Month: August 2021

Thomas Rhett's oldest daughter, five-year-old Willa Gray, recently tried her hand at the family business: She's written her very first song.

With help from her dad, Willa shared her song with TR's social media followers this week in a video message, shyly whispering something in his ear when he asks her what she wants to title her song. 

“You wrote it! What do you wanna call it? Willa Gray's First Song'?” Thomas continues, getting a nod in response. 

The father-daughter pair then debut the song, with vocals performed by Willa herself over an uptempo, pop-leaning track. It may be too soon in the artist's career to tell how influenced she is by her famous dad's country leanings, but she certainly borrows from the genre's tradition of writing about good times with all her rowdy friends.

The lyrics name-check her younger siblings, Lennon Love and Ada James, as well as two more friends, Luca Reed and Olivia Rose, who are the children of Florida Georgia Line singer Tyler Hubbard. 

“Your name is Willa Gray / I wanna come to play,” she sings. “With Liv and Luca / Lennon, Everleigh and Adaline / Anybody doesn't have to go home / You can spend the night with us…”

“Willa Gray's First Song” also features the joyful refrain, “You don't have to do nothing for yourself.” 

As a songwriter, Willa is following in some big footsteps. Not only is her dad a bona fide country superstar, but her grandfather is Rhett Akins, 90s hitmaker and a legendary Music City songwriter in his own right.

 

 

 

 

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Riley Green has announced that he'll extend his “The Golden Saw” video series with a second season. A new episode airs today at 4 p.m. CT. Fans can tune in via YouTube.

Grammy-nominated gospel group The Isaacs were officially invited to become members of the Grand Ole Opry this week. Ricky Skaggs surprised them with the invitation during a performance on the legendary stage. Their official induction ceremony will take place September 14. 

Country-rockers Blackberry Smoke have paused their tour after guitarist Paul Jackson tested positive for COVID-19. The band shared the news in a social media update, explaining that they will provide more information after everyone in their band and crew are tested.

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Old Dominion has admitted the tequila was flowing the day they wrote and recorded their latest hit, “I Was on a Boat That Day,” while sequestered in Asheville, North Carolina.

They’ve even copped to the fact that the title was a longtime joke they’d throw out anytime they couldn’t think of something to write. 

But what about being “drunk as a skunk eating lunch with a cross-eyed bear?” Lead singer Matthew Ramsey has a perfectly rational explanation for the most unusual lyric. 

“Sometimes when you’re writing, you know the phrasing that you want,” the accomplished songwriter says. “You know the sound that you want and the rhythm that you want. And so sometimes it just takes like throwing stuff out there, like, ‘I wish it was something like this’ or ‘I wish it had this cadence.'”

“And I remember I said, ‘I was drunk as a skunk eating lunch with a cross-eyed bear,'” he continues. “That just came out. I don’t know why. It was the rhythm that I heard.”

The odd lyric might’ve gotten replaced, but OD’s longtime co-writer/producer Shane McAnally wouldn’t let it go.

“Everybody’s like — Shane in particular, was like, ‘I know you were joking, but that is the line. No discussion. That is what we’re going with,'” Matthew remembers, as the rest of the band dissolves into laughter.

“It’s got like a Roger Miller kinda thing to it?” Trevor Rosen suggests, as his bandmates agree.

The Country Music Hall of Famer’s hits like “Chug-a-Lug,” “Do-Wacka-Do,” and “You Can’t Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd” suggest OD may not be as off in left field as it might’ve seemed.

The CMA and ACM Group of the Year has also hinted there may more similar fun on their upcoming album. 

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Luke Combs lent a hand to a fellow North Carolinian recently, purchasing an Amazon wish list full of classroom supplies for kindergarten teacher Kelly Kirk as part of the #clearthelist social media initiative.

Kelly tagged Luke in a Twitter post, sharing the link to her wish list and asking him to support a fellow graduate of Appalachian State University.

“Cleared it for ya,” Luke responded. “Good luck to your students and GO APPS!”

The wish list included supplies such as building blocks, plastic animal figures, coloring and drawing supplies and storage containers. The #clearthelist movement is a push for educators to receive financial support for the school supplies that they need to teach, but which don't fall within the school district's budget. 

Last month, Luke found another way to give back to his fan base: He paid for the funerals of three men who died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at Michigan's Faster Horses Festival. Luke was one of the festival's headliners.

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As COVID-19 cases rise across the nation and live music events begin imposing new safety protocols, Maren Morris is speaking out about her experience receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. 

“After seeing vax stories trending, I wanted to share mine as well for any of those still hesitant,” the singer wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “We all want shows to return & this can help forward that!”

She then detailed the side effects she experienced getting the Pfizer shot, explaining that the first jab left her “a little sleepy for a day,” and the second resulted in “flu-like symptoms for a day & then felt fine.”

In the comments section, many of Maren' fans shared their own experiences with the vaccine and the side effects they experienced afterwards. 

Maren's post comes on the heels of an announcement from concert giant Live Nation, who said earlier this week that they'll begin offering touring artists the option to mandate proof of vaccination or a current negative COVID-19 test for entry at their shows. Some big festivals, like Milwaukee Summerfest and Bonnaroo, have since said they'll choose to implement those rules. 

A few individual artists, like Jason Isbell, have also been vocal about their decision to only play shows where proof of vaccination or a negative test can be verified. 

In music news, Maren and her singer-songwriter husband, Ryan Hurd, are currently inside country radio's Top 20 with their duet, “Chasing After You.”

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Dolly Parton is adding “published novelist” to her long list of titles. In partnership with novelist James Patterson, she has written her first book, called Run, Rose, Run.

The title, which publisher Little, Brown and Company describes as a “thriller about a young singer/songwriter on the rise and on the run,” hits shelves on March 7, 2022. Dolly says she has also created an album of the same name, which features 12 songs inspired by the book, for simultaneous release. 

“I cannot be more excited about the release of my very first novel, Run, Rose, Run, with the great James Patterson,” Dolly tells People. “I also have a new album to go along with the book. All new songs were written based on the characters and situations in the book. I hope you enjoy the book and the songs as much as we've enjoyed putting it together!” 

The album will be released on Dolly's own Butterfly Records, in conjunction with another, yet-to-be-announced, label, according to People. 

Even with a massive catalogue of different kinds of books to his name, James says that working with Dolly was special, not only because of her legendary country status but also because of the added musical element they included in the finished product. 

“The mind-blowing thing about this project is that reading the novel is enhanced by listening to the album and vice versa,” he notes. “It's a really unique experience that I know readers (and listeners) will love.”

His collaboration with Dolly is, in fact, not James' only Music City connection. The New York native received an M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University, which is located in Nashville.

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From his chart-topping “Famous Friends” duet with Chris Young to his new collab with blackbear, “Memory,” Kane Brown has been cranking out new music in recent months.

And the singer's not done yet: This week, the singer took to social media to share more exciting news with fans. He's planning to release a new song in 10 days, and its title may be “One Mississippi.”

Kane didn't share many details, simply writing “10 days new radio single” in the caption of his post. The image shows him leaning against the hood of a classic Pontiac, with a vintage-style billboard reading “One Mississippi” in the background. 

The singer has been hinting that he's at work on a new album project. He's even shared unreleased snippets of a couple of songs — “Leave You Alone” and “I Can't Love You Anymore” — on social media. 

Meanwhile, Kane continues to be an in-demand feature on other artists' projects. Most recently, rapper Nelly revealed that he tapped the country star for a duet called “Grits & Glamour” on his upcoming Heartland project, which also features duets with Breland, Blanco Brown, Florida Georgia Line and more.

On Wednesday, Kane also scored a nomination at the 2021 MTV VMAs. He's up in the Video for Good category, which recognizes music videos with a powerful social message, thanks to his “Worldwide Beautiful.”

 

 

 

 

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