Month: July 2021

Categories
News Daypop

Indoor mask mandate to return to Disneyworld and Disneyland effective today

shutterstock_1308072844

Effective today, all guests two years and older at Disney theme parks in the U.S. will once again be required to wear face masks while indoors, a precaution against the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus. In an announcement on Disney’s website, the new policy begins Friday, July 30th at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.  It includes a requirement for masks “in Disney buses, monorail and Disney Skyliner, regardless of vaccination status. This includes upon entering and throughout all attractions,” the company says.  Face coverings in outdoor common areas remain optional.

The announcement comes shortly after a change in guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week.  The CDC called on even fully vaccinated people to wear masks indoors if they live in places with “substantial” or “high” coronavirus transmission.  Since about the start of the month, both Florida and California have seen increases in coronavirus infections

After Disney theme parks closed in March 2020, Disney World finally reopened last July with social distancing and mask requirements.  California’s Disneyland reopened on April 30 this year.

Editorial credit: VIAVAL TOURS / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Go Country 105

Nashville notes

abc-rss-feed-20210730030000

The Cadillac Three dropped their newest single, the fuzzy and fast-paced “Get After It,” along with an equally hard-rocking music video made in partnership with BMW Motorrad and Marshall Amplification. 

The new music video for Sam Williams' “10-4” arrives today. A rising singer and the grandson of Hank Williams, and the son of Hank Williams Jr., Sam will release his debut album, Glasshouse Children, on August 20. 

Ricky Skaggs has announced the addition of two new members to his Kentucky Thunder band. They are Mike Rogers on tenor vocals and rhythm guitar, and Billy Contreras on fiddle. The lineup change comes as Paul Brewster retires and Mike Barnett continues to recover from a brain aneurysm he suffered last year.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Categories
News Daypop

President Biden announces vaccination requirements for federal workers

shutterstock_1936368724

President Biden announced that every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to “attest to their vaccination status,” and will require anyone not fully vaccinated to wear a mask at work regardless of where they live, social distance and get tested once or twice a week. Employees can also face restrictions on official travel. According to a fact sheet that was released to reporters, Biden is directing the Department of Defense to look into how and when they will add COVID-19 vaccination to the list of required vaccinations for members of the military. Pfizer, Moderna and the Johnson and Johnson vaccines were granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), but the FDA is facing pressure to issue full authorization of the vaccines, which could open the door to mandates in schools, and the military.

The White House is also ramping up efforts to get more Americans vaccinated, including calling on states, territories and local governments to do more to incentivize vaccination by offering $100 to those who get vaccinated and reimbursing small- and medium-sized businesses for offering their employees paid leave to get their family members vaccinated.

However groups representing large numbers of federal workers — including law enforcement and postal workers — raised some early objections to the president’s announcement. Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said in a statement: “As an association representing those men and women charged with protecting the Constitutional rights of all Americans, including the right to privacy and choice, we are concerned by any move that would mandate the COVID-19 vaccine among federal employees.”

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_latest/~3/IgvojKgWGSY/index.html

Editorial credit: BiksuTong / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Garth Brooks’ ‘Stadium Tour’ coming to Seattle’s Lumen Field

shutterstock_435175591

Garth Brooks has added a Seattle stop on his Stadium Tour, and is set to perform at Lumen Field on Sept. 4. The Labor Day weekend concert will mark Brooks’ first date at Lumen Field, and his first time in Washington since performing three-days at the Tacoma Dome in 2017.

2021 Stadium Tour stops for Brooks include: Nashville, Tenn. (July 31); Kansas City, Mo. (Aug. 7); Lincoln, Neb. (Aug. 14); Cincinnati, Ohio (Sept. 18); Charlotte, N.C. (Sept. 25); Baltimore, Md. (Oct. 2); and Foxborough, Mass. (Oct. 9).

Tickets will go on sale for the Seattle date on Aug. 6 at 10AM PT via Ticketmaster. Tickets will cost $94.95, including all taxes and fees, with a limit of eight tickets per purchase.

Editorial credit: Sterling Munksgard / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Willie Nelson signs on for the new docuseries ‘Willie Nelson and Family’

shutterstock_438086866

Willie Nelson has signed on to participate in a new docuseries, called Willie Nelson and Family, which will focus on Nelson’s life and legacy. Nelson’s family and friends will also participate in the series.

Filmmakers Oren Moverman and Thomm Zimny are co-directing the project, and said in a statement: “Words like ‘honored,’ ‘excited’ and ‘humbled’ don’t come close to describing the way we feel about being entrusted with telling Willie’s story. And what a story it is! We are celebrating the music, the career, the long road, the family, friends and history … But more than anything, we are piecing together a narrative — one never before seen in its entirety — about an extraordinary man with a unique ability to bring people together. These days, we sure could use the healing powers of Willie Nelson.”

So far, no information has been released on how viewers will watch the docuseries. In the meantime, Nelson will be keeping busy, taking his annual Farm Aid benefit concert back to an in-person format for 2021, taking place in September. The singer’s traveling Outlaw Music Festival is also set to resume this fall, with artists including Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Yola, Gov’t Mule and Margo Price joining him on dates in late August and September.

Hold Onto Your Horses… There’s A Willie Nelson Docuseries In The Works

Editorial credit: Sterling Munksgard / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Watch Dua Lipa and the late Pop Smoke’s video for ‘Demeanor’

shutterstock_1199348614

Dua Lipa shared a snippet of her new music video for Pop Smoke’s track, ‘Demeanour’ from his posthumous album FAITH. On Instagram, Dua Lipa showed appreciation for Smoke’s family, saying: “Thank you to the team and Pop’s family for having me on this song. Thank you to my friends for making this video with me.”

In the music video, you will find Dua at a fancy dinner party takes place where guests are seen laughing and enjoying themselves. The camera then shifts and focuses on a painting of Pop Smoke hung on the wall, which eventually comes to life.

“Demeanor” is the lead single from Pop Smoke’s second posthumous album Faith, which was released on July 16, just four days before what would have been the rapper’s 22nd birthday

Watch the music video for ‘Demeanor’ here.

Editorial credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Halsey shares trailer for IMAX Experience ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’

shutterstock_1386434147

Halsey has shared a trailer for her upcoming IMAX Experience: Halsey Presents If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power will premiere in select IMAX theatres in the U.S. on Wednesday, August 25, and internationally on Thursday, August 26, for one night only.  You can check out the trailer: here.

The hour-long film experience is set to the music of Halsey’s forthcoming album of the same name, set for release on August 27 and produced by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Halsey wrote all of the songs on the album, which is available for pre-order here.

Tickets for IMAX Experience: Halsey Presents If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power will go on sale to the public on Tuesday, August 3. For further details, head here:  IMAX ticket info

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/halsey-shares-hypnotizing-trailer-upcoming-185826638.html

Editorial credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Go Country 105

Luke Bryan's boys have impeccable manners, and the singer says he's got his wife to thank

abc-rss-feed-20210729141500

This December, Luke Bryan and his wife Caroline will celebrate 15 years of marriage. It’s a feat they've accomplished by always having fun together, the star tells People in a new cover story interview.

“We just have a ball in life and have a ball with our kids,” Luke explains. 

That's no surprise to fans who follow either Luke or Caroline on Instagram. Their household is filled with pranks, from their annual holiday tradition of “Pranksmas” to their newest routine, the “Summer of the Goose.”

But despite all the goofy family fun, Luke adds that it's also important to the couple to set a positive example for the kids they're raising, including their sons –13-year-old Bo and 10-year-old Tate — and college-aged nephew, Til. 

“I can't take my children anywhere where someone does not compliment them on their manners and behavior, and that is one thousand percent her art,” Luke explains. “…She's always said, My children are gonna know how to act and be respectful.'”

Part of what makes the couple's relationship work so well is the fact that they know how best to support each other. For his wife, Luke says, that means letting her know that her hard work as a mom is noticed and appreciated.

“I try to let her know when those moments happen, because that's a big thing,” he adds.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Categories
Go Country 105

Parker McCollum has lived the stories he tells on his upcoming album, 'Gold Chain Cowboy'

abc-rss-feed-20210729130000

Parker McCollum's a happily engaged man these days, but his upcoming album, Gold Chain Cowboy, includes at least one song inspired by a more tumultuous time in his love life. 

That's “To Be Loved by You,” Parker's plaintive current single, a song that wonders why a relationship has to be so hard. Parker put out the song at the beginning of 2021, but he wrote it much earlier, during a rocky period of his relationship with his now fiancée, Hallie Ray Light.

“She did inspire the song,” Parker admits during a new interview with Apple Music’s Today's Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen. 

“Her and I were going at it at the time, and she was in Oklahoma and I was in Texas, and I would go on the road,” Parker continues. “I said out loud, What does a man have to do to be loved by you?' Out of frustration. And my buddy Lane, who I was with, was like, I think you should write that down.'”

It's an especially personal song on a track list full of personal songs. “I lived them all, for sure,” Parker notes.

Gold Chain Cowboy arrives on Friday. The 10-track collection also features Parker's first-ever number-one hit, “Pretty Heart.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Categories
Go Country 105

Garth Brooks' Kansas City show will have an on-site COVID-19 vaccination clinic

abc-rss-feed-20210729123000

If you're planning on attending Garth Brooks' Kansas City Stadium Tour show next month, you'll have the opportunity to hear live music and get your shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, all in one night. 

People reports that the concert — which will take place at Arrowhead Stadium, a venue Garth is playing for the very first time — will feature on-site COVID-19 vaccination clinic.

Mark Donovan, the president of Kansas City Chiefs, further explains that having the clinic available is part of a larger plan to maximize vaccination rates in Missouri. Per the venue's website, Arrowhead Stadium has an audience capacity of approximately 76,416. The show is sold out, with over 74,500 seats claimed, according to Garth's tour calendar. 

That means that setting up a vaccination clinic for the concert will go a long way towards the organization's goal, which “is to get as many people vaccinated as possible, on the business side as well as in the community,” Donovan says. “We're going to continue to take advantage of every opportunity we can to create vaccination opportunities.”

Garth will head to Kansas City on August 7. 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.