Country music fans always feel a palatable tug to immerse ourselves in our music of choice as we come face to face with the new year.
We may seem jolly on the outside, but an undeniable melancholy fills many of us, especially as we remember our proud boasts to co-workers, family and friends that the new year would be our year of regular exercise, vegetable-filled meals and frugality. No wonder many of us adopt, as Hank Williams’ sang, “a tear in my beer” as the year winds down.
Speaking of Williams, he died at age 29 on Jan. 1, 1953, in the back seat of a Cadillac. Talk about a genius whose life was much too short. Plus, one can’t help wondering if Mr. Williams would even recognize the new country music, filled with drums and electric guitars, as part of the genre he pioneered.
Forget Elvis’ “Blue Christmas”; bring on the blue new year filled with celery sticks and strict financial budgets and wall-rattling guitar riffs and no pedal steel.
Yes, that seems like a downer, but take heart: You have a chance to fill your New Year’s Eve with some seasonally appropriate country music. (Sorry, you’re on your own with the health and budget pledges. Next time, think twice before you speak of such things.) Take your New Year’s Eve country with:
⦁ New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly. OK, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett are among those on the show, so it’s not completely country. But, really, it’s OK to expand your music horizons, especially when Blake Shelton will perform. Love him or hate him, Mr. Shelton is really in the holiday (musical!) spirit. He and the missus, Miranda Lambert, played an impromptu concert at a B&B in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, just before the holidays, reports radio station KXII News 12, Texoma, Oklahoma. Yes, we will remember he dissed traditional country a while back, but if Willie Nelson can forgive him, you can too. Tune in: Starting at 10 p.m. ET, Dec. 31 on NBC.
⦁ All American New Year. Mr. Shelton’s buddy Trace Adkins and country duo Big and Rich (aka Big Kenny and John Rich) will dish out plenty of traditional country and, we bet, commentary. You know Mr. Adkins is a proud Republican who played at the last National Convention. He’s also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and NRA. Now that’s traditional country proud! Big & Rich may be “Hillbilly Jedi” proud, but they are solid country crooners whose past collaborations include work with Martina McBride, Gretchen Wilson and the JaneDear Girls. (Yes, they also worked with Jon Bon Jovi, but don’t be a country snob.). Tune in: 11 p.m. ET Dec. 31 on Fox.
⦁ The Village on Sirius XM. Country icon Kathy Mattea’s recent concert at Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Vienna, Virginia, was another filled-to-capacity shindig, and the much-honored Ms. Mattea and her band gave their usual sterling performance with a set that included her classics (“Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses”) and newer songs from her latest album, “Calling Me Home.” She and her band are back, this time for a live performance from the SiriusXM studios. Tune in: 11 p.m. ET online (go to sirusxm.com/thevillage for details).
⦁ Gypsy Sallys. Nope, it’s not all virtual. The Americana group Yarn, which always has crowds at the annual FloydFest in Floyd, Virginia, jumping, shouting and singing, is headlining a D.C.-area show with a bill that includes songbird Nora Jane Struthers, who local music fans embrace for her swirl of country, folk, bluegrass and, yes, a bit of rock. Go there: $45-$60, 7 p.m. doors, 8:30 p.m. show, Dec. 31, 3401 K St., NW, Washington, 202/333-7000, www.gypsysallys.com.
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