Eli Young Band has announced a surprise concert at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo's honky-tonk venue, The Hideout. The show is tonight at 10:15 PM.
Cole Swindell teased a new collaboration with Hardy, called “Down to the Bar.” The song will be out Friday, and it's also the namesake for Cole's 2022 tour.
Priscilla Block is among the hosts for the ACM Awards' official red carpet show. The ceremony takes place on Monday.
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Texas traditionalist Cody Johnson is now part of a very select group of performers, as earlier this week he became the third act to ever sell out night one of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
The other two? Garth Brooks and George Strait.
The King of Country was the first to accomplish the feat in 2017, with Garth joining Strait the following year. Now, it’s Cody’s turn: On February 28, he brought in 70,554 fans to open the iconic annual rodeo event, which will continue through March 20.
“Monday night was a historical night for myself as well as Rodeo Houston; sold-out opening day!!” Cody says, still riding high off his milestone performance. “I can’t thank everyone enough for coming out and showing support to me and my band. CAN’T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR!”
More A-Listers will take the stage as the rodeo proceeds throughout the month. Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Maren Morris, Kane Brown and Jon Pardi are just a few of the country acts playing the event.
Meanwhile, Cody’s single “‘Til You Can’t” is in the top five and climbing at country radio.
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Eric Church is adding another stand-alone stadium show to his tour plans this summer. He has announced a performance billed as “One Hell of a Night” at Minneapolis' U.S. Bank Stadium on June 11.
Eric already announced a Memorial Day Weekend stadium show in Milwaukee, with Brothers Osborne and Parker McCollum.
This time around, the Chief is enlisting Morgan Wallen to share the stage. Also on the bill is Ernest, an opening act for Morgan's own headlining 2022 The Dangerous Tour.
Morgan remains a controversial figure in country music. In early 2021, he was benched by the industry after video footage emerged of him using a racial slur; he retreated from the spotlight for much of the year that followed.
But Morgan's been mounting a comeback in recent months. His “Sand in My Boots” went number-one at country radio, and his Dangerous: The Double Album, a project that came out shortly before the scandal, was one of 2021's top-selling albums.
Though Eric — who is a co-writer on one of Dangerous' tracks — condemned the younger singer's actions as “indefensible,” he's had empathy for Morgan in the wake of the racist slur incident, and the two have remained in contact. Morgan shared a snapshot last April of them fishing together.
Earlier this week, Eric appeared to tease the possibility of a joint bill between him and Morgan, posting a photo of them onstage together and writing “We should do it again soon.”
Tickets for Eric and Morgan's Minneapolis show go on sale March 11.
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Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Old Dominion and Kelsea Ballerini are just a few of the country A-listers headed north for the first-ever Lasso Montreal country music festival this summer.
The two-day festival is scheduled for August 12 and 13, with an additional event, Lasso in the City, set for August 11. Old Dominion and Dierks are headlining the first night, with acts like Ashley McBryde, Lily Rose and Tenille Townes also on the bill.
The next day, the lineup will include Breland and Riley Green, with Kelsea and Luke closing out the party.
Lasso Montreal will take place at Île Sainte-Hélène at Parc Jean-Drapeau, a two-island park that was once the site of the Expo 67 World's Fair. Canadian country music will be well-represented, not only with the Grande Prairie, Alberta export Tenille Townes, but also with a bevy of talented local acts such as Five Roses, Brittany Kennell, Sara Dufour and Léa Jarry.
Tickets for the inaugural Lasso Montreal are on sale now. Fans can choose between GA passes and Gold Passes, the latter of which will offer access to fast-tracked entry, premium views and more.
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Garth Brooks is making his debut performance at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati this May. He's booked a Stadium Tour date for May at the home of the Bengals, just months after they went to the Super Bowl in 2022.
Garth's Cincinnati date will take place May 14; tickets go on sale March 11 at 10 a.m. ET. It'll be the only chance that fans from Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia will get in 2022 to see Garth on their home turf.
However, if you miss out on grabbing tickets to the singer's Paul Brown Stadium show, you can always make the trip south to Tennessee: Garth recently announced a Nashville date, and tickets for that concert go on sale this Friday.
The country superstar has several more Stadium Tour stops planned this spring and summer, including sold-out shows in San Diego, Baton Rouge and Fayetteville, Arkansas.
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Kentucky native Elvie Shane had to navigate a tumultuous path, shaken faith and heartbreak to become the person he is today. He chronicles that journey on his full-length debut, Backslider.
Now that Elvie's a rising star with a number-one hit, “My Boy,” he's grateful to everyone who helped him get here. But he's not shy about admitting which member of his support system has been most impactful: his wife.
“Last night, we had dinner with my first group of believers to celebrate the number-one,” Elvie tells ABC Audio. “The people who were there when I first came to town, the first people who took a chance on me…Obviously, my wife was the very first one of those.”
He adds, “I always was looking for the music before I met her, but never truly found it until she came around.”
Even as he celebrates his chart-topping hit, Elvie's already looking ahead to what's next — a process that's a little daunting, he admits.
“I don't know if I'll ever have another song like My Boy,'” he says. “…You feel like [having your first big hit] would be the happiest time in your life. And it is for a few days. It's like, This is what I've been dreaming of for so many years.'
“But then it's like, What do I do now?'” he adds, after a pause.
Eventually, Elvie settled on a nostalgic, rock-influenced anthem that recounts his upbringing in rural Kentucky. Elvie's next submission to country radio is “County Roads,” another track off Backslider.
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During his first State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Joe Biden announced that the United States will close off its airspace to all Russian flights in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Biden said the move would further isolate Russia, which is already facing sanctions and similar restrictions from U.S. allies and other nations throughout the world in response to what he called a “premeditated and unprovoked” attack by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Said Biden: “Throughout our history, we’ve learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising.” Biden added that Putin “rejected efforts at diplomacy” in carrying out the invasion, saying, “He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And he thought he could divide us here at home. Putin was wrong. We were ready.”
Biden said the United States has given more than $1 billion in direct assistance to Ukraine and will continue to aid the Ukrainian people, but reiterated that the U.S. “are not engaged and will not engage” in conflict with the Russian forces in Ukraine. Biden noted that U.S. forces have been mobilized to protect countries including Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, stating: “Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO Allies — in the event that Putin decides to keep moving west.”
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On Tuesday, the 31 countries in the International Energy Agency agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves “to send a strong message to oil markets” that supplies won’t fall short after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Besides the United States, other members of the organization include Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. IEA members hold emergency stockpiles of 1.5 billion barrels of oil. The release amounts to 4% of stockpiles, or roughly 2 million barrels per day for 30 days. It’s only the fourth time in history that the IEA has done a coordinated drawdown since the reserves were established in the wake of the Arab oil embargo in 1974.
The board of the Paris-based IEA made the decision at a meeting of energy ministers chaired by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who said in a statement that President Biden approved a commitment of 30 million barrels and that the U.S. is ready to “take additional measures” if needed. The group’s “decision reflects our common commitment to address significant market and supply disruptions related to President Putin’s war on Ukraine,” Granholm said.
Russia plays an outsized role in global energy markets as the third-largest oil producer. Its exports of 5 million barrels of crude per day amount to about 12% of the global oil trade. Some 60% goes to Europe and another 20% to China. IEA executive director Fatih Birol said: “The situation in energy markets is very serious and demands our full attention. Global energy security is under threat, putting the world economy at risk during a fragile stage of the recovery.”’
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Priscilla Block couldn’t be more excited about her first nomination at the ACM Awards. “I can’t even think about it,” she expresses with enthusiasm. “It’s such an honor to even be nominated.”
Priscilla became a breakout star on TikTok after her breakup anthem “Just About Over You” went viral on the platform. It later scored her a record deal and crossed over onto the mainstream country charts, hitting the top 20 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
“I was in Vegas, it was the day that my album came out. I had my alarm set, I think I set it for p.m. instead of a.m., and I wake up in a panic,” she recalls about the day she got the news about her nomination for New Female Artist of the Year. “I have a lot of texts on my phone, so I know that people are either saying, ‘It’s OK. Next year,’ or they’re gonna say, ‘Congrats.’ I’m not even looking at the text…and I went online and saw it, and it was just so special. I cried…just soaking it in. It’s crazy.”
And while the North Carolina native is known for being authentic in her music, she plans to honor her authenticity with her ACM Awards outfit, hinting that she’s going for a non-traditional look.
“I’m not much of a dress girl, but I also know that I probably shouldn’t show up in my jeans that I wear every day,” she jokes. “So I’ve decided that I’m gonna try really hard and go all over the top. But I can say that it’s not a dress.”
The ACM Awards air live from Las Vegas on March 7 at 8 p.m. ET, streaming commercial-free on Amazon Prime Video.
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Country star Carly Pearce is receiving the honor of becoming a 2022 inductee into the Kentucky Hall of Fame. Pearce grew up in the state’s own Taylor Mill, and will be honored at a Renfro Valley ceremony on October 28. Other nominees for this year’s induction include Norah Lee Allen (Grand Ole Opry background vocalist), Tommy White (Steel Guitar Hall of Fame), and songwriter Marty Brown. There are also two posthumous nominations for Bluegrass songwriter Pete Goble and producer Paul Yandell.
Said Pearce in a statement: “Kentucky is where I learned to love country music and the incredibly talented musicians who wove their stories and texture throughout the genre. From straight-up sass of The Judds and Patty Loveless or truly understanding Loretta Lynn’s heartache, to the Bluegrass tinge of Ricky Skaggs and Bill Monroe, their influences have driven my music. I am so excited and grateful to be inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame this Fall.”
Pearce will also be hitting the road on the next leg of her “The 29 Tour,” which launches on March 10 in Chattanooga, TN. Beginning in April, Pearce will be opening for Kenny Chesney on his “Here and Now” stadium tour. More information, along with a complete list of tour dates, is available on Pearce’s official website.
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