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Country Daypop

Darius Rucker announces intimate theater tour for 2022

Darius Rucker has announced a special tour next year that will visit theaters in 12 cities across the U.S. The tour is set to kick off on February 17th in Philadelphia, Pa. at The Met and will be wrapping up on April 1st in New Orleans, La. at the Saenger Theatre. Caylee Hammack will join Rucker on the road as his special guest.  Tickets go on sale on December 17.

Rucker said about the tour: “It’s been a dream of mine for a while to bring our show to these beautiful theaters. Some of my favorite venue memories over the years are at places like the Apollo in New York or the Royal Albert Hall in London, as it’s just a different experience when you’re that close. With Hootie, we went straight from playing dive bars to arenas, so there are still a lot of theatres I’ve never had the opportunity to play. I’ll just say that this tour will have a lot of firsts, even for me.”

He had this to say about the song, “One of the most common questions I got asked last year was if I had picked up a new hobby during quarantine. I always answered that I was trying to learn piano, and someone asked if I was any good yet. J.T. Harding heard my response in that interview – ‘I can’t play piano like Ray Charles’ – and knew we had to write a song around that line.”

Editorial credit: Sterling Munksgard / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Deluxe version of Adele’s album ’30’ to feature a duet with Chris Stapleton

The tracklist for the deluxe version of pop star Adele’s next album ’30’ has been revealed, and it features a collaboration with country superstar Chris Stapleton.

The duet will be a new version of Adele’s current single, “Easy on Me.” She recently shared the solo version of that song as a first taste of the collection, which comes out — in both its basic and deluxe editions — on Nov. 19. The version of “Easy on Me” that includes Stapleton’s vocals is on the deluxe version of 30, which expands the track list from 12 to 15 songs and will be available exclusively at Target.

Adele has been a fan of Stapleton’s for years, performing “If It Hadn’t Been for Love,” a song that Stapleton co-wrote and performed during his days as a bandmate in bluegrass outfit the SteelDrivers. “If It Hadn’t Been for Love” was a staple of Adele’s live set in her early days, and she even included it as a bonus track on the U.K. limited edition of her second album, 21.

Adele Reveals New Chris Stapleton Duet

Editorial credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

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Pop Daypop

Charli XCX shares new single “New Shapes” and sets release date for album “Crash”

Charli XCX revealed that her fifth studio album, Crash, is set to arrive March 18. Charli XCX also released the  song “New Shapes” featuring Caroline Polachek and Christine and the QueensCrash is Charli XCX’s first album since How I’m Feeling Now, released in May 2020.  Crash is available for pre-order here.

In support of the forthcoming album, Charli also revealed tour dates across North America and Europe beginning next spring. Tickets go on sale Friday, November 12, and a presale begins Wednesday, November 10.

Editorial credit: Cubankite / Shutterstock.com

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Pop Daypop

Lorde shares her latest video for “Fallen Fruit”

Lorde has shared the music video for the latest single “Fallen Fruit,” off her album Solar Power.

In the video, Lorde returns to the beach we first saw music visual for “Solar Power,” only now the beach is cluttered with litter and debris. In a letter posted alongside the release, Lorde shared the source of the chaos: “Humans doing as they do, getting greedy, treating the land with disrespect and stripping it of its beauty.”In her letter, she asks: “There’ll always be another pristine place to start again, right?”

Lorde also announced that the deluxe edition of Solar Power featuring the bonus tracks “Hold No Grudge” and “Helen of Troy” will arrive on streaming services on Friday.

Check out the video for “Fallen Fruit” – here.

Editorial credit: Christian Bertrand / Shutterstock.com

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Go Country 105

Elvie Shane strikes RIAA Gold with his chart-topping breakout debut, “My Boy”

The accolades are continuing to pour in for Elvie Shane's number-one debut, “My Boy“: The song just clinched RIAA Gold certification, racking up more than 500,000 units of consumption since its release.

“Music isn't just the noise we make,” Elvie says, reflecting on the milestone. “It is the people that consume it. This song isn't just a song. It is a chapter out of my personal journey. A sincerest Thank You' to my listeners for giving my story a GOLD record.”

A searing, bluesy ode to the singer's relationship with his stepson, “My Boy” shot up the charts earlier this year after going viral on social media. Last week, Elvie followed it up with his major label debut, Backslider, an album full of songs that round out his musical story.

It's been a big year for the singer in personal news, too. This summer, he and his wife Mandi welcomed their first biological child together, a daughter named Zaelyn.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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Go Country 105

Gabby Barrett's tour outfits include a tip of the hat — or glove, rather — to Michael Jackson

Gabby Barrett might be a country superstar, but she’s been influenced by musical legends from all kinds of genres — including late pop artist Michael Jackson. Now, Gabby finds ways to tribute the “Billy Jean” star with her own performances, including her stage outfits.

In fact, Jackson has part of the reason why she wears special gloves onstage when she performs her biggest hit, “I Hope.” Like Michael did, Gabby includes a flair for the dramatic in her music, she recounts to Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music’s Today’s Country Radio.

She initially planned to wear the gloves during a performance at the 2020 CMA Awards, and although she wound up not including them as part of her outfit, she always hoped to be able to find a chance to wear them onstage.

“I’m so specific about my colors of gold and stuff matching that the gloves did not match to the chains on [my] outfit. So I was like, ‘I can’t wear them,'” she recalls. “And so I always saved those gloves and I wanted to wear them for something, but I wanted to wear them at the CMAs as a nod to Michael Jackson. And I just love the glove, and all of that. And so I kept them and I was like, ‘We need to use them for tour.'”

Gabby will also return to the stage of the CMAs this year. She’s set to perform her hit “The Good Ones,” which is nominated for two awards at this year’s show.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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Go Country 105

Blake Shelton is finally dropping the song he wrote for his wedding to Gwen Stefani

Ever since word got out that Blake Shelton wrote a song for his wedding vows to pop superstar Gwen Stefani, fans have been hoping that the singer will officially share that track some day.

Now, it's looking like more and more of a reality: Blake announced on social media this week that the song, called “We Can Reach the Stars,” will be out on Friday at midnight.

“Gwen Stefani and I decided we were going to write our own vows for the wedding, but I decided to surprise her by writing a song instead,” he wrote on Twitter. Blake and Gwen tied the knot over the summer in an intimate ceremony at Blake's Oklahoma ranch. Since then, they've shared plenty of details from their gorgeous, family-focused special day.

Blake has long had plans to eventually release the song he wrote for Gwen. During an October appearance on Late Night with Seth Myers, he said he was “excited for people to hear it.”

Blake also planned to include the track on the deluxe version of his album, Body Language. That project will be out Dec. 3. Ahead of the release, you'll be able to listen to “We Can Reach the Stars.” The deluxe Body Language is available for pre-order, too.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Categories
Go Country 105

Carly Pearce + Ashley McBryde tell a different kind of cheating story in their new music video

Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde tell both sides of a cheating story in the music video for their duet, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” which comes off of Carly's 29:Written In Stone album.

The clip is a dramatic mini-movie that follows both Carly and Ashley as they realize their relationship isn't what they thought it was, and that they're both being lied to by a partner that they trusted. Filmed just outside Nashville, the video was directed by Alexa Campbell.

“What's interesting about the song is we could have gone to a place of blame on the others in the love triangle, but we turned it inward,” Carly reflects. “It's unique that two women who have never met are getting burned by the same man and having the exact same feelings. We intentionally kept the chorus the same to reflect that neither wanted to be in this position.”

Both women bring powerful acting chops to the table in this video, too. That comes as no surprise: Ashley has already proved that she's a talented actor in other music videos for songs of hers like “Martha Divine.”

In just days, Ashley and Carly will hit the CMA Awards stage to perform “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.” The show airs November 10 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Categories
Go Country 105

Gabby Barrett, Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett + more join the 2021 CMAs bill

On Thursday, the Country Music Association revealed the next round of performers for the 2021 CMA Awards, adding to an already dynamic lineup.

Gabby Barrett, Keith Urban and Zac Brown Band will all perform their newest singles, as will Luke Bryan, who's also the host of this year's show. Thomas Rhett will perform “Country Again,” his recent chart-topper, and Dierks Bentley will take the stage alongside duet partners Breland and Hardy for their new collaboration, “Beers on Me.”

Also, Jennifer Hudson is making her CMA Awards stage debut. The singer and actor recently starred in the Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect.

The newly-added performers join a bill that already includes Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton and many more. The 2021 CMAs will broadcast on November 10 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The ceremony airs live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Categories
News Daypop

Senate Republicans block voting rights bill once again

Senate Republicans again blocked a voting rights bill Wednesday that would strengthen the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The chamber voted 50-49 in favor of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, 10 votes shy of the 60 needed to advance the bill. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer voted against it so he’d have the option of bringing the legislation back up in the future. Republicans also blocked an earlier version of the bill — the Freedom to Vote Act — in October.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, named after the congressman and civil rights activist from Alabama, was passed by the House in August. The bill seeks to strengthen the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has been weakened by a pair of Supreme Court rulings. If signed into law the bill would restore the Justice Department’s ability to block certain jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination from altering their voting rules, after the Supreme Court in 2013 ruled the method used to implement the provision was outdated.

Editorial credit: Matthew Forero / Shutterstock.com