Music blogger Rob Burkhardt has been a fan of country music since he was a child, cutting his teeth on the sounds of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Reba McIntyre and George Jones. In the words of the now-legendary Barbara Mandrell song, he was "country when country wasn't cool." Nowadays, Rob is both intrigued and excited about the mainstream crossover appeal of modern country, as seen in the success of artists like Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts and Lady Antebellum. Even so, Rob's personal tastes in country music remain "old school," tied to the great legends of country. When he's not blogging about country music, Rob Burkhardt holds a day job as a middle school teacher, and is an avid sports fan. He lives with his wife and two teenage girls in southern Ohio.
Posts by Rob Burkhardt: 
It wasn’t difficult to see this one coming, but it’s saddening nonetheless. After coming off the road suddenly in late 2012 (and being on indefinite hiatus since), country/folk duo The Civil Wars (née Joy Williams and John Paul White) have officially called it quits, according to an official statement released Tuesday. In tandem with the statement, the pair have released a cover of “You Are My Sunshine” as a final […]
Saturday night in Dallas, country fans witnessed the end of an era. While there is plenty to be excited about in country music these days, there are those of us who simply can’t imagine a world without George Strait on the road. And yet, it appears we’ll have to. On Saturday, King George wrapped up a 2-year farewell tour with a homecoming concert for the record books, filling the Dallas Cowboys […]
Kevin Sharp, the country artist best known for his 1996 remake of Tony Rich’s “Nobody Knows,” died Saturday in his Redding, California home. He was 43. According to a statement on the singer’s website: “We are saddened to announce the passing of Platinum Country Recording Artist Kevin Sharp on Saturday April 19, 2014 at 10:00 pm PST. . Born on December 10, 1970, Kevin took the Country Music scene by […]
Some folks might be getting tired of hearing the name Miranda Lambert at these country music awards shows, but get used to it—the girl is apparently just getting started. For an unprecedented fifth consecutive year, Lambert took home the Female Vocalist of the Year award at the 2014 Academy of Country Music Awards, held Sunday night in Las Vegas. “I cannot believe this—I really didn’t expect it,” went the obligatory […]
Despite his previous album Chief going Platinum and scoring top hits like “Springsteen” and “Drink In My Hand,” it seems as though Eric Church has continued to skirt the edges of country superstardom, fighting to be seen past the huge shadows cast by Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton and Florida Georgia Line. With his new release The Outsiders, however, Church is prepared to blast right through those shadows to carve out […]
Fresh on the heels of last week’s Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music (ACM) has unveiled its list of nominees for the upcoming 2014 ACM Awards on April 6—and Tim McGraw and Miranda Lambert are leading the pack. The two country artists snagged seven nominations each, although McGraw is absent from some of the top nods. Lambert is up for Female Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the […]
Let’s start here: forget what you thought you knew about the female half of Sugarland. In her solo debut, That Girl, Jennifer Nettles takes a complete left turn, ventures off the beaten path into introspective territory, and shows us a whole other dimension to her powerful voice. In other words, this isn’t Sugarland 2.0. This is Jennifer Nettles, an artist who can’t be defined by the band she happens to […]
In preparation for the upcoming 2014 Academy of Country Music Awards on April 6, the ACM announced yesterday that once again they will leave the New Artist of the Year category up to the fans, to be decided through two rounds of voting. For the sixth year running, fans will be permitted to vote among eight semi-finalists to select three nominees for New Artist of the Year. The three finalists […]
2013 was a great year for country music, particularly when it comes to mainstream success. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert continued their unofficial reign as country’s king-and-queen, picking up many of the year’s top awards, Luke Bryan continued to weaken female knees and energize partygoers, and newcomer duo Florida Georgia Line skyrocketed to the top with their crossover hit “Cruise.” That said, when you see my picks for the top […]
After a premature report of his death that swept the media on Sunday, country legend Ray Price passed away on Monday from pancreatic cancer, according to family spokesman Bill Mack. Price was 87. Today, Ray Price is simply remembered by many as an old-school country star, but in his time, he was a groundbreaker who reshaped country music and was instrumental in launching the careers of other country legends. Early […]
Sunday afternoon, news raced through media outlets and the Internet that country music legend Ray Price had passed away at age 87. The problem was, it wasn’t true. Shortly after the reports, new information began to surface that the “Crazy Arms” singer, who is suffering from pancreatic cancer, was “fading” as of yesterday, but that news of his death had been premature—prompting many major media outlets to publish corrections and […]
Every year about this time, I start to feel a little bombarded with country music awards shows. (We just had the CMA Awards, didn’t we?) But the American Country Awards bills itself as “the show for the next generation of country music fans,” and that definitely serves a purpose in this genre by giving fans a chance to vote directly for their favorites online. Tuesday night, as Trace Adkins and […]
The third time was apparently the charm for Jake Owen and his rock-tinged style of country. After two modest releases, 2011’s Barefoot Blue Jean Night struck a chord (pun intended) with country fans, scoring Owen his first number-one hit and his first Platinum-selling single, and putting him in position to take things all the way to top. But that also puts a huge amount of expectation on the next album: […]
Last spring during The Voice Season 4, teenage country singer Danielle Bradbery became an instant American sweetheart, captivating the public as much by her strong, silky voice as by her backstory. We simply couldn’t believe a voice that good was coming from someone completely untrained and inexperienced (the blind auditions were her first public performance). We didn’t know stories of discovery existed like this anymore. It was almost never a […]
Three members of Willie Nelson’s touring band were injured and subsequently hospitalized when their tour bus crashed into a bridge pillar in east Texas early Saturday morning, prompting the artist to postpone several tour dates. According to reports, the crash occurred along Interstate-30 outside Sulphur Springs at around 3:30 a.m. in cold, rainy conditions. None of the bandmates’ injuries were life threatening, and all are expected to recover. Nelson himself […]