Month: December 2021

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Go Country 105

The Year in Country 2021: Lady A and Carly Pearce witness 'What a Song Can Do'

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In November, a stunned Carly Pearce stepped onstage at the 55th CMA Awards to accept her very first trophy as CMA Female Vocalist of the Year. 

Since she spent July through October on the What a Song Can Do Tour with her pals Lady A, the threesome had a front-row seat to watch how Carly’s career has grown in 2021.

“I mean, gosh, I’m so proud of her,” Dave Haywood tells ABC Audio. “We had so much fun with Carly, you know, Niko Moon as well, Tenille Arts.”

“I don’t know, but we’ve known Carly, and I feel like our friendship just grew and grew and grew,” he continues. “I mean, you’re sitting around having lunch every day on the road backstage. And so… I coulda toured a whole ‘nother 30 dates with them. It was so much fun.”

Carly released her 29 EP in February, followed by the full-length 29: Written in Stone in September. You can count Lady A’s Hillary Scott among the music’s biggest fans.

“To be able to say that we were touring with Carly when she released 29… this album feels different,” Hillary reflects. “It feels so special and I love all of her stuff.”

“But to be able to be a witness to her life and her career that close on tour weekend after weekend,” she continues, “hearing the crowd get louder listening to certain songs. It was a privilege to get to witness just how this music is just connecting so deeply with people.”  

Watch for Lady A’s follow-up to their hit, “Like a Lady,” coming in 2022, while Carly continues to climb the chart with Ashley McBryde and “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.”

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Categories
Country Daypop

Walker Hayes to perform on ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’

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Walker Hayes will appear on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022.” Hayes is set to perform his No. 1 hit, “Fancy Like,” and his new single, “AA,” on the show which airs live on ABC on Dec. 31st.  “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” will include celebrations in New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Puerto Rico. Seacrest will oversee the proceedings from Times Square.

Hayes is on the “LA Party” lineup, along with OneRepublic, Ciara, D-Nice, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis with Windser, AJR and Daisy The Great, Avril Lavigne and Travis Barker, Big Boi with Sleepy Brown, Maneskin, Masked Wolf, French Montana and more.

The New York festivities will include performances by LL Cool J, Journey and Karol G. Billy Porter of “Pose” fame is set to perform in New Orleans, on the Louis Armstrong riverboat as it travels along the Mississippi River. Daddy Yankee is scheduled to perform in Puerto Rico.

Hayes recently dropped two more singles, “U Gurl” and “AA.” Monument Records also announced a release date for his “Country Stuff The Album,” due out Jan. 21, and including “Fancy Like,” the two new singles and 10 other tracks.

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Miranda Lambert teams up with reality TV series ‘Queer Eye’ for new song

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Miranda Lambert revealed on Sunday (Dec. 26) that her new track, “Y’all Means All,” will debut on the Season 6 premiere episode of the hit reality TV series Queer Eye, airing Dec. 31 on Netflix.  This season of Queer Eye was filmed in Lambert’s home state of Texas, with the show’s ‘Fab 5’ heading to the streets of Austin, Texas for a new round of lifestyle and fashion makeovers.

Both Lambert and the show shared news of the song on social media. Queer Eye’s Twitter page read: “OMG. We partnered with THE country music queen,” which also added that fans can get a taste of “Y’all Means All” in the Season 6 trailer, dropping Monday, Dec. 27.  Lambert tweeted: Here’s one last surprise for y’all this year! A new song “Y’all Means All” will be out on 12/31 to celebrate the new season of @QueerEye that filmed all in Texas!

Lambert has been an ally for the LGBTQ+ community, thanks in part to help and advice from her brother, Luke Lambert, and his husband Marc. Lambert said: “Being in a family where I am surrounded by LGBTQ people, it has me learning and me figuring out how I can be a part of the change and be part of the community and still be the same person I have been as an artist for 20 years.” In the Telemitry Remix video of her “Tequila Does,” Lambert also invited Luke and Marc to co-star, along with a group of other members of the LGBTQ+ community.

You can pre-save “Y’all Means All” at the link – here.

Miranda Lambert Announces New Song, “Y’all Means All” In Collaboration With ‘Queer Eye’ Season Premiere

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Singer/actress JoJo and actor Dexter Darden announce their engagement

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Singer/actress Jojo announced her engagement to Saved by the Bell star Dexter Darden.

Jojo shared the happy news on Instagram: “Forever with YOU? Sign me UP. Celebrating Christmas a whole fiancé!!! the most thoughtful, creative, positive, handsome, strong, loving, uplifting human being asked me to marry him. so obviously I said YESSS!!! thank you for the most epic birthday surprise ever. and for flying out my mom, your mom, and both of our best friends to share in that incredible moment with us. you are one of one.”

Jojo turned 31 on Dec. 20.  Her social-media post included photos and video of 30-year-old Darden’s proposal at La Concha Resort in Puerto Rico and the couple’s subsequent celebration with their loved ones.

Editorial credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Three members of K-pop supergroup BTS test positive for COVID-19

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Vocalist Jin and rapper RM of the South Korean pop supergroup BTS have tested positive for COVID-19. The news comes just one day after vocalist Suga was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Big Hit Music made the announcement on Twitter, saying that RM initially tested negative eight days ago upon returning to South Korea following a vacation in the United States. After completing a government-mandated quarantine for overseas travel, he was tested again and showed a positive result, it said.  RM is not exhibiting any symptoms as of press time.  Jin tested negative twice earlier this month, once when he returned from a U.S. trip and again when he left quarantine. After experiencing symptoms on Saturday, he was again tested and showed a positive result for COVID-19.  Big Hit said Jin is experiencing mild symptoms including a light fever and is undergoing self-treatment at home.

Editorial credit: Silvia Elizabeth Pangaro / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Royal Caribbean ship with 55 passengers positive with Covid-19 onboard will remain at sea until this weekend

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A cruise ship out of South Florida will skip two ports after 55 people onboard tested positive for COVID-19. Royal Caribbean International confirmed Thursday that its ‘Odyssey of the Seas’ ship will not stop in Curaçao or Aruba as planned. The ship left Port Everglades on Saturday for an 8-night Caribbean sailing. It plans to remain out at sea until returning to Fort Lauderdale as scheduled on Sunday.  Last Saturday, another Royal Caribbean ship – ‘Symphony of the Seas’ – arrived back in Miami after 48 people tested positive for COVID-19.

Royal Caribbean said in a statement: “The decision was made together with the islands out of an abundance of caution due to the current trend of COVID-19 cases in the destinations’ communities as well as crew and guests testing positive on board — 55 crew members and guests, representing 1.1% of the onboard community. The cruise sailed with 95% of the onboard community fully vaccinated.”

Royal Caribbean says all 55 people who tested positive are fully vaccinated and mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. The cruise line declined to say how many of those people are passengers and how many are crew.  Their statement read: “We continue to monitor their health. Close contacts were also identified and placed in quarantine to be monitored for 24 hours prior to testing.”

Editorial credit: MartinLueke / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Jury finds Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright

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On Thursday, jurors convicted suburban Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter of two manslaughter charges in the killing of Daunte Wright, a black motorist she shot during a traffic stop after she said she confused her gun for her taser.

The mostly white jury deliberated for about four days before finding former officer Potter guilty of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. The 49-year-old Potter faces about seven years in prison on the most serious count under the state’s sentencing guidelines, however, prosecutors said they would be seeking a longer term.

Potter shot and killed the 20-year-old Wright during an April 11 traffic stop in Brooklyn Center as she and other officers were trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for a weapons possession charge. The shooting happened at a time of high tension in the area, with former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin standing trial just miles away for the killing of George Floyd.

Jurors were shown video of the shooting that was captured by police body cameras and dashcams. In sometimes tearful testimony, Potter told jurors that she was “sorry it happened.” She said that she shouted her warning about the Taser after she saw a look of fear on the face of Sgt. Mychal Johnson, who was leaning into the passenger-side door of Wright’s car. She also told jurors that she doesn’t remember what she said or everything that happened after the shooting, as much of her memory of those moments “is missing.” Potter’s lawyers argued that she made a mistake by drawing her gun instead of her taser.

Under Minnesota law, defendants are sentenced only on the most serious conviction if multiple counts involve the same act and the same victim.  The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years. A sentencing date was set for Friday, February 18 at 10 a.m. ET.

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Categories
Country Daypop

Jacob Bryant releases the music video to his latest single “Heartbeat”

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Jacob Bryant has released the music video to his latest single, “Heartbeat.”  Heartbeat is featured on Bryant’s forthcoming Bar Stool Preacher album, which is set for release on Jan. 14.  Stream and download the single “Heartbeat” HERE.

“Heartbeat” follows Bryant’s latest single, “Devil & an Old Six String.” After losing his mother in 2010, Bryant battled depression and anxiety, self-medicated with alcohol and cocaine and ultimately suffered a heart attack at the age of just 19.  He turned to music to heal, and Bryant says: “Music is healing. As simple as that sounds, the process of creating my art about the life experiences I have had is my therapy. From writing the songs, recording, mixing and mastering to finally seeing a finished product in my hands has been extremely therapeutic for me.”

To pre-order Bar Stool Preacher head HERE.

Take a look at Bryant’s “Heartbeat” music video – HERE.

Editorial credit: rzoze19 / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Brothers Osborne announce deluxe edition of ‘Skeletons’ due in January 2022

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Brothers Osborne has announced details of a new deluxe edition of their latest album, Skeletons. The album was originally released in October 2020; and the new version will include three new tracks – “Headstone,” “Midnight Rider’s Prayer,” and “Younger Me.”

‘Younger Me” is also in the running for a Grammy at the 2022 ceremony, having been given a nod for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. It has also featured in numerous end-of-year lists, including Rolling Stone’s Best Songs Of The Year and Billboard’s 100 Best Songs Of 2021 and Best Country Songs Of 2021, topping the genre-specific list. “Younger Me” and “Headstone” were written by band members John and TJ Osborne alongside Kendall Marvel, while Paul Moak and Willie Nelson are credited with the duo on “Midnight Rider’s Prayer.”

To pre-order Skeletons deluxe edition, head here.

Brothers Osborne Announce Deluxe Edition of 2020 Album, ‘Skeletons’

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Coldplay’s Chris Martin says the band will stop making new music by 2025

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Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin has confirmed that the band is set to stop making music in 2025.

Martin made the announcement during a pre-recorded BBC radio show.  A clip in which Martin confirmed the band’s retirement was trailed on the BBC during a separate Radio 2 breakfast show earlier in the day. “Will there come a time when Coldplay stop?” Martin is asked; and he replies:  “Well, I know – I can tell you. We’re going to do – I think we have 3 more – our last proper record will come out at the end of 2025. And I think after that we’ll only tour – and maybe we’ll do some sort of collaborative things or… – but the Coldplay catalogue as it were finishes then.”

Coldplay – comprised of Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion — was formed in London, U.K. in 1996 and have released nine albums since their debut, 2000’s “Parachutes.”  The band have won 7 Grammy Awards and sold over 100 million albums worldwide. The group’s latest record, “Music of the Spheres,” was released in October.

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