits into a greater narrative that he's looking to build through the album. It's one of multiple videos Crockett shot in the Sierra Nevada.Trigger
- The Worst “Country” Songs of 2020 So Far July 2, 2020Due to COVID-19, and then the protests and riots after the George Floyd killing, the Saving Country Music snark machine has been pretty much powered down and collecting dust for the better part of 2020. But there has been as few instances of country music malfeasance so egregious, it would be unconscionable to not address […]Trigger
- Ashley Ray Ready to Make Waves with New Record “Pauline” July 2, 2020Her name is Ashley Ray. And it's a name that has ended up in the liner notes of the records of some of country music's most revered performers like Lori McKenna and Wade Bowen. It's a name that has been featured in opening slots for Miranda Lambert and Eric Church.Trigger
- Luke Combs Gives Ringing Endorsement to Hill Country July 1, 2020Ever since releasing their debut album in May, the Zane Williams-led Texas music supergroup called Hill Country has been heavily touted by the listeners who've been clued into their self-titled record. It just the overall vibe the group captures. And apparently the biggest artist in country music at the moment agrees.Trigger
- Album Review – Rich O’Toole’s “New York” July 1, 2020On his newest album 'New York,' Rich O'Toole took the extra effort to make a record he could be proud of, not just for where he is now, but many years down the road, eschewing the effort to find that big hit that may launch him into the mainstream consciousness, and instead focused on making […]Trigger
- Justin Wells Readies New Album “The United State” July 1, 2020The once Saving Country Music Song of the Year winner and former frontman of Kentucky-based Southern rock outfit Fifth on the Floor is readying the release of a new album, and "ambitious" would be one one way to characterize it. Justin Wells prepared "The United State."Trigger
- Cody Jinks Goes off On Sam Hunt’s “Hard To Forget” June 30, 2020Cody Jinks rarely casts stones, and isn't inclined to spout off against pop country unless the situation is really called for. That happened to be the case when he made a recent visit to the dentist, and was exposed to the Sam Hunt song "Hard To Forget," though he didn't know the song or artist […]Trigger
- Chase Rice Concert Criticism Misses The Bigger Picture June 30, 2020If anyone in country music has ever deserved to have their career unceremoniously wiped and cancelled, inadvertently or otherwise, it might be Chase Rice. Nonetheless, the criticism of his recent concert that has made him public enemy #1 deserves some context, and a deeper discussion.Trigger
- Album Review – Corb Lund’s “Agricultural Tragic” June 29, 2020Taking time between cattle ranching and hanging out in the Canadian Rockies to write songs and perform them for folks when he can, over the last few years Alberta native Corb Lund has gone from the best kept secret of cowboy music to a living legend of it.Trigger
- Garth Brooks Pulls Off Greatest Country Music Swindle Ever June 28, 2020Don't regard this as a slandering. Please don't mistake this as a rebuke. I bow down to the magnificent power of country music megastar Garth Brooks, and his ability to hoodwink hundreds of thousands of people and make millions of dollars even amidst an unprecedented pandemic and economic disparity.Trigger
- Newest Adds to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist (#66) June 28, 2020The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats. New songs have just been added.Trigger
