Country
Brandi Carlile Makes Saturday Night Live Debut: Watch
Some 18 years into her brilliant career, Brandi Carlile finally got her turn as Saturday Night Live’s musical guest. The six-time Grammy Award winner supported her latest album, In These Silent Days, by performing “Broken Horses” and “Right On Time.” Watch replays of both below. Carlile appeared opposite host SNL alumnus and Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, whose return to Studio 8H was well worth the wait. Together, the Sudeikis-Carlile combo made for a standout episode in SNL’s still-young 47th season. Carlile has yet to announce a proper tour in support of In These Silent Days, but has spent plenty of time on stage as of late. In addition to playing SNL, she recently shared the stage with both Pearl Jam and the surviving members of Soundgarden, and covered Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.” Spe...
Travis Tritt Performs National Anthem At to Braves-Dodgers Game Days After Canceling Gigs Over Vax Mandates
Travis Tritt, who recently voiced his refusal to play at venues that enforce vaccine and mask policies, sang the National Anthem prior to Game Six of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Because of Major League Baseball’s on-field vaccine mandate for all non-players, the country singer sang from the stands of Atlanta’s Truist Park, according to MLB reporter Scott Miller. The performance was not televised, but individuals who attended the game tweeted that Tritt was met with a smattering of boos. Tritt himself announced his appearance just 18 hours prior to first pitch. The team itself made no public acknowledgement of his presence other than telling Washington Post that they would follow all COVID protocols as Tritt sang the anthem. Ad...
Scotty McCreery’s ‘Five More Minutes’ Inspires Hallmark Christmas Movie
McCreery wrote “Five More Minutes” alongside Frank Rogers and Monty Criswell, and the song was one of three consecutive No. 1 Country Airplay hits from McCreery’s 2018 album Seasons Change. “It’s [about] my grandaddy. That’s my story, but I think people relate to every part of the song,” McCreery told Billboard of “Five More Minutes” in 2018. In that same interview, McCreery also recalled a key moment when he realized the song stood a good chance of becoming a hit. “We sang [‘Five More’] live at the Grand Ole Opry, and kinda debuted it for the fans in [June] 2016, and I’ve never had a standing ovation at the Opry like that, period. Somebody said the other day, ‘The Opry crowd, they wanna sit. They don’t wanna stand...
for King & Country, CeCe Winans, We the Kingdom, KB & Jason Ingram Among GMA Dove Awards Winners
Natalie Grant and Jonathan McReynolds served as affable co-hosts for the evening; this marked McReynolds’ first time co-hosting the event, while Grant previously hosted in 2007. We the Kingdom gave the first performance of the evening, bringing the churning folk-rock of “God So Loved” to the stage and welcoming international children’s choir His Little Feet. The first award of the evening, contemporary gospel album of the year, went to Koryn Hawthorne’s I AM. From there, this year’s GMA Dove Awards seemed to easily blend performances from CCM, gospel, rap/hip-hop, worship, Southern gospel and more into a seamless showcase for the breadth and depth of the genre as a whole, from the hard-hitting hip-hop of KB, Hawthorne’s simmering R&B, the folksy worship style of Daigle, The Isaacs’ blu...
There’s No More Country Radio in NYC — Will It Ever Come Back?
Cumulus Media launched WNSH in New York in 2013, ending a decade-long gap in country radio programming there after WYNY-FM flipped to Spanish contemporary in 2002. Audacy (formerly Entercom) took over WNSH in 2019. In September, WNSH ranked 21st in the New York marketing, pulling in a 1.9% share of the local market, according to Nielsen Media. Its highest share over the past six months had been 2.5 in July. “Clearly, Audacy saw a better opportunity with a different format. You can’t blame them for that,” says Joel Raab, country radio station and media consultant. “There’s a 2 share for country in New York if you just put it on and if you heavily market it, I think there’s a 3 share unless you put on personalities who appeal beyond the country format.” WNSH’s departure from terre...
Chris Stapleton Postpones Shows to Rest Injured Vocals
On medical advice, Stapleton will “continue my vocal rest through the weekend in order to fully heal. I am sorry that so many of you have been inconvenienced and I’m truly thankful for your patience and understanding.” He continues, “Nothing is more personal to me than the experience of music. I’m eternally grateful for the privilege of sharing in that journey with all of you night after night. Thank you for your continued support and I hope to see you all very soon.” The Nashville, TN shows have been rescheduled for Dec. 10 and 11, and a replacement date for Ohio’s Riverbend will be locked in for 2022 and announced “as soon as possible.” The Lexington, Kentucky native is touring in support of his fourth full-length album Starting Over, which blasted to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top ...
With ‘Justified,’ Kacey Musgraves Scores First Airplay Top 10 Since 2013
Concurrently, “Justified” rises 28-26 on Adult Pop Airplay and marks Musgraves’ first entry on Pop Airplay, bowing at No. 39. While “Justified” has drawn nominal exposure on country radio thus far, it has spent seven weeks on the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart. After peaking at No. 22 in September, it currently places at No. 35, driven by 2.2 million U.S. streams and 1,000 sold in the week ending Oct. 14, according to MRC Data. Star-Crossed, Musgraves’ fifth studio album, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 dated Sept. 25 and has earned 157,000 equivalent album units since its release. The album has made headlines recently after a Recording Academy subcommittee ruled it ineligible to compete for the best country album award at the 2022 Grammys. Y...
Garth Brooks & RIAA to Honor Charley Pride With Lifetime Achievement Award
In September 2020, just months before his death in December, Pride collaborated with Brooks on the duet “Where the Cross Don’t Burn,” written by Troy Jones and Phil Thomas. Brooks traveled to Pride’s Dallas studio to record the duet, a musical tale that chronicles the friendship between a young white boy and an older Black man during segregation. In August, Pride was feted by CMT with the 90-minute special CMT Giants: Charley Pride, which featured Pride’s wife Rozene, as well as a sterling lineup of artists including Brooks, Jimmie Allen, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker, Luke Combs, Mickey Guyton, George Strait, Wynonna, Ronnie Milsap, Reyna Roberts, Gladys Knight and more. In addition to artists performing their favorite Pride hits, the special also included rare, old...
10 Artists Who Changed Their Names Mid-Career
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare wrote. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet was imagining a simpler life after rechristening her Romeo, but the principle would also apply if that rose were already trademarked, or the flower had a racist past, or that particular perfume reminded you of a life you’re ready to leave behind. Artists change their names for lots of reasons, but it is almost always a result of pressure — whether that be internal or external. If there’s one thing these moments of transformation have in common, it’s that they represent a pivot point for the musician — a dividing line, after which they will never be exactly the same. In that spirit of renewal, we’ve assembled a list of 10 artists who decided that another name would smell much sw...
Garth Brooks Sets Two Ryman Auditorium Shows for November
“What would be fun would be to somehow do a residency in Vegas and in Nashville, because they got great places to play here. Now, I’m not going to drop the ball as tomorrow’s a pretty big announcement,” Brooks teased. Later in the episode, he offered even more details, saying, “It would be crazy if it were for Thanksgiving of this year…I mean, can you imagine? Whew, that would be just so quick,” before adding, “I fear I said too much.” Brooks previously held a residency at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas from 2009-2014, during which he performed nearly 200 acoustic shows. The news of the upcoming Ryman concert follows Brooks’ recent cancellation of several stadium shows due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past year, Brooks...
Carly Pearce Reveals Winners for 2021 CMA Broadcast Awards
The nominees for broadcast personality of the year were evaluated based on aircheck, ratings, community involvement and biographical information; while nominees for radio station of the year were evaluated based on aircheck, ratings, community involvement and format leadership. Market size was based on population as determined by Nielsen. Here’s the full list of winners. CMA broadcast personality of the year Weekly national: Country Countdown USA, Lon Helton – Westwood OneDaily national: CMT After Midnite, Cody Alan – Premiere NetworksMajor Market: Double-L, Lois Lewis – KNIX, Phoenix, Ariz.Large Market: Ridder, Scott and Shannen, “Ridder” Shaun Ridderbush, Scott Dolphin, and Shannen Oesterreich – WMIL, Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.Medium market: Mo & St...
Ryan Hurd ‘Never Expected’ Maren Morris Duet ‘Chasing After You’ to Become a Hot 100 Hit
On Friday (Oct. 15), Hurd celebrates another career first with the release of his full-length debut album, Pelago, out via Arista Nashville. The album is a major milestone for the Michigan native, who initially moved to Nashville to be a songwriter instead of an artist. Hurd is signed with House of 42 for management (which also manages Morris), WME for booking and Big Machine Music for publishing. While studying sociology at Belmont University, Hurd focused on bettering his songcraft, and later found success writing for other artists, including two No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits for Luke Bryan, “Sunburn, Sunset, Repeat,” and “Waves.” Hurd also penned “Last Turn Home” for Tim McGraw, “You Look Good” and “What If I Never G...
