Month: April 2021

Tracy Lawrence has announced a livestream show to take place on April 27, in celebration of his 30th anniversary in the music business. He also released “You Only Get One,” the newest track off his forthcoming album, Volume 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell.

Clint Black announced on Friday that he'll host and co-produce Talking in Circles, a new Circle Network TV series featuring conversations with a variety of musical artists. The show premieres May 22 at 10 p.m. ET.

Five decades after he would've graduated, Ricky Skaggs revealed that he has finally received his high school diploma. Instead of graduating, the country and bluegrass star opted to take a job touring with Ralph Stanley. However, he announced this week that his alma mater, Kentucky's Lawrence County High School, awarded him an honorary diploma in 2020.

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Newcomer Lathan Warlick got his first taste of fame on TikTok, but now he’s finding camaraderie with some of country’s biggest stars on his My Way collaborations EP.

Dustin Lynch, Lauren Alaina, Matt Stell and Russell Dickerson are just a few of the performers to feature on the eight-song collection, which is due out later in the month. RaeLynn and High Valley also duet with Lathan on his project.

Of course, the EP is named for the singer’s collab with Florida Georgia Line‘s Tyler Hubbard, whose duet, “My Way,” came out last month.

Tyler also serves as executive producer on the EP, which will be a fusion of all the diverse styles that influence Lathan as an artist.

“Merging hip-hop, country and gospel all on one project is definitely something given from The Most High,” he notes. “Time to give the world something different since I get to have it My Way.”

My Way will arrive on April 23, but you can pre-order and pre-save it now.

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Because they’re silver and concave, the plaques that Spotify gives to artists for racking up one billion streams of one of their tracks have inspired some musicians to turn them into dinner plates.  Now Maren Morris is jumping on that bandwagon.

On her socials, Maren wrote, “Said I’d do it,” alongside a black-and-white video of herself cooking mac ‘n cheese, dumping it on her plaque, and eating it while wearing a fancy dress.

“thanks for a billion streams on The Middle, y'all,” she wrote, referring to her Grammy-nominated smash hit with Zedd and Grey. “And thank you @spotify for the multi-purpose plaque.”

“The Middle,” released in 2018, was a top-five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammys in 2019.

In 2018, Taylor Swift invited Maren to join her onstage to perform “The Middle” during the Arlington, TX stop of her Reputation Stadium Tour.  Maren can currently be heard singing on the song “You All Over Me” on Taylor’s newly released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) album project.

said I'd do it. ????

thanks for a billion streams on The Middle, y'all. and thank you @Spotify for the multi-purpose plaque. ?? pic.twitter.com/8fuH6IHZPc

– MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) April 9, 2021

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Taylor Swift's re-recorded Fearless album arrived on Friday, and with it came six “From the Vault” songs that nearly made the original track list. One of those, “That's When,” got an extra twist this time around, when Taylor tapped country superstar Keith Urban to be her duet partner.

The song delivers classic country storytelling, re-tooled with a pop sensibility. Keith and Taylor play opposite sides of a tumultuous relationship and breakup, but each ultimately admits they're hoping for reconciliation.

It's not the first time the two stars have teamed up. Not only was a young Taylor the opening act for Keith's tour in 2009, but they later both contributed vocals to Tim McGraw's hit 2013 single, “Highway Don't Care.”

Elsewhere on her “From the Vault” collection, Taylor found another country collaborator in Maren Morris, who provides backing vocals on “You All Over Me.”

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For the second year running, Luke Combs is joining forces with the Academy of Country Music and Ford's Proud to Honor program in support of Guitars 4 Vets. The non-profit organization helps military veterans process PTSD and other mental health struggles through the power of music.

Luke will appear in a special tribute to the program, ahead of his performance at the ACM Awards show itself. The tribute features a number of last year's veteran participants, including Damon Williams, who lends his original song, “It's Alright,” to the tribute.

Additionally, Ford recently donated $500,000 to Guitars 4 Vets chapters around the country, helping the organization expand its nationwide mission of serving veterans through free guitar instruction, acoustic instruments and more.

Before last year's ACMs, in September of 2020, Luke partnered with Ford to donate $25,000 worth of custom guitars to veterans battling PTSD and other injuries related to their service.

It'll be a busy night for Luke, who's nominated for multiple trophies at the 2021 ACMS, including Entertainer of the Year.

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