Brantley Gilbert is the opposite of a divo (that’s a male diva, in case you didn’t know).

That’s why it’s gratifying to see him grab so much success this early in his career. Last year, the now 27 year-old singer/songwriter was a bit bummed that many music journalists didn’t seem to want to talk with him. This year, he hardly has time to talk to anyone.

With a nomination for the 2012 Country Music Association (CMA) New Artist of the Year Award, Gilbert is launching the “Hell on Wheels Tour.” It’s the first headlining tour for Gilbert, whose sophomore album Halfway to Heavy debuted at #2 on the Billboard Country charts and who has written a host of #1 singles including “Country Must Be Country Wide,” “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,” along with Jason Aldean‘s songs “My Kinda Party” and “Dirt Road Anthem.” He’s also won plenty of fans during his recent tours, including supporting spots on Eric Church‘s “Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour” and Toby Keith‘s “Live in Overdrive Tour.”

Although he’s got some heavy competition for the CMA Award — Love and Theft, Lee Brice, Hunter Hayes, and Thompson Square are the other nominees — Gilbert seems to be taking all the excitement in stride. Although he was battling bronchitis on one of his recent days home, he took time out to chat a bit about his reaction to the nomination, his songwriting, and just what he’s learned on all the tours he has played.

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Brantley Gilbert Talks CMAs, Eric Church and Lessons from the Road’

The X Factor is as much a ratings seeking show as anything these days, priding itself no longer on just the talent it showcases, but catfights, crying and breakdowns. With judge Britney Spears commenting, “We’re gonna push them to their limits,” it’s only reasonable to expect a bit of on air tension when the family sits down to watch on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

After settling down inside a swanky Miami hotel, the contestants were bused out to their performance site, and one by one, all 120 of them went in front of the judges, knees shaking and voices set to impress. After all, each performance is only the biggest of their life. Check out the scoop after the jump.

Continue reading ‘X Factor Boot Camp Kicks Off; Nearly Half Of Contestants Axed’

Lindi Ortega’s sound has taken a long dip into the blues, but she’s still got the soul of a country girl.

Talking by phone from her mother’s Toronto home, she talked about how her 2011 release Little Red Boots inspired her to more fully explore the roots of country music.

Noting that the first book she read was Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams by Phil Hemphill, Ortega discovered Williams was heavily influenced by the blues. “That’s when I started to see a real connection between blues and country. I tried to listen solely to blues for months at a time, right around the time I was writing the songs for this record.”

She enlisted Colin Linden, a renowned producer and blues guitarist who has an extensive knowledge of blues. Linden helped Ortega weave the blues into the outlaw-traditional-country-with-hints-of-rock sound she developed. In a significant way, Cigarettes & Truckstops is an maturation of Ortega’s music from her debut album Little Red Boots. Although her sound is now more sophisticated and blues based, it has the heartfelt sincerety that drew listeners to her earlier work. Continue reading ‘Your Country’s Right Here: Lindi Ortega Talks ‘Cigarettes and Truck Stops’ yet Keeps her ‘Little Red Boots’ Firmly on the Ground’

Ever since her breakthrough album, Fearless in 2008, Taylor Swift has been churning out hits one right after another, capturing pop fans, country fanatics and generations across the board. Let me join in by saying that Swift’s latest release, the title track off her upcoming album Red, is bound to be another chart topper.

Following “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “Begin Again”, “Red” takes a familiar Swift approach with heartfelt lyrics and tales of romantic mishaps. Once again, Swift has mastered the art of taking a country tune and spinning it with just the amount of kick needed to make it a pop success.

You can check out “Red” for yourself here, and keep an eye out for the album which drops Oct. 22.

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It seems only fair to say that most creative individuals would love the opportunity to pursue their passions and add to the creative circuit in one way or another, particularly without the worry of tight funds. Enter: The MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant.”

This five-year grant offers extraordinarily talented individuals $500,000 to pursue their goals and passions with no strings attached. Who better to receive this prestigious grant than Punch Brothers mandolin player, Chris Thile.

After ignoring the foundation’s attempts to contact him by phone, believing them to be automated election-year calls, Thile eventually got wind of their true nature.

“I’ve never felt so internally warm,” Thile told the AP. “My heart was racing. All of a sudden, I felt very askew physically. I was trying to catch my breath. . . . I thought, ‘Oh my God, did I win a MacArthur?’”

He had. After finding success with Nickel Creek, Thile then assembled the Punch Brothers in 2006, finding success, and now prestige once more. So what are his plans for the money? Thile has said he may use the grant to fund a chamber music project for a bluegrass quintet.

You can find the talented winner on tour with the Punch Brothers through December.

We made it folks! After three rounds of competition, hundreds of entrants from all over the Great White North and thousands of fans making their voices heard, we have our winners for the Intel® “Canada Superstars” Competition! These seven acts represent some of the best that their respective genres, and Canada, has to offer. Musically speaking, in any case. So without further ado, here are your winners and their winning entries! And thanks to all of the musicians who entered the competition! You really gave these guys a run for their loonies. Continue reading ‘Meet The Winners Of The Intel® “Canada Superstars” Competition!’

Clear Channel looks its taking it upon itself to change how royalties are paid to artists played on the radio. On Thursday the media conglomerate announced that it had struck a deal with Glassnote Entertainment Group that would provide income to the label and their roster of artists for broadcasts of their music through terrestrial and online streaming Clear Channel stations.

While many of the nitty gritty details of the deal remain undisclosed, there are two big takeaways. First, Clear Channel would payout a percentage of their revenue to Glassnote, home of top selling folk-rock act Mumford & Sons and indie darlings including Phoenix and Two Door Cinema Club, for over the air broadcasts of their artist’s music. This stands in stark contrast to the history of radio royalties in the United States.

Continue reading ‘Clear Channel Is Paying Radio Royalties To Artists! (If You’re On The Right Label)’

Are you constantly on the lookout for the latest rising music stars? Are your headphones attached to your ears at all times for fear of missing a beat on the latest upcoming talent? If this sounds like you, and you’re a Canadian resident, then OurStage and the Intel® “Canada Superstars” Competition need your help!

Intel® “Canada is looking for their next superstar, but they cannot do it without your vote in the seven competition channels. In return for your efforts, you’ll be entered alongside other OurStage users to win an incredible prize package, with one Grand Prize winner receiving a Fender® Modern Player Telecaster Plus along with a Fender® Mustang II 40 Watt Guitar Combo Amp!

You only have until September 30^, to judge and be entered to win, so what are you waiting for? Get judging!

Click here to view the competition FAQs.

Click here to view the official rules.

It’s easy to hear the relief in Aimee Wilson’s voice when she talks about her new album “Unto Us the Sun.”

To create the August 28 release, Wilson composed on both sitar and guitar as inspired by the Sacred Harp tradition. The result is a whirl of mix of traditional folk and indie rock with a dose of spirituality and Celtic influences put into it.

“My music is a dialogue with God, as I understand him,” said Wilson of the songs that resulted from the eight-year long process. “It’s a way of getting to something more than myself. It’s this instinctual reaching and listening that’s happening through me.”

What led Wilson to that music was everything from the study of literate to working with at-risk women at a safe haven in Philadelphia. The Tennessee native didn’t set out to write this album, though. Having learned to play guitar at an early age and the sitar several years ago, she has continually turned to music as a way to express her thoughts and feelings. That manifested into her 2004 debut album “Timbers Fall.”

So with her background in literature and her way of turning to music to express herself, perhaps it’s not surprising that the songwriting muse would visit her as she worked with chronically homeless women at 1Philadelphia shelter. Their lives are in full evidence in the lyrics that tell stories of loss, exposure and ultimately hope. Beyond that, Wilson continually talks about how much she took away from her experience at the shelter.

“I started realizing what I was learning from the women I got to know there,” Wilson said. “I had just gone through a loss myself before I started working at this shelter. There was something healing about being around others who couldn’t hide their heartbreak, who could have that honest and courageous conversation. I’d hear something in my head as I was going about my day. When I had a chance, I’d grab the instrument and work it out.”

When she recorded the album, Wilson included an array of instruments from the Chinese erhu fiddle to the hurdy gurdy, along with a full Sacred Harp-style vocal ensemble to completely tell the stories.

Yet while the album is lush and full, the completion of the project is almost a surprise to Wilson.

“I didn’t really even set up to write music for an album,” he said. “They were just songs that I started writing on the sidelines outside of my day to day job. But as  the songs started taking on a life of their own and growing I just felt like I needed to do something with them and share them.”

Find out more about Aimee Wilson’s release on the Factorye website.

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Many of us know that feeling when an album hits you just right during a crucial moment in your life. When everything you’re hearing—the sounds, the melodies, the emotions, the lyrics—matches everything you’re feeling. It all just seems to flow directly from the speakers to your heart and back again, as if there is some sort of etherial connection between yourself and the artist. Favorite records like these are what define us as music fans. They help us realize who we are and who our favorite artists or  bands are.

But we also know the opposite feeling, when that same artist’s newest release falls flat, just as well. When the effort just does not amount to the previous release(s) that we hold so close to our hearts. As fans, we often form connections to artists and their music that they become a defining aspects of our identity. So, when our favorite musicians go in a new direction, we sometimes feel offended or even cheated, as if they have betrayed us in some way, leaving us alone with the nostalgia of a better time. Continue reading ‘Crossroads: When Fans And Bands Go Their Separate Ways’