Country
Margo Price Covers Bob Dylan, Performs “Letting Me Down” on CBS This Morning: Watch
Margo Price served as the latest guest on CBS This Morning: Saturday. She performed her new single “Letting Me Down”, as well as a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Things Have Changed”, and her own b-side, “Drifter”. For an artist who made her name in Americana and country, she put together a surprisingly rocking set. “Letting Me Down” is already among Price’s most muscular songs, with a ripping electric guitar that keeps the track locked in fifth gear. And while she could’ve chosen a folksier Bob Dylan cover, she instead opted for “Things Have Changed”, the Academy-award winning original song from the 2000 film Wonder Boys. “Things Have Changed” is upbeat and bluesy, and Price pushes her voice outside of its comfort zone. She puts some grind into her phrasing, punctuating her usual cr...
Amy Grant Shows Off Scar From Open-Heart Surgery: My Recovery ‘Felt Miraculous’
Amy Grant has shared photos of her battle scar from a recent unexpected open heart surgery. The 59-year-old Grammy winner, who had surgery on June 3 to fix a heart condition she’s had since birth, took to Instagram on Sunday (June 14) to thank her fans for their thoughts and prayers during the challenging ordeal. “My recovery has honestly felt miraculous,” Grant captioned a series of photos showing off a large scar on her chest. “I want to say thank you to each person who said a prayer for me. Prayer changes everything.” Grant, who has been married to country singer Vince Gill for 20 years, likened the experience to a “non-runner who was signed up for a marathon.” Grant noted that the love and support she received from friends, fans and family help...
Petition Launched to Replace KKK Leader’s Statue in Tennessee Capitol with Dolly Parton
Back in December, Tennessee state senator Jeremy Faison proposed replacing a bust of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest currently on display in the state’s capitol building with one of an actual Tennessee hero: Dolly Parton. Now, amid racial unrest across the country spurred on by a rash of unarmed Black people being killed by police, the idea is picking up steam. This week, a petition was launched calling on local officials to replace problematic statues of Forrest and other Confederate leaders with ones of Parton. “History should not be forgotten, but we need not glamorize those who do not deserve our praise,” the petition reads. “Instead, let us honor a true Tennessee hero, Dolly Parton.” The petition goes on to note Parton’s many accomplishments beyond music, such ...
Song of the Week: John Prine’s “I Remember Everything” Offers One Last Goodbye
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. Artists and fans have been searching for the right way to say goodbye to John Prine and gain closure ever since the beloved songwriter passed away in April due to COVID-19. There has since been an outpouring of heartfelt messages, wishes, and tributes from around the world. Here at Consequence of Sound, we put on our own Instagram festival for Prine, which featured artists like John Darnielle, Colin Meloy, and Norah Jones and benefitted several charities handpicked by Prine’s family. As recently as Thursday night, celebrities like Bill Murray and Stephen Colbert joined artists such as Kacey Musgraves and Sturgill Simpson in a lives...
First Country: New Music From Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, Zac Brown Band & More
First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos and albums that dropped this week. As Father’s Day approaches, we have a pair of songs that salute dads and their children, plus an array of other titles to take you into the weekend. Luke Bryan, “Build Me A Daddy” [embedded content] Here’s your tearjerker for the day especially for anyone whose father is no longer here. Following his latest No. 1, “One Margarita,” Bryan returns with a song that couldn’t be more different. Bryan hits every sentimental spot possible as he sings of a young boy who asks a shopkeeper if he could “build me a daddy,” since his father, a soldier, has died. It sure would put a smile on his mama’s face if he could walk back through the door with his reconstituted dad. This one feels like a movie i...
Lady Antebellum’s New Name, Lady A, Rips Off a Black Blues Singer
Lady A (aka Anita White), via YouTube, and Lady A (fka Lady Antebellum), via Instagram Yesterday, Grammy-winning country trio Lady Antebellum announced that they were changing their name to Lady A. They intended for the rebranding to distance themselves from the so-called Antebellum South, which is the period in the US before the Civil War ended slavery. But it turns out that black blues singer Anita White has been performing under the name Lady A for more than twenty years. In an interview with Rolling Stone, White said that neither the band nor their representatives reached out to her before making the change. “I’m not about to stop using my name.” she said. “For them to not even reach out is pure privilege. I’m not going to lay down and let this happen to me. But now the...
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit Taps Lucinda Williams for Summer 2021 Tour
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit plan to hit the road with special guest Lucinda Williams next year for an unforgettable summer jaunt. The whole squad’s first pit stop in their North American journey is in Vancouver, B.C. on July 19, while wrapping around the West Coast and southwest states before reaching the last two shows in Austin, Texas from Aug. 7-8. Tickets are on sale and available for purchase here. Isbell and his band are touring in support of their latest studio album Reunions, which soared to the top of three Billboard charts (all tallies dated May 30) — making a 20-1 leap on the Top Rock Albums chart, jumping 17-1 on the Top Country Albums chart, and skipping one spot 2-1 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart. Check out Williams’ tour announce...
Cam, Honne & More Set For Billboard Live At-Home Performances
A new week brings a new round of Billboard Live At-Home performances, as artists continue to partner with various organizations to raise much-needed funds for coronavirus relief. Country singer-songwriter Cam will kick the week off on Tuesday (June 9) at 1:00 p.m. EST/10:00 a.m. PST via Billboard‘s Facebook page. Other acts slated for the coming week include British electronic duo Honne, Mexican-American rapper Snow Tha Product and drag star Trixie Mattel. Back in March, the Billboard Live At-Home series launched with live-streamed performances by the likes of JoJo, Josh Groban and Russell Dickerson. During their sets, each artist selected a nonprofit to fundraise for, with a focus on aiding communities most at-risk amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the series has ...
Darius Rucker Speaks Out in Support of Protests: ‘We Have to Come Together Somehow’
Darius Rucker has officially spoken out against George Floyd’s unlawful death, and the subsequent protests for justice that have spanned the nation this week. “I have been sitting here trying to figure out what I wanted to say,” the Hootie & the Blowfish frontman wrote in an emotional message via Instagram on Monday (June 1). “2020 has already been heartbreaking. Now, here we are having to again face the truth of racism and the pain and frustration of the African American community,” he wrote. “As an American, a father, a son, a brother, a singer, a man… I have faced racism my whole life, from kindergarten to the life I live today. Racism is not a born thing; it is a taught thing. It is not a strong belief; it is a weak belief. It is not a fina...
Dan + Shay Reemerge on Social Media to Denounce Racism After George Floyd’s Death: ‘Please Use Your Voice’
Country duo Dan + Shay returned to social media after a two-month break to urge others to join them in fighting racism following the death of George Floyd, the unarmed Minneapolis resident killed by a police officer who kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. On Saturday afternoon (May 30) — after spending the last few months social distancing and quietly working on new music, with their last public update posted on March 13 — Dan + Shay broke their silence with a call to action for their one million followers. “It has been quite difficult to remove ourselves from social media for the last few months, and we intended to stay inactive for a little bit longer, as we put the finishing touches on what we think is our best work yet, but this past week’s events i...
Makin’ Tracks: Parker McCollum Puts ‘Heart’ Out Front in MCA Debut
On the first listen to Parker McCollum’s “Pretty Heart,” it’s easy to get hung up on the hook. Maybe even the first four or five listens. The chorus ends with him stretching the one-syllable word “heart” out across 11 notes, letting it wind and curve until it ends unusually on the hard “rt” sound. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘No way,’ ” says McCollum, remembering the moment he created that line in 2018. “I mean, that’s just goofy.” Songwriter-producer Jon Randall (Dierks Bentley, Jack Ingram) agrees. “It’s the wrong vowel,” he says. But that quirk eventually emerges as one of the characteristics that sets “Pretty Heart” apart, along with its swamp-rock slide guitar and the jumble of torment and bravado embedded in McCollum’s vocal performance. The singer had the same evolving r...
Whitney Team with Waxahatchee to Cover John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”: Stream
Chicago band Whitney has released a new cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” featuring the searing guest vocals of Waxahatchee. As if that weren’t enough, Whitney has also served up a version of the R&B classic “Rain” by SWV. While these two covers come from very different sonic backgrounds, together they help demonstrate the range of Whitney’s rock and country-soul sound. Drummer/vocalist Julien Ehrlich brings “Take Me Home, Country Roads” up an octave, allowing his relaxed tenor to float above those iconic southern riffs. For Waxahatchee, aka Katie Crutchfield, this kind of melody is her bread and butter. Her voice obliterates his when they join together for the chorus. But this happens when one half of the duet has a bigger natural instrument than the other, and the ...
