Country Universe
@countryuniverse.net
The longest-running country music blog (f. 08.2004). www.countryuniverse.net
Well, lookee here... 🎼 ... There's a man in the doorway / Of a motherfucking mansion / Aiming at the feeder / Where you'd sat to take a feast
Cato Institute@cato.org · 7h agoMost billionaire wealth isn't in yachts or jewelry — that's just a few percent of it. Most is productive business capital: companies that employ people, build things, and fund research. Tax that wealth and you're taxing the businesses that employ us all. Cato's Adam Michel explains.
Z. Bryan, ... Organs (***1/2): His best in quite some time because it's *edited* at both the song and album levels in a way he's rarely bothered to do, and because the production is both his most recognizably country *and* his most idiosyncratic. He credits his sobriety with positive changes...
Country Universe@countryuniverse.net · 3d agoG. DeLisle, ... Around (****): An unusual request, really, from an artist who is forever mining the genre's past for inspiration and, in doing so, has emerged as one of the most compelling work in the greater country universe. On this set, DeLisle draws from her widest range of classic styles yet...
"I'm not MAGA; I'm Make Cockfighting Legal Again (Because of Sports Betting!)" is an absolutely deranged platform, even by the standards of KY's singularly weird politics.
Bluegrass Politics@bluegrasspolitics.bsky.social · 17h agoIn Ky House District 76, incumbent Democrat faces GOP challenger who wants to legalize cockfighting, which he says could be profitable, and bring back firing squads. www.kentucky.com/news/politic...
Impressive that they found a shadow singer who is every bit as tone-deaf, since she appears to be lip-syncing but still not hitting a single goddamn note in tune: www.instagram.com/reel/Dep8eCB...
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‘The biggest, baddest, saltiest chick you would ever see’: no one sang the blues like Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton would've been 100 years old this year. The swagger of rock springs from the work of queer Black women like her and Sister Rosetta Tharpe www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...
‘The biggest, baddest, saltiest chick you would ever see’: why no one sang the blues like Big Mama Thornton
Gay, fearless and utterly unique, Thornton had a hit with Hound Dog before Elvis – but was then fleeced and forgotten. One hundred years after her birth, a new documentary sets the record straight
theguardian.com
Just received this utterly abhorrent ad from KY-6 write-in "independent" candidate Robert Quigley, via spam text.
2 small briskets in the cabinet since early this morning. One for a late dinner and one to make a batch of chili this week.
For #CountryRockSunday, a corrective to her dull new record; her finest moment: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QKx...
The Difficult Kind
YouTube video by Sheryl Crow - Topic
youtube.com
omg The Chicks just brought out James Talarico on stage 👀
finally watched this clip and we need to figure out what is wrong with white men. why would you challenge serena williams to a tennis match
Abdul El-Sayed@abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 2d agoThis is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his.
G. DeLisle, ... Around (****): An unusual request, really, from an artist who is forever mining the genre's past for inspiration and, in doing so, has emerged as one of the most compelling work in the greater country universe. On this set, DeLisle draws from her widest range of classic styles yet...
Country Universe@countryuniverse.net · 3d agoK. Michelle, Jesus & Whiskey (***1/2): I can barely remember my life before she started teasing a proper country album, and she's delivered at long, long last. And there is something powerful and subversive about a black woman claiming the specific brand of Music Row country that she has claimed...
K. Michelle, Jesus & Whiskey (***1/2): I can barely remember my life before she started teasing a proper country album, and she's delivered at long, long last. And there is something powerful and subversive about a black woman claiming the specific brand of Music Row country that she has claimed...
Country Universe@countryuniverse.net · 3d agoC. Smith, Peace... (***1/2): A few too many songs focus on her own fame, always a dodgy prospect even for the most gifted of singer-songwriters, but this is another testament to her exceptional singing and pop-country know-how. The Brandy Clark (!) collab pairs her w a true artistic peer, too.
C. Smith, Peace... (***1/2): A few too many songs focus on her own fame, always a dodgy prospect even for the most gifted of singer-songwriters, but this is another testament to her exceptional singing and pop-country know-how. The Brandy Clark (!) collab pairs her w a true artistic peer, too.
Country Universe@countryuniverse.net · 3d agoHillbilly Thomists, Strange Land (***): As ever, the *idea* of Hillbilly Thomists does a lot more for me than does the recorded output itself. This is another perfectly fine record for what it is, and I'm glad that it (and the band, too) exists in the world, though I doubt I'll revisit this much.
Hillbilly Thomists, Strange Land (***): As ever, the *idea* of Hillbilly Thomists does a lot more for me than does the recorded output itself. This is another perfectly fine record for what it is, and I'm glad that it (and the band, too) exists in the world, though I doubt I'll revisit this much.
Country Universe@countryuniverse.net · 3d agoALT, ... Underdog (****): I do miss the more overtly country flourishes of his earlier work, which highlighted his T. Snider alignment, but I also love how he's emerged as Americana's leading pop classicist (read: M. Sweet, S. Hoffs). His style remains as distinctive as his wry, sharp songwriting.
ALT, ... Underdog (****): I do miss the more overtly country flourishes of his earlier work, which highlighted his T. Snider alignment, but I also love how he's emerged as Americana's leading pop classicist (read: M. Sweet, S. Hoffs). His style remains as distinctive as his wry, sharp songwriting.
Country Universe@countryuniverse.net · 6d agoR. Downing, Landfill Poetry (****): Perfectly titled set on which a solo Deslonde embraces his role as the country genre's premier Trash Panda, making real art out of the detritus he finds in this exact moment of cultural rot. A couple of heavy-handed lines aside, this is such a precise 2026 vibe.
THIS RIGHT HERE. 👇👇👇
Queen Esther@queenesther.bsky.social · 3d agoIf you're a voting member of the Recording Academy, please consider my latest Alt-Americana album Blackbirding for a Grammy nomination. You can listen to it here -- ffm.to/blackbirding For the back story and song details, here's The Listener's Guide. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
When Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens begins playing “Old Corn Liquor,” a traditional Black American folk tune, acclaimed Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man recognizes similarities to Chinese pentatonic music and spontaneously joins in. The joy on their faces says it all.
Recently, I enjoyed this video of a professor, comparing the socio political context of hillbilly music and drill music. If you wanna know what passes for a good time over here.
R. Downing, Landfill Poetry (****): Perfectly titled set on which a solo Deslonde embraces his role as the country genre's premier Trash Panda, making real art out of the detritus he finds in this exact moment of cultural rot. A couple of heavy-handed lines aside, this is such a precise 2026 vibe.
Country Universe@countryuniverse.net · 6d agoTigirlily Gold, ... & Midwestern (***1/2): They sing well and know their way around a hook, and their writing showcases a distinct POV and that it's possible to take pride in your country origin story without being an ass about it. As ever, they'd elevate radio w their wit and lutefisk references.
Tigirlily Gold, ... & Midwestern (***1/2): They sing well and know their way around a hook, and their writing showcases a distinct POV and that it's possible to take pride in your country origin story without being an ass about it. As ever, they'd elevate radio w their wit and lutefisk references.
Country Universe@countryuniverse.net · last wk.S. Crow, Pick You Up (**1/2): ... That's it? She's been coasting for quite a while, but this scant set, billed as a full album and not an EP, trades her usual wit and firepower for the most greige production and banal lyricism of modern Americana. Which, yes, includes the dreadful J. Welles collab.
Finished watching East Of Eden, which peters out quite a bit as it goes along, but a tip of the hat to the extraordinary Hoon Lee, who breaks Mike Faist's heretofore unbeaten streak of being the best part of whatever he's in. Lee, Faist, Pugh (and Plimpton!) all deserve the praise they've earned.
iris dement + adrienne lenker. iris dement has one of the world's great voices www.instagram.com/reel/DeSGPsi...
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As I've said more than once, Kacey's *my* country Entertainer Of The Year.
Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · last wk.😐😐😐😐
I did not watch Shane Gillis on SNL. I figured he would be an idiot. He was. Dan Levy had the perfect response, and it is all you need to know: "Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them wh*res. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. There's a difference...
So Danny Trejo was manipulated and tricked into being in Ben Shapiro's newest film. Holy shit.
🎃HALLOWEEN SURPRISE🎃 I spoke with Heather Langenkamp, Katherine Isabelle, Alyssa Sutherland, John Kassir, Mick Garris, and Jenna Davis (voice of M3GAN) about working on LVCRFT’s new album! Plus, here’s the premiere of a music video starring Jasmin Savoy Brown! www.billboard.com/music/music-...
LVCRFT’s Halloween Album Boasts an All-Star Guest List of Horror Movie Icons. Here’s How It Happened
LVCRFT taps horror movie icons for 'Skeleton Sam's Deadtime Stories' album.
billboard.com
As seen in Billboard: this year's Nonesuch GRAMMY Awards submissions For Your Consideration.
Truly one of the all-time great performances, and I will never tire of hearing Ellen Greene talk about her creative process: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwJ0...
Little Shop of Horrors' Ellen Greene Reacts to Rick Moranis' Acting Return | SYFY
YouTube video by SYFY
youtube.com
