Blogger Rita Ballou took the Texas/Red Dirt Music Scene by storm in February 2010 with her controversial website rawhideandvelvet.com. Rita has been described as the "Perez Hilton of Texas Country music" and love her or hate her, she is always entertaining. Rita delivers a snarky, but fresh look on country music, celebrities, reality television and all things pop culture. The rawhideandvelvet website is now not only considered a guilty pleasure must-read for over 60,000 music fans a month, but one of the most respected sources for Texas/Red Dirt information in the genre. Rita is still new to radio, but her satirical essays can be found in Lone Star Music Magazine and her “Rita Rendezvous” columns are featured each month in Best in Texas Magazine. Rita’s “All the Dirt in Red Dirt” news reports can be hear on all the Townsquare Media radio stations throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Rita's popular recaps of the television shows CMT's Texas Women, Troubadour, Tx and Ray Benson's Texas Music Scene have allowed her to parlay her writing into on-camera work covering such red carpet events as the Country Music Awards and the CMA Fest in Nashville, the Music Fest in Steamboat Springs and the American Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. Rita is very active in The Boot Campaign, an organization that helps raise awareness of the challenges that the military faces when they transition home for war. Rita lives with her husband Wes and two weenie dogs Dolly Parton and Dewey Cox in her hometown of Gatesville, Texas. You can follow Rita on Twitter @rawhidevelvet and on Facebook at Facebook.com/ritaballou
Rita Ballou
Learn More About 7 Years Today – Performing Tomorrow Night At Schoepf’s Texas Music Series
Tomorrow night is the night! The Schoepf’s BBQ Texas Music Series continues with Whiskey Myers headlining the big show, but the band 7 Years Today will also be playing the Schoepf’s Backyard Stage.
Whiskey Myers Live At Schoepf’s This Thursday Night
If you are not familiar with the band Whiskey Myers, they are a music group from Tyler, Texas composed of Cody Cannon, Cody Tate, John Jeffers, Jeff Hogg and Gary Brown.
George, Blake or Kenny? Who Did It Better?
Blake Shelton's hit song "Ol' Red" came up Monday on the afternoon playlist and it immediately reminded me that Blake wasn't the only country music superstar to record this song. I remember this song specifically from the late George Jones's 1990 album, You Oughta Be Here With Me...
Wade Bowen’s Tribute To West, Texas
Waco's own Wade Bowen dedicated this performance out at the Larry Joe Taylor Festival in Stephenville this past weekend to the families and the victims of the West, Texas tragedy.
It was truly a very powerful moment with a crowd of 40,000 plus singing along...
Billy Currington Indicted For Making Terroristic Threats
The Savannah Morning News is reporting that country singer Billy Currington was indicted today by the Chatham County Grand Jury "for making terroristic threats against Charles Harvey Ferrelle on April 15."
The newspaper reports the singer was also indicted on a charge of abuse of an elder person by inflicting mental anguish upon Ferrell, who is more than 65 years old...
Chris Brown Reveals He ‘Might Want To Do A Country Album’
Uhhh....what? Can that headline be true?
It appears to be.
R&B singer Chris Brown has been busy doing interviews to promote his new record and has revealed that he hopes to expand his musical chops in the future....with a country album?
...
Roger Creager Survives a Brutal Shark Attack (VIDEO)
Schoepf's Texas Music Series artist Roger Creager was fishing offshore in 2010 and landed a 6 foot bullshark...and it almost bit his face off! It was all caught on video and thanks to the magic of You Tube, we can all relive this spine-chilling, near death experience...
A Few Things You Didn’t Know About Roger Creager
If you are a fan of the Texas Music Scene, you are most likely a fan of Roger Creager. Roger has been a staple on the music scene since the release of his first album in 1998 thanks to his energetic live show and cult following of dedicated fans, but here are a few interesting Roger tidbits that you might not be aware of:
-Roger started playing the piano when he was in second grade...
HEB To Sell Whataburger Fancy Ketchup
This breaking news story made me squeal with delight!
Whataburger ketchup will soon be available to purchase BY THE BOTTLE!
Whataburger announced today that they will now being selling their Fancy Ketchup, Spicy Ketchup and Original Mustard by the bottle...
Check Out Rita Ballou’s Texas Regional Radio Awards Red Carpet Look
Hello, my name is Rita Ballou and I am a social media-aholic.
I will admit that I have been on board with all the different types of social media ever since the very early days of Yahoo 360 and My Space. My newest obsession is VINE. If you haven't seen VINE yet, it is basically Instagram, but for videos...