Category: Go Country 105

Maren Morris will perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tonight in support of the release of her new album, Humble Quest. The show airs at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC. 

Reba McEntire‘s debut solo headlining show at the Ryman Auditorium airs tonight on UPtv at 8 p.m. ET, featuring guest appearances by Trisha Yearwood, Kelly Clarkson and The Isaacs. The DVD of the Ryman show and corresponding album, My Chains Are Gone, is available now. 

Elvie Shane is releasing his debut album, Backslider, on vinyl and will autograph a limited number of copies. The album features his #1 hit, “My Boy.” 

In honor of DeFord Bailey, the Country Music Hall of Fame will host a free harmonica lesson on April 16. Bailey was a master harmonica player and the first performer introduced on the Grand Ole Opry, as well as the first Black artist to appear on the show.

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Thomas Rhett has found a creative way to sign albums for fans! 

Just one week shy of the release of his new album, Where We Started, the hit singer is literally taking to the floor in preparation. On Friday, Thomas shared a video of himself in the plank position as he signs multiple copies of the album. 

“Thought I would see how many I could sign one-handed planks. Might as well get a work out in,” Thomas struggles to say as he balances on his hands and feet with a pen in hand, autographing a row of albums. “Oh, I’m out of shape,” he quips, hopping from one album cover to the next. 

“I’m still sore from this,” he admits in the caption of the humorous video. 

The superstar is set to drop Where We Started on April 1. Its lead single, “Slow Down Summer,” is in the top 20 of the country charts. His forthcoming headlining Bring the Bar to You Tour with Parker McCollum and Conner Smith will run from June through October.

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Longtime friends Jason Aldean and Brantley Gilbert have teamed up for a fiery new song, “Rolex on Redneck.”

The hip-hop-leaning track, which features Hardy as one of its co-writers, finds the two friends trading verses about how the hard work of rural life may not afford a mansion in California, but it can lend itself to a fancy Rolex watch.

“This turnin’ dirt life might not put a milli on a paycheck/ But it can put on a Rollie on a redneck,” the pair chant over a gritty melody.  

The hit singers have quite a history: Brantley originally wrote and recorded “My Kinda Party,” which Jason later covered and scored a #1 hit with in 2011. Brantley also co-wrote one of Jason’s other signature hits, “Dirt Road Anthem.”

“This guy has been a big part of my career. Back in the day I cut a couple of his songs that were HUGE for me,” Jason writes of Brantley on Instagram. “It’s cool to have it come full circle now and get to collab on a song with my boy @brantleygilbert.This s*** is long overdue!”

Brantley, meanwhile, shares on Instagram, “Aldean was one of those guys coming up that I looked up to because he’s a great song guy,” noting that he’ll “forever be grateful” to Jason for cutting those two songs.

He adds, “Writing a song and having Aldean cut it is one thing, and that’s something I’ll always be thankful for and is a blessing in itself…But to be able to do a song with him, well, it’s a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL.”

“Rolex on a Redneck” is the first taste of new music from Brantley since he released “The Worst Country Song of All Time” with Hardy and Toby Keith in 2021. 

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Garth Brooks has added a second show in Charlotte, N.C. 

Two weeks after announcing a stop on his Stadium Tour at Bank of America Stadium on July 16, the superstar has now added a second show on July 15. 

“HOLY COW!!!! Charlotte, we are opening a SECOND SHOW!!! Friday, it's a whole new OPENING NIGHT!!!!! Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!!!!!!” Garth wrote on Twitter.

This marks Garth’s first pair of shows in Charlotte in nearly 25 years and is the only North Carolina stop on the Stadium Tour. He launched the outing in 2019 but had to cancel or reschedule several dates in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Tickets for the in-the-round style shows are on sale now for the all-inclusive price of $94.95. Garth will perform at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida this weekend.

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Jake Owen is praising the women in his life with his new song, “Up There Down Here.” 

The country track finds the singer describing the angel to his devil, the type he can see himself marrying one day as he sings, “I’m a raise a little hell, she’s heaven on Earth/The grace to my grit and the rain on my dirt/I’m a little down-home, cold beer/She’s a little up there, down here.” 

“I really loved this song from the minute I heard it. All of us boys are lucky to find these angels here on earth. I happen to be lucky enough to raise two of them,” Jake says in a statement, in reference to his daughters, nine-year-old Olive Pearl and two-year-old Paris.

“Up There” is the latest in a line of new songs by the hit singer, including “Fishin' On A River,” “Drunk On a Boat” and his current single, “Best Thing Since Backroads,” which is in the top 20 on country radio.  

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Dan + Shay are breaking their silence after a social media hiatus. 

The hit duo of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney posted a letter to fans on Twitter sharing that since they concluded The (Arena) Tour in December, they’ve used that time to spend time with family and friends, in addition to “reflect and appreciate” all that they’ve accomplished. During this down time, they’ve also been thinking about new music. 

“Hi friend, it’s been a minute! We wrapped up THE (ARENA) TOUR at the end of December and it was one of the most incredible experiences of our career (so far). We’re infinitely grateful for everyone who came out to the shows and celebrated live music with us,” the duo begin, calling themselves “the luckiest guys in the entire world.” 

“We’re rested, refreshed, and more excited about music than ever before. Legit, even more excited than we were when we made our first album,” they add, teasing “more news and updates to come soon.” 

Dan + Shay’s latest album, Good Things, was released in 2021. It features the three consecutive chart-topping singles: “10,000 Hours,” with Justin Bieber, plus “I Should Probably Go to Bed” and “Glad You Exist.” Their current single, “Steal My Love,” is climbing through the top 30 on radio.

Dan + Shay are set to open for Kenny Chensey on his Here and Now Tour this summer.

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Reba McEntire steps into the spotlight Sunday at the 94th Oscars, performing an Original Song contender alongside Beyonce and Billie Eilish.

It’s not her first time, however: In 1991, she did “I’m Checkin’ Out” from Postcards from the Edge, at perhaps the most difficult time of her life: She’d just lost 8 members of her touring family in a plane crash.

“I was very emotional yesterday about the Oscars,” Reba explained Thursday, “because I said yes to the Oscars in ’91 and then the plane crash happened. And then I went ahead and sang the song because I felt [road manager] Jim Hammond talking to me, saying, ‘Go do it for us. We’re checked out of this heartbreak hotel.'”

“Everybody said, ‘Aren’t you excited?… ‘” she says of this year’s performance. “I don’t feel excited.”

“And so I finally figured it out yesterday,” she reveals. “I thought if I got too excited, something could happen. So I said, ‘God, I’m just gonna give it up to you.’ And it lifted like a hundred pounds. We went to rehearsal and I had a great time.”

Reba’s doing “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days, written by 13-time nominee Diane Warren, who’s yet to take home the trophy. 

“Even if I wasn’t singing it, I’d hope Diane would win because she’s such a talented writer,” Reba observes. “What a gift she has.”

Already known for bringing the glam — whether she’s hosting or performing — Reba’s upping the ante for Hollywood’s biggest night, sporting two outfits by Dolce & Gabbana. 

“They flew in from Milan and we’ve never had this kind of treatment before,” she admits. “So it’s like, ‘Wow, so this is how they do it for the Oscars!'”

Tune in to watch the 94th Oscars Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.  

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In case you missed it, Chris Janson was a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show this week. He performed his heartstring-tugging ballad, “Bye Mom.”

American Idol alumna Lauren Alaina will return to the show next week as a guest mentor for the country genre. You can tune in to watch her appearance next Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Elvie Shane, who found breakout success with his hit “My Boy,” will release his debut album, Backslider, on vinyl. It's available to preorder now and will be out July 22.

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Maren Morris wrote “Hummingbird,” arguably the most tender song on her new Humble Quest album, the day she found out she was pregnant.

That was back in 2019. Its lyrics were written more around the idea of Maren's potential future child; it would be months before she learned she was having a boy, or finally met her son, Hayes.

But flash-forward to when she recorded the song, and Hayes was not only born, he was also starting to say “mama.” She decided to include his voice on the track.

Maren explains how it all went down in a new interview with Vulture, revealing that she recorded part of her record at Sheryl Crow's Nashville barn studio.

“I did bring Hayes one day when we were done recording to look at all the pianos, and there's horses in that barn that he was obsessed with,” she recounts. “It was crazy to me: I was pregnant the day I wrote Hummingbird,' but when I started recording it, he was starting to talk. Him saying Mama' was right during that moment in time, so that felt really full-circle, too.”

She adds, “He's the only feature on the project.”

Humble Quest comes out Friday.

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Little Big Town and Brad Paisley are two of the stars on an all-genre lineup paying tribute to Paul Simon next month. Called Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon, the event will take place April 6.

Brandi Carlile is performing, too, as are Irma Thomas and Rhiannon Giddens. Outside the country and Americana genres, Dave Matthews, Billy Porter, Shaggy, Angélique Kidjo, Take 6 and Trombone Shorty are also on the bill.

The guest of honor will be there, too: Simon himself is making an appearance at his tribute show.

Held at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, the event will be recorded to air as a special on CBS at a later date. Tickets to the show go on sale to the public on March 26 at 10 a.m. PT.

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