Month: March 2022

Chris Janson had exciting new details to share this week about his next album, All In.

Before making the full announcement, the singer dropped a couple of songs off the project, including the title track, “Cold Beer Truth” and the lead single, “Bye Mom.”

With the latest batch of details, though, Chris sets an April 29 release date for All In, and also clues fans into some special collaborators. Eric Church is a duet partner for one track, “You, Me & The River,” which is a song that Eric wrote solo. The track list also contains “Flag on the Wall,” a song that Chris and Eric co-wrote together.

But the Chief isn't the only country legend that Chris tapped as a collaborator. The 16-song track list also includes “Things You Can't Live Without,” a duet with 90s hitmaker Travis Tritt.

“There are all kinds of songs on this project, but they all flow together because they are genuine to me,” Chris reflects. “I went all in on every part of this process, from writing to singing to playing to producing. I feel like it's my best, most true-to-myself album to date.”

Meanwhile, the singer is on the road for his Halfway to Crazy Tour, which runs through April 9.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kacey Musgraves has been named a 2022 TIME Woman of the Year, along with an inaugural class featuring CEOs, civil rights activists, athletes, artists and leaders in other fields.

All 12 honorees will be celebrated at a gala on International Women's Day, which is March 8. Kacey will give a musical performance at the event, which is set to take place in Los Angeles.

Kacey's inclusion in the program comes on the heels of the 2021 release of her Star-Crossed album, as she continues to challenge genre boundaries and make strides towards new possibilities within the format.

Though Star-Crossed was deemed ineligible for consideration in country-specific categories at the upcoming Grammy Awards — due to the Recording Academy's decision that the project lacked sufficient stylistic elements of the genre — Kacey’s nominated in two genre categories. Those are Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance, both for her new song, “Camera Roll.”

Though 2022 marks the first of what will be annual Women of the Year lists, the recognition builds on TIME's 2020 Women of the Year Project, which recognized female leaders throughout history.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Luke Bryan and Chris Stapleton are repping the country genre in an all-star tribute show this month, honoring pop legend Lionel Richie.

Lionel is receiving the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, an award that recognizes an artist's lifetime achievement of musical expression through song. An artist of any popular format may win the prize; Garth Brooks won in 2020 and Willie Nelson, in 2015.

Luke is an obvious choice to pay tribute to Lionel at the show; he and the guest of honor are both judges on American Idol. It's also not the first time that either Luke or Chris have performed at a tribute show for Lionel. Both singers were on the bill when Lionel was feted at the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year event.

Others joining the Gershwin Prize concert lineup include Gloria Estefan, Boyz II Men, Andra Day, Miguel and Yolanda Adams. Lionel himself will perform, too.

The concert takes place in Washington, D.C. on March 9, and it's not open to the public. However, it'll be broadcast as a concert special on PBS on May 17 at 9 p.m. ET.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

LOCASH admit that during the touring shutdowns that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo worried that their country music careers might be starting to fade.

“We thought they forgot us for a while,” band mates Preston Brust and Chris Lucas admit. But that all changed with their 2020 return to the top spot on country radio with “One Big Country Song,” after a four-year gap since their last number-one hit. Then, the 2022 ACM Awards nominations came out, and they learned they were up for Duo of the Year.

“It feels incredible. It's great to be back, man,” they continue, adding that they've already got big plans to blow off a little steam while they're in Vegas for the show.

“Gamble, eat sushi at KUMI…Chris has got to go to Sinatra, it's his favorite restaurant,” Preston says, when asked what they're most looking forward to doing in their down time. “Just kind of hang loose and drink a little bit, kind of lighten up, because we got kids at home.”

He jokes, “We got the IVs lined up for after the party!”

But when it comes to the awards show itself, LOCASH is all business — at least, sort of. The band mates joke that they're working on rigging the Duo of the Year category in their favor with help from their buddy and one-time duet partner Jimmie Allen, who's co-hosting.

“I texted Jimmie the other day,” Chris adds. “I was like, I don't care what name is in that envelope. If you're announcing, you better say LOCASH.'”

The ACM Awards will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on March 7. The event will livestream on Amazon Prime Video.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.