Month: July 2023

Country stars Kelsea Ballerini and Lainey Wilson have teamed up with SONIC Drive-In to release new summertime SONIC drink customizations.

Kelsea’s refreshing drink is Ocean Water® with Blue Raspberry and Lime, while Lainey’s is Sprite® Zero with Strawberries and Sugar-Free Peach.

“I have so many summertime memories from my teen years until now that involve SONIC,” shares Kelsea. “From going with friends after games to grabbing something to sip on the way to soundcheck. My go to has always been an Ocean Water, and when you remix it with blue raspberry and real limes…it's a vacation in a cup.”

“Ain't nothin better than a day riding and an iced cold @sonicdrivein drink – Sprite Zero, strawberries, and sugar free peach. Life is good y'all. [cowboy emoji],” Lainey writes on Instagram.

A portion of all drink, slush and shake sales will benefit public education through the SONIC Limeades for Learning initiative.

These refreshing new thirst quenchers are available now at your nearest SONIC Drive-In.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ask Eric Church what distinguishes country music from other genres, and he’ll tell you it’s CMA Fest.

“Well, I think it's what makes country music unique. Find me another format that happens in, it's just not something that happens,” Eric notes. “I think it's because country music is the one format where the fans.the music is really about them. And we're them; we're not different than them.”

“We're not a lot of the rock stars and a lot of the other guys where they're their own person, they're their own agenda.they're not like the people that are listening to them,” he explains. “It's different in country, we are. We come from there, we are that.”

“I think it's just a great thing for them to be able to come to our town and to get just this barrage of music,” adds the “Springsteen” hitmaker.

You can catch Eric’s performance of “Smoke a Little Smoke” and “Bad Mother Trucker” on CMA Fest this Wednesday, July 19, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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How early is too early for a Christmas tree?

Priscilla Block recently posted an Instagram Reel asking fans to help her decide when she should put up her Christmas tree. 

“I just need to know, is it time?” Priscilla asks with her artificial Christmas tree in the background. “Is it time? Or do I just wait until December? I’m thinking we wait. It’s time. Or we wait. Is it time? Is it time?”

What do you think? Should Priscilla deck out her Christmas tree now? Let her know in the comments of her Instagram Reel.

On the music front, Priscilla’s now in the top five of the country charts with her Justin Moore-assisted duet, “You, Me, And Whiskey.”

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The wait is over for new music from Chris Young. 

After several teases of the track, Chris has shared that his brand-new song, “Young Love & Saturday Nights,” will be out Friday, July 21. 

“Been waitin' to drop a summer jam for y'all. ‘Young Love & Saturday Nights’ out this Friday!!!” Chris announced on Instagram alongside the song’s cover art.

Prior to this, Chris released “Looking for You” and “All Dogs Go to Heaven.” The former track, which serves as his current single, is #14 and rising on the country charts.

Presave “Young Love & Saturday Nights” now.

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Receiving Tracy Chapman‘s stamp of approval and congratulatory words has meant a lot to Luke Combs.

Earlier in July, after Luke’s cover of “Fast Car” reached #1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart, Tracy shared how she felt about the resurgence of her 1988 hit.

“I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I'm honored to be there,” Tracy told Billboard. “I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.'”

Now, Luke’s reacting to Tracy’s kind words and reflecting on the song’s achievements.

“Oh man, ‘Fast Car’ has surprised me more than you can imagine. Tracy Chapman wrote this perfect song that that I first heard with my dad and it has stayed with me since,” Luke tells Billboard. “I have played it in my live show now for six-plus years and everyone – I mean everyone – across all these stadiums relates to this song and sings along.”

“That's the gift of a supernatural song writer,” Luke continues. “The success of my cover is unreal and I think it's so cool that Tracy is getting recognized and has reached new milestones. I love that she is out there feeling all the love and that she gave me a shout-out! Thank you, Tracy!”

“Fast Car” is currently #1 on both the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase Country charts. 

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Miranda Lambert has left fans divided after a recent incident at her Las Vegas residency. 

During the show, Lambert paused her set to address a fan who was taking selfies instead of fully engaging in the live music experience.

In the TikTok video posted Sunday, the country singer stopped singing “Tin Man” to say, “I'm gonna stop right here for a second, I'm sorry. These girls are worried about their selfie and not listening to the song. It's pissing me off a little bit.”

“We're here to hear some country music tonight. I'm singing some country damn music,” she added.

While some attendees applauded her stance against excessive phone usage at concerts, others felt she overstepped by singling out an individual.

One person in the background of the video can be heard saying, “Let's go. You don't do that to fans.”

Lambert has not publicly addressed the incident.

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With the annual CMA Fest television special coming up, fans can expect a slew of performances from some of country music’s biggest stars, but that’s not all. This year’s lineup also features multiple onstage collaborations, such as Cody Johnson and Reba McEntire‘s performance of her 1986 hit “Whoever’s In New England.”

“We’ve sang in the studio together when we recorded ‘Dear Rodeo,’ which was really incredible. That was the first time I had ever met Reba. And since then we’ve developed a really good working, professional relationship,” Cody tells the press backstage at CMA Fest.

“She’s the kind of person where if I need something, I can pick up the phone and she answers. And that’s a huge deal because she’s Reba and I am nowhere near that,” he notes. “Today in soundcheck was incredible. We’ve gone back and forth for six weeks about key and tempo and all the different things that we’re going to do for this song, and I think it wound up being perfect. Just she and I and the guitar.”

Reba isn’t the only ’90s country icon taking the stage this year. Luke Combs will be joined by Vince Gill for a duet of “One More Last Chance,” which Vince says will spotlight the “mutual admiration” they have for each other.

“I’m the first concert Luke ever went to as a 9-year-old boy. Fun to find that out,” Vince shares. “I’m a fan of his talent and he of mine. So it just makes for a great friendship. And when people really get on and like each other, I think all that can happen is something good.”

You can catch Cody, Reba, Vince, Gill and more of your favorite stars on CMA Fest this Wednesday, July 19, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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