Month: August 2022

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DJ trio Cheat Codes have dabbled in all kinds of genres, from dance to alt-rock, but they've never tried their hands at country music — that is, until now.

The bandmates have set their sights on a country album, called One Night in Nashville, and they enlisted some serious country star power to help them make it.

Russell Dickerson joins the trio for the first single off the album, called “I Remember,” which will be out on Friday. “[Producer and songwriter] Jesse Frasure sent me this song and as soon as I heard the chorus I was in,” Russell explains of how the track came together.

“Then enter Cheat Codes and these dudes took it to the moon,” he continues. But that song is just the beginning of the megawatt collabs on the project: Jimmie Allen, Lady A, Little Big Town, Brett Young and Dolly Parton are just a few of the collaborators who make an appearance on the project.

One Night in Nashville is due out in early 2023. “I Remember” is available for preorder now.

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Garth Brooks' Stadium Tour ends with a bang this September, as he goes overseas for five sold-out dates at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland.

During a recent episode of his Facebook Live show, Inside Studio G, Garth revealed that those shows will have an extra exciting component: they're being filmed. “We're filming this for either a network special or a streaming special,” the singer says.

“They're doing a documentary on the whole thing, because anybody that's been along this ride understands what 2014 meant to all of us,” Garth continues. That was the year when he first scheduled (and sold out) five dates at the famed Dublin Stadium as part of his Comeback Tour. However, he ended up having to cancel all five concerts when the Dublin City Council would not allow more than the three shows he'd been granted licenses for.

“Never thought I'd ever get to play Ireland again. Then came the opportunity,” Garth recounts. “Very sweet of them to call and go, Hey, the opportunity has risen, would you do it again?'”

When he realized he'd be able to rebook those shows as part of his 2022 Stadium Tour, the country star jumped at the chance.

“They didn't get to finish the sentence. I said, Yes, thank you, God,'” Garth adds. “And I can't believe that people showed back up.”

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Luke Combs has noticed a major shift in his worldview since the birth of his son in June. “Your whole perspective changes,” the singer told Kelleigh Bannen during an interview on Apple Music Country.

“There's stuff that used to matter as far as the things that you worry about, you just don't really worry about that stuff anymore,” the star continues. “… almost instantly. You're just kind of like, Don't care about that. Don't care about that.' And I was fine before, but I did tend to have pretty tremendous anxiety at times in my life.”

Luke has previously opened up about his experience with obsessive compulsive disorder, which often centers around health anxiety. Now, he describes the symptoms he felt — particularly before his son was born — as “crippling.”

“I look at things now in ways that I never would've been able to before,” he reflects. “And even before the kid. After getting married and then spending a lot of time at home during COVID. Just a bunch of stuff happened. It was time to process all of this craziness that's happened in my career, too. I mean, that's important.”

After spending the bulk of his summer at home with his wife and infant son, Luke will embark on his Middle of Somewhere Tour this fall.

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Hardy's next single is just around the corner, and he says “it's a special one” for many reasons. For one thing, it's a duet with Lainey Wilson.

On social media, the “Sold Out” hitmaker teased a snippet of the new song, “Wait in the Truck,” as well as a video. The clip offers a look into a sinister story, with a beat-up and bruised Lainey sitting shotgun as Hardy hops out of the vehicle, gun in hand. A series of images then flash across the screen, some of which show Hardy in prison.

“I am so excited to finally announce my next single,” the singer wrote in the caption of his post. “…Thanks to everyone involved. This is a special one.”

“Wait in the Truck” arrives Friday. It's the next installment in an exciting musical chapter for both artists: Lainey's current single, “Heart Like a Truck,” is out now, while Hardy just announced his four-date Wall to Wall Tour, which features hard rockers Puddles of Mudd as special guests for one date.

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Maren Morris didn't have to take much creative license when she wrote “Tall Guys,” a tongue-and-cheek, fun celebration of height-gifted men that appears on her latest album, Humble Quest.

That's because her husband, fellow artist Ryan Hurd, is 6 feet, 3 inches tall — over a foot taller than Maren.

“I'm 5’1″, so I look at everyone like they're taller than me,” she admits, adding that she always wished to be taller — but after being married to Ryan, she can see that extra height comes with its own set of challenges.

“I always feel jealous, like, Oh, tall people must love being at festivals and concerts because you can see the stage no matter what,'” she continues. “But Ryan … is like, No, it's awful because everyone's mad at you for standing in front of them.'”

There are also perks to having what Maren calls “a hilarious height difference,” especially in the footwear department. “I can wear my heels as high as they possibly go, and he's still taller than me,” she points out.

And as fodder for a great song? That's just the cherry on top. Maren says many of the lyrics of “Tall Guys” were taken straight from her life as the wife of a guy who deals with all the perks and hangups of having extra height.

“My favorite lines of that song are this weird humble-brag of We drink top shelf because he can always reach it / And we fly first class because it's the only way his knees fit.' We're bragging, but we're also not,” she continues. “We have to just out of pure practicality.”

Overall, she wouldn't change a thing about the “Tall Guy” in her life: “I love tall guys,” Maren says, “and he's definitely the tallest guy in my life.”

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