Dolly Parton‘s merch store is having a summer sale, with select items going at 20% off. Shop your favorite Dolly items at shop.dollyparton.com.
Travis Tritt has announced his first gospel project, Country Chapel. Preorders go live Friday, July 21, along with the release of “When God Dips His Love in My Heart.” While you wait, sneak a peek at the album cover on Travis’ Instagram.
Country newcomer Kasey Tyndall made her Grand Ole Opry debut on Wednesday, July 19. Check out photos of this special moment on Kasey’s Instagram.
Global country star Thomas Rhett and cowboy boots and Western-style apparel retailer Tecovas have teamed up to launch The Thomas Rhett Collection.
Available now, the limited-edition product line features six new pairs of boots – each named after a member of Thomas’ family – two hats and a signature T-shirt.
“I remember when Tecovas first came on the scene and I saw some of my friends wearing the boots – I immediately wanted to know all about them,” shares Thomas. “Ever since I got my first pair, it's been my dream to work with the brand.”
“Getting to be their first artist collaborator and being involved in the design process from start to finish has been a blast for me,” the “Country Again” singer adds. “The collection is also named after my family members which has made it even more special to me!”
Shop the exclusive Tecovas x Thomas Rhett collection in stores and online at tecovas.com.
Both songs are off Morgan’s latest album, One Thing At A Time. The expansive 36-track collection also features the chart-topping singles “Last Night,” “You Proof” and the title track as well as Morgan’s new single, “Everything I Love.”
Currently, the country superstar’s sitting atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with his 23-week #1 song, “Last Night.”
You can catch Morgan on his ongoing One Night At A Time World Tour. For tickets, visit morganwallen.com.
Could a new era of Chris Stapleton music be approaching?
The Grammy-winning country star recently posted a monochrome photo of him in front of a microphone and holding an electric guitar at a recording studio.
While the Instagram post was caption-less, Chris’ wife, Morgane, commented with three emojis: white hearts and a headphone. His tour photographer, Andy Barron, also dropped an eye emoji in the comments, potentially hinting at new music.
Chris’ latest album is 2020’s multi-award-winning Starting Over, which spawned the singles “Cold,” “You Should Probably Leave,” “Joy of My Life” and the title track. Since then, he’s collaborated with various artists, including Carly Pearce on her current single, “We Don’t Fight Anymore.”
What do you think? Is Chris getting ready to release new music? We’re keeping our fingers crossed.
Carly Pearce had a hilarious moment happen to her this week.
While her CMA Fest performance was aired on television, Carly streamed it from the plane and went around in excitement to show the flight attendants she was performing on TV.
“This is me on TV tonight, right? Yes! That’s why I’m yelling! Right now! Right?” Carly told an air stewardess in the opening of her Instagram Reel, before they light up in smiles and give each other a high-five.
“We’re on TV right now. This is me. Ain’t that cool?” Carly asked another flight attendant. However, he didn’t share that same excitement as her and didn’t know who she was.
“That is awesome. What is your name?” the flight attendant asked before Carly responded with her name twice.
As she was exiting the plane, she told two others that she was “yelling” because she’s “on TV right now.” Unfortunately, they could only offer clueless looks.
“No one believed me when I told them,” the singer said with a laugh as she arrived at the airport.
Kelsea Ballerini is honoring the music, inspiration and acclaim of her latest EP with an exclusive trio of events titled Under The Welcome Mat: Exclusive Rolling Up The Welcome Mat Short Film Screening & Conversation with Kelsea Ballerini.
Fans can expect a screening of her short film, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, and an up-close-and-personal discussion by Kelsea about both the project and her EP.
The three-city event kicks off at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on August 1 before continuing at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville on August 8 and wrapping up at the Whitby Theater in New York City on August 10.
“There's never been a moment to stop and talk about what the response to Welcome Mat has meant to me,” Kelsea says of the events. “Everything moved so fast after the release and took on a life much bigger than I ever anticipated. After feeling and hearing the response on tour every night these last few months, I wanted to make sure to honor this musical chapter more fully.”
“So, while Subject to Change was out there doing everything it's supposed to do, you supported me with this project that I needed to make for myself and my heart loudly,” she adds. “I can't thank you enough, but these three events are me trying.”
Tickets to Kelsea’s intimate events are available now at kelseaballerini.com.
HARDY has dropped a fiery music video for his new single, “TRUCK BED.”
Filmed in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and directed by Justin Clough, the visualizer opens with HARDY waking up on a truck bed before deciding to throw a celebratory breakup party right outside his ex’s home. Actor King Bach and former Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan make cameos.
“We just wanted it to be a good time.and it was,” HARDY says with a laugh.
“TRUCK BED” is off HARDY’s latest album, the mockingbird & THE CROW. The 17-song record spawned the #1 Lainey Wilson-assisted hit, “wait in the truck.”
This fall, HARDY will kick off his headlining the mockingbird & THE CROW Tour with Lainey and newcomer Dylan Marlowe. For the full list of dates, visit HARDY’s website.
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s bid to move his hush-money payments case from New York state court to a federal venue. The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein means the case will stay in Manhattan criminal court, where District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is prosecuting Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. A spokesperson for Bragg said: “We are very pleased with the federal court’s decision and look forward to proceeding in New York State Supreme Court.” The case will now go back to state criminal court in Manhattan, where it will be overseen by Judge Juan Merchan, and is scheduled to go to trial in March.
Pleading not guilty, Trump argued that the payments were connected to his duties as president and that the case should therefore be heard in federal court; Judge Hellerstein rejected that argument, writing in his 25-page ruling: “Trump has failed to show that the conduct charged by the Indictment is for or relating to any act performed by or for the President under color of the official acts of a President. Trump also has failed to show that he has a colorable federal defense to the Indictment.”
Hellerstein said in his ruling: “The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event. Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts. Falsifying business records to hide such reimbursement, and to transform the reimbursement into a business expense for Trump and income to Cohen, likewise does not relate to a presidential duty.” The conduct Trump is accused of covering up includes a $130,000 payment his then-lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump has acknowledged repaying Cohen in a series of payments in 2017 but he maintains the payments were on the up-and-up, and that he never had an affair with Daniels.
A Trump campaign spokesperson said in a statement that “this case belongs in a federal court and we will continue to pursue all legal avenues to move it there.” Trump’s attorneys had argued the former president could claim additional defenses in a federal court setting, in part because they say he would not have hired Cohen as his personal lawyer had he not been elected president.
Editorial credit: Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com
On Wednesday, the president of Stanford University announced his resignation, citing an independent review that found flaws in some papers he authored, but cleared him of research misconduct. Tessier-Lavigne has been president for nearly seven years.
Marc Tessier-Lavigne said in a statement to students and staff that he would step down Aug. 31. Tessier-Lavigne, a neuroscientist, says he “never submitted a scientific paper without firmly believing that the data were correct and accurately presented,” but added that he should have been more diligent in seeking corrections regarding his work. Tessier-Lavigne says he’s stepping down because he expects continued debate about his ability to lead the university, but will remain on faculty as a biology professor. Tessier-Lavigne also said he will continue his research into brain development and neurodegeneration.
The resignation comes after the board of trustees launched a review in December following allegations Tessier-Lavigne engaged in fraud and other unethical conduct related to his research and papers. The review assessed 12 papers that Tessier-Lavigne worked on — which were published before Tessier-Lavigne became Stanford president — with five of them in which he was the principal author. Tessier-Lavigne said he was aware of issues with four of the five papers but acknowledged taking “insufficient” steps to deal with the issues. He said he’ll retract three of the papers and correct two.
The panel cleared him of the most serious allegations regarding a 2009 paper published in the scientific journal Nature, which was the subject of a fraud investigation and that fraud was found. The panel ruled there was no investigation and no fraud discovered. H. Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the Science family of journals, said: “People tend to think of scientists as these individuals that they’ve heard of like Einstein and Marie Curie. The truth is that researchers run laboratories filled with people, and everything that happens in that laboratory is a product of many individuals there.” The report cleared Tessier-Lavigne of research misconduct, but Thorp said ultimately the boss is responsible for what happens in the lab – and shouldn’t be distracted by doing other jobs.
Board chair Jerry Yang said that they’ve named Richard Saller, a classics professor, as interim president starting Sept. 1. In a statement, Yang said Tessier-Lavigne was key to creating the university’s first new school in 70 years (Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability) and in 2019, he unveiled a strategic long-range plan that will continue to guide the university’s growth.
Luke Combs‘ new version of Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 hit “Fast Car” is sitting at #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase Country charts. Luke says he’s thrilled he gets to be the one who introduces one of his favorite songs to a “whole generation” of new fans, even though he’s less than confident in his ability to perform it onstage.
“When I started teaching myself to play, it took me a long time to learn how to play that song … [it] was way more advanced on guitar than I was when I learned it,” says Luke. “I feel like I'm just now really proficient enough to play that song well enough to do it onstage.”
He adds, “It took me months to be able to play it – and then to be able to play it and sing it took even more time.”
Despite Luke’s belief that it’s only now, years into his career, that he can properly play “Fast Car,” he’s actually been performing it live since his college days.
“People just loved it as much as I loved it,” he notes.
“I love that song so much. And I think it’s such a great song that it deserves to be heard by a whole generation of people that haven’t heard it before,” Luke adds. “And so to be able to, like, have an opportunity to do that – especially with a song that’s meant so much to me and my love of music from as far back as I can remember – is super unique.”
If you want to watch Luke live to see if he messes up the song, he’s touring stadiums all summer. He’ll be at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, July 21 and 22.
