Month: October 2021

Little Big Town had a major piece of news to share on Friday: They're the opening act for The Eagles' upcoming 50th anniversary tour.

The five-stop stadium trek will take place over the month of June 2022, and will include four shows in the U.K. and one in the Netherlands. It will conclude with a set at London's 10-day music festival BST Hyde Park.

“We've been DYING to share this news,” LBT wrote on social media. “What a bucket list dream come true. We're headed to Europe, including HYDE PARK, with The Eagles!!!!”

As direct support for the legendary rockers, they won't be the only country-contingent group onstage: The Eagles' current lineup includes Vince Gill.

Tickets for the tour dates go on sale November 5.

We've been DYING to share this news. What a bucket list dream come true. We're headed to Europe, including HYDE PARK, with The Eagles!!!! Tickets on sale Friday, 11/5. pic.twitter.com/bgnKeki5kZ

– Little Big Town (@littlebigtown) October 29, 2021

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Elvie Shane's debut album, Backslider, arrives today. It contains his viral breakout hit, “My Boy.”

Mitchell Tenpenny is getting into the holiday spirit with the release of a new Christmas album, Naughty List. The 11-song collection features a mix of classics and originals, seven of which first came out on his Neon Christmas EP last year.

Morgan Evans' new EP, The Country and the Coast Side A, arrived on Friday. The singer-songwriter's superstar wife, Kelsea Ballerini, tweeted her support of the project, writing “My Aussie put out his best work yet today.”

my aussie put out his best work yet today.”the country and the coast” is out now!!! (american dream truck is my favorite.try not to cry i dare you). can't wait to watch these come to life on tour! @Morgan_Evans pic.twitter.com/RCcATM5XM4

– Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) October 29, 2021

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Are Dan + Shay planning to release holiday music this year? Some fans certainly think so, as the duo have been on social media this week dropping hints about something Christmas-y to come.

“60 days ’til Christmas. Just sayin’,” Dan + Shay wrote on their socials. While they didn’t share many more details than that, fans poured into the comments section, clamoring for Christmas music from the group, or possibly even a full holiday album.

It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility: Last year, Dan + Shay dropped a pair of original holiday tracks, “Take Me Home for Christmas” and “Christmas Isn’t Christmas.” On the heels of their success with those two songs, the pair posted an end-of-year reflection letter to fans just a couple of days after Christmas 2020, which said they were thinking about putting out more holiday music in 2021.

“It’s been really encouraging, and has inspired lots of conversations about doing more next year (if you think we should, let us know),” they wrote at the time, adding, “It’s always been a dream of ours to release Christmas music.”

In non-holiday related news, Dan + Shay are still riding the high of their latest album, Good Things. They’re also on the road for their The (Arena) Tour, which makes up some dates that were canceled amid the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and also includes brand-new stops.

 

 

 

 

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Michael Ray will debut the music video for his album title track, “Higher Education” tonight, and he's bringing a rowdy crowd of friends along to help him do it.

Lee Brice, Kid Rock, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, and Tim Montana are all featured guests on Michael's song, an anthemic tip-of-the-hat to the working-class life lessons the singer and his pals have all learned outside the classroom.

Tonight, Lee and Tim are helping Michael introduce the visual aspect of the song to fans: They'll join him for a YouTube Premium-exclusive after-party, which will take place directly after the video premieres on YouTube at 6 p.m. CT.

Michael recently got warmed up for his music video's debut with a stop on Fox and Friends, where he and Tim — who's also a songwriter on “Higher Education” — discussed the track. They also shared a performance video of the song, which was filmed at Music City venue the Nashville Palace.

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Maddie & Tae dropped their powerful new love ballad, “Madness,” this week. Harmony-laden and full of soulful R&B inflections, the song was co-written by both members of the duo, Maddie Font and Taylor Kerr, along with a handful of Nashville's best hitmaking songwriters.

Following their current single, “Woman You Got,” and other releases “Mood Ring” and “Life Ain't Fair,” “Madness” will be featured on Maddie & Tae's next studio project.

As they share their new song, the duo have exciting tour plans on the books, too. They're scheduled to headline the 2022 CMT Next Women of Country Tour, which kicks off on January 6 with a stop in Oklahoma City. The trek will continue through February, concluding with a show in Atlanta.

Before they hit the road in 2022, Maddie & Tae are still out on the road for Brett Young's The Weekends Tour. They are also featured guests on Brett's new rendition of “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”, off his new holiday duets project, Brett Young & Friends Sing the Christmas Classics.

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Jake Owen, Ronnie Dunn and Texas-based singer Jake Worthington take the wheel on “Jonesin',” the newest release off of the Hardy-curated Hixtape Vol. 2.

The track — which Florida Georgia Line band mate Brian Kelley co-wrote with Nashville hitmakers Ernest K. Smith and Corey Crowder — is a feel-good ode to a couple of the titans of the country genre.

“Well, I'm jonesin' for some Jones / I'm hankerin' for some Hank / And I'mma two-step across the dance floor / With a little lightning in my drink,” the trio sing in the chorus. “And I'm out here for a good time / Yeah, I'm trying to find some love / Gonna keep this tractor rolling / Til they kick me out the country club…”

Of course, those lyrics are clever tips of the hat to songs from the Possum himself, George Jones, with another honorable mention for another country great, Hank Williams.

“Jonesin'” is the latest release off of Hixtape Vol. 2, which drops in full this December. A collaborations project also featuring the likes of Jon Pardi, Jimmie Allen, Dierks Bentley and many more, the Hixtape is a follow-up to Hardy's 2019 duets project, Hixtape Vol 1.

Speaking of Hardy, he's got plans to make his late-night TV debut next month. He'll make a stop on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he'll perform his current single, “Give Heaven Some Hell.” That spot is set for November 8, just a few days after the 2021 CMA Awards, where Hardy's nominated for New Artist of the Year.

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Ashley McBryde and Carly Pearce have a major hit with “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” but both agree there’s one girl they definitely want to be: one who’s a member of the Opry.

As the institution marks its 5000th Saturday show this weekend, Ashley and Grammy-winning matriarch Jeannie Seely got together backstage to reminisce.

A member since 1967, the “Don’t Touch Me” hitmaker confesses she remembers her friends more than she recalls whether it was her induction or her first performance at the Ryman.

“Ernest Tubb was there, Hank Snow, and I believe Stoney Cooper actually introduced me…” Jeannie tells ABC Audio. “A sea of faces and of course, the ladies dressing room, which was a ladies bathroom, with Jean Shepherd… Lord, I miss her.”

You can re-live Ashley’s first appearance thanks to an unforgettable performance of “Girl Goin’ Nowhere.”

“We did my makeup four times,” she confesses. “I cried coming in the artist’s entrance… I cried when Kathy Mattea said hello. I cried when I went up to the circle.”

Membership recently became reality for Carly, while her duet partner waits, admitting it often crosses her mind.

“Constantly, constantly!” Ashley reveals. “I’m like ‘I wonder… who will invite me. I wonder how many Oprys I will have played, and I wonder… how much I will cry. Can I get through whatever the next thing is?'”

“[Opry membership is] awesome,” she adds. “I dream about that more than I dream about my wedding day.” 

For the record, Ashley’s nearing two dozen Opry appearances. Jeannie’s at 2600+, not including the thirty years before computers arrived when they weren’t counting. 

Never one to slow down, Jeannie just released her new single, “Not a Dry Eye in the House” featuring Willie Nelson, from her new album, An American Classic.

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