Roots, Toots n' Hoots Blog

When people ask, "How did you get into country music?" I tell them my version of the truth. "I grew up in eastern Long Island (NY)." Now, for the uninitiated, that used to be farm country. So, of course, it'd be natural for a farm kind of boy to love country, right? Isn't it obvious?

Yeah, right.

I think of my love of country music as an interest that got out of control. It started for me in the late 1980's with folks like Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith and mushroomed from there to learning about artists from the past to the up-and-coming. Eventually, that led to learning about bluegrass and later Americana/rootsy music.

With "free time" on my hand as a reporter at the Salem, Massschusetts Evening News, in 1993, I started Country Standard Time magazine, which was distributed in record stores and live music clubs throughout the U.S. We're now only on the web covering everything from major label to true independent artists. My posts will cover the facets of what countrystandardtime.com is about, which means all kinds of country, bluegrass and roots/Americana music.

Feel free to email me directly with your thoughts at countrystandardtime@gmail.com. Thanks a lot for reading.

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Best of 2020: Guyton, Isbell lead the way

Jeffrey Remz  |  February 8, 2021

To say that 2020 was a crazy year is an understatement affecting us in our personal, professional and cultural lives as well. Yes, lots of music was released, albeit some of it delayed for many months due to COVID, but unfortunately the concert business died in March. A few artists stood out this past year. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd last May in Minneapolis, a few songs from ...

ACM Awards 2020: the blow by blow

Jeffrey Remz  |  November 11, 2020

8 p.m. - The ACM Awards get underway in Nashville with Dierks Bentley tributing Charlie Daniels, who passed away earlier this year, "Long Haired Country Boy." Well, a snippet thereof. Brothers Osborne gets bluesy with Daniels' "Trudy" with Bentley helping out on backing vocals. And then Ashley McBryde offers "Texas" with scorching guitar from John Osborne.  ...

A very rocky road to the CMAs

Jeffrey Remz  |  November 11, 2020

The CMA Awards has had a rocky road to say the least this year, and it is continuing until the end – that's even before the show starts. And some of it is the association's own doing. COVID set the stage for a different kind of show. There was nothing that the CMAs could do about that, of course. And the move to a small venue in Nashville made sense given that's where most ...

The ACMs 2020: blow by blow

Jeffrey Remz  |  September 16, 2020

8 p.m. - The 55th Academy of Country Music Awards gets underway. Luke Bryan gets it started telling us that "rain is a good thing," followed by Eric Church with "Drink In My Hand." Soon we have Luke Combs strumming away from The Bluebird Cafe on "When It Rains Ir Pours" and Thomas Rhett from the The Ryman and Carrie Underwood ("Before He Cheats") all ...

Juneteenth and country music

Jeffrey Remz  |  June 19, 2020

Today is Juneteenth, an annual holiday marking the end of slavery in the U.S. On June 19, 1865, enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, were told they were free. Somehow the slave owners neglected to tell the slaves that they were free some two months after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va. Although celebrated by African-Americans since the late 19th century, this year ...