Free Republic

Country music has been having an identity crisis since it crawled out of the cradle. Call it diffuse or call it elastic, but it has always run on two tracks: one was rough and one was slick, one rooted in tradition, the other more modern. Think about that serendipitous August in 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee, when, two days apart, both Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family auditioned for the Victor Talking Machine Company (which would ultimately become RCA Records). Ralph Peer, the record company’s producer and talent scout, immediately signed both acts. That was a big week for country...

Classic 80s jam! RIP Eddie Money.

WWE is hiring for several new positions including junior and senior level writers, which you can see details for in the listings below. – Writer **THE WWE CREATIVE TEAM IS CURRENTLY STAFFING JUNIOR TO SENIOR LEVEL WRITING POSITIONS** WWE develops and produces the longest running weekly episodic television show in history. With 52 weeks of original programming combining action, adventure, comedy, horror, drama and reality, the creative team’s goal is to provide compelling stories portrayed by the world’s most charismatic, diverse, larger-than-life characters on or off television. Develop clearly defined yet emotionally complex characters for a diverse group of WWE...

September 14th will mark the 205th anniversary of the writing of America’s National Anthem. It is observed as "Star Spangled Banner Day.” This episode shines the spotlight—and perhaps some of the rocket’s red glare—on the Star Spangled Banner, to highlight just how extraordinary this anthem is in both history and substance. The show features an interview with Marc Ferris, author of the book "Star Spangled Banner: The Unlikely Story of America's National Anthem.” And it suggests that the Banner is a small but not insignificant part of the way God blessed America.

The Quapaw Nation’s Downstream Development Authority is keeping good on their promise to ramp up hiring for the Indian tribe’s trucking stop annex in Pine Bluff, launching efforts during and after the Labor Day weekend to fill “hard to fill” casino positions from a steady pool of applicants. In Little Rock, the Downstream management and human resources officials are working with private and government workforce groups to hire workers for the Saracen Casino Q-Store, which will be located at the Pine Bluff trucking stop on land purchased by the Quapaw Nation business entity. One of those groups, the nonprofit Arkansas...

World class pianist came to tune the piano at Hudson Manor this morning and played "Sweet Georgia Brown" when he finished. Imagine if he had warmed up a little first. Oh, did I mention he is blind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5xGR7tmcmo  

While presenting their new film, "The Burnt Orange Heresy," at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, Mick Jagger and Donald Sutherland spoke extensively about their dislike for President Donald Trump. The Rolling Stones frontman, 76, blasted Trump for "tearing apart" America and not working hard enough to combat climate change. "The U.S. should be the world leader in environmental control but now it has decided to go the other way," he said, per THR. Jagger went on to slam Trump for dropping out of the Paris Agreement. “We are in a very difficult situation at the moment, especially in the...

Who's the best action hero of all time, in your humble opinion?

Pop Muzik

So the population of Greenland is just slightly north of just 56,000 people. That's not a lot of people at all, especially considering the size of that massive island which is actually the 12th largest country in the world in terms of area - which is 836,000 square miles. Now that's more than 15 square miles per inhabitant. So pretty much every resident of Greenland could own a Manhattan size chunk of land. If they wanted to. For much of it is ice and nothing really grows there. For comparison, if each American citizen was to get an equal size...

A song truly ahead of its time. Made in 1983, but had a 90s feel to it.

Because in a world of storm, we all need a little Emmylou Harris

Hello FReepers. Looking for recommendations on software or web app that transcribes from an audio file (MP3, WAV, etc.) and converts to text. All the ones that I'm finding convert from microphone only. Thanks in advance for your help!

Of the rock festivals of the sixties, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was by far the most famous. Held on a 600-acre dairy farm near Bethel, N.Y. on August 15–17, 1969, the festival is the iconic representation of the drug-addled culture and sexual revolution that upended American life. This August marks the fiftieth anniversary of the era-defining event. Some have called for celebrating with another concert. The occasion is hardly a cause for celebration—so many of the cultural changes after Woodstock had catastrophic consequences. Most do not know that the concert was a disaster—even from an organizational point of...

As many of you already know, CNN’s Chris Cuomo erupted at a man who apparently called him “Fredo,” in a video that went viral Monday night. The encounter between Cuomo and the man happened at a Shelter Island bar on Sunday. “Punk-ass bitches from the right call me Fredo,” Cuomo told the man. “My name is Chris Cuomo. I’m an anchor on CNN. Fredo is from The Godfather. They use it as an Italian aspersion. Any of you Italian?” he continued. “It’s an insult to your f****** people. It’s like the N-word for us.” They went back and forth, and...

"Watch me in 2020." Seven years since U.S. authorities shut down the file-sharing platform, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is hoping to use a database of former users' emails to influence the 2020 presidential election. In a series of tweets this morning (Aug. 12), Dotcom suggested that he plans to encourage former users of the long-defunct site to oppose the presidential ambitions of former U.S. vice president Joe Biden, whom Dotcom has long blamed for instigating the site's downfall. "Still waiting to get access to your Megaupload files? I will email 30 million former US Megaupload users a video link in...

Try it. I find it VERRRRRY relaxing to listen to Max Steiner movie theme music.

Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee posted a lengthy political rant on Tuesday, and he appeared to say ‘McPence’ is in the closet, though it may have been just part of his insult. Tommy Lee revealed an awful paycheck from Motley Crue’s ‘The Dirt’ yesterday. “You Trumpsters better pray that liberals never gain control of the WH [White House] again because we are going to pay you back so f**king hard for all of this shit. Planned Parenthoods on every damn corner. We’re going to re-paint Air Force One, pussy hat pink and fly it over your beloved Bible Belt six...

The music festival at Woodstock 50 years ago was a big deal. There had never been anything quite like it in America before — not in terms of size or caliber of performers (though Monterrey Pop might not have been too far behind in terms of the latter). But with the 50th anniversary approaching, it was inevitable that precincts of the mainstream media would make Woodstock out to be more than what it was. The heady combination of nostalgia and leftism would see to that. That combination outdid itself in a PBS program called “Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a...

Mariah Carey met one of her political heroes this weekend. The Grammy winner, 49, joined Hillary and Bill Clinton at Barbra Streisand‘s concert Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. “An honor to meet President Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton! Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for our country,” Carey said in a tweet Monday, accompanying the post with a pair of selfies posing with each of the politicians. She shared the same photos on Instagram.