Month: March 2024

HARDY‘s star-studded Joe Diffie tribute album, HIXTAPE: Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE, has arrived.

The 17-track collection comprises duet renditions of some of Joe’s songs and hits, with the help of some of country music’s biggest stars, including Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan and Reba McEntire.

Speaking to the press ahead of DIFFTAPE‘s release, HARDY shared about the project’s genesis and how they dug back into Joe’s archived recordings for the album.

“By the grace of God, HIXTAPE number three is going to be a little bit different and it’s going to be called DIFFTAPE. We have gotten a hold of all of Joe Diffie’s old recordings from the ’90s, the actual sessions themselves,” Hardy explains.

“We have basically done what we do with HIXTAPE and we’ve taken some of Joe’s vocals out and all that, and we’ve added some of the biggest singers in country music to help him sing some of his biggest hits,” he continues. “It’s going to be bad*** and I’m really excited about it.”

HIXTAPE: Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE is out now on all digital music platforms. 

Here’s the full track list for HIXTAPE: Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE:

“John Deere Green (Joe Diffie, Morgan Wallen & HARDY)”
“Pickup Man (Joe Diffie, Post Malone)”
“Ships That Don’t Come In (Joe Diffie, Toby Keith & Luke Combs)”
“Third Rock From The Sun (Joe Diffie, Blake Shelton, HARDY & Brooks & Dunn)”
“Prop Me Up Beside The Jukebox (If I Die) (Joe Diffie, Tracy Lawrence, Lainey Wilson &The Difftones)”
“Bigger Than The Beatles (Joe Diffie, Jon Pardi & Old Dominion)”
“Honky Tonk Attitude (Joe Diffie, Luke Bryan & Randy Houser)”
“Is It Cold In Here (Joe Diffie, Reba McEntire & Jake Worthington)”
“Texas Size Heartache (Joe Diffie, Clint Black & Larry Fleet)”
“Home (Joe Diffie, Darius Rucker & Hailey Whitters)”
“C-O-U-N-T-R-Y (Joe Diffie, Aaron Tippin & ERNEST)”
“So Help Me Girl (Joe Diffie, Mark Wills & Nate Smith)”
“New Way (To Light Up An Old Flame) (Joe Diffie, Randall King & Sammy Kershaw)”
“If The Devil Danced In Empty Pockets (Joe Diffie, Jack Ingram & Koe Wetzel)”
“A Night To Remember (Joe Diffie, Lauren Watkins & Kameron Marlowe)”
“In Another World (Joe Diffie, Chris Young)”
“Life Had Plans For Me (Joe Diffie, HARDY & Parker Diffie)”

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Little Big Town and Sugarland will join onstage for a world premiere collaboration at the 2024 CMT Music Awards.

Boasting a combined 44 nominations, the country hitmakers last shared the CMT Music Awards stage 15 years ago alongside Jake Owen for a cover of The Dream Academy‘s “Life In A Northern Town.” The collab also appeared on Little Big Town’s 2007 album, A Place To Land.

Little Big Town and Sugarland are the latest acts to join the star-studded performance lineup, which includes Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, Sam Hunt, Jelly Roll, Bailey Zimmerman, Cody Johnson, Old Dominion, Megan Moroney, Parker McCollum, Brittney Spencer and host Kelsea Ballerini.

The 2024 CMT Music Awards air live from Austin, Texas, on April 7 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.

Before that, you can also catch Little Big Town on CMT Storytellers: Little Big Town, airing April 5 at 8 p.m. ET on CMT.

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Scotty McCreery‘s new song, “Red Letter Blueprint,” drops Friday, but you won’t have to wait to preview its lyrics. Scotty’s shared the full lyrics on X, formerly known as Twitter, ahead of the track’s release. “Red Letter Blueprint” will be the latest preview of Scotty’s upcoming album, Rise & Fall, arriving May 10.

Live In The Vineyard Goes Country has added Kylie Morgan, Callista Clark, Josh Ross, Brittney Spencer, Brett Kissel and more to its performance lineup. They join previously announced artists Scotty McCreery, Rodney Atkins, Sara Evans and ERNEST, among others. For the full lineup, head to liveinthevineyard.com/litvgc.

Reba McEntire‘s celebrating her birthday, and Martina McBride‘s given her a special birthday shoutout on X. “Happy Birthday to my friend @reba! She has truly set the standard and is such an inspiration to all of us females in country music. Thank you for all of the wonderful memories over the years and for being such an incredible artist and person,” Martina shared.

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Several years ago, then-newcomer Kane Brown landed one of his first opening slots with Florida Georgia Line. 

Now, the country superstar’s tapped the duo’s Tyler Hubbard to open for him on his In The Air Tour, and Tyler couldn’t be more thrilled.

“It was incredible to watch him take on the challenge and grow a ton on that tour and now it's full circle,” says Tyler. “Now I'm getting to open up for him and I've watched him play and I'm just like, ‘Wow!’ He's really grown into something special and he's just an awesome dude. He's a great artist.”

“I think [Kane] has really found himself and knows who he is and what he wants to be,” Tyler continues as he beams with pride about Kane. “It's just cool to see because it's not every day that you have that story and not every day that you get to see artists keep it together and be consistent and put out great music and maintain a family and do what he's doing.”

“A lot of love for Kane. I'm excited to be back out with him, and I know we're going to have a good time,” he adds.

Kane’s In The Air Tour with Tyler kicks off Thursday in Charlottesville, Virginia. For tickets and Tyler’s full tour schedule, head to tylerhubbardofficial.com.

Tyler’s currently #7 on the country charts with “Back Then Right Now,” the lead single from his forthcoming sophomore album, Strong. The 13-track project arrives April 12 and is available for preorder and presave now.

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Chris Janson is giving fans another peek into the story behind his tattoos.

In his latest Story Behind My Tattoos Instagram video, Chris shared the genesis behind the anchor tattoo on his chest with his wife Kelly‘s name. 

“Now this one’s my favorite. I actually do love this tattoo. It says Kelly on it, it’s an anchor,” Chris shares, before explaining how the longtime ink appeared. “I had the anchor started with my buddy Will, and it hurt so bad when it was going on. I’m not gonna lie. So I just got the outline.”

“And then we got married she’s like, ‘Why do you have an outline of an anchor on your chest?’ And I said, ‘Well, I was just saving it until I ever got married, if I ever got married.’ And one and done with Kelly,” he recalls. “So the first thing I did was go and get it filled it and put her name across my chest, so it’s there forever.”

Chris is currently making his way up the country charts with “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get.” It’s the first new release since his 2023 album, The Outlaw Side Of Me, which spawned the #1 hit “All I Need Is You.”

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Beyoncé‘s new album, Cowboy Carter, is already out in some parts of the world, so the featured artists on the album have now been revealed.

The 27-track project includes several interludes, which see guest stars serving as DJs on a fictional radio station called KNTRY. Country icon Dolly Parton is included on an interlude called “Dolly P,” and she introduces Bey’s version of her classic song “Jolene” — for which Beyoncé has changed the lyrics. She also briefly appears in the intro of the song “Tyrant.”

Fellow country legend Willie Nelson is featured on two interludes: “Smoke Hour Willie Nelson” and “Smoke Hour II.”

Meanwhile, Post Malone, who’s been dabbling in country music lately, is on the track “Levii’s Jeans,” and Miley Cyrus sings on a song called “II Most Wanted.”

Also of note: Beyoncé has recorded a version of The Beatles‘ 1968 classic “Blackbird,” and in the song “Ya Ya,” she interpolates The Beach Boys‘ classic song “Good Vibrations.” That song is introduced by the voice of Linda Martell, a major Black female country star.

Cowboy Carter, which arrives Thursday at midnight, also includes Bey’s #1 hit “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

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After headlining a concert in San Diego on Monday, March 25, you'd think Bruce Springsteen would take a few days to relax on the West Coast before his San Francisco show on Thursday, March 28, but apparently, The Boss had other plans.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer instead decided to hop on a plane back to New York and, according to video posted to social media, popped up onstage at Brooklyn's Barclay's Center to join Zach Bryan for his Wednesday, March 27, show.

According to setlist.fm, Zach, who was dressed in a Springsteen T-shirt, shared the stage with Bruce for his two-song encore, performing “Revival” and an unreleased track, “Sandpaper,” with additional help from Zach’s tour opener, Maggie Rogers.

Zach is set to play a second night at Barclay's Center on Thursday. For a full list of upcoming tour dates, head to zachbryan.com.

Zach’s latest full-length album is his 2023 self-titled record, which spawned the Grammy-winning duet with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything.”

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