Month: March 2022

Tonight, the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards take over Las Vegas, live from Allegiant Stadium via Amazon Prime Video.

The show’s hosted by Dolly Parton, Jimmie Allen, and Gabby Barrett — and the American Idol winner is prepared to bring it. 

“I’ll have a solo performance of ‘I Hope You Dance’ by Lee Ann Womack — love that song,” she tells ABC Audio. “And then I’ll be doing an opening number with Jimmie Allen and co-hosting alongside Jimmie and Dolly. So lots of outfit changes as well.”

Just how many changes? Enough to bring up the name of a legend.

“Reba level?” Gabby teases. “Yeah! Five or six outfits altogether. So it’s a good amount.” 

Tune in to Amazon Prime Video starting at 8 p.m. ET to watch the star-studded, two-hour, commercial-free show.

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Cole Swindell's new Hardy duet, “Down to the Bar,” is out today. Cole's sharing the song ahead of the release of his new album, Stereotype.

Mitchell Tenpenny is planning the release of his next EP, The Low Light Sessions. The eight-song collection will be out on April 15.

Sugarland band member Kristian Bush turns 52 this month, and he's celebrating his birthday with new music. The four-disc collection will contain 52 songs in total, and begins with the release of 52 ATL x BNA, a 10-track project arriving March 25.

Run Rose Run, Dolly Parton's companion album to her novel of the same title, is out today. The book arrives this Tuesday, March 7.

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Miranda Lambert's always had a penchant for keeping it old school, expressing her preference for a slower way of life in songs like “Automatic.” And what's more old school than a hand-written letter?

That's why fans weren't too surprised when the country star posted a shot to social media of herself holding up a postcard, asking fans to send in their mailing addresses so she could send them “a road map to somewhere new.”

Miranda's teased albums that way before. Back in 2018, her group Pistol Annies previewed their Interstate Gospel album by mailing postcards containing clues to the song titles, the album release date and more.

Now, it seems Miranda's likely got something similar planned. She's said she's at work on new music, with the first single — “If I Was a Cowboy” — already climbing the charts.

Miranda shared another clue on YouTube this week. She posted a one-minute teaser clip of an unreleased track called “Strange,” another song that calls for simpler times.

“Country don't twang / Rock n' roll ain't loud / Every elevator only ever goes down / Everybody's looking for a little cheap fame / Yeah, and times like these make me feel strange,” she sings.

Just days after her call for fan's addresses, the postcards are already rolling in. One fan posted theirs on Twitter — and sure enough, it's got the word “Strange” written across the bottom.

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Midland are taking fans on a road trip to the very fringes of country and rock n' roll with their full-length The Last Resort: Greetings From album, due out May 6.

The original Last Resort contained five songs, including “Sunrise Tells the Story,” the country trio's current radio single. On their next project, they'll expand that track list to 12 songs in total. One of them, “Longneck Way to Go,” is a duet with Jon Pardi.

“It's about more than the roots. Because that makes you think of something that's buried, which this music shouldn't be,” describes frontman Mark Wystrach, speaking about Midland's free-wheeling, traditionalist-leaning style.

“It's about creating country music that's pure in a different kind of way, that draws on some of what's been left behind but shouldn't be,” he continues. “Some of these songs are pure Gary Stewart, others are the earliest Eagles stuff when they really were country.”

The Last Resort's title track is out now; the project also lends its name to Midland's current run of tour dates.

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Thomas Rhett is known for heartfelt ballads about family, love and nostalgia about simpler times. But one track on his upcoming Where We Started tells the story of something entirely different: A visit he once paid to a group of death row inmates at a Tennessee men's prison.

“I could feel myself trembling / When I shook one of their hands,” Thomas sings in the first verse of his new track, “Death Row.”. “I thought that he would be a monster / Turns out he's a lot like I am.”

With help from guest vocalists Tyler Hubbard and Russell Dickerson — who were also there for the real-life event that inspired the song — TR works through the complicated emotions he felt after meeting convicted criminals sentenced to execution.

“Tyler, Russell and I went and played some songs for a men's prison here in Tennessee. We left with a lot of complex feelings, so I started writing as a way to process the heaviness,” he explains. “Our goal was for people to understand our experience by way of music — it's basically a page directly from our journal that day.”

Where We Started will arrive on April 1.

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Gabby Barrett was honored at the 2022 Billboard Women in Music ceremony earlier this week, where she also performed her hit single, “I Hope,” from the event stage.

Amid that tribute, Gabby's still racking up milestones for her 2020 full-length studio debut, Goldmine. The album has officially received RIAA Platinum certification, and two of its single got mentions, too: “I Hope” went six-times Platinum and “The Good Ones” went two-times Platinum.

Gabby was surprised with the plaques on the red carpet ahead of the Billboard Women in Music event, where she also spoke about what she's learned from being a mom to her baby girl, Baylah, who turned one year old in January.

The singer said she hopes that Baylah will “dream big” and “never be afraid,” explaining that motherhood has taught her even more gratitude for the sacrifices her parents made for her growing up.

“It takes a lot to be a parent. It takes a lot to be a mother trying to balance another job,” she reflected. “…I just appreciate my parents more for what they've done for me.”

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Just days before the show, more details about the 2022 ACM Awards rolled out on Friday, including the first winners.

Lainey Wilson and Parker McCollum have been named the New Female Artist of the Year and New Male Artist of the Year. Miranda Lambert surprised them with the news over video chat.

Lainey was visibly emotional as she reacted to the news, and thanked Miranda for being a musical mentor. “I love you. I just wanna say thank you for paving the damn way, for me to be able to have an opportunity like this,” Lainey told Miranda.

Meanwhile, Parker was stunned into silence after Miranda dropped the news of his win. “Are you serious? I'm like, getting blurry vision right now,” he said.

As it started to sink in, Miranda joked that he was representing their shared home state of Texas — during their video chat, Parker was at home in Fort Worth, at his mom's house. “This one's for Texas no doubt. Wow,” he agreed.

Other big news about the ACMs also arrived on Friday; Lady A has been added to the performers' lineup. Tenille Townes is playing, too, during a special red carpet show before the ceremony.

The 2022 ACMs are taking place in Las Vegas on March 7. Dolly Parton's co-hosting with Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett. Both Jimmie and Gabby shared details about what they'll be performing this week, too: Jimmie is debuting his new single, “Down Home,” while Gabby will offer her rendition of “I Hope You Dance.”

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