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If Yellowstone was a country song, Kevin Costner’s exit would be the bitter, twangy melody of a broken relationship. There’s a famous lyric from the song Take This Job and Shove It by Johnny Paycheck that rings true here: “I ain’t workin’ here no more.” Sure, the song’s about a disgruntled employee, but it’s fitting for Costner. Doesn’t it?

The actor, who breathed life into John Dutton, the grizzled patriarch of the Dutton clan, was done—walking away from a show that had made him a legacy figure once again. The fallout? Well, it seems like Taylor Sheridan took a bit of a personal swing, delivering an on-screen death for John Dutton that felt almost like a payback rather than a narrative choice.

Kevin Costner as John Dutton in Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount

Sheridan, for all his talent in creating gripping stories, seems to have...

Some of country music’s most exciting new voices took to the stage at the famous Nashville Palace honky-tonk for a celebration of Wanted! The Outlaws, the first country music album to ever go Platinum. Presented by Tennessee’s own George Dickel Whisky, the rocking evening paid tribute not only to the history-making 1976 record and other Outlaw Country classics, but also celebrated the 10th anniversary of Rolling Stone Country.

Rolling Stone publisher and EVP Brian Szejka and RSC Senior Editor Joseph Hudak welcomed the crowd with Dickel in hand, toasting...

Tom Waits is set to reunite with Iggy Pop next month when they co-host a two-hour special on BBC Radio 6 Music.

Airing on Sunday, December 3rd, the show will see the two musicians trading personal anecdotes and playing some of their favorite tracks to each other.

A press release teased some of those stories, including the time when Waits hitched a ride to Los Angeles with songwriter eden ahbez, who composed Nat King Cole’s 1948 hit “Nature Boy.”

Meanwhile, Iggy Pop will recall how he once stumbled across Captain Beefheart eating breakfast in LA, but was “wise enough not to disturb him.”

Some of the songs that will be played during the special include Alex Chiltern’s “Bangkok,” Pauline Oliveros’ “Bye Bye Butterfly,” Frank Ocean’s “Moon River,” and Johnny Paycheck’s “Colorado Kool-Aid,” along with the first spoken word song that Waits heard on the radio and a...

Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features guitarist Jim Weider.

According to conventional rock wisdom, the Band ended on Thanksgiving 1976 with The Last Waltz, the most famous farewell concert in music history.

Growing up in the 80s it was a special time for kids who loved cars. Series like Magnum Pi, Knight Rider, and The A-Team all had an iconic vehicle that was a centerpiece of the series and epitomized the spirit of the show. But perhaps none was as iconic and memorable as the car at the heart of this episode, The General Lee.

The orange painted muscle car was the chariot of Bo and Luke, the two modern day Robin Hoods Aka The Duke Boys. In this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten we’re going climb through the window and get behind the wheel of The General as we revisit The Dukes of Hazzard.

The late 70s and early 80s were a massive time in the land of country music. It had become part of the main stream in a major way thanks to films like Urban Cowboy and outlaw musicians like Willie Nelson,...

Charley Crockett continues his hyper-prolific output with another new album set for spring 2022. Marking his third full-length in a little more than a year, Lil’ G.L. Presents: Jukebox Charley will be released April 22 and includes a new cover of Jerry Reed’s “I Feel for You” that’s out now.

Crockett’s fourth installment in his Lil’ G.L. covers series, Jukebox Charley will take the Texas singer-songwriter to some less explored corners of the classic country songbook. Among them are songs written by Tom T. Hall (“Lonely in Person,...

Jesse Dayton spent Halloween onstage at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, playing Elvis Presley songs behind Glenn Danzig. It’s the kind of oddball convergence of personalities and styles that could only find its way to Dayton, an outspoken Texas singer, songwriter, and guitarist who has collaborated with everyone from Misfits Glenn to “Rhinestone Cowboy” Glen.

“Glenn’s an old-school rock star. He bought everyone in the crowd a Voodoo Doughnut with an upside-down pentagram on it — something Glen Campbell would never,” Dayton says.

In his debut memoir Beaumonster — a play on his native Beaumont,...

Johnny Paycheck would have turned 83 this past Monday. In 1977, he scored three consecutive Top 10 country songs, including his biggest hit, the No. 1 “Take This Job and Shove It.” But while Paycheck, who died at age 64 in 2003, is synonymous with the song about sticking it to — and flipping off — The Man, it was actually written by David Allan Coe. Coe cut his version for his 1978 Family Album and performed it frequently in his shows, including on the latter-day concert document Biketoberfest ’01: Live From the Iron Horse Saloon.

Recorded live in 2001 in Daytona Beach,...

Back in October, Lana Del Rey joined Nikki Lane onstage in Austin to perform the song “Breaking Up Slowly.” On Friday, the studio version of their collaboration arrived with the release of Del Rey’s new album Chemtrails Over the Country Club.

Written by Del Rey and Lane, it’s a devastating country-tinged ballad about a relationship that disintegrates at a glacial pace — it was also inspired by the romance between George Jones and Tammy Wynette. “I don’t wanna live with a life of regret/I don’t wanna...

Willie Nelson has now been releasing music for over seven decades, since the 1950s. Yet his enthusiasm for finding great songs remains unmatched: See “The First Rose of Spring,” the title track of his new album, written by Nashville pros Randy Houser, Allen Shamblin and Mark Beeson, a perfectly-crafted love song with a tragic ending; it’s the kind of track made for Nelson to deliver, and he plays a gorgeous, melody-shaking solo on his ragged guitar Trigger. After writing many of the songs on 2018’s Last Man Standing and 2019’s Ride Me Back Home,...

Willie Nelson celebrates Mother’s Day with “I’m the Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised,” a fiery new single from his upcoming album First Rose of Spring, out July 3rd.

Nelson dropped the track accompanied by a lyric video, with lush flowers blooming alongside each rollicking line: “I can tell my mama’s short on loving me/I guess that’s why she let me go so far,” he sings. “Mama tried to stop me short of stealing/I guess that’s why I had to steal that car.

Drummer Biff Adam, who was an integral member of Merle Haggard’s legendary backing band for four decades, and also served as the singer’s publicist and bus driver for several years, died Saturday, March 7th, after battling congestive heart failure. Adam’s daughters, Debi Stalder and Connie Ishman, shared the news on the drummer’s Facebook page over the weekend. He was 83.

In addition to backing Haggard on his albums throughout the Seventies and beyond, Adam and his fellow Strangers recorded a string of albums under their band name,...

The 2020 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees will be announced in just a few weeks. Which two country superstars will be selected this year for an induction ceremony slated for next October? Could this finally be the year for Tanya Tucker, who just won her first ever Grammy Awards after a career beginning back in the 1970s? Or will it be a more recent artist now eligible, such as Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw or Shania Twain?

SEEBiggest Grammy Winners of All Time: See The Most Awarded Artists

The criteria is pretty simple to get in but it’s an exclusive group since only 2-3 people are inducted each year. One person will be from the Modern Era category (an artist who came to prominence at least 20 years ago). Another will be from the Veterans Era (an artist who came to prominence at least 45 years ago). A third inductee would be a non-performer,...

Swamp Dogg has been trying to make a country album for a long time. “All my life,” he says. Although the 76-year-old singer-songwriter is best known for his oddball R&B, country music has been an integral part of his musical foundation ever since he stayed up late at night as a kid growing up in Portsmouth, Virginia listening to the country radio station. Early in his career, his originals became hits for country singers like Johnny Paycheck, and he regularly recorded songs written by country-leaning singer-songwriters like Mickey Newbury and John Prine.

This second LP since George Strait’s retirement from touring — his 30th studio LP — is a trip back to when country radio didn’t suck as a rule: Eighties pop shine cut with pedal steel/fiddle poetry, Texas swing, cantina blues and achingly-crooned nostalgia that generally doesn’t feel hard sell, even when things gets treacly.

Which of course, they do. But “The Weight of the Badge” is a good-cop tribute that feels legit despite a whiff of Fox News human interest story. And “God and Country Music” is a...

Country superstar duo Brooks and Dunn will be the latest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The duo was announced on Monday morning in Nashville along with singer/songwriter Ray Stevens and producer/executive Jerry Bradley will be inducted at the 2019 ceremony in October. Watch the official video above.

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are two-time Grammy winners, sold over 30 million albums and charted 20 number one songs. Those tunes have included “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “My Maria,” “Brand New Man” and “Believe.” Stevens made his debut in 1962 and has had such hits as “Everything is Beautiful,” “Gitarzan” and “The Streak.” Bradley ran RCA Records from 1973 to 1982 and was a longtime member of the Country Music Association board. He follows both his father Owen Bradley and uncle Harold Bradley into Hall of Fame induction.

See Acm Awards host Reba McEntire was ‘disapointed’ by nominations: ‘I wanted to hear some women...

Reba McEntire will announce the 2019 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees on Monday, March 18. Which two country superstars will be selected this year for an induction ceremony slated for next October?

The criteria is pretty simple to get in but it’s an exclusive group since only 2-3 people are inducted each year. One person will be from the Modern Era category (an artist who came to prominence at least 20 years ago). Another will be from the Veterans Era (an artist who came to prominence at least 45 years ago). A third inductee would be a non-performer, songwriter or musician. The artists chosen last year were Ricky Skaggs (modern), Dottie West (veterans) and Johnny Gimble (musician).

Seeacm Awards host Reba McEntire was ‘disapointed’ by nominations: ‘I wanted to hear some women in there’ [Watch]

McEntire herself was already inducted in 2011. Other recent inductees have included Garth Brooks, Roy Clark, Charlie Daniels, Alan Jackson,...

“Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” is the latest track to be unveiled from country icon George Strait’s forthcoming album. A zesty, twang-filled song, it opens the new LP titled Honky Tonk Time Machine. It’s also a superb throwback to some of the Country Music Hall of Fame member’s most lively floor-fillers. Penned by Strait with his son Bubba Strait and longtime collaborator Dean Dillon, “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” is one of eight of the album’s 13 cuts co-written by the King of Country Music.

Debuted during...

George Strait will release his 30th studio album, titled Honky Tonk Time Machine, on March 29th. Its arrival ends an uncommonly long gap in output for the famously consistent Country Music Hall of Fame member, whose previous full-length album Cold Beer Conversation came out in 2015.

To coincide with the album announcement, Strait has released the new song “God and Country Music,” penned by Luke Laird, Barry Dean and Lori McKenna and featuring an appearance by Strait’s grandson Harvey. Describing the titular subjects as equally sacred (and reliable) concerns, Strait sings,...

On Friday night, George Strait took the stage in Las Vegas for the 19th show of his Strait to Vegas residency, but for first time in almost three decades, something was noticeably different.

“We had some tragedy that happened to us Labor Day weekend,” Strait said a few minutes into the concert. “We lost our drummer of almost 30 years, Mike Kennedy. God bless him. We didn’t know how we were going to handle this.”

Kennedy, the drummer of Strait’s Ace in the Hole backing band for nearly 30 years,...

Updated, 10:15 Am: For those who want to get funked up, Cinemax has set a November 2 premiere date for Season 2 of Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus, which will put the spotlight on the likes of James Brown and P-Funk icon George Clinton.

Previously, May 16: Cinemax is about to get funked up. The premium channel has ordered a second season of Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus, moving the genre focus from country to the likes of James Brown and P-Funk lord George Clinton.

The toon series from the man behind Beavis and Butt-head and King of the Hill chronicles the raucous exploits of legendary music artists as told by those who knew them best. It features interviews with former bandmates, friends and other erstwhile associates who share uncensored anecdotes about these artists. Animated re-enactments are woven together with live-action archival performance footage and photos.

Tony Sokol Oct 25, 2018

Mike Judge Presents: Tales From the Tour Bus season 2 trailer gets seriously funky with Rick James.

The funk is its own reward, we hear in the trailer for Mike Judge Presents: Tales From The Tour Bus season 2, which premieres on Showtime on November 2. The guy that brought us Beavis and Butt-Head is giving viewers the chance to dance their way out of their constrictions and prove we are one nation under a groove. The trailer promises the series will change genres, and offers up a little Rick James "Mary Jane" warnings to the mass transit appeal. It appears Arkansas was very serious about keeping heads straight.

After following country music’s true outlaws in its debut, Mike Judge Presents: Tales From The Tour Bus season 2 will slap on the funk. The new season will focus on funk music greats, including James Brown, George Clinton and Bootsy Collins.

Singer-songwriter Daryle Singletary, whose stone-country vocals paired with unapologetically traditional tunes earned him a string of hits in the mid-Nineties, including “I Let Her Lie” and “Too Much Fun,” died Monday morning at his home in Lebanon, Tennessee, east of Nashville. An official cause of death has yet to be determined. Singletary was 46.

Born in Cairo, Georgia, Singletary, whose father was a postmaster and mother a hairdresser, performed gospel music in his youth alongside his brother and cousins. Relocating to Nashville in 1990, Singletary played local clubs and signed a deal...

Sneak Peek footage from the animated comedy series "Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus", created by Judge ("Beavis and Butt-Head"), Richard Mullins and Dub Cornett, chronicling the tales of some of country music’s most eccentric characters, that debuted September 22, 2017, on Cinemax:

"...'Judge' narrates the series, featuring musicians including Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings, Blaze Foley and a whole lot more...

"...with live-action archival performance footage..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus"...

Network: Cinemax. Episodes: Ongoing (half-hour). Seasons: Ongoing. TV show dates: September 22, 2017 — present. Series status: Has not been cancelled. Performers include: Mike Judge (narrator); Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings, and Blaze Foley (subjects). TV show description: On the animated Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus TV show, co-creator and narrator Judge recounts the stories from illustrious country and western music artists. The series features the rowdy exploits of these stars, from the points of view of their closest companions. The show includes animated interviews with friends and associates, including former bandmates. It also features animated reenactments, photography, and archived live-action video performances.Read More…...

[Editor’s note: This article is presented in partnership with Cinemax in support of Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus, which premieres on September 22nd at 10:00 pm Et/Pt on Cinemax.]

Mike Judge is behind a new TV show this month, with Cinemax’s “Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus,” an animated eight-episode series looking into the lives and times behind some iconic country music performers.

Some of these folks are household names from Nashville to Norway, but others are lesser-known figures from the country music world. They all have distinct styles and, as “Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus” shows, they all led very different lives away from the stage.

We’ll leave the prime anecdotes and animated hijinks to the experts (the series premieres Friday, September 22 at 10pm Et/Pt on Cinemax), but in the meantime, here’s a primer on the musicians that make up the backbone of this illustrated look at country music history.

Johnny Paycheck

A rebel among rebels in the country music world, Johnny Paycheck is probably best known for his...

“You don’t like country music, do you? You think it’s corny and twangy and kind of stupid? Well, you could be right, but it’s always good to keep an open mind.”

Like most fans of country music, Mike Judge is sick of people dismissing his musical genre of choice. A New Mexico native and consistent chronicler of working class folks from small American towns, it should come as no surprise to even casual fans that the “King of the Hill” creator has a penchant for musicians like Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Lee Lewis, and George Jones; so much so, he’s created a new, unique documentary series to honor their most madcap memories.

Though it’s unlikely to win over any of the haters Judge repeatedly alludes to, his latest primetime animated venture should entertain and inform devotees on the creator or country music.

Read More:The 10 Returning Shows...

When Mike Judge began work on Tales From the Tour Bus, a new country-music docuseries for Cinemax that premieres on September 22nd, he did so with a mission. "I like converting people who don't like country into going, 'Ok, maybe this is Ok,'" he says. So the Silicon Valley, King of the Hill and Beavis and Butt-head mastermind began collecting the wildest, most hilarious stories about Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette, Jerry Lee Lewis and other hellraisers he could from their friends and family and animating them.

"We're trying to...

"There's nothing worse than a hillbilly with a hit record." Cinemax has just released a new teaser for their upcoming TV show Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus.The Silicon Valley creator narrates the animated TV show, “which recounts the raucous adventures of these musicians, as told by those who knew them best.” Episode subjects include Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings, and Blaze Foley.Read More…...

Mike Judge is ready to get animated again. The “Beavis and Butt-Head” and “King of the Hill” creator is back with “Mike Judge Presents: Tales From the Tour Bus,” which chronicles the tales of country music’s best-known practitioners. Watch the first trailer below.

Read More:‘King Of The Hill’: Fox In Talks With Mike Judge and Greg Daniels To Revive Hank Hill

Judge co-created and executive-produced the new series, which he also narrates; musicians who will be featured include Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones, and Tammy Wynette, Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings and Blaze Foley. Bandmates and friends serve as animated interviewees, their recollections interwoven with live-action archival performance footage.

Read More:‘Silicon Valley’ Review: Season 4 Draws the Line Between Crazy and Brilliant as Mike Judge Dares to Dream

Judge, who also directed the cult classics “Office Space” and the all-too-prescient “Idiocracy,” he more recently created “Silicon Valley” and,...

Mike Judge is returning to animation this fall. Today, Cinemax announced the Silicon Valley creator's new series Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus will debut in September.Judge narrates the animated TV show, "which recounts the raucous adventures of these musicians, as told by those who knew them best." Episode subjects include Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings, and Blaze Foley.Read More…...

From the Beatles to Pink Floyd to Ozzy Osbourne Johnny Paycheck and Johnny Cash, many of our greatest artists have written about cash — and paying taxes. This Tax Day, drown your sorrows with some tunes about shelling out. Willie Nelson knows the situation best — his “IRS Tapes” in 1992 went directly to paying off his massive tax bills. Also Read: Bill Maher Calls Out Religious Institutions as Tax 'Deadbeats' (Video) And we all know the line about “one for you/19 for me” from the Beatles “Tax Man,” reportedly written by George Harrison after he realized he, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr...

We can’t sign off for the long weekend without saluting the men and women who put the labor into Labor Day. There’s been no shortage of songs written about the drudgery of working 9-to-5, and below, here’s a list of the 15 finest songs (oops, that just reminded us that we didn’t include R.E.M.’s “Finest Worksong”) devoted to describing how we spend most of our lives. So clock out, grab a beer, salute your fellow worker, and enjoy. And, if it’s not too much work, add your favorite song about work in the comments. 1. “9 to 5,” Dolly Parton (1980) A deceptively upbeat melody and Parton’s sweet delivery run counter to the dark sentiment of such lyrics as “Barely getting by/It’s all takin’ and no givin’/they just use your mind/and they never give you credit.” 2. “She Works Hard For The Money,...

Justified fans have plenty of reasons to look forward to season 5 (which begins Jan. 7 at 10 p.m. Et on FX). Top on the list: Fan favorite Dewey Crowe (Damon Herriman) is back and we’ll be meeting his Florida swamp cousins — led by Darryl Crowe Jr. (Michael Rapaport), this year’s Big Bad. “It’s that sense that they’re carrion birds,” executive producer Graham Yost says. “They come in, they’re invasive, they’re hard to get rid of. We meet essentially all of them in the first episode, then they start coming up to Kentucky and settle on...

Grand Theft Auto V digital Playstation 3 pre-orders were made available for pre-load overnight throughout the UK. This has led fans to uncover mysterious info through searching of the game’s files. The most significant pieces of info to come out of this leak was the finding of information of a number of music stations and songs. The list below shows the traditional mix of Hip Hop, Rock and Country while including artists such as Snoop Dogg, Britney Spears and Muse.

Please take this information with a pinch of salt as the legitimacy of this information has yet to be clarified by Rockstar. Hopefully within the next few days more will be revealed. If true, what do you make of the soundtrack and which artists were you hoping would make an appearance?

The source of this leak came from GTAForums

An updated list can be viewed at on Reddit

West Coast...

'It's kinda got that 'working-class hero' quality,' he tells MTV News of second single from The Lady Killer.

By James Montgomery, with reporting by Steven Roberts

Cee Lo

Photo: MTV News

Three years ago, when Cee Lo started stringing together the songs that would eventually become his Lady Killer album, he had just one goal in mind.

"I sent disclaimers out [to producers]," he smiled. "I said, 'I want something that sounds like big, black James Bond.' "

Of course, James Bond would probably never cut a record like "F--- You," but the message was clear: Cee Lo was looking for something classy and brassy and even a little bit flashy. For proof, check out "Bright Lights, Bigger City," the second single from Lady Killer, because it is very much all those things ... and then some.

Then again, according to Cee himself, there's nothing particularly classy, brassy or flashy about the...

Tonight I find myself tending to agree with all sorts of Fox-y people with whom I otherwise have very little in common about National Public Radio's sudden firing of Juan Williams. I am not a dedicated Juanhead nor any friend of Bill O'Reilly, but in this instance it seems like NPR played politically correct bully at least as much as Williams played politically incorrect bully. It now sounds like Williams will profit handsomely from NPR's rush to judgment, but that doesn't make it right -- even for a PC liberal like me. Take This Job And Shove It - Johnny Paycheck High & Dry - Radiohead Fired - Ben Folds Out Of Work - Gary U.S. Bonds Radio, Radio - Elvis Costello & The Attractions On The Radio - Donna Summer Trouble - Lindsay Buckingham That's A Lie - TV on the Radio Radioactive - Kings of Leon My Big...

Straight up now: I've known and liked Paula Abdul since way back last century when she was making MTV videos with animated co-stars like Mc Skat Kat and Keanu Reeves. So let me simply say this about that lady: Paula is always interesting, and her presence as a constant if wonderfully unstable element has helped make American Idol the remarkable phenomenon that it's become. I heard the news today, oh boy. So here's my loving playlist for a woman who is very beautiful, consistently intriguing and occasionally crazy -- even if she can get a little pitchy sometimes. "Bad Day" - Daniel Powter "Take This Job And Shove It" - Johnny Paycheck "Coldhearted" - Paula Abdul "American Woman" - Guess Who "I Can't Quit You Babe" - Led Zeppelin "Get Back"- The Beatles "Out Of Work" - Gary U.S. Bonds "Good Morning Judge" - 10Cc "Fired" - Ben...

Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear are in talks to star as conjoined twins for the Farrelly brothers' Stuck on You at 20th Century Fox. Additionally, Damon has emerged as helmer John Woo's top choice to star in Paramount Pictures' futuristic tale Paycheck, which centers on as a man who has part of his memory erased and begins to find clues to his whereabouts for the past two years. Sources say the actor and director have already met about Paycheck, though no deals are yet in place on either project.