Neighborly.

If you had to describe the 32nd annual Master Musicians Festival with only one word, that’d be it. Because that’s exactly what it felt like. It’s a family-friendly event that’s not yet been exploited by the big corporate machines, likely due to the careful curation by its founders: the Somerset, Kentucky-based entrepreneurs Julie Harris and Tiffany Finley.

Ahead of his headlining performance at the Master Musicians Festival in Somerset, Kentucky on Saturday, July 12th, Jamey Johnson sat down with Saving Country Music corespondent Jason W. Ashcraft to talk about his new music, his take on new artists and the current direction of country, a new foundation he started, as well as how a few weeks difference might have kept the retired Marine in the service as opposed to saving country music as a songwriter and a performer.

Taking a look back on The Kentucky Headhunters and their 50+ year career in the music business, along with looking ahead to their upcoming performance on July 12 at the 32nd annual Master Musicians Festival in Somerset, Kentucky.

It’s time that I clear the air and file a written complaint about this brain dead tech zombie race of human beings that is being birthed, and the fugazi fake media types that are feeding this new beast of technological ignorance and preying upon the finances of unsuspecting artists as their method of sustainment.

When the massive musical talent lineup of the Bourbon & Beyond Music, Food & Bourbon festival was announced in January—boasting over 100 top recording artists of the last several decades from various genres of country, Americana, alternative rock, roots, folk and bluegrass—the music industry and fans alike let out a gasp.

Years from now, future generations of country fans will look back on Cody Jinks like we look back upon Willie and Waylon during the Outlaw era of the 70s. He changed the game, broke down barriers, and rewrote the possibilities for independent artists.

From the day the Bourbon & Beyond Music, Food & Bourbon festival announced its massive talent lineup in January, spanning top recording artists from various genres of country, Americana, rock, roots, folk and bluegrass, I knew I needed to be there.

This story more or less starts in 2003, when a group of young and seemingly overly-intelligent, yet also borderline idiots – myself included – decided to start a full color print lifestyle magazine called The Ville in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

On May 15th of 2012 I lost my first Doberman Pinscher, Boris. Very suddenly. Soon after that I wrote a gut-spill blog post titled “Mid-May-Mourning” to this blog. Today, on November 30, I’ve lost my second Doberman Pinscher, Ballack. Once again, very suddenly. And...

Jim James has cultivated a reputation for being an experimental musician, not pledging allegiance to any one style of sound.

[Originally published for Performer Magazine] Once upon a time, in July of 2002, a grassroots-organized neighborhood gathering of music, art and activism took place in a quaint little patch of grass in the Fredrick Olmsted-designed Tyler Park. Located in the heart of...

Rock n’ roll. Southern. Hard. Dirty. Grungy. But, sometimes soft. Ballad-esque. That’s who they are. And they’re perfectly comfortable with that. Opting not to experiment that much with their solidified iconic sound, Black Stone Cherry continues to pledge allegiance to their musical roots by returning to the very studio where they first recorded Rock-n-Roll Tape, their first EP in 2003, recorded at Barrick Studios in Glasgow, Kentucky.

So, it’s been awhile, right? This blog. I barely post to it anymore since joining the ranks of junkyard dogs over at GonzoToday.com. Nonetheless, great things are brewing in the world of GONZO. Somehow, I’ve found myself right in the middle of the madness, assuming...

Greetings GONZO lovers! I’ve had the privilege of being able to dialogue with Mister Ralph STEADman via email over many different subjects in the last few months. MANY subjects. Most of these conversations between him and I will remain private until the time comes...

Roam the rural Kentuckiana area countryside for long enough, and you’ll eventually stumble upon what us locals call a “Quiet Holler.”

When I landed at 4:20 pm MT in Denver, Colorado, I suddenly decided to skip my connecting flight back to Louisville. I just had endured yet another corporate bullshit onslaught of trade show hell in Las Vegas for a week. F*ck it. Unplanned sabbatical time to mountains...

The second year of the Louder Than Life festival is now officially in the books and I am officially done with this music scene until, perhaps, next year. The gargantuan-sized metal and rock n’ roll music and gourmet man-food extravaganza still has my fucking ears ringing, my clothes still half covered in mud, and that post-concert hangover feeling that I’ve not had since my 20’s. I don’t know if I am wishing that maybe I had indulged just a little more or a little less, at this point. I can’t decide.

An opportunity came up to sit down and chat with New Orleans natives, The Revivalists, at Forecastle Festival 2015, so I took it. What a great bunch of guys who – like all other NOLA-based musicians – wear their passion for their music like a heart on their sleeve.

[Originally published for Performer Magazine] The Waterfall by My Morning Jacket ATO/Capital Produced by: Jim James & Tucker Martine www.MyMorningJacket.com On their 7th studio production Louisville-based My Morning Jacket continues to masterfully hone their...

[Originally published for Performer Magazine] My pathetic excuse for the tardiness of this post is that I FINALLY said goodbye to my hometown of Louisville (but NOT Louisville Basketball) and moved to an undisclosed location, adjacent to a large body of water, deep...

Black Stone Cherry Magic Mountain Roadrunner Records Produced by: Joe Barresi www.BlackStoneCherry.com Much like they did when they first formed in 2001, Kentucky’s Black Stone Cherry has recorded an album that essentially reiterates their stylistic roots as a band....

Regions of Light and Sound of God by Jim James ATO Records Produced by: Jim James wwwJimJames.com If you’ve ever listened to any My Morning Jacket album you may have wondered where all that diverse musical inspiration originates from. A singular source or more of a...

In this exclusive interview from the historic Old Seelbach Bar inside Louisville’s Seelbach Hotel, cello-rocker Ben Sollee shared “a few honest words” about the making of his new album Half Made Man, those whom he collaborated with to make it, musicians who he’d still...